Both martial and nonmartial paths offered two possible ways to proceed. The first one was the slow and steady one. A cultivator or an apprentice would slowly work either their cultivation or mastery up and at some point reach the so-desired breakthrough. Other factors applied as well, but one could indeed say that the practice made the master.

The other way was the one of a forced breakthrough. For cultivators, it was almost taboo, as it could make them lose control of their cultivation and always carried the risk of losing the ability to advance further. As for nonmartial paths, any true master would say it was idiocy.

Indeed, how could one become a Grandmaster without first learning and practicing all that a Master had to? The basics were something used in some form during the entire path. After all, how could a Pill Saint create an Earth or even a Sky tier pill without being able to correctly work with the herbs? Or being unable to identify all the properties?

Still, Bai Qi had no such problem, as his previous life knowledge was enough to be compared to Saints for most paths. Granted, he had never been deeply involved or even interested in any of the paths. But he did learn enough for the sake of his knowledge dao.

His problem, at least currently, was that the body he occupied had not lived, practiced, or experienced any of that knowledge. Memories and experiences did translate with the fusion of Consciousness and Soul, but the inherent ability of one's body to act on them? It wasn't possible without actually practicing.

But his few attempts at practice and use before showed that his body could act on the memories. Maybe on a slightly lower level from Bai Qi's original one, but for now, it was enough.

His cultivation method now required him to reach the Grandmaster level for three nonmartial paths, at least if he wanted to pass through the three intermediate levels of the Sage realm. And so, after checking that he was able to act on the memories, Bai Qi had decided to go with the so-called forceful way.

In short, it was nothing else than forcing a breakthrough to happen because the cultivator, or in this case master, was already past the peak point of his level. Bai Qi's most advanced nonmartial path at the moment was the one of the Array. And the proof of one being a Grandmaster of the path was by creating any array an entire realm superior to its design.

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After spending a few hours in meditation, Bai Qi recovered around half of his qi pool, while his Soul Power recovered slightly more, somewhere about three-fifths of his maximum.

His senses had caught the approach of 14 presences since half an hour before he rose, but as they had not approached, he decided to reach the mark he had planned to before greeting them.

The base he had constructed yesterday, more a trick than an actual need, occupied almost half of the mound he had selected for himself. He thought while walking out from his temporary home.

"Bai Ze, Bai Rui, Chi, everyone" He greeted while examining the group that had arrived.

The cat-like Bai sisters stood at the front with a similar but male beastman behind them. Bai Qi found the older's presence a surprising fact.

Chi stood slightly to the side of the latter two, and behind him, eight crimson fur Man-Tigers stood in an orderly fashion.

As for the remaining two that stood slightly apart, they were the most stunning ones.

Even if the skin folds and horned head weren't a good indication, her scant clothing and the enormous, barely hidden mounds on the front and rear did not leave any doubt.

Same race Beastmen looked the same to people that did not interact with them constantly. But Bai Qi had lived among a tribe of them in his original life, so he did notice the slight details. For example, the slightly tilted horn, which in place of being curved to the rear, went to the right.

And the last one was a beast, and it immediately grabbed Bai Qi's attention. After all, Saint Beasts or not, Beastmen were considered a civilized race, but even the most intelligent Beasts were usually just that, Beasts. Identifying it wasn't a problem, but as Bai Qi did, he grew more amazed. Indeed, the beast in front of him, six feet tall and twice long and with a single purple eye, was nothing else than a [Single-Eyed Leopard].

Bai Qi inwardly exclaimed as he examined the sand-colored fur, purple spots, and even aura. Still, it only confirmed that he wasn't mistaken.

Feeling slightly shocked, Bai Qi continued as if he had not noticed anything.

"I take that all of you know what I will be attempting to teach, so I will avoid long explanations and just directly show the process" Bai Qi summoned the seven [Aura Gathering] orbs from his [Void Ring] and surrounded them with his aura.

"This orb is basically an aura-storing treasure, so if you do not control your aura, they will simply absorb it" Bai Qi nodded towards one of the orbs and lessened his control over the aura. As he did, the apple-sized bluish orb began visibly sucking strands of aura, and the more it did, the brighter it shone in a green hue.

"When the color turns green, that means the orb is full" Bai Qi complemented his explanation by allowing his aura to fill up the orb. Around that moment, he saw that Bai Rui was mulling over something and so nodded to her.

"So to learn to control our aura as to use objects, we will have to train until the point we consciously allow or not the orb to absorb it?" Bai Rui's question was exactly what Bai Qi was about to explain, and he inwardly gave her a thumbs up.

"Yes, you are right. Also, after the aura is stored, the orb can hold it for several weeks. But as waiting for so long is boring, I will set up a protective treasure activated with them. Thus, when you fill it, you will use it and attack it until the aura dissipates. Then while you rest, your partner can take over the orb" Bai Qi nodded with a smile and then explained the rest of what he had planned.

Bai Qi avoided explaining that it would be an array and not a treasure, or that their attacks would actually help him perfect his array until the point it would not be affected by the 1st and 2nd level Saint Beasts in front. Essentially, he would use their training to prepare for a forceful breakthrough of his Array Path. By creating an array comparable to one of a Grandmaster.

"And after we manage to do so? Will we be able to control objects as you did yesterday?" Bai Ze and Chi spoke almost in unison.

"Well, you will have mastered the basic control over your aura qualities, so it will be possible to use it for moving single objects. As for multiple ones, there is another method to train how to divide your control, but it can not be taught until you complete this part" Bai Qi explained, and before there were any other questions, simply willed for the orbs to land in the middle of them.

"And the protective treasure?" The female rhinoceros asked in an unexpectedly sweet voice.

"I will set it up in a few moments. For now, decide your pairs and make your first attempts. I will be inside, but if you have any questions or problems, just call me" While Bai Qi was explaining previously, he had already visualized the array he would use. Now it was just a question of drawing it and adding a few qi-storing treasures for it to not disappear until they filed up their orbs.

To sense the changes and make corrections, Bai Qi decided to create the array around the walls of his base. This would make him able to control it while inside, and it could be left for protection as well.

"Wu Guang!" Before Bai Qi left, Chi called for him and then asked "You mentioned a friend of yours that completed this training. How much did he take? And what level he was?"

"I am not sure about the time as we were training combat methods as well, but it was something between ten and thirteen days. As for the level, well, at that moment he was just a 1st level Saint Beast" Bai Qi wasn't lying about not being sure, as Kass Shaa'r had trained like this inside the pocket realm in the Wildlands, and the time there had a separate timeflow.

"Is this friend Kass Shaa'r by any chance?" Suddenly the rhinoceros asked. And although Bai Qi did not know why the interest, he nodded in response.

"See, I told you that it was definitively him! And you thought that it was someone else" She turned towards the [One-eyed Leopard] and exclaimed with something of a grin.

"He never used or told anything about it, so I thought it would be another beastmen. The human did not say names anyway" If leopards could shrug, probably he would have done it now. But the headshake and slight groan that accompanied the words were enough to understand his emotions.

***

In such a manner, the training of the Saint Beasts began. Over the next week, for at least three or four hours each day, the fourteen would come and use the orbs.

Initially, it took them less than an incense stick of time to fill up the orb, and then something about the same time attacking the array to make it lose the accumulated aura.

But with every session, the time they could prevent their aura from filling the orb grew more and more.

The Man-tigers, including Chi, were the only ones that were not showing almost any result, still hardly able to control their aura for longer than a few breaths. But the rest, especially Bai Rui and the [One-eyed Leopard], who was called Dian, could even slightly move the orb without it beginning to shine.

As for the beast woman from the Rhinoceros race, she indeed was a relative of the Elder as Bai Qi thought initially. Beastmen did not have established families, but in any case, she introduced herself as Xi Ai and mentioned that he was her father. Her results were something in the middle, but she was a hard worker, even staying after the others left, so Bai Qi considered she would master it sooner or later.

While they trained, Bai Qi sent his consciousness into the array, restoring the damage and maintaining it. But by the 5th or 6th day, he only checked at it once during the entire training time. And for the 7th day, he had to weaken it for the orbs to be expended as the array shrugged off most of their attacks.

***

Bai Ze had also remained longer than the others every day, although not to train. She was simply interested in what Bai Qi was doing and even brought a few snacks to share.

Bai Qi was slightly taken aback by it, but he still allowed her to look.

Knowing that he required another two paths, he had decided to concentrate on the two that he had already started practicing - Pills and Refining. So after everyone, except the observing Bai Ze or the training Xi Ai left, he concentrated on his cauldron.

He had promised a few common-tier pill bottles for the pack, and so he decided to first finish that part. It would also serve him to familiarize with the cauldron, as he would not have even a slight margin for error when attempting an Earth-Tier pill, the mark of a Grandmaster, and the one that would allow him to breakthrough.

"Bai Ze, can you deliver this to the Elders?" Bai Qi threw a pill bottle at her.

She immediately caught it and asked, "Are they [Tiger Vigor] pills you said to have a better effect for recuperation than the [Revitalizing River] we buy?"

"Mmm, yes. They also have a small added effect of improving one's qi amount, which is good for your Spirit Core growth" Bai Qi explained without turning back, already concentrating on another recipe he wanted to attempt. Only a few pills lately had been lower than the 9th level, and as soon as he got an entire 9th level batch, he would go after the Earth-tier pill.

He also wanted to make the always curious and hovering around beast girl leave the room, to attempt a few modifications to the array for the next day, the one he felt that would be the last on his path to an Array Grandmaster.

Bai Ze had just left as the sound of a horn blared.

*Ouououh*

Not knowing the meaning of it, but considering that it sounded like an alarm, Bai Qi slowly rose and expanded his senses. He felt how beastmen were moving around the camp with lightning speed and grew more assured in his assumption.

"Wu Guang, quickly, with me!" Bai Ze returned in a hurry. Without explaining anything, she simply jumped and grabbed Bai Qi's shoulder before starting to pull on him.

"What happened? What's the meaning of that horn?" Bai Qi did not resist, following her lead right after willing the cauldron to disappear into his [Void Ring].

"It's the swarm!" Bai Ze's distress was apparent. Her fur had stood up, her ears and tail twitched wildly and even her aura felt as if it was cowering from something.

"I will follow you, but please explain what is the swarm you speak about!" Bai Qi moved towards the exit behind her, and asked on the go, wishing to know what was the cause of such a reaction.

"No! Get back, it's above us! Is your protective treasure working?! And can it work until morning?!" She only poked her head out of what Bai Qi decided to call home before stepping back and asking while forcefully gripping his shoulder.

"It is and it will, but please, calm down and explain what is the swarm. How dangerous is it? Can we do something? Why I can not sense anything?" Bai Qi understood that something was wrong, but he indeed could not sense any dangers. He felt the entire pack's gathering just a mile away, as well the faint air of disaster that exuded from their auras, but the reason? He had no clue.