Another Cliché Cultivation Story

Ji Xian smartly decided to ignore Xia Lihua.

Shaking his head, his attention returned to the company of the Grahas. With not much else to say to them, he performed a single hand sign, further tightening their spatial prison.

Then, Ji Xian raised his arm high into the air with his index finger pointing upward. A mysterious energy began to form above it. It was warm yet shapeless; the instant it appeared, the heavenly bodies surrounding the Mortal Desolate World dimmed even further. It quickly grew in size, resembling a distant star shining blindingly.

Not only was everyone dumbfounded by this scene, but Xia Lihua was as well.

Watching the formless mass continue to expand above Ji Xian’s head, her heart instinctively shriveled, and her blood boiled from the threatening aura that emanated from him.

Is this some sort of Divine Art? Or is it an ability? She wondered inwardly, her surprise evident. Thinking back, this wasn’t the first time Ji Xian had used this move. He had unleashed it once before against the Nether race in the Mortal Haven World. At that time, however, she had been unconscious and missed it entirely. Everything she knew about it had come from the Ancestors back home, who had recounted the events that unfolded while she was in a brief coma. Now that she was seeing it firsthand, she understood why the Ancestors had so much trouble describing it— the formless mass wasn’t created by True Essence!

Xia Lihua narrowed her eyes. By now she was well aware that this world contained more than just True and Astral Essence. The Graha were living proof of this, as was the Soul Liberation Art she cultivated. Within her, the Soul Essence Vessel- formed after reaching elementary mastery— contained what she and Ji Xian simply called Soul Essence, a name that was as self-evident as the vessel itself.

With that, she had identified three known Essences. True Essence was of the Heaven, Astral Essence was of the individual, and Soul Essence was clearly of the soul. Yet, as Xia Lihua set her gaze beyond the exosphere, her piercing silver eyes witnessing a lusterless nearby star, she realized that there was possibly a fourth Essence type.

Just how many types of Essence are there? She pondered. Since I started cultivating, I was taught only two types of Essences in the Mortal Haven World. There was never a mention of another. Was this information purposely hidden from us, or was the Lower World just lacking details? But then again, even if we know of them, so what? Most people seem capable of cultivating only a single Essence type— unless they’re as peculiar as Ji Xian and me. The Soul Liberation Art isn’t something anyone can just cultivate. Looking at the entire Mortal Haven World, I can’t imagine anyone else qualified enough to read even a single word of it, and in the Mortal Desolate World, I dare say only Yueyin is competent enough to do so. What a shame that the requirement is so extreme, otherwise, we could spread this around and increase our collective strength.

True, Astral, Soul, and now this fourth Essence… Ji Xian must’ve also recently come to this realization as well— each Essence corresponds to a certain cultivation system, with each system drawing their power from different sources. There lies the question. If Qi Cultivators draw in True Essence from the Heaven and Body Cultivators create their own Astral Essence from the self, then where are those like the Graha beckoning their Soul Essence from? It cannot simply be from our very soul, Unlike Body Cultivators who have their Internal World to create Astral Essence, our soul is not capable of holding such a tangible thing.

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Just as Xia Lihua was trying to solve the answer to this question, Ji Xian’s voice rang in her head, answering it for her.

The Soul Essence that not only the Graha, but you and I as well absorb, stems from their Progenitor, the Ghost.

Xia Lihua’s eyes widened as she looked up to meet Ji Xian’s gaze. He smiled at her, his eyes gleaming as though they could see straight through her thoughts.

“Are you aware of what you’re saying?” she replied through her spiritual sense, unsurprised by how well he seemed to know her.

“I am.”

“The reason True and Astral Essence are incompatible lies in the conflict of their empyrean domains. While the differences between the two are subtle, Astral Essence cannot be used by others—it belongs solely to the self. I don’t know how far the path of Body Cultivation can ultimately reach, but for it to one day become usable by others, I’m guessing one’s Internal World must expand to rival Heaven itself, becoming a separate dominion. If we go by what you’ve said, then the Progenitor of the Graha race is a being that has stepped into that realm!”

Ji Xian casually shrugged, “Maybe.”

As he did so, he pointed his finger that was holding onto the formless mass at the Graha. It flew toward them, neither fast nor slow.

Yatong desperately screamed, no different than how his two sons were earlier when they tried to convince him to leave.

“Why can’t I move!? How are you doing this!? None who are in the Lower World can manipulate space to this degree! It’s impossible!”

These were the words that he wanted to say, unfortunately, with the spatial compression still tightening around his neck, he wasn’t able to speak.

On seeing the approaching formless mass, he tried to call upon his Soul Essence, yet it didn’t heed his call. Yatong could only squirm in a panic.

“How are you related to the Celestial race!? This is their Cosmic Alchemy! You can’t use this on people! What are you planning to do!?”

Ji Xian chuckled at Yatong’s struggle, not an ounce of compassion could be heard in his tone.n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, the formless mass enveloped the thousands of crying Graha, silencing their weeping despair.

The formless mass shined before quickly contracting in size until it became the size of a small bead.

Ji Xian waved his hand, and the bead floated toward him, settling in his grasp. He toyed with it, effortlessly shifting it between his fingertips. He turned to face Xia Lihua, and after a brief pause, he suddenly asked, “Do you think the Graha’s Progenitor is still alive?”

Xia Lihua was distracted by the bead in his hand, confused as to what it was. Upon hearing his question, she blinked before looking at Ji Xian oddly.

“I… don’t know,” she answered.

“How far do you think Heaven extends?” Ji Xian asked again. “Is it only our universe? Or every universe?”

“I’m not sure.”

“If Heaven exists in every universe, then how is it possible for there to be another empyrean domain? Where would it even be?”

“…”

“Heaven… how do we even know Heaven is real? Or conscious? What even is Heaven? If the Graha’s Progenitor can become something rivaling Heaven, then can we consider him “Heaven”?”

“What are you trying to say?”

Ji Xian shook his head, “I’m not trying to say anything. These are questions that I also would like to know. I’m not as all-knowing as you think. Cultivation is fascinating, isn't it? We all start on similar paths, but slowly, we diverge. I don’t think that there is a fixed way to reach the end of cultivation— if the end exists, that is. Just look at the Graha’s progenitor. Clearly, he didn’t follow the path of Qi or Body Cultivation, yet he became a person who is not only feared by the Universal Will, but he became a source of power for his people and all those who follow in his way. For now, we can only move onward one step at a time, slowly figuring things out as we go. We haven’t even attained divinity yet, but we are already thinking so far ahead. What’s the point?”