Now that everything immediate was out of the way, Nicolai began the process he knew would consume him for the next few days.

Leaving from his Heart Node, the Yin-Yang Rotation Symbiote swam up his chest and down his arm, entering into his Hand Node. Pale mist puffed out from his palm and coalesced into the Symbiote.

It was a pair of worms. One black, one white, twisted around one another in a knot, constantly shifting. They floated on a bed of mist, nestled in his palm. Their strange motion gave a sense they were rotation, and it drew and held his gaze. Shifting, sliding, sibilant. He broke the odd pull with a shake of his head.

Activating the Symbiote, it began to shimmer and twist, the writhing and "rotating" motion of the conjoined worms intensifying.

This Symbiote was a little unusual in its activation. It was meant to be used via a hand Node, but it shouldn't be activated while physically inside the Node. It had to held in one's palm, as he now held it.

The Yin-Yang Rotation Symbiote was hungry, very hungry. It gradually consumed all the Oma he was able to send to it, and his hand reached automatically for a nearby bag of crystals.

But suddenly Nicolai stopped the process, cutting off the flow of Oma. The Symbiote returned to its normal slow winding, and after a moment it dissipated into mist that filtered back into his palm and the Node within.

He looked around, grimacing. The Aura around him was full of ripples, bouncing off the walls, filtering through cracks and stone. This Symbiote released strong Aura ripples, very strong. His intention was to spend days sat here, using it unceasingly. But now he knew how strong its ripples were, he realised that wasn't possible.

It was too risky. These ripples could travel a long way. If they were just occasional, random ripples, he wouldn't be concerned; from his time travelling in the jungle, he knew it was common to randomly detect the echoes of powerful ripples, and very difficult to determine what had generated them if it was just the one. But a consistent pulse of powerful ripples would draw Cultivators like flies. If he wanted to use this Symbiote, he'd have to go elsewhere or work out a way to deal with the ripples.

Activating his Big Mouth Storage and reaching within, Nicolai pulled out all the Memory Discs he'd yet to utilise. They put quite a strain on his Soul, so he had to use them bit by bit, not all at once. After searching through them, he found what he was looking for.

A Memory Disc relating to Aura ripples, one of the areas of interest he'd inquired about. Pinching the disc between finger and thumb, a little spiritual pressure caused it to burst into green sparks of energy that dug into his skin and from there into his Soul.

The information flowed through his mind in a stream, and he closed his eyes to absorb it. He learned of numerous Symbiotes that could nullifying ripples in a nearby area, and others that allowed one to better sense them.

Alongside that, he learned of a more immediate solution.

A Ritual that would allow him to create what was known as a "dark room." A room with ritual scrawlings over the wall, that would absorb and reflect Aura ripples. As always, the writing had to be very precise.

One could even go further, reinforcing the ritual scrawlings numerous times to enhance the effect. According to the Memory Disc, once reinforced enough this also worked as an effective blocker against any method utilising Aura ripples to locate something, which according to the Disc was quite common. Thinking on that, he realised he had one such himself. The Treasure Finder sent out powerful ripples when searching.

He could create a room like that, but it would take time. The larger the room, the longer it would take. Thinking on the matter, he felt it would be best to eventually make his entire base a dark room, completely proof the walls everywhere against ripples and heavily reinforce them. He doubted he was the only one with a Treasure Finder, which he knew to be extraordinarily capable of finding whatever one wished. Including—perhaps—specific people (though he suspected one would have to be able to mimic, to a degree, someone's spiritual signature to properly instruct the Treasure Finder to detect them in this manner, based on how it seemed to work). That in mind, turning his entire base into a dark room was the only way to ensure his safety. But for now, he'd have to start small and in the meantime limit any activities that caused ripples.

Following his mental commands, one of the mining bots trundled over to him, and Nicolai stepped out of its way, giving it a clear path to the patch of wall he'd decided on. Simultaneously, the Assembler started to clatter as one of its bays set to work

While he waited, he busied himself gradually absorbing a few more of the Memory Discs. It only took twenty minutes for the mining bot to carve out a hole slightly larger than Nicolai (when sitting cross legged) was. Meanwhile, the Assembler had finished the creation of a solid metal door.

A construction bot tidied up the closet, first affixing metal sheeting made in the Assembler to the walls, floor, and ceiling, then it began inscribing the rituals onto them while another one did the same to the door. This would once have been a difficult task for him, but now he had Simulations on board, and the Module had a good understanding of Rituals, it was able to manage the task. Soon all was finished the door was installed, and Nicolai ensured there were no gaps.

If there were gaps—even just tiny airholes—there would be a break in the seal and a way for the ripples to escape. Only very small ripples would escape, but any risk at all was too much risk. Nicolai felt sure he could come up with a solution to this, perhaps some kind of ritual-inscribed ventilation system, given time, and thus ensure an air supply.

For now, however, he wanted to get started and had a more immediate route available. His skinsuit, so long as he wore the helmet, had a respiratory system that held two hours worth of oxygen. Luckily for him, the Assembler also possessed the capability to refill the pressurised oxygen capsules when they ran empty, so in truth there was no need to bother creating a ventilation system.

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After filling a sack with crystals, taken from where he'd dumped the 4,000 he'd gained when trading the other Yin-Yang Rotation Symbiote, and grabbing one final item, a soft mat made in the Assembler, he hunkered down and crept into the cubby hole, setting the mat on the ground and sitting onto it cross-legged, the Oma crystals on his lap.

The mat was because he would be in here, unmoving, for some time, and Nicolai did not consider "strength" to come from subjecting his body to pointless discomfort and strain; sore glutes would only slow him down.

After closing the door and locking it to ensure it was perfectly sealed, he was in darkness. Or at least, a lack of light. Nicolai could see just fine with his Soul Sense, and if he wanted to he could make use of his skinsuit's mounted torches and thermal vision. He stuck with Soul Sense, using it to feel around himself, checking the walls of the stone box he'd created. Every surface was lined with ritual scrawlings, a singular perfect repeating pattern. Even the door fit in perfectly, the lines running along it appearing to move straight to the walls around it.

His Soul Sense felt at these walls, and he found them solid, not just physically but spiritually. It was difficult for his Soul Sense to push through, there was a barrier and one that was stronger and denser than normal matter. He could have pushed his Soul Sense through, though only with quite significant effort. While Cultivating that wasn't advisable in any case. His Soul Sense tendril would become a route for ripples to travel through the barrier.

He was fine with keeping it inside. He was connected to the Assembler (which had a few cameras on its outside) as well as the bots and drones out there. He needn't worry about opening the door to find a surprise waiting.

Once more, he focused on the Yin-Yang Rotation Symbiote. It settled into his palm and began to squirm as he fed Oma into it.

It took a solid hour. An hour of sitting there, gradually feeding Oma into it. By the time he was done, he'd burned through twenty crystals. Somewhat irritatingly, the ritual scrawlings on the walls had blocked fresh Aura from entering, and thus after some time he'd been unable to passively generate more Oma. This was another area he could improve upon—better ritual scrawlings, formed with precious materials, could form a one-way protection that would allow Aura to passively trickle in, while preventing ripples going out.

For now, it'd been worth it. Because orbiting the Symbiote was a little ball of light, a tiny spiritual sun. It was a Yin-Yang Rotation Orb. These were what was used to create Yin-Yang Rotation Pills and Incense sticks. Actually, those were just methods of converting these orbs into a more stable form. Extending the shelf-life. Interestingly, so far as he could tell the way to use these Rotation Orbs was to consume them, just like he would've with the pill form. From there his stomach Node would process them.

He activated a different trigger within the Yin-Yang Rotation Symbiote, and the Orb was pulled into it, the Symbiote shimmering a little brighter. It could hold ten at a time.

He briefly considered the efficiency of this method. If he were to do this out in the cave, and not in a lined box, he would be able to engage in active Cultivation to more rapidly draw Oma to himself. After a moment's thought he reached into his Big Mouth, feeling around for a moment until the Symbiotes workings pulled something from the back.

His hand emerged holding a statue of a turtle, which he Examined.

Quiet Turtle Statue

This statue is Imbued with a Quiet Turtle Symbiote, and is an aid to Cultivation. Once activated, it draws Aura towards itself, acting as a focus point for the Cultivator.

It had been a long time since he'd looked at this. Kleos had said it would be useful if here were to engage in "active Cultivation," which was when one used their Soul and Soul Sense to create a kind of spin in the Aura around them, while they acted as a vacuum within the spinning Aura. This would more rapidly draw Aura towards the Cultivator, and this statue focus would aid him in making the active Cultivation more effective.

If he were to do so while building his Nodes, he suspected he would be able to cut the expenditure of Oma crystals down significantly. Perhaps to fifteen, or even ten, per Node.

But actively Cultivating plus using the Symbiote would create ridiculously obvious ripples, so wasn't an option. Even if it weren't for the ripples, he knew that active Cultivation, as it drew Aura from increasingly far towards the central point of the Cultivator, would create kind of streams through the Aura which others would be able to notice.

If someone found these streams and eddies out in the jungle, they would be able to follow those to wherever air and Aura slid in through the cracks into the rocks. Any Cultivator with a brain would guess that someone had a hidden den inside, and was currently actively Cultivating.

Unthinkable. That was why he'd never actively Cultivated and thus never used the statue, in the first place. He tucked it back into the storage. The security and secrecy of his new home came first.

The other option was to dig his way out, then go into the jungle somewhere far from his home and do it there. He'd be able to save quite a few crystals. But he didn't think that a good idea, either. Not only would he be drawing everything toward him, but he would then also be out there in a much more vulnerable position, focusing on a Symbiote while siting there like some kind of giant blazing spiritual beacon in the open jungle. He'd barely have time to do any Cultivating before something tried to kill him.

He'd just have to soak the full cost. Twenty crystals per Orb. Fortunately, he could afford it. With all the crystals he'd gained from the Hao clan Primarch, he should be able to complete his entire system twice over. He supposed it was a little wasteful, but that didn't bother him. Once the mining bots got properly to work on the veins of Oma crystal in the wall he'd have his own automated Oma mine. With that he didn't anticipate any Oma problems for the forseeable future.

Decision made, he returned to the cubby and began the process of constructing a new Minor Node. He went for the Liver Node, which would be subsidiary to his Stomach Major Node.

The process went well and after not even half an hour, the liver minor Node was complete. The Small Silver Ant aided him in the construction process, smoothing it and allowing him to make the final product slightly better than it would otherwise be. He immediately turned his focus to the Yin-Yang Rotation Symbiote where it floated in his hand Node.

The two Orbs emerged from it into open air. He guided them to his mouth with Soul Sense and consumed them one by one. The Orbs reached his stomach where the Major Node worked on them, plying their energies, a spiritual furnace. From there energy moved through his Soul to his freshly built liver Node, and dove into it.

It only took a few minutes for the Orbs energies to be completely used, and just like that the minor Node was complete. He felt the same satisfying click through his Soul as always.

He smiled. Never had it been so quick and easy.

This would be his life for the next few days or weeks. He wasn't sure how long it would take exactly. Minor Nodes took around half-an-hour to construct. Major's would require more than an hour. Each Rotation Orb took almost exactly an hour, and he'd need two for each minor, six for each Major. Overall… quite a time investment. But far, far less time than it would take if he were to wait for the process to complete naturally.

He focused once more on the Yin-Yang Rotation Symbiote, and started creating a new Orb.

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