Chapter 7: Cultivation Basics (Part 2)

"Of course I am not bad. I am the most gifted genius when it comes to cultivation. Did you really think that I wouldn't be able to answer such a question? Hehehe. Let me tell you this, old man. You can ask me any question at any time, and I will definitely stump you with my answers. I might even teach you a thing or two." Jason immediately boasted, puffing his chest out as much as he could.

"Alright alright, that's enough. Stop being so full of yourself" reprimanded the old man as he rolled his eyes.

"Ah, right. Master, I had a question for you that came to my mind just now"

"Ask away"

"Master, if anyone could develop an affinity for any element, then given time, wouldn't everyone be highly proficient in using all the basic elements by slowly developing their affinities? Does this mean that experts can use all the different basic elements?" Jason asked.

"Did you think developing affinity is akin to growing cabbages?" sneered the old man before continuing "Why don't you think and try to come up with the answer?"

Jason nodded and started to think. This time, he paid more attention to his state of mind so as to not miss any peculiarities that he might undergo.

Unfortunately, even though he tried, this time nothing happened. No matter what, he could not detect any form of abnormalities.

'Strange. Why is nothing happening to me this time, even though I am trying to think hard? Does this technique have some kind of cooldown attached to itself? Damn it, this is all so confusing'

"Erm, master, I am feeling a little muddleheaded right now. I am unable to find the answer. Could you help me with it?" Jason replied in an embarrassed tone.

'Didn't you claim yourself to be the most gifted genius? What happened now?' snickered the old man in his mind as he started explaining.

"It is not at all easy to keep on developing affinities towards elements. Once you develop an affinity with an element other than your primary element, developing yet another affinity is so difficult that many people would never be able to do so. Only the most talented prodigies have been able to develop affinities towards more than 3 elements before reaching a certain stage in cultivation."

"Why is there such a limit, master? asked Jason politely.

"The reason is pretty simple. When we talk about affinity, it is nothing but how efficiently your brain is able to carry out the process of conversion of the energy within your body into any particular element. So that means that if you have a natural affinity to the darkness element, your brain is very efficient at converting your energy into the darkness element. Every element has a different way in which the energy needs to be channelized in order to successfully manifest."

"As you try to develop more and more affinities, the brain starts to reject learning further ways to convert the energy into elements. So, while developing your third elemental affinity, the brain would vigorously reject learning new methods. Many cases have been recorded where people tried to forcibly feed the brain with the ways of converting energy, and none of them had happy endings."

"What exactly happened to them, master?" inquired Jason.

"Well, some people who were more fortunate just lost their ability to cultivate as the brain mistakenly combined different ways of manifesting different elements into a single cast. These people ruptured their energy channels and were unable to cultivate ever again."

Jason started sweating. "And what about the unfortunate ones?" he asked nervously.

"The unfortunate ones were the ones who actually converted their energy into weird elements that combined different basic elements. Although combining elements is not unheard of, as they combined various elements haphazardly, they were unable to control the conversion, thus spelling their doom."

"The endings were different for different people. Some people were unable to stop the conversion, resulting in the conversion of all their energy including their life force into these weird elements. Some became corrupted and lost control over their mind, and had to be killed to stop the destruction they brought in. Long story short, none of them survived."

Jason slightly trembled as he listened to his master's words and imagined those horrible deaths. He mentally made a note not to try to develop an affinity towards more than two elements.

Reed, as if reading his mind, laughed.

"Haha, my boy, are you afraid now? If you wish to back out, I won't stop you"

"Not at all, master. However, I had a question. How is someone supposed to 'destroy' her affinity towards any particular element in order to learn a new one? I think that this might be relevant for someone who realizes that she has chosen an incorrect element and wishes to change it into another element that would complement her primary element better?"

"I understand your question. There are many ways to deal with it. One way would be to consume available medicines that can reduce or destroy your affinity as they reset the brain's pathways. But they will also negatively impact your primary elemental affinity."

"Another way could be to completely stop converting your energy into that particular element. The brain would slowly forget the associated methods with that particular element. But this could take a lot of time."

"The most common way would be to increase your strength. The limitations of the brain are only applicable to people who have not advanced their cultivation. Once you reach a certain amount of strength, you would be able to have a certain amount of control over your brain. At that point, you can develop any affinity you wish."

"What? You can control your brain? How is this possible?" exclaimed Jason, completely shocked by this new piece of information.

"Why should it not be possible? Cultivators who have certain amounts of strength can control all their internal organs including brain, heart, lungs, etc. It is no big deal." Reed calmly explained.

Unconsciously, Jason's mouth formed an 'O' shape as he heard Reed's explanation about the powers that cultivation could grant you.

'Looks like the world of cultivation is going to be really interesting' he thought silently.