It was time to see if his hypothesis about the Seed of Life was true or not. Sage’s soul moved towards the Heavenly Materials. Inside the Green Core, the Tree of Life looked like a very young sapling, having only three leaves upon it. On the other hand it was quite large, and Sage’s soul, as well as the five Heavenly Materials, were dwelling peacefully in its shade. Sage moved towards the nearest of the Heavenly Materials, Stormbreath, and held out his ‘hand’. Stormbreath flew over to his soul and when they touched, Sage felt the energy of the Inner World fluctuate. Then he felt his soul ripple.
Thump.
He lost consciousness for a moment, but afterwards everything had returned to normal. More amazingly, he felt a deep connection to Stormbreath, just like the one he had with Blue Icesilver.
Was that it? That was way too easy!
Sage pulled his perception back out of the Inner World and back to reality. He formed a hand into a fist and called upon Stormbreath. He opened his hand and a typhoon level wind blasted out from between his fingers, causing a terrible ruckus in the cave den where he was meditating.
Hah! It really worked. Divine Breath is going to be terrifying now.
In the Instruction of Divine Paradise, the manual that contained Divine Breath, it mentioned the legacy treasure that could be placed in the throat and its power would greatly increase the strength of Divine Breath. Sage had always guessed that legacy treasure was the sealed up Stormbreath. When he first attained it, he was too weak to use it, and later it was captured by the Seed of Life. Now that he was rank 5, it would be time to use that legacy treasure. Too bad it was already gone! That said, it was now likely many times more powerful. Why use a sealed version of a Heavenly Wind when he could use the real thing!
At that moment, Sage just started laughing. He continued laughing for a few minutes, his serpentine body swaying with mirth. He spun and rolled onto his back, laughing like a madman within that secluded cave abode. If anyone else was around and watching the scene it would be pretty easy for them to mistake him as having completely lost his mind. Eventually, after he’d rolled around on the ground for a good amount of time and even had tears running down his scaled face, he finally composed himself.
“It finally happened! I am no longer mediocre!”
The dream he’d had since first arriving on this world and starting his second life had finally come true. He’d struggled with mediocre talent, a destroyed clan, and his own failures for so long. Even so, he calmed himself down and took a deep breath, starting the breathing technique and meditating for a while to regain his center. He knew that even with these changes he could not let himself get cocky or stand too tall. The tallest nail always gets hammered down first.
Once he regained his calm he sent his perception inward and carefully completed the refining process for the other Heavenly Materials. The Eye of the World, First Light, and the Sovereign Stone. With his connection established to five different Heavenly Materials, Sage had to fight back another wave of fulfillment. He’d surmised that this feat would be possible, but until it actually worked he could only hope. With this success he took some time to get accustomed to their use. It would probably take him years to master the use of each, but getting a basic control of their powers was entirely different.
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As he experimented, he realized that his training with each of the elements was loose at best. The only one he had experience with was Wood, which meant he was a complete novice with the others. On the other hand, he found that he no longer felt the pain of a lack of aptitude. Long ago, he’d practiced the Qi Cultivation Technique: Verdant Firebrand. It used his innate Wood nature to create fire Qi. When a person practiced a Cultivation technique that matched their own innate nature, they would experience a smooth and clear path. Like a fish in water, they would have a much easier time. On the other hand, using a different element would actually create a hindrance. Verdant Firebrand was quite weak, but it let a cultivator use a different element without completely crippling their progress.
Ever since he’d been reborn and practiced Life Nebula from the beginning, he’d felt his innate Wood Qi had changed. His Qi felt more like the energy of the Heavens and Earth, encompassing all the elements, no longer skewed to one in specific. While he no longer gained any benefits from practicing a matching element, he could now practice any element without any penalties. This universal natured Qi was hardly uncommon, but it was actually seen as a detriment. A person only had limited time and energy. Studying a single element or type of technique would inevitably give better insights to using other similar techniques. Being limited to a single element wasn’t a big problem, but having the increased affinity and control over that element was a huge bonus. So, those with universal natured Qi would give up on the elements and focus on other avenues of training. Why play with fire if others would always be ahead of you?
Sage was also limited in his time and energy, so he couldn’t just take up every element to start practicing. On the other hand, he had five Heavenly Materials, so if he could adapt techniques to make use of them, he would definitely have a massive advantage over others! After getting a basic grasp on his abilities, it was moving time. Everyone in Tiankong Palace was packed up and ready to go. The place was too large for him to move it in one go, so he’d have to break it up into pieces, move it to the Inner World, and then they could rebuild it there.
King had led some of his wives, and Ruanfu, to a nearby town to purchase supplies. They bought building materials, tools, food, instructional manuals, and most importantly many many wild beasts. The manuals were related to basic crafts and professions. They couldn’t be going to the outside world to buy all of their supplies, eventually some of them would have to learn how to make clothing, pottery, silverware, cosmetics, accessories, and all the other pleasantries involved in their lives. Only a few of them showed interest right now, but King kept boasting about planning on so many droves of children that at least a few would take up each job eventually.
Ruanfu heard a few songs about exploring and conquering unknown territories, so she got it into her head that was going to be her new goal. She was going to map the whole of Sage’s Inner World and name all the landmarks before anyone else could. Sage didn’t want to ruin her dream by reminding her how easy he could see everything in the world, so he only smiled and nodded at her aspirations.
The Inner World had multiple continents, so Sage chose to move Tiankong Palace to one of them. They also took along an equal number of Hoplites to act as their labor force and militia in the future. They brought along the plants and animals they purchased to create their own rudimentary ecosystem. Sage chose one of the other continents and released many of his insects there. He also chose basic vegetation that those insects preferred to eat. In both places, he was quite eager to see what sorts of changes they might undergo over time. Would the creatures get stronger, weaker, or drastically different? He also chose to plant the Stonesap Tree Seed he’d purchased at the auction. He put a group of Hoplites in charge of growing it, and made sure King knew about it. He only had the one seed, and in the past he wanted to maximize his chances so he didn’t plant it until it could have his full attention.
Now though, the Inner World was remarkably fertile, and with its accelerated rate of time, he wanted to grow a Stonesap Tree as quickly as possible to hopefully get even more seeds in the future. He even spent a few days using his Wood techniques to ensure it sprouted and had a healthy start.