Cultivation(II)~Manual

"What do you know about cultivation so far?" Suddenly asked Uncle Seth.

Adonis slowly opened his eyes.

"I know it's a way for each and everyone to get stronger and harness the power of the elements. I also know there are multiple stages of development and that there are two paths you can take which are the Blank and Golden path."

"That's it."

Uncle Seth nodded hearing this.

"Cultivation is a method us living life forms came up with to go against the very laws of nature and creation. It is a battle where we fight against the natural order."

"It is a battle where we seek to conquer time to become immortal, conquer limitations to become boundless and conquer the very heavens to become Gods."

"It is an endless guided cycle of evolution."

"To cultivate is to go against the natural order."

Adonis' pupils shone with the light of a million stars as he heard this.

"Cultivation, in general, has Nine Grand Realms, each divided into minor stages."

"The first three Grand realms are Mortality, Ascendance and Immortality."

"Currently, you're below the stage of mortality."

"The stage of mortality is the most special and pivotal of all realms because for one, it sets the foundation of the cultivator and for two, it entirely depends on the world one is born in while with the other realms, regardless of the world you're born in, all realms are the same."

"That's why you don't wanna be born in a weak world."

Seeing Adonis was burning with questions after having heard the word [World], Uncle Seth chuckled.

"You'll come to learn the secrets of the world in time, knowing things now may be detrimental. Plus, I believe you're intelligent enough to make your own deductions."

Adonis sighed.

"Either way, right now, what should matter the most to you is the path you'll take during the realm of mortality."

"Just like you said, there are indeed two paths you can take. The first path you can take is to simply awaken your element then via your qi roots, attract qi into your body to repeatedly refine it. It's a very simple and easy path for the untalented but calling it cultivation is an insult."

"They're just glorified martial artists, not real cultivators."

"The second and true path of cultivation requires you to use a [Mortal Foundation Manual] that'll be adapted to the mortal power system of the world you're in."

"Let's head to the library."

**

The Library of the Boundless Mansion was a grand space, its walls and floors entirely made out of ancient wood as its spiralling stairs made out of vines interconnected each floor of the library.

Along the walls, rows upon rows of shelves lay, holding countless scrolls and manuals passed down through the ages and eras.

At the centre of the place, a singular spinning orb stood, illuminating the entire place with its solar radiance as a warm wave of energy hit Adonis as soon as he entered.

The thick smell of old books and wood, the warm atmosphere left behind by the countless sages that once roamed this place atop the aura of mystery and wisdom the ancient manuscripts here gave off all hit him at once as his book nerd self reawakened.

"Holy…"

"Haha, this is the first level of the library, it has a hundred floors. The next level has about a thousand and so on. Work hard and you'll see even better things."

Uncle Seth showed Adonis the place and its various spaces before he eventually brought him to where they'd needed to be.

Soon, Adonis began to go through manual after manual, attentively reading them as he understood that this was the key to his future.

'[Dark Fountain Manual], [Solar Eruption Manual], [Immortal Ascension Manual], [God Revolving Manual], [Sky Tethering Manual], [Man and Heaven Manual], [Demon Nadyr Manual]…'

The list was endless and the more Adonis read, the more he understood about cultivation and the more his horizons were broadened.

'To think cultivation could be so diverse.'

Eventually, he found a manual he resonated with.

'[Chaos Seed Manual].'

'Requires me to have a Chaos Affinity at the Supreme Grade or higher and have a blank bodily pillar of the Origin grade of higher…this is perfect.'

He dove deeper into the intricacies of the manual and the more he did so, the more excited he got.

This was the perfect one for him.

Having made his decision, he took the manual off the shelf then looked at Uncle Seth, showing the manual to him.

"Hm, as expected. Well, now that you've made your choice, go and cultivate, I don't think you need me to start."

***

Sat cross legged under the same tree he'd been meditating under, Adonis reviewed what he'd learnt.

The Chaos Seed Manual had Nine tiers that corresponded to the nine levels of elemental cultivation of Ishva'al.

But before even beginning to cultivate, one had to awaken and officially become a Tier Zero cultivator.

For the manual he'd chosen, the awakening method was simple. Ingest a chaos stone. That was it.

The mansion was filled with resources and had multiple treasuries Adonis hadn't checked yet so it wasn't a surprise that they had the chaos stone, especially if the manual was in the library.

Why have a manual without its required resources?

Without further wait, he ingested the stone.

WHOOOSH!

The surrounding qi in the air trembled then began to violently move toward Adonis, forming a terrifying vortex of energy that engulfed the entire plain they were in.

Trees were uprooted, the skies rumbled and the earth was sundered appart as atop of Adonis' head, his halo manifested.

In the middle of his Halo, eight tiny multicolored stars appeared, spinning around one another as at their middle, a duo of even smaller black and emerald stars bloomed.

Emerald flames burst off from Adonis' body alongside a wave of frigid dark ice that froze and destroyed everything in its path.

For a moment, his sovereignty bloomed and his aura spike alongside his nascent elements.

Slowly, he opened his eyes and as he did so, his crown and stars faded.