Atop a cloudy mountain peak

"Must I really do this every day?" Yan complained and shivered in the morning cold. She and Nier were on a tall cloudy mountain peak. They had temporarily settled there a few days ago. It had been over three week since they left Hanxing village behind. Although Ra'z had advised Nier to go straight to the capital, he didn't do so.

"You must obtain proficiency in Cloud Catcher technique before we move back to the civilization. There you can only practice the martial art aspect of it. Don't forget that cultivation is banned in the 9 mortal realms." Nier said. "Now continue what you were doing."

"Hmph. I'm hungry!" Yan pouted.

"Eat clouds!" Nier scowled without looking at her. He was sitting cross legged on a large stone, trying to meditate but Yan won't stop disturbing him.

"You're so heartless! I don't understand why my parents chose you as my future husband. You don't even love me!" Yan threw a fit.

"Love?" Nier scoffed. "Only power is paramount. Power of cultivation, power of spirtism, power of alchemy, power of Gods, power of demons, power of mortal body, machinations…power is everything you need. Not love."

"…" Yan had a counter to this too but she swallowed her words. She understood clearly that Nier was right. Ever since the incident of the beast tide, Yan had been thinking that she's powerless. If she was strong, she could have protected her parents.

Sighing, Yan returned to cultivation. Her cultivation technique was called Cloud Catcher. In some ways it was a weak technique, but in some ways it was strong. Its strong point was not in combat but in support (camouflage, illusion and escape). It was a very useful technique to have. When Nier suggested that Yan should master her technique before moving to civilization, she had agreed. But she didn't know that the cultivation would require her to be in physical contact with the clouds! As such, they climbed up the tallest mountain they could find. Here the clouds would linger for most of the day.

Yan sighed again and breathed in the white clouds, storing them in her stomach and holding her breath for a while before releasing it. This was the 'eat clouds' move of her technique. It was a survival method. One could truly eat the clouds and obtain nutrition from it in absence of any edible food or water. However, the 'nutrition' from clouds was different from normal. Heaven and earth contained its own chi. In cultivation, there were mainly 3 paths: Heaven, Earth, Darkness. They had their own different divisions.

Earth path was the most branched one. Any cultivation technique related to anything that was found in earth was considered an earth path technique. For example, techniques based on metals, wood, water, fire, magma…they were all of earth path.

Yan's Cloud Catcher technique was from heaven path. This path was branched in a few categories too. Such as, clouds, air, stars, moons, sun.

Darkness path had no divisions. It was singular, powerful, obscure and most hated & dreaded. All cultivation techniques, machinations, spirits related to Darkness path were the first ones targeted by the Gods.

As Yan gained heaven chi, she absorbed it in her dantian and according to the Cloud Catcher technique, focused on her dantian's foundation, trying to strengthen it.

Meanwhile Nier was meditating. It was a method of spiritist practice. Spiritists were those who could manifest their spiritual force in the form of spirits. These spirits could be those they worshipped and gained power from, or the spirits they or their ancestors had slain and infused with, gaining the power of the spirit and passing it down to the next generations.

This divided the spiritists in two types: Heretics and Hunters. Heretics were those who worshipped the spirit/s. Like how Ra'z was. They'd gain recognition, methods and power from their spirit and according to the limit of their own spiritual force, they'd be able to display the power of the spirit. Heretics could pray, meditate & offer sacrifices to their spirits to gain more techniques, understanding/wisdom about the spirit's methods. Heretics were not bound to a lineage. They could be like a sect. Anyone could join and as long as they prayed or offered sacrifices, they could gain the recognition of the spirits.

Hunter spiritists were those who hunted or slayed a spirit or many and then infused any part of the spirits in their bodies to gain their powers. These powers would then be passed down to their descendants. In a way, Hunters were better than the Heretics because Hunters didn't need to pray or offer sacrifices. But in another way, Heretics were better because they could work in large groups. A family of Hunter spiritists could at most only have what…10-12 members? Add a clan and they might have 50 few members? Heretics on the other hand could have countless members!

In terms of the energy which made everything happen, cultivators had chi which was naturally produced in their dantians and had an upper limit to how much they could hold it. Cultivators needed to develop their dantians in many ways through cultivation, in order to increase this upper limit and also the quality and power of their chi. Additionally, they could make use of the chi in the outside world, but only by following specific techniques.

For example, Yan's Cloud Catcher technique could allow her to use and harness the heavenly chi available in specifically clouds. In order to harness the same chi from air or sun or the moons, she'd need cultivation techniques of the specific category of the heaven path. It was similar for other cultivators.

In terms of energy again, the spiritists had spiritual force which came directly from their soul. The mind too played a crucial role in manipulating, manifesting and controlling the spirits which were represented through the spiritual force of the spiritists. Spiritists needed to meditate a lot to both enhance their spiritual force and to gain a better control of it. Practice was also required.

At the current moment however, Nier was not meditating. He was instead conversing with the Black Lion spirit that was spiritually connected to his mind at the moment. This method was called spiritual sense.

"You're saying that you could not find any other spirits?" Nier raised an eyebrow. In his mind there was a spiritual place. It was technically an illusion that both Nier and Black Lion were currently seeing. It was like a starry lit dark place with no ground. Nier's spiritual image was hovering in front of the Black Lion 's spiritual image.

"This servant is ashamed! I tried several means. Even my olden friends are not answering my spiritual call. They are either…dead or too afraid of getting found out." The Black Lion said. Needless to elaborate, Black Lion spirit had accepted Nier's superiority on the first day he encountered this baleful boy that possessed a malevolent ancient demon soul!

"Hmph! You will then have to get out of that dingy cave you've been hiding in & personally search for other spirits. I need information regarding my past. But of course, now is not entirely safe for you. So, keep trying to contact others through spiritual calls. But soon, within a year, I will have you go run the mile." Nier said.

"Y-yes master." Black Lion lowered his head and heaved a sigh of relief inwardly. He was so afraid that Nier would make him go out right away. In golden age the Gods may have become complacent but there were many of them and had a wide range of divine machinations and information gathering sources. Black Lion may be a powerful spirit, but he could not stand against a God for even a few breaths of time!

"Have the demons of the afterworld responded yet?" Nier enquired.

"No master. In the recent past according to your instructions I had slain thousands of animals to open a tiny hole in the afterworld gate for a few seconds & sent out my spiritual call requesting information about you. Few days ago, I repeated the method but no demon sent out any spiritual call in response." Black Lion said.

"Hmm." Nier sighed. He was trying all ways to gain information regarding himself. The more he knows, the more chances were there that he could unlock more of his powers that he currently did not remember.

"Alright. Repeat the process every week and let me know if there is any response." Nier said before shutting his spiritual sense and opened his eyes.

He then turned and glanced at Yan who was breathing deeply and slowly, digesting the clouds and the heavenly chi and using it to cultivate. Nodding, Nier looked in a certain direction from above the cloudy mountain peak & uttered.

"Far is my destiny,

Limited are the means.

A hope burns in the heart

To unearth all my secrets.

Come what may I forge

Ahead through whatever odds.

If it is, so it be,

Against all Gods."