studiobondurri Chapter 11 - The Path of Cultivation
Chapter 11 - The Path of Cultivation
Chapter 11 - The Path of CultivationFor the following three days, Yaan rested in bed as suggested by Great Elder Wan. He was brought three cooked meals a day, and also instructed to consume two medicinal pills twice each day, once in the morning and once in the evening. One of these pills was supposed to recover his body, the other to heal his mind. Back in Zong Village, he fell into insanity after absorbing too much Slaughter Aura too quickly, which could leave behind some lasted damage if not treated properly. Fortunately, Great Elder Wan was able to supply Yaan with everything he needed. Thanks to this, Yaan made a full recovery in a few days.
During this time, Yaan was often visited by the servants who brought him the food and medicines, but also by Great Elder Wan himself. The elder would sit beside the bed and explain things to Yaan, regarding both cultivation and the Heavenly Path Sect.
Yaan learned that the elder really did make an official announcement to the sect, stating that he was taking Yaan on as his personal disciple.
Sometimes, the elder would simply stay by his side and silently paint. His skill as an artist was excellent, even Yaan’s inexperienced eyes could tell that much. On more than one occasion, Yaan became entranced whilst watching him.
Great Elder Wan painted the scenery of the world outside of this room, he painted Yaan and himself, and sometimes, he just painted abstract thoughts as they flashed through his mind. Whenever he painted, Great Elder Wan’s aura seemed to become truly tranquil and at ease.
Yaan still couldn’t fully trust this man, nor did he understand his true intentions, but he was now certain that Great Elder Wan would not harm him any time soon. He was trying to have Yaan integrate into the sect, this would be pointless if he intended to kill Yaan in the near future.
The fact that he was teaching Yaan about cultivation further quelled his doubts. By the time he recovered from his injuries, Yaan had learned all about the most important inner workings of the sect. He understood now that the outer sect members were trial members at best and slaves at worst, but the remainder of the sect was extremely united and the true sect members looked after one another.
Great Elder Wan noticed that Yaan felt apprehensive towards cultivation and cultivators in general. After doing some investigation on his background, he quickly discovered that Yaan’s entire family were massacred senselessly by an elder of the inner sect. As an experienced old powerhouse, he could easily guess that Yaan was holding onto a deep grudge because of this, warping his perception of the cultivation world.
“Cultivators often view mortal lives as grass, because mortal lives are so fragile and short lived. However, the real reason that cultivators distance themselves from mortals, is because cutting ties to the mortal world is a tried and true method for advancing further in later stages of cultivation. Because of this distance, many cultivators come to disdain mortal life.”
Great Elder Wan explained this carefully, trying to portray these ideas in a way that Yaan could understand and accept. He also made himself out to be someone who understood Yaan’s misgivings, hence deepening Yaan’s trust in him.
Three days was only a short period of time to a cultivator, but it was enough for Yaan to learn the basics. Firstly, he learned about the cultivation realms, or at least the four realms which had been achieved by those within the Heavenly Path Sect.
Qi Gathering Realm, Innate Qi Realm, Qi Temple Realm, Spirit Core Realm. These were the first four cultivation realms for Qi refining cultivators. Like Sect Lord Shin, Great Elder Wan was at the Peak Spirit Core Realm.
The Qi Gathering Realm could be roughly split into initial, early, middle, late and peak stages. However, these were not actual realms, but more like checkmarks that were used to signify one’s progression through the realm.
The initial stage meant that a person had just recently entered the realm, whilst the early stage signified the realm foundation settling and solidifying. The middle stage was the midway point, where the cultivator had accumulated one half of the necessary Innate Qi to ascend from their current realm to the next. The late stage was the point of progression three quarters the way through the realm, whilst the peak stage signified that their Innate Qi had reached the maximum level possible for their realm.
Yaan also learned that there were multiple paths of cultivation in this world. Spirit beasts and demonic beasts followed a different system of strength compared to humans, one where they naturally evolved without the use of techniques.hat could never be forgiven, no matter the circumstance. On the other hand, however, the desire to obtain revenge against a far superior enemy was certainly a powerful source of motivation.
In the end, he told Yaan that revenge was possible, but could only be achieved safely if he reached the Demon Core Realm. Whilst this was technically true, Yaan would never be able to achieve his revenge after reaching this realm, owing to the great elder’s own plans. Despite getting to know Yaan over these past few days, he still planned to refine the boy into a puppet to assist him in his ascension to the Origin Soul Realm.
To reach the Origin Soul Realm, he would gladly sacrifice a single boy.
Of course, Yaan was oblivious to this malicious scheme. A fire ignited within his heart after learning that he might truly have a chance to obtain revenge. The revenge that he dreamt of day and night, The revenge that always felt like just that; a dream. Now, Yaan began to see it as a possibility, something that he could really have the chance to obtain!