Chapter 6 - Spirit Refining Technique

After he said that to my father, the Head Elder looked at me deeply. He went silent as if thinking about something. A long time passed, and he seemed to come to a decision.

“Come with me, Azalon. You two stay here,” he said, starting to walk towards the doors. I got up and looked at my father.

He nodded at me, and I followed the Elder. We headed towards the stairs, and he began telling me about the pavilion.

“The pavilion contains various martial art techniques and body refining techniques. Usually, a Guardian will be here to check the realm of the cultivators and assign the floor level from which they can select up to three techniques pertinent to their realm. They can’t take them out, but they can stay here and comprehend them. This way, we prevent the copying and theft of the techniques.”

I nodded at the explanation. It seems they follow a similar method to various libraries in my previous world. But a question arose from his explanation, and I took a chance to ask him directly.

“But can’t those who study the techniques copy them after they leave the pavilion? And why are there only four stories in the building?”

He turned his head and looked at me with surprise. It seemed he didn’t expect me to understand that much.

“It seems Lorvak really is blessed by the Spirits. To answer your questions, let me address the second one first. You’ll understand the first one after you experience it personally. This pavilion contains various techniques for the first four realms and a single technique for the fifth realm. As for the number of stories, techniques for higher realms are rare and powerful. They are provided by the Kingdom at the capital or various academies and sects.”

“That’s because they can’t let go of experts at that level, who can be considered True Spirit Powerhouses. Since they are not usually tempted by treasures, they are lured by powerful techniques or Spirit weapons. Understand?”

Oh, I see. Kingdoms, academies, and sects, huh? Hmm… “What is the difference between a sect and an academy?”

“Sects are generally formed by a single family, and if you join a sect, you must pledge loyalty to it. Academies, however, do not have that condition. They are entirely dedicated to the study and development of realms and various professions.”

Aha… So, a sect is like a company, and an academy is like a university, huh? As we discussed this, we reached the top floor, which was a 10 by 10-meter room with eight pedestals arranged around the room. Eight books were placed on them. I knew they were the top techniques, besides the single powerful one available in the pavilion. He then turned to me and said,

“Azalon, do you know about the realms and professions?”

“Yes, Elder. I have read about them in my father’s library.”

“Oh, then it makes my job easier. Let me ask you one question. How old do you think I am?”

“Huh? Elder, what do you mean by that?”

“I will explain naturally, but first, answer my question, Azalon.”

“…Around 80 years?” I answered slowly, trying not to offend him if he was somewhat younger than he looked. I had had similar experiences on Earth.

“Hahahaha, 80 years, huh? Let me tell you, Azalon, I was 80 years old about 120 years ago, you know.”

I stood there like a statue, shock and astonishment flooding my entire body. About 200 years… his age is about 200 years… I couldn’t believe what my ears had just heard. Seeing my shocked expression, he lightly laughed again.

“This is the result of Spirit Cultivation, Azalon. If you reach higher realms than me, you can live for thousands or even tens of thousands of years. And if you reach the Legend Realm—which, I must say, is said to be unattainable—you could be considered an Immortal.”

Immortality… True Immortality… The thing that countless people in my past world chased obsessively can be attained in this world… WHAT IS THIS WORLD??? First, there are Dragons, then entities that wiped out the Dragons, then Spirits, and now Immortality… I think I’m going crazy. My beliefs and theories, which I have dedicated my entire life to, are being shattered one by one. It’s like I’m losing sight of who I once was… Isn’t that what reincarnation is meant to be? Let go of old beliefs and start fresh with new ideas?

As I was immersed in my inner turmoil, the Elder started speaking again. I shook off my thoughts and listened to his words.

“Spirit energy is a very mysterious thing. It is present everywhere between Heaven and Earth. We can refine that energy to shed our mortal shells and attain higher realms. We can achieve many things considered impossible if we reach higher realms. For example, a cultivator in the Spirit Lord Realm can fly through the skies without using flying artifacts.”

*Sigh* Now humans are flying without the use of any technology. I can’t be surprised anymore. Compared to dragons and immortality, flying is a small thing, you know.

“The reason I’m telling you all this is to let you know that anything can be achieved once you reach a certain stage. If you can’t achieve something with your current strength, it means your strength is insufficient, and you need to reach a higher stage.”

“You may wonder why I’m speaking like this. I am at the peak of the 5th Realm and a Rune Master. I have almost reached the end of my lifespan, and the only way to extend it is to break into a higher realm. But I know I can’t reach it with my talent. That’s why I first took your father as my disciple. He had high talent and comprehension abilities, and I did everything I could to aid him in his cultivation. Even if I can’t reach higher stages in my lifetime, I wanted to be remembered as the Master of someone who did. And your father didn’t disappoint me.”

“And now, he has a son with a unique body. I pray to the Spirits that your talent in cultivation is as unique as your body condition. That’s why I decided to help you in your initial stages, and if your talent is high enough, I wish to take you to the capital.”

I stood there, absorbing the flood of information and sorting it out, but the last sentence threw me off track. What did he mean by taking me to the capital? Before I could ask him that question, he started speaking again.

“You have yet to start cultivating by selecting a cultivation technique. But before that, there are certain steps you must understand to begin cultivation. You can call these the basic requirements for understanding cultivation. First, sit on the floor in a lotus position.”

I sat down on the floor in a cross-legged position, and the Elder sat in front of me. He then gave me two instructions.

“Close your eyes and free your mind of all thoughts. This is the basic step in the cultivation process. If you can’t achieve this state, you can never comprehend the energy around you.”

What he didn’t know was that I had been absorbing the energy around me for the past year. So, I immediately cleared my mind and entered a meditative state. The energy around me came alive in different colors and intensities. As the Elder sensed that I had achieved the isolated state, he began instructing me again, though his voice betrayed his surprise. According to him, I achieved this state of mind on my first try. I can understand his astonishment.

“Try to spread your senses around you to perceive the energy present. After you can sense the energy, imagine yourself as a dry pool and the energy as water filling that pool. If you can do that perfectly, the energy will start moving towards you, and you can absorb it.”

Before he finished talking, I had already started absorbing the energy rushing towards my body. The same process repeated itself as it did every day. Once again, I was left with a trickle of energy in my body. As if the Elder sensed the energy movements, he instructed me with a quivering voice.

“Good, good, Azalon. Now, the energy absorbed is the raw form of energy present in nature. You can’t manipulate it freely and completely. At most, you can guide it along the Spirit paths in your body. So, we refine that energy in our bodies and store it in the Dantian. I will teach you a basic refining method, but there are several high-level refining methods available in the pavilion. Once you can successfully refine the energy, you are free to choose any method you want.”

“Now, imagine that energy moving towards your Soul. A Soul is formed of Spirit energy, and any type of cultivation is based on the Soul. What the technique changes is the concentration and quality of refinement. Guide that energy to your chest area. That is where the Soul resides, and imagine the energy being moderated according to your Soul. Once the energy resonates with the Soul, you can channel that refined energy throughout your Spirit paths and store it in the Dantian. Now, try it, Azalon.”

Ah, so that’s why I couldn’t completely control the energy in my body. It’s like a transmitter and receiver combination. Without a resonant frequency between the two, you can’t send or receive signals. So, even though I didn’t understand what he meant by Soul, I guided the energy to my chest area. But no matter how much I concentrated, I couldn’t find that thing called the Soul to refine the energy.

So I tried a different approach. Instead of using the Soul to refine the energy as the Elder said, I tried to match the frequencies of both. According to my theory, the energy is like an

energy bandwidth, and my Soul—or whatever it is—represents a specialized channel. So I searched the bandwidth for the frequency that resonates with my channel frequency. As I explored the energy, suddenly I felt my entire body jolt, and something in my chest pulsed back.

It seems I found my frequency. So I tried to concentrate the energy on that particular frequency. As I did, all the energy rushed into that pulse like a river, and immediately I felt a great control over the refined energy.

In an instant, I channeled that refined energy throughout my body and finally into my Dantian in my lower abdomen, just below my navel. As I felt a sense of accomplishment, something unexpected happened. All that energy immediately disappeared. I suddenly felt cheated. Immediately, a voice resounded in my head—the one I had been waiting for the past year and a half.

“Master…”