Levels Of Cultivation
When he saw the illusionary figure of an old man floating nearby, he went into a daze and then staggered backwards in fear. Well it would be a normal reaction for anyone as young as he was to fear ghosts. Seeing the guy who a just moment ago was radiating a majestic aura stagger backward in fear upon seeing him, the old man didn't know whether to laugh or cry. Shaking his head wryly he said in a gentle tone "Child calm down, I'm not a ghost"
Hearing his warm and gentle voice, Zhao Yun's expression eased a little but he still warily asked "If you are not a ghost then who are you? Where is this place if not heaven?" as it turned out, Zhao Yun was in the impression that he had died and now was in heaven. One cannot blame him for that after all he was gravely injured on the cusp of dying in an eerie dark abyss, and when he came to, he was standing in a paradise like structure with a semi translucent old man by his side. Curiously enough he had no recollection of the majestic aura he had radiated.
Hearing the boy's questions the old man dazed for a second and then started laughing loudly. Zhao Yun's face turned red from embarrassment upon seeing the old man laugh at him.
"Child don't you worry, you are not dead." Said the old man.
The confusion on his face grew more upon hearing the old man's voice. He looked around, and then looked at the old man and finally he looked at himself. After the baptism of the scroll, his body had become pure and ethereal. Upon inspecting his own body and being surer than ever of his own conjecture he looked at the old man with a disdainful expression. His fear subsiding a lot he shot the old man with a glare "I say old man, I'm young but that does not mean you can con me over." The old man was stunned for a moment and then flared up in rage "You insolent brat! Why in the world I old Yun would need to con a brat like you. It's the truth that you are alive." He was so agitated that his soul body was flickering in and out as if he would extinguish any second now. Anyway he was trapped in that scroll for god knows how long, it was a wonder that he did not turn senile and now this brat told him that he was conning a young man, how can he not be riled up. After taking a moment to vent his emotions he calmed down. With solemnity he gazed at the youth standing in front of him and then in an equally serious tone he spoke "little one, trust this old man, you are very much alive and this is the same abyss you have fallen into. How you are uninjured and how that hell of a place turned into this, well it can be said that it was all because of you, or to be more precise all because of that scroll in your sea of consciousness."
Hearing the seriousness in the old man's tone Zhao Yun calmed down. Then relief and joy surged through him, who isn't happy to live long anyway. Then he carefully examined his sea of consciousness and just as the old man had said, there was an ancient scroll hovering in the middle of the space. Sea of consciousness is a mysterious space in the body, where the soul of an individual lays. This is also where the spiritual energy gathers. It is converted into a liquid like existence that forms the sea. Above the sea was hovering the scroll. Unlike before there was no ancientness or domineering aura in it. It was like a normal animal skin scroll, but can a normal scroll enter the sea of consciousness.
Zhao Yun stood there stunned for a long time. He could not believe that a mere scroll can bring about so many changes both inside and outside. He was brought out of his reverie when old Yun said to him," Don't just stand there, that scroll is miraculous and you would know about it soon, for now I guess you have to take care of some nuisance."
"Who?" Zhao Yun was confused.
"The ones who forced you in here" the old man smiled.
Hearing this Zhao Yun smiled wryly. "How can it be so easy? I don't care about those younger ones, but that old man who truly injured me was at 9th layer of body tempering layer, how can I, a being at 6th layer of body tempering contend with him?"
"Oh, then you would have to see that again" said the old man in a teasing tone.
Confused Zhao Yun casually punched the air and what happened next made his jaw fall down. A sonic boom echoed out and a boulder a few metres away from him blew into smithereens.
"This this this... how can this be" he looked at his clenched fists with bewilderment, as if wondering whether it was him who did this.
"Hahaha look at you! It's merely the peak of body tempering realm, what are you so surprised about?" teased the old man.
"Peak of body tempering? But but.. That was just a casual punch; I have a feeling that if I use my full strength I can rival some foundation establishment experts." Zhao Yun exclaimed.
"But of course! It was the scroll that tempered your body. So it is only natural that it would be done to perfection. Brat you should be happy. You got the greatest heaven defying dogshit luck in the martial universe. Even this old man is envious of you." Said the old man in a sour tone.
"Perfection? You are saying that there is another stage after the nine stages of body tempering?" asked the curious Zhao Yun. He was really curious, as he even forgot his fear of the strange old man and inched closer to him. One cannot blame him. He was just a twelve year old boy from a very small clan in a backwater place of the mortal world. The strongest in the Zhao clan was only at initial stage of Foundation establishment realm. His world view and knowledge was too low to even say anything.
Seeing the boy who appeared as if a curious child, the old man smiled and a trace of sorrow flashed through his eyes. He quickly composed himself and answered "of course! Let this old man enlighten you!!" the old man continued "As you know in the Nine paths of Mortal cultivation, body tempering is the first, with others being, foundation building, golden core, nascent soul, xiantian, martial king, martial saint, martial emperor and finally Half Divine." After saying that he glanced at the young man and was stunned to see him looking foolishly at him. "You! Don't tell me you don't even know this?"
Zhao Yun's face reddened in embarrassment, but he still gritted his teeth, clasped his hands and bowed deeply "elder, junior is from a very small clan. Our clan's ancestor is only at foundation establishment realm and the second strongest only in body tempering realm. Our clan's foundation and strength does not qualify us to know much about the cultivation realm." His tone contained a bit of self-ridicule but mostly yearning to learn more.
The old man was shocked at first and then when he saw the earnest attitude and thirst for knowledge in the child, he smiled and then patiently explained, "Number '9' is a miraculous number. It signifies spiritual awakening. Since ancient time various spiritual incidents have been related to 9. Our cultivation system is also based on this number. For example in the mortal world, there are 9 realms of cultivation that I have mentioned before; they are further divided into 3 stages which further have 3 sublevels. For convenience sake we put it into 9 sub stages. Each cultivation realm has 9 stages into them. But you should know that after nine comes unity (9+1=10 1+0=1) so this unity is the stage of perfection I'm speaking about. This state is not something just anyone can reach. For most people or rather for every one there are only 9 stages but for a rare few whose existence can be counted on a single finger they reach perfection. But for even them it requires huge luck and some fortuitous encounter. Every cultivation realm has this perfection stage and only by reaching the state of perfection for each cultivation level would you have the chance for reaching the martial peak. That also doesn't mean that those who follow the widely spread cultivation system cannot reach the peak, there are many other methods but for you of now, this is the limit I can tell you for now."
Zhao Yun was drunk from the knowledge he had just gained and was also filled with a burning determination to reach the illusionary martial peak. Then he turned toward the elder and bowed in gratitude. But when he raised his head again, they were filled with killing intent. The previous Zhao Yun was an innocent boy, whose only goal was to reach the martial peak, but the last few days have changed him somewhat. He knew that the only reason he was chased by the second elder was due to the fact that he was weak and has no backing. If he was strong enough to deter the grand elder or he had a father who was as strong as the grand elder, would second elder would have done what he had done? Would he have been chased like a dog? The answer was no. now he had a reason to become strong. He never wanted to feel that humiliation ever again. This also brought up alarm bells in his head. When they can chase and kill him without the regard of anyone else then what about his parents? He was after all a genius of the clan, but his parents were ordinary mortals. When he thought of this his determination steeled again. He took a deep breath to calm himself and then rushed through the cliff walls toward the outer areas of the woods.