With his romance project underway, Aki could move onto less hasty projects. First on the list was examining the results Passionate Seeker had gathered in her “Make disciples rest” experiment. As usual, Aki was receiving her in his courtyard garden. Despite the oncoming autumn, the sturdy oak tree he had in the place did not show any signs of leaves changing colour – perhaps a feature of the courtyard? Aki hoped that it had some winter proofing built in, tea in the cold did not really call to him.

His disciple was seated opposite him, fidgeting around as she ran some last-minute checks on the jade slips she was handling. Eventually she seemed satisfied and handed the slips over.

“Master, here are the results, I’ve put them into a [Graph] just like you instructed me to!”

“Excellent, I look forward to seeing what you’ve found out.”

Aki took the slip and began scanning its contents. The results were first presented in a spreadsheet as one big bunch, with numbers indicating what stage of cultivation each disciple started at, their average growth rate in the previous months, were they part of the control group or the test group, and how much their cultivation progressed during the time period.

After that a graph comparing the two groups over the period was displayed, with the test group being slightly above the control by the end – a 15% improvement. Aki frowned as he saw the results.

A 15% improvement, huh. A lot less than I was expecting, to be honest. Maybe they are just not used to these kinds of methods yet? Still, it is clearly an overall improvement.

Aki however noticed some curiosities in the data once he looked closer at the results of the individual disciples. This requires additional study. He took out an empty jade slip to test his findings. He began moving the test data from one slip into the other, dividing the disciples into three different groups – those who experienced significantly more progress than usual, those with little difference and those who experienced negative progress, actually becoming less efficient during the experiment.

The new results showed that 40% of the test subjects experienced significantly more growth than usual, up to a 50% increase. 40% showed little difference and 20% showed regression in their growth speed. Notably, many of those who had lost out were among the more talented of the disciples in the sect – those who had the fastest speeds before the test.

The findings still surprised Aki, but did admittedly make sense. So, differences between people play a large role in this it seems. It makes sense that the people who are most suited to current ways would struggle with these ones. Interesting, though it will complicate things. I don’t think I can just broadly enforce guidelines on this, it will have to be by personal choice. Honestly a better way in the long run.

“Disciple, have a look at this, looking at data through alternative viewpoints can lead to interesting results.”

She took the jade slip and studied it for a moment. Soon a rapturous expression appeared on her face.

“Ai, master, you are wise as always! I am ashamed that I did not pick up on such a thing myself!”

Aki felt a bit of a sting at her saying “wise as always”, as this time he was genuinely speaking on something true and useful, while all those previous times he had been making things up. Guh, my genuine competence is getting mixed up with all the other stuff... This feels surprisingly annoying.

He coughed in his hand to clear his head and spoke further. “These results show an interesting thing that must be studied more and made us of. Disciple, your next task will be to contact Spring Melt, and cooperate with her in holding a presentation where you will show these results to all the outer sect disciples.”

Showing verified data showing differences in cultivation methodology to the actual people affected seemed the best option to Aki, so he had promptly made up this plan. It was simple and gave people a choice in how to act – it felt very right to his sensibilities.

“Alright, master! I will ensure that this task will be done!”

Aki saw her off with a nod – that was one task out of the way. Now, it was time for his next task.

Aki had been steadily working at cultivating water Qi using his personal [Hot Bath Qi Condensation] technique, but he was feeling a bit unsatisfied with it. His disciples all seemed to be progressing at lightning speed with their own cultivation, which left Aki feeling a bit lacking.

His speed was not poor by any means, his technique was personally adjusted for him and his body still retained some memories of possessing water Qi, so the overall process was much faster than normal. Aki however wanted it to go even faster.

One of the things that drove this thought into him was his apprentice’s progress at cultivating Karmic Qi – her technique had become several times more efficient through many revisions. Could I do the same here?

His technique did not feel too impressive, as the manually filled small bath was quite meagre compared to the grand lakes normally used for water Qi cultivation. I think Passionate Seeker first managed to increase her cultivation speed just by earning more spirit stones – is increasing the size the answer? Do I just need to make a larger bath?

That would however be very inconvenient to handle, so Aki began planning a more refined option. He was sect leader after all, and had recently earned a decent bit from his demonic cultivator escapade. Why not spend some resources on a truly grand solution?

Aki had always wanted to go visit Japan so that he could sing in one of those karaoke boxes, and more importantly so that he could relax at an onsen hot spring resort. Hot springs as an idea had always appealed to him, but he had not ever gotten the chance to actually try anything out.

Now however he had magical formations and super-powered construction workers at his disposal, surely it would not be too difficult to make a hot spring are somewhere in the sect? The upcoming winter would really make the place worthwhile – hot water combined with the gently drifting snow would be a killer combo.

Resolved, Aki began planning how to turn his dreams into reality.

First, the place. So far Aki had ensured that all his leisure facilities, the [Sauna] and the new Soul Food Hall restaurant, were located close to each other. It made taking a day off much simpler, and he liked the idea of a dedicated leisure district. He decided to have one of the lakes near the sauna be turned into the hot spring. Having a sauna, hot water and cold water all in close proximity would prove a killer combo for sure.

Aki still did not understand much about formation work, so he did not try to go beyond his capabilities. Instead, he wrote out an order form containing what he wanted, where he wanted it, and an approximate budget. Then he sent it off to Midnight Sun Hall.

He was careful to be exact in specifying appropriate temperatures for the water, and what the surroundings should look like. Aki still remembered the “turning the sauna into a torture chamber” incident and did not intend to serve as the live test dummy of a repeat performance. Last time the lads from Midnight Sun Hall had been too eager at their jobs, so Aki would be doubly careful now.

The task was accepted, and construction work began the next day. Aki watched carefully as the disciples set various types of stones inlaid with formation carvings inside the lake and used techniques to isolate it and move the fish to another location. Aki had specifically asked for bubbles sources in a few choice spots, so different stones were inserted in for those.

The formation stones were dug snugly into the lakebed to ensure that they would not be disturbed. With this, the lake water gradually started to heat up.

Hot water was however only the first part for a proper hot spring resort, so construction continued into the night – the workers did not subscribe to Aki’s beliefs on sleep. The disciples began constructing platforms out of wood, some of which would stay on the lakeside, while others would be placed under the water for the sake of pleasant seating.

Aki stayed resolved, and kept his eyes peeled through the night. He had a feeling that if he strayed with his eyes for but a moment, somebody would find a way to sneak a torture device somewhere under the waters. He did not want his relaxing time interrupted by such things.

The platforms were ready by the morning, and the lake had begun emitting some steam. Having a hot spring in the middle of a pine forest lakeland felt a bit odd to Aki, but he decided it was a change for the better.

It was a rather picturesque scene, the red light of the rising sun hitting the misty hot spring. Aki promptly got to testing it – why wait?

He stripped in the dressing room of his sauna, then walked over to the hot spring. He gingerly tried the water with his toe, and found it to be exactly at his preferences. A smile spreading on his face, he walked into the hot spring until only his head remained above the water.

It was a really pleasant place, and Aki ended up just relaxing for quite a while before he remembered the purpose he had originally done this for. Oh, right. I made this for cultivation, and not for relaxation. The first time it’s this way around, I think.

Focusing his mind, he concentrated on the water Qi around him. It was much more bountiful here than it had ever been in his bath tub, so Aki hoped there would be some sort of effect. He breathed in slowly, slipping into the rhythmic breathing method of the Qi condensation technique.

Water Qi began flowing through his channels and into his core, in much greater quantities than before. The amount that stayed there did not however rise by a proportional amount, with most still flowing back out.

Hmm, maybe I have to adjust the technique for a larger Qi amount somehow. Can I find reference texts for that somewhere?

Aki relaxed into the water, laying on one of the wooden platforms in the hot springs. It was so relaxing that his cultivation focus began to slip, and he almost began to drift off to sleep.

His rest was however soon disturbed by a familiar voice.

“Master, there is a situation.” Passionate Seeker said from behind him.

He opened his eyes, annoyed that business followed him even here. What kind of situation urgently needs his attention? Nothing crazy ever happened at the sect after all.

“Alright, what’s the situation?”

“Someone from the Liquid Sword Sect is here, says there were some irregularities with our financial reports that needed checking.”

Aki instantly jolted awake, all the remnants of sleepiness gone in an instant. He rose from the hot springs with a fury. The tax inspector has actually come? Such a person actually exists in cultivation land? How much do they know?

“Apprentice, did they say anything else?” he asked, voice intense and focused.

Passionate Seeker was careful to keep her eyes on his face, cheeks colouring a bit for some reason. “Umm, they were asking some types of questions, but I left before details came up...”

“No one is to tell them anything! All their information must come through me!” Aki shouted out, his mind in a frenzy. They are actually inspecting things properly!

He grabbed his flying implements from the side of the hot spring and began flying off towards the central sect buildings. Only halfway did he realise that he had forgotten to put on any clothes.