"Everything that exists, whether visible or invisible, touchable or untouchable, material or ethereal, living or lifeless, valueless or invaluable...has a formal form with some common and some unique attributes.

These forms of all that exist can be found in the astral world, and thus these forms are called the astral projections."

Kong Ye's definition of the astral world was easy to understand, but the implication it carried caused a few mini-explosion of ideas inside Han Xuhan's head. Sadly, he had to push down the immense urge to entertain those ideas, as the lesson had just begun and he could not afford to miss out on a single word.

"The astral world itself cannot be categorized as entirely separate from the real world. Simply said, the human mind, so long as it is confined by its mortality, isn't powerful enough to comprehend the concept of overlapping universes. To us, our world is normal, easy to live in, and a model example of a life-bearing atmosphere. I don't think I need to explain why that impression is but a mere illusion we grow up with.

It is true that we have evolved to survive in this universe, and cultivation can enhance our body and mind to such a degree that it allows us to explore the other universes as well, a prime example of which is the astral world. In a sense, cultivation is the ultimate system of evolution, artificial in nature, yet approved of by nature."

Questions instantly rose in Han Xuhan's mind. Twitching for a second, he raised a hand, hesitant.

Kong Ye sent him a dismal look before nodding.

"How many other universes are out there other than the astral world? Your wording did imply there are a few that you know of..."

From the corner of his eye, he saw Yuen Zhou, who had been sitting in a relaxed pose for so long, suddenly lean forward subtly.

Kong Ye silently stroked his chin for a few seconds before replying with a surprising number.

"There are three that I know of. And I'm sure the real number is way more than that. Calling all of them universes would be somewhat erroneous. You can classify these alien territories into two categories. One is mostly habitable for us, and we call the worlds that fit into this category 'Macrocosms of Man'.

"The other category is uninhabitable unless we mutate our physique, soul, or even mind to fit into the rules and lifestyles that can allow us to thrive there. These are labeled as 'Totalities'.

"Other than the astral world, which is obviously a Totality, both the other universes I know of are Macrocosms where humans...humanoids rule."

It was fascinating. His imagination conjured up scene after scene of epic scale, where galaxies after galaxies whirled in a pool of fissures, alien existences coming into touch with one another as they broke past their weak, mortal shells and traveled through the sea of stars.

"But that's none of your concern, don't lose focus on your prime objective, disciples." Kong Ye's admonishment brought him back to the real world.

"The reason why the astral realm interests cultivators is its uniqueness," Kong Ye began once more, his eyes shifting toward Mu Ran not so subtly, an action repeated by his other three disciples.

"The astral world transcends the concept of space. No matter how many stars away your objective lies, so long as you can pinpoint its location in the astral world, you can reach it in an instant."

"Whooaaa!" Xiao Wu's exclamation was sincere.

"No wonder!" Mu Ran's remark sounded enlightened.

"Isn't that too...unrealistic? I mean, everyone would be rushing to cultivate astral techniques if that was so simple..."

"Correct!" Kong Ye pointed at Xuhan, satisfied by his observation. "To be exact, you can close that distance in the astral world only. So what you'll find upon reaching the location of your objective is not the person, or the object itself, but its astral projection."

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"What happens if we destroy the astral projection of someone?" Mu Ran asked.

"Why would you want to do that? And how do you want to do that?" Kong Ye asked, his tone somewhat playful.

"I mean, if it's my enemy, better to wipe out all of their traces from all known worlds, right?" Mu Ran answered with a shrug.

"And that's where you're mistaken, disciple. If destroying an astral projection was so simple as conceiving the notion of destroying it, the astral realm would not be known for housing the projections of all existing matter in all universes connected to it." Kong Ye finished his rebuttal with a supercilious laugh.

"Only two outcomes are possible in a clash between the astral projections of two parties. If there is a big difference of power between the parties, one side will completely devour the other side and make the loser's astral projection a part of the winner's projection, thus evolving and mutating its original self; if the clashing parties are nearly equal in terms of power, one projection shall enslave the other and gain the power to control it through a lengthy period of struggle.

In the end, whoever wins may not be the ultimate profiteer. Why, you ask? To comprehend the answer, you must learn the basics of astral cultivation, first and foremost. Now, let us begin with the first form of the technique I shall be teaching you– THE TENACIOUS TENTACLE!"

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"Papa, what's a tentacle?"

". . ."

"The Tenacious Tentacle is the form concerning itself with divination, clairvoyance, and karma. It focuses on the more ethereal aspects of cultivation," Kong Ye explained, ignoring the skeptical look his four disciples and three undead minions were sending in his direction.

"Yuen Zhou, you shall pursue the perfection of this form."

Yuen Zhou sucked in a short breath. "Pursue its perfection? Are you telling me that this is an untested cultivation technique?"

Kong Ye nodded slowly, an odd smirk surfacing on his face.

This time, all four disciples collectively gasped.

A technique that had yet to undergo a heavenly tribulation! The dangers and uncertainty associated with it were too extreme!

"I'll display the basic qi circulation for the technique at first, upon mastering which I shall teach you how to sprout your first tentacle."

"....Okay."

The four of them watched with rapt attention as Kong Ye moved his hands in the air gracefully, blueish strings of qi spilling forth from his open palms, spreading out in front of them to create a human-sized silhouette.

Crisscrossing through the silhouette were dozens of bright blue lines, the pulsing movement in them making them appear alive with power.

"Wow! Can I eat it?" Little Zhe raised a question that went unanswered.

Han Xuhan easily recognized what it was, a three-dimensional meridian map. However, why did it look a degree off for some reason? Some details did not add up at all...

"This, Yuen Zhou, is YOUR meridian map."

Casually dropping the bomb, Kong Ye smiled victoriously. Han Xuhan snuck a look at Yuen Zhou and she did not look pleased, a frosty expression spreading over her face.

He glanced at Mu Ran and noticed the alarm growing in his eyes.

It did feel like an invasion of privacy...

Perhaps Kong Ye had realized that as well because he immediately redirected the conversation.

"Watch closely. This is how you must direct your qi to cultivate the first form of the technique." Looming over the silhouette made up of his qi, Kong Ye began manipulating a new stream of qi.

"Uhm, master, I get that the first form is called the Tenacious Tentacle, but what is the technique itself called? You haven't told the name of the scripture yet," Han Xuhan said tentatively.

"You're not ready to appreciate the title of the scripture, yet, disciples," Kong Ye said, not sparing him a single glance.

The first step was absorption. Kong Ye made the new qi enter the body of the silhouette and guided it into the bright, pulsing lines throughout the body.

"Unlike when you cultivate conventional techniques, this compound scripture cannot be cultivated by simply absorbing qi without a strategy. You need to create origin points inside the meridians where the absorbed qi will be gathered and compressed temporarily."

In each meridian, Kong Ye chose a single region to amass a small amount of qi. But what surprised Han Xuhan the most was the fact that Kong Ye chose ten origin points in ten different meridians and amassed qi in all ten of them at the same time without a single break in his control over the qi.

At the same time, the entire silhouette too was made up of the qi he was in control of!

Was this still something humanely possible?

Twelve-fold allotment of mental power!

Under his wide-eyed gaze, Kong Ye finished his work in the span of a few breaths and stopped.

"Of course, you do not need to copy my steps fully as of now. You can choose a single origin point and amass as much qi as possible inside it. Be careful about the size of the origin point, though. If it is larger than what I'm showing you, your meridians will burst when you execute any techniques using the tentacles.

In each layer, you'll fully concentrate on one origin point, from where you'll sprout a single tentacle. Ten layers, ten tentacles, and you're set for the heavenly tribulation to the next realm."

"Master, when you say we're going to sprout ten tentacles...does that mean we will be turning into some sort of a tentacle monster?" Xiao Wu asked weakly. The rest of the disciples shared the same sentiment.

"....You will not be sprouting them physically, but spiritually. The tentacles will be a part of you in the astral world."

"So they will be useless in this world?" Mu Ran enquired anxiously.

"Not exactly. Remember what I said about overlapping universes? The Astral Totality and our macrocosm overlap each other. Using the tentacles on an opponent's astral projection will have its effects on our world as well. For example, my calculations tell me that using the Tenacious Tentacle on somebody may empower you to predict his actions. The performance of the technique depends on the execution by its practitioner. As I've explained, the Tenacious Tentacle form focuses on ethereal aspects like karma, divination and clairvoyance. What you'll end up with is hard to say for sure since this will be the first time anyone cultivates the technique."

The disciples and minions shared worried looks at each other for a brief moment.

"That's a lot of uncertainty in a single description." Yuen Zhou cracked her knuckles, eyes narrowed.

"But thank you for your teaching, master. I'll be cultivating this form to the perfection as you wish."