Tutorial [1]
[Welcome, new Ascender. Please enter your name.]
"Atlas Vaun."
He didn't have any particular moniker or nickname he could use besides the Heavenly Emperor, and he couldn't use that for obvious reasons.
[Ascender Atlas Vaun has been registered.]
[Welcome to the Tower of Heaven. Here, you begin your path to ascend to Godhood. But first, there are 10 trials you must pass. These trials are referred to as the Tutorial. Say "Begin" to start the trials.]
The holographic letters and boxes that kept popping up in front of him were something Atlas had no knowledge of. It seemed like some advanced artifact but at the same time something much deeper.
Still, he decided to go with the flow. He entered with no knowledge, and he needed to gain it as he continued to ascend the tower.
"Begin."
[Beginning the trial of Floor 1]
[Description: As a new entrant into the Tower, there are many things you must learn. Only after acquiring this information do you have the qualifications to become an Ascender. The path to Godhood is long and grueling, and the Tower is an unforgiving place.]
[Now that you have stepped upon this path, prove your will to continue it.]
Qualifications: First-Time Entry
Time Limit: 1 Week
Conditions for success:
Breakthrough to Qi Seed Realm Understanding of the Tower's rules Earning the Mark of Ascendence
[Rewards: 1 Free Beginner Item]
'Hmm, this doesn't seem like much of a trial.'
The only aspect of the trial that Atlas had any clue about was cultivation. Being someone who had reached the World Core realm in his previous life, this wouldn't be too much of a challenge.
As for the other two requirements, he figured that he would wait until he finished the first one to consider them.
Sitting down in a meditative posture, Atlas began to ponder.
'The environment of this dark space is abundant in spiritual energy, so reaching the Qi Seed Realm shouldn't be a problem. The only thing is, I don't have a cultivation technique.'
His problem didn't last long. As if some mysterious force had been waiting for him to realize the flaw, a stream of information entered his head.
[Heavenly Unification Law]
"Heaven in three parts. The paths of all things conjoin and flow as one."
The power that those 3 words gave off was something he found unfathomable. It was nothing, as if it didn't exist, but radiated majesty that felt even greater than the heavens. However, he wasn't allowed to ponder it for very long as more information piled into his mind.
'Cultivating this scripture allows one to turn one's body into the Primordial God Body and transform one's being into origin.'
There wasn't any further explanation on the results of the technique, but he felt it wasn't needed. Primordial God Body alone sounded powerful enough. He didn't even need to look at the rest of the sentence.
Unfortunately, that point was too far away from the current Atlas. The introduction and description for the Heavenly Unification Law disappeared into the corner of his mind as it was replaced by something more fathomable for a mortal man.
'Aha.'
The Primordial God Body? What a joke! He couldn't even hope to come close to something like that yet. He was shown the information only to give him a goal to strive towards. Just like in any other journey, the first steps were small and methodical.
[Five Element Scripture]
It was the first piece of the Heavenly Unification Law and all that was allowed to the current Atlas.
'Entry requirement- Concentrate on your Mind Gate and form the Vortex for energy gathering.'
He didn't understand much about this black hole either, but it seemed that all he needed to do was circulate his qi using the method described in the scripture and it would form itself.
'This technique…I need to comprehend concepts of the 5 elements and incorporate them into my World Core?'
He had a great deal of confidence in himself as someone who had reached an apex in his past life, but cultivating so many elements at once was something only a rare genius would be able to do.
Each element had a boundless amount of comprehension stemming from it, with a cultivator being able to spend his entire life understanding it but only scratching the surface.
However, reading further he realized that he only needed a single concept from each element. This was much more doable. For example, in his past life, he focused on fire and its variant element of lightning.
His main concept of focus was "Superheat." Superheating to create plasma was something shared by both fire and lightning, and the combination of both made him an unstoppable menace on the battlefield.
'Not only is it limited to a single concept from each element, but I also have this damn treasure with me. It is most certainly the one providing me with this scripture, so I don't doubt that it will help me along my journey.'
However, he had no need to think further about these complicated things. For now, he had a method to cultivate, so he would do just that. When he got a moment of respite where he wasn't in a trial, he could contemplate his new technique as much as he wanted.
The Dantian Establishment Realm was by far the most simple of all cultivation realms. For the most part, one only needed to gather enough spiritual energy to expand the dantian in size.
The next step was arguably the only hard part of this realm. With the dantian being the basis and storage for energy, it needed to stay rooted within the body.
The space itself existed only partially within the body, with it having something akin to a small realm of its own. Otherwise, a cultivator's body would explode or collapse from the sheer size and weight of the construct.
To complete the Dantian Establishment Realm, one needed to form roots of spiritual energy that firmly bound the dantian to the body and soul.
And so, Atlas began this process. Slowly but surely, he gathered spiritual energy and circulated it according to the scripture.
'The foundation of life, the creation of all things
The Mandate of Heaven ordains the body and soul
When 5 elements unite and breathe as one
A cosmic mirror encapsulates the world'
With the recitation of the chant, the circulation process began.
The path of circulation itself wasn't odd, circling through his extremities and meridians in an orderly fashion, but the feeling he got from it was.
It felt as if he wasn't making any improvement, but as he focused on the spot between his eyebrows where his Mind Gate was located, he could feel a small black dot forming.
His circulation speed continued to accelerate as his body got used to the method, and the small black dot also began to increase in size.
After an unknown period of time, a swirling black mass could be seen roughly an inch in front of Atlas's eyebrows. At first, it didn't do anything special, but after completing its formation, it released an immense suction force that began drawing the spiritual energy in his surroundings toward it.
The force was greater than anything he could produce himself, but he could vividly feel the energy the swirling mass devoured entering his body in a purer form.
Without wasting time, he circulated that energy and directed it towards his dantian.
*Crack!*
It didn't take long for the boundaries of his dantian to show signs of cracking. With the sound of glass shattering, the layer of boundary crumbled, giving way to a much larger space.
But Atlas didn't stop there. He used the excess qi in his system to create ethereal branches that connected to the boundaries of his dantian, firmly rooting it to his body.
As for the soul aspect, he didn't have enough comprehension of the concept to understand exactly what he was doing. All he knew was to create a root that traveled up his spine and connected at his nape.
After all, this was the method he used to break through in his previous life as well. He was assured of its success.
There was no cracking sound this time, as nothing was forced to shatter. Instead, Atlas felt like a limiter had been removed.
With this, he could smoothly accumulate qi until he broke through.