As Finlay entered the provided cultivation room, he instantly felt the significant difference in Qi inside. Only then did he truly understand how much of an opportunity these 2 months were. The Qi was several times denser than outside, so much so that if he were to have used this environment to cultivate, he could have completed his Five element body in half the time and with no external medicine.
A Qi rich environment had numerous advantages even apart from just cultivation speed and efficiency. It would make practising skills like Qi control, spell practice etc much quicker. Not only that, things like practising combat arts, Alchemy and even smithing become much faster overall due to the fast recovery speed and hence the ability to dedicate much more time in a day for practice.
In addition, Finlay was given some very precious cultivation pills and even 10 Low grade spirit stones. The higher the grade of a spirit stone, the higher and more abundant the purity of the Qi contained within. A Low grade spirit stone is equivalent to 10 poor grade spirit stones in terms of the amount of Qi contained, but at the same time, the purity of said Qi is also much better. This is the reason why although 1 low grade is technically considered equivalent to 10 poor grade, most would not be willing to make that trade. Just those 10 spirit stones showed how much expectation the sect is placing on him.
Finlay was actually not too happy about that. Ever since he decided to join the sect, he was doing as much as he can to maintain a low profile and try not to owe the sect or form too strong a bond with people. This is because FInlay knew he can’t actually stay at this small corner of the word in a relatively simple sect all his life, if he was going to accomplish his goals. He could only lament and put aside the 10 spirit stones. He will do his best not to rely on them and hopefully return them at an appropriate time.
Apart from that, he also bought a few books and manuals on certain topics and skills like Formations, Alchemy, Combat arts, Movement arts etc. He will also focus a lot of time practising those as well, especially the Alchemy skills.
Despite all of the above, Finlay first had to tackle the issue regarding the Lightning and Yin/Yang attributes. Unfortunately, he couldn’t just ask senior Kang about it, nor did the books amongst the small library belonging to senior Kang contain anything on those 2 topics. He could only rely on himself.
With that, Finlay closed his eyes, centred his mind and entered the meditative stance to closely inspect his body and performed various probes to find out more information on his body’s condition. After an entire day of trying various methods, he came to the conclusion that nothing is actually wrong with his current body’s condition. It’s just that he had been hasty and performed the final completion technique before cultivating these 2 elements. At the time, he felt like every cell of his body was full to the brim with the elemental Qi of the five elements. Now it seems like he was in a bit of a hurry and should have probably waited till the end to do the same process.
‘Should I undo the Five element harmonising process and then redo the part? I still feel like my body might not be able to handle so many elements’ Qi at once.’
He deliberated on the issue for a long while before he came to a conclusion. He was somewhat sure that he could simply redo the process as is and everything should sort out fine and if there were any hidden dangers, he felt like the Nine would have warned him about it or perhaps his unlocked memories after he enters Qi condensation will have some information on remedying it later.
With his mind made up, Finlay calmed himself and adjusted his mental and physical state to the peak before chanting a mantra as he called for his Qi and wove it around him using the milky white Qi that combined all the five elements and his two newer elements. The familiar phenomenon appeared again.
A small circuit of Qi took shape from the now, not so little, Qi reserves of Finlay. As he chanted, another larger, more profound Qi circuit formed all around him as the abundant Qi from the surroundings rapidly. Once that was complete, there was the familiar Five element glow from Finlay that left five Qi constructs hanging around him. This was followed by a field of lightning. The lightning crackled all around him and all the element’s Qi in his body and the surroundings was drawn into a circuit. After a threshold, the Lightning slowly subsided as the lightning element’s Qi construct joined the existing five elements’ constructs rotating around Finlay.
This was continued with a glow of the darkness and light that slowly rotated around Finlay. One moment, it was darkness above with the bright light below, next it was the opposite. One moment it was Darkness to his right and Bright light on his left and the next, the opposite. In this way, the two danced around Finlay, but never combined together, only co existing. There was a flash of the Tai-Chi symbol before it changed into a rotating Fire and ice glow, signifying the concept Finlay used to complete this stage of his Yin/Yang attribute. The last Qi construct was even more profound. It contained both the heat and cold attribute of the Yin/Yang concept he comprehended. It was far more complicated and all sorts of lines and complicated geometrical shapes held Qi coloured with the different red and ice blue colours.
Finlay was relieved by the point when he saw the phenomenon corresponding to the Yin/Yang attribute. It meant that he had guessed right and everything should go smoothly from there. Following this, the Qi in his cells briefly again divided itself into all of its various components. The process of merging all of the elemental Qi started as the Qi constructs nestled inside each other, only this time, the process included the two newer elements. The process of merging went smoothly, even smoother than his first time. The Qi combined into a milky white colour, this time a lot less transparent than the last time and there were also no familiar flashes of the five elements. It almost looked like thick, pure white milk in appearance.
The newly created Qi then merged itself with every cell of his body, reinforcing them. The effect of the Five elements was even stronger under the full competition of the elements. He felt his body grow slightly stronger, sturdier and even his mental capacity grew ever so slightly. The Lightning element allowed him superhuman reflexes and reinforced his muscles, adding them to his strength. Strangely enough, the final element of Yin/Yang did not contribute to any new obvious changes, yet Finlay felt distinctly that there was something different in the overall condition of his body, even if he couldn’t yet notice it with his perception.
The whole process took longer than his last time and by the time it was completed, it had been almost an entire night. Finlay slowly opened his eyes to check the condition of his body, he observed his ability to sense and control Qi. This time, he wisely refrained from testing his ability to smell the Qi and proceeded to the bathroom to clean himself and his clothes first.
“Shit! Is this my fate forever? Not even able to peacefully enjoy a cultivation breakthrough before scrubbing myself off this filth? And why don’t these idiots have washing machines?? Ughh!!”
Finlay lamented his fate and cursed under his breath for a while before peace returned to the seclusion room. Thankfully, the place was packed full of formations, serving various purposes and one of the formations was for eliminating any unpleasant odour from the impurities extracted from a cultivation breakthrough. This place was designed to be used by those far more powerful so, this amount of filth did not linger for much time.
After changing into a fresh new set of clothes, Finlay sat down to slowly examine each and every part of his body. He could now see and feel far more both inside and outside of his body. He could now distinctly see the various paths and channels the Qi travelled inside him. He knew these were the rudimentary traces of his meridians.
Right now, he hadn’t yet entered the Qi condensation realm. Entering the Qi condensation realm meant actually embarking on a path to use the Qi of heaven and earth to walk the road of Spiritual cultivation. His body transformation stage differs from it in that it was simply using a bit of the world Qi to temper it, make it sturdy and prepare it to be able to contain and channel the powerful Qi for when his Qi sea and meridians form in the future. Only those who have opened their Qi sea can be considered to have entered the Qi condensation realm.
Next step for FInlay was to officially enter the Qi condensation realm, but before that he would have to deal with the notification he had put aside from a while back. He also received a new notification earlier.
*Ding*
Congratulations on completing the Sixth layer of cultivation of the Body Transformation realm.
Restriction Unlocked on skill : Analyse (Grade E+ –> Grade E+)
*Ding*
Congratulations on completing the Final layer of cultivation of the Body Transformation realm.
Restriction Unlocked on skill : Analyse (Grade E+ –> Grade E+)
*Ding*
Congratulations on completing all of the elements of the Origin sutra.
You now have increased control over all the elements and increased capacity for Qi due to the harmony achieved through all the fundamental elements. In addition, you now have the ability to replicate the effects of each elemental Qi individually and mask the true nature of your Origin Qi.
Your body is now perfected to cultivate the full Origin Srushti Mantra cultivation art.
*Ding*
Special memories and training unlocked. Awaiting your input to open them..
There was no surprise with the first two notifications, yet Finlay was a little disappointed at the Analyse skill not advancing yet. Next, there were some important details in the following notification. He did feel like he had even more control of Qi in general than before and the system notification only confirmed what he perceived. But that wasn’t the important part. The ability to mask the actual nature of his Qi was a lot more useful and even essential if he was to be able to maintain his secrets in the future when using external spells or when facing those with far higher cultivation than him like a Zifu elder of his sect perhaps. He also noticed the bit about his body being ready for the next stage, especially how the wording subtly changed into his body being perfect instead of being prime.
Next comes the all important notification he had out aside from a time when he was in a secure and safe place, just like the one he is in right now. Finlay took a deep breath before he clicked on the notification. There was a rush of information flowing into his mind as his world grew blindingly white.
----------------------------------------
On a familiar tall peak amongst those belonging to the True Sky Immortal sect, there was a familiar garden with an elegant pavilion and a picturesque tree blooming with flowers of all kinds of colours. Even though winter is approaching and most of the trees have started shedding their leaves, this garden looked ever green and the tree was lush with vitality. There was a master and disciple pair sitting inside the open pavilion, sipping trees and discussing the matters of the sect. These two are the Senior Elder Kang and his master, Fang Tu.
A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.
Once the disciple was done discussing and reporting on the recent arrangements of the sect, the topic finally shifted to Finlay.
“Master, that important seedling actually set such a record of completing a whole Five elements in less than 4 months!!”
*chuckle*
“Little Kang, it seems this has truly got you very excited? Haha,” his master couldn’t help but tease him.
“Of course! Although speed of cultivation is not as big a determining factor for achieving greatness, it can be said that it plays a very big role in the early stages and in giving a massive advantage to the path of cultivation both in terms of survival and time one has to walk farther.”
The master nodded his head in acknowledgement as he added, “True. This time, it seems we have chanced upon a very big piece of Diamond from amongst a mud pile. The heavens are indeed blessing my sect. As long as we tide this difficult storm, in less than 10 years, I can see our sect grow with more vitality than ever before.”
“Yes, that is for certain, master! Not just this one there are a few other promising youths these days. As long as we survive, our future prospects are bright.”
“Alright, make sure you treat him well and keep him safe. Even though it doesn’t seem like our enemy is about to make a move right away, if they find out about any seedlings with great potential, they might unsheath their daggers in the dark.”
“Of course! I have made the arrangements as we’ve previously discussed. Combined with the strict lockdown of information on any and all promising disciples, he should be hidden. Moreover, this child doesn’t have an arrogant and rude temperament. He is acting even more cautious than us and has requested that he be arranged a common student identity. I have taken the initiative to create a fake student profile in the list of inner sect disciples. With our recent measures, it wouldn’t appear too strange to hide the information from him this way.”
“Hmm, you’re right. Normally, he should be taken in as a direct disciple of one of the Grand elders or at least as a core disciple of the sect, but such a thing might cause more attention to be drawn towards him and while I trust in my fellow sect brothers and sisters, we cannot rule out the possibility that the enemy might have infiltrated somewhat into our people already.
“And yes make sure to reward the kid properly. Even though hiding his information means that the sect cannot reward him fairly and openly, nobody is stopping us from giving private gifts from our own possessions.”
“Haha, no need to worry about that master, all taken care of. Of course, if you want to gift him something more yourself or you wish to compensate me…hehe”
“Cheeky brat! Alright your master won’t be stingy. I’ll be generous and compensate you. Also, give this to the kid as a gift and make sure to let him know that the sect appreciates talent like his.”
----------------------------------------
Finlay woke up from a daze, unaware of how long he had been passed out. It took him a while to reorient himself. He stared at the pile of system messages in front of him.
*Ding*
Unlocked Experience points and Credits system.
Experience points can be used to upgrade system features and credits can be used to directly purchase resources and services from the system when they become available in the future.
*Ding*
Unlocked information on cultivation and the cultivation technique of the next stage of the Origin Srushti Immortal Sutra.
The information can always be referenced by accessing the system.
*Ding*
Unlocked memories on the basics of weapons instructions received from the Nine. Relevant memories unlock automatically when you’re trying to learn a weapon.
Limited information can be accessed through the system once a weapon memory is unlocked.
*Ding*
You now have the ability to unlock more memories whenever your skill in certain fields such as Alchemy, Formations, crafting etc is acknowledged by the system..
*Ding*
You have started to unlock the system in full. More features and sections of the system will open up with increased cultivation. The system will now update.
*Ding*
The system will now update. This may take some time, please stand by…
Even as the plethora of system notifications hit FInlay, his mind wandered off back to the memory he viewed or perhaps dreamed of when he was knocked unconscious.
A cheerful man with a wide toothy grin stood right in front of Finlay as he called out, “Hello Kid! How is it going so far??”
The man was someone Finlay had a good memory of. Even though it has been a while, he instantly recognised him as one amongst The Nine. Jinn, the god who was most proficient in the system’s design.
To be continued.
Preview - System Status
Identity :
Finlay
Male
14 yrs old
–
Mortality :
Sura (Mortal)
Job :
None
Titles :
None
Cultivation:
Perfected Body Transformation stage Level 9+ (Five Element cultivation + Lightning and Yin/Yang) (🠕);
Perfect Harmony of all elements; (🠕)
Stats :
→open←
Skills :
The All seeing eye (Analyse) :
(Grade - E+)
Authority granted by the first god of the world, Dinn. You can peer into the secrets of things and beings of this world as long as you know what you’re looking for. (Requires activation conditions)
Inventory space :
(Locked until Foundation Establishment)
Universal Language comprehension (Grade A+);
Mana Blast (Grade F+)
Preview - Stats
Spiritual :
Cultivation Talent :
S+ Grade (Appears as C-)
Divine Sense :
None
Law Comprehension :
S Grade
Physical :
Body Type :
Five Element body (Grade : B+(Aggregate)) (Appears as C-)
Elemental Attunements :
Metal
S- Grade
Five Element Body Type
(Dominant trait)
Earth
A Grade
Wind
C+ Grade
Fire
C Grade
Water
D Grade
Light/Darkness(Yin/Yang) (🠕)
D- Grade
Lightning (🠕)
D- Grade
Other Talents :
Weapon Talents :
Sword/Bladed type
A+ Grade
Ranged
C+ Grade
Hand to Hand
C Grade
Polearms/Spear
D Grade
Soul based/Mental type
D- Grade
Qi Circuits :
(Arrays, Formations, Magical Restrictions)
B- Grade
Crafting Talent :
C+ Grade
Alchemy Talent :
D+ Grade