Sometime later, they returned to the mansion, where they washed themselves off thoroughly and got into clean clothes.
Shortly afterwards, Asher sat at the dining table, where dishes prepared by Olivia were laid in front of him. She was wearing a white lace apron above her green dress while serving him dinner. He stared at Olivia in wonderment; her beauty was beyond words. The way she walked around, humming cheerfully, filled his heart with joy.
She looked so happy that he couldn't help but grin widely. Seeing such an angelic image made him realize that it was impossible for anyone not to fall for her charm. He ate the meal silently while thinking about how lucky he was to have someone like her by his side. It really felt as if life itself had given him another chance to live happily with everyone dear to him once again.
"By the way, Aunt Olivia, why are you out and not cultivating in the cultivation chamber anymore?" Soon, Asher asked about what was on his mind.
She paused while setting up another plate, glanced at him, and asked, "Don't you remember the time you spent inside the cultivation chamber? It has already been a week since you introduced us to this Mystic Starry Realm and gave us access to come and go freely."
Asher was stunned by the unexpected reply.
"You mean, it's already been seven days?" He asked, being quite surprised at the time he spent while breaking through.
Olivia giggled softly in response before answering. "Yes. From then on, everyone cultivated in the cultivation chamber and took turns taking care of Lily while you were busy training. Aria thought that Lily would still need someone beside her to not feel lonely, so she hired Miss Eleanor to take care of her since they already knew each other.
Although Miss Eleanor seemed reluctant to leave kids at the orphanage, she accepted the job nonetheless after getting reassurance from Lysandra that nothing bad would happen to kids in the orphanage. Currently, she went there to finalize all the processes."
Asher nodded while eating the food cooked by Olivia, appreciating how tasty the dish was. "I see. Thanks, Auntie."
Asher appreciated how quickly they adapted to this realm after he got them here. He thought about what should be done next now that they were safe and secure in a place protected in every possible way. 'I should practice my skills and abilities now. That way, I will be able to utilize them well.'
As Asher ate his dinner, thinking about his future steps, Olivia blushed a little, remembering what happened recently at the gazebo.
She remembered how it felt to be dominated by Asher and loved it more than anything else. It was different from any experience she ever had, whether she had known about it before or discovered it just recently. It left her feeling fulfilled and content, making her satisfied physically as well as emotionally. She recalled how gentle he treated her afterwards, too.
Thinking about everything made her heart pound faster in her chest.
By now, he had already gained a deep understanding of various ways to use his techniques in combat situations. In addition, he also developed new strategies for dealing with opponents more efficiently.
Overall, Asher felt confident about himself; however, he understood that he still lacked experience in real fights against strong foes. To gain more battle wisdom, he needs to fight against other cultivators and star beasts to adjust his methods accordingly.
But right now, his main objective was to become stronger; if he got stronger, then he wouldn't have any difficulty defeating all other enemies effortlessly in the future!
Asher decided to first test how far his current level of control over the shadow illusion technique extended. While standing straight on the ground, he spread out his palms to both sides of his body, releasing a vast amount of dark spirit essence into his surroundings. Instantaneously, dozens of black figures appeared around him.
These figures that resembled him were made out of pure darkness; they were lifeless beings whose only purpose was to do his bidding. These silhouettes possessed no individual will or consciousness and obeyed every command that he issued without question, regardless of whether it was directly or indirectly related to combat purposes or otherwise.
However, they remained perceptive enough so that, if necessary, they would act according to their own judgment.
Once created, Asher began giving orders one after another. The shadow clones started moving about randomly as if they were searching for something unknown, which confused him somewhat until he realized it must have been a part of his control ability being unstable due to him still learning how to use it properly. He continued directing them nonetheless.
Within no time, the dark shadow clones began forming a circle around him, covering his entire field of vision while moving in sync without stopping at any moment.
Now, it truly looked like there were numerous copies of Asher moving about everywhere simultaneously. Asher felt proud and happy as he saw the number increase rapidly by the second as his mastery over the skill increased with every passing moment.
But soon, Asher frowned because he suddenly felt drained and out of breath, as if he had been running for hours straight without pause. The spirit essence inside his Dantian seemed to be almost exhausted; he knew that using many shadow clones at once consumed a great deal of his accumulated spirit essence.
If this continued any further and he exhausted all of his spirit essence, then he would take the risk of his cultivation dropping.
As such, he decided it would be better not to push too far with his experiments. After putting away his clones, he sighed slightly in relief. He hadn't expected that being able to summon so many identical versions of himself simultaneously would require that much effort. Nevertheless, he found it exciting.
'If I can manage to strengthen my control over my skill further in the near future, then maybe I could create enough of my clone army to wipe out hundreds or even thousands of enemies at once without any risk involved whatsoever!' Asher grinned while thinking about this, as he planned to practice all of his skills after recovering his spirit essence again.
In order for his cultivation base to reach greater heights quickly, Asher had decided that he would spend the majority of his free time cultivating in this Mystic Starry Realm. Of course, he also intended to take regular breaks whenever he felt tired and wanted to relax before returning here. Otherwise, he feared he might end up falling into despair instead of reaching enlightenment.
Besides, it was essential for cultivators to maintain positive mental states in general if they wished to achieve breakthroughs.