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He willed himself back to consciousness and left his soul sea. As he reopened his eyes, he could see that he was still in the now familiar tree trunk alongside his new family of owls.
There was no need to waste time and he went straight on to sensing the wild spiritual energy once again. There were still a few dots flowing freely around in the surroundings. There weren't that many but there were more than enough.
He focused on one and just like before, he willed for it to be absorbed inside him. He repeated the process two more times before re-entering his soul sea through his own will. He was very familiar with these steps. They were the basics of cultivation after all.
Now back in the dark soul sea, there were four dots. Exactly what he needed to test the theory. To check whether human cultivation and spiritual beast cultivation were the same. As a human, one could will the spiritual energy to change shape and turn into thin lines. Every line would be of an equal length unique to an individual. Though, of course, due to the innumerable number of humans, there were doppelgangers.
Anyways, they could form lines. And then, they could link those lines to create forms. After a lot of studies and many researches, the human ancestors found out that only one form could hold when being made of those lines: triangles. A triangle formed from three lines.
A triangle made from three lines that were perfectly equal was equilateral. And this was the sole form that stuck and never dissipated in a human soul sea. Once formed, the middle of the triangle would feel like a membrane and stop energy from getting through, creating something akin to a shield.
Then, by making three of those triangles and linking them, one could form a pyramid. It was the passage from two dimensions to three. And it was the complete visual of a core.
There were many theories as to why only a triangle could be used but two main schools of thoughts. One considered the triangle to be the basis of all other forms as it was, in two dimensions, the first to be created, only requiring three lines. The other believed it referred to something deeper, an ancient law of the world that they had yet to uncover.
As for him, well, he didn't know. And since he didn't, he wouldn't have a fixed opinion. It didn't matter much to him. What he knew was that humans used triangles and those were the only forms that held without ever dissipating in their soul seas.
He was a spiritual beast now though. Back then, he wasn't a beast tamer so, he didn't know much on the subject of how they worked. Now that he was faced with this situation, he hoped it would be similar. If it was, only then could he truly cultivate and benefit from his knowledge of his previous life.
He focused his will on the first dot of spiritual energy. He wished for it to change shape and turn into a strand. And it worked to his delight and relief. But this was only the first step.
He kept focusing and turned two more dots into strands then he linked them through their ends to form the first triangle. Once it was formed, some sort of glowing membrane seemed to form in the middle of it. He was familiar with that too. It meant that it worked.
He tried to will the remaining dot to go through the inside of the newly created triangle and it failed. As he expected and hoped. The triangle membrane was stopping the spiritual energy from getting through.
After having exerted his focus so much, he left the soul sea. It might not seem like much but this was something he did for the first time with this new body. It put a certain strain on its mental state. Basically, it got him tired and he soon fell asleep.
He woke up to the sound of the rain. As his eyes open, it was night time. Nothing unusual about that since owls were more active after the sun set. He couldn't see his Mother, she was probably shopping for food outside… He could see his two siblings huddled together and shivering though. They seemed to be scared of something? He turned around and looked everywhere but found nothing that should have triggered such a reaction.
That was until the thunder roared and he saw the two babies scream in fright. Or at least it seemed that way to him. He was still not used to owl facial expressions.
That being said, there wasn't much he could do about it. He didn't speak owl so he was unable to reassure the two young ones. Since there was nothing to do regarding that situation, he moved on and went back to cultivation. He needed three more triangles to create the pyramid that would be his core.
His Mother came home after he finished the second triangle and had it linked with the first through one side. She had brought something new this time for the meal. It looked like a bat? But it was dead for once. He liked it better that way. It felt weird to peck and eat something still alive, even if it was just an insect.
For the first time, as the big owl dropped the food, the two siblings did not rush forward. They still trembled on the side. The Mother owl ignored it after saying a few words. He wasn't sure if they were words but she did made sounds while looking towards them so he believed it to be so. The two didn't move though. He did. He was hungry.
As he approached the dead bat, he got slightly disgusted. The thing looked quite gory with a big hole in the stomach already. Probably the work of his Mother. It was his first time eating something besides insects and vomit. He hoped for something tastier. He wasn't disappointed after his first bite. It was tastier than insects. While visually unappealing, it wasn't that different from the insects. Guess the taste was what mattered.
He enjoyed a meal without being disturbed by his siblings for once too. It helped to make it tastier in a way.
Once he had eaten his fill, he moved aside. He could see his Mother cleaning her feathers, probably trying to dry herself. It was raining outside after all. He decided to stay away from her in case she ended up wetting him. It would be quite tragic for him to become sick and die from that… After enduring all this, if he died like that… He didn't want to think of it.
He couldn't be a human but he could turn and evolve into a sentient spiritual beast. Which would not be much different from a human. This was his goal now in this new life. He came to terms with most things, he couldn't help it anyways. Reincarnation was something he had been told about. Just not in this way but who could really understand death and what came after it? He believed it was pointless to question everything more than that and it was better to think of his future now that he ended up in this situation.
Being pragmatic helped.
And, in order to do all this, and stay sane throughout this ordeal, he would do what he knew how to do: cultivate. He went back to it and began to focus on making the final triangle.
In his soul sea, he didn't physically exist yet it didn't stop him from willing things to move. The only things there were the lines and dots of spiritual energy but they were the only things he required. He absorbed energy from the outside world, turning wild spiritual energy into his own. Then, he shifted the shape of the energy from dots to strands by stretching the dots to their utmost. Finally, he linked the strands to form triangles.
It wasn't hard in itself, it only required concentration. Of course, not everyone could do it. There were many who failed to ever 'will' the spiritual energy to move. Such people would forever be stuck as mortals and deemed talentless. Then, out of those who could, there were some who took only a moment to understand the process while others needed years. That was talent.
He wasn't a talented genius. He had done this before is all. The process was the same. Willing the spiritual energy to move in his soul sea…He had done that for decades in his previous life. How could he take a long time to refamiliarize himself with the process?
In the end, it went well and wasn't hard at all. He created the final triangle and linked the three. It formed a pyramid. Four membranes for four sides, all made of three lines of equal lengths.
His core was formed.
