Its been three winters, three cold winters since my birth. The autumn leaves have all but fallen and the first snowflakes have begun to fall from the dark sky. My breath was clouded as temperatures have begun to drop below zero.
Although snow was still a minority, the lush, vibrant green was nowhere in sight. Only trunks and hardened husks of life remained at the beginning of winter. I was carrying firewood up a dirt path, my hooves leaving only soft footprints on the dry soil.
My master doesn't need any heat during winter but as for me, I have only started cultivating under him. I have only improved my body's efficiency and gained a simple heating technique to make myself resistant to hypothermia. He had not taught me any scriptures or techniques yet and my questions were left unanswered.
But, I have given up on the matter, realizing that if he wanted to tell me, he would've done so. Although I have not begun my cultivation, my master taught me methods on improving my body's circulation and physique. He taught me how to spread my qi throughout my body constantly to temper it, gradually enhancing it.
Its principle was similar to the laws of a process called osmosis. Since the environment has far higher qi concentration than I do, spreading my qi will trigger this process to balance the concentration gradient. With more qi entering and tempering my body, my muscles gradually grow stronger and my vitality improves.
For the first several months, I barely felt any changes. Suddenly on the tenth month of my training, I felt renewed and full of power. With new vigor, I punched a cherry blossom tree in half and felt no pain at all.
Soon, I was able to endure more damage, sticks and stones no longer made a difference. Naturally, carrying this trunk of firewood was no problem. I quickened my pace as to avoid the frequent and unpredictable flash freezes that occured in this season.
The winter here only dropped temperatures down to five degrees below zero but the frequent flash freezes and devastating blizzards was the cause of needing firewood. Massive amounts of snow and ice would pile up and setting up a fire inside the cave helps to reduce the strain in keeping warm. Master said that he would start teaching him to cultivate today since I could now shatter boulders with a punch.
Soon, a gargantuan mountain came into view. Its lofty peak rivaled the heavens and controlled the dark, thunderous clouds above. A blue aurora slithered along the dark clouds, forming a dim river of blue along the swirling clouds.
I glanced at the mystical mountain once more before I continued my journey to our abode. Three years ago, master opened a massive cavern with his bare hands on the mountain's foot and sculpted it into a grand monastery with powerful strikes of divine lightning. Despite its large size, the drizzling snow and winter mist enshrouded it alongside the mountain's foot.
If not for the winter season's arrival, he would have seen the temple from where he stood, twelve thousand steps away. The winter mist had also shrouded the rugged, uneven terrain on the mountain's foot. Claws and spires of stones protrude out of the cold, hard ground alongside flat plateaus and mini valleys, one of which serves as the main path to the temple.
These unnaturally sharp and random formations were forged by the strong winds and ever changing blizzards that ravage the region during winter. The winter doesn't only bring the sharp, desolate terrain but also the arrival of ice derived spiritual beasts. The first days of winter are the calmest, only a few low leveled beasts would wander around the shrouded lands.
Then, random blizzards would arrive, heralding the appearance of a few powerful beasts and maybe even a great beast. The frequency and strength of these blizzards would only increase as winter progresses, this corresponds to the arrival of dozens of powerful beasts and a few great beasts.
Apex predators from all over the region would follow the storms, seeking to gather more qi and cultivate to greater heights. A temporary truce is achieved between the beasts, their ferocity directed to those from different ecosystems.
Although master can easily destroy all the beasts with his heavenly lightning, he has no intentions in eliminating them. He said that it will be good for my cultivation and training considering many powerful beasts roam the lands during winter. Using their bodies to refine tools or upgrade my cultivation seems to be my master's goal for me.
After an hour, the mist was starting to lose its opacity, a sign that I'm only two hundred steps from the temple. Soon, with the parting of the mist, the stone temple complex is revealed.
Its entrance was composed of an open space flanked by a pair of 20 ft tall stone statues of fierce deities. They wore ornate armor and each held a fearsome weapon aimed at him. Though their eyes are carved out of stone, a supernatural yellow light would shine from within those rigid eyes, warning those of ill intentions that they are watching.
Beside the fearsome pair of deities is a thick stone wall of hindu and buddhist design measuring 16 ft tall. Dozens of demon statues decorate the top of the wall and the short cliff before the wall. These demons carried all sorts of weaponry and don a divine armor of sorts.
Although they appear completely normal, an unmistakably ominous aura permeates the cold air in their presence. Their faces seemed to beheld a sinister glee for permission to brutally kill and torture invaders. Despite being used to these statues, he couldn't help but feel that they are paying more attention to him than usual.
After passing the gate, his snow covered hooves finally touched the stone paved ground of the temple complex. He is greeted by the sight of the great stone temple, carved out of the mystical mountain. Statues of winged beasts, stone spires and green wisps decorate the temple grounds, it resembled hindu temples and the buddhist monasteries on the mountains of tibet.
He made a beeline to the largest entrance into the temple's cavernous chambers, ignoring the sacred stone statues and spires adorning the wall protected area. He knocked on the great stone doors and bowed in reverence, "Master, I have returned bearing firewood. I wish to start my journey in cultivation."
"Very well." Replied an ancient, booming voice. With a loud thud, the giant stone doors opened and the voice beckoned him. Soon, the door closed and the temperature inside the room rose by two dozen degrees and reached room temperature.
Flaming wisps came to life and brought light to the chamber. His master awaited him, sitting cross legged on a floating white pillow. An empty three legged iron pot and three distinct objects lay before him.
The first object was a stick, a seemingly normal stick containing an unnaturally high amount of qi. The stick seemed to have a faint aura of power surrounding it.
The second object, flanked by the first and third object was a black blob that emitted a feeling of nothingness. The blob seemed to be solid, liquid, gas and plasma at the same time. Its volume and form changes freely but each speck of it seemed to have a mind of its own.
The third object is a purple sphere of light, it absorbed the surrounding qi like a black hole. If not for master's presence, Mithra was sure that the sphere of light would have emptied the room of qi.
'Is this what master wanted me to cultivate with?' Mithra walked up to his master and did a short bow before sitting cross legged and greeting his master. The creator greeted him back by drawing a symbol on his forehead with qi infused ash.
The ash rapidly circulated the qi within the Nethari's body and forcefully perfected his physique. Mithra felt his body tremendously heat up before feeling a wave of pain slamming into him from all over his body. He flinched a few times as the pain gradually increased and targeted his blind spots.
Every breath became blissful as it is the only action of the body exempted from the rapid assault. His muscles failed to stretch, his tendons froze and his marrows restructured itself. His blood boiled as blood cells are ripped apart by qi, only to be rebuilt into more efficient organisms.
His bones were broken and splintered, only to be layered by new bones while the old bones are transformed into new marrows. His joints were coated in new substance and morphed into a much more stronger and flexible object. His organs were not exempted from this process.
His heart was reinforced and enlarged, a regeneration method was grafted onto this most vital organ. His digestive system underwent a massive transformation to maximize efficiency and qi absorption. The rest were modified accordingly to transform his body into its most perfect mortal form, a body only surpassed by deities.
Soon, the forced evolution ended and all pain came to a halt. All that is left is a sudden feeling of tranquility and the cool, fresh air. Mithra panted after the experience but it quickly ended, replaced by new energy coming from within his perfected body.
Before his student could speak, the creator flicked his wrist and levitated the firewood. The firewood entered the pot alongside the stick, blob of darkness and radiant sphere of light. Then, a violent reaction occured within the pot as the four components attempt fusion with one another.
A sudden flash of light erupted and liquid light condensed in the pot. The liquid light crystalized into a rainbow mineral before vaporizing into a bright blue gas. The gas coalesced into a spherical ball the size of a bullet and collided violently with the flash of light.
Soon, more spherical blue gas appeared and collided violently within the pot, creating, transforming and destroying energy within the seemingly normal iron pot. The flash of light started to deplete as more mini planets emerged and collided with it and its violent kin. Entropy was bypassed as energy descended to the state of true chaos.
All laws are broken within the reaction and new laws are formed by the colliding particles. New laws gave birth to a multitude of differently colored particles, they continued the path of their ancestors and continued colliding to spread themselves. The flash of light seemed to now gain mass instead of losing it, it started spinning and shining brighter.
As half of the pot was dominated by the flash of light, the light forcefully collided with all the remaining particles, reaching a critical mass and a corruption of color. Gone was the pure white light, the light is now a perfect fusion of infinite different colors. Then, it condensed into kaleidoscopic fusion of liquid and gas.
"The world was once empty, truly devoid of everything. Even nothingness did not exist. It was the unitary void, the nothingness beyond nothingness. It is the true origin of all things and all things would slowly return to it if not for another equally almighty force."
"The sephiroth, a diagram of ten or eleven points that connects to form twenty two lines explaining their relations between one another. The sephiroth is also known as the chassidist tree of life, a method of converting the finite into the infinite. The sephiroth force is called the Ein Sof, the endless one, it is an epithet of God, my creator."
"The Ein Sof started in the point of Keter, the crown. The crown is a metaphysical function beyond comprehension that allows one to observe all things in its entirety. The crown knows all and because of it, the crown can create all things it desires. However, the Keter is the first step of Ein Sof to create and the last level to surpass for one to become a creator not too far from my power."
"A creator?" Mithra yearned to understand this new realm of power. The creator had rarely mentioned his own power but Mithra was aware that his master was unmatched by any being. A God would be incapable of speaking about such ancient knowledge, the creation of all was an event only witness by the creator himself, his master.
To hear such a profound knowledge and be taught by the creator of all himself is a great honor to all things. Even if he was not aware of the true extent of his power, his master was never challenged by anything. Beasts would cower away at his sight and the forces of nature did not dare touch him.
Even time and death seemed to avoid him, he never aged a second and his skin seemed to be impossible to penetrate yet soft at the same time. The plants in the ground flourished in his presence and the qi around him multiplied instead of diminishing. A method to create qi is definitely a method even the greatest gods would covet.
So, he urged his master to ignore him and continue his lecture.
"All sentient beings are currently at the bottom of the Sephiroth, the realm of Malkhut, kingship. Only the Sons and Daughters of God can activate the Sephiroth's path. To awaken the realm of Malkhut, one must rule a domain completely of one's own. A high cultivator would naturally reach this stage to create an inner world for cultivation purposes but for you, I will give a shortcut."
The ash symbol glowed brightly for a moment before vanishing. Within, his meridians undergo a transformation and align themselves according to the sephiroth. All twelve meridians transformed into each point within the sephiroth, causing whole internal organs to move and blood vessels to relocate and reform.
The first sephirah, Malkhut, was split into two due to his humanoid form. His left and right foot each contain a respective half of the sephirah. This results in the relocation of two organs and increasing the qi concentration within the legs, tempering them passively.
With the transformation seamless and short, Mithra could barely feel anything. Even condensing his qi does not reveal much changes from a few seconds before. The only change was that his qi could be condensed a hundred times faster and moving it around no longer needed meditation, he could control it without having to clear thoughts at all.
He fiddled with it for several seconds, amazed at this new ability. He would've needed to cultivate correctly for at least two decades in order to control it like this. Humans would rarely reach such a stage even if they cultivated their whole lives.
Putting aside his curiosity, he urged his master to continue. The creator took a short pause and resumed his lecture on the three forces.
"Else than the realms of the Unitary Void and the Sephiroth, there is the final element in the great trinity of all things. The element of destruction, the path of the Great Accuser. The accuser wanders throughout existence like a great beast, searching for something to kill and eat. It sole function is to destroy, and all things derived from it can erode and corrupt creation."
"These three forces form three paths or Dao. Unlike all the other Dao, these Dao cannot be overruled or defied. Creation cannot be defied because a cultivator is a part of creation itself, therefore, defying oneself will simply lead to self destruction and erasure. Self destruction treads in the path of destruction and therefore it cannot be defied. The end result is eternal death, the unitary void, one cannot defy the nothingness beyond nothingness."
"All Dao is derived from the Three Boundless Dao and all Dao will return to it. There is no escape from one's own nature, only mastery and transcendence. If you can cultivate following the Three Boundless Dao, you will never need to cultivate any other Dao. You will gain more power than cultivators of a higher rank and for you, techniques are as common as grains of sand in the beach."
"Now, let us begin your cultivation through the Three Boundless Dao."
The creator reached into the pot and pulled the kaleidoscope vapour into the still air. The vapour enriched the spiritual essence in the air, increasing its concentration to extremely high levels, lethal to non cultivators. If not for his fully awakened body, Mithra's blood vessels and meridians would have bursted and killed him in a very gory manner.
"Now, we will start with the force of creation."
The creator commanded the qi in the air to become more chaotic, to cause as much violent collisions and reactions with matter as possible. Black clouds thundered within the room and violent bolts of tribulation lightning struck out of thin air. Yin and Yang energies collided and fused, forming spaces of complete darkness and complete light, separated like oil and water.
"I have stirred and destabilized the qi in the air by combining yin and yang back into the state of Tai Chi. The chaotic qi is the perfect way to cultivate swiftly as more energy is present in the qi than ever. Now, to follow the Infinite Sephiroth Dao, you must gather qi in all of your meridians simultaneously."
"You cannot gather qi in one place if you want to follow the Infinite Sephiroth Dao. All qi must be gathered in the twelve meridians simultaneously, that is the only way forward."
Mithra nodded and entered a meditation state. He focused on gathering qi and distributing them into twelve places.
Hours have past and the qi remains every chaotic and turbulent, just like before, when the primordial Hundun reigned supreme over all creation. Mithra had failed to gather and condense qi in all twelve places at the same time. Even with the creator's training and advice, Mithra could only condense qi in four places simultaneously.
Though his cultivation increased sixty four times faster than the average genius cultivator, he is still far away from even activating the first sephirah of Malkhut. His cultivation has quickly risen into the Qi Condensing Realm within the first minute and reached the realm's peak in five. Soon, he broke into the Qi Rotation Realm within the hour.
Within the first minutes of the second hour, he broke through into the middle stage of Qi Rotation Realm and by the middle of the second hour, he broke through to the late stage of the Qi Rotation Realm. His qi could now circulate passively and his cultivation rose by a considerable factor.
Currently, he has been cultivating for five hours and his cultivation has reached the late stage of Inner Strength Realm. He could make his skin as hard as jade, ignite his palm and even walk on water. However, he is still cultivating hard, aiming to cultivate into the first stage of the Infinite Sephiroth and activating the Malkhut.
Even if he entered Godhood in cultivation, he will not stop until he succeeds, even if it takes a million years.