Josh and Rose was grade one warriors with high grade cultivation techniques so they didn't have much to fear. Their first stop was a territory of an earl. Earls in the Loren Empire was like a semi-feudal lords. With their contribution as a knight, they would become earls and with the tax they collect in their fief, they could nurture their offspring as a magus. If they couldn't have any magus in three generations, their nobility would forfeit.
Josh and Rose's first stop was a slave merchant. Leon told him to buy slaves and after they worked hard they could gain their freedom and live as free folk in his territory. Leon's territory was newly get rid of its infertile status so free folk wouldn't choose to migrate there. As a solution only buying slaves remained.
After asking around a bit they found a slave merchant. There were all kinds of slaves; criminal slaves, debt slaves ...etc. Leon didn't want any criminal in his newly gained fief but he also said if their crimes wasn't anything to be ashamed of, he would also accept them.
After making a deal with the slave merchant. Josh and Rose leaved there with frown on their faces. They didn't liked this kind of things but it was the fastest way to improve the fief. After finishing their job at the slave merchant, they started talk with all kinds of merchants and make them come to the fief and open shops there.
Finishing their objective, they found an inn to eat and stay. They ordered their meal and they ate while they were chatting. After their stay at this territory. They went to another fief to repeat the same things.
…
After a month of riding back of a horse Leon finally arrived at Undead Empire. The land here was more suitable to the undeads but other species could also lived here. Leon asked around for academies and their qualities. After couple of questions he gained a bit understanding about the academies in Undead Empire.
The best academies was at the capital of the empire and the capital wasn't that much far from Leon, he could arrive there in a week or so. Leon also heard that the academies didn't have schedule for accepting students. The academies in the empire specialized on self-learning.
After an uneventful of week, Leon arrived at Asphodel, the capital of Undead Empire. At Leon's head Asphodel would be run-down city but the city was full of life. It wasn't a description to fit a undead city but city was comparable to Loren City.
Leon didn't want to waste time and went to Arawn Academy which supposed to be the best academy in the empire. Arawn Academy was at the central area of the city and it was a three-story majestic palace looking like an academy. After paying his tuition and taking his student card, Leon walked into the library.
Arawn Academy put importance to the self-learning like other academies in the empire. If someone wasn't a student under a tutor, they would only learn themselves. After finding book about the soul cultivation after asking the librarian, he started to read it.
It was a basic need to read this book. Only after reading it you could start soul cultivation. The book was starting from how the soul cultivation techniques was found and its development process. Undead Empire discovered a new world, in this world there wasn't any mana cultivation or body tempering not in real sense of it. The habitants of this world had something called martial spirit. The martial spirit only way to get stronger and live longer.
The laws of this world imposed them these martial spirits. The empire studied them and created a soul cultivation technique with these principles. Instead of martial spirits, The undeads created Soul Artifacts which blueprint would drawn in the soul and gradually they feed with it treasures and make it stronger, in return the soul would be strengthened due to Soul Artifact. Anything could become a Soul Artifact and once it was chosen, it couldn't be change no matter what.
After reading all of it, Leon had general idea of what soul cultivation about but it was still vague and he needed to read a lot of books to fully understand it. Leon stretched and looked from the window and noticed that it was evening. He leaved the library and got the dorm to get a sleep.
…
Leon spent his days in library for a week. He also paid for a private lesson to get answers for his questions in his mind. Today was the day he would attend a private lesson and the lesson would hold in a class for thirty people. Leon went to a desk and sat down. After five minutes, a lich came;
"I'm your teacher Fiona, to day I'll be teaching you soul cultivation." She introduce herself with a soft voice wouldn't expected from a lich.
"You would already know that you must have a Soul Artifact to cultivate your soul. To make it you need to imagine a object, an animal or what ever you desire. While you concentrate to this you need to consume soul crystals to speed up the process. Cultivating your soul is different from mana or bodily cultivation. Because of limitations mana cultivation divided to ranks. First you have to gather mana, and this stage also called false mana gathering because, you didn't open your mana pool. Secondly you need to open mana pool, only after that you can be in the first stage real mana gathering."
Leon didn't understand why she was talking about mana cultivation in this lesson but he listened anyway.
"False mana gathering, opening mana pool, real mana gathering then mana condensing. In this stage you need to condense your mana to make it more tangible. With that you can make your mana foundation this is the third step. After that you need to solidify your mana in your mana pool. The solidified mana in you mana pool act like an egg to give birth you second soul, this called Nascent soul or secondary soul. Then you disperse your second soul to the world around you. You would destroy it but it will become thiner and thiner with that you can start to make domain out of it. As time passes your domain would become more and more tangible after fusing itself with the laws. This called Law stage. There is also rumored Divinity stage but nobody is sure how get there."
"You can be curious why did I talked about mana cultivation in soul cultivation lesson. It simple in mana cultivation there is qualitative changes in your mana but in soul cultivation you only become more and more yourselves. There is nine stages in mana cultivation if you include the fabled divinity stage. But in soul cultivation there is two; Sea consciousness opening and Soul Embryo."
"Sea consciousness opening is like its name, you need to open your sea consciousness with soul crystal after that you needed to find yourselves to condense your Soul Embryo."
"You can also be curious why you would need a soul artifact. It isn't like that. Soul crystal is an energy source for your soul but the core to strengthen your sea consciousness and your soul embryo is the Soul Artifact."
Leon understood, Soul artifact was like an engine and stronger the engine faster the soul become stronger. But he had a question to ask teacher so he asked;
"Teacher Fiona, on what basis we needed choose the type of Soul Artifact?"
"There is non, but I recommend to choose an auxiliary type, rather than attack or defense type. Everybody needed to choose the one they find useful."
After answered the questions the students have, Teacher Fiona added;
"Lastly only you needed to have a vague image to start creating it and you strengthen it with soul crystals. Bit by bit you eventually can create your Soul Artifact. Aside from that, the academy has coordinates of a crossroad world. The ones who opened their sea consciousness can go there."