(Author: Hello! Unexpected release after chapter 2! Side projects allow me to do this as they have random releases. While writing my main, I can stockpile chapters and just do a spam release. Anyway, Elgar has element attributes for lightning, magma, and poison. Note: poison is one of the elements outside the ten elements of the Cosmos. I can honestly say that this is the longest I thought about for the ranking system for this story. Enjoy.)
---------Chapter 3: Qi Scouring Realm-------------
After a week, the palace finally adjusted to the aftermath of the most shocking attribute test in the empire's entire history. The reason was Sarah Firetail, whose Star Spirit was a Sacred Phoenix! The whole clan was in a furor and the princesses, save for Hinako who was only two years old, were all jealous as a princess was finally more popular than the three eldest sons of the emperor's many wives vying for the throne. As for Ian and Elgar, being second sons of their mothers, no one seemed to care as much as they did not have as high a political power for others to benefit from.
Elgar was standing in front of the imperial vault beside his mother, Empress Rebecca. Edward was busy learning how to be a ruler beside the emperor to see his brother after the attribute test. The empress had taken Elgar to the vault as Elgar had to pick a suitable cultivation and bind a magic ranked weapon. An important elder of the clan currently cultivated within the vault and the empress needed to see him about her son. Why? Elgar's Dragon Mark had changed, now in the image of a tiny dragon's head with three different symbols in the form a triangle around the head. One symbol was a tiny volcano, on the lower right point of the triangle, with a tribulation lightning hitting the ground on the top point. However the lower left point of the triangle, that symbol was the most significant: a snake's fang with drops of poison dripping down. The entire symbol was black and seemed to be made of dragon scales!
The elder the empress wanted to talk to was an elder from her clan. The empress came from a clan that worshipped dragons and knew a lot about them and humans who had dragon Star Spirits. Her clan also knew about the nature elements outside the ten elementals of the Cosmos. Those elements were life, death, poison, and blood. These elements were the taboo as no person should ever be able to manipulate those elements.
Especially life and death, Cultivators who had affinities for those were sought out and killed by all nations. No one should ever mess with life and death. It went against the natural order of Heaven. Those who did were among the most powerful. It was obvious that, should they ascend to the Immortal Realm, they would already be amongst the most powerful. Seeing her son's Dragon Mark, the empress knew her son had one of the taboo elements: poison.
"Grandfather!" the empress cried as she hugged a man who seemed to be in his late twenties. Elgar was very confused. How could his great grandfather appear the same age as his human mother?
"Ah, Rebecca. What brings you to see this old man," the grandfather laughed.
"It's about my second son. I didn't tell you but he has a Dragon Mark," the empress said, stunning the old man as he stared at Elgar.
"Quickly boy, show me the Dragon Mark!" the man cried, seeing the mark on Elgar's chest as he took off gold robe and crimson sash with his black pants and shoes a large contrast to his slightly pale skin.
"I can't believe my eyes," the man cried, falling back in shock. "That is a genuine Dragon Mark! Only humans who received the spirit of a dragon can attain those. Do you know what that means? it means a dragon must discard its body, sacrificing its life, to bless a human it approves. Being such prideful creatures, how rare is it for a dragon to actually bestow a Dragon Mark? What did it look like before his Star Spirit appeared and what is it?"
"His Star Spirit is a Calamity Dragon and his mark used to look like the same black lava dragon from when the tribulation lightning struck me as my husband and I fought an opposing nation's army," the empress said.
"And how did it die?" the man asked, his eyes bulging so much that Elgar thought they might pop out.
"It failed ascending into heaven and caused an eruption of several dozen geysers of lava as it was caught between the two armies," the empress said. "Could it be? Did it save my life and the very reason the Dragon Mark is on Elgar?"
"It has to be!" the man cried as Elgar put his shirt and sash back on. " I, Caius Draco, have long since researched the origins of Dragon Marks. He is able cultivate elemental energy of lightning, magma, and poison though. What a strange combination."
"Do you know any cultivation methods for him to learn?" she asked.
"That is hard. Magma, alone, is a rare element and rarely associated with lightning. To add poison with it....," Caius brooded. "The necessary chant would be....no, he has poison. What about.....no again. He has magma......"
"What's a cultivation method?" Elgar asked as all a magical beast needed to do was eat other magical beasts or any creature with nature energy in the body. It was deadlier and simpler.
"Think of it as a chant while you envision something as you meditate," the empress answered, putting a hand on his shoulder as her grandfather continued to brood over his memories. "Without practicing them, you cannot advance as a Cultivator."
"Finally, you can tell me about the ranking systems," Elgar grinned, news he had long wanted to find out.
"Human Cultivators, assess ourselves by a cultivation stages. There are a total of thirteen cultivation stages. The first four stages are called Qi Scouring Realm. Nature and elemental energy are just classifications of what we call qi. It is said the first Cultivators came from the eastern continents and nations, our ancestor also originating from there. Each of the four stages of the Qi Scouring Realm are named to enlighten on how to progress to that stage," the empress explained.
"So I am at the first stage of the Qi Scouring Realm. What are the stages?" Elgar asked.
"The first four stages are called Qi Forming, Refining Qi, Violent Qi, and Qi Establishment stage. You are at the Qi Forming stage," the empress answered. The fifth through eighth stage is called the Earth Shattering Realm and is where most Cultivators struggle with for most of their lives. The stages are known as Earth Condensation, Rock Formation, Earthly Avatar, and Earth Severing stage. This is the final few stages where there is impurities left in your body. After the Earth Severing Stage, you discard your mortal body and gain a new body which you age you back to your late-twenties and grant eternal youth. From then on, you don't need to worry about your lifespan."
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"You had to worry about it before?" Elgar asked.
"Yes. Those who are at the first through third stage have a life expectancy of one hundred years. Those at the fourth through sixth stage have a life expectancy of two hundred years. Finally, those at the seventh and eighth stage have a life expectancy of four hundred years. However, that is only for those with absolutely no talent to worry about. Most people easily reach the fifth stage within the first hundred years," the empress waved. "The ninth and tenth stage are called the Sky Profound Realm. "Your great grandfather, Caius Draco, is at the Sky Profound Realm. That is why he looks my age."
"So it's like that," Elgar nodded. For magical beasts, they older you were, the more powerful you became. There was no such thing as life expectancy. As long as you didn't get killed, you lived eternally and could evolve if you wanted to change yourself.
"The ninth and tenth stage are called the Cloud Forming and Sky King stage. Only once at the Sky King stage can one fly without using a technique or qi. The eleventh and twelfth stage is called the Saint Profound Realm. The stages are individually called Lesser Saint and Greater Saint stage. The thirteenth and final stage is called the Profound God Realm. It is during this realm that one can ascend to the Heavens," the empress said. "People at that stage are called Fake Immortals. This is the stage you are aiming for."
"There is no way to ascend to the Heavens before it?" Elgar asked.
"No. Even the black lava dragon, from before you were born, was a magical beast at the human equivalent of a Fake Immortal. It was one of the highest beings and it failed. That is how hard it is to ascend. Whenever a Fake Immortal fails, and lives, he is called a Loose Immortal. Most magical beasts that fail choose to evolve to another being to try again in a stronger body, although they lose about two cultivation stages whenever they evolve. That is what I know from my clan's records," the empress sighed. "That is, assuming their body is not destroyed. If it is their spirit, they restart from the very first stage. However, they are still considered Loose Immortals."
"Could they be very special?" Elgar asked, as he must be a Loose Immortal!
"I don't know that much, Little Elgar," Rebecca laughed as she pat her son's head.
"I've got it!" Caius cried. "There are two cultivation methods I know. One is only suitable for a Loose Immortal and the other is incredibly difficult and nearly life threatening."
"I'll choose the former. Maybe I'm considered a Loose Immortal. After all, mom survived the tribulation lightning because of me. I also have the Dragon Mark," Elgar grinned.
"Okay!" Caius grinned, stunning the empress. "What a brave great grandson. This old man is pleased. Okay, this cultivation method is known as Meteoric Qilin technique. I will now bestow upon you the necessary chant and neidan for it."
"Neidan?" Elgar frowned.
"It is an alchemical tool. What? Did you think a human can cultivate poison without consequence? Lightning essence and magma essence is tolerated as they are two of the ten elements of the Cosmos. Poison is not. In the future, the poison would infect your entire organs and skeletal structure and you would suffer a painful, slow death. The neidan will serve as a vessel for you to cultivate poison essence," the man said, giving Elgar an azure pearl with a white snake within. "Very few poisonous magical beasts create a neidan while they breathe. Usually those who have lived over a thousand years make one. If they evolved into a more powerful snake, the neidan would have fused into their magical beast core and their poison's lethality would increase a hundredfold!"
"So I have to swallow this?" Elgar asked hesitantly.
"It will also improve your cultivation and strengthen your body by leaps and bounds. While there are rarer treasures out there and in the vault, this neidan is best suited as you cultivate the poison element," the man said, watching Elgar swallow the pearl. "Now sit and begin the chant. Visualize the qilin in your mind! Let the qi of the world flow and enrich your Star Lake!"
Elgar immediately sat down and began to chant the words the man had told him. "Graceful is the qilin. Its majestic hooves are the music of the earth and its horns are the envy of the Heavens. Its power is like a meteor: unstoppable and powerful beyond compare."
Elgar could feel immense energy seep into his pores, following his veins all the way to his heart. In his mind, a lake appeared with a mighty qilin roaring in the sky as an azure pearl with a white snake inside floated above the center of the lake. Qi entered his Spirit Lake with attributes of all the elements. Qi was the nutrient of the universe and Elgar could feel its power. However, he could only fully absorb the essence of lightning, magma and poison from the qi.
Elgar's eyes widened as he could feel a black, sticky liquid seep from his pores. His Star Lake seemed to have doubled in size and the qi seemed to purify as it entered his Spirit Lake. He could sense immense concentration of elemental energy inside the neidan. Not just poison, but also the essence of lightning and magma were contained. Because of the neidan, his Spirit Lake contained pure nature energy drained from the qi.
"What is this?" Elgar cried, as he could no longer absorb qi as dramatically as before. .
"Congratulations. You reached the second stage: the Refining Qi stage. Well, it should be obvious as the neidan purifies the qi and keeps the balance of the ten elements and four taboo elements in check. Most people would not be able to absorb so much qi at a fast rate as it is raw qi they absorb. Furthermore, those with element attributes absorb the essence of the elements and it imbalances the harmony of the world's qi. With the neidan drawing the essence in itself, how could you not expect to reach the second stage?" Caius laughed. "However, the second stage has the easiest breakthrough and needs no insight at all. Don't get a swell head. It wasn't through your own efforts but the neidan."
"Yes, great grandfather," Elgar nodded, knowing full well he was right.
"Take a bath first. Then we'll find you some stuff from this vault and that hammer of your dad's grandfather. Since poison is a taboo element, let's have you learn how to infuse your poison essence in throwing knives and not the hammer," Caius said as he and Rebecca waited for a half hour before Elgar returned in a clean, white robe shirt and black pants.
"Alright, let's find that hammer first before we think about anything else. We need to see if you are compatible with it," Rebecca advised and the three generations of the Draco clan left to find the legacy of the Elgar's imperial great grandfather.