'To achieve the [Morning Dew Realm], one needs to scavenge the human body and find the energy pathway, which is also called meridians, spiritual pulse, chakra channels, and many other names.' revised Jake.
'They are the channel that spirit essence flows through and are unique to each individual. Only when one opens the energy pathway can one be called a real cultivator.'
Jake clenched his fist as he remembered the details he read from the book Uncle Todd gave him.
Uncle Todd, himself, was a [Morning Dew] cultivator. Yet, he possessed strength enough to kill Jake with a swat of the hand!
'In front of absolute power, nothing else matters!'
'The [Morning Dew Realm] has nine stages. The first eight stages are for excavating and opening the energy pathway. They would gain increased affinity to spirit essence and be able to absorb large amounts of them.'
'The energy pathways are blocked by tiny gates called spiritual gates. Opening the spiritual gates would help scavenge the energy pathway. All of the spiritual gates combine to form the energy pathway system. The average human body possesses at least 80 spiritual gates. Opening ten would make one at Stage 1. Twenty would signify one is at Stage 2. It goes on like that until Stage 8, where one would have opened the 80 spiritual gates and awakened the Energy Pathways!'
He paused, taking time to digest the information.
'The last stage is for circulating spirit essence through the newly opened energy pathways. At this stage, small dewdrops of spirit essence will form in the dantian, which is located in the stomach region, the center of the body. All energy pathways link to the dantian!'
Jake gasped as he finally fully understood this amazing information.
'Energy Pathways...Spiritual Gates. They are all for building a good foundation!'
'Now I know what to do. The only problem is how do I find the energy pathway,' thought Jake as he furrowed his brows.
He had read in Uncle Todd's book that there were techniques for discovering spiritual gates, thereby also discovering the energy pathway.
The problem was that those techniques were expensive to purchase and were mostly hoarded by the noble families. That was one of the ways they kept the balance.
'I got it! One could also use meditation techniques, but only a few of them were effective. That doesn't matter to me as I have just the right meditation technique!' smiled Jake.
The Mantra of Origin could be used as a meditation technique and also a breathing technique. Jake reckoned that if the mantra wasn't good enough to find the spiritual gates, then no other meditation technique was good enough!
Ecstatic, Jake closed his eyes and recited the mantra.
This time, he focused on his body and tried not to fall into the endless mysteries.
Due to the mantra, his concentration and senses heightened.
His consciousness spread wide on his body as he tried to reach a spiritual gate.
After searching for so long, he still couldn't find one.
'The Spiritual gates are ephemeral and almost invisible. It would be crazy if I found one easily---'
His words cut short as a dot in his body, specifically, his heart region, brightened like a white star.
If one looked at Jake, one would see an astonishing dot on his body, shining like a beacon.
*Bang!*
Jake immediately summoned the hot rush and smashed the spiritual gate. He was met with a strong resistance, which prompted him to repeat his action.
After an umpteenth time, Jake pierced through the spiritual gate.
*Boom!*
Instantly, the opened spiritual gate sucked vibrant spirit essence and transferred it to his body.
Jake's veins glowed with blue light, the color of spirit essence. He felt an abundant energy flow through him, transforming his body.
In just a second, his entire body became five times stronger than it was before.
'Is this the power of just one opened the spiritual gate?' Jake wondered.
If one spiritual gate could make him feel invincible, then what would happen when he opened all of them?
Jake didn't lose sight of his goal as he dug deeper into his body. This time, instead of using the poor quality hot rush, Jake used the spirit essence he had just absorbed to pierce through the spiritual gates.
In less than a minute, he found another spiritual gate.
In less than an hour, he found four spiritual gates.
After two hours, Jake had opened exactly ten spiritual gates, making him officially at [Stage 1 Morning Dew].
'Finally, I have begun my cultivation journey.'
Jake dwelled in success, not knowing that he had just achieved a terrifying feat.
Most people would spend half a year breaking through to the Morning Dew Realm, but Jake breakthroughs in less than a day.
Worst of all, it has only been half a year since Jake started cultivating. Even a genius would spend three years in the Physique Modeling realm, but it only took Jake five months!!!
'Hmm, I can't go on. I have depleted all my spirit essence,' sighed Jake.
He realized he might have been too greedy.
'This experience has been an eye-opener for me. I have gained further insight into what spiritual gates and energy pathways are. If one should compare them to puzzles, spiritual gates would be the puzzle pieces while energy pathways would be the entire puzzle. Spiritual gates are like the dots that make a diagram, which is the energy pathway…..Interesting.'
The existence of spiritual gates and energy pathways was highly entertaining to Jake. It gave room for a lot of possibilities.
Jake flipped his hand and spirit essence swam like a snake over it. This was the ability of morning dew cultivators. They controlled spirit essence, but they could not bring it out of their body.
Still, with the spiritual essence in their body, they could do a lot of things. They could augment their physical attributes, enhance their five senses, and many more.
At this cultivation realm, one would be able to learn techniques to increase their combat ability.
Jake smiled triumphantly as he realized his gains were not meager at all...
Suddenly, his right eye pulsed, like a heartbeat.....
A soul tearing pain tore through his right eye, as its purple color became more defined.
In his mind, he heard the familiar words.
[
The Akashic One.
One who sleeps, but when awoken, sees through all.
Bearer of the Akashic Eye.
The eye reveals countless mysteries and secrets. The eye that holds all truth.
The Eye of Perfection, wielded by the Prime Seeker.
]
'This is….., 'Jake sucked his breath.
He found himself in the familiar starry space. Directly in front of the Akashic Eyeball.
Ever since its first appearance, his Akashic Eye had never appeared again. Jake had tried to force it to appear but to no avail.
The only evidence left of the eye was an increased sight and senses. The accelerated thought process he possessed when he fought the curved spiked ape was nowhere to be found.
Jake stared at the eyeball in his mind. He seemed to have connected with it.
*Phwum!*
The eyeball sent a streak of light which entered Jake's head. The streak of light contained information he needed to know.
'So that's how it is. The Akashic Eye is a mutation caused by my rebirth technique. It was originally meant to be awakened when I stepped into the morning dew realm, but due it forcefully awakened when I was in danger.'
'In fact, the Akashic eye is only semi-awakened. With each cultivation realm breakthrough, it would get further awoken. This is because I can't handle most of its ability.'
Twitching his face, Jake understood what that meant, 'I am too weak to even possess it.'
Jake appeared back in the physical world. He walked to his mirror to check any physical changes in his body.
'Hmmm, my skin is whiter and my beautiful features are more defined,' thought Jake.
He smiled as he checked himself out.
'So far, nothing unusual happened, but if I do this….'
Jake said as he concentrated spirit essence on his right eye.
Something strange occurred, his right eye, which was the Akashic eye, unveiled itself. It took the features of the terrifying eyeball, albeit not the full feature.
The eye became multicolored. The original purple iris gained additional shades of lilac, white, and pink. The black pupil tuned gaseous like a black hole. What was different was that a blue mini star appeared in his eye. It stayed in the iris, beside the pupil, glinting.
'The first star. Each star makes the further awakening of the Akashic eye. Currently, I am only the first star. I possess the basic abilities of the Akashic eye and other undiscovered abilities that I need to find out for myself.'
At the appearance of the Akashic eye, Jake entered his increased thought process mode. Everything around him flowed slowly, even the spirit essence!
'Nice. I could get used to this.'
*Puchi!*
As if jinxing himself, the Akashic eye deactivated, leaving Jake mentally drained and full of sweats.
'I forgot that the Akashic eye runs on mental power, on my mind. I can only activate it for a full minute, after that I would be left vulnerable to the side effects,' sighed Jake.
Nothing was for free. If one gave something, one would need to take something. The Akashic eye gave powerful abilities but took mental power.
If Jake doesn't play his cards right, overuse of the eye might lead to his death!
After the successful breakthrough, Jake proceeded to take a good night shower.
...….
Thirty minutes later, Jake sat on his bed.
On his hand was a letter sent to him by Gavin, the young master of the Elliot family, two months ago.
Jake had read it multiple times. In it, Gavin invited him on his journey to the capital for the King's birthday.
The young master said that he needed talented youngsters to represent the city for the King's celebration.
'Before I wouldn't go as it was too risky, but now….,' Jake chuckled as he laid his head on his bed