A Flag

I was back in the workshop, busy carving the cores I had collected.With every stroke of the carving blade, I was getting better. Funnily enough, carving the cores forced me to become more in tune with my body, allowing for greater strength control. A month ago I would simply crush the cores if I tried to carve such intricate patterns, yet already I was doing it like a master.Luckily the work didn't rely on my designs as Elder Li already had plenty of blueprints for secondary cores to empower his golems. Actually, most of the statues in the arena had multiple cores already hidden inside, slowly and passively charging as time went by, waiting to be activated by the master core he kept close to his heart.Apart from carving the cores, approximately one per day, I also went and gathered more magic ore to build Tiny's body.The work was slow and difficult, but I enjoyed it.It helped to take my mind off things. Though I liked combat, sometimes taking a break was required, if nothing else to relax and then come back with better energy and more vigor.Over time, I learned a lot. The Runecrafting skill was amazing. There was so much knowledge to acquire, a single lifetime wouldn't be enough. I felt as if I had finally scratched the surface of this sacred art. Previously it wasn't even that.It was unfortunate that Tiny couldn't be powered by spirit stones, at least not while he had a Golden Core for his heart. I needed something stronger if I wanted to change that, but a core of a Spirit Beast was simply out of my budget. And Elder Li wasn't about to just hand one over, obviously.He already explained everything he had to and more. Now, the ball was in my court as to what I was going to do with my knowledge and skill.[What do you think?] I asked, nobody in particular.Tiny gained some weight since the last time and grew by a head, becoming almost as tall as me. His arms were still longer than his legs by nearly double, but I somehow came to like that look. He looked somewhat like an ape. A big, fat, stone gorilla."I think… This has to be the weirdest golem I have ever seen." Shao Lin answered, clearly bored out of his mind. "Did you ever consider making it look… nice?"[No.]"Well… you should. I mean, just look at it! If anything it looks scary. Add some big red glowing eyes and someone might mistake it for a monster."[Hmm…] I took a step back and examined my work. [You know what? That might just do the trick.]"…I was kidding."[I wasn't.]I took the small core of the Three-Eyed Plague Bearer and began carving it. It was a simple magical construct that only served as a power bank. It would slowly give off Qi that would be then used to create a dim glow in Tiny's eyes.It was a bit complicated carving Runes inside his eye sockets, but I managed. A few hours later I was finished, and Tiny's eyes began to glow.[Done!]Shao Lin slowly opened his eyes and paused his meditation. "Oh, yeah. Good job, now you will definitely make small children cry."[That's kind of the point. But wait, are there even any children? I haven't seen any.]"Well, sure there are. But they are usually kept inside the family home for the first decade of their lives. You have no idea how strict some people here are. The stuff those kids have to learn is crazy. But then again, that's probably the reason almost all of them become such successful Cultivators."I lifted an eyebrow. [Really? I haven't heard much about it.]Shao Lin waved his hand. "That's because you are still new. Most children of the established families have at least a low-grade Earth talent so their place in the Sect is basically guaranteed."[So talent is hereditary?]"Mostly, yes. Though there are some variations up and down."[Huh…] That was interesting. So basically Sects were concentrating talent and making superior bloodlines over the centuries? Forced Darwinism?[But wait, what about those that are born with Mortal talent? Do they get kicked out?]"Well… It depends. Until the age of 15, everyone is equal. But after that, only results matter. If a child has Mortal talent, even if he belongs to a Great Elder, if by the age of 30 he does not undergo the talent-boosting ritual to get to Earth, then he is forced to leave just like everyone else."[Harsh.]"It is what it is, man. Though the rules say everyone is equal, in most families, especially if they have been around for a while, they rarely waste resources on those they deem lesser. More often than not, those with Mortal talent become servants until they leave the Sect. Or gain Earth talent, whichever happens first."[But the family doesn't help them with that, I'm guessing?]"They rarely do. The materials and pills for the ritual cost quite a bit."[Sucks for them. I know I wouldn't like being a servant.]Shao Lin burst out laughing. "Haha, you? A servant? With your talents? Yeah, I'd pay to see that. What's your talent, by the way?"I let him laugh and just shrugged. [Honestly? I'm not sure. Probably pretty good.]"Pretty good is an understatement."[Maybe. What about you?]"Me?" Shao Lin proudly straightened his back and lifted his head. "I got Spirit talent! That means I have a chance of reaching the Sky Realm."[Really? That sounds impressive.]"That's because it is!" Shao Lin beamed. "Less than 0.1% of people ever reach the Sky Realm. And by that, I mean all people! That means only about 1% of Cultivators do so."[Holy shit!] My eyebrows shot up. [It's that rare? I had no idea.]"I'm telling you, it is! And with any luck, I'll be able to reach the Sky realm in my life."I frowned. [That's a flag, bro.]"A flag? How is being able to reach the Sky Realm a flag?"[…Never mind. It's just a figure of speech. Just don't say it again.]"Okay…?"Shao Lin and I sat without speaking for a while, with the silence becoming deafening, until he stood up and stretched, putting an end to it."Anyway… I'm going to get something to eat. You coming?"I shook my head and declined. [I still need to finish carving this core. I'll come later.]"Suit yourself. But be quick or I just might eat all the Spirit Beast meat. Then you really won't ever be able to beat me."He laughed at his own stupid joke but I just waved my hand and shooed him out of the workshop. I needed peace and quiet, not some devil tempting me with distractions.I shut off all my senses and focused on the work at hand. The final core of my craggy friend.After finishing a few hours later, I wrote the final Runes and placed the core into the oven with the rest of them, and turned it on. I just had to wait through the night and it would be done. Then Tiny could be active for nearly the full 24 hours before needing to recharge.Unfortunately, that would require him to hibernate for about a week after, but hey, you can't get everything. A full day of activity was already good enough.***I went back to my room and closed the door. Each day I spent hours Cultivating and improving my Soul, and every time I depressingly realized there was basically no improvement. Imagine trying to build a house but you can only move a single grain of sand at a time. How disheartening would that be?That's a rhetorical question. The answer is very disheartening.I guess knowing that what you do will eventually bear fruit makes things easier, especially when you have examples of people doing the same things all around you all the time. Even with these super long timespans, eventually, you will reach your goal.I guess that's another thing a Sect was good for. It gave people competition and motivation, to strive for better and to work hard. I imagine if you weren't even sure if what you were doing was correct, and each new step took years or even decades to accomplish, you were bound to just give up eventually without an outside force stimulating you every once in a while at least.I wonder if those Rogue Cultivators get more or less motivated after getting kicked out of the Sect?Perhaps some gain a superhuman ability to focus and just do what is necessary to survive. But more likely I would say they get depressed and give up, establishing a small village with Mortals where they spend the rest of their long lives raising a new generation to sell to the Sect.Yeah, it was a weird system. But I had barely seen a tiny speck of this world. Who knows what else might be hiding out there in the wild? Not that I would get to discover it any time soon. I was bound to the Sect, at least for the time being. You just leave whenever you wanted, that would make it way too easy for enemy spies.I sat on the bed and sank deep into my mind. In the Sea of Consciousness, my Soul was being bathed in the golden light of the Divine Fragment every day. It was already so close, I could almost touch it.My first estimate of how long that would take was slightly off the mark, and with the help of pills, I improved at a much faster rate. The fact that I ate the specks coming off the Fragment only served to shorten that timeline. My Soul, apart from being black with burning streaks of red and orange, as well as green from absorbing parts of those Spirit Beasts, gained many golden cracks that just oozed power.It was like a permanent boost I gained by slowly consuming the Fragment. It was extremely painful, but also something I just had to do. It didn't feel wrong doing that, even if it seemed to be dangerous at first.In fact, if anything, the clarity of my mind, and the focus of my sight, the Arcane Eyes especially, improved another step. It felt right. It felt as if eating a dead god's Soul Fragment was what I had to do. Like a calling from the depths of my Soul. An instinct if you will.I didn't realize that's what it was at first, but as I became stronger over the weeks, the calling became stronger and unmistakable. I craved to consume it.Almost as if having a delicious steak straight off a grill. I wanted to eat it, but I knew I would get burned, so I had to wait. And when this period stretched over many days and weeks, it became difficult to contain.Luckily the specks served as great fuel for my Soul, and seeing that normal Cultivation barely did anything, I was grateful that I had access to it. Just that simple Fragment, based on my crude calculations, should allow me to rise my Realm higher.In another few weeks and I would be reaching a new threshold. The Nascent Soul VII.