Chapter 50

Transcending

Tap-tap-tap.

The sound of dozens of creatures crawling over and around the metal container that Frank was in echoed persistently. Each tap, pulse, or movement outside was seemingly captured and magnified inside the seemingly hollow sphere that Frank now found himself in.

Still, there was solace in the fact that the giant monster creatures didn’t seem to last long when interacting with his temporary shelter. This seemed to be the case, as all of the echoing footsteps seemed to be moving away in a semi-formal pattern as if all the evolved ant creatures were moving in the same exact path.

Also, there was the fact that despite the constant sounds, nothing the giant creatures did seemed to have any impact on the shelter. Even the few times when one or two of the giant beasts crashed into each other and fell loudly on the shelter there was no bend or movement in the shelter.

After a few moments of pausing and waiting, Frank eventually accepted the noises as ambient noise, that he would now have to deal with. Particularly as he was already in the process of breaking his core and reassembling a new one.

Normally, such a process would be simple.

In his previous attempts of expanding his core, the process consisted of him breaking apart the outer layer and expanding the noted chambers and moving on from there.

However, the time spent wondering if he would have to defend himself from a deluge of giant evolved antlike creatures had given Frank a chance to add perspective.

The way he was going currently, his body was forced to use two different sets of meridians for one and only one type of energy. Granted, this was what everyone had always taught and stressed. This was why Frank had been given an F-Ranking and would always be noted as an F-Ranker. The fact that he managed to fill his inner meridians with energy first meant that he would forever be noted as an F-Ranker.

But the training he had just gone through proved that this was not always the case. This narrow line of thinking didn’t have to be the case.

Currently, he had to keep the two sets of powers as they were. As one was the dark aligned energy, which just turned out to be an energy with an alternate polarity to the normal source of energy that all humans naturally bond with easier.

That said, there was clearly more here that Frank could do.

All he had to do was make sure the two polarities didn’t intersect. Well, there were a myriad of rules.

The polarities couldn’t intercept each other, couldn’t touch the same node point at the same time, and a polarity couldn’t cross itself. Those were the rules that Frank had been taught in his training, and he knew them to be true. That somehow his working the giant pillars that surrounded the SERE training area were giant representations of the nodes within his body. At least that is what Frank thought they represented.

Though honestly, Frank couldn’t sense all seven nodes within his body. He did think that he had a few of the nodes already made and identified. The brain was a node, likely the top of the outer triangle. Then the heart, two lungs, and one other organ would represent the inner nodes. Then two more lower nodes below those.

Honestly, Frank had no idea what the seven body nodes could or should be, but he was certain that he needed his energy to flow through at least those key points. Maybe the kidneys for the lower two points of the triangle. But if that was the case, then what would be the fourth internal organ be that he needed to focus on? Maybe the stomach or the liver? Or was this a test?

The stomach would likely help him survive longer on less and less amounts of food. Then over time he could possibly evolve to be like the warriors of legends who fought for days on end without food or rest due to their naturally low metabolism.

With that mental image in mind and trying to think about how he wanted to grow and evolve, he decided to build out seven smaller nodes all throughout his body.

How many times had he heard the stories of famous cultivators being struck down in their prime due to taking a hard blow to their stomach?

With seven dual use nodes and seven pathways flowing in opposite direction, Frank realized he now had the chance to rework how he cultivated completely. Not just the way his body moved energy throughout his body and stored energy. But the way he was envisioning cultivating would also mean that he could change his focal point for channeling energy.

Right now, current theory was that you could absorb energy from anywhere and that it would all eventually lead to your core, which was an imaginary spot just below your sternum.

With this new thought process, Frank realized that he could use any appendage to absorb energy and it would all eventually lead to the same direction. His arms could be used to filter to his lungs, which would then either begin the process or end the process. Also, the polarity of the energy being absorbed would also come into play with this design. As positively charged energy would be best to be taken in on his right side of his body, while negative energy would be best to be taken in on the left side.

As Frank was envisioning these seven new pathways and seven nodes, Frank’s body already began building the intended pathways. His body utilized every ounce of energy he had to both create and elongate the nodes, and their connecting pathways.

For this layout, the way he had been practicing in the mines below would dictate that Frank utilize one of the lower kidney nodes as a starting point. However, Frank realized that design could easily be changed or altered to fit the focus he wanted. With the way he had been practicing, the kidneys would be the most important organ of the body. While this might be more streamline with keeping to traditional cultivation practices, it was not what Frank wanted for himself. Nor did he want to keep his stomach, the southern most node on the internal nodes to be his primary node. As Frank felt that there was something important about both beginning and ending with what was considered a primary node.

This was why Frank broke down his choice for his primary node to be either his brain or his heart. In the end, he hoped that by having the mind be his primary focus, he might inadvertently be smarter. Which would hopefully cut down on the times when he found himself without a standard core and strapped in a metal saferoom that was being swarmed over by a colony of mutated ant creatures that were now storming off to parts unknown.

Also, if Frank was truly pressed, he would say that he also liked the idea of being able to breathe in, or possibly ingest energy infused food to help expedite the cultivation process.

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Normally, a cultivator would have to wait for food to begin being digested to be able to take in the benefits of said rich foods.

True to his training, Frank kept the same sympathetic links and outlines that had paid off during his trials. This meant that he began by cycling positively charged energy down his right lung, to his right kidney, then to the left kidney. From there he began cycling back up, through the stomach, to the heart, to the left lung and making a sympathetic link to the brain. While negatively charged energy made the opposite path, starting first with a sympathetic link to the left lung, then a clear connection to the heart, stomach, and so on.

The process was odd, but seemed to work for Frank, as it effectively gave him a gap between his brain and his left lung that he could use to process either positive or negatively charged energy. With his mouth and nose being a primary entry way, he could either breath in or consume energy that would then be cycled throughout his body.

There might be better ways to create a cultivation system, but this was the best system Frank could come up with.

Also, with seven dual use nodes throughout his body, Frank felt that his survivability had increased. As he now had seven spots that were all just as important as the others. Well technically the brain was the most important node, but Frank assumed that if anything happened to his brain it wouldn’t matter if his other nodes were intact or not.

With those types of cheery thoughts pushing him on, Frank continued to cycle the two opposing sets of energy within his body. Each dual use node becoming more and more solidified within his body, until finally he had a completed current.

There was a moment of pause as both the ending spot and beginning spot for both of his polarities of energy effectively began and ended at the same spot.

The first time the two opposing elements met, there was a clear disturbance. The sympathetic links were still complete links, but just not as robust and stringent as the normal connections. This meant that as the two opposing energy types passed by each other, Frank was almost prepared for anything. However what actually happened was something truly unique. Rather than exploding, being drawn to each other as most energy types are, or being repelled away from each other as had been the standard when it came to these types of magical energies, these energies pushed each other faster.

Yes, when the two opposing energy types came near each other on the opposing sympathetic links, there was a quick jolt that was seemingly exchanged between the two. As if the two opposing forces seemed to be warring within his body. Yet, rather than causing an explosion or something violent to happen, the two energies just forced Frank to cycle faster.

This way, when those same charged currents traveled past each other, they continued to move at the same rate of speed and seemingly continued to cycle past each other time and time again.

For Frank who had been used to continuously pushing the two elements individually through his preestablished meridians, this process seemed calming. Almost like Frank suddenly found that his body could relax and no longer needed to breathe or pump blood as two opposing forces would now breathe or cycle blood for him.

The entire process was interesting and suddenly Frank felt light. His entire body that had been pumping the two opposing energies violently throughout his body could now relax.

For a long time Frank just watched the process. He felt internally as the energy continued to pump and thrash about in his body.

Before the biggest concern was stagnation. The idea that somehow the negatively charged energy would remain still and slowly corrode his body away from within. Yet, with this method, Frank felt his mind relax. Now a major concern that had always been lurking deep within his daily thoughts had finally stopped. He could rest knowing that the biggest concern of his was gone.

For a moment, he thought about sharing this technique. He immediately thought of sharing this with Major Demoniker, but dismissed that idea just as quickly. As he remembered that Major Demoniker was one of the casualties listed as part of the overwhelming invasion that happened to their training academy.

That was of course the same event that allowed Constance to be freed. It was also the same night that Constance began invading his dreams.

For a moment, he wondered about her. He wondered how she was doing.

In all, it was odd that he had gone so long without thinking about Constance. Even now, when he mentally relaxed, he didn’t feel the strange tether that connected him to Constance.

Or rather he did, but the tether was somehow empty.

How or why this was, Frank didn’t know. Though he figured it likely had something to do with the way he couldn’t feel the mutated monsters scurrying about outside.

Actually, Frank thought to himself as he paused and realized that the nearly constant tapping on the outside of his container had ended.

Did it mean that the crazy ants were now in position? Or had they all gotten to where they were supposed to be?

Frank didn’t know.

Mentally, Frank tried to think back to what the last sounds were. He wondered if the last sound was the creatures completely crawling past his safety pod. Or if they stopped mid-step, meaning they could be right outside his door.

Honestly, Frank didn’t know. He had been so wrapped up in both keeping the two streams of energy going and developing his new nodes and connection points that he lost track of the ambient noise that had sounded so deafening when he first began the process.

Pausing, Frank felt around, wondering if there was anything he could do or sense.

But the room was completely sterile. No energy of any type could seemingly enter or leave the abode. Even now, Frank found the energy that he had seemingly lost during his refinement process was still there. While it was harder to pull this energy back into his body, as the entire entry point seemed off as opposed to before, he did manage to eventually fill the two opposing circuits completely. Or as completely as he could, as the new process just let him slightly push out the nodes and the related connection pathways just enough to make it so the energy had a harder time flowing within his body.

Still the two overlapping sympathetic links kept the energy moving at an exceptional pace, despite no longer being able to completely fill the channels that had been created and expanded for them.

Standing up, Frank felt his body almost bounce up. A sign that his body seemed or felt lighter, thanks to his increase in his core size and density.

Taking a few moments, Frank went through his daily stretches, then through his exercises. These were the exercises that were designed to be done in a tight confining space, similar to the safehouse that he now found himself in. Push-ups, sit-ups, flutter kicks, wall sits, wall clings, mountain climbers, planks, and multiple different variations of the same exercises, each with increasing difficulty were performed.

With each movement, Frank felt his body able to move and react in ways that they never were able to before. First, his body and core seemed to be strengthened by the constant cycling of energy through them. This meant that with each breath, Frank could slowly do more, as his protected muscles and organs all began to grow and react to his actions.

Second, there was more movement, or at least what felt like more range of movement. Before, Frank would often feel constrained by the burning sensations of freely cycling negatively charged energy burning its way through his body.

Now that there were channels, for both the negative and positively charged energy to travel, he felt alive. There was also the idea that before he had constrained his cultivation.

Before he had limited the types of energy he would focus on to be green life energy for positively charged particles, while also limiting himself to the strange energy that zombies and vampires used to stay alive. Which Frank was almost certain was the negatively charged version of life energy.

Now though, Frank wondered if this new system would protect him from similar burning sensations. At the beginning he was able to cultivate all forms of energy, but he stopped with certain types due to the way they burned upon entering his body.

With this new filtration system, Frank wondered if there was any reason to limit himself?

At the very least, he knew that he should now be able to cycle both positive and negatively charged earth energy particles in his body. A fact that was reinforced by the way he stared down at his left arm that had the dual image of a brown mountain, and its dark silhouette mirrored in reverse.

There was also the fact that he now had a much larger quest. With his next step being to go beyond the prison that he had escaped from earlier. But now rather than heading back to society, he would go the exact opposite way and head to a door that seemed to require earth energy, or at least the marking of earth that he now sported.

The other concern for that particular prison was time.

How much time did he have to get there?

Mentally he didn’t see any countdowns or timers. Which meant that his getting to that location was likely up to his own discretion. If he wanted to get there he could, otherwise there was no need.

Frank also had the impression that the ones who developed these training centers and different bunkers were not too impressed with Frank. Especially after he only got an Initiate Participation Badge for all his work thus far.

While he had been somewhat annoyed by the designation earlier, he oddly now felt the rebuke was worthwhile. Now that he had seen what the changes to his cultivation were thanks to the new processes being presented, Frank couldn’t help but wonder about the prowess and accomplishments of the elders who came before.

Also, there were many more questions that arose.

If the seven-node dual use technique was so capable, why did people stop using it? Also, what happened to society that made it so there weren’t even records of how to solve the seven-pillar challenge correctly?

These questions and more came to Frank’s mind as he continued to work through the final thoughts of what he had learned.

Thinking back on it all, Frank realized he had learned a lot. A lot of which could be shared with other cultivators. Though, the dual use path would have to be shared with people who had just begun their path of cultivation, as it would likely be too much for an older cultivator to suddenly change their cycling patterns. But for newer cultivators, like Frank, for those who were just starting out, this process was easily possible. Though he was certain that not many would take his word for this, especially as it seemed to go against everything that their culture had built up as the truth.

Still, it was worth at least trying to tell others.

Then if he couldn’t explain what he had learned from SERE training, he would go on to the next marked door and see if there were still more secrets of the ancients available.

With his plan made up, Frank rose to his feet and prepared to exit the shelter that had protected him from all forms of danger thus far.

Pausing for a moment, Frank held his hand against the locking lever and waited, trying to hear if there were any monsters waiting to pounce on him once he left the safehouse.