Chapter 2: Learning about the world
Year 0189 of the MunYu empire, day 21 of Two Moons.
A new day dawned on the immortal cave, both Guang Zhishu and Lee Yenshu spent the entire day talking about the world, about the origin spirit and how she left for a new realm, and about all the things they would do from now on.
It was the first time Lee Yenshu had a friend. The first time someone reached out to him, without any intentions, other than to just hear him out.
But there was too much he had to learn about this new world he was on.
On his original place, things like cultivators were just legends, myths. Something to use when you wanted to give hope to someone, or scare them so they would work properly.
There was no dancing of swords under the moonlight, or flying confrontations on the back of their swords. There were no fairies, no heros, nothing. In his world, all there existed, was the cold steel of a blade, the sharp point of a spear or a arrow, and the fiery smell of gunpowder.
But here, all of the legends were true, he could talk to a spirit, he had a book that recorded everything he did, he could feel the energy of nature, the breath of the world, and the Dao of all things.
But in order to survive in this place, there was a lot he needed to learn, and not only him, but Guang Zhishu as well. And so, they turned to the Lifebound Life Chronicle, to teach them about the world.
Lee Yenshu sat down near the branch were Guang Zhishu resided, and opened the book, in his mind, he wanted to learn more about cultivation, what it meant, and how to do it.
And the book replied, a voice, as soft and caring as the voice of the pine tree, echoed in both of their minds.
"To better understand this realm, first, we have to understand the Dao of this universe.
But to do that, we must know what the Dao is, and how it came to be."
And so, a flood of information rushed to their minds, abstract thoughts of the Dao, of Yin, Yang, and the of he Duality of all things, and Nihility of the end.
All of that flashed into their minds as if they knew it all along, but also brought about many more questions than answers.
"This was only a brief and shallow understanding of the Dao of this universe, now, let's understand a bit about cultivation.
On this realm, there are 9 main stages of cultivation.
The first stage is the stage of Body Tempering, were the cultivator will train his own body to become a vessel for the energy of the world, cleaning it, and making it capable of handling the heaven's and earth energy from the world and from within oneself.
On the Body Tempering stage, the cultivator will push it's own body to the brink of extermination, only to let it be remolded, and destroyed again, and again, until he can completely open all of his 64 meridians and 3 dantians.
The dantians on the body of a cultivator are:
The innate Energy Dantian, also known as Vital Core, located three finger widths below and two finger widths behind the navel, this core is the one who holds the cultivator Origin Qi and Life Qi, and is responsible for controlling the life energy and lifespan of the cultivator.
The central energy Dantian, also known as Control Core, who regulates and purify the flow of energy and Qi from the Energy core, allowing it to flow along the spiritual veins, and across the meridians, it can also control the flow of blood and infuse the blood veins with vital energy, causing a burst of power, but damaging the blood vessels in exchange for power. Its located at the center of the cultivator's hearth.The last dantian, the Vessel Dantian, also known as Mind Core, or Third Eye, responsible for harnessing the mind energy of the cultivator. It is located one finger widths above and two finger widths below the center of the forehead. It can change Mind and Spirit energy into Primordial Energy, or Primordial Energy into Mind and Spirit Energy, accordingly to the will of the cultivator, it is the hardest core to master, and most cultivators never fully comprehend it before reaching the end of their cultivation.
The longer a cultivator remains on the Body Tempering stage, and the more he trains his body and vessels, the greater the overall strength he can harness in the Qi Condensation stage. However, those that push the body tempering beyond the 18 years of their birth, will lose access to their fetal Origin Qi, which can cause Qi Deviation and the rise of Inner Demons.
On the Qi Condensation stage, the cultivator will use his body as a cauldron to take in the energy around him, compress it, and turn it as fuel for his dantians, in order to do so, they will use meditation and breathing techniques to better grasp the flow of energy on the world.
Martial arts can also increase the effectiveness of the Qi Condensation stage, as the movements in martial arts, when aligned with the correct breathing technique, can increase the amount of energy taken from the world, and purified by the body.
On this stage, the cultivator have not only to gather energy to fuel his own dantians, but also compress, purify, and store energy, in order to create his Spiritual Landscape.
Once the cultivator have enough energy to create and expand his own Spiritual Landscape, he will reach the Spiritual Condensation stage.
On this stage, the focus of the cultivator is to create his own Spiritual Realm, a microcosm made of his own soul, were he can further nurture his innate energy, each cultivator will have a Spiritual Realm of his own, some can even build entire worlds, and some may only have a single lake and a Tree.
The Spiritual Realm can create energy by converting the energy of the outside. The more complex the Spiritual Realm, the greater the conversion rate, but the harder it is to control it. If the cultivator lose control of his Spiritual Realm, he will fall into a state called "Void Vessel" were all of his mind energy will be lost, and he will only serve as a battery for others until he eventually dies.
This is the most critical stage for the cultivator, and were he is at his most vulnerable, so many cultivators tend to try and reach the next stage as fast as possible, however, the bigger the Spiritual Realm, the stronger the base of his next stages.
Once the cultivator is ready, he will enter the fourth stage of the cultivation journey, and to some, considered the first real step into the cultivation world, the Foundation Establishment, on this stage, all three dantians will link themselves to the Spiritual Realm, to harness and control its energy output, and build up the foundation of the 9 jewels that can be placed in the cultivator's body.Each of those jewels are made of condensed Qi and Intent, and will improve the blood vessels, tissue, and circulatory systems of the body of the cultivator.
Those 9 jewels will be the pillar from which a fourth Dantian will be created. The Origin Fetal Dantian, and, once this Dantian is created, the cultivator will begin the fifth step on the cultivation journey, the Core Formation, were the aspects of the Origin Fetal Dantian will shape itself, and give birth to the Pure Soul of one's Self.
Once the Pure Soul of one's Self is completely formed, the Sixth step will be the Ego Awakening, a stage were the cultivator will ponder on his own past experiences, his foundation, his life, and the journey he took on his cultivation so far. This is were most cultivators face their inner demons, and have a chance to defeat his demons, but also, risk succumbing to them, and experiencing Qi Deviation. This is the first stage on cultivation were they go against the will of heavens, and began to challenge their own fates. If the cultivator is able to awaken the ego of his Pure Soul of One's Self, he will be faced with the tribulation from Heaven, and, if he survives, will be able to reach the 7th step on cultivation, the Ego Integration
A Ego Integration stage cultivator will be able to fly in the sky, create miracles of nature, and forge sentient weapons, and life saving pills.
This is the stage that most cultivators will stop at. But if they still manage to break the wall of this stage, and reach Enlightenment, they can reach the final mortal step of cultivation, the Molting stage.
The Molting stage have three stages, the inner Molting, were all jewels, dantians, and meridians of the cultivator will break their shells, and turn into pure energy. If the cultivator survives the surge of energy, by storing it in his Spiritual Landscape, he will enter the second stage, the Pulpa forming, and on this stage, the cultivator will be placed in a deep contemplation, and experience life inside it's own Spiritual Landscape, while his body is transformed. The third stage, the Eclosion, is were the body is fully transformed into a immortal vessel, and can no longer age as mortals do, and the mind of the cultivator breaks free from his own Spiritual Landscape, and integrates back with his own body.
On this last stage, as the cultivator goes once again against the will of the heavens, a harsher and longer tribulation will take place, were the cultivator will be attacked by the 5 energies of earth, the two powers of heaven, and the chaos of Nihility in order.
Those that survive the last tribulation, are called Tribulation Transcenders, and have thus, reached the end of their cultivation, once they do so, they have the choice of remaining a immortal in search of the Dao of all things, or to turn into a Deity, and rule their own realm.
Lee Yenshu and Guang Zhishu were both exhausted, just from hearing the main stages of cultivation.
The book not only talked in their mind, but also showed images of each stage of the cultivation, as if they could understand the effort that was needed, and how to better integrate each step.
But this caused a huge exhaustion on the two young one, the branch of Guang Zishu was almost dry, with how much tired he felt, and Lee Yenshu was on the verge of collapsing as well.
Noticing how much his lecture had taken from the young ones, the book decided to end the lesson there, and provide information just as they needed, instead of all at once from that moment forward.
-This one is hungry... Guang Zishu, are your leaves edibles?
-I only have one leave, and, no, they are not edible, please don't eat them. I'm also quite tired. You can eat those gold flowers, they are called PinYin Roses, and they are edible. They are also great for making tea. If you could pour some tea on my roots, I would appreciate that.
Before Guang Zishu could even finish speaking, Lee Yenshu had already eaten 3 of the several PinYin roses that grow all over the immortal cave. Feeling not just full, but also, bursting with energy.
The day continued as the book showed them images of the outside, taken from the memories that other cultivators had shared with the Pine Tree origin spirit. The book showed them the night sky, and the seven moons that appeared on the sky during the year, he also taught them about the MunYu empire, about the 20 great houses, and the 9 Elder Sects.
He told them about the free spirited faires that roamed the earth, and how they would visit the Pine tree and share news about the world, and how the Sage of the pine Garden went to his own realm.
That night, Lee Yenshu slept while dreaming of great sages, of flying castles, living swords, and also, of the pine tree, the one who first showed him what care, and warmth was.
And thus, the day ended, with a young boy learning about cultivation, and dreaming of adventures, that he had never dreamed before.
CREATORS' THOUGHTS 
KojiroHineri
KojiroHineri Hi Everyone, I know that there's a lot of information on this chapter, but I want to build a good foundation on how the cultivation works on my world.
If you guys have any tips for future developments, please let me know!
Dont be shy, comment!
Also, I'm looking for nicknames for the MC and the Spirit child, So drop a comment with a nickname you guys like, and I'll choose one to use in the future, when mentioning the MC and the spirit child, instead of their full names!
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