Mira gently laid Dominique down on her bed and sat on the edge, watching the little fox change little by little. The process of merging all aspects of herself didn't happen immediately, and was a slow but gradual process. All the energy in her body, whether it be her own blood, Blood Qi, or soul, had to be converted.
'It's hard to tell if she's getting stronger or not.' Mira thought as she looked away, not concerned about Dominique's strength.
The purpose of the technique wasn't to increase power but potential. It was also a way to save months if not years or centuries of time.
Improving one's Qi was rather easy; just cultivate. But tempering the body and soul isn't quite so straightforward. Most people only pick one, maybe two of the three if they're particularly talented, but even then, the majority of people who do are generally mediocre at both.
The Harmonic Trinity Technique was merely an auxiliary technique that eliminated the process of having to spend exorbitant amounts of time on those other aspects. However, on the flip side, integrating it means you'll need that much more Qi to break through.
'She probably won't start to feel it until she reaches my level, though.' Even then, Mira doubted Dominique would need a quarter of the amount of Qi she needed just to reach the 3rd Stage of the Soul Transformation Realm.
Hell, she probably needed more than some people in the middle stages of the Mortal Shedding Realm. Her foundation, Qi reserves, and overall strength were simply that high.
'...I wish I could just go annihilate a Sect or something. But how many would I have to destroy in order to reach the peak of the Soul Transformation Realm? A dozen? Can I really handle hundreds of Elders and a handful of Divine Sea Realm fogeys on my ass?' She could only sigh at her predicament. She just wanted to break through the stages quickly, but she was just too strong.
'Whatever. I'll just keep improving my blacksmithing.' Her expression returned to its natural indifference as she got up to leave, only to find that Dominique's tail was wrapped around her waist, attempting to hold her down.
Sighing once again, she gave a wry smile before scooting a little closer to the girl and closing her eyes to meditate. 'I'll do that tomorrow…'
***
The next day, at the break of dawn, a little red fox girl could be seen running through the courtyard. Her movements were swift, almost a blur, as she navigated through the obstacles laid out before her. This was Dominique, and she was different—stronger, more agile, and with what felt like much more energy.
Mira watched from the sidelines, nodding silently. To her surprise, the little girl actually did make some progress, just not in her cultivation. Rather, that had regressed a little due to the equilibrium between the three aspects. "Faster, Dominique! I want you to push yourself to the limit!" Mira called out.
Dominique responded with a nod, pushing herself harder. She could feel the changes in her body, the seamless integration of her blood, Blood Qi, and soul, creating a harmony she'd never experienced before. It was exhilarating, this sense of unbridled potential.
As she completed another lap, Mira stepped forward, throwing a series of small, metallic spheres towards Dominique. "Dodge!" she shouted, and Dominique instinctively reacted, weaving through the air with a grace that belied her ferocity. Each sphere missed her by mere inches, her body responding with a precision that was almost preternatural.
Breathing heavily, Dominique came to a stop in front of Mira, her chest heaving, but she quickly caught her breath. "How did I do?" she asked.
"Hmm~ Your physical strength is a bit higher than it was before, and your perception and intuition seemed to have experienced a significant leap. Your cultivation regressed to the Low-Stage of the Xiantian/Foundation Realm, but that's just your Qi equalizing the effects from the cultivation technique." Mira said after analyzing her child thoroughly. "Now, you just need to get used to your new body and strength."
"....No…"
"Elenei. Come here and take this kid away. Drop her off somewhere she can fight to her heart's content."
"....W-Why-?"
"No problem!" A tall, beautiful woman immediately appeared out of nowhere and grabbed Dominique. "Let's go!"
"NO! I literally almost died! I WANT TO REST FOR A FEW MORE DAYS!"
"You can rest when you're dead." Mira crossed her arms and said coldly as she watched her be dragged into the air.
"MOTHER!"
"...And you look pretty lively right now."
"NOOOOOooooo-!" Dominique's scream could be heard for seconds, even after Elenei had taken flight and darted into the sky.
From the side, Rhydian watched this and shivered. She quickly transformed into her giant wolf form and launched herself into the distance. Now that Dominique was gone and unable to take up a good portion of Mira's time, who knows when she'll turn her attention to her?
'I'll just go get a bit stronger, then come back and laze around. At least that way, I won't be forced to train with that demon.' Were her thoughts as she scouted for any areas she could hunt in.
Now, the only ones left were Hana, Linnea, and Coralia. Mira had little to no interest in the latter two, and Hana was merely her test subject who was about to complete the 'Perfect Body Tempering Realm Regimen' she was researching. The girl was already doing everything she needed to.
Hana wanted to wait until her body matured before she started Qi cultivation, which would be about a decade, maybe a little less. So, there wasn't any rush.
'Now, I'm pretty much free to focus on forging!' With that thought in mind and a slight smile on her face, Mira marched her way down to the forge.
With the suit of armor now complete, something she did while Dominique was undergoing her transformation, marking the pinnacle of her craftsmanship at the Human-Grade, Mira stood back, admiring her handiwork.
The armor was incredibly heavy. It was really nothing more than a large piece of tempered metal made to fit humans, but it was made of the highest quality with no weak points. A perfect example of what could be achieved at the pinnacle of Human- Grade craftsmanship.
However, the satisfaction of completing it was fleeting, replaced by the anticipation of what was next.
"Now, for the real test," Mira muttered to herself, her gaze shifting toward the materials she had prepared for her next work. Mortal-grade items!
Moving on to Mortal-Grade items meant not just an increase in the quality of materials but also a fundamental shift in the crafting process. Mira understood that the essence of Mortal-
Grade items wasn't just in their material or make but in their ability to become extensions of their users. In other words, their ability to conduct Qi.
Her first task was to create a simple dagger, not unlike the first Human-Grade weapon she had forged. However, this time, the complexity lay not in the shape or the sharpness of the blade but in its ability to channel Qi.
Mira selected a few pieces of metal she had prepared earlier. These metals, when combined together, could be turned into an alloy that, when treated with specific techniques to enhance their affinity for Qi, could become Mortal-Grade materials.
This way, she not only saved on the cost of materials, as Human-Grade ones were cheaper, but she could understand more about the forging process and everything it would take to become a Divine-Grade blacksmith or higher.
She ignited her forge, the flames roaring to life. As the metal began to heat, Mira created the allow without much issue, then focused her thoughts not just on the physical act of creating the dagger but on imbuing it with the pathways necessary for Qi flow.
"It's kind of like creating little meridians in the metal," she mused as she used her Qi to carve out little pathways for energy to travel through. "At least, that's how I feel it should be done."
The books didn't go into a whole lot of detail, wanting her to figure this part out on her own.
The process was meticulous. Mira found herself not just hammering the metal but also guiding her own Qi into the alloy, experimenting with patterns and flows that might best suit the eventual wielder.
Although she felt that by doing this, she was creating unnecessary weak points in the weapon, she didn't see any other way.
Minutes passed in what felt like moments as she focused on making the best dagger she could despite her lack of knowledge. When finally Mira quenched the dagger, she could now truly understand everything she did right, and where she went wrong.
Holding the newly forged Mortal-Grade dagger, Mira could feel the difference. The metal hummed with potential, its surface almost eager for the touch of Qi.
However, when she sent in a stream of Qi, she frowned.
'Tch. A dud.'
The next second, it cracked and broke in her hand along all the pathways she had just created. Looking down at her failure, she could easily see what went wrong. Somewhere along the way, the little tubes had gotten misshapen, clogged, and twisted.
'...Looks like it's back to square one.'
