“Again.” Marin asked, a little annoyed that she was still losing. Marin’s frequent visits were getting a little grating, and Celestia found it even more annoying that Marin was trying to repeat the same thing over and over again.
Celestia sighed, and asked. “Marin. What’s the point of this? We’ve repeated this set of fights fifteen times and the outcome is the same.”
“It matters to me.” Marin said as her body twisted. She tried to use some kind of earth-element strike, which Celestia easily blocked.
Celestia thought the answer was obvious. Marin rushed her cultivation. A master could achieve the same steps in a tenth of the time, but Marin wasn’t a master, and anything rushed was likely imperfectly made. Thus, she was weaker for the same realm. The flow of power was inefficient, thus the power of her abilities, such as the barriers, or the earth walls, were not as strong. The little bits of differences all accumulate over time. The blocks she used to build her spiritual buildings were hollow. “So, does it make a difference? The breakthrough to the fifth realm happens, no matter the consequences of these battles.”
Marin stopped. “Celestia. Ask Tundra for more pills.”
Celestia blinked, clearly she understood that she wanted her to ask their husband for more high quality pills, and provide it to her. “Lady Eastheart, you can do so yourself.”
“I want more. And he’ll listen to you.”
“As far as I know, he also listens to you.” Celestia countered, annoyed that Marin was trying this trick again. It was not the first time, and each time Celestia found herself annoyed. She
“I want my ascension guaranteed.” Marin said. “I heard of the incident faced by Disciple Julia, and I do not want to face the same thing.”
Celestia frowned. The challenges of ascension wasn’t something discussed much. When everyone else progressed smoothly, maybe Marin didn’t think it’ll be a problem. After all, their ascension from 3rd to 4th went by smoothly, but each new realm increased the difficulty by a great leap. When even a talented, clearly well prepared disciple like Julia could face challenges with her ascension, that made Marin worry.
It was something Celestia thought about too. At one point she thought of her own ascension to the fifth realm as a certainty, but doubt was an insidious thing. Somehow, it wormed its way into her thoughts as well.
Would her ascension to the fifth realm go smoothly?
***
“If I remember correctly, you failed the first time.” Tundra said, honestly the details of such things skipped his mind, so much so that he wasn’t even sure whether he imagined some of them. All he remembered was Celestia did in fact reach the fifth realm, but he was so busy he couldn’t really remember how many times Celestia faced ascension.
For Marin and Elly, it didn’t even need to be said. They didn’t get that far, and they died a few hundred years from today.
For them to climb so far so fast was a product of the exceptional training sessions they had with him, and yet, he looked into Celestia’s eyes and saw a sea of doubt. “You’re not sure.”
Celestia nodded. “I am not. And lady Marin, isn’t, either.”
Tundra understood.
They climbed too fast, they did not have the lived experience and actual struggles to give context to their ascension. During ascension, their soul and spirit is under attack by the world itself, as the spirit realm tries to assert itself against the push of the world.
A cultivator may be evil. A cultivator may be good. A cultivator may not care about many things. But a cultivator does not attempt an ascension when they are not sure of themselves.
For many geniuses, their breakthrough is often easy, because they believe it deeply in the core of their being that they will be. Success is predestined, and they didn’t see themselves failing. As unusual and unfair as it is, a cultivator’s confidence in facing the challenges of ascension matters a lot. It is less important in the earlier realms, but over time, as the time needed to breakthrough increases beyond days to weeks, that’s when belief in their own ability and success becomes a key component.
Some cultivators called it the ‘heart’ of the cultivator. Some cultivators rely on crutches, buying pills by the hundreds in order to deceive their own hearts that their breakthrough is inevitable.
It is for this reason Julia’s struggles were kept largely quiet. There was no need for many to know, and those that knew had no reason to doubt themselves.
“Do you feel you are ready to try?” Tundra asked, and Celestia answered with a shake of her head. Somehow, she seemed less sure than before.
His wives needed more experience. No, they needed more success. Cultivators may rely on the aid of those around them but ultimately must delude themselves into believing in their own success.
Tundra nodded. It is hard to know what goes on in a person’s mind, and so he cannot know for certain whether they will succeed. “There are ways to prevent the negative consequences of failure. There are pills that protect your existing cultivator in the event of an ascension collapse.”
Celestia said nothing. Maybe solutions were not what she needed. She needed time.
***
“I heard from them.” Elly came to see him a few days after. It’s been about two weeks since they returned from the Hailstorm temple, and everyone was busy. Tundra too, had to work on pills. An alchemist had to produce pills to sustain the various needs of the sect, and so he carved up some portion of his time to do so.
But it was easier to catch him now that his ‘alchemy’ time slots were now open to internal visitors. He even allowed Julia and a few other younger disciples to watch him work. It is an enlightening process, and few disciples could claim to have seen a master at work.
Today, it was just Elly alone, dressed in a light blue robe with a dark blue belt. She sometimes wore jewelry, but not today. “Edison wasn’t too happy about it, but was quite impressed by the Treasure Realm. I wished I could see it.”
Tundra couldn’t promise her anything. Treasure realms were not something he controlled. So he nodded. “If the fates align, we’ll-”
“Ah- I don’t mean it that I want to go see a treasure realm. I mean, I wish I could’ve seen how our son did.”
Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
“I see.” Tundra nodded. That made sense.
“Was it that bad?”
Tundra nodded. The less he said, the better.
“I see. I will try to speak to him.”
“Thank you.” Elly bowed, and then she stepped a little closer to her husband. Her tone changed into one that’s a little more gentle. “Tundra- husband.”
“Yes?” Tundra was suddenly surprised by the change in tone.
“Do you really think he’ll improve if he learns in another sect? Should we send him to the Mystical Harbors like you earlier suggested? I’ll- I’ll try to convince him that he should go.”
Elly was trying to help, but it’s too late. The treasure realm will happen whether he wants it or not. If he gets through the actual treasure realm, then perhaps a stint at the Mystical Harbors would be good for him.
Tundra tapped Elly’s shoulders.
“It’s a little too late for that, now. We have only a few months, if anything, I think I am better suited to prepare him.”
Elly looked at Tundra. “Can I- Can I at least ask Edison what he prefers? I- I mean, you’ve tried to teach him in the past few months and he’s making progress, but-”
Tundra looked at Elly. He doubted another sect could do better, but then, maybe his wife was right. His style was not compatible with Edison.
“Alright.”
***
“New potential candidates of the Verdant Snow Sect.” Jon said, as about a hundred potential young ones lined up in the field. Normally, they’d only attract about fifty or so, but this time, there was a group seated in the front that were clearly from some rather wealthy families.
Tundra didn’t recall there was a special recruitment drive, but then again, given their higher place in society, it was probably expected. The recent dinner banquets came with talks about sending their sons and daughters to the Verdant Snow, and at their current level, they could afford it.
“Should we test them as usual?” Jon asked. “We have new elders, maybe they can lead the test.”
Tundra turned and noticed his three new elders, all looking comfortable in their new sect elder robes. He didn’t know why, but it still made him feel joy and pride to see his disciples become elders. “You three look fantastic in these robes.”
The new elders, Yavin, Julia and Agnia all clasped their hands to greet their Sect Master.
“Jon’s right. Since we have new elders, you three should do the tests.” Tundra smiled as his three new elders. “Each of you can take a segment, Jon will oversee.”
He saw how his three new elders performed in the treasure realm and reckoned they are all in pretty good shape. It was time they get used to the duties of an elder, as well.
Elder Jon nodded. “Well, let us start. Come with me.”
The three elders followed, as Jon introduced them as the examiners of the test. Tundra noticed Julia shifting a little uncomfortably, probably feeling a little touched that she made it to this point.
If there are good enough talents they’d take about twenty to twenty five new outer disciples. Almost all of them are in the first realm, though Tundra noticed one or two second realm candidates within the crowd. For that age, less than twenty five years old to reach the second realm is fairly impressive. The slight changes in their sect’s standing significantly impacted how families perceived the value of the sect’s connections.
Tundra took a glance and wondered whether any of them had special spirit roots. The Verdant Snow’s spiritual root sensing stone is only able to detect most common types of spiritual roots, but it is not a perfect tool.
Agnia, now Elder Agnia, supported by the inner disciples, led them to the main testing room where these candidates would be tested for their spirit roots. In most cases, those with strong spirit roots are an automatic pass and these young children would be admitted as an outer disciple. The second and third tests were more optional.
Sects like the Verdant Snow couldn’t personally devote resources on individual young children, and instead they would be taught as a group, with occasional pointers from their elders. Many of these children, usually ages twelve to eighteen, would need to fend for themselves and learn to bond with their fellow disciples.
The children were all led to a room where a gigantic stone stood in the center. The stone held a spiritual root testing formation. They would then introduce themselves, and place their hands on the stone. The stone would then glow in different colors and brightness.
The alternative was where an elder injected their own energies to individually test a candidate, but this was not feasible and a waste of valuable elder’s time in larger sects where their recruitment often attracted tens of thousands of candidates.
Thus, testing stones were simple, could be operated by elders who were not focused on the spiritual root aspect of cultivation, and more objective. It’s only as outer disciples, there was plenty of time for truly talented cultivators to prove themselves later.
Yavin and Julia would lead the second and third segment, which were more of a set of ‘streaming’ sessions. Yavin would lead the short combat session where the young candidates were invited to attack a set of practicing dummies, and he would then sort those who passed the combat tests. Candidates who exhibited exceptional combat talents despite having weak spiritual roots would still be admitted, though their position was conditional and if they didn’t improve after a year they’d still be removed.
Julia’s segment was more technical, where she would test them on whether they exhibited any talent for simple alchemy, formations, medicine or crafts. There were small puzzles and tools where the candidates would try to solve, and generally correlated with the tested talents. Similar to the physical tests, these tests were meant to gauge those who had non-combat talents, and if a candidate displayed great talent, they also would be conditionally admitted.
Tundra took a glance at the hundred or so candidates, and then, back at Jon and Agnia. “Well, I’ll leave it to you. Let me know if there are any exceptional candidates.
He wondered whether there were any individuals here who would someday grow to be legendary in the future.
***
Tundra’s mind still tried to piece things together as he worked in his alchemical workshop. Lord Saljuk’s valid suggestion on the use of bloodlines, and if there really was a way to give strong bloodlines to mature, older cultivators, that could be an exceptional shortcut to giving talents to his children.
The elders were busy. His wives were training. He could feel his children studying.
He withdrew one of the old books he collected from Lord Saljuk’s collection. It was titled ‘Blood and the Dragon’s Will’, written by an unknown writer, but he was enraptured within the first pages of the book. The book came from the era after the post-primordial era, known as the Golden era of man, the period when the Golden Dragon triumphed over most of the other spiritual beasts. It spoke of the tale of a sect called the Blood Dragon Hall, a once famous pretender sect that was later exterminated by the Golden Dragon due to reasons unknown.
The reason he picked it up was simple. He heard old tales in other books that the Blood Dragon Hall used some strange blood transfusion method to pass on the abilities of their Blood Dragon bloodline. The Blood Dragon wasn’t one of the primordial ten spirit beasts, but reportedly was one of the hundred noble spirit beast bloodlines. This list of top one hundred noble spirit beast bloodlines was disputed by many, especially in the lower halves.
One of the alternatives was to find some kind of cultivation bone. Bones that seemed to contain the essence of the world, that any individual possessing the bone would feel inspired by its energies-
He stopped, as he felt something strange about the passage that he just read. “The Blood Dragon’s young masters often bathed in the blood of spiritual beasts, nourished with the leaves of the Whitened Yardtree’s Bark and the flowers collected from the golden plateau. The blood would be absorbed in the young master’s skin, and nourish their flesh. Young masters prized the bath of spirit blood, it is said each bath made them stronger, wiser, and more in tune with the energies of the world-”
“Is this some kind of ancient Blood Dragon blood transfusion? What sort of ceremony is this-” Tundra frowned, as he reread it a third time. The materials mentioned, the Whitened Yardtree’s Bark and the flowers of the golden plateau could still be fairly easily found. Some, such as the flowers of the golden plateau are now so widely planted over the centuries that they could even be bought in the regular mortal flower stalls.
Tundra wondered whether it was a special place, perhaps a property of the pool itself? But at this point, he figured it’s worth doing an experiment.
It could be the properties of the golden plateau flowers or the Whitened Yard’s Bark changed over the eons since the time of the Blood Dragon Hall, but reading old scriptures and experimenting on old practices led to a surprising amount of rediscovery.