In the world of cultivation, there are 9 stages. The journey begins at the Beyond Mortal stage, where cultivators first opened their sea core, and it ends at the exalted Stage Nine. The lower cultivation realm consists of the first three stages, each having six transformations.

As night falls, the noisy streets of Tetra Blessing City grow even noisier.

Inside an inn, Sa Min closed his eyes and focused his mind, not too much, though; he still needed to keep an ear out for anything happening at the Wing residence.

With his inner sight, he began to survey his new sea core.

It was surrounded by a rough, rugged sky-blue layer—the sea core wall that 1st-transformation Beyond Mortal cultivators with a 1-star aptitude possessed. This hard wall was naturally more difficult to refine and strengthen compared to the walls of those with higher aptitude.

Indeed, the better the aptitude, the less rigid the sea core, providing a significant advantage in cultivation. This was one of the key differences among the 6 aptitudes.

On the upper part of the sea core wall, he could see two tiny round black marks—his only two meridians besides the Prime Meridian that run through the Force Gate. Unfortunately, both of these meridians were still blocked.

Within the sea core, there was a large sea sphere composed of Sa Min's unique pure force. Its sky-blue surface was as smooth as glass, sparkling with traces of his White Essence Marks.

This was the Sky-blue Pure-Sea the 1st-transformation provided.

This sea sphere remained separated from the core’s wall, creating a gap between them. It appeared to be floating amidst the sea core, as though suspended by a mysterious force.

Slowly, the sea sphere drifted to the right, with waves rising and falling on its surface. With a single thought, Sa Min called forth the Volcanic Black Rock Ka, watching as it burst forth from the depths of the sea sphere, breaking the surface like a fish leaping from the ocean.

Sa Min let out a long sigh. I need to buy it another two large bottles of Soul Liquor.

It wasn’t urgent—this wasn’t his Borned Ka, the Ka tied directly to his life force. Only a cultivator’s Borned Ka could affect their mental and physical state. Non-Borned Kas, on the other hand, merely experienced a decline in energy if they weren’t fed on time.

This decline would weaken the power of their Yantra, depending on how much energy was lost.

Still, it wasn’t good practice to neglect feeding them, even if they weren’t your Borned Ka or you didn’t yet possess their corresponding Yantra. When a Ka was not fed consistently, it could begin to resent its wielder—a dangerous risk no cultivator wanted to face.

As mysterious as they were, Natural Kas were not merely tools.

And if left unfed for more than a month, they would wither and die, that’s for rank 1 Natural Kas.

Fortunately, Sa Min wasn’t short on force apples. The stockpile he had accumulated over the past five years would finally come into use.

Still, he knew he needed to be cautious about not overconsuming them; they certainly weren’t enough, especially with the resources he planned to purchase once he opened his essence core.

Force apples, after all, weren’t just a form of currency in the cultivation world—they were far more essential than that.

Letting out another sigh, Sa Min shifted his attention to the bottom center point of his sea core.

There a larger pitch-black mark marred the wall. Like the meridians above, it wasn’t supposed to be black; it was meant to be open, allowing pure force to flow down to the essence core.

This blockage was what prevented Sa Min from accessing his essence core, and shattering it had to be his first priority before even thinking about strengthening the sea core wall.

Sa Min took a deep breath—one, then another. He balled his hands into tight fists, steeling himself. And with a determined grimace, he began to channel his sea force.

Immediately, at the bottom of the sea sphere, a portion of pure force stirred, emerging and shifting toward the black blockage. Sa Min’s fists tightened, and his body stiffened, shaking under the strain.

It felt like a scrawny man with 100 catty trying to move a boulder that weighed 500 catty.

With immense effort, Sa Min kept dragging that portion of pure force until he splashed it against the bottom of the sea core wall. Unfortunately, half of it missed the black blockage entirely.

He paused, gasping for some breaths, beads of sweat already glistening on his bare skin.

The sea sphere had diminished in size—the pure force had decreased by 5%—but the portion he had channeled didn’t seem to inflict any real damage on the blockage.

This time, curious about the limits of his Ba after such a long time, Sa Min attempted to channel three portions of pure force simultaneously. Gritting his teeth, he focused intently. But just before the three portions could leave the sea sphere, he felt a tremendous pressure building in his mind and released his grip, giving up. It felt as though his Ba might explode if he pushed any further.

The three portions of pure force returned to the sea sphere as if drawn back by a magnet.

I think I should stick to smaller portions for now, he thought, his breathing becoming heavy as sweat trickled down his body.

Stolen novel; please report.

He needed a moment to rest, so he paused, uncrossing his legs to allow the air to flow in.

This was the Bas strength that Hu Guo had spoken about this morning. Sa Min felt her explanation of its importance was unnecessary—some things were simply understood without needing elaboration.

Advancing in transformations and stages meant channeling pure force to strengthen the sea core wall. Doing so would automatically strengthen the Ba. It was as simple as that.

Think of it this way: advancing in rank is like pushing a 500-cattie boulder up a mountain. At first, your skinny 100-cattie body struggles, but as you endure that struggle, your body grows stronger. Eventually, you could move that boulder with ease.

But once you reach the top, a heavier boulder waits, demanding even more effort and suffering to climb to a higher peak, further strengthening your body, and the cycle continues.

That is how cultivation works. Cultivators need to strengthen their sea-core to advance, and in doing so, their Ba would naturally suffer and so, strengthen.

Eventually, their Ba would grow strong enough to manipulate pure force effortlessly. However, when they moved to a higher transformation or stage, a denser and more powerful pure force would require their Ba to endure suffering once more, strengthening it yet again.

Those born with a stronger Ba merely enjoyed a temporary advantage that wouldn’t last long.

If I can get my hands on that Spherical Coin the academy offers to whoever opens their essence core first, Sa Min thought, opening his eyes slightly to check on the Qin residence before closing them again. I can strengthen my Ba faster, which will help me cultivate more easily.

But Sa Min only sneered inwardly as he resumed manipulating his sea force. He knew he had little chance of obtaining it. The only way to get this valuable item was by gathering enough merits from taking on the academy's missions and completing them, which would take years.

The air in the room became increasingly stinky

With extreme difficulty, Sa Min continued in channeling his pure force, watching as his sea sphere dwindled. No significant damage had been inflicted on the black blockage, but he wasn’t surprised; he knew this process would take time.

With his 1-star aptitude, a single open meridian, and a weak Ba, Sa Min estimated it would take at least two months—if not longer—to open his essence core.

Minutes slipped away, and his complexion turned ghostly pale. His Ba screamed at him to stop, as did his weary body. He stank, completely drained. That was probably enough for today. But… who was Sa Min again?

I must strengthen my Ba to 5Q before I stop, he urged himself, huffing and puffing.

Just like physical strength, a Ba could be measured, with a unit called 'Q,' determined using an item known as the Mind Stone.

To effortlessly control the sky-blue pure force, a cultivator’s Ba needed to reach 25Q.

Sa Min didn’t need a Mind Stone to know his Ba barely sat at a 3Q.

About two hours later, he paused, leaning on his knees to catch his breath before finally standing upright. The sea sphere in his sea core had shrunk to 4%. 96% of his pure force had been used.

There are two methods for cultivators to replenish their pure force.

The first was the natural method, which cost nothing—absorbing the world's force through the meridians. Unfortunately for Sa Min, with his 1-star aptitude, it would take approximately eight hours for his sea core to be fully replenished.

And that's without mentioning the fact that only one of his three meridians was currently open, meaning it would take even longer.

A cultivator’s absorption speed depended primarily on their aptitude, along with the density of the world’s force around them. The more talented they were, the more meridians they possessed and the higher their quality.

This allowed them to refill their sea sphere back up to 100%.much faster.

The second method was by absorbing force apples.

Sa Min, head throbbing, wiped his sweat-soaked body with the towel his servant had brought him. He then walked to the bed, retrieved a force apple from a pouch in his robe, and returned to his chair.

For most cultivators, using force apples to replenish their sea sphere—something that could naturally refill by simply absorbing the world’s force—was seen as wasteful. This was especially true given that force apples could be used to purchase valuable items essential to their cultivation.

But for Sa Min…

With only one meridian open, absorbing the world’s force would be a waste of time, Sa Min thought. Without hesitation, he placed the force apple at his force gate and closed his eyes.

This was his way. He wasn’t a spendthrift by any means, but he hadn’t accumulated all these force apples over the years just to hoard them for an uncertain future need when he needed them right now.

They would eventually be used up, and he would have to gather more anyway, so why be miserly?

The force apple trembled in his hand, and with a refreshingly cool sensation, the primal force condensed in it began to flow into his sea core. At the same time, he could see the sea sphere start to grow and expand.

With only one meridian open and his low aptitude, he knew it would take some minutes to fully replenish his sea sphere. Determined not to waste any time, he attempted to direct his pure force toward the black blockage while simultaneously absorbing the force apple.

Time had passed, and there had been no change in either the black blockage or the strength of his Ba. While this wasn’t surprising, a weary sigh escaped Sa Min’s lips as he paused to catch his breath.

It’d be a lot more helpful if I could just get my hands on that Spherical Coin, Sa Min thought, leaning back in his damp chair. But compared to Sa Juan, Sa Wen, and Ta Chen, their aptitudes are far superior, which means their black blockages are easier to shatter.

Not to mention their Ba strength.

While Sa Min might have an edge over Sa Wen regarding Ba strength and the advantage of not facing the monthly weakness that women dealt with, he knew there was still no way he could secure that Spherical Coin.

He understood this all too well, which was why he wasn’t in a rush to cultivate like the others. He even considered opening the remaining two meridians before going for his essence core.

If he had to guess who might take that reward, it would probably be one of them—Ta Chen, Sa Juan, Sa Wen, Duo Jinhaior or Wing Lian. It was tough to say for sure. Sa Juan had the best aptitude, but her Ba was weaker compared to Ta Chen’s. Sa Wen and Duo Jinhai had the weakest Ba, but being men without Seed Cores gave them some advantage.

It was truly hard to say for certain, as many variables were at play.

One thing was certain, though: all of them had wealthy families backing them.

As for Wing Lian…

Sa Min leaned forward, squinting at the courtyard of the Wing residence.

A young guy with disheveled hair had just come out of a room and was heading toward the main hall—it was Wing Lian.

Sa Min wasn’t sure know his Ba's strength since he hadn’t practiced in the class this morning, but even if it was weak like his own or Sa Wen's, Wing Lian still had a chance of claiming that reward.