Okay, so Essence Refining Stage. Normally, what one needs to do in this stage is stimulate the Manastone so that it releases pulses of Spiritual Energy throughout the body, refining it until it becomes unnaturally perceptive to Spiritual Energy.
When the body eventually reaches a point of saturation, that means one has completed this stage and may also develop a unique ability, which really depends on the cultivation technique. For example, the technique I'm studying.
Now, the Great Red Robe technique is different, namely due to the fact that it forces me to redirect the Spiritual Energy through my body and then outward, then condensing it until it forms an aura around me. A "robe," if you will.
This is somewhat similar to the Astral Aura breakthrough process, and thus it's f*cking difficult for others to even begin. Lucky for me I've already broken through the Astral Aura stage before (three times before, in fact, but that's a story for another time), so this is a piece of cake.
With that in mind, I close my eyes and use my mind to gently "nudge" the Spiritual Energy sitting within my Manastone, slowly but surely massaging it out.
My experience in life has taught me that guiding Spiritual Energy is like caressing a woman, you have to do it gently and slowly to coax her into the right mood.
And my results show that my methodology is correct, as a gentle stream of energy surges out of my Manastone throughout my body.
As the Spiritual Energy inside my Manastone is slowly depleted, I guide it in the direction of my brain, making a full revolution before redirecting it towards both of my hands.
I have to be very careful during this process, since my brain has a certain condition that I don't want to aggravate.
Once the energy reaches my fingertips, it meets some resistance, slowly forcing it back to complete the cycle.
Expecting this, I divide my focus and spread the energy into tiny strands, allowing them to seep past the "wall" that was blocking their path.
After a moment, I open my eyes and glance at my hands, which have a thin layer of pale red mist surrounding them like a shroud.
Nice, that's pretty good progress. Give it a few more days, and I should be able to easily clear layer one. I can already feel a bit of strength in my body that wasn't there before, likely a result of my increased perception towards Spiritual Energy.
This brings both benefits to my cultivation and enhancements to my physical parameters, although not significant to an unreasonable degree. Still, that's progress as well, and every little bit is something.
Now if only if I had a weapon...sigh, let's take things one step at a time. Who knows, maybe if I get lucky I'll stumble upon a peerless treasure on the side of the robe and cultivate to the peak while collecting a harem of beauties and face-slapping young masters! Nah, that's a stupid thought. What kind of genre would support that kind of character anyways?
Sigh, I keep getting sidetracked. Ah, here comes the Captain! Damn, who pissed her off? She looks like she just both literally and figuratively beat the living crap out of someone.
Well, hopefully she let her aggression out, since I really don't want to deal with a cranky person right after achieving a breakthrough.
"Did you have a good rest last night?" she asks me, and it takes me a minute to register what she said before it hits me. Apparently I had cultivated throughout the whole night. Go figure.
"I'm fine," I reply cheerily, the corners of my mouth tightening to their limit as I flash her another smile. Seemingly ignoring my attempts at cheering her up (rude!), she immediately went into the point of the matter.
"So we've returned to the spot where you were found, and I need you to accompany us to find the beast," she said curtly, and honestly I was a bit surprised.
From my analysis of her character beforehand, she seemed to be very experienced in determining the usefulness of a person.
In which case, she should realize that in my current state my possible contributions should be minuscule at best. So what possessed her to ask for my assistance?
Sigh, whatever the case I have no means of rejecting her offer, as I not only owe her a life debt but also have no means of traveling.
It's fine, I'll just agree to help her and slip away later once I gain some attainments in my Cultivation.
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Well that was a waste of three days. Not only did we not find the beast, but my Great Red Robe technique is also progressing way too slowly.
At my current rate, it will take me close to a month before I manage to complete the first layer. The Captain also seems to be in a bad mood too, and keeps muttering to herself about a deadline.
So yeah, right now we're traveling in the Tundra, in the middle of a mild snowstorm, and we've just decided to set up a base to wait it out.
And by "us," I mean the Captain, a fat white dude named Bors, a crazy b*tch named Carolyn who for some reason keeps turning the safety on and off on her machine gun (every has one but me, so f*cking unfair), a drunk asshole named Avery, and a really hot chick named Lissa who for some reason ignores me every time I try to strike a conversation (I'm just being nice!). Oh, and myself of course, but hopefully not for long.
Back to my main point, I need to find some way to advance my cultivation...maybe if I use a dark ritual? Nah, I can't kill these good people who have taken care of me and tolerated my presence, that would just be rude.
"Oi, squirt, da f*ck are ya shtanding around and daydreamin for? Hurry up and bring me an nother pint," said the drunken asshole.
Okay, you know what, maybe one dark ritual is fine.