Excitement shot through Naaths mind as he realized what he had done, finally after years of effort, he figured out the true profundity of the true void arts. However he knew that this was only the first step, he knew his understanding was still only at the very basic level. He had gained the ability to use the true void arts but only the very beginning of the very first stage of them. This still granted him obscene abilities in terms of martial cultivation. The first stage of the true void arts would grant him the ability to absorb any and all forms of energy! If anyone In the world learned of this it would cause untold destruction as people came for Naath’s life.
Bloody wars with death tolls in the billions would be inevitable over an ability like this! Yet this devastating ability that others would slaughter to obtain was actually created by Naath himself. If the world were to learn of this he would be hailed as a genius never before seen. Naath, knowing just how profound and insane the True Void Arts are, decided that it would be his greatest secret. Now that he had obtained the knowledge needed to start cultivating the True Void Arts he did not waver and stop. He decided to go out to the edge of the forest and meditate further on their meaning and abilities.
It was still the dead of night, there were no clouds and the sky was full of stars, more than Naath could count. The night air was cool and refreshing and the slight dew on the grass was adding a sweet scent to the occasional breeze. Taking in a deep breath Naath paused to appreciate the purity of this world, no cars driving by making noise, no blinding lights on every street. The air was pure and sweet, with no pollution, and he could look up and be dazzled by the beauty of the night sky, losing himself in wonder as he did so. He did miss earth ever so slightly, having a smartphone was definitely nice.
All that information simply at his fingertips, if he had that here, if the world had that here, then cultivation genius’ would pop up like bamboo after a spring shower. After thinking for a moment and taking all of this in Naath started to walk quietly down the dirt pathway and out of the village. He made his way out towards the edge of the nearby forest, where he found the tree stump that he had sat on and meditated on many times before. He sat on top of it, leaned back, and looked at the stars in the sky as he emptied his mind.
One of the benefits of the True Void Arts was that Naath didn't have to adhere to the standard means of meditation anymore. True void is nothing, nothingness does not need a state of being in order to be understood. If Naath was going to cultivate the True Void Arts then he had to act as nothing would when possible. At least during the initial stages in order to understand them fully. So he sat not in a meditative pose but simply in a comfortable position and cleared his mind as he focused on the true void and its meaning. Soon he became engrossed in his thoughts about the True Void and time seemed to slip away, before he knew it the sun was gently rising over the horizon and birdsong was ringing out as the nearby forest came to life.
The night insects went silent, the birds sang and flew, a breeze blew out over the field in front of Naath and rustled the branches and leaves in the forest to his back. He let out a light breath and smiled as he looked out over the large grassy fields in front of him with the sun glistening off of the morning dew that had built overnight on the grass. Feeling a sense of peace Naath began to slowly walk back to the village, today was his deciding day. The elders of the village would gather in the large hut at the center of the village and ask Naath a series of questions, they would also give Naath a basic physical examination, and based on the results of everything they would work with him to decide what direction he should take in the future.
Cultivation, Naath knew he would finally be able to begin cultivation. He was excited about it, he had wanted to be a cultivator for a long time now. To follow his heart and do whatever he wished, to have chance encounters, to witness first hand the various tropes and cliches. To experience hard-fought battles and desperate struggles, to try new meats of various animals and new flavors from various plants. Most of all though Naath had dreamed of becoming a powerful figure with a grand sect of his own. With countless disciples recruited in his sect with only the most talented individuals being present. As he got lost in his imagination, Naath made his way slowly back to the village taking over an hour on what should have been only a twenty-minute walk.
When he returned to the village he went into his own hut and grabbed some jerky he had made. He sat down outside of his hut in a rocking chair he had also put together and simply sat down enjoying the silence as he ate his breakfast. He slowly chewed on the meat that tasted like a cross between beef and deer meat and savored the flavor that couldnt have been found on Earth. He felt at peace after his recent understanding of the True Void Arts and just silently enjoyed himself while he ate. As he was enjoying his leisure time an elder came up by Naath's house and when he saw the young man he shook his head.
“Naath, if I didn’t know any better I’d say that you were some old sage who has already seen the comings and goings of many different ages already. Well, whatever, are you ready to come to the village center and talk about your future with us old geezers?”
Naath smiled brightly hearing the elders' words and spoke up himself.
“Elder Huang, who’s to say I haven't seen an age or two already? Maybe I already lived one life in a noisy bustling crowded place and simply enjoy this peace and quiet. Also, what old geezers? You guys have at least another forty years in you! You can walk upright and compete with even the young men of the village. Ah, whatever one is as old as they feel I suppose, let's head to the village center then I guess. I’ve been waiting for this day for what feels like an eternity, maybe several?”
Elder Huang laughed heartily at Naaths antics and simply waved his hand for Naath to follow behind him. Quickly finishing the jerky in his hands and getting up from the chair, Naath excitedly followed behind Elder Huang. As they wandered through Riverside Village Naath waved and smiled at the various people they passed on the way. The fishermen with large boxes of fresh-caught fish, a few children running around playing. The village was mostly full of smiles, soon Naath and Elder Huang arrived at the center of the village. Elder Huang held the door and invited Naath inside, Naath unhesitatingly stepped inside of the large, circular hut.
Inside of the hut was a large table going around the inside, it was almost a complete circle with the exception of one opening on the side opposite the door. There were 12 seats around the table and a small, circular raised platform in the center of the hut. In 11 of the seats, there were already elders sitting down waiting. They all turned to the door when they heard it open and nodded to Elder Huang when he walked in. He nodded back and then told Naath.
“Naath, go onto that stone platform in the middle there and just stand there for all of us okay? Once everyone is in place we will each ask a question and do a basic examination and a few simple tests.”
Naath nodded his head and walked around the table and onto the stone platform in the center as he was asked to. When he got close he happened to see strange symbols he didn’t recognize carved into the stone. He glanced at them for a moment out of curiosity and then the elder to Naath’s far left cleared his throat getting his attention and he began to speak.
“Naath, this time seems to have flown by hasn’t it? It feels like just yesterday Elder Ging picked up a crying infant from the woods and brought him here. As you’ve aged and grown up in this little village, as with all the children who grow up here we have kept an eye on you. We've been looking at special traits, defining characteristics, things that will give us a general direction for you. Now that you are here each of the 12 of us will ask a question of you, one we have been pondering over to help us decide what future path seems best for you.
Each elder has a different specialization, fishing, lumber, construction, bookkeeping, hunting, scouting, managing the village's finances, warehouse management, cooking, keeping the peace, and lastly cultivation. Each of us will ask a question related to our own fields as well as yourself and you just need to answer truthfully, none of us 12 need any flattery. Now then, I specialize in fishing, we gather food for the village from the nearby river and must keep the seasons and population of the fish in mind. How would you manage the fishing for the village?”
“Elder, I am not someone who focuses on fishing overly much, however, if I were to become a fisherman I would not bother with the river more than a handful of times. I would instead have a large pond dug coming off of the river with a one-way fish trap allowing them in but not out. After getting a large enough number of fish I would close off the trap and simply allow just the water to flow in and out. I would then breed the fish within this pond and use them as a source of food for the village. I would make it rather large, enough for ten thousand people in order to future proof. But again Elder, my interests do not lie here.”
“Hmmm, a good idea for certain. Elder Feng, your turn.”
The next elder in line began to speak up at the mention of his name.
“Naath, I am Elder Feng. I manage the lumber for the village needed to construct various things and for upkeep. I am curious if you were to change any one thing about what we do what would it be?”
“Elder Feng, there is not much I can see that needs to be changed about the lumber industry, right now the forest is large and the trees are almost uncountable. However, I would advise replanting every few years so that future generations may also have plentiful wood to harvest. We can not narrow our focus to only our single generations or the future generations will suffer from our lack of foresight and call us greedy.”
“Hmmm, a worthwhile suggestion, we may yet start doing as such. Elder Hula, you’re turn.
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“Naath I am Elder Hula, I manage construction and village expansion as well as upkeep on the boats we use for trade. I want to ask you, what about the construction industry would you seek to improve should you join?”
“Elder Hula, I would first look at how we are building our houses, redesign the framing for roofing, and the foundations. I would seek to weatherproof the roofs so there are no leaks or dripping when large rainstorms come. To insulate the walls for when the cold bites at us. I would want to plan the roads and districts for the future in case we ever become a blossoming city. I would seek to expand the village and to prepare earnestly for the various future events.
“Elders, this junior does not wish to be rude, but it seems that all of you simply plan to ask me how to improve various fields or what my perspective on them is. If that is the case can I not simply speak my mind on all of the fields and let us be done with this. This junior already knows what path that he wished to follow, so I ask that the elder excuse my rude question.”
The elder looked around at one another and seemed to give in and silently agree on something. They nodded their heads and Elder Huang, the one closest to Naath voiced the approval of the elders for Naath’s request. After this Naath went over the various areas, using knowledge from earth to make suggestions to each and even offering blueprints and outlines or drafts for his ideas to the elders. Soon all of them were nodding their heads in deep thought about what Naath had suggested to them and offered. Finally at the end of everything Naath looked to the 12th seat where elder Huang was seated and spoke up.
“As for cultivation, Elder Huang, I don’t know how to necessarily improve upon it, I think this comes down to every individual and their talent. Personally, I wish to peruse the path of cultivation. I have dreamed of it ever since first learning about it. If the elders will allow me to choose this path, then junior would be overjoyed!”
All of the elders looked to each other again this time they seemed to be actually talking somehow, yet Naath couldn’t seem to hear them at all. After a while, Elder Huang smiled widely and spoke up to Naath.
“Naath, I would be more than happy to teach you how to begin cultivation, but first we need to do a basic physical exam. If your body cannot handle it then you will most definitely die if you try to start cultivating right now. Just hold still and don’t resist for a moment while we activate the formation on the platform to examine your body.”
Naath nodded his head in assent and then Elder Huang waved his arm and Naath felt an oppressive energy. The energy seemed intangible but had a definite physical feeling, Naath knew instantly that this was martial energy! The martial energy went inside of the strange symbols around the stone platform and the symbols began to glow. Soon a bright light was emitted and wrapped itself around Naath’s body. He felt a refreshing feeling like being bathed in warm water as the light enveloped him. After a few minutes, the light faded and then receded away from Naaths body.
Naath saw the light project itself in the air as letters and numbers, it was backwards and hard to read for him but he could tell it gave general information about his body. His age, his bodies condition, health level, and whether or not his body was ready to begin cultivation, whether or not it could handle the strain. After seeing the information all of the elders except Elder Huang let out annoyed breaths. Elder Huang however was smiling from ear to ear. The result confirmed that Naath very much so could begin to cultivate. This meant the other elders wouldn't be able to hold onto Naath before his body developed enough for him to cultivate and improve their fields.
Elder Huang spoke up with a cheerful voice.
“Naath, ah, your body is in absolutely perfect condition to begin cultivating. I can guide you and allow you to begin your path immediately First though we need to go over some things. Oh, and we cannot do it here, that platform was bought by the elders before us at great expense to allow us to find talented youths. On the off chance that you end up having an insane level of talent we don’t want you to affect the formation runes embedded in it.”
Elder Huang’s face turned serious as he continued.
“Firstly I have to make you aware of something. Cultivation is a path of pain, it is full of constant dangers and if you ever stop moving forwards you might as well be moving backward. Cultivation is akin to rowing a boat against a current, if you stop for even a moment you will be pushed backward. Cultivation in and of itself is excruciating as well, if you do not have a high pain tolerance then I suggest you give up on being a cultivator right here and now. The more talented you are, the more each breakthrough in cultivation will hurt. It is the heavens' way of maintaining a balance, while the heavens favor those with talent the heavens are absolutely unbiased at the same time. They cannot show favoritism.
If you are absolutely sure that you wish to begin cultivating then follow me and the other elders out of the village. I will give you a basic cultivation method for fire elemental energy and we can begin.”
Naath spoke up after hearing this much to the surprise of the elders.
“Elders, this junior already has a method of cultivation, this method piqued this junior's curiosity and that is why I am so dead set on cultivating.”
Elder Huang’s face soured slightly as he looked at Naath suspiciously.
“Naath all of our cultivation manuals are kept with me at all times and are precious treasures. Cultivation is not so simple that one can simply pull in energy and be done with it. You need to choose an energy type and then a cultivation method suited to that elemental type or else you will never make it past the first stage. Where did you even receive a cultivation method?”
Naath hesitated but spoke.
“Seniors, in all honesty, this junior was in a deep sleep last night and I felt as though I had lived through several eternities. I don’t remember what I dreamed of at all, however when I woke I found that one, only minutes had passed since I had fallen asleep. And two, that there was a cultivation mantra in my mind that I simply cannot forget even if I wished to. I truly have no idea where it came from, however, this junior indeed has a method that will allow me to cultivate, I ask seniors not to pry further as this junior holds this method as one of his greatest secrets.”
Elder Huang nodded his head and spoke up.
“Ah, so it’s like that, then so be it. While it is uncommon it isn’t unheard of for some to be blessed with cultivation knowledge from time to time and to innately know how. In that case, follow us outside of the village and I will guide you and we will watch over you to ensure nothing goes wrong.”
After saying this all of the elders stood up and made their way to the door of the large hut. Naath followed suit and in a matter of ten minutes, they were in a large field outside of the village. Here elder Huang spoke up again.
“Alright, Naath sit down and follow your cultivation method here. To start cultivating you need to draw a specific elemental energy into your bones. The elemental energy should be defined by your cultivation method. When you draw in this energy your bones will eventually reach a critical point where they cannot store any more energy. Once you reach this point you need to push all at once and force more into all of your bones as you go. This will cause every single bone in your body to not just break, not just shatter, but turn to dust.
After this happens all of the martial energy that you have absorbed will then rebuild your bones and remove all the impurities, making them stronger. This stage of cultivation has nine levels, it is called bone hardening. You will shatter your bones and rebuild them with your martial energy nine times making them as pure and strong as possible. When your bones turn to dust they will make noise, depending on the level of noise made on your breakthroughs we can determine your talent. The louder it is the more talented you are, now then whenever you are ready to begin, go ahead.”
Naath nodded his head but didn't sit down. Instead, he stood as straight as he could and focused on his mantra for the True Void Arts. He focused on the last three words specifically. “True Void Is.” He focused on the fact that all universes, all things exist inside of the true void. That true void pervades everything, is everywhere, is unfelt but absolute. He focused on the true void energy all around him that his True void Arts allowed him and only him to feel. He began to draw it in and focus it inside of his bones, he began to fill his bones with the energy of nothingness.
Soon inside of his bones a cycle formed, the energy of nothing the purest energy of the void seemed to surround his bones, and inside of them a spark of creation energy was born. After this, creation swirled within his bones and washed them clean replacing all the damaged and missing cells within. After this, the attractive energy was born, all of the energy in his bones began to compress right into the marrow and fortify itself. There was not enough energy for destruction to occur at first so the attractive force then began to draw in every type of energy it could from outside of his bones.
A slight wind started to occur around Naath, his clothes and hair began to flutter. All of the elders’ faces changed when they felt this wind. Inside of it they could feel a swirling mixture of many energy types as they mixed and gushed into Naath’s body with reckless abandon. One of the elders went to stop Naath from absorbing these wildly mixed energies but Elder Huang stopped him, a faint glimmer in his eyes as he had a guess as to what was happening. After being stopped all of the elders began to watch on with worry and anticipation.
As Naath’s bones drew in more and more energy and it all began to compress down it also cleansed his bones filling in for any deficiencies that they might have had. Soon they reached a critical point and suddenly small popping noises rang out from Naath’s body. All of his joints were popping simultaneously In a matter of seconds after this small cracks appeared all over his bones. More and more energy continued to rush in and then, suddenly, it stopped. After that, all at once, a massive attractive force was unleashed from inside of Naaths bones, and the same amount of energy as he had absorbed over time previously rushed into his bones all at once!
*CRAAAACK!!!*
A loud cracking sound rang out as every bone in Naath’s body suddenly turned into powder. Naath felt an unbelievable level of pain as every bone and every single piece of cartilage in his body was rendered to nothing more than dust. Yet his posture was exactly the same. His body had been supported by martial energy. As destruction took over and shattered all of his bones turning them to dust, the energy of nothing was all that was present once more. And then, the cycle began anew. The energy of nothing formed the shapes of all of his bones and every single piece of cartilage in Naaths body.
Except the shapes were slightly different, the structure had changed in a minute but significant ways. His posture became perfect, his skeleton looked like the ideal model, and then creation was born again. His bones began to reform once more as the power of creation made them as flawlessly as it possibly could. After this the energy of attraction came to life, it drew in all many, many impurities to the center of Naath’s bones, and then destruction made them into simply nothing! After this cycle was complete a shock-wave swept out with the sound of bones being turned to powder.
The sound wave that swept out left the ears of all the nearby villagers ringing and the elders ended up bleeding from their ears. Their eardrums had been ruptured. The sound waves continued to spread outwards through the dense forest near the village. Soon the sound faded but the energy ripple continued outwards for miles and miles. However, after the first mile, the energy ripple was all but imperceptible. Meanwhile dozens of miles away a different scene was playing out entirely.
There were three young men chasing after a strange-looking rune that read as “King.” The three of them looked to be in their late teen years and all wore bright red robes with symbols of flame on their backs. They were clearly all from the same group and they were chasing after this mysterious rune. As they were chasing it suddenly an imperceptible energy ripple swept past them. However the rune seemed to have felt it and shifted its direction, it suddenly increased its speed leaving the three young men behind instantly. After it left the three of them gave up and started cursing as the rune disappeared into the horizon.
Back outside of the village Naath was sweating profusely, he had wanted to scream the entire time he was breaking through, he wanted to grit his teeth, but those too had turned to powder. All he could do was silently endure the pain as his bones were turned to dust and rebuilt. Now that it was over he was sweating profusely and panting for breath. He wanted to curse violently, however, he had to maintain face in front of the elders watching over him. He let out a long breath and stood straight pausing as he realized he was a few inches taller.
But before he could celebrate his gains and look over his body or even get praise from the elders, a rune suddenly moved faster than even the elders could see and drilled into Naath’s forehead. Naath immediately fell to his knees and screamed out loud, the pain from the rune entering his head was a hundred times worse than his breakthrough at least! In fact, the rune did not just go into Naath’s forehead, It forced itself into Naaths soul forcing his soul sea open in the process. After screaming in utter agony, Naath collapsed to the ground and fell unconscious.