Realms

After a short nap, Cal opened his eyes, got out of his bed, and looked out the square openings of his room to see the star of this world at an all-time high. Its magnificent white light bores down on the world, purifying any darkness. Unlike the sun, this star is about 50% bigger when you look at it in the sky and it's much whiter in color than the usual orangish sun that was brightening up Earth. Cal yawned as he looked around at the gorgeous sight of the towering mountains.

The oxygen concentration at the top of the mountains didn't differ from the oxygen concentration on the ground. The world of Heaven's Gift is far vaster and has far more resources to sustain even trillions of humans where food and water aren't an issue due to the amazing Spell Arts that cultivators can utilize to make it rain or increase the growth rate of crops. It's a utopia if you don't consider the number of battles and wars that are waged over precious cultivation resources. With that said, a mechanical sound rang out through Cal's head as he finished his yawn.

[Congratulations, your cultivation has improved to Energy Absorbance (9th Stage)]

Cal wasn't very shocked by this since he's heard 17 of these types of messages in the past 3 years. Even though Cal is lazy and doesn't cultivate or train since he finds it far more boring than just lying down on his bed or wandering around the sect, his cultivation still improves from his passive collection of Qi. Even without techniques to gather Qi, people can still breathe in the air and passively convert a minuscule amount of Qi in the air into their own strength. This is what Cal had been doing for the past 3 years as his cultivation soared far faster than even the best geniuses in the sect just by breathing regularly.

This was the horror of Cal's Cultivation Talent which was at the highest level at the Blessed rank. The best talent that had been reported in the entire country in the past 3 years was a young girl who had a special constitution that allowed her Cultivation Talent to be at the Peak-Grand level and was even called a monster by many. At the meeting of the sects that Cal had been to when he was 2, the Sect Master of the sect that roped in the girl was bragging non-stop while many others were incredibly envious, including Cal's mother.

Cultivation is separated into many ranks in order to classify who is at what strength level. There are 8 major realms that start from weakest to strongest which are Body Cleansing, Energy Absorbance, Foundation Creation, Soul Ascendance, Superior, Power Condensation, Extremity, and Destruction. Even then, the major realms have to be split up into many minor realms as there's always a big gap in power between minor realms. The first two major realms are split up into 9 stages which go from the weakest, the 1st stage to the strongest, the 9th stage.

Cal is already at the very top in the Energy Absorbance realm and can establish his foundation soon. The next major two realms (Foundation Establishment and Soul Ascendence) are where cultivators utilize their Qi to shape their Dantian and Soul respectively. There are shapes or objects that are recorded in many techniques in which you can shape your Dantian or Soul and have instructions that you can easily follow to shape them which most cultivators do. If one wants to create their own Dantian or Soul, they have to risk their entire cultivation or life as if the process fails, the Qi in the body will go berserk and will cause severe internal damage.

This is a very important step for cultivators as a stronger foundation can increase your strength above your peers and will allow for your cultivation to achieve far higher levels. Unique foundations can even grant powers or abilities to cultivators. One such foundation is a Dantian in the shape of a wolf which allowed its creator to freely turn into a humanoid wolf. Of course, the sect has some instructions on how to make some powerful animal foundations, but Cal doesn't want an animal foundation since he's not a furry or anything like that.

Everyone wants a strong foundation, but techniques for an easier time establishing a better quality foundation are strictly contained by big families or sects. Many regular cultivators have to opt for a normal foundation or try and create their own. An important decision that can dictate your very future, but Cal doesn't really care since he already has an idea for his foundation. He wishes to make a foundation that automatically cultivates for him as his father keeps berating him to train hard.

He has gained a semblance of an idea of what his Dantian would be and that thing would be a Black Hole. An extremely destructive force of the universe that can suck in stars that are millions of miles (1 mile = 1.6 km) wide by only being less than a percent of the star's size. An infinitely dense spherical force of nature that traps everything in and never lets anything escape (Author Note: I'm aware of Hawking Radiation, it just sounds cooler this way.) Hopefully, it'll suck in Qi for Cal so that he doesn't need to put in any work.

Of course, Cal still needs to make it, and trying to condense Qi is very difficult, if not impossible for cultivators in the Energy Absorbance realm. If Cal fails, he will have to deal with Qi running rampant in his body which will tear apart many organs, that is unless he has an incredibly strong body which he luckily has. His trait, Unbridled Strength (Middle) which he replicated from a regular ant he found, allows Cal to have a body that is 100 times stronger than it currently is. A ridiculous power that allows Cal to slaughter Foundation Establishment cultivators and to fight equally with Soul Ascendence realm experts.

A mere 4-year-old child has the power to fight equally with the old Deacons of the Purple Cloud Sea Sect without even training in any Martial Arts or Spell Arts. With all of this ridiculousness out of the way, Cal makes his way out of the pagoda structure and arrives at a grassy area with a long set of stairs that are carved from the mountain. The number of steps is uncountable, but Cal didn't care about the steps, rather, he had bigger problems.

A charming man with smooth skin could be seen floating in the air with his long black hair that flowed back like a superhero's cape, his emerald green eyes staring intently at Cal with slight annoyance. His white robe fluttered back and forth as he slowly flew down to where Cal is standing. His sheathe which is attached to his belt, stores his sword could be seen emanating an incredibly sharp aura.

'I'm so fucked!' Cal thought as he panicked to see the man who he was all too familiar with. The Grand Elder aka his father, Alan Ye, the third strongest in the sect aside from his mother and his mysterious grandfather who was the previous Sect Master.

"What the hell do you think you're doing? Why are you not at the training grounds or cultivating? I know you inherited your last name 'Amity' from your mother which stands for peace, but you're being too damn lazy! We can only keep peace with unshakable power you know?" Alan lectured Cal for five minutes while Cal just stood there and took it. Alan isn't to be trifled with since when he's angry with Cal, he usually locks him in his room and makes sure he doesn't leave for a set amount of time.

Alan is not the best parent in the world as he keeps lecturing and swearing at Cal even though he's only 4. Although he's cold and has an unfiltered mouth, he's very caring of his loved ones and is usually the one who heads out of the sect to fend off any enemies that have any intention to harm the sect since Cal's mother is busy running the sect. Cal stood still and acted like he was listening until Alan was done. Cal just stood there and waited until his father left without waiting for Cal to say anything.

High-level cultivators have the ability to sense the Qi in someone's body to determine that person's cultivation realm. Yet, Alan thinks Cal is a regular boy instead of a 9th stage Energy Absorbance realm cultivator. This is due to the help of Cal's system that can hide any Qi in his body. This is the only reason why Alan keeps lecturing and yelling at Cal, otherwise, he would be praising Cal until his lungs died.

With that out of the way, Cal made his way down the stairs and walked down at the speed of a normal 4-year-old to not draw anyone's attention. 'Time to visit brother Pang, I hope he's not being trained to death by his teacher.' With that, Cal slowly made his way down the mountain and to the Core Disciple residences.