(MNIBP)Chapter 45 - Advancing Levels as easily as drinking water

The Highlands, New Jersey, USA.

Ben's P.O.V.

A few minutes after his wife fell asleep, the middle-aged man felt his stamina recover. With a wry smile on his face, he thought. 'My stamina is incredibly high, but that Soul Bond's draining effect becomes stronger and stronger... Once Mady joins us...' A small shiver coursed through his spine at the thought before something else cheered him up.

'At least the power-up effect we both get increases proportionally. Thank God!' Indeed, through his Divine Sense, he noticed that May went from Low Seventh Level to Peak Seventh Level in only a few hours. As for himself, although he did not yet reach the Third Level, his inner energy's purity went up from around 80% to around 95%.

Of course, the last 5% were even harder to refine than the previous 95%, but since it only took half an hour of enlightenment and a few hours of lovemaking sessions to reach that point, he could not really complain, now, could he? 'With my Perk helping, I should be able to break through by morning.' He thought, satisfied.

Closing his eyes, he quickly fell into a meditative state while his mind was naturally absorbing the Universal Energy around as 'fuel' to burn the few impurities left in his Inner Energy, Body, and Mind. It went on until around 4:30 A.M. when the petite brunette's body started fidgeting slightly.

Gently waking up from his cultivation state, Ben said softly. “Morning, Love. Slept well?” Moving her arms to lay them on his chest, she set her head on them while a yawn escaped her delicate mouth. “Amazingly, as usual.” Pausing for a second as she moved her lower body tentatively, a satisfied smile appeared on her face as she declared. “Waking while feeling your big thing inside me is the best.”

His lips twitched slightly at both her words and actions, the latter starting to ignite the previously lazy fire inside his heart. Turning his head toward the clock on the side, he noticed that only five minutes went by during their conversation, giving them ample time for 'curricular activities'. Moving his gaze back to his lovely wife, with the latter having a similar hungry look on her face, he said.

“I've almost reached the next Level. You don't mind helping me get to it faster, do you?” His words were akin to tearing up the thin veil of restraint between them, prompting the two to go back to a more primal exchange. Loud moans of pleasure echoed through the room, increasing the already powerful desire they had for each other and plunging them into a heap of willing debauchery. Fortunately, no one could hear them thanks to the Sound Jammer having been activated for the entire night.

An hour later, Ben was tiredly lying on the heavily panting body of his naked lover, waiting for his stamina to recover. Despite his heavy weight, her seemingly thin frame had no trouble holding him, and since it was a position that they both enjoyed, he did not try to move from there.

As the two were appreciating each other's warmth, May commented in his ear. “I'm still amazed at how much sex we've been having these last few days. And what's crazy is that I still unconsciously want more... Your Perk is really messing up with my mind and body, honey.” “You don't like it?” He replied, curious.

Stroking his back with her delicate fingers, she responded. “Of course, I like it. The pleasure is so... addicting! Much better than before if you ask me. No offense intended.” Chuckling briefly, he replied. “None taken. It's something we can both agree on.” Pausing for a second, he added as an afterthought. “I'm glad we get stronger out of it though. Or I might feel a bit guilty about indulging in it so much.”

“Mmmhh! I get the feeling. The first time we did it after you got your Perks, I felt like I was turning insane with pleasure. Who'd have thought that I'd say that one day...” The last words were said in a mischievous tone, which was intended to tease him. And as intended the man replied, slightly irritated. “Oh come on, Belle! It wasn't THAT bad before.”

In a 'comforting' voice, she replied, still caressing his back. “Of course, you're right, Honey. You've always been amazing in bed. The best in the world, in fact. So good that...” “Alright, alright! I get it. You don't have to continue making fun of me. Women, I swear.” He mumbled the last sentence, helpless.

Giggling for a moment, the alluring woman under him retorted back. “Men have such fragile egos.” Rolling his eyes at her comment, he felt his body had recovered enough for him to be able to go take a shower. He thus, swiftly extracted his shaft from her warm inside, eliciting a sensual moan from May and himself, the former tickling his heart but not being enough for him to resume their previous activities.

Standing up quickly, he grabbed a few clothes while she asked playfully. “Are you running away?” Freezing for a second, he then turned toward her slowly and declared 'genuinely'. “It's called 'strategic retreat', Belle. Nothing to be ashamed of.” Before chuckling for a moment, quickly joined by the naked woman lying on their shared bed.

After his laugh died down, he declared. “I'll be taking a quick shower before going to the Arena downstairs.” Cocking her brow, she asked with some disbelief. “You're about to break through already?” Nodding his head, his face sported a pleased expression as he replied. “Yep! You know you're also about to advance, right?”

“Uh?” She speechlessly retorted before exclaiming excitedly. “You're right! I didn't even notice before!” The woman then quickly stood up before mirroring his action of picking up her clothes. She then quickly pushed him toward the shower as he claimed amusedly. “That's because you were too busy earlier.”

As the two kept bantering with each other, they quickly finished washing up before putting on their clothes and moving to the Arena under the house. Once they reached the closed-off room, they separated, with Ben sitting cross-legged with his eyes shut on one side while May started following the Basic Technique's instructions.

As the two were close enough to each other, a resonance happened, increasing the efficiency of their cultivation by around two times if what Ben felt was correct. And that was on top of him having a Low Heaven Rank affinity... 'Foundational Perks are truly the best!' He thought before shoving the thought aside and focusing on the chain links blocking him from reaching the next Level.

Similarly to the previous time, his Inner Energy was so pure that he only had to relax his hold on it for it to start pressuring the barrier until it crumbled under the weight. A few short minutes later, the Link vanished completely, triggering a transformation inside his body and activating a reaction from the Universal Energy around him.

A bigger whirlpool of Energy appeared this time, all absorbed by his body, Inner Core, and Mind Palace, refining and compressing them again and again to make his entire being much stronger than he was previously. As the breakthrough ended, his aura flared up uncontrollably before he swiftly reined it in.

Fortunately, he spared a bit of his inner energy to protect his clothes from disintegrating, avoiding the embarrassing situation of him ending up completely naked. Letting out a sigh of relief, he started using his Divine Sense to check the changes his being went through.

'From what I can feel, I should be physically stronger than Natalia, even if she's at the Peak Third Level and I'm only at the Low Third Level. It's probably due to the purity of my energy which helped refine my body more thoroughly for each Level. Does that mean I can beat an average Sixth-level cultivator now?'

Pondering for a few seconds, the man added. 'No, I guess not. After all, I don't really have any other means of attack besides physical fighting... I really need to check those spells in the Holo's database. I also need a good range weapon. A good armor would be great too... So much to do and so little time!' He felt a bit overwhelmed by everything he needed to prepare to feel 'safe'.

He knew that with his Cultivation increasing like a rocket, those Ten Rings people trying to get rid of him would definitely be taken by surprise, but he still felt worried. This mostly came from the fact that he had no concrete information on those people's numbers and strengths.

'It's only been a few days since Nat started her investigation, so it's not that surprising... I'll just do my best to power up as quickly as I can and I'll deal with what they'll throw at me.' He decided before moving his attention to his wife who finished breaking through around the same time as him. Unlike what he thought, the petite brunette directly reached the Mid-Eighth Level, instead of the Low-Eighth Level he expected before they started to advance, surprising him slightly.

'If we keep up that speed, we'll become Gods in only a few months.' He thought, amused. Of course, he was aware that it was a pipe dream. After all, the higher you go the longer it took, and even with his perks, it would take a long time before reaching that point. Shoving that thought aside, he decided to stand up and wait beside May for her to finish examining her own strength.

A few seconds later, her eyes fluttered open, and a smile appeared on her face despite her apparent confusion. Turning her gaze toward him, she stated, confused. “I've broken through Mid-Eighth Level, Honey. I...” The speechless look on her face elicited a few chuckles from him before he explained.

“It's actually my fault. Or you could say it's 'thanks to me', I guess.” The charming woman had an interested look on her face but chose not to interrupt him. “It's because of my breakthrough. You can't feel it yet, but when I advance, it triggers a whirlpool of energy that automatically 'upgrades' my whole being. And since you were in a similar state of breakthrough, and your body needs a lot less energy, it used a small part of the energy gathered around for its own benefit.”

Pausing for a second, he added. “At least, that's what I felt with my Divine Sense.” The petite brunette had a pondering look on her face before she commented. “So, it'd be better if we broke through at the same time, then... What about the others?” Scratching his beard absentmindedly, he replied. “I'm not sure. And keep in mind that not only is your cultivation lower than mine, but we're also soul-bonded. Especially the latter. You may not have noticed, but I emitted a wave of Aura at the end that could have hurt the kids if they were hit by it. There's also the risk of lacking energy for the upgrade. Although that last point may be a non-problem with the abundance of Universal Energy around our place...”

Nodding her head, May remarked. “I get it. We can have the weaker ones stay outside the Arena to test if the energy can help them advance their level. And for Andrew and Marco, it may be better to wait for you to advance to the Mid Novice Rank before trying anything.” Ben nodded and replied.

“We can do that. It won't take me more than a few days to reach the Fourth Level anyway. We can try it at that time.” As the two walked back toward the lobby, the silver-eyed man declared. “You can go eat breakfast without me, Love. I'll study a bit.” Cocking her brow, she asked. “You seem worried about something. I can feel it through the bond.”

“Mmhh! You know how I like to be prepared for most things, right? Well, despite advancing in levels so quickly, I feel completely underprepared. I mean, I've got the physical power, but if I can't hit my target or if they aim for the people close to me, then I'd be powerless to do anything. And that's something I can't accept.”

May stared at him for a few seconds before letting out a helpless sigh and hugging him tightly. As he returned the hug, feeling confused, she claimed. “Don't bear everything on your shoulders, Honey. Me and Madeline aren't damsels in distress. At least, not anymore. I know we're not as strong as you but with your Perks, we'll both catch up quickly and then be useful.”

Her words elicited a tired sigh from the muscular man before he remarked softly. “I just don't want any of you to get hurt...” Rubbing her face against his torso tenderly, she responded in a similar tone. “Do you think we like it when we see you get hurt?” Her question made him fully realize that the way he had been acting was very selfish, prompting him to whisper while his arms squeezed her body a bit tighter.

“I'm just scared... What if something happened to any of you?... You're all too important...” Feeling her squeeze his body back, she declared firmly. “That's why you need to trust us more. We need thorough training so that we won't be a burden to you. Also, you need to bond with Madeline quickly. That way, we'll all be safer.” Pausing for a second, she added. “The time when you had to shoulder everything is over. From now on, we'll be by your side helping you shoulder all of it.”

The two stayed silent for a while before Ben claimed with some mixed emotions in his voice. “Alright. I'll be counting on the two of you then.”