Fifty Years

Yaan entered secluded cultivation.

He shut himself away in the temple, clearing his mind, removing all thoughts of any external matters from his consciousness.

Right now, he needed to whole hearted focus on perceiving the boundary. Overcoming this boundary would allow him to take that last step, forming his own spirit soul!

In his recent slaughter, he had absorbed far too much slaughter aura, easily reaching the Peak Vital Qi Core realm. There was even a substantial amount of slaughter aura to spare, but he just used this to solidify his foundation.

His breakthrough this time would be very different compared to his past breakthroughs.

His body and Qi had fused into one, and this fused cultivation had already reached its current peak, manifesting as the peak strength Vital Qi core.

In the past, Yaan used boundary ascension pills to progress his body tempering cultivation. When he cultivated Yuan Qi, he used vast amounts of slaughter aura to forcefully smash through the cultivation boundaries. That was a very unstable method, but it had worked for those lower realms.

But now, it was different. He was not pursuing any ordinary advancement in body or Qi cultivation, he was now beginning the cultivation of his soul.

The Four Paths Cultivation technique was developed by a genius being, combined with countless trials and errors of trailblazing individuals attempting to find the correct path forwards.

In the end, it was found that the only advanced soul which was able to coexist with a Vital Qi based dantian, was the spirit soul.

Qi refiners formed the origin soul to reach Rank 5.

Body temperers formed the Primal Soul to reach Rank 5.

But soul cultivators formed the spirit soul to reach Rank 1…

But if Yaan formed the spirit soul within his dantian, or more specifically, within his Vital Qi core, he would immediately reach Rank 5, the Vital Qi Spirit realm!

This would be the Initial Vital Qi Spirit realm.

To understand the progression of the Four Path Cultivation technique through Rank 5, it was necessary to first learn about the main path of soul cultivation in the current day, which was known as the spirit path.

In the spirit path, the first stage of cultivation was the same as for all paths of soul cultivation; the Spirit Soul realm.

The second stage was the Arch Spirit realm.

The third stage was the Noble Spirit realm

The fourth stage was the Royal Spirit realm

The fifth stage was the Imperial Spirit realm.

In essence to reach Rank 1 in the spirit path, the mortal soul must be transformed into the spirit soul. To reach Rank 2, the spirit soul must be ascended into an arch spirit soul. At Rank 3, the arch spirit soul became a noble spirit soul, and so on.

The names of these realms didn't mean much, other than referring to the fact that the spirit soul became noticeable more majestic with each consecutive realm advancement.

But it should also be noted that typically, soul cultivation was only pursued on the Spirit Plane…

The reason for this was quite simple. The Spirit Plane was not a physical world, it was a spiritual world. There were no physical objects or entities on the Spirit Plane, everything was spiritual, such as souls, spirits, and other such illusive things.

Soul cultivation could be pursued on the Qi Plane and Blood Plane, but the soul needed to be nurtured within a unique environment. Typically, only those with a unique constitution wherein they possessed an internal spiritual aperture instead of a dantian could cultivate soul path.

But, as it so happened, the inside of the Vital Qi Core was also a suitable environment for the spirit soul!

This was what was meant by the four paths balancing one another. It was impossible to cultivate two paths, or three paths, side by side to immortality, but with four paths, a certain balance was reached, allowing all four to coexist and compliment one another in harmony!

But of course, nothing in this world was perfect, especially not such a ridiculously overpowered technique.

All living beings had a range of cultivation talents. Some had talent for Qi refining, others had talent for body tempering, others for soul cultivation, and others for psyche cultivation.

Nobody had talent for all four. Every single living being had at least one area in which they were completely and utterly useless.

For Yaan, that was soul cultivation.

His Qi refining talent was mediocre. He was able to overcome his deficit in talent here with the Fiend Transformation technique.

His talent in body cultivation was superb, meaning that he was more efficient compared to others when using resources, and his foundation would stabilise more easily, more rapidly, and more firmly.

He was also surprisingly talented in psyche cultivation.

Because his talent in the other three regards were all not bad at all, the balance to this was that his soul cultivation talent was as bad as it could possibly be.

If he wanted to form a primal soul, he would not have much difficulty. Forming a primal soul was not soul cultivation, it was part of body tempering.

For the same reason, he had no problem with cultivating his mortal soul to the peak. This could not be considered soul cultivation, though Yaan had only reached this peak thanks to the lucky encounter with the celestial demon general.

But, forming the spirit soul was indeed soul cultivation. Even reaching the first rank would be borderline impossible for him with his talent.

And then what about progressing through the stages?

To reach the Early Vital Qi Spirit realm, he needed to ascend his spirit soul into an arch spirit soul! Likewise, to reach the Mid Vital Qi Spirit realm, he needed to transform his spirit soul into a noble spirit soul!

Just thinking about this made Yaan sigh. However, in the next moment, he was reminded of something. This something was a huge hidden danger, but perhaps, it could also become his lucky chance.

"The slaughter power in my soul…" Yaan muttered.

Before the Lunar Song Tribe's Third Immortal King came to visit, Yaan had spent a full month suppressing the slaughterous desire enveloping his mind and being. In this time, he deduced that the slaughterous power could only be coming from his soul.

It did not come from his body, Qi or his mind, so that only left his soul.

Also, the Fragment of Qi mentioned that the slaughterous attribute within his Slaughter Qi had been displaced back then, entering his soul silently…

"Having an unknown slaughterous power in my soul is definitely a huge danger. It is already affecting my mind, and I have not even formed my spirit soul yet. However…"

Yaan's gaze became decisive.

"Dangers can often become opportunities. Perhaps this slaughterous power will be able to assist my soul cultivation!"

With this thought in mind, Yaan closed his eyes and focussed.

He focussed on his soul.

The problem was, he had no idea where to find his soul.

This was only natural. All cultivators with mortal souls had a very rudimentary understanding of the soul. It was only after transforming the soul into a higher form that it became something understandable, an entity which they could not only find and see, but even control at will.

Yaan was patient. Even when he found nothing, he had no change in his emotional state.

He had set up a stable external situation for himself. He should be able to enter seclusion for as long as he needed.

The other provinces and tribes in the kingdom would not dare to bother the Bloody Totem Province. Even if they did have the guts, Yaan now had so many powerful subordinates, that even without him, the province would be fine.

The Lunar Song Tribe had been dealt with, they wouldn't go back on their word for no reason. In fact, since they realised that Yaan had become dormant, they would breath a sigh of relief and sit back and watch.

And so, Yaan cultivated silently.

In this temple, not a sound could be heard.

Ga Shu and his wife held hands as they spent these blissful days together. They knew that these days would not last forever…Freya did not have long left.

But this did not ruin their mood. They would not allow it to ruin these moments they had together. They cherished every single second spent with one another.

For the both of them, these were the best days…

The best weeks…

The best months…

The best years…

Of their lives.

Yaan cultivated, and the world continued to revolve without him.

Ga Shu and his wife mostly ignored external matters, only dealing with various higher ranked elders when they came to visit with reports, or to ask for advice.

The most frequent visitor was the Bloody Totem tribe Leader. She asked about Yaan, asking if he was still ok, unharmed…and sane.

Many people had seen the crazed bloodlust in Yaan's eyes during his last rampage. Many people believed that he was cultivating some crazy, evil, forbidden technique.

But they only thought these things, they didn't even dare to voice their concerns out loud.

Ga Shu repeatedly reassured her that Yaan was fine, and that he could not be disturbed because he was cultivating in absolute seclusion.

Nobody wanted to anger the Red Demon, so they left him be. Even if they wanted to see him, would Ga Shu let them past?

Aside from spending time with his wife, Ga Shu also cultivated with her by his side. These tranquil days allowed him to begin perceiving more of the boundary to the Nirvana realm, and day by day, he was getting closer and closer to this esteemed realm.

Of course, even if he reached the point that he could step into the Nirvana realm, he wouldn't do so recklessly.

Even if he was ready to tackle Nirvana, he would not forsake his job of guarding Yaan to do so. He would wait until Yaan returned before attempting anything of the sort.

Nirvana was too dangerous, whilst his wife was still alive. Ga Shu would not risk his own death whilst she still lived. He would not cut short these precious years they had left together.

Before long, 50 years had passed by.

Yaan had not moved in 50 years.

He had been sitting in this position, silently attempting to perceive the Rank 5 boundary, without taking a single break, without stopping to do anything else, without even considering the passage of time.

At this point, Yaan had spent longer seated in this temple, than the rest of his life combined.

Such was life for a cultivator. For the first time, Yaan was experiencing what it truly meant to be a cultivator.

Long periods of isolation, enduring loneliness and boredom. Being forced to focus on a single pursuit without having the chance to relent, for fear of losing all the progress you had accumulated.

Going on and on, even when it felt hopeless.

Even when it felt as if he hadn't made a single trace of progress, Yaan continued on.

Before entering this period of seclusion, he had already decided that he would persevere until he succeeded.

How long would it take?

He did not know. It did not matter. All that mattered, was that he persevered.

As Yaan cultivated in seclusion, the huge Bloody Totem Province had entered a period of absolute prosperity.

Every tribe within the province was now united. They shared knowledge and information on producing resources and growing elixirs. Trade was open and free, without any restrictions to hinder the ever-growing market!

Weaker cultivators progressed rapidly, soon joining the ranks of the strong. There were hundreds of people who reached the 4-Star realm, and tens who reached 5-Star!

The Bloody Totem Province's war force grew stronger.

But even so, they did not attack any other tribes. They were very strict with defending their people and their borders, but aside from that, they refrained from engaging in unnecessary wars.

Yaan's previous actions were too shocking, to the extent that even after 50 years, nobody could forget the consequences of provoking him, even when he had vanished from the world for so long.

They were terrified that if they made the wrong move, the Red Demon would return and harvest their lives!

In these 50 years, the Bloody Totem Tribe Leader cultivated diligently. As the core delegate for managing the province under Yaan's lead, she was able to access any sort of resources, elixirs and cultivation chambers that she so pleased. As such, she reached the Peak 5-Star realm within less than 50 years.

As for Ga Shu…

Ga Shu stood silently, staring with an absent gaze at the hand-carved stone sticking out from the ground. The stone was half-oval shaped and it was placed between a wooden porch swing and a small pond connected to the temple gardens' streams.

This porch was where Ga Shu and his wife used to sit, holding hands and watching the koi fish swim about in their unique patterns. His wife loved this scenic environment, but Ga Shu loved to see the bright expressions that lit up her face with vibrant light, far more than any other sort of scenery.

On the white stone protruding from the dirt, a single word was written in sorrow.

'Freya.'

Ga Shu stared at the tombstone, at the grave of his wife, as a single tear dripped from his eye. His expression did not change, but his eyes showed the uncontrollable sorrow engulfing his heart.

Forcing a pained smile, Ga Shu muttered:

"Rest now, my beloved wife. Our final moments were truly blissful, I am lucky to have experienced such happy times with you…I know that I am lucky, to have met you, to have lived for so many perfect years with you…I am so lucky for this chance we were granted, to spend these final years together…I know that I'm lucky, Freya, because you always said it was so…"

"I am a lucky man, Freya…" Ga Shu sighed deeply. He tilted his neck, looking up at the sky, the exact same clear blue sky that he had enjoyed on so many occasions with his perfect wife.

The sky was the same, but in Ga Shu's eyes, it was now simply too bleak, too empty.

"This must be the most painful good luck that this world has to offer…"