Michael spent a long time deciding on his plan for future action. As he was going to live again in the same time as the past, he naturally had a few advantages. He did have some knowledge of the future though it would not necessarily be reliable. Another advantage that he had was naturally his persona which was already developed. Also, he had the knowledge of the best cultivation manuals available throughout the plane which would give him an early start. In his previous life, Michael never really put any effort in cultivating as he had formidable powers from birth. But this did not mean that he had never cultivated at all. As he was hailed as the child of the plane, he naturally had access to powerful cultivation manuals from throughout Aterna. As Michael remembered his past life, he again felt boundless regret. If he had such a foundation in this life, he would already be half of the distance of the long journey. But the regret re-enforced his will to become more and more powerful.
Michael's current soul was naturally a mortal soul. In the plane of Aterna, there were six major stages of cultivation in both body and soul. The six steps of soul cultivation were:
1. Mortal Soul - The lowest stage. People would have to build up their soul energy in this stage to fill their soul with energy. They would keep on compressing the energy in their soul to start a metamorphosis.
2. Viscous Soul - After the metamorphosis of a mortal soul, the soul cultivator obtained a soul filled with dense, jelly-like soul energy. This was a viscous soul.
3. Solid Soul - If a viscous soul was compressed with more energy, it would ultimately solidify to form a core. This stage was known as a solid soul.
4. Sublime Soul - Under pressure, the core of soul energy would sublime and merge permanently with the soul itself strengthening it by manyfold. This stage was called as the sublime soul.
5. Perfect Soul - After one obtained a sublime soul, one would have to remove the impurities in their soul absorbed in the process of cultivation. This would finally lead to the purest and perfect form of soul known as the perfect soul.
6. Immortal Soul - After obtaining a perfect soul, one would try to distil the laws of a plane or the cosmos to generate immortal energy in their soul - this stage known as immortal soul. This was the type of soul Michael had in his previous life.
Soul cultivation was not very popular in Aterna. Thus, even the greatest experts did not have an immortal soul. Thus, Michael was truly a child of destiny to have obtained such a powerful asset from his birth. But in this life, he did not have such luck. Thus, Michael decided to start cultivating his soul from the womb itself. For soul cultivation, he decided to follow the Styx Soul Incarnation Scripture. While he knew many soul cultivation methods, this method would provide him with the most resilient and dense soul cultivation. The manual claimed that after sublimation, the soul would be strong enough to become an incarnation of mythical river Styx that could destroy the soul of any being. In fact, with this cultivation method, at the sublime soul stage, he would be able to fight even immortal soul stage experts. The only drawback of the technique was that cultivating it was extremely painful as one would convert one's soul to the Styx incarnation. This was definitely a heretical cultivation method that almost no one dared to follow. But Michael did not fear such pain! The torture of devils had already forged his will to be unbreakable. Thus, he made his choice easily and began cultivating. As for body cultivation, he would only start after he was 3 years of age so that his skeletal structure finished its primary development.
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As Michael started cultivating the Styx Soul Incarnation Scripture's mortal chapter, he found that the mortal chapter was divided into 10 levels. At the end of the 10th level, one could start to morph their soul into a viscous soul. As Michael easily bore through the pain, the time continued to pass.
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The Rageberg mansion was currently holding a celebration of a grand order. Madam Rageberg had entered the final stages of her pregnancy as was expecting to give birth in under a month. In all of Aterna, at the birth of a baby, a ceremony would be performed by a priest that would call down the laws of the plane to provide a blessing to the newborn. This blessing would then become a part of the child's strength and would become part of the child's life. Blessings came in many forms. Some of them increased the intelligence of children, some increased strength while others increased energy affinity. The blessing ceremony was a celebrated event in all households. As the preparations for the ceremony were underway, invitations were sent to the other nobles and royals of the kingdom of Atrexia. The Rageberg family were influential in the kingdom as was evident from their nobility. Thus, they naturally needed to hold a big blessing ceremony for the new heir. As envoys from various noble families started arriving, the political tension started increasing as well.
The Rageberg family had two heirs already, and both were quite talented. The son of the family was Leonor Rageberg, already 30 years old and a well-established man in his own right. His body cultivation had already reached the emperor realm and he was not very far from igniting his vital force and reaching the saint realm. He had the blessing of defence, very useful in his military career. The daughter of the family was younger than Leonor by 5 years and was named as Tresline Rageberg. Her body cultivation was only in the initial stages of King realm, but no one would consider her any less talented. She had the blessing of illusion affinity which had opened her path for soul cultivation. She was reputed to be very talented but others did not know her realm. In truth, Tresline had reached the viscous soul realm in soul cultivation as well, though she was only in the initial stages. Along with her mysterious soul arts, she could be considered an expert in the current Atrexia kingdom.
In such a situation, if the newborn of the Rageberg family obtained a formidable blessing, it could lead to the Ragebergs gaining even more momentum. As such, lots of people even outside the kingdom were interested in the results of the ceremony. The envoys from various territories kept arriving to witness the blessing ceremony of the new child of Rageberg family, Michael Rageberg.
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As Michael was constantly cultivating, his soul became more and more formidable. Thus, he was easily able to suggest his original name, Michael, to his mother through hypnotic arts. He did not wish to lose his name, as this would be difficult to adapt to. As his body developed, Michael knew that the day of his birth was closing by. He was also looking forward to his blessing ceremony. He wished to obtain some powerful blessing that would support him in the future battle against the devils. But he did not put it in his heart. Even if he did not receive a strong or useful blessing, he would still accumulate sufficient power before the invasion through his own efforts. This was what he truly believed in. Through his constant cultivation over the year, he had already reached the 7th level of the mortal chapter of his soul cultivation. Along with his expertise in soul arts, he could probably face his sister evenly in a soul battle. After all, his cultivation technique provided the greatest strength to the soul. As the days were passing, Michael was also waiting to be born and obtain his blessing so that he could decide his further actions.