Seph popped the three strength pills he had after waking up, pushing his strength from 21 to 34. He felt like he was twice as strong, even though thinking about it, he realized it’s more like one and a half.
But that feeling of strength coursing through his muscles was exhilarating and empowering. He felt like he could do anything he put his mind to.
His teacher let him get it done without intervention, allowing him to embrace the feeling of his new strength, before he approached him again with the question he'd had in mind since he saw Seph meditating.
“Tell me, Seph, why haven’t you started cultivating yet? When I saw you meditating yesterday, I couldn’t help but notice you had enough Yin Energy to cultivate a few levels, but you've made zero progress so far. Why is that?”
Seph explained his predicament by saying, “Well, to get into this trial, a yin cultivator needed to have made no progress in cultivation. To guarantee that will remain to be the case for the largest number of cultivators they can gather, the yin cultivators' sect opted not to teach anyone anything. I saw before coming to this alchemy trial another cultivator who had progressed to Body Dismantling (III). Also, this trial’s prize is a body dismantling cultivation manual that guarantees perfect cultivation. I'd love to have perfect cultivation if I can finish this challenge.”
“I see, I see, you know nothing at all… Well, let me tell you this. There are some cultivation levels that you can do easily, because they are not as risky or complicated as certain levels which you would do better to use the perfect manual for. Tell me this, Seph, what do you think is the target of body dismantling cultivation?” Zhi understood him but asked a question to make his pupil think without someone putting thoughts in his head about what body dismantling might be about.
“I really don’t know. The name is ominous, though. Our bodies became weaker after turning, but through bolstering them with the yin energy, we could take a hit, move faster, lift bigger weights, do feats that even our mortal bodies couldn’t do. I hope the target isn’t to become a ghost like you,” Seph said tentatively.
Zhi said in a wounded voice, “Damned brat, that hurt! Anyway, body dismantling isn’t only dismantling; it’s also rebuilding the body. Basically, you dismantle the old body, and make a replica out of the yin energy you are cultivating, thus letting go of your falling apart body, and making a new one that will last you more years, until you bypass the original age you would have lived as a mortal. The potential is limitless. You must have noticed that your lifespan shortened considerably, right?”
“Yes, I am down to 30 years maximum now, to die within 12 years. I’ll probably have 11 only left if I spend the entire year I’m allowed to have in this trial. The cultivation sounds good, but also challenging. How can I start?” Seph said eagerly.
“Well, your energy has more potential for destruction than for building, so the dismantling part is easy. The reconstruction part is what’s going to be tricky. Basically, you need to know what you're building. The easiest level of this cultivation is skin cultivation. You have to dismantle your skin bit by bit and rebuild it before you move to the next step. It would probably take you 20 days to get this done, as it’s your first time, but the progress will be much faster for the next levels.” Zhi told him, while assuming his best mentor's voice.
"So, just work on my meditation, and visualize that I am dismantling my skin, and then try to rebuild it from the example piece I dismantled?” Seph asked.
“Yes, pretty much. I will give you pointers if needed, but it’s better to focus fully on this and keep it simple.” Zhi advised him.
“Okay, I’ll start then, Sun. You can also start meditating while I do this,” Seph told Sun while petting his head.
The young man sat down on the ground. After a long conversation with his ghost teacher, he sat in the lotus position, rested each arm on one of his legs, and started meditating.
At first, he got a feel for his energy and started circling it throughout his whole body. Its speed was consistent now, pretty fast compared to when he started trying this.
He pondered the idea that all this time he had been bolstering the strength of his body with the energy, which was the only use his mind could think of starting out.
Now, though, his teacher told him he could construct and deconstruct his body using the energy. He was fearful of that, but he was gonna brave this, as he had braved every single trial in this labyrinth so far.
He started concentrating on moving his energy throughout his skin only. It was a slow progress, very slow, but what was important for him was doing it right, rather than doing it fast.
Once the flow started going, and he could feel only the energy coursing through his skin, he concentrated on a patch of skin on his arm, and started visualizing his energy as a force of destruction, rather than a force of support as he used it in the past.
It hurt, it hurt like hell, but he didn’t stop. He was in this for the long haul; the ghost said it was easy, and he trusted him. He trusted him too fast, but he trusted him regardless.
After a while, he could feel that patch of his arm was empty of skin. He had done it, but it wasn’t over yet. Now comes the construction part. He needed to recreate what he had destroyed out of pure yin energy.
The young man was thinking of his energy as a force of creation instead of a force of destruction. He could feel that little by little, it worked. He didn’t know how much time had passed, but it didn’t matter. His body got exhausted and needed sleep after making the pills because he had used way too much energy, but this wasn’t using that much energy. This was a slow consumption of energy over a longer time, even if constant, it was manageable for him.
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After finishing that patch and moving to the next one, Seph couldn’t help but ponder how varied the uses for Yin energy were so far; he couldn’t help but think that we truly needed the balance of both Yin and Yang in our lives, both energies were as important, and both energies could create lives.
With the capacity to destroy, came the capacity to create, came the capacity to bolster its creation. That was what he discovered in the Yin energy, that was what he now came to appreciate. The young cultivator felt very grateful for that energy coursing through his body in abundance, and for the first time since he turned. He didn’t feel like he was an abomination; he knew his fate was to be a yin immortal. Knowing he had the capacity for good and bad, like every single other being on earth, and he knew he deserved to be here, like everyone else.
Seph didn’t know how much time had passed, but he'd finished his task. He had dismantled and rebuilt the entire skin mass surrounding his body. His head was bald now, after dismantling the skin on his head, but that was okay. He felt better; he felt much better after all this time.
His body didn’t feel like it was falling apart anymore. Part of it felt stronger than the original, but his skin changed to a black color!
Seph had a confused look on his face. Has he done something wrong?
The blackness of his skin didn’t even look like the different tone of black skin of other humans, but something much darker. It also felt rougher to the touch!
Zhi said in a celebratory tone, “Very well done, Seph, you did it; you passed into body dismantling (II) you did everything right, and I didn’t need to intrude into your meditation; it took you 15 days, but that’s okay, still impressive progress for a first-timer."
Seph was happy about his achievement and after what his teacher said, he wasn’t so worried after all, "Thanks, teacher, why does my skin look like that, though? Black Crow didn’t have skin that looked pitch black like that!”
“Oh, we've called that faux skin. Have you ever seen other yin cultivators before?” Zhi probed to learn what his pupil knew.
“Yes, before we've entered this trial, there were tens of them!”
Zhi described what faux skin meant, “Well then, you must have seen the different skin tones they had, pale white, pale blue, gray skin, and so on? This is because of the faux skin, while it does really look as black as this. It’s really easy to change its color, to the aesthetic you desire. Most Yin cultivators choose to adopt a variation of color like what they think a living dead person would look like, while cultivators of color usually choose a variation of black to stay true to their original skin color.”
“Oh, interesting! Back to meditation then. I’ll change mine to pale white for now," Seph told him excitedly.
Seph got back to meditating and visualized the color he needed his new skin to be, and he felt it change really fast, so it didn’t take long to do this as he expected.
“What else does this faux skin do, other than making me a human chameleon?” Seph asked.
Sun laughed at that joke along with the ghost.
“Well, other than that, it makes your skin more resilient to cuts, so bladed weapons, needles, arrows, you name it, you're now more resilient than ever to slashing and piercing attacks, but to gain resilience against blunt force attacks, you need to cultivate your bones and your muscles.” His teacher informed him.
Seph said while nodding, “Well, that sounds good. I feel way better, way more alive than I did for the entire trial."
Zhi nodded understandingly, “You had also lost part of your sensitivity when you became a yin cultivator, but now not only did you get it back, it’s two times better than that of a normal human; what you can do with that information in a fight is up to you, but it’s nothing to scoff at either!”
“You will hear no complaints from me! What am I to do next? Should I cultivate my bones or my muscles next?” Seph asked him.
“I’d say give it a rest for now, at least a day off. You could even do the next garden.”
Seph nodded before checking his status screen, and found out that his perception had become 25 instead of 20, and his constitution had become 18 instead of 13!
Which meant he got five points in each attribute thanks to his first cultivation level!
He also found that he gained five more years to his life span.
Name: Seph ???
Class: Undead Buddhist lvl 3
Cultivation Stage: Body Dismantling stage (II)
Lifespan: 18/35 years
Strength: 34
Dexterity: 6
Intelligence: 10
Wisdom: 7
Constitution: 18
Perception: 25
Luck: 10
+6 free attribute points
Surprised, Seph said, “Wow! I didn’t expect instantaneous gains like this from cultivating."
Zhi said jokingly, “Then you are a fool, Seph; hmm, what’s your second name?” before he asked in wonder.
“Oh, I don’t know. I don’t know my father’s name!” Seph said nonchalantly.
Zhi started describing all that’s good about body dismantling cultivation. “Well, regardless, you are still a fool, Seph. Each level of cultivation will increase your attributes and will give your body new characteristics that will help you in a myriad of ways. You need to keep at it. The real challenge that all cultivators face in the first place is to gain the energy, but you have loads of that. You didn’t mind getting your hands bloody for that energy, and you didn’t cower in the face of danger. You keep that drive, and reaching the Death Establishment stage will be very easy. Luckily for you, you don’t have to deal with the pill popping based progression of Qi cultivators, and you don’t have to worry about the demonic cores cultivation they could use instead, which will taint their energy. You are untaintable, although some would argue that you are already tainted!”
Seph listened to him carefully before saying, “Ha! Master Zhi, I don’t feel tainted anymore, and I've started getting this feeling while cultivating. I don’t feel that the Yin energy was a curse anymore. After gaining a vast appreciation for it since I became a cultivator. I used to hate my new state of being, but not anymore. I'm grateful for this energy, for keeping me alive, for giving me a chance to save my mother."
“Your mother, hmm, it’s never bad to have a cause that pushes you forward, that you would do anything for. What do you say then, Seph, ready for the next part of my garden?” asked Zhi, even though he knew his pupil’s answer already, seeing him so energetic.
Seph answered enthusiastically, “As ready as I could ever be, Master Zhi, I’ll see you after getting this done. We've got some pills to make."
“I love your confidence. You are like a new person after cultivating. Good luck, Seph!”