The Truth

"Where am I?" As soon as the words came out of his throat, he saw the youth that was just looking at him with no apparent emotions. It was as if he couldn't care less if the world suddenly exploded or Mount Tai suddenly flattened. Ling Hong was about to ask something, namely why he was here, when the youth suddenly waved his hand and the mysterious white Qi appeared once again while wrapping around them. This time, Ling Hong felt a weird warping sensation envelop the entirety of his body and soul. He felt sick, like he was going to wretch, but nothing came out. It was a truly terrible feeling.

When they appeared again, they were within a nice little hut, sitting in front of some warm tea. This tea was extremely fragrant and looked very dreamy. He also felt this weird sensation around him, as if he was being tickled all over. He felt strangely invigorated when he felt it, so, he started waving his hands around as if he had gone mad. The youth that was sitting opposite Ling Hong couldn't help but crack a strange smile. His first time being within his own soul dimension was similar, after all.

The youth recomposed himself, then reached across the table and grabbed Ling Hong by the shoulder. When Ling Hong felt the hand on his shoulder, he snapped out of his trance and then locked his eyes onto the youth that sat before him with an emotionless face. He was once again about to ask who this youth, who looked around seventeen years old, where he was, when the youth suddenly spoke,"You need not concern yourself with my name, so just call me 'Chang', alright? Anyway, to answer your question, we are in your soul dimension. I have merely used some of my mental energy to build this little hut and brew this simple tea."

Ling Hong was about to ask how Chang could know his question before he even asked, when he thought against doing that. He, instead, asked,"What is this feeling that is still around me? It feels so close, but also so far. It is truly strange." As he said this, he almost started to wave his arms around again, but pulled himself back in the nick of time.

Chang looked at Ling Hong and said,"You don't know why I am here, do you? Allow me to tell you a story. There was once a boy, who had no power and only his dreams to keep him alive. He was an orphan, and he had to resort to many different not-so-legal activities in order to keep himself alive. He would steal small things from peoples' pockets so that he could sell them or use them. He grew up like this and he got pretty good at stealing. He then started breaking into places in order to retrieve items for himself. Eventually, word spread about this boy who could break into almost anywhere. People started asking him to steal things for a price, and all he saw was money, due to the lack of morals taught to him. He started moving to bigger targets and he stayed a thief for many years.

"One day, he broke into the little house of an old man, because a client had asked him to steal a small pendant from within. The price was good for such a small task, so he decided to take it. It was about as easy as breathing for the thief to get inside the house. When he got inside, he noticed the old man was sitting on a straw mat while drinking tea. When the old man saw the thief, all he did was smile, then he said,"If you have come to take my pendant, you can have it as long as you are willing to heed the advice of this withered old ghost." After saying that, he beckoned the thief to sit on the straw mat opposite to him.

"The thief was thinking it over when he suddenly walked over to the mat and sat down upon it.

"The old man saw this and smiled, saying in a happy tone,"I knew you weren't beyond redemption. I shall now impart some advice. Morals. Those are something you lack and have been lacking since birth. You don't understand the gravity and horror of the things you do. You simply look at stealing as if it was a mere job, when you are really just taking someone else's work, and taking their rewards. If you should seek redemption in the eyes of the Gods, you must do one thing and one thing only. You must become the strongest cultivator there is in order to protect this plane from the injustices that you know so well. I encourage you to listen to my words." After he said that last word, the old man waved his sleeve and disappeared. As his figure vanished, all that remained was a note.

"On this note were the words 'If you choose to listen to my advice, wear the pendant and you will know the world like never before.' The thief was still shocked and was coping with the massive amounts of things swirling in his mind. The thief took a couple of hours to decide, then he suddenly sat up straight and decided he would give the old man some face by heeding the advice that would change the destiny of every living being that would ever exist, from then henceforth." When the youth finished, he had a dreadful expression on his face. He then said,"I tell you this story because this man actually did manage to reach God-hood and he is the current God of this little realm. So, when you pray to someone, it is him you are praying to. The reason any of this is relevant is because, Gods don't want their subjects to also become beings on their own level, so they hold this 'Naming Ceremony' in order to give you a fast but limited cultivation. If you let the Gods pick your Dao, then you are resigning all of your potential in order to become the slave of this God. However, geniuses will not simply make due with the Dao they are given, they will strive for a better Dao in order to not be conquered, even by Gods. Even though these people could be counted as geniuses, the true prodigies can cultivate any Dao that has not been picked for him just as fast as one who has had a Dao picked for them. I believe you have the potential to cultivate something we like to call a 'Unique Dao'. A Unique Dao is a Dao that you create. People who cultivate a Unique Dao are capable of turning over the Heavens by merely flipping their palm. Of course, these people don't automatically ascend to that level of power when they start creating their Daos. It takes many millennia to create a Unique Dao, so these people start their journey at the beginning of their Dao. They slowly form this Dao as they progress through the ranks of cultivation. Anyway, that is enough information for you. Any more and you are likely to explode." Chang was still expressionless as he said all this.

Ling Hong was still sitting there, absorbing all this knowledge, trying to comprehending every word that came from Chang's mouth. After a while, he looked up, seemingly a couple years older, saying,"I don't want to be controlled by anyone. How do I reach the level where I need not fear anything?"

Chang, for the first time ever, cracked a toothy grin as he said,"I knew you were a cocky little brat the moment I saw you! It is not so easy to reach such a level, but, I like your attitude, so I will explain the ranks of cultivation to you. There are nine ranks to cultivation, them being in order from weakest to strongest: the Awakening realm, the Formation realm, the Summoning realm, the Conjuring realm, the Merging realm, the Transformation realm, the Empowering realm, the Overcharge realm (may be changed in the future based on suggestion), and the Expansion realm.

"Each realm is further broken down into the stages; Seed, Sprout, Bud, and Blossom stage.[1]

"I will now explain the cultivation ranks individually. The first realm, Awakening, is where one begins to awaken the Daos that lay deep within the universe. This is a huge wall that separates normal people and true cultivators. While it is easy to think about awakening your Dao, it is something you have to have talent to do. For example, there are some people who take most of their life to merely reach the Seed stage of the Awakening realm, while the truly talented monsters can reach that stage within ten days of gaining their names at their Naming Ceremony. Those who reach the Awakening realm posses the power to bring forth a small amount of their Daos power. For example, a person who cultivates the fire Dao can summon a small candle fire at the Seed stage, a fire place fire at the Sprout stage, a bonfire at the Bud stage, and a two meter tall pillar of fire at the Blossom stage.

"Moving on to the second realm, the Formation realm. This is where you start to form the Dao spirit that you awakened during the first realm. One begins to see some startling abilities at this point, like a cultivator who awakened their Dao of death can form a spirit of death to give them the ability to wither away their enemy's. A Formation realm cultivator can have their stages identified by the realism of their Dao spirit. A cultivator with a barely noticeable spirit is someone who is at the Seed stage, misty is Sprout stage, blurry is Bud stage, and clear is Blossom stage.

"Now for the third realm, the Summoning realm. This is where you gain the ability to summon the spirit you formed outside the body to help you fight. This is also the stage where one begins to delve into the alternate paths of cultivation such as alchemy, forgery, and formations. But that is for another time. Anyway, the difference between the stages in this realm is not only power, but also in the difference in summon range. A Seed stage person can summon their spirit in a range of five meters, a Sprout stage 10 meters, a Bud stage 25 meters, and a Blossom stage 50 meters.

"The three previously mentioned realms are all a collective whole of the first Existence, the Mortal Existence. The three Existences are the Mortal, Spiritual, and Godly Existence. You don't need to learn about the other realms until you reach the Seed stage of the Summoning realm."

After he finished speaking, he got up from his sitting position and said,"I will be in the small area in your soul dimension you can't see. Should you have any questions, just try to summon me. I'll be notified when you summon me. Now, if you will excuse me, I am going to go try to re-cultivate." After that, he just disappeared. Ling Hong would have normally been astonished by teleportation, but he was currently engrossed in his own fantasies of power. He was currently sitting there with a very expectant expression. He couldn't wait for the Naming Ceremony tomorrow.

After having that thought he looked around and willed it so that he would leave this dimension. When he left the soul dimension, his consciousness re-entered his body and he looked around his bedroom. He then looked at Xie Zhi and when his gaze fell on him, he felt a deeply soul shaking shock from within a hollow-feeling part of his soul.

He was about to ask what was happening when Chang said,"Don't worry about me, I was just a little surprised. Go to bed. Even I am slightly expectant of tomorrow."

And with that, Ling Hong went to bed.

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[1]I decided on this kind of staging system because I thought it was appropriate for cultivation. Like a flower. I'm kind of proud of it. I am still open to suggestions however. Please give me any feedback you can think of.