With his first step, the land around him trembled, his veins expanded and became thicker. The demonic energy in his core circulated through his veins nonstop. Amazingly, his thicker veins withstood the pressure from the demonic energy.

Then he glanced at the side looking at the setting sun. Another question popped in his mind "Why are there six suns and three moons?" While asking the question, he took his second step. The land below his feet rumbled and cracked. Small stones floated then shattered. His muscles tightened and hardened. It did not became thicker however the hardness became greater than its previous state. He became a bit taller and his scrawny appearance transformed into a dignified look. 

Again, he took his third step and asked "What lies beyond this boundless plane?" When his feet landed on the ground it caved it. Every bones in his body became thicker and harder. It emitted a metal like luster which is far from the bones of a mortal. Even boulders would not be able to crush his bones easily anymore.

On his fourth step, he murmured "what is art?" After that one sentence, everything around him slowed down. He noticed that his senses were greatly enhanced. Not only his five senses, even his consciousness became clearer. It was like he can feel things happening fifty meters away from him.

He immediately took his fifth step while asking another question "What is our origin?". After this question his organs evolved into something stronger and more efficient.

He did not waste time and asked more questions as he took his sixth step. His sixth step made the space around him distort allowing him to appear directly in front of the cave. His eyes shone with profound glow as if he  understood what he seek. "Is what I seek the truth?.."

"Is it the answer to all of my questions?"

"NO! What I seek is much simpler than that."

Rumbling echoed out below him as he said "I simply wish to seek knowledge!

Knowledge to answer my questions!

Knowledge to arrive at the truth!

I do not wish to know everything, I simply wish to have knowledge to satisfy my curiosity!!"

His mind trembled, he raised his head, and profound glow from his eyes shot through the sky which pierced through the clouds. It was like telling the heavens that he stepped out of the mortal realm and started his path as a seeker! He laughed proudly which echoed towards the sky, then he slowly closed his eyes.

Everything around him was filled with silence for a while. The wind ceased to blow and the trees stopped moving. It was like time actually stopped around him, and everything ceased to exist.

When he suddenly opened his eyes, everything came back to normal. He probed his body and realized that great change occurred in it. Also, he was greatly shocked when he noticed that he seems to be on a different realm than before.

Earlier, he never noticed that he was stepping into another realm. He was only immersed on knowing what he seeks. He never thought that he would actually step into the body tempering realm while gaining his enlightenment.

However his core remained the same color, but he was still satisfied with what he achieved.

His face brimmed with joy. Many people failed to enter this stage and remain on the beginners realm for the rest of their lives. With his body strengthened, his lifespan was increased to one hundred fifty years. However he felt that his life force would quickly diminish if he betrayed his heart and did not continue to chase for what he seek.

Only by cleaving his path and pursuing what he seek would allow him to grow stronger. Refining energy would only allow someone to increase their level, but it will not allow them to step into another realm. 

This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author's consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.

With his new found strength, he tapped his cube and pulled out the skill book he got from Ru Gao. He flipped the pages of the book and smiled. "Now that I entered the  body tempering realm, I realized that this is such a useful skill."

Back then he didn't bother to learn the skill since he was busy running away. Also with his two art, he didn't think highly of the skill. He has no weapon mastery either and has no inclination towards it, so the skill would probably be less useful on him. However, with his improved constitution, he theorized that the skill could possibly be used on his body. This was only his theory, but he has high hopes that it could be achieved.

In spite of all his gains, he felt somewhat bothered of Ru Gao's status. He felt that Ru Gao wasn't a simple lackey of the black spider guild. It seems more like he is a disciple of a strong expert who is not a member of the guild. All of this was only his speculations, so he didn't bother much about it until he had more clues about the situation. For now, he only wish to study the skill on hand.

Several days passed, he did not leave the spot where he gained enlightenment, instead, he stayed on that very spot and continuously tried to learn the skill he got from Ru Gao. He never imagined that it would take him too much time to learn the skill. It seems like the blue orb inside of him does not support this type of skills, so he had to rely on his own ability to learn the skill.

The book only contained images of a sun and a person. There are no text on the book, only dozens of images of the person portraying his devotion to the sun. It was like a story book, however the profoundness of the images could instantly make anyone realize that the book contains a skill. 

For days, Ming Li tried to understand the images and what it signifies. Occasionally, he would stare at the sun and feel its presence. One time, while closely observing the suns for more than a week, he realized that the six suns where not actually identical! There were very small differences on each sun. If he have't observed each sun, he would never realize this small difference.

Every day he would look at the sun, He would identify more difference. Difference in its flame, difference in intensity, difference in heat, difference in size. Anything he could get he would deeply imprint it in his soul. It was a new experience for him. Since what he seeks is knowledge, He was eager to know more about the sun. He was absorbed into gaining more insight of his observations.

Time slowly passed by as he understood more about the sun. He also realized that the sun on the book was exactly the first sun. It has the same characteristics as what was portrayed in the skill book. It seems like the first sun is the source for the skill in the book, and the other suns have nothing to do with it. Despite knowing the exact sun which he needs to study, he continued to study all of the suns! His desire for knowledge kicked in, and he did not stop until he got something that could quench his curiousity.

Even when it rained, or the suns were covered by the clouds, Ming Li never stopped looking at the sun. It was like his gaze could see through the thick clouds. His thirst for knowledge allowed him to see what lies behind the clouds. On his eyes, clear skies could be seen, the scorching sun deeply burned in his pupils. It is something that only happens during a certain enlightenment. On his cube, the wooden slip suddenly vibrated as if it was being summoned. Whenever Ming Li gain more enlightenment the vibrations of the wooden slip gets stronger.

After two weeks, his eyes was as clear as water. In it, the first sun was blazing fiercely. His body started to glow in red, even the skill book started to float. The grass around him started to wither from heat and pulsing heat wave radiated from his body.

He was still in the midst of gaining enlightenment, however the blaze of the sun on his eyes started to grow stronger. Slowly the image of the sun became extremely violent and his eyes erupted with red flames. His sight went white as flames tried to devour his vision. Ming Li groaned from pain, his breathing became rugged, and he felt nervous because he was loosing control of the situation. Because of his desire, he still tried to comprehend the sun and didn't give up even he was losing his sight.

The flame in his eyes blazed fiercely as it started to devour his face. Ming Li was still focused on gaining enlightenment, however, when he felt that his vision was almost at the point of disappearing, he slowly closed his eyes and gave up on understanding the suns. 

Inside his cube the vibration of the wooden slip also stopped, and the image in his eyes completely dissappeared.

Plop!

The book fell to his lap as he woke up from his trance.

When he gave up, he coughed up several mouthful of blood. Blood also oozed from his ears and nose. He lost several years of life span when he gave up on his desire to gain knowledge. It is the unavoidable outcome whenever a seeker gave up on what they seek. Luckily, Ming Li does not have extremely strong desire this time, or else he would have instantly died.

He sighed, and slowly closed the skill book. He realized that he is still far too weak to fully understand the suns. That is why his enlightenment failed. 

Today he understood what a seeker actually means. A seeker would rather die than give up what he seeks.