I sat under the moonlight and continued absorbing the Pure Qi into myself, pushing towards the Soul Transformation realm.

  All the while, my mind was filled with a whirlwind of emotions and thoughts that distracted me from my cultivation.

  Something I am thankful for since it allows me to keep my mind away from my senses which are being enhanced with every second as I advance towards the next stage.

  ‘David. You need to focus on your Qi circution. If your circution of Qi is not done properly, you could end up being killed during the tribution.’

  ‘…If there is a tribution.’

  ‘Weren’t you the one who told me not to jinx it? Why are you acting like this now?’

  ‘How else am I supposed to act? Xiang? After everything we learned today from Lingxi?’

  ‘….Do you bme her for keeping secrets from you?’

  I fell silent at his words as I contempted my own feelings.

  It was after we left those ruins that Yin Lingxi picked up the stupid panda that was waiting for us outside. She took me back to that field of Midnight Moonflowers for a discussion, something that she said could not wait.

  The truths that she revealed were enough to blow not just my mind but Xiang as well who nearly went hysterical after learning of these things.

  The truth about who my mother really was, the truth about my ancestry, the real reason why Yin Lingxi took an interest in me when we first met, everything that was ever hidden from me by her.

  Including how she felt about me, much to my dismay.

  Because I too felt the same way, however, I do not believe this to be the right time for us to engage in our emotions, especially with a war right around the corner and something far worse waiting for us in the near future.

  However, what’s done is done. Besides, I promised myself on my mother’s grave that I would no longer allow my life to be filled with regrets, so I will follow through with these feelings of mine.

  Even if it means I will have to get out of my comfort zone and confront the threats I have been avoiding all this time head-on.

  ‘No. I do not bme her. I understand her logic and why she kept these things from us. And given how we are reacting, she was right to keep things from us. Even if her worry for us was only part of the reason why she kept those secrets from us.’

  ‘And yet, you still want to bme someone to vent your frustration at the revetions given to us.’

  ‘Yes. But, we have nowhere to vent our frustration. So, all we can do is endure it, like we always do.’

  ‘….I guess we could just hunt a few demonic beasts to vent our anger?’

  I chuckled at Xiang’s words but winced in pain as that action accidentally broke the iron grip I held on my senses, overloading my mind and soul with the enhanced senses I now had to deal with thanks to how close I was to the Soul Transformation realm.

  ‘We could, but I don’t think there are many beasts in this realm that can give us a challenge right now. Besides, I need to break through to the Soul Transformation realm before I do anything.’

  ‘Now that you mention it, why are you so urgently trying to break through when you were reluctant to do so before?’

  ‘Well, as you know, I was originally worried about the suppression of the secret realm. I thought that the realm would reject my entry if I had broken through to the Soul Transformation realm before entering. However, now that we know that the restrictions don’t apply to us for some reason, I want to attempt to become untouchable in this pce.’

  ‘I guess it is because of what happened in the ruins?’

  ‘…Yes. I never want to experience that helplessness ever again. I was this close to losing Lingxi to those damned Natural Treasures. I promised myself and you that I would never experience such a loss ever again, but I nearly experienced it because of my hubris. Never again.’

  ‘David, I’ve told you this before and I’ll say it again. You are not like me. We are two aspects of the same soul, but unlike me whose life is a tale of despair and tragedy, you are different. So, don’t bme yourself too much. Besides, even if you had broken through to the Soul Transformation realm, I doubt you would have been able to do anything to those incorporeal avatars of the Natural Treasures. There is a reason why most forces are always willing to recruit cultivators with Yin element spirit roots.’

  I nodded my head at his words since I saw the truth in it.

  It is a known fact that the only way to deal with incorporeal entities is through the use of artifacts or treasures that are rich in Yin Qi or with the help of a Yin element cultivator due to the Yin element’s natural ability to interact with the incorporeal on a conceptual level.

  It is the reason why the Yin element was highly valued by the various forces across the continent during the previous era.

  However, for some reason, things changed as the years went on, and now, the Yin element cultivators are looked down upon by most forces except for the holy nds who still hold the same view as before.

  If I were to guess, I would say it was some kind of a conspiracy made by someone to push the Yin cultivators away from civilization for whatever reason. However, I don’t have any proof for this hypothesis so I’ll just have to keep this theory to myself for now.

  ‘You are right, but also wrong. I always knew that the chances of us running into incorporeal creatures were low but not zero, so I should have prepared accordingly. Yet, I did not. That was my hubris. Because I trusted my bizarre cultivation too much. But it is a mistake I will not make again. That much is certain.’

  ‘That much I can believe. Unlike me, you are cautious to the extreme and are willing to learn from your and mine failures. Now, focus back on your cultivation. I can sense that your Nascent Soul is ready for the next step.’

  I turned my attention back towards my Dantian, where the formless mass of Qi, my Nascent Soul, existed, and observed as it greedily absorbed the Pure Qi in the atmosphere, continuously converting it into Primal Qi.

  The first step of cultivation, the Qi Condensation realm, is the process of sensing and condensing the Qi into the Spirit roots of a cultivator. Then, in the Foundation Establishment realm, this Qi is condensed to form a physical manifestation of the Qi, which usually takes the form of a dense liquid in the metaphysical organs.

  The next step, the Core Formation realm, is the stage in which the liquid form of the Qi is given a solid form, creating the Core, or as it is usually called, the Golden Core. After that, in the Nascent Soul realm, the core is broken apart to give birth to True Qi, or in my case, the Primal Qi, which once again gains a gaseous form like the elemental Qi of the Qi Condensation stage.

  But, unlike before, the Soul Transformation realm can be considered the turning point for all cultivators as there are many paths that could be taken from here.

  It is possible to condense the True Qi of a cultivator into a liquid form just like in the Foundation Establishment realm to achieve the Soul Transformation realm. The advantage of doing this is that this type of Soul Transformation cultivator can use the liquid form of their True Qi to directly nourish their Spirit Roots, and by extension, their soul, and strengthen it to impose their own ws on the world, overwriting reality, hence creating their personal domain.

  Another path that can be taken is to spread the gaseous form of the True Qi through the Spirit Roots and straight into the soul of a cultivator. This kind of cultivation would be slower than the previous method since the gaseous form of the True Qi is much less energy-dense compared to the liquid form, but the advantage is that these cultivators would have a much more solid foundation and are generally stronger than others of the same realm.

  And then, there are the methods used by Demonic Path and the Barbarian cns that are even more bizarre but that is something that I don’t have to worry about.

  Especially since my cultivation is anything but conventional.

  Unlike the rest of the cultivators on this continent, I don’t have nor have needed a cultivation technique from the very beginning of my new life.

  From the Qi Condensation realm to the Core Formation realm, I relied on the Heavenly Reversal Bead’s regenerative properties to strengthen myself through continuous cycles of destruction and healing.

  But, after reaching the Nascent Soul realm, all I did was randomly absorb Pure Qi and convert it into Primal Qi without any circution technique or any methodology to it. And yet, I have reached the peak of the Nascent Soul realm, which should be impossible.

  Even to this day, I have no expnation as to why this happened or just what kind of bizarre process is going on within my body to allow me to continue in this way. All I know is that it works for me and that is all I care about.

  Now, I am at a crossroads where I need to choose a path, yet, I do not know if my choice will even matter since I have a feeling that my cultivation will make the choice for me and make it irrelevant.

  It is frustrating to not know the truth of your own powers and the inability to control its direction. Yet, I am still grateful for whatever the source of my cultivation is, since it has given me the strength to protect what I care about the most in this world.

  I closed my eyes and slowly released my control over my senses bit by bit, allowing my mind and soul to adapt to the information overload that resulted from my senses.

  It is painful and paralyzing, to process so much information at once, but it is something that must be done since I can’t afford to keep dividing my focus between my cultivation and suppressing my senses.

  Soon, the absorption of the Pure Qi reached a critical point as my Nascent Soul slowed down its absorption rate.

  As the absorption rate slowed, I observed that the Nascent Soul had suddenly started to become denser with Primal Qi, obtaining a strange form that is neither solid nor liquid. A sight that instantly armed me.

  ‘Xiang? Please tell me I am seeing things.’

  ‘….I don’t think you are seeing things, David. I see the same thing.’

  ‘…FUCK!! AM I BECOMING A DEMONIC BEAST NOW!??’

  My desperation is justified since the process that is happening now is simir to what happens to a Demonic Beast once it reaches the Soul Transformation realm where its True Qi is condensed into a solid form simir to ta Golden Core in the Core Formation realm.

  While it is another branching path of the Soul Transformation realm, the reason I am panicking is that this form of advancement is something that is unique to the Demonic Beasts and something that simply cannot be achieved by humans.

  There were many cultivators in the past who had tried to achieve such a feat, trying to condense a solid core instead of a liquid or gaseous form of their True Qi. Yet, without exception, all of them perished.

  This is due to the fact that a human body is simply incapable of supporting a solid core of True Qi as the sheer power released during the formation of such a core is enough to shred the body and soul into nothingness.

  This is why only the Demonic Beasts are capable of naturally attaining such a path of cultivation since they are born with superior bodies and souls compared to humans, allowing them to endure the strain of forming such cores.

  ‘Not necessarily true. I think this has to do with your Primal Qi. Given that it can be considered a natural evolution of the Pure Qi in the atmosphere, I think that either the heavens or the very world are guiding your Pure Qi in the most natural path such Qi would take to evolve, just like how a Natural Treasure or a Heavenly Treasure would form.’

  ‘Still not a reassuring thought. What if I end up exploding like every other cultivator that tried to form a solid core of True Qi?’

  ‘You won’t because your body is absurdly powerful by human standards thanks to your perverted cultivation before you reached the Nascent Soul realm. I guess congratutions are in order. You will be the first human to attain the same kind of power that made the Demonic Beasts of Soul Transformation realm so feared throughout the continent.’

  ‘I still don’t like it.’

  I continued bickering with Xiang as my cultivation continued to advance, and just like I thought, I saw no tribution clouds in sight.

  Within seconds, the Nascent Soul condensed into forming a solid core made of Primal Qi, producing an explosion of Qi that reduced my surroundings into a crater and made my body fall into the newly created pit.

  Yet, I could not do anything as my mind was dominated by the sheer agony of my body, mind, and soul being overwhelmed by my newly acquired power.

  My senses expanded for hundreds of miles and became so sharp that I could literally sense the heartbeats of the various creatures that were caught within the range.

  I could taste the Qi of the various treasures, could feel the texture of the tree barks, the feeling of the fur on the various creatures, the very essence of the Earth.

  I could feel everything that was caught within the range of my senses.

  It was terrifying and exhirating at the same time, and the best and worst part of all this is that the process is not done yet.

  As the rate at which my senses expanded slowed down and finally came to a stop, I instinctually knew what I needed to do next. Instincts that I followed by releasing the full power of my newly condensed Primal Qi core.

  I knew that this was the part where I would form my own domain, my inner reality and understanding of my Qi and soul manifested into the real world.

  Yet, nothing like that happened.

  Instead, the only change I felt was that my Primal Qi flooded my surroundings and started to nourish everything caught within the range of my senses with its properties, making all living things grow at an exponential rate.

  I continued waiting patiently, to see what kind of domain I would form, but even after my newly formed core solidified and became dormant, even after I felt my cultivation settle and the same kind of strange golden light that fell on me during my ascension into Nascent Soul fall once again from the sky and merge with my body, my domain did not form.

  ‘….Xiang? any expnations?’

  ‘….No comment.’

  ‘….You are really unreliable.’

  ‘…And you are a bizarre anomaly. What’s new?’

  ‘…Let’s just return to the camp.’

  ‘Agreed.’

  Seriously, just what the hell is wrong with my cultivation?

  Author Notes:

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