5 Chapter 5: Cultivation Basics (Part 1)

"So, you want to call me by my name now, eh?" harrumphed the old man.

"Great master, you clearly misunderstand my noble intentions. I just wanted to know the master's honorable name, so that I could pay proper respects to master."

In reality, Jason was totally perplexed. First, his intuition constantly screamed at him as to how the black skull tattoo was the very embodiment of evil. Now, this strange thing happened when he tried to pay respects to the old man. At this point, he was really suspicious of both the old man and the black skull tattoo.

'I must keep talking to him constantly. Maybe he will divulge some of his actual thoughts and plans unconsciously at some time. Anyways, I must remain careful'

"My name is Joseph Reed. You can call me Master Reed." said the old man.

"Disciple pays his sincere respects to Master Reed," said Jason in a respectful tone, but his body still sat upright without showing any signs of respect. Even his eyes were looking up directly at the source of voice as he still could not see his face.

"Ok, enough. Let us start with the basics of cultivation. Listen carefully, because I won't be repeating anything" Reed ignored Jason's eyes as he started his explanations.

'You are not long for this world anyway. Just consider this as me fulfilling your last wish. When the time comes, I swear I will make the process so painful that you might remember it even in your death.'

"Yes, Master Reed, this disciple is all ears. I won't disappoint you" nodded Jason as he started listening carefully.

"Boy," The old man started "the most basic fundamental of cultivation is energy. It is this energy that forms the core of any kind of cultivator. It is this energy that can be manipulated into various elements which are used to perform various techniques. You can think of energy as something equivalent to Chakra that people in the Naruto Universe possessed. The more energy you input into a technique and the better your control, the more powerful its effect will be"

"So, Fire, Water, Earth, Light, and Darkness are all various forms of this 'energy'?" Jason asked.

"Yes, but there are a lot of other elements apart from those five. The five you mentioned are the most basic elements. There are many other special elements that can be used to have devastating effects."

"So, as long as one possesses enough energy, one can use any kind of element?"

"Theoretically, yes. But in reality, that cannot happen. It depends upon the affinity of that person towards that particular element. For example, if a person has a higher affinity towards the fire element, she can cast spells or use techniques that use fire element much more easily than someone who doesn't have enough affinity"

The old man took a slight pause and continued.

"There are certain elements for which affinity is a must. For example, some gifted elves can use the "Life" element. A normal human being or undead creature will never be able to use a technique that requires the Life element. Some much higher-level saints among humans may be able to do so, but still, their efficiency in converting their energy into life elements will be very poor. They might end up using their entire energy reserves just to cast a single technique using the life element."

"Is this affinity something that a person is born with, or can it be developed through training?" asked Jason.

"Natural affinity is something which you are born with." said the old man. "The element with which you have the highest natural affinity is said to be your primary element. Practicing techniques of this element will give you the biggest gains in the shortest time in terms of cultivation levels"

"Affinity with other elements can be developed, but they need the correct atmosphere and stimulus to be nurtured. It is easier in case of basic elements, they can be developed by joining certain sects and cultivating the right way for fifty to hundred years"

"For rarer elements, unless you have certain fortuitous encounters, you will never be able to develop the affinity towards that particular element. For example, you may need to spend several hundreds of years living with elves in an ancient elven forest before you develop even the slightest bit of affinity towards the life element."

"Ah so long? Then isn't it better to just focus on your primary element to grow stronger as it will have the fastest growth? Why do we need to go through the tedious process of developing an affinity with other elements?" complained Jason as he realized the difficulty of developing an affinity towards elements.

Jason had never worked hard in his entire life. The very thought of cultivating over fifty years just to develop some stupid affinity already had brought him a headache. And again, after gaining the affinity, he still had to learn the techniques after that to be able to put the element to use. What a pain in the ass...

"Brat, did you think cultivation was easy?" The old man sneered as he sensed Jason's thoughts.

"Focusing on just one element is the most stupid thing one can do in cultivation. If two people were fighting, and both of them had equal cultivation levels, do you know who will be the one with the upper hand? It will be the one who can use techniques of different elements."

"How is this possible? Wouldn't the techniques of the person who just focused on just one element be much more powerful than someone who has dabbled in various elements?" Jason questioned.

"You are just a lazy brat who is afraid of hard work. Why don't you admit it?" The old man snickered at Jason.

"Who said anything about not working hard? Master, just you wait. I will work so hard that the entire cultivation world would be taken by a storm" boasted Jason. His words did seem very firm and determined, and if the old man had not seen him stick his tongue out after saying those words, he might have actually believed them.

Without paying any attention to Jason's actions the old man continued.

"I will give you an example. Just think of two powerhouses fighting each other. One is an expert with the fire element and the other an expert with the water element. Both of them are fighting each other with all their might. They are using every trick available to them using their respective elements, but there is no clear winner. In such a scenario, who do you think will win the fight?" he asked.