As Tyler sat into meditation, he encountered an elusive tranquility within, his inner world was being ravaged by a turbulent sea where thoughts swirled uncontrollably, conjuring towering waves in his mind's depths.
Furthermore, the weight of the recent 10,000 years of history that had unfolded during his seemingly brief meditation a couple of days ago burdened his thoughts, creating an overcast of dark, thunderous clouds in his mind.
Unconsciously, these clouds made it increasingly difficult for him to settle into a meditative mindset.
The peculiar events of the past 48 hours weighed heavily on him, casting a shadow over his attempts to find inner calm. While he could maintain a façade of normalcy on the surface and engage in regular conversation, the moment the gears ceased to turn, he would be overwhelmed.
This type of hypervigilance was a common experience for soldiers on the battlefield, a realm Tyler knew all too well. Having grappled with mild PTSD after his first combat deployment, he remained on edge ever since returning to this world, persistently propelling himself forward, driven by the fear that any momentary pause would lead to a breakdown.
Even his sleep the previous night had only come as a result of sheer exhaustion after ingesting an exceptionally potent healing pill.
Tyler had undergone psychiatric consultations in the past, granting him awareness of how his body responded to stress in this manner. Over the years, he had diligently honed his ability to employ meditative techniques, successfully mitigating this response.
Now, he endeavored to replicate those methods once more.
In the midst of his meditation, 10 minutes passed, the turbulent seas within him refusing to be appeased.
With 20 minutes elapsed, a noticeable reduction in the swelling waves occurred, and the thunder receded, making way for a gentle, soothing rain.
Upon reaching the 30-minute mark, the sea finally found calm, yet the persistent rain showed no signs of relenting, he still couldn’t clearly gaze upon himself in the reflection of a calm sea due to the rain.
Tyler, recognizing the futility of his attempts to stop the rain, chose instead to allow his pent-up emotions to flow freely, as he felt on a fundamental level that those rain clouds were all of his recently repressed emotions about his current predicament.
One hour had elapsed, and during this time, he experienced multiple panic attacks, each marked by waves of fear, anger, and an overwhelming sense of helplessness when confronted with this new reality.
Intense sadness also engulfed him as he reflected on the potential loss of his family and friends, a sorrow that seemed eternal.
As his body underwent several cycles of shivering and cold sweats due to these panic attacks, the skies eventually cleared, and the once tumultuous seas began to calm. Nearly two hours had passed before the serenity of complete calmness prevailed.
His mind, which had taken only 5 to 10 minutes to calm down just a couple of days ago, now required a full two hours to find tranquility once more.
Once all his thoughts had finally settled, he could clearly perceive his reflection in the calm seas. With this newfound serenity, he turned his attention inward, deliberately focusing his thoughts on his own body, now unaffected by the intense emotions he had just experienced.
The current deliberate introspection into his body required a much deeper connection between his mind and body in order to detect the subtle changes Qi had brought him.
He could still, without stopping to think about it, feel his entire body being filled by Qi with every breath, particularly when he exerted himself but detecting changes within was impossible without meditation, especially if you added his newly found inner world into the mix.
Slowly conducting a thorough scan of his body, Tyler began at the top of his skull, carefully checking for any pain, unusual sensations, or incongruities.
As he moved down his body, starting with his neck, he didn't notice anything unusual in his head.
Progressing to his shoulders and then examining his left and right arms individually, he still found nothing of note other than feeling much stronger than he had in the past. If he had to guess, he would say that he would have been roughly 20% stronger, which felt insane to him, but he didn’t let that faze him.
Shifting his focus further down, he directed his attention to the core of his body, beginning at the upper chest. In this moment, he concentrated intently on his breathing and the refreshing sensation of air filling his lungs. As each breath entered through his nose and expanded his lungs, he usually lost all sense of feeling.
However, by paying extremely close attention now, he detected a nearly imperceptible flow of energy entering directly into his bloodstream through his heart. In the past, even with all the focus in the world, he could’ve never felt this. This was new. Calling it a sixth sense wouldn’t be too far off the truth he thought.
Bringing his focus back inwards, Tyler delved deeper into the enigmatic sensation of energy flowing through his body. He attentively traced its path as it coursed from his lungs, transferring to his heart, being pumped to his brain, and permeating his skin, causing a slight shiver.
However, as the blood reached his extremities, it seemed as if the mysterious energy dissipated, leaving him unable to trace its backward flow into his heart. In an attempt to gain clearer insight into this phenomenon, Tyler concentrated all his mental faculties on his breathing, the subsequent movement of energy, and its eventual vanishing.
As Tyler delved deeper into the investigation of this enigmatic energy phenomenon, his mental projection of the serene seaside island began to expand.
To his astonishment, he found himself gazing upon a colossal crystal sphere. Within the sphere, he observed deep navy blue waters, a pristine white sandy beach, and a solitary figure seated in the lotus position.
After a few moments of contemplation, he recognized that the person inside the sphere was none other than himself. He could sense the energies he had been diligently tracking flowing into the crystal ball from the boundless expanse of empty space.
The energy, Qi, permeated every corner of this place. With each breath Tyler drew in, a portion of it effortlessly permeated the seemingly impenetrable barrier of his inner world, unaffected by the constraints it imposed.
Upon exhaling, most of this Qi had been used up and dissipated inside Tyler’s body. There seemingly was no accumulation of the energy at all, it served simply as a form of ambient energy.
This astonishing energy filled Tyler with immense joy and excitement. He had already witnessed extraordinary phenomena, from the Sword King's teleportation to Lo Shen's ability to fly atop a sword. He had also experienced the profound effects a simple shout or a loudly infused voice could have on his body.
All of this left him deeply intrigued by the reality of cultivation.
After a short period of time, Tyler's eyes snapped open. He had witnessed what he desired and confirmed some of his hypotheses and had no clue how to proceed further down to get answers. So he got up and dove right into the first book about cultivation he had brought back.
***
Tyler’s return to reality after the meditation session did not go unnoticed as his presence had seemingly vanished from reality when he entered into his inner world. The Sword King had even swept the entire area with his divine sense and couldn’t find Tyler at all and his return shook everyone with such abilities on Veridian Peak’s best cultivation grounds.
While floating in the vastness of space, examining his inner world and pondering Qi's role within his body, he had instinctively followed the energy's flow expanding his newly coined sixth sense into his surroundings, causing a slight disturbance among some of the old cultivators on the mountain.
An unknown divine sense was probing his surroundings! While such disturbances were not uncommon among cultivators, an unknown divine sense emerging within Sword King Mountain was, especially when no one could pinpoint its origins. At best, they identified that it was poking around the library of Edge City.
As the collective focus of every old monster turned toward Tyler's location, he started to sort through his emotions and the unusual soul fluctuations, previously mentioned by Lin Jian, rippled out once more.
This time, however, they emanated with significantly greater intensity, sending shivers down the spines of all those possessing divine sense. It was as if an ancient and formidable beast from time immemorial had momentarily awakened, only to return to slumber shortly thereafter.
This sudden and intense disturbance had instilled fear in every old monster residing on the mountain. Many of them, who had initially been scanning the mountain with their divine sense in search of the source of this emerging divine sense, abruptly halted their efforts and retracted their cultivation, instinctively concealing themselves.
That included two old men in the Eternal Palace. They abruptly halted their conversation mid-sentence, their divine senses drawn to Tyler's location as well.
Without a single word being exchanged, the Sword King took action along with Ancestor Fang and swiftly hid Tyler’s presence along with making a few of the less risk averse old monsters back down out of fear that Ancestor Fang would use them as training dummies to solidify his latest breakthrough.
This was the least Fang Mo could do for the person who had given him such an opportunity.
When everything was settled, back in Eternal Palace, Lin Jian addressed his old friend, Fang Mo. “Don’t worry about that, Old Fang. He’s… a wandering ancestor who was injured and is recovering.” Said Lin Jian.
Stolen story; please report.
“So it seems…” said Fang Mo, pondering on the meaning of this tremendous spiritual pressure he felt for a very brief moment. He had also clearly felt that this aura was the same as the youth that had given insight into the laws of space and time! No wonder that fellow cultivator seemed so knowledgeable! Thought Fang Mo.
Both men, well aware that even their long-separated masters' whose level was encroaching on the limit of Soul Shattering at 48, couldn’t have produced such soul fluctuations. They understood that only after reaching past the Soul Shattering stage of cultivation, the mysterious Ascendant stage, would one possess the ability to cause such a reaction to people of their cultivation level. This realization led them to the conclusion that Tyler was no ordinary individual, as his mere presence seemed to indicate a level of cultivation far beyond what they had witnessed before.
***
Unaware of the shock he had caused these old monsters or the effect his meditation had on himself, Tyler flipped through the page of his first book of the day.
Cultivation for Novices
Written by Sword Refining Sect Elder Lao.
According to oral tradition, the Shattering brought with it the tutorial and introduced us humans to cultivation and elevated our place in the universe to more than mere mortals.
***
Amongst the most common practices of the Sword Sect, the chants and breathing technique to begin on the path of cultivation are pretty simple even for mortals. The issue generally arises around level 3 or 4 when their first bottle neck arises in the form of extreme pain. The vast majority of the world will never be able to endure the tribulations and die of shock before breaking through. But before we get into that, what is even cultivation?
Indeed, the concept of cultivation can be seen as a philosophical question, intertwining with the belief in fighting against the relentless passage of time that gradually erodes all things in the universe.
While the possibility of achieving immortality is a subject of debate and speculation, its existence remains uncertain. The famous quote, "Men Die for Wealth while Birds Die for Food," holds profound meaning when contemplating the essence of cultivation. It emphasizes the distinction between material pursuits and the quest for spiritual or transcendental growth, highlighting the ultimate goal of cultivation.
Many and all while most likely perish on the path to immortality, but in my opinion, as long as one isn’t forgotten, they will never truly die.
***
Onto Cultivation Levels.
As the system will clearly indicate to you what is required of you to reach the next step, or colloquially called levels, here’s an overview of the current known general steps of cultivation that were given to us by a lecture the Sword King gave many years ago.
“First, you are born a mortal and are more than likely to be stuck at this stage your whole life. Only some 20% will ascend above the 4th level and 5% above the 9th.
While you have the capacity to absorb Qi, it isn’t necessarily done automatically and requires conscious effort to gather that Qi into your meridians. The first 10 levels are an increment of a single “path” that is filled and transformed by Qi.
The capacity to absorb Qi and transform your fleshly body with it effectively will vary greatly with your inborn talent and your own tolerance to pain.
At first, once your meridians are fully transformed by Qi and are naturally absorbing it with a set efficiency that is highly related to your talent, you will become a true cultivator and step into the path to transforming the rest of your body.
By condensing said Qi into your body, it will allow for a greater amount of energy to be stored inside your cells by transforming the very nature of your organs. Those 10 level increments are mostly determined by the amount of Qi your body can hold and as you can imagine, if your talent is not enough, no amount of effort will make up for the inefficiencies in your body.
Unless one comes across natural treasures or consumes pills to make up for that gap, it will never be crossed in their lifetime. Eventually, your Qi will undergo a shocking transformation into True Essence, which is a form of refined Qi that has your unique soul signature and laws imprinted upon it.
Upon completion of the previous stage, you will have to form a sea of True Essence inside your dantian allowing you to have access to an incredible storage of energy. Once you’ve successfully completed the hurdle of containing that energy in your dantian you will be a true Sea Formation expert.
Then, if you can overcome the burden that puts on your body will come one of the biggest bottle necks of your cultivation so far as you have to gradually force in more and more energy into your dantian while maintaining its integrity.
You will have to absorb more and more energy so much that it surpasses anything your body currently can handle and eventually, you will be forced to condense it once more, setting the foundation for future steps.
Those levels are once again set by the pure amount of True Essence that is inside your dantian.
The next step is considered one of the most difficult on your psyche as you will most likely have to endure incredible amounts of pain to get here. Overall, it consists of gathering all of the True Essence in your dantian and forcing it down to a small ball-like Aperture.
The walls of your aperture must be strong enough to support your increased energy capacity and every subsequent level you must improve on the strength of that wall and increase the density of energies contained within when such a process is successful, you will have formed what is widely known as the seed of cultivation.
Finally, and this is where I, The Sword King, am stuck at as well as almost all the cultivators of this world. The elusive realm of Soul Shattering. While I did successfully go through a few soul shattering and established a few Palaces, I wasn’t able to go past the third for the past hundred years. So if you get to this point, come find me and we shall discuss Dao.”
***
To simplify the Sword King’s speech on cultivation, the stages of cultivation that we know of are as follows:
Qi Gathering
Qi Transformation
Sea Formation
Aperture Strengthening
Soul Shattering
It is obvious that there are more and it is rumored that past the Soul Shattering stage there is an extremely rare realm that the sect’s first ancestor had reached before his departure and he had called it:
Ascendant
While most of this seemed to resonate with multiple popular cultivation novels he had read, there were still some naming differences and the steps themselves also seemed somewhat different from what he remembered.
Tyler couldn't help but be worried by the fact that he hadn't encountered any tangible signs or indications of a so-called system, despite what he had read in the book.
He had expected to see some sort of interface resembling a video game system from the descriptors in there, guiding him on a clear path towards the next level or stage. However, to his surprise, there was no such visible guidance in his current experiences.
Yet, Tyler couldn't ignore the Qi he sensed coursing through his body during his meditation session and at this very moment. While the lack of a formal system interface left him puzzled, the presence of Qi provided a glimmer of hope and suggested that his cultivation journey might not be entirely out of reach.
With this first book done, he had been reading for a few hours already so Tyler headed back down to the basement for some refreshments before coming back to his room to delve into the remaining two books.
Tyler looked through them quite quickly as he had soon discovered that the meditation techniques outlined within Basic Meditation Techniques and their benefit to your cultivation were not as efficient or effective as his current practices. Not to mention that they all relied on portions of the system to get into deep meditation, which was obviously useless information to him.
Similarly, the Sword Sect admission exams handbook proved to be filled with convoluted details about levels, thresholds, and bureaucratic procedures, offering little practical guidance that he hadn’t already experienced earlier today.
Then, he realized that seeking direct guidance from Lo Shen with regards to that would probably be easier. He stopped here and returned the books promptly.
While he would love to find out all of the incremental steps himself, he knew that would most likely be a waste of time as he had one of the best resources available to him right now, the token given to him by Theressa this morning! So, as an experiment, he took a stroll to Theressa’s desk.
“Hey there, I have a question for you!” asked Tyler, enthusiastically.
Raising her head from the book she was currently revisiting, Theressa answered with an inquisitive smile. “Yes, you can access the restricted sections with your token.”
“How did you… Nevermind.” said Tyler with a laugh. “Where might I find this oh so restricted section?” he continued.
Stretching her hand, she pointed to a portion of the map and added a few details. “Once you get to this particular back section’s wall, the formation within your token should automatically activate and open the way for you, otherwise you’d need me to open it up..”
“That easy?” asked Tyler, confused.
“Well, you are in possession of one of the few Sword King tokens so nothing in this mountain should be off limits. So yes, it’s that easy.” She smiled in response.
“Alright then. Thanks a bunch!” He said as he turned away towards the restricted section.
He explored the expansive library until he reached the far end of the Cooking and the Art of Presentation section. As he reached the last wall, he heard a distinct click, and a single book at the very top of the shelf began to shine brightly.
Stretching to retrieve the book, Tyler inadvertently triggered a concealed mechanism, causing a door to slide off behind the bookcase, revealing an elevator. There was an octagonal socket that seemed to perfectly match his token within so without further ado, he pressed it in.
With a flash of light, the elevator door slid open and he stepped in. As soon as he stepped in completely, it started to move downwards. There was no light inside this elevator but he could clearly feel himself descending beneath the entire library over the course of a minute.
Finally, the elevator came to a stop and the doors slid open, revealing an astonishing sight. Another building, almost as large as the library above, had been constructed beneath it!
However, instead of vast expanses of books, he saw numerous glass cases resembling museum exhibits. To his surprise, there was a familiar face at the front desk once again: Theresa!
Walking up to greet her, Tyler said. “Theressa? How did you..” He asked before he was cut off by the beautiful lady at the front desk.
“Ah, you must be Tyler. Theressa is one of my twin sisters. My name is Meliessa Hill. Feel free to browse, my dear sister already filled me in. Just press your token on the formation socket near any displays and it should open up. Feel free to use any of the practice rooms to the sides if you wish to practice any of the techniques.”
“Wait. One of your twin sisters? How many are there?” Asked Tyler, much more interested in the fact that there might be 3 or 4 more of these stunning beauties.
“Ah, you’ll just have to find out for yourself. This is a well guarded secret only few know, so I won’t be divulging it so willy-nilly!” She answered with a radiant teasing smile.
Sighing to himself, Tyler thanked her and headed into the museum-like library and started to browse around.
Nearing the end of yet another long day, Tyler was taken aback by the library's layout, which held only a few hundred books, each accompanied by an extensive description of its contents and origin.
He meticulously examined every display, and to his surprise, he noticed another individual perusing the library. However, this person appeared lost in contemplation, so Tyler decided not to disturb him.
During his thorough exploration, he encountered numerous captivating cultivation techniques and secret spells, but he found himself paralyzed by indecision. It wasn't until he stumbled upon the last book, isolated in a separate chamber, bathed in the gentle glow of a single crystal of light, that he decided to just dive in and explore this world’s cultivation techniques.
Thundering Winds and Sword Clouds Method
Heaven Grade
Acquired by The Sword Ancestor. For access to this Cultivation technique, seek the current Sword King.
A technique acquired by the Sword Ancestor himself!