"My hair is almost back to normal." Ash looked in the mirror.
His eyes were still purple, but his hair was now half blue and half grey after a night of cultivation.
Yesterday he was asleep for a whole 20 hours and didn't feel tired at all, thus deciding to spend the night meditating.
Meditation enhanced one's concentration, strengthened the mind and it relaxed the body.
As for cultivators, it gave them energy and greatly increased their cultivation speed.
That's why cultivators often meditated for at least 30 minutes before starting their cultivation.
Already at the Transcendence realm, Ash had the strenght to lift a bull with his bare hands and the reflexes to dodge bullets if they weren't aimed at the center of his body.
Ash's bones were weak though and wouldn't be able to whitstand the pressure from his enormous strenght.
If he pushed himself too hard for more than 5 seconds... he would be in danger of crushing them.
The other drawback he had now was his blood.
It couldn't supply his body with the energy it needed and Nature essence couldn't go through his circulatory system freely.
Instead, if Ash tried to input Nature essence into his circulating blood, his skin would get all red, before his arteries and veins exploded.
It would spell the doom of him!
While fighting, if one didn't know one's own limits, one would go into an overdrive mode, before dying out of exhaustion or destroying one's body.
In most battles to the death between oponents at the same realm, both parties would try to save energy while forcing the opther party to use more of it.
Thus, exhausting the oponent to death.
Attacking costs energy, but defending costs even more so. Unless one could dodge, one would have to use a good chunk of their energy to protect the body.
Thats why most cultivators would rather use energy to protect their vital organs and leave the rest of the body opened to attacks.
If one dodged, good, but if one couldn't react on time, then the same could at the very least have a chance at running after getting seriously injured.
"Next step would be the 'Blood ignition' phase..." Ash murmured to himself.
After one 'ignited' one's blood, it would solve one's energy problems, allowing Nature essence to circulate through the body and vitalise it.
The 'Blood ignition' phase was also known in the past as 'Marrow transmutation' phase.
That was because one had to 'ignite' one's own bone marrow, changing it's structure to become hard and elastic, but most importantly, add unique properties to the cells it synthesises.
Whenever a cultivator with ignited blood got wounded, for example a cut arm or leg, he could stop the gushing blood with his mind.
Having control over one's own blood was essential for cultivation and elevating to the next realm, the 'Body enhancement' phase of the 'Small circle of body and soul transformation'.
"Breakfast is ready, kids!" Bai Juan's voice was heard like sweet melody from all directions.
"Oh, your hair is returning to normal again!" after opening the door, Ash saw Bai Ling passing by.
"And your hair finally learned what gravity is! " Ash laughed at his joke after seeing Bai Ling.
Flush. Ling's emerald green hair instantly went up and started to move like fire under wind when she heard Ash mocking her hair.
She pouted and sped up towards the living room.
Shaking his head, Ash followed Bai Ling while smiling at her silly behaviour, thinking she looked cute when she was mad.
...
After breakfast, Ash went to Bai Cheng for guidance.
Bai Cheng gave him a guide, called 'Blood ignition guide', that he had used in the past and explained to Ash the steps he had to take and risks he would have to go through, in short.
The first step was to condense the marrow to the size of a bead and nurture it with Nature essence to enlarge it back to it's original size, but denser...
Before Ash could start though, he lost control of his body.
'Only an idiot would do that!' a resonant voice sounded in Ash's head.
'Forget about what you have been taught by that fool and this trash of a guide, and follow my lead!'
Suddenly Ash regained half of his freedom to control his body as heat started coming from his heart.
Nature essence was travelling from his meridians towards his heart.
He could feel Nature essence being transformed into something else when it went through it.
Usualy Bai Cheng's way was the most popular way for one to ignite one's own blood, but it had a drawback: 20% chance to die, slow progress and an endless pain every time one cultivated according to the 'Blood ignition guide' .
Why was it the most popular one though?
That would be, because it was the safest known method known out there, free to the public, and the other ancient guides were lost from countless wars between the races of the upper world in the past.
Only a few copies were left for the royal families and the lucky ones to enjoy.
These copies became family secrets eventually and were guarded strictly!
Nobody was allowed to touch them without permission or they would die!
"Who are you? And why do I constantly hear you in my head?" Ash said while holding his head.
'You can call me Ameron.' Ameron said after a pause.
'And I am a shadow of the past, here to guide and follow you for life.' he continued.
"Um.." Ash nodded, not knowing what to say.
"Then guide me... and I will follow." he thought to himself after carefully thinking for a while.
He had an inexplicable feeling of familiarity and trust toward the voice... One such that he felt just as if he was standing infront of a mirror... infront of himself.
The heat from Ash's heart spreaded throughout his body like a wave , untill it went and disappeared in his bones.
It cleansed his marrow from impurities, before enriching it slowly and it felt comfortable while doing so.
This method of 'igniting' the blood was neither ancient, nor had anything similar to the 'Blood ignition guide', Bai Cheng gave Ash.
It was one, made on the spot by Ameron, fulfilling Ash's needs in every way.
One could imagine just how strong Ameron was in the past to be able to do something like this in a matter of seconds.