" Zash? It's been a day and you are still acting out of it. Is something wrong ?" Sylphia asked concerned about him.
"N-no nothing it's just that I gained something even more amazing than a 100 wish boxes, at least for me ! " Said Zash as he finally got a hold to himself.
"Oh ~ do tell me if it's feasible what's the thing that can couner 100 wish boxes ?" She gave it up at this point and put blind faith in him and every word he spoke. As he had seen him create too many miracles and once she thinks he can't surprise her anymore he proves her wrong.
"Hahaha you know how in many Mangas and anime which gave a overview of cultivation, there's a part about tribulations ?" He asked if she remembered about them.
"Yes what about them ? " Sylphia asked confusedly.
"You see it's simply way harder than you think it is I've seen my parents go through it and they nearly died and were seriously weakened, only due to luck and their strength did they survived those harsh tribulations as we Cultivators are the representation of man going against the laws of nature so a form of punishment or (test) is a must to see if the said person is worthy for wielding such power."
"I don't really know how much stronger a tier 6 Dragon or Human is but even he can't help the said person going through his tribulations as they may increase in power of tribulations with both the helper and the one going through breakthrough dying on the spot it'd be lucky if either of them survived."
"The system gave me the opportunity to choose between dual cultivation with the island or soloing through itt " and told her the rest of the important stuff she should know also the plus of downsides of each types of cultivation.
She was stunned to hear that to say the least, she too came to understand the fundamental differences between worlds and their functioning to an extent with this knowledge and truly started thinking about the value of such a thing is indeed unimaginable to the extent of being Godsent. And meanwhile thaught
' You came across a lucky one Serena it seems he'll take care of you nicely.' And felt delighted for her friends and was very happy with the choices he had made.
Meanwhile as Zash finally sat down and started cultivating his meridians were sucking in essence from around him at the same time taking out self produced essence which in turn got mixed with the ground air and surroundings of the island and as Sylphia watched in amazement as the island's root cores too had formed lining besides link which seemed to represent the meridians Zash had but somewhat different properties.
Time passed slowly Zash advanced through stages, there was no need for herbs or precious material and herbs as he could just wait it out and take the longer turn and by the end of 5 other year mark he reached the bottleneck of Sky master stage,
his meridians were 20 % bigger and his body had expelled impurities which were cleared out after the springs did greatly while take them out,
this all was happening Sylphia kept staring in amazement and shock at the technique he was using his body was more stronger and less of impurities which were already less to begin with for any human, this made her sure that he was the Strongest Human she had ever seen at LV 1 of course and by the time he reached Tier 6 or maybe even above, nobody can be his match.
While she felt happy to have such friends she felt somewhat weak and decided to risk it all out, if a human can do it so can she, if it's painful she can bear it and with this power she too can outmatch her Tier up requirements. Feeling the delight of the situation she couldn't be happier.
All alog she could make out he had come to a bottleneck of sorts or so he had said previously which take time and effort to break through. And wondered if the said core formation is something similar to our Dragon's core. And couldn't wait to see it for herself.
At last the moment he entered core formation the island (Serena) did so too and to Sylphia's amazement the island thrived with energy, while taking in mind the energy she leaked out didn't go to better use and couldn't help the island develop much even after 150000 years and only a few major developments had taken place which includes Serena's solidification of body, a few rare herbs and trees growing here and there. And a few additional benefits.
While just in 50 years of meridians formation and energy consumption gaining a boost had the development took a grand scale of success to the extent that a few trees of life had been promoted and the land had increased and mana collection too along with it and made a firm decision to ask him about trying experimenting meridian makings for her. She too wanted to try it and understood how powerful such a method were if it could do something even she could in a matter of a few years just imagining what the peak level may hold proved impossible for her to comprehend and thaught seriously.
" We have entered a new Era of growth with Zash appearing at the island, I hope the people have gotten better if not I really hope they don't tick us off especially Zash as they can only pray to their maker for offending him. Maybe at one point even I can't stop him, which I have no interest in doing so." Speaking to herself she muttered while keeping observing from the sidelines and with a sudden thaught leaked a bit more energy while close to essence it too served its purpose and got absorbed by him along with the island's essence and a little special mana.
AFter 70 years of this process he finally founded his core while he did so previously it got crushed to gas as Sylphia had added her power it seemed, he didn't mind and tried fusing them together while on the brink of success on the 60 the year mark he was disturbed yet again which seemed to be special Mana particles ( which were released by Serena herself while she thaught about helping him which came from the island's core ) and after such he spent 10 years fusing his soul, Essence, Dragon Energy and special Mana.
After successfully forming the core he felt it was a bit weird and felt overwhelmingly powerful.
Nothing like before and flexible enough to pass the hard test within 10 minutes mark.
While the cultivation technique seemed to be slower the humans and other races from his original world would stop at nothing to kill him and obtain it for themselves for he was already way above average and gained a core unlike never before seen by anyone else.
As he stopped as he wasn't in a hurry he spotted Sylphia with a shocked expression in her human form, still leaking out a ton of energy which due to him advancing to core formation 1st step was almost visible like thick red and white mist mixed wrestling through eachother, he wanted to ask her about her power but was grabbed hold of by the next moment by Sylphia.
" That's a DRAGON CORE INDEED !! While it's smaller it's comparable. No it's above a mature Dragon's core indeed and it's a said first stage core formation !? Its impossible for anyone to have it and not self-destruct at the moment and yet you formed it by yourself and in just 70 years nonetheless ! If I speak about this to my close friends and family they may think I need therapy and even I won't believe it and yet I'm looking at the miracle itself !!" Sylphia said extremely agitated while panting nonstop and looking at him with curiosity seen never before.
" Yea yeah~ isn't it thanks to you too though ? I would have fused it in 10 years if not for the strange and rich mana stream which entered suddenly just after I had formed the core but I can see and feel a lot powerful look, I'm in one-piece while you still radiate power and have a strong grip on me" said Zash a bit happy about the situation if it had happened it before he'd be wounded by this minute sudden act of interest.
" Oh sorry about that, it seems you are many times stronger from before, at least your body is." Sylphia replied embarrassed as she had just shown an unladylike side of her to her First friend aside from Serena maybe she was watching this too laughing to herself. And just stood silent and thaught seriously on how to start another topic to set the mood right with all her might.
"No worries at all and the offer still stands do you want to learn about cultivation ? As for meridians we can experiment with my Quantombots and overall we can ask system too as it may have something useful for you, your call. Just remember that once you try it there's a chance you surpassing yourself way beyond where you stand right now maybe you can pass your trials easily as well." Reminded Zash as he wanted to help her friend with kindness. As the tier 7 was bugging his friend as such he wanted to provide help to her.
" I'll be in your care then but not now as I sense someone coming and it's you who should be prepared for now." Sylphia said smiling .
Before Zash could respond he saw an spiritually materialized body, which seemed to be in half spirit form appear before him it was in the shape of a women her skin gave the feeling of nothingness just an empty void which had stars and galaxies projections surrounding her while Zash was surprised by the sudden appearance of the women Sylphia too was surprised if she didn't knew Serena better she would have assumed it was something else as the power she radiated was Serena's but it was more compressed and seemed to be on par with her, maybe even above her understanding.
Sensing her from a bit she remembered that they were dual Cultivating so maybe it was another benefit Cultivation had braught for her. Which only strengthened her decision to try out cultivation no matter what as she had seriously underestimated it .