"This ancient cultivation technique was perfect for a monk, though. Will you be interested?"

The Abbot asked Chumo with a serious expression.

"No, no No! Thank you," The Dongboyou prince stammered. As grateful as he would be if he received a new technique, he just managed to finally get out of his curse of being unable to talk to women. He would not waste his newfound freedom to be for a new skill. If he had to choose, he would rather quit being a magus than having to be a virgin forever.

The Abbot nodded, before looking back at Emery. But, before the Abbot managed to say a word, Emery quickly refused.

"Unfortunately, that is the last ancient cultivation technique we have. The others we possess would not be comparable to the ones you will find in the Magus Academy."

The answer made Chumo feel downcast. Not so much for Emery as he still had Killgragah's help and the Nature Grasp problem he needed to deal with. Right now, he had too many things on his plate to spare a moment for thinking about new cultivation techniques.

Seeing their expressions, the Abbot smiled. "Do not despair," he walked toward Fjolnir who has been following them quietly, and said.

"This one has similar skills to Behei. You can probably teach him your spirit summon technique."

Chumo recognized Behei as the one he fought before the one who could create many clones of himself. The large man looked at Chumo intently with squinted eyes. "Alright, but I will test you first. Come with me."

Fjolnir walked further inside, while Chumo followed dutifully. Now, only Emery and the Abbot were left there.

He looked at Emery and gestured. "As for you, follow me."

"Yes, elder."

Emery was now left all by himself with the heavenly fruit on hand. None of his friends claimed it, hence he decided to keep it for a while. Perhaps, he would try experimenting with it later; maybe he could make a good potion out of it. For now, he decided to put the fruit inside his spatial storage.

The Abbot brought him further back, to the last room. It has all the same similarities as the others, but certainly, this one has a different marking

"This one used to be my training room," The Abbot said before he walked to the top of the stone panel and sat on one side, before beckoning Emery to sit on the other side.

They sat in a lotus position facing each other, raised both palms, and pushed them both together following the Aboot instruction.

Gradually Emery felt a little energy leak out from the Abbot's hand, before his body did the same and connected their energies with something like a thin string. The Abbot furrowed his brows and concentrated on Emery's meridians, he can feel the energy went to explore his body.

The process went on for half an hour. Afterwards, the Abbot opened his eyes and said.

"I see, the seed and your dark spirit core were fighting against each other. I am sure you were advised to destroy the seed, but then if you do, you will lose your connection to Gaia, am I right?"

The Abbot's question was accurate and as Emery had no reason to lie, he nodded.

"Yes, Elder. I really need to solve this matter soon. As of now, I only have one and a half years left until the start of the third year."

The Abbot went silent for a second.

"Don't worry, Emery, I have a way to solve this problem, it's just that I am still amazed by the strength of your dark core. How could it become so powerful at your age? The answer eludes me still. The only explanation I can think of is that you had some help from a magus in the academy."

"That is right, Elder." Emery nodded.

Emery didn't lie, Magus Xion and Grand Magus Zenoia did have a role to play in his current strength but he didnt tells the truth as well. after all the alternative was telling the Abbot about Killgragah, something he preferred not to do with someone he just met. After all, he still had no way to gauge the monk's true motivations; trust shouldn't come that easily.

"Alright. One thing you need to know is, the situation with your spiritual core could be a blessing or a curse, depending on your talent."

Emery nodded. "Please, Elder, guide me."

"You can always take the safer way and wait until the seed blooms before you try ranking up to peak rank 8. Afterwards, you can use both to create the foundation for rank 9. The two spirit cores will make a stronger foundation and reduce the bottleneck. But with your talent, this could take you maybe five to ten years."

Emery fell into silence. He didn't have that kind of time.

"Then, what is the other way, Elder?"

"The other way is, use the energy from your dark core to accelerate the seed's growth."

It sounded easy, but Emery knew it wouldn't definitely be that simple.

"Elder, that should be nearly impossible, right? I mean, the dark core and the seed have opposite energies."

In fact, that was why his cultivation became disrupted in the first place, he was left at the mercy of the dragon to fix it up.

"Yes, Emery, it will not be easy, but as I said, you were destined to come here." The Abbot stopped for a moment and said "Did you realize that the four ancient skills bestowed to us by the Eastern Sage all are opposite to one another?"

The four ancient techniques; the scorching nature of the sun which is opposite to the icing cold of the moon. The hardest unbreakable metal and the softest untouchable cultivation. All four were created from one original source, the Dao.

The Abbot then added.

"You have seen a little demonstration of that today. It was the same principle used by the two Han swordsmen."

He remembered the fight and quickly realized what the Abbot was trying to tell him.

"Yes. Emery." The Abbot smiled, as Emery's eyes lit up in realization. "It was your destiny to come here, as the solution of your problem can be found within the understanding of Dao. Find the balance between the two opposites and you will be able to solve the problem of your dual spirit core."

The Abbot then show the marking on the room and handed him [The Dao Divine Technique]

Written by Avans, Published exclusively by W.e.b.n.o.v.e.l,