Chapter 16: Cultivation Basics (Part 3)

"Before you get into cultivation and battle techniques, you need to have a strong grasp over the fundamental 'energy' and its various types that are needed to use any technique, treasure, or formation," said Librarian Huang seriously.

"What? There are various types of energy as well?" Jason exclaimed.

"Well, at the very fundamental level, there are two types of energy that a cultivator has. They are the 'Universal Energy' and the 'Soul Energy'. Out of the two, Universal Energy is much easier to cultivate in. It just involves taking in the energy from the surroundings around you and making it your own. It can be accomplished very easily if there is plenty of Universal Energy available around you and you have a decent cultivation technique to absorb and assimilate it into your body." Librarian Huang explained.

"Is Universal Energy present everywhere, Elder? If so, then why are cultivators completely heard of on Earth? Is it because of the lack of a cultivation technique?"

"Indeed, Universal Energy is present almost everywhere. It is just that the concentration of Universal Energy differs from place to place. For example, on your plane, even if you had the best cultivation technique, it would have taken decades just to take the first step in cultivation. "

Huang paused for a bit before he continued.

"But cultivators from lower planes are not unheard of either. For example, a powerhouse from a higher plane might face attacks from his enemies and choose to hide in a lower plane and might succumb to his injuries there, or leave something behind unknowingly. His belongings could propel anyone who finds them and has a little bit of talent into the path of cultivation. Or sometimes, someone would pick a mortal as his disciple or inheritor, just like the Sect Master found you. But yes, there are next to no one who has organically come out as a cultivator from such lower planes."

"Understood, Elder. Now could you explain what is this Soul Energy?" Jason responded politely. He knew very well that this hooded man was constantly trying to reinforce the fact that the Sect Master Reed had done Jason a great favor by bringing him here and giving him a chance at cultivation. But as he had no choice, he decided to play along.

"Soul Energy is the energy that is possessed by your soul. This energy is very difficult to cultivate and takes much longer as well. But if a soul has very high amounts of soul energy, then it can survive even if the entire body is destroyed. The soul energy can also be used in place of Universal Energy in many techniques, and the effects are about ten times more. But if one doesn't exercise prudence, then it is very much possible that he or she might end up damaging their soul seriously, which would eventually lead to the soul losing its existence."

"What? Then how do cultivators cultivate Soul Energy?" asked Jason.

"Most of them don't. They use special talismans, pills, and treasures which are made with the soul energy taken from beasts other than humans. Only very few very powerful and ancient sects have techniques that can help cultivate the soul, but it requires a lot of resources along with the technique itself to develop the soul energy of the individual. They mostly use it to keep the ancestors of their sect alive and unless a child shows some extraordinary potential, they do not teach their soul cultivation techniques to anyone. Do you understand now?" Huang asked.

"I understand, Elder. But why do these sects not use Soul Energy of other beasts to keep their ancestors alive?"

"That is because the ancestors of these sects need Soul Energy for their preservation and it can only be done by the purer forms of Soul Energy. The Soul Energy of other beasts would not be pure enough and only the energy cultivated by another human can make it work. "

"Ah, got it, Elder. So do we have soul energy cultivation techniques here in this sect? If we have them, then please give them to me. I will definitely work diligently and develop both my body and soul. Don't worry, after I become a powerful expert I will spread the greatness of this sect far and wide so that disciples from all over the world would fight to reach here." Jason demanded shamelessly.

But the hooded man just shook his head as he responded melancholically "Unfortunately, we do not have any such techniques. If we had them, we would have definitely given them over to you to cultivate in. Ah, it is such a pity."

"Ah, such a pity indeed," Jason replied, clearly not buying it.

There was no way that Huang could say that the only soul energy cultivation technique that they had and practiced in was the Demonic Soul Eater technique that forcefully transferred all the soul energy of the victim to the caster until the victim's soul completely ceased to exist. After all, the Liaison had strictly instructed everyone not to let the boy find out anything about their demonic practices.

The only reason why Joseph Reed had not just forcefully taken over Jason's soul energy was due to the powerful Soul Barrier that even the Skull Lord's mark failed to penetrate. The only way to take over Jason's soul now was to try and weaken his barrier which could be done only by catching him off guard. In order to make Jason lower his guard, the Liaison had instructed that no one should do anything that could make Jason suspicious.

"Forget it. There are many unparalleled existences that are exceptionally strong even though they do not practice in any soul cultivation technique. Anyways, the world is vast, and if you have Lady Luck's blessing, you would definitely find something out there. " Huang consoled Jason while thinking ' Of course, for that to happen you need to get out of here first. Hehe, good luck with that, brat."

"It is alright, Elder Huang. Are there any other kinds of energy apart from these two?" Jason asked, trying to change the topic.

"There are," Elder Huang responded. "But we do not need them right now. Now let me teach you about techniques."

"Fundamentally, there are two kinds of techniques; cultivation techniques and battle techniques. Cultivation techniques, as we discussed before, help you absorb and assimilate energy, making that energy your own to use. "

"Battle techniques, on the other hand, help you manipulate the stored energy into elements and use these elements in certain ways as per the technique. For example, a fireball technique would convert the universal energy available within you into fire elements that later would get compressed and then thrown out at an enemy with high velocity."

"Wow" Jason exclaimed as he imagined Huang's words in reality.

"Whenever you are in a fight, the effectiveness of the technique that you are using would depend upon three things; your comprehension of that technique, your affinity with the element that the technique requires, and the element of the techniques that your enemy. Of course, if you or your enemy is too strong, then it might not matter."

"Understood, Elder. But how do I determine the element for which I have the highest affinity? If I can't do that, it would be impossible to look for a good battle technique." Jason asked.

"Affinity can only be determined once you have some universal energy within your body," Huang replied.

"So what should we do now? Do you want your disciple to be left without any battle techniques? Remember that we can't come back here whenever we want." Jason urged.

"How about this, you go ahead and choose one cultivation technique that is suitable for you along with two battle techniques that directly use your energy without converting it into any particular element. Even though these techniques are weaker than elemental techniques, they are the only ones you can choose at this point in time. If you choose elemental ones and later fail to use them, then it would be a total waste." Huang suggested.

"Ah, what choice do I have. Damn it, why am I so unlucky? First, no soul cultivation technique and now, no elemental battle technique either? It looks like this genius's path to the top is going to be very long and tough. Sigh, it seems that I can only rely on myself." Jason muttered to himself, even though he did it loud enough for Hunag to listen in.

"All right, now come and take a look at the best of the best techniques that our Skull Marked Sect has. Remember that apart from you, no other disciple has ever seen these techniques, much less actually practiced them. This itself guarantees that you would be much stronger than other disciples in the future. Haha, even I feel a little envious of you." The hooded man tried to coax Jason as he beckoned him to follow him as he walked towards a wall.

"Envious of me? Hah, I bet you and your master can't wait to have your way with me," Jason snickered as he followed him silently.