83 A Similar Pas (1/2)
Arnold wasn't opposed to getting a massage, especially after hearing that the massage would help him in recovery and even boost his cultivation speed afterwards. He received a warning from Jam to tell him when it was starting to feel ”too good,” before the massage began. Arnold didn't understand the warning until almost two minutes went by and Jam's blood energy output crossed over the 95% threshold. At that point, he practically scream at Jam to stop, which Jam did; almost instantly…
Jam made a mental note to keep the blood energy intensity at 95% percent and continued. After that blip, Arnold just enjoyed the massage for a couple more minutes until his armor was done regenerating.
As Jam moved away to work on his armor, Arnold marveled at the effects of his massage. He had been exposed to it far much longer than both Rina and Alex combined, so the benefits his body accrued from Jam's massage were naturally much better than theirs. For a while, his normal cultivation rate would improve by about 10%, and his body's constitution as a whole had improved across the board; making it more compatible with the Body Refining Path.
Jam finished upgrading Arnold's armor quickly, set with Tier 5 grade Light and Darkness Runes. Arnold was a practitioner of the Martial Dao, meaning his body was his weapon, thus, there was no weapon to upgrade. It got Jam thinking 'Why didn't he start Body Refining, if he uses his body as his main weapon?'
Jam was expecting some sort of big mystery surrounding this mystery, but when he received a reply he was left a bit let down. Arnold said ”Why don't I practice Body Refining? Well, the reason is simple: I don't have a technique.”
”Can't you… you know, get one from the academy?” Seriously, this didn't add up from a logical standpoint. The Cultivation Academy had all sorts of techniques, how can Arnold say with a straight face that he couldn't find a body refining technique there of all places?!
”I mean there are no Body Refining techniques for me specifically. Technically speaking I could have started a long time ago with basic Light or Darkness Body Refining techniques. But once you start, you can't go back, I'm sure you know this. Before I can start, I need to find a technique that allows me to use both Light and Darkness energies. You practice Yang right? Surely you know of the problems with Duality...”
”Um… no?” Jam didn't know what he was talking about.
”You don't know? Well the gist of it is that Dao forbids absolute extremities. If you practice only Yang on your journey through cultivation, at some point, you won't be able to continue without understanding and incorporating yin, and vice versa. That same principle applies to Light and Darkness as well as any Dao with principles of Duality: Water and Fire, Earth and Wind, Solar and Lunar, you get it, right?”
”Sure?” While Jam didn't really know what he meant, within Jam's soulscape Tzatziki was wondering where a kid like Arnold learned about this fairly profound understanding of Duality. It should be noted that even a great majority of Immortals had yet to discover this profound truth.
Jam, in an attempt at consoling his friend, came across uncharacteristically optimistic ”Cheer up! I mean, we're still pretty young… Maybe later on when we enter the Immortal Plane, you'll find a technique suitable for yourself...”
”Yeah...” Arnold smiled, but couldn't help but turn sorrowful. Out of all the core disciples, including even Jam, none were more desperate for a Body Refining technique than Arnold. Body Refining was the path he was destined to walk, he even had the keys right in his hand to open those gates, but not enough strength…
Arnold traced his space ring and produced a plain old jade slip. Well, to Jam and Arnold it was very plain and even looked to be low quality. But, Tzatziki knew better, he took one look at jade slip and felt a bit of nostalgia. There had once been a fairly strong faction in the Divine Plane that once helped him out.
They were quite the formidable clan of Light Dao practitioners, all going by the moniker ”Synth” in their Daoist Titles. If only he knew that Arnold's Daoist Title was ”Jinxsynth,” he might have made that connection, but Jam learned Arnold's title in the virtual world; only his soul had been there, Tzatziki's influence void.
Arnold thanked Jam for helping him out with upgrading his armor, and decided to trade some treasures for work. Jam, noticing the jade slip in Arnold's hands, asked to see any jade slips Arnold was willing to trade; he was more than well stocked even up to Tier 6 herbs and ores, so only improving his Dao Cultivation with new Daos would be worth the effort now.