Xi Shen looked at Yang Su’s bemoaning expression and he couldn’t help but feel slightly guilty. He had completely forgotten that Yan Su was back in the Outer Sect getting familiar with his new Dao Foundation.
“Ahem”
Coughing awkwardly Xi Shen changed the topic by pointing out Yang Su’s cultivation, “Yang Su, I see you’ve already stepped on the path of a cultivator by entering the 1st Stage of the Qi Condensation Realm. Since you had a bit of time to examine and get familiar with your Six Elemental Qi Dao Foundation. What do you think of it?”
Both Xi Shen and Yang Su were out in the training ground, with Yang Su seated cross-legged on the ground while Xi Shen stood in front of him similar to a teacher and disciple scenario.
Yang Su placed his upset emotions away and answered Xi Shen, “Elder brother Xi Shen, the Foundation you ga…”
“It’s a Dao Foundation.” Xi Shen suddenly interjected.
Taken aback, Yang Su frowned and asked, “What’s the difference?”
Seeing Yang Su’s confused expression, Xi Shen unhurriedly said, “Normally, a person’s Foundation is based on the quality of their Dantian and how suitable it is for “Spiritual Qi” cultivation.” Xi Shen emphasized the Spiritual Qi as he said that.
Continuing Xi Shen said, “However, the Dao Foundations that you and I have isn’t just used for Spiritual Qi cultivation, but it takes on the attribute of a Law and gives us control and faster comprehension of that Law.”
Hearing that, Yang Su’s expression became even more confused. Seeing this, Xi Shen couldn’t help but let out a sigh.
What Xi Shen wanted to explain to Yang Su was that he had reconstructed his Dantian into a Dao Foundation that would make it easier for him to cultivate the six elements. Xi Shen technically combined the cultivation process of the days of old and the system of Spiritual Qi cultivation when he did this.
When cultivating like the days of old, one would comprehend the six Corporeal Laws that govern the universe first, which are the six elements, fire, water, metal, wind, earth, and wood. Only after fully comprehending those six Laws or their deviants, can that person be able to move on to the more complex Incorporeal Laws. Cultivation of the laws is basically moving from simple to complex.
However, this is done without any Foundation of the sort, instead, it was done with the use of the soul. This was why the cultivation in the days of old was called Soul Cultivation.
With each comprehension of a law, a person’s soul would grow larger and more powerful. Through their soul, they would be able to command those Laws in the universe. Another aspect of this cultivation that was just as important, or even more so, was their physique, which was called the Heavenly Physique.
The reason why it is so important was because without that physique their soul would become too strong and eventually destroy their physical body.
So, those who receive the blessings of the heavens not only gain the ability to see as well as comprehend the laws through their soul, but they would gain the Heavenly Physique and could become towering giants as their cultivation progresses.
In those times, the things that Xi Shen had witnessed could shock anyone in this era. Cultivators in his past life were giants that could become as big as an entire planet, and some even the size of galaxies.
That’s why they were called Gods in the first place, due to their size and their absolute control over the Heavenly Laws.
But Spiritual Qi on the other hand is completely different. The person who created this system using Xi Shen’s research had tried to mimic the cultivation like the days of old by having someone cultivate their physique, soul, and the comprehension of the laws separately, during the beginning of their cultivation by using the three attributes.
The Foundation, the first attribute which was used to cultivate one Six Elemental Qi that contained the six elemental laws. Second, a person’s soul, which would be strengthened through Soul Cultivation Techniques until their cultivation progress to the Nascent Soul Realm, where comprehension of the six elemental laws within the Six Elemental Qi was possible, after which they would then move on the comprehend more complex laws in further realms, which was similar to the cultivation like the days of old. So the Spiritual Qi cultivation system was simply a roundabout way of cultivating like the days of old, with different outcomes at the end.
As for a person’s physique, that would be strengthened through Body Cultivation Techniques.
The Dao Foundation that Xi Shen created just made it so that cultivating like the days of old wouldn’t be so roundabout.
In the lower realms of Spiritual Qi cultivation, one would only be able to manipulate one of the Six Qi Elements or one of their deviant elements, that they choose to cultivate. After which they would cultivate to the higher realms and started comprehending and manipulating the laws with them,
However, instead of waiting to reach a higher realm to comprehend and control the Laws in those Six Qi Elements, their Deviants Elements, or the more complicated Incorporeal Laws such as space and time, Xi Shen change the quality of the Dantian and created a Dao Foundation so both he and Yang Su could do so from the beginning.
Xi Shen didn’t know why that person didn’t think of doing this, but if his guess was right it was likely a cultivator that had found his research.
‘If it was a cultivator, he or she wouldn’t want someone who wasn’t bless by the heavens to control heaven’s laws. They would see it as blasphemy against the heavens and go nuts trying to destroy its creator. And from what I could gather in the Ancestral Library, Spiritual Qi cultivation only started to boom after the God Era ended. I’m guessing a cultivator decided to give the mortals a chance to cultivate and thus created the three attributes. After the Gods disappeared no one was there to stop the progress of Spiritual Qi cultivation and it started to boom.’
After sighing, Xi Shen looked down at Yang Su and said, “It’s fine, you don’t have to understand the difference now, just know that your Foundation is extremely different from everyone else. I’m sure you’ve experienced some changes when you entered the Qi Condensation Realm.”
It didn’t make sense Xi Shen tried to explain the concept to Yang Su, after all, he barely knew anything about cultivation at the moment. He had no idea how special his existence was in the cultivation world. In the future when he expands his knowledge and comes face to face with someone in the same cultivation realm as him, he’ll understand the huge advantage Xi Shen had given him.
Yang Su nodded his head upon hearing Xi Shen’s words. After which he lifted his palm and willed the Six Elemental Qi from his Dantian to his palm. Immediately afterward the Spiritual Qi appeared in the outside world as fire and engulfed his palm.
After a few breaths of time, sweat started to appear on Yang Su’s face before the fire surrounding his palm extinguished.
For a normal cultivator, this should have be impossible without the use of martial art techniques or Daoist magic spells. Only someone in the higher realms of cultivation with a sufficient amount of comprehension of the Laws of fire would they be able to transform Fire Qi into actually fire. But Yang Su was able to transform his Fire Qi into actually fire without reaching the level of comprehension necessary to do so. Though it was only a little, since he would have to fully comprehend it's laws if he wants to have full control over the Fire Element.
“Not bad, you're able to control a bit of the Fire Elemental Qi already...” Xi Shen praised.
Despite his heavy breathing, Yang Su's expression was still excited.
“...But that won’t be enough.”
Hearing that, Yang Su’s exited expression suddenly became downcast.
Seeing Yang Su’s expression, Xi Shen smiled and said, “That is to be expected, although I can improve the purity of your soul and give you a Dao Foundation that any heavenly genius would kill for, I cannot change your level of comprehension.”
Yang Su gripped his knees as he listened to Xi Shen’s words. Raising his head, Yang Su said with determination, “Elder brother Xi Shen, even though my comprehension is lacking, I promised that in the future I am going to work extremely hard in my cultivation, so I won’t bring shame to you and make you regret helping me.”
Xi Shen walked closer to Yang Su and patted his head, he then smile and said, “You don’t have to worry about living up to my expectations, just stay as you are now, loyal and kindhearted. Everything else can come after.”
With Xi Shen’s hand still on his head, Yang Su nodded with a serious expression on his face.
“Okay,” Xi Shen said as he placed his hand behind his back, “Even though you’ve entered the 1st Stage of the Qi Condensation Realm, you’ll need to get cultivation method if you want to cultivate any further. Since you’ve already shown that fire is your go-to element, let’s get you a firebase cultivation method.”
Turning around, Xi Shen then began walking towards the exit of the courtyard, while whispering under his breath, "I need to start cultivating as well. I’ve already spent too much time sorting out little Su’s own.”
After saying that, Xi Shen suddenly paused and thought, ‘Wait, does the Celestial Academy even have a Cultivation Method that can allow me to cultivate using my Time Dao Foundation? From the ones I saw in the Ancestral Treasury, there are only ones consisting of the six elements and their deviants such as ice and lightning. A cultivation method that allows someone to cultivate an Incorporeal Law, such as Karma or Space, hasn’t been invented as far as I know. I guess since those Laws are harder to comprehend than others, there hasn’t been a person up until now who was able to create a cultivation method based on them, just the easier ones like the six elements.’
As Xi Shen thought this he frown a little.
“I guess not having a Dao Foundation has some benefits. Unlike a Dao Foundation, which confines a person to cultivate a specific element or law, those normal ones don’t, they can take on the properties of any given element. I guess the cultivator who created that Foundation didn’t consider that, or he did but think he could prevent everyone from reaching a level where they could manipulate it at will. Anyway, if there are none then I’ll spend a couple of months creating one for myself. In the meantime, I'll just become a Soul Cultivator.”
Thinking that last sentence, Xi Shen couldn’t help but chuckle to himself, “I wonder if the person who came up with this type of cultivation, had based it on the name of the cultivation of the days of old. It’s even similar as well, both focused on the cultivation of the soul, interesting, really interesting.”
As Xi Shen walked out of his large courtyard, Yang Su followed a step behind him, and like this, the both of them head for the Sword Pavilion’s Techniques Library.
Visit freewe𝑏nov(e)l.𝗰𝐨𝐦 for the 𝑏est n𝘰vel reading experience