Cultivation

Ye Xian sighed, exhaling waves of Life Energy back into the surroundings. Evidently, he was expunging the Life Energy cultivated by <Moon-Swallowing Sutra>.

It was hard to create, but easy to destroy. In but a few moments, the Life Energy he painstakingly accumulated over the past two hours was dispersed into the environment, purifying the air around him. Ye Xian did feel a bit of heartache over his wasted efforts, but he quickly turned that distress into excitement.

'Okay! I've finally got Mom and Dad off my back. <Mortal-Celestial Immortal Law>, let's see how you match up!'

Ye Xian expectantly peered into his memories, his strong comprehension allowing him to easily understand the 'Foundation Establishment' volume of the Vital Scripture. He immediately decided to look further, but when he got to the 'Earthly Transformations' volume, a mysterious force slammed against his mind, throwing it into a daze and preventing him from concentrating.

'Damn! Did that Senior place a seal on my memories? I'd better not bite off more than I can chew,' he contemplated grievingly, slumping down onto the floormat to rest. Fortunately, the feeling of weakness didn't last long, and after a few minutes, his mind was as active as ever.

Ye Xian sighed. 'Let's take this one step at a time, then,' he thought with a wry smile as he stimulated his Vital Core.

Instead of absorbing the world's Life Energy, Ye Xian drew upon the energy hidden within his body. It came as a surprise to him that his parents couldn't perceive it with their Divine Wills, but he quickly figured that it was just one of that Senior's many miracles. If he could enter and manipulate his dreams without even the Vital Ocean Grand Elders being any the wiser, a feat like this was minuscule.

Energy immediately poured into his Vital Core at a rate far surpassing that of his previous circulations. After it reached his Vital Core, it was split into three parts: one of which remained in the Vital Core, and the other two were sent to awaken his soul and condense his Blood Essence.

The Foundation Establishment realm required all cultivators to access, cultivate, and fuse what they called the 'Three Aspects': Life Energy, Spirit Force, and Blood Essence. While Life Energy and Blood Essence were already present in their bodies, Spirit Force was an energy that stemmed from their souls. To unlock it, a cultivator would have to use a large amount of Life Energy to strengthen the connection between them and their spirits, awakening them in the process.

Cultivators in Jade-Earth wouldn't usually cultivate all Three Aspects at once, for it was simply too easy to slip up and enter cultivation deviation because of it. However, for the <Mortal-Celestial Immortal Law>, this tripartite cultivation was only its most basic level.

Although the energy was split into three parts, by the end of his circulation, each part had multiple times as much Life Energy put into them as his previous two cultivation sessions combined. And although Ye Xian's strength didn't experience any major transformations, he could clearly feel the difference in capability.

Ye Xian got up and flexed his right hand, feeling for the differences in his body. His muscles were stronger, his skin was tougher, and his mind was sharper. When he punched out, the wind sang with it, and when he exhaled, the air was blessed with vitality.

'And this was only with one circulation,' he thought as his breathing quickened. 'How strong will I be at the end of this month? This year? At this rate, considering it takes the average clansmen half a year to complete their foundation, won't I be done in less than a month? This is amazing!'

...

Seven hours passed by in an instant, and the starry sky was gradually masked by the light of dawn. Ye Xian opened his eyes in reluctance before getting up and concealing his true cultivation base. After all, in the eight hours he was truly cultivating, he'd already awoken his soul and condensed a few drops of Blood Essence. In Jade-Earth City, such progression was unprecedented, and could easily invite the probing eyes of others.

He exited his room and ate breakfast with his parents. On the surface, he showed them a cultivation base fitting his 'Third-Tier' talent, earning their praise and contentment.

"Xian, with your current cultivation speed it should take you about four months to complete your Foundation," Ye Guo said casually as he took a bite out of his Demonic Beast meat. "As long as you're patient, you'll eventually go far."

"I understand," Ye Xian answered, finishing his meal and leaving his seat. "I'm going to get back to cultivating. Time waits for no one, after all."

Ye Guo and Ye Yin stared at their son in slight surprise. "Are you sure? For us, cultivating in the daytime isn't nearly as effective as it is at night. I know you're excited to train, but there's a lot of valuable things you could accomplish in this time," Ye Yin commented.

"She's right, you know," Ye Guo added. "You could watch the other clansmen use the skills you chose in the Colosseum, or you could learn martial arts and Life Energy manipulation from a clan elder. Setting a foundation for your fighting skills is much more important than this slight bit of cultivation."

Hearing this, Ye Xian hesitated before relenting. "You're right. I was rash."

'Ugh, I thought this would end after satisfying them a bit. But to be fair, with my comprehension, the classes they mentioned might be pretty useful,' he contemplated as his parents nodded in unison.

"For the first week of every month, there are elders who will teach anyone who comes for free. After that, their services will require Contribution Points. Unfortunately, today is the seventh, meaning that we'll need to pay the points after today. Not that we mind, though," Ye Guo advised.

Ye Xian smiled and winked before turning to leave. "Don't worry. After today, these lessons will be useless."