Chapter 142: Bonding and Awakening (Setsuko + CEO)

Setsuko knew the man in front of her was unlike anyone she had ever met.

There were several signs which pointed out this fact: It was from the lack of being able to speak their language when the two of them encountered each other in Mashiro's Sacred Forest. It was obvious in his name and from his appearance. 

One had to include that both his original attire and weapon were made from high grade materials she hadn't seen from anywhere.

Now he showed the capacity to tap into a power only meant for women and bestow them to her? 

However, could she really entrust herself to him? 

Was it really possible that he could tap into her dormant energy and give her power?

Yang spoke of how this process would be intrusive and even invasive. The sensation of the Ao around him pouring into her when he held her hand was sudden, shocking and even overpowering… but it hadn't exactly been unpleasant.

At least it wasn't like the time when she got swallowed by a swamp slime.

What was she thinking though? It was barely a week! There were some rumors of other women approaching women of more powerful bloodlines—and having been awakened by these powerful women required the receiver to devote themselves to their awakener's desires.

Maybe it was different because she would be receiving energy from a man who did not know of this practice. Setsuko ran her fingers through her ragged dark hair and squeezed her eyes shut.

Now wasn't the time to get entranced by promises like this.

Setsuko was satisfied with this life of hers, and compared to the majority of women… This lack of power made her different. The Kin Hunters did not treat her any differently, simply acting like she was one of their own.

Wasn't that better than those arrogant women who thought they could overpower men and make them bend to their wills? Her blue eyes opened and she grunted at him. "We'll do our mission first and I'll think about this, Yang. The others are soon to return as well, so it's better we focus okay?"

He nodded. "Of course."

This man was someone who spoke less, and did more. She liked him for being easy to deal with and even if it had taken some time—he was becoming more battle-honed. Was it really the benefit of being able to manipulate Ao though?

Her group would soon undertake the mission.

.

.

.

The results spoke for themselves—while Setsuko had to resurface up the Green Jade Lake for air, the man dove down into the waters without any hesitation, deeper and deeper. The frog's eggs were located deeper than she thought it would be.

She instead focused on keeping the threats of enormous fish from heading into the man's direction. Her hand gripped on her giant fish hook. This time she would be the bait to draw these creatures away from Yang and ensure his safety.

But then it was suddenly over.

"You guys make such a good team," their team leader, Jin, said. The man was raising a mug of beer to them along with the rest of the group. It took them around two hours to finish the mission, another hour to return to the city and then settle into this pub and inn.

Setsuko held the mug filled with alcohol in her hand.

She drank it all down in one go and slammed it on their long table, getting some looks from other clients inside of the pub.

It almost felt undeserved when she considered how it was easy for the man beside her to become powerful. She had never been jealous of women from powerful bloodlines and organizations, content with the struggles and hardship she faced… but now that a man showed how easy it was to accomplish missions if he had power.

Setsuko grabbed the collar of Yang's still drenched robes.

The man had been talking to Geno when she held him up. "I've already made my decision—I accept your offer. Let's go to my room for some privacy."

Sounds of surprise and laughter among the group sounded. "Wait, did Setsuko make a move on Yang even though he just arrived?"

"It's the other way around," he said. The man stood up and looked at her with an unreadable expression. "Shall we go now?"

Whistles sounded in the pub. The fellow hunters in this group of theirs mostly considered themselves as one huge extended family. It was also common for them to adopt members, so she understood that this was just teasing for them.

She bit on her lip, temporarily averting her gaze from the bare chest exposed from his robes and nodded. "This way, Yang."

Power was something she desired, what everyone desired. She could no longer pretend it wasn't when she had the opportunity to do so.

.

.

.

Setsuko's gaze was intense as she looked at him. The two of them were standing in her room, and if it weren't for the fact that he knew what 'offer' she accepted, he might have been inclined to think this would be somewhat else.

"So…" he cleared his throat. "Would you like to get comfortable first?"

"What?"

"Your clothes are still wet. I would actually like to get changed if it weren't for the others dragging us for the dinner celebration." Li Yang shrugged. 

The lives of the men around here were simple, they hunted, sold materials and then ate and drank their fill before sleeping. He didn't mind it, but it was a little distracting to have both of them still drenched from the dip in the lake.

She pursed her lips at him and then offered her hand. "Let's get over this fast before the others think we're doing something strange."

He chuckled, but nodded.

Even while the two of them were in an inn, the amount of energy in the air was still astounding. He would gather it around him, transforming the world's energy into his own before he sent it to her and searched for her core.

He closed his eyes and concentrated in visualizing and finding her sleeping core with his spiritual senses.

The act of enshrouding one's qi and aura around someone else was already offensive—it was used to dominate over the inferior cultivator and it boasted of one's greater quality and quantity of qi. 

It also happened that two cultivators could communicate by having their qi meet in one place and forming a mental link, allowing each other to read one another's qi—it was something that required a measure of trust.

However, this time, his intentions were different.

It wasn't only the extremities of her body and aura where his qi flowed and probed her. His energy traversed past the outermost and superficial layers and ventured deeper to the well inside of her. 

Similar to meridians coursing with qi and transmitting it across his entire body, he did the same for her. His energy poured through specific ley lines across her body. There was only a minutiae of difference between his own meridians.

The meridians flowing through his body were comparable to blood vessels, but for her, it was like water breaking forth through an empty dam, his energy cascaded through these overwhelming and vast lines as he searched and explored for the dormant core within her.

He filled her up.

Akin to a dry and barren desert, a rejuvenating flood crashed and surged out to fill the void. Until he himself could feel like he was providing her too much, despite the abundance of Ao, the energy in his body was starting to get but her body greedily accepted the energy like a dehydrated man finding water and gulping it down.

If he couldn't find her core and awaken it, she might eventually just keep draining his own energy—it was time for him to probe faster. Where was it?

The sea of qi, dantian or lower energy fields was usually around the stomach area.

… there!

He focused and sent a concentrated amount of energy into the core, channeling it to open up to him. Li Yang's mind was sharp and clear, possibly because of his cultivation—memories of stories and his research swept in his mind helping him in this moment.

Setsuko's hand tightened around him. 

It was the crushing kind, and she squirmed slightly—but he kept pouring the Ao energy in the center spot of her body's core, waiting for it to blossom and open up. He cracked through the core and an outstanding wave of energy rippled out from Setsuko's core.

The entire establishment shook.

Multiple power waves of energy sent a wave similar to what could probably be a nuclear. The air around them vibrated and thrummed as the energy from her body nearly threw Li Yang back against the walls.

While he had originally sent his energy to hers, she overpowered his and distributed it at a faster and stronger rate.

Li Yang opened his eyes in time to see Setsuko's black hair turning white, her face a flushed red as if she had swallowed a scorching red ball of sun. When she opened her eyes, they were now the shade of flames and behind her were several white tails. 

Setsuko's transformation quickly broke and she collapsed into his arms.

He didn't expect it to happen like this. And yet his System gave him a notification which popped in result of their activity.

[ Congratulations! You Have Mastered Ao Energy Bending ]

[ Congratulations! You Have Unlocked First Energy Bond ]

[ Individual Setsuko Can Now Be Accessed Through Interface ]

[ Temporary Conversion Of Charm Points Ongoing... ]

[ … System Patch Updates Nearly Complete ] 

Her released energy was so pure and concentrated that it sent powerful waves across the entire continent—alerting several individuals from the safety of their mansions, temples and other lofty locations.

It even awoke the sleeping and dreaming.

—-—-

Author's Note: Is this kind of pace too fast or just fine? I'm someone who likes to take it slow, slice-of-life is what I like best, but Webnovels need fast progression. There are questions about what's happening in CEO's normal world, and you'll see the answers through the story :3 Very valid points made! Thank you for reading today!