9. Blank Core, Choosing a Path

Chapter 9: Blank Core, Choosing a Path

I sat in a lotus position on the marble tiled floor of my temporary room in Cosmic City, eyes closed, hands cupped and my breaths rhythmic.

More than anything else, immortal cultivation is a way of life. This is because the act of cultivating blasphemes on the authority of time over existence. Whereas time tells a man he will die after living for a hundred years, immortal cultivation offers an illegitimate extension on this lease that was granted by time. In essence, it can be compared to a tenant staying illegally on a rented house after the agreement has expired. This is because time is not conscious enough to govern all of existence on an individual basis, so cultivators tend to slip through the cracks. Now whether I'm staying illegally or slipping through cracks, the last thing I would intend to do is make a mistake that would cause me to get caught by the authority. Thus, cultivation is a cautious act. Systematic, particular and consuming; certain things must be done in certain ways and certain care must be given in certain aspects.

This is also the reason why it is very difficult to find a cultivation scripture or method that details everything in the right way from start to finish. Well, to say it is difficult is an understatement. It should be said that such a scripture has never been known to mankind. As an act of open yet secretive rebellion against time, cultivation started out mostly as a look and learn phenomenon. A cultivator would record his cultivation journey and insights until he was caught by time and then the next cultivator would pick up where he left off. This is how certain cultivation paths and scriptures were formed at the start. Before the system, there was chaos and the pioneers had to wander through the chaos to note down their explorations.

Fast forward to the current day comprehensive and systematic cultivation methods and scriptures and I can only assume that this journey of improvement over generations has spanned at least a million years already. One of the most important aspects of every cultivation method, that has become more ingrained as a fundamental over time is qi absorption.

No matter if I'm practicing any of the 5 cultivation paths, all roads lead through absorption. First qi has to be absorbed before it can be used. This is because the natural qi that is produced by the human body is only barely enough to sustain a mortal life. Anything else would require a qi reserve that the human body simply was not born with. There are a few exceptions like people who were born with special physiques that allow their body to produce more natural qi, but those exceptions are so rare that they shouldn't be mentioned at all. After all, exceptions do not make the rule.

Now although I was born with a poor physique that did not grant me much advantage in terms of qi manipulation and control at the start, what it did grant me was a genius level qi absorption rate. I could absorb the same amount of qi in a day that it would take the average cultivator with the same cultivation base as me several months to absorb. The problem comes in when I need to store the absorbed qi because although I'm a genius at absorbing, my meridians and dantian are the same size as the regular cultivator. So while daily absorption takes less time, daily circulation still takes the same amount of time. In the end, what should have been a big advantage turned into a small advantage that also had its fair share of disadvantages.

The only good thing for me is that I can spend more time on qi circulation because I spend such miniscule time on absorption. However if I can find a better way to take advantage of my special physique, my daily cultivation would be a lot more fruitful. Right now I cultivate perhaps twice as fast as the regular early stage core formation cultivator.

One of the decisions I was forced to make when I rushed into Core formation was which cultivation path I would take. Since I couldn't form a spirit linked core like all spirit sword cultivators of the Li clan, I got kicked out. So in the end, I could only form a blank core. Blank cores are cores formed by core formation cultivators who haven't decided on which cultivation path they should take. I'm well read on this so I know that the 5 different cultivation paths start differing based on how they cultivate their core.

Spirit cultivators such as weapon or armor users will usually form their core and link it with a weapon spirit that they've cultivated. Their path would then depend on how that weapon spirit can grow with their core. Of course if the weapon broke, the spirit would be injured and their cultivation would be crippled.

Body cultivators are different. Their entire bodies will become their core, so their core formation is spent absorbing the qi in their cores into every cell in their bodies. Failure on this path usually meant their bodies would explode in what they call oversaturation.

Soul cultivators will use a visualization technique to cultivate their minds and turn their core ethereal. Side effects of certain soul cultivation methods may cause others to hate the cultivator for no reason or have some predisposed inclinations towards him. Failure in this method will result in everyone forgetting about the cultivator's entire existence. This is called soul decay.

Dao cultivators are more mysterious because they cultivate the dao or the heart. One of the ways they can do core formation is by swearing an oath or a pledge and linking it with their core. The only problem is this becomes a limiter and once the pledge is broken the cultivator's core will implode.

Rune cultivators have to choose a rune to carve on their core. For example a fire rune once carved onto a cultivator's core, the cultivator will then become a fire element cultivator and once the core formation stage is left behind it cannot be changed anymore.

The good thing about starting off with a blank core means I can choose any of the 5 paths.

Feeling some warmth on my skin, I opened my eyes and saw the early morning sun through the room's lone window. My attention then dropped to the three scrolls in front of me. I need to choose one of them going forward.

Earth Rune Cultivation

Spirit Sword Cultivation

Chaotic Core Scripture