Lessons

"As you know, this plane is called 'Ferroven', and is considered an elementary grade plane." Started Ziye with the lesson. "The people of this world are ignorant, believing Nascent soul cultivation to be the pinnacle of cultivation. Only those at the top know that there are stages beyond that. However, even they do not know everything."

"What is cultivation Ziye? and what do you mean by 'plane'?" asked Hiva. The siblings were privy to these terms in the past, but only in passing when overhearing their older brother and mother talk. Due to his maturity, Ziye had been the designated "older brother" of the lot, even though they were all relatively the same age.

"Cultivation is the upliftment of one's being. It starts with the external body, then works its way inwards, with the goal being to unite the outside and inside. Cultivation itself is an act going against the so-called "heaven", which is the ignorant term for the 'will of the universe'. But for simplicity's sake and since all those on this plane will call it as such, I will also be referring to it as the 'heavens'". A plane, on the other hand, is another name for a Planet. A planet is a large celestial body that may or may not sustain life. Usually, the size, integrity, and energy of a plane determine its level classification, and the level of cultivators it can sustain. For instance, an elementary plane like Ferroven can only sustain cultivators up till the Rebirth stage or called the Ascension stage locally." Ziye calmly continued the lesson. It was imperative to know what and why they were learning before beginning cultivation.

"Then what are the different stages of cultivation and planes that you know. We know that you know a lot brother Ziye. You and mom are always talking about strange things." Lamel responded with a pout.

"Haha, don't worry I'm getting to it. Let's start with the cultivation stages. Cultivation on an elementary plane, as I said before is until the Ascension stage. You begin at the Refinement Stage, which you all are in right now. This stage focuses on purifying and strengthening the external body, which includes the skin, bones, and muscles of the body. The focus is to build strength and build a foundation that can accommodate power in the future. It is the simplest yet most important stage of cultivation, as it decides your future potential.

Following this is the Inner Sensing stage. This stage simply enough is regarding sensing the energy inside of you and gathering the energy in the world to grow your own energy pool. The goal is to gather and condense energy inside your dantian – which is basically where energy is stored in your body.

Following this is the stage where most of the average cultivators get stuck. The Conjoining Stage is the culmination of the first two stages. The goal here is to connect the external body with the internal body. This is done by clearing the 9 Qi meridians of the body and transporting Qi from your internal body – which is the condensed energy inside your dantian, to your external body, conjoining both internal and external into one. Clearing meridians is an arduous and painful task. Most are not able to break past this Stage in their entire lives.

That will be all I will be talking about today. The rest of the stages are too far beyond us, and there is no point filling your heads with information that will only distract you." Ended Ziye.

"But what about mom, she's a Gold Core stage cultivator right? You didn't mention that," stated Eavil.

"Indeed, mom is a gold-core beast, which can be considered an average expert, and in most places can be the peak fighting strength. However, that stage and beyond is for another time. For now, we will begin with exercise. With the bloodline of the Night Panther, you three should easily be able to break through to the Inner Sensing stage even if you don't practice at all in your life, but if you want to be strong, then effort is required.

Now, we will start with a simple and effective method. Each of you is to tie a stone I designate to your bodies and pull it to the tree on the far side of the valley. Once there you will mark the tree with a tally and then return. The one who is able to complete the most tallies will receive a prize!"

At the mention of the prize, the three siblings quickly got pumped and jumped to the starting positions. Ziye followed after them, gathering some vines that could be used as harnesses for the siblings to pull the rocks. After he had broken through to the Inner-sensing stage, Ziye had been able to use the Qi inside of him externally, something that would usually only be possible in the conjoining stage. It amazed Sarest, who thought it went against everything she knew about cultivation but chalked it up to Ziye's unknown bloodline.

Ziye connected the harnesses to the siblings and attached an appropriately weighted stone on the other side, beginning the first exercise in what would be weeks of physical refinement for the Night Panther siblings. His own training had been no less strenuous under mother Sarest, but as he had matured earlier, he had done this a year back, breaking through to the Inner Sensing stage recently.

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A few hours had passed since the training had started, and the siblings were passed out – tired of the exercise. None of them were willing to give up in the face of the prize, whatever it may be, and had pushed themselves to go beyond. Eavil, as the only male and thus physically advantaged of the trio, had barely won out against Hiva, completing two more laps than her.

From the far side of the valley, a rustle in the bushes drew Ziye's attention from his passed out siblings, putting him on guard. No matter how secluded the valley may be, and no matter the prestige of his mother in these parts, there are no absolutes in this universe. At any time, another powerful predator, or god forbid the Old Cat himself may find them.

Situated under the shadow of a massive mountain and surrounded on the other three sides by a massive forest canopy, the valley was a picturesque scene. There was a small, yet decent sized fresh-water pond on the side, with the rest of the land filled with sparsely populated trees and beautiful flowers. Even the world Qi in the valley was thicker than the surrounding areas – one of the main reasons Sarest had chosen this location as a place to birth her litter.

A thin clearing at a corner of the dense flora was the only proper entrance and exit to the valley, and the location where the rustle had originated.

Ziye carefully prepared himself – it was the worst timing too. His mother was away and his siblings passed out. Fortunately, as the sound grew louder he was able to make out a shape, and eventually see clearly his mother's form, clutched in her mouth a freshly slain Earth Boar.

"It is good that you are prepared Ziye," spoke sorest after approaching the area of their Den and dropping the family's meal, situated near the mountainous backdrop of the valley, "but you will have to explain why your siblings are all knocked out unconscious when I come back from the hunt."

Sheepishly, Ziye began "well, you see mother…"