Mo Huai closed his eyes and rearranged his mental energy,
"My investigative method uses miasma but since I am not an investigative master and miasma is not the best for this application, the drain on mental energy is quite extreme."
"I see, so what did you figure out?"
Mo Huai sat up and yawned, then let out his answer while pointing to the ring,
"That ring is much stronger than even I thought but it's in a weakened state. The ring isn't tied to just mere laws, it is tied to a whole Dao. A section of the eternal Dao, the Dao of blood. I'd say By absorbing blood you will be able to access the Dao of Blood easily. Right now it will be weak, but in time it could become your killer move. But I have a warning, don't rely on it."
"Yes I understand, don't just rely on a treasure to protect me every time,"
"Not just that, I actually forbid you using it unless absolutely necessary. If you get used to it, you might start to slack in your cultivation,"
Mo Huai pointed to Hou's stomach before continuing,
"Real power is inside, not reliant on external help. That's not to say external help shouldn't be used, everyone should be using whatever they can. But the best kind of power is your own power!"
"My own power..."
That's my advice, from all my experience. I've seen geniuses crippled by relying on treasures, I used to be reliant until I gained my own strength. You can think of it like traditional cultivation, it may have been strong but the power wasn't yours, it was the spirits. Only by absorbing that power with spirit stones and modern cultivation could you become stronger yourself."
"Then...by that same premise, can I not absorb the laws and Dao in the ring?"
Mo Huai sighed,
"In theory, yes. But in practice, you need to know the methods used to create the treasure, and in-depth knowledge of the Dao and a lot of skill.it might be possible, but for now there's no need to think about it. For now just have the ring as a final resort, and whenever you get into fights absorb blood with it. This will help to strengthen it back to its peak."
"Then I shall forget about it for now. Thank you master!"
"It's nothing, just cultivate for the rest of the day. Tomorrow we'll do Myriad Cloud's inheritance then we'll visit the Sect Master and sort out your Spirit Stone Soul."
"Is there anything I should cultivate specifically?"
"Let me give you this,"
Mo Huai pulled out something from his robe, a large flower bud. It radiated heat, the air around it distorted as soon as it was pulled out.
"Is that a...Millennial Volcanic Absorbing Lotus?" Hou had a guess on what the flower bud was
Mo Huai furrowed his brows,
"Yes...how did you know?"
"Back at my house, the only spirit stone I had was the sun so when looking at the ingredient books, I focused on sun and heat laws plants. It just so happens I remembered this one from the diagram in the book haha" Hou rubbed the back of his head.
"Anything else you remember on it?"
"It is formed in the heart of a volcano for a millennium, and mostly contains heat laws. However it also contains earth laws, and natural disaster laws. And it's main use is in treating extreme...Yin disease?"
"You seem unsure of yin? Do you understand it?"
Hou shook his head,
"I remember the term, but I don't know what it means, no."
"It's a part of explaining the world and how it works, let me explain. The Dao is the everything, laws are small, small expressions of the Dao. Yin, and yang, is the nature of everything. Everything has an opposing side, which both fuels it and destroys it. Light has darkness, without light there would be darkness. But conversely, darkness means there is no light. It's the way we explain some laws."
"And what about yin disease?"
"Yin disease is when the body and an imbalance focused on the yin, the dark and cold. That's why this heat based plant is the yang for that disease's yin. The cold can be destroyed by the heat, balancing the parts. Yin disease isn't a technical term, yin is rarely real yin laws."
'So… if cold is yin, is fire always yang? What about a freezing flame, or hot ice? Is it always the same, what actually is yin or yang, is it even anything?!' Hou thought to himself.
"Yin isn't always yin? What do you mean?"
"Yin and Yang are often used to describe various laws, all the opposites. Heat and cold. Light and dark. Earth and heaven. It is just Yin disease is name so because cold is Yin, do you understand? Everything in the world is complex, nothing should be fully shoved into categories. Yin and yang are just tools to help you, there could be dark light or light dark, just think of it as a guide."
"I...think I do. So...yin and yang are just ways to describe opposites? But opposites aren't necessarily opposing?"
"Yes, the idea of opposites and how they interact and counteract. But that's enough philosophy, take the Millennial Volcanic Absorbing Lotus and absorb laws from it until I say to stop."
Mo Huai tossed the plant to Hou. He caught it and felt the extreme heat starting to scald his palms, Mo Huai quickly added,
"I'd begin cultivating now so the heat laws don't burn your hands"
He quickly crossed his legs and sat up straight, breathing steadily. He held the Lotus in his hands near his stomach. While breathing, he started to circulate his mental energy. As he did so Mo Huai continued,
"You have only been cultivating in short bursts, this will be a little longer, I will test your endurance. Some cultivators mediate for much longer than half a day,"
"Longer than half a day? How long?" Hou asked while trying to concentrate on absorbing heat laws from his hands, form the Lotus, so he doesn't get burnt.
"It depends really. Some for days, weeks, months, years, decades! It can go on indefinitely, the longer you go though, the more you need to prepare. The body still needs to be sustained so formations will need to feed you and you must be in a safe area,"
"I see, well, I'm glad I'm only doing for half a day" Hou grimaced while feeling the heat on his palms increase. He stopped paying attention to the outside and fully focused on his cultivation.
He felt the heat laws emanating and inducing into his palms from the Millenial Volcanic Absorbing Lotus with his intuition. He used his mental energy to take the laws and then absorb them through his body and into his spirit stones.
The lotus's heat laws lashed at Hou's inside and out. Each law he absorbed scalded like molten lava, if he did not control them he might get hurt. This was a much stronger heat source than a candle or Heat Absorbing Golden Pill powered by natural sunlight.