Chapter 48: Fifth stage?!
I stared at Claire's open invitation to a naked, cuddly hug. For a moment, I was even willing to forget how she was still imprisoning my dick with her insides, removing to move her crotch from mine even for a bit, even when we talked and even when our mood changed.
"Whatever I want, you say?" I asked, reaching out with my hand… but rather than grabbing her hand for some handholding innuendo, rather than reaching for her shapely chest to get all the feels of it my heart could desire…
I reached out with my hand to just gently caress Claire's cheek.
"Can you tell me how dual cultivation is supposed to work? And why were you trying to edge me?"
With the open invitation she provided, Claire ended up taken aback by my… mild response.
For a moment, she stared at me with disbelief, as if she couldn't fathom the idea of a man refusing her open arms or her exposed chest…
Ultimately, however, she lowered her hands and leaned back in, resting the side of her head against my shoulder as she sighed.
"There are several layers to it. At the very bottom, it's all about bringing one's body to its most extreme. Just like there are some freaks who kill or outright torture people, there are those who consider sexual peak to be the best way of reaching the extreme. And while there are those who drink, those who even take drugs or look for others, even more extreme ways, ultimately…"
"It's all about reaching the extreme state of something, right?" I filled up the blanks, taking Claire's place in summing up her whole point.
"Yeah," Claire muttered while rubbing her cheek against my shoulder. "Then, the second stage isn't about the other person, but the massively improved ability to absorb spiritual energy when in the "peaked" state. Which is exactly why we have this bath going…" she explained, finally shedding some light on the answers I was curious about since quite a while ago.
"Ultimately, the third layer of it…" suddenly, even though how openly she explained everything so far, Claire hesitated. "Apparently, when the lovers bond and peak together, something about the different types of spiritual energy men and women cultivate leads to a sparking…"
Claire hesitated again… but rather than hurrying her up, I allowed her to simply relax and take her time to sort her thoughts out before completing her train of thought.
"Sparking is a process in which a new type of spiritual energy comes to life, energy that's exclusive to the two that sparked it and energy that can serve as one of the greatest nourishments to one's cultivation there is in the whole world of cultivation."
With that said, Claire shriveled back and cuddled up into my chest as if explaining just this one thing was enough to fully sap her mental strength.
"So, that means…" I muttered, only to move my hand through the water… realizing that it no longer offered me any more resistance than any other kind of water.
'Wait, could it be?' I thought, startled by the implications behind the thought. 'I've actually absorbed all the Qi that was in this bath… and then whatever we sparked with Claire?'
For a moment, my thoughts went haywire in an attempt to properly sort this knowledge out and add a mental link to it in every topic where this deeper understanding of cultivation could prove useful.
Ultimately, however, it proved one thing while giving me just the kind of information I needed.
"In other words, I'm now healed from that drug and no longer need to worry about time on you keeping your hands and legs wrapped around me, right?" I asked while grabbing Claire by her armpits and lifting her up, finally putting an end to the imprisonment of my dick within the tight confines of her pussy.
"Wha… No, wait…!" before she could even process what happened, Claire expressed her innermost desire… to stop this needless separation. The shriek she made felt as if by pulling my dick out of her, I somehow ended up tearing her soul in half…?
Our bodies were still close, close enough for me to sense her tensing up and down all over again, only for the water near her crotch to suddenly turn muddy, much whiter than it otherwise should be while the girl just collapsed down on my chest, doing nothing but gasping for air again.
"And because I've reached your stage of cultivation so easily and randomly, your sense of worth is threatened, right?" I suggested, trying my absolute best to figure out what was going through Claire's head.
Which… was absolutely unnecessary, because she told me all about it herself. And all I had to do, was just listen properly.
"Huh?!" Hearing my accusation, Claire perked up instantly… In fact, she did it so quickly, it kind of proved my point then and there.
"It's a good thing I have an idea of how we can overcome this issue together!" I announced… Only to reach out and grab Claire by her waist again… before stepping up and pushing her all through the entirety of the huge, wooden bail, all the way to the point where I pressed her down against its opposite edge.
"No matter what, to advance your cultivation you need both energy and some sort of enlightenment, right?" I asked for confirmation, given how most of my knowledge about cultivation came from period dramas rather than cultivation manuals.
"Pretty much, yeah…" Startled by my sudden boldness, Claire couldn't stop her face from blushing… nor her hips from squirming when I pressed myself against her, literally pinning her against the bath's wall.
"Then," I announced, only to drive my hands into the water, moving them from Claire's waist to grab her by her ass before lifting her body up from the water and putting the girl down on the bath's edge.
Then, with a single step, I pushed myself between her legs, forcing her to open them up as I came in like for a hug. Before we could hug, however, I stopped for a moment to get myself properly aimed.
"I know nothing about cultivation, so my outlook on it is perfectly flesh. So, how about you tell me what you are having a problem with," I suggested, only to push my hips up and force my dick straight back into the hot mess of her twitching pussy, "while I make sure there's enough Qi sparking for you to advance?"