"How exactly does Aura Manipulation work?" Cheng Hao leaned back and intertwined his fingers, smiling mysteriously. "Simple. The advancement follows a two-fold increase, with the amount of Aura available increasing by a factor of two at each major breakthrough (starting with a base value of two units at the inferior stage) with the exceptions being the two Realm bottlenecks, which would respectively result in an eight and sixty-four fold increase! This means that at, say, the thirteenth stage, which is the threshold for Martial Way Creation, the total amount of units would amount to an astonishing million-plus units! Impressive and all, sure… However, what exactly should one do with one million units of Aura available?" A pair of amused, intelligent golden eyes gleamed knowingly.

"Although the options may seem endless, the main routes rounding them all up are actually two: put quality above quantity or vice versa. What this means is that, while making the choice, what the Manipulator would really be choosing would be opting between either creating one million Aura Constructs each worth one unit, or create a single Construct and make it worth the whole one million units at his or her disposal! If these two cases were to be placed at opposite ends of a spectrum, choosing anything in between the wouldn't result in great losses in fighting power early on as the overall unit amount does not change... However, later on, the loss in benefits would be immense!"

"Up until not too long ago, Aura Manipulators tended to focus more on the QUALITY aspect. Do you remember after my brief introduction... why that is?" Cheng Hao asked.

Xiao Wu readily answered, "Yes! It is because after reaching a certain level in Aura Manipulation and the Aura Constructs were made out of enough units, one would be able to imbue the constructs with Will and achieve the Create Life Through Aura level. With this, cultivator could then produce and infuse their consciousness within them to create extraordinarily powerful beings! However-"

"However, at the same time, there was no such 'final upgrade' on the route of 'Quantity'! Ahhh..." Cheng Hao interrupted, shaking his head with a sigh.

"This missing 'final upgrade' on the route of Quantity-based Aura Manipulation had always been a thorn in the side of the cultivation world for millions and billions of years! Its existence had been speculated, but never found, to the point even the almighty Aura Dragon, the first being to discover Aura, had come to consider it a mere chimera; a non-existent will-o’-the-wisp."

"With the Big Bad Boss of Aura Manipulation claiming it to be so, then it would truly have to be nonexistent, wouldn't it? As such, everyone blindly agreed with him that the sole route to follow on the way of Aura Manipulation would be to place Quality over Quantity. That way, one would maximize the strength of each created being... Right? Well… as it turns out, no. The Aura Dragon was wrong." Cheng Hao rubbed his chin as his lips arranged into a mocking grin. "They were all wrong! And here is where our little Theory of Duality comes in!"

"First Dogma of the Theory of Duality: associated to Spiritual Energy is Qi, and for each unit of Spiritual Energy, a corresponding amount of Qi can be associated; associated to Matter is Qi, and for each unit of Matter, a corresponding amount of Qi can be associated; associated to Matter is Spiritual Energy, and for each unit of Matter, a corresponding unit of Spiritual Energy can be associated... The 'Associative Dogma'!"

"Second Dogma of the Theory of Duality: no two units of the same state can coexist in a single unit. At the same time, four units, as long as each are of different states, (Namely Qi, Spiritual Energy and Matter and Aura) can coexist in a single unit ... The 'Coexistence Dogma'!"

"Third Dogma of the Theory of Duality: although Aura can be considered Spiritual Energy, and solidified Aura has Material characteristics, it is still treated as a different state from both Spiritual Energy and Matter, and it can therefore coexist with all other states in a single unit; as such, the previous statements are true, even if either Matter or Spiritual Energy (But not both at the same time) are swapped with Aura... The 'Inclusive Dogma'!"

"Fourth Dogma of the Theory of Duality: be a Qi Construct the union of Matter and Qi, and Aura Constructs the 'union' of Will and Aura (Will-sculpted Aura); pure Qi Constructs can coexist with Aura Constructs in the same space, making up stable 'Qi AND Aura' Constructs... The 'Dual Dogma'!"

"Final Note by the Martial Way and Aura expert Xiao Lan: were a Martial Way to be simplified down to its most rudimentary state, it would turn out as the coexistence of Qi, Matter and Spiritual Energy (coexisting in the same units), all put together following the enlightened's directions. The problem of creating a Martial Way is the impossibility of creating a stable Spiritual Energy construct before the 13th stage. As Aura is none other than Spiritual Energy with unique characteristics that intrinsically make constructs crafted out of it stable, its inclusion in the formula would not interfere with the whole construct's stability.”

“Instead, Aura can substitute the Spiritual Energy Construct of a 13th Stage, or above, cultivator to make up a stable 'Aura and Qi Construct' with the same characteristics of a Martial Way. That is, of course, as long as an original Martial Way is given to imitate the physical attributes and arrangements of the Spiritual Energy Construct. Then and only then, the Spiritual Energy layer may be swapped with an Aura layer (sculpted by a Will that has contemplated the Spiritual Energy and Qi of the original). It is like so, that the Theory of Duality allows for the creation of a new kind of Martial Way! One made out not of Spiritual Energy Constructs, but objects crafted through Aura Manipulations!"

Cheng Hao spoke with an overbearing tone, "With these four Dogmas at the basis, plus the knowledge on the composition of Martial Ways, the intellectuals were able to discuss and reach a conclusion for many themes of important notice. However, in the end, one discovery stood out amongst the rest, eventually ending up giving the Theory its name… And that is, the idea and method of substituting each unit of stable Spiritual Energy from a Supreme Stage enlightened Cultivator with a unit of Aura as long as one had an original to copy the enlightenment from; unlike earlier, this allowed ay Cultivator, with no restriction based on cultivation base at all, to have all the materials he needed to mass-produce Martial Ways, given one has the ability to manipulate Aura; in such a twist of fate, a whole new method of forging a Martial Way, a much more easily mass produced one at that, is born! Now, any questions?"

Xiao Wu "...Uh..."

Cheng Hao chuckled, "More like too many, uh? Well, in short, this simply means that you can create just as many copies of that Martial Ways as the units of Aura you have available.”

“As long as you have enough units of Aura and an original Martial Way - in other words as soon as one can create the Qi and Aura Constructs - this new kind of Martial Way can be mass-produced indefinitely!"

Cheng Hao twirled a few strands of hair around his index finger, "Long ago, if one were to be fully focused on the Quantity Path of Aura Manipulation, he would be unable to create life: to reach Create Life Through Aura one would require Aura Constructs worth tens of thousands of units for each Pseudo-Life Form he or she created. This was not only because it would need lots of units to bear a cultivator's will, but also because the more units were put together, the stronger the Pseudo-Life Form could be!"

"However, with the discovery of Aura Into Martial Way, if one had fully focused on the Aura's 'Quality Path' at first, now he would only be able to have very few, albeit huge, Martial Ways… And since all kinds of Martial Ways have functions to increase in size too if given enough energy, that would be too much of a waste!”

“In the end, through the quality path of Aura Manipulation, one would only be able to craft a few Martial Ways... and they would even require creating a uselessly gigantic Qi Construct to match! As for the Quantity Path? As many units of Aura one had, that would become the number of Martial Ways one could create! With that, ‘going Quantity’ became the one, true way to go! Truly, a turnaround of enormous scales!"

"And the best part of Aura Into Martial Way was... Usually, the process to craft Martial Ways would take time solely because it would need to craft a Spiritual Energy Construct first! Spiritual Energy Constructs are as volatile as Energy itself, and can only be held down through the understanding over the Qi given by Enlightenment. As for Aura? Aura is already a semi-solid, turning completely solid in its Will-sculpted state as an Aura Construct! Thanks to this, Martial Ways could actually be mass-produced!”

“In merely a few sleepless night of discussion, the world of Aura Manipulation was completely flipped around... well at least in theory."

"It's not as if these things were spread anytime afterwards. They have remained a secret to most even up to now. After all, secrets of such a scale were better kept close to one's heart... Up to this day, people still wonder just how could Xiao Lan possibly get his hands on so many Martial Ways, while in truth, all that one would need to craft thousands of Martial Ways would be the original Martial Way, somebody to guide you through the process the first time, and the ability to Manipulate Aura! As for you, sis... Congrats! With me here, in one way or another, you already have unconsciously gathered all of those! You just need a manual to teach you how to use Aura and you'll be set!"

"Wait! Could it be…" Cheng Hao acted shocked, "Doesn't that mean that as long as you can get your hands on an Aura Manipulation Manual, you would be able to start crafting Martial Ways yourself? Well... you sure are lucky! Because I..." Cheng Hao reached into his pouch with an amused expression.

Xiao Wu's eyebrows shot up, "!!!"

Could it be... He had that as well???