Three days later...
"So dad is a pretty powerful guy, Grandpa Keos?" Ekosus asks in excitement.
"Powerful is an understatement Young Lord. Your father is one of the most powerful experts in the entire kingdom, with the Royal Family being excluded of course. He's an unfathomably powerful Soul Core stage master." Keos said with pride.
"What stage are you at, Grandpa Keos?" Ekosus asks with curiosity
"I'm not quite at your fathers level, but I'm half a step into the Soul Core stage, or a Peak Spirit Core stage master." Keos said with a laugh
"I know I've asked you to tell me the stages of cultivation before, but could you tell me again?" Ekosus said with the innocence of a child.
"There's no issue with repeating it again." Keos said with a smile
"The first stage of the martial path is called the Body Refinement stage, and is further split into 6 sub-stages. They are the Meridian Opening stage, Skin Forging stage, Tendon Forging stage, Bone Forging stage, Organ Forging stage, and finally the Dantian Opening stage. This realm is meant to temper the physical body, and make it capable of holding Qi, which the rest of the realms focus on cultivating. After the Body Refinement stage comes the Qi Absorption stage, followed by the Foundation Building stage, then the Spirit Core stage, and finally the Soul Core realm" Keos explained slowly
"So Soul Core is the highest stage?" Ekosus asks in confusion, knowing that Kaiser is an existence that is far stronger than his father.
"Not exactly. There are more stages after the Soul Core stage, but I've never met anyone above the Soul Core realm. Having knowledge of those realms are of no use though, as we will probably never get to meet them." Keos sighed with melancholy
"Why will we never meet them?" Ekosus asked with confusion
"I said that we will probably never meet them, but that doesn't mean we won't. Existences at that level disdain to come to places like our kingdom because we're a very small kingdom in the Grand Akros continent. I've heard from the Lord that while we aren't a tiny kingdom, we're definitely not large and our resources can't compare to the holy places like the Akros Empire. According to the Lord, Spirit Core stage experts can be counted by the thousands there, while our kingdom has at most 200." Keos said with a little bit of dismay in his tone.
"Wow, I want to visit the Akros Empire one day!" Ekosus exclaims with determination
"Well then Young Lord, if you want to one day go to the Empire, you must first raise your cultivation and become strong like your father!" Keos laughed lightly, but he knew in his heart that Ekosus' chances at reaching his father's strength were basically none. Ekosus was already 13, but hadn't even been able to reach the Meridian Opening stage, a realm that others could reach by age 11 or 12. His father was a monstrous genius, reaching the Meridian Opening stage by age 9.
"Well it was great talking to you Grandpa Keos, but I need to start working on my cultivation, lest I lose vital time!" Ekosus said with confidence.
"That's no issue Young Lord, I hope to hear some good news in that regard soon" Keos said with a smile, but hidden behind that smile was a hint of sadness.
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Back inside his massive bedroom, Ekosus closes his door, and locks it shut.
"Phew, acting like a kid is so tiresome!" Ekosus says to himself
"You've got great skill in acting though, you almost had me fooled!" Kaiser's mockery filled voice echos throughout Ekosus' mind.
"Oh bite me, it would seem odd if I acted like a 27 year old man, when my body is that of a 13 year old's!" Ekosus replied back.
"They think you've lost your memories so I don't think they would be surprised if your personality had a shift, but you do as you see fit." Kaiser said nonchalantly.
"Enough about my acting skills, I need to get started on cultivating!" Ekosus replied with determination
"That's the spirit! Go and lay down on your bed, I'm going to pull your soul into the Box of Primal Beginnings!" Kaiser said
"How is doing that going to help me cultivate? I need to be in my physical body to absorb the natural Qi in the air, don't I?" Ekosus asked with confusion.
"Who would want to absorb the shitty Qi in this mortal realm!? The Box of Primal Beginnings generates Primal Essence! Even Gods would jump at the opportunity to absorb Primal Essence if there was enough of it! I've been saving up and collecting all the Primal Essence that the Box generates for the past few epochs. There's enough Primal Essence in here to make Gods go crazy with envy! Primal Essence is also a prerequisite for cultivating the Immortal Codex. You'd never be able to cultivate it using the shitty Qi of this backwater mortal realm. So shut up and lay down!" Kaiser exclaimed in annoyance.
"Alright! Alright! I'll lay down! You didn't have to get all offended!" Ekosus exclaims as he lied down on his bed.
The next moment, everything went dark, but after a few moments of darkness, he is again greeted by inner world of the Box of Primal Beginnings. The inner world according to Kaiser is a massive pocket dimension. The whole dimension is covered in lush greenery as far as the eye could see, making it seem like paradise. Ekosus can't help but scan his eyes over all the beautiful flowers and trees, but is soon disturbed by the sound of footsteps. Turning around, he is once again greeted by the sight of Kaiser's handsome face
"Are you just going to gawk at the flowers, or are you going to come with me so we can get this started?" Kaiser says with annoyance.
"Are you going to pull that massive stick out of your ass?" Ekosus replied rather curtly.
"Be glad I like your snark or I would have already turned you into dust" Kaiser replied in a cold tone as he starts walking towards a large marble pavilion
Noticing Kaiser's obvious annoyance, Ekosus decides to quit being an ass and follow him
When they reach the pavilion, Ekosus' eyes are drawn to a floating grey sphere that resides in the middle of the pavilion. As he is analyzing the sphere, Kaiser raises his hand, and a marble chair rises from the floor, seemingly out of nothing.
"Sit" Kaiser said in a demanding tone.
"Gotcha" Ekosus replies as he walks over to the chair, and takes a seat.
Kaiser then walks over to the sphere, and places his hand upon its surface.
When he pulls his hand away, a wisp of grey looking gas resides within his palm.
"What is that?" Ekosus asks.
"This is Primal Essence. It contains a massive amount of pure Primal Qi, as well as a massive amount of Essence of Creation, hence its name. Cultivators who can obtain some of it will gain unimaginable benefits. Not only can it solidify one's foundation to a near godlike degree, it can help refine one's body to a flawless state, as well as raise one's constitution, making one's cultivation speed explode at an unfathomable speed. You're probably the only person in the entire universe who is going to get to use it to enter the Body Refinement stage. The lowest I've heard of was the Origin Tree realm, and that person later became a God. So if you can't even reach the God level in the future, you'll be the biggest disgrace in the whole universe." Kaiser explained.
Kaiser's words stunned Ekosus. He stared at the wisp of gas with burning desire
"Well lets not tarry any longer. Go ahead and do whatever you're going to do so I can start cultivating" Ekosus said with excitement in his eyes.
"An impatient little brat you are, do you even know what to do when I inject you with this Primal Essence?!" Kaiser asks with mockery.
"Not exactly, but I'm sure you're going to tell me." Ekosus said with a pleading tone
"Whatever, seeing as I don't want you to die from exploding because you can't control the essence, I'll have to guide it through your body for you. First I'll have to inject it into your soul, and then it will flow from your soul into your physical body. I need you to follow the instructions of the Immortal Codex and guide the pure Primal Qi through your closed meridians and open them up, while I nourish your body with the Essence of Creation. Once you open all your meridians, use the residual pure Qi to cultivate and try to smash through some of the other Body Refinement stages. Normally this would be bad and make your foundation unsteady, but there's no issue when using the Primal Essence." Kaiser explained slowly.
"Alright, got it. How do I find the instructions of the Immortal Codex though?" Ekosus asks in confusion.
"That's the easiest part you dumbass. Just say Immortal Codex in your mind while focusing and it will appear to you." Kaiser said with annoyance
"Alright, sounds simple enough." Ekosus said with confidence.
"Glad you're ready, but there's one thing I forgot to mention..." Kaiser says with a mischievous grin.
Getting a bad feeling, Ekosus asks warily,"And what might that be?"
"The process of tempering your body with the Essence of Creation has one drawback... It's going to hurt, a lot!" Kaiser exclaims while laughing maniacally, and then he shoves the wisp into Ekosus' soul body, knocking him back into his physical body.