6. Prodigy I

"The world is known as the Myriad Worlds, where there are two kinds of people and is ever-expanding.

"One of these people is the ordinary people who have no distinctive traits. The other one is known as Otherworlders.

"The ordinary people only know of one cultivation method known as Immortal Cultivation.

"The Immortal Cultivation is the strongest path that one could take. A cultivator may differ on their method of walking this path, but the goal is the same, Immortality.

"Harnessing the power of heaven and earth, the heavenly essence shall enter the body and cleanse the impure. Guiding it to the soul, cultivating the core of every being in the Myriad World.

"The natives of the world cultivate the heavenly essence and Immortal Cultivation without a problem, their path remained unchanged, and these natives ruled the Myriad World for a long time.

"But, the humans, elves, demons, beasts, asura, deities, and other beings of the lower worlds broke the limitations of their world and found themselves in the Myriad World.

"These people were known as Otherworlders. At first, they struggled to cope with the change of their new world, but soon enough, when the energy in their body changed, and they accepted the heavenly essence, the Otherworlders showed great power.

"Because these people are the strongest of their own individual worlds, they naturally showed great talent in this one as well.

"At first, there was conflict, but after thousands of years, all settled and different powers appeared. The Otherworlders brought their methods to this realm, thus giving new insights and different views in their usage of heavenly essence to the people.

"The current cultivation system is comparable to refined elixir that had surfaced after thousands of years of research. With that said, Immortal Soul Cultivation: Immortal Demon Cultivation: Immortal Deity Cultivation: Immortal Soul-Beast Cultivation: Immortal Talisman Cultivation: and Immortal Martial Spirit Cultivation became a viable path for many.

"Thousands of spells and martial arts were birthed, and according to what the previous Child of Yin said, a golden age came to be that will last for millions of years.

"Consequently, you are considered as an Otherworlder who falls to the Immortal Martial Spirit Cultivation category, Old Ghost. But that does not limit your prospects and can still cultivate in other methods, do you get what I am saying?"

Hal listened to the preaching of the Phoenix attentively to understand what the Phoenix was trying to say.

"So, what you are trying to say is that although there are myriads of cultivation systems all lead to one goal, and anyone can cultivate in any path; also, the only difference between the Otherworlders and the Natives are their origin or their start of their paths.

"The Otherworlders are given a defined path at birth whereas the natives have a much purer body that lets them pick a starting line so cultivating different methods are easier for them."

"That is correct."

"Then is the cultivation stages the same as the others? Or does cultivating different types of cultivation systems equate to similar cultivation stages?"

"The cultivation stages are the same. You can ask me the stages, but on how to cultivate different methods and how it works, that I cannot answer, I do not know. I only know the foundation of cultivation. Now that I answered you, can you tell me about the life of the Sky Lord?"

Hal sighed and took a deep breath.

"Yeah, why not..."

Hal narrated his story to the Phoenix after receiving pretty useful pieces of information. His stories are somewhat disoriented as he had already forgotten most of the memories, but he still has a few that he can remember.

And because the Phoenix cared little about life and death, as it was not alive, it exchanges its knowledge for stories.

Hal cultivates in the manner discussed by the Phoenix; the Phoenix had been to many different bodies and had learned the basics from them. All of these people are female, and around a thousand years ago was the last time the Phoenix got out of the Spirit Realm.

Their exchange happens during the day when Hal is supposed to be asleep in the bassinet where high-quality fur could surround him.

When night came to be, when all is silent, and Arya secludes herself in a private room. Hal begins cultivating.

When the stars, moon, and the dark sky peeks out from behind the clouds, Hal started.

'Let us begin.' Hal then followed the words of the Phoenix.

When the Heavenly Bodies peeks out from behind the clouds, is when heavenly essence is the purest. Descending from the depths of the universe, the heavenly essence will permeate in the body.

The time to complete the process varies; those who have a pure body will take months; those with impure veins and meridians will take years.

But what he is about to do is not true cultivation.

«Soul Searching», that is what it was called. It is the process of attempting to form the "key" to the world of cultivation.

It is a three-step process:

«Heaven's Touch»

It is when the elements, the laws, and even the order of the world are not present to the body. This is the purest form of cultivation; it is the form the ancestors of all cultivators did to feel the universe, an unchanged process that survived the millennia of change.

Slowly, the heavenly essence touches the skin; it was like a lover caressing and seeking the gentles' spots of the body, trying to find the soft spots and form a deep connection with each other.

The second step:

«Heaven's Penetration»

From the surface of the skin, the heavenly essence will enter the body. Like a newborn inhaling fresh air for the first time, the heavenly essence will travel into new and untouched locations.

The «Blood Veins» and «Meridians» will awaken, it will enter the system and join the flow of the body, giving it vitality, strengthening the flesh and bones more than the average person.

Then, the third step will follow naturally:

The «Heaven's Seed», or otherwise known as the «Soul Seed».

To any being, there is what is known as the anchor and the fuel.

The anchor is the flesh; the husk; the container; or the body. It keeps the soul anchored to the living world, not allowing it to wonder about as long as it has life.

Then comes the soul; the soul is the fuel, the source of life that runs to mind, the heart, and the whole body in general. And this soul referred to by cultivators as the Origin Soul as it is the first soul of the body.

These two had existed since the first being was birthed, and cultivators defy this preconceived notion.

The Origin Soul is too weak. It cannot power the body enough to overcome the laws of the universe; thus, the need for the second soul was given birth.

This is the difference between the lower realms to the Myriad World. The Myriad World treads the path of overcoming the tribulations of fate and heaven.

With the creation of the «Soul Seed», a malleable and controllable soul that will give cultivators a different path other than the predestined fate will be born.

The heavenly essence will coalesce, forming a bead no bigger than a fingernail below the abdomen. The bead shall whirl and create an explosion of life and vitality that will seep to every corner of the body.

It will give the cultivator another life.

The bead shall glow a silver light, akin to flowing mercury. It is the light known as life.

And as Hal's body glowed a glorious silver light, his Soul Seed had finally formed when he was seven months old.