The Chieftain is currently standing above the water as Raja Kint has already dove in again. This time he felt no scans and safely reached the bottom. He couldn’t perceive the array being used causing furrowed brows.
Helping him breakthrough is one thing but how do I help him gather the ki? I can’t even sense the array already down here. I can’t recklessly attempt building another array here on top of what’s already here. I might end up ruining the array and all the ki will escape.
Raja Kint could only mentally sigh to himself. His ears perked up as he heard the Chieftain call to him. He swam up climbing out of the water to see the Chieftain with a hint of a smile.
“We’ve been thinking about this all wrong the whole time. Whilst it’s true I can’t absorb the ki because of how rich the heavenly ki is. We don’t need to gather earth ki for my breakthrough. Think about the curse my people have. The heavens didn’t excavate a specific area of only earth ki for us. We absorb earth ki because we naturally expel heavenly ki from our bodies. While you all can attract heavenly ki to your bodies.
“With this line of thinking we could attempt to attract the heavenly ki elsewhere. Potentially another array created outside the water where the heavenly ki gathers?”
Raja Kint was shocked as he began mumbling to himself. He furrowed his brows as he began pacing before saying. “This would be far easier than creating an array in the water. In fact, I think the current me can’t build an array there. Your ancestor truly is too formidable and I’m far too young.”
He looked around the cavern before continuing. “How exactly do we attract the heavenly ki? This isn’t something exactly in textbooks, one could say only a small group like yours might experience this issue.”
The Chieftain smiled, “I have a beast that could help with the absorption.”
Raja Kint curiously looked over.
“Normally it’s in hibernation but I have a special mantra to call it over. It shouldn’t take more than three days for it to arrive.”
“How exactly would this beast help?”
“This isn’t any normal beast. Although, its growth was somewhat stunted being in these lands. It’s unrivaled and an influx of ki would make it even stronger.”
“Even if it’s only heavenly ki?”
“I’m sure it’ll only need a bit of time to absorb the appropriate amount of earth ki too.”
“This leaves the issue of attracting the heavenly ki somewhere else.”
The two fell silent as they had no idea how to go about this. The Chieftain looked inside the pouch while Raja Kint sat down to think. After a few hours, the Chieftain gasped as he pulled a container out of the pouch. Inside was a white lotus flower. When it was pulled out of the pouch Raja Kint’s eyes opened in shock. From the container, one could feel extremely strong fluctuations of heavenly ki. But the surprising part was that the flower in its beauty seemed to be wilting.
The Chieftain said, “This flower holds no earth ki, only heavenly ki. Such a rare flower, I’ve never heard of such a thing.”
He looked toward Raja Kint only for him to dejectedly shake his head. But, their eyes were shining. If this flower only contained heavenly ki then wouldn’t this be perfect? It would absorb all the heavenly ki leaving only earth ki.
The two looked at each other and nodded their heads. The Chieftain walked toward the water, opened the container and grabbed the flower before placing it on top of the water. In the next moment, the water stirred as they could feel the spiraling of heavenly ki toward the flower. After a few minutes, the water lost a bit of luster but now there was no more heavenly ki present.
The two weren’t focused on the water as they stared at the flower. The ki within the water was immeasurable to both of them and yet the flower absorbed it all so quickly and seemed to only slightly recover. They could also sense the flower absorbing the heavenly ki from the surroundings. The Chieftain finally placed down the container after shaking free from amazement.
Raja Kint could only sigh as he had never seen a flower like this. However, he never did study flowers much.
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Raja Kint said, “It looks like we won’t need that beast anymore.”
“Indeed, this pouch has so many valuables that I wouldn’t dare carelessly take anything else out. I could very well bring a calamity down upon this forest. Anyways, I’ll put the flower back inside so we can discuss exactly what I need to do.”
Raja Kint nodded his head and sighed as he looked up. It seems I’m in the final stretch now before I have to leave.
“So, normally one would continue to absorb ki and then the feeling of a breakthrough would appear in their hearts. Signifying their chance to evolve into a higher lifeform. Undergoing a ki baptism into a limbo realm. Once ready, they would go into seclusion and absorb ki at exorbitant rates going through a nirvana into the limbo realm.”
Raja Kint nodded his head, “And once you’re finished you’ll feel the extended life flowing through you and your body will feel younger. You’ll look old but feel like a young man.”
The Chieftain could only wryly smile, “Be nice if I could look like a young man again. But seeing as this is heaven’s fault I don’t have much choice. But I’ve never felt that calling… probably also heaven’s fault.” The Chieftain became angry at this thought as he clenched his fists, cracking sounds ringing out.
Raja Kint said, “That doesn’t matter, you’re probably nearly unrivaled even against talented cultivators. You just have to pave your way.”
The Chieftain stood silent for a moment before saying. “With so much earth ki here. I’ll be a sinner if I don’t produce results. Maybe, I can take this chance to deepen my earth law too.”
The Chieftain stretched his limbs and walked toward the water. Suddenly he dove down and Raja Kint was left alone up top.
Raja Kint says, “I may as well improve my strength all around.”
He sat down and took out some papers to practice arrays on. After the talks from earlier he realized he needed to understand the arrays deeper down to why the lines were placed the way they were. And he wanted to consolidate the earth ki integration within his body while improving his understanding of earth law. He understood after the recent war that his body was extremely important and not something to overlook.
Most cultivators would choose to focus either their body or the traditional path as both take up resources and time. Some have immeasurable resources and talent while others have luck and talent. Either one of these combinations is enough for one to focus both paths. But, Raja Kint’s path is unique as he’s only nine years old and has comprehended the indestructibility of the earth law. And he plans to test out ki in more dangerous ways after seeing how the Chieftain could use earth ki to see through mysteries. This didn’t even take into account the star essence he comprehended but he was too far away from fully understanding it.
Two weeks silently passed by.
Raja Kint was trying to integrate the earth law into his body but had failed numerous times. Even with his study of the arrays he gained no ground. He did make progress in his cultivation advancing to the outer ki realm fourth stage.
“Arrays prove difficult, law proves difficult, techniques have hit a wall. And the damn star essence is impossible to improve. Ugh, cultivation is seriously a long road.” He let out a breath as he lay down. “This is the only path available to me.”
His eyes darted to the water as he felt the presence of a powerful cultivator. The Chieftain had officially broken through to the limbo realm. After a few more days passed Raja Kint raised his eyebrows. What could the Chieftain be doing? He’s already broken through… oh. Is he trying to push to the next stage? It could be possible, guess I’ll just wait and see.
Soon a month passes by and Raja Kint feels a stronger fluctuation from the water. He turns his head over to see a hand come up, although old it’s full of life. The Chieftain pulls himself up and Raja Kint feels awe toward the man.
“What’s your cultivation stage?”
The Chieftain looks at his arms and sighs to himself. His eyes then turn toward Raja Kint. “I’m a step away from the reborn stage. I don’t know enough about that stage yet and I want to consolidate everything I’ve learned so far.” He looked toward the water. “The ancestor was truly unmatched. I’ve absorbed so much ki and yet the water looks no different.
Raja Kint took out a few pieces of paper and wrote down everything he knew about the last two stages of the limbo realm. After an hour Raja Kint gave him the papers.
“You’re truly a knowledgeable kid.”
“Where I’m from you have to learn at least how the mortal step works.”
“Mortal step?”
“It’s the first step in cultivation.”
“Explain.”
“Below a step are the realms. For example, the two ki realms, the limbo realm and the three devourer realms. Even further down are the stages within each realm.”
“Oh, so even though I’ve gone through such a rebirth I’m still considered only a mortal. Just a bit stronger and weaker than other mortals.”
Raja Kint nodded his head as he beamed a smile, “You ready to leave?”
“There’s one thing I want to tell you while we’re out here alone.”