Everyone around the Grand Celestial Steps had furrowed brows. Dauntingly, all the gazes moved towards Kora Le Blank, eldest son of Marquess Edwardson Le Blank. Nobody dared to utter a single word and kept peeking at Kora from the corner of their eyes with disdain as their faces twist in scorn.
The eldest son of Marquess Edwardson Le Blank, Junior Marquess was the poorest grade talent, 'Zero'! Laughable!
Kora, who was in emerald-colored regal robes, on the other hand, was calm like a serene sea. His eyelids were half-closed and his breathing steady. He swept his tranquil gaze through all the people around him as memories of his previous life on Earth emerged before his eyes and he laughed in his heart coldly.
'Wise ones keep on walking whatever happens. They do not speak vain words and are the same in good fortune and bad.' Kora thought as his eyes twinkled with profundities.
He was originally a scholar who roamed the lands of Earth searching for nirvana, the highest state that someone can attain, a state of enlightenment, meaning a person's individual desires and suffering go away.
But-
He failed.
His sensual desires never left him. He relinquished all of his other desires but couldn't let go of the memories of the nights spent with his beautiful wife, even on his deathbed at the age of 59. Luckily, he got a second chance at life, reincarnating in this world to continue his search for nirvana!
"No need to be disheartened nephew. Although a major setback, the state will still support you." A croaky voice resounded in the atmosphere that had an eerie silence. Bruce Le Blank, Edwardson's brother said in an appeasing tone.
"I'll fuck your wife someday!" said Kora, turned around, and left. Bruce's knees buckled as he suddenly lost all his strength in his feet, his face as pale as a sheet and his lips trembled by the casual words that came out of Kora's mouth.
The most debauched person on the entire planet had put a target on his wife!
"S-She is your aunt!" Bruce tried to remind Kora as he saw his fleeting figure from behind in despair as gloomy clouds started raining, drenching all the people near Grand Celestial Steps.
"She would be your in-law soon!" Kora retorted nonchalantly without turning back and vanished in the distance.
........
Kora entered his room and sensed the changes in his body. Regardless of gender and talent, all the people form a dantian at the age of 18 and step on the path of cultivation. Spreading his spiritual senses inside his body, a newly formed dantian with the cultivation rank of Early-Stage Elementary Profound Realm, the first realm of the cultivation path was observed by Kora.
Cultivation talents were graded into 14 levels. Ace, King/Queen, Jack, 10-1, and lastly Zero. The Grand Celestial Steps were a measure of one's talent in cultivation. The higher you can climb the better your cultivation talent. Kora could only walk up to 10 steps when suddenly a heavenly pressure threw him like a ragdoll, meaning his talent was 'Zero', Those who can walk anywhere between 10-20 steps will have '1' as their talent level, and so on.
People with 'Ace' talent, were faster in advancing ranks, compared to others, then came King/Queen, Jack, and lastly Zero with no cultivation talent.
"What a poor choice of naming...I'd prefer Joker!" Kora's jade green eyes sparkled mockingly as his hands swept his emerald hair. Taking a deep breath, he cut open his palm using his qi and started drawing a wheel, precisely a 'Chakra' with his own blood.
Red blood flowed like a river and soon Kora's self-healing kicked in and the amount of blood flowing reduced considerably. Kora cut open his palm again and again. Slowly, his face went pale and his robes were covered in blood and sweat. But the determination in Kora's eyes never waivered and he didn't feel the slightest bit of pain.
"Pain is temporary. It may last a minute, or an hour, or a day, or a year, but eventually it will subside and something else will take its place. If I quit, however, it lasts forever." Kora uttered emotionlessly as soon as the Chakra was complete with his blood.
"Let's see if my previous world's knowledge is useful..."
Although Earth didn't have cultivators, Kora wanted to test whether heaven's breath, qi could be assimilated using the teachings of his previous life.
Several cultivation techniques were available to him as the Junior Marquess of Vrigaipis Marquessate but as an old scholar, he was curious and wanted to test things.
Kora's jade green eyes gleamed dangerously as he steeled his resolve even further and sat down in the middle of the Chakra. He placed over 1000 spirit stones around the 'Chakra', overlapping them perfectly with the outlines of the bloody wheel he has drawn around him.
Idiotic, foolish, brainless, and imprudent many would say!
But-
Kora didn't care.
The Foundation of the Cultivation Path should always be treaded upon carefully.
Kora had no apprehension as once he settled his heart on a road, he would move forward without looking back. His brows eased up and his breathing soon settled as he treated his injuries with bandages.
"I'd rather regret the things I've done than regret the things I haven't done." As an old curious scholar, how could he not be interested in the path of cultivation? But his memories of the past wanted to try out things that nobody has ever dared to do before. Creating one's own path rather than following tried and tested methods.
"'Mudra' is the symbolic or the ritual gesture in which we meditate, preferably the lotus position, and along with the 'Chakra', made by my own blood, it should be the most effective in integrating my body, mind, and heart with the heavenly energy!"
"'Mantra' is the so-called cultivation techniques or verses." His jade-colored eyes glowed with excitedness.
"There are 4 ways to chant a Mantra, Casually chanting, Chanting by mind, Chanting by Heart, Chanting by the Soul, the Naval center, the Prana."
"Tayata Om Bekanze Bekanze Maha Bekanze Radza Samudgate Soha..."Kora's tone was emotionless as he recalled the old mantra, a chant that is recited for success, helping to eliminate problems and suffering, with his mind, heart, and soul that were in, complete sync, all working together to stride on the path Kora had chosen for himself.
"'Pranayam' is the yogic practice of focusing on the breath, if I do this correctly..." Kora closed one of his nostrils with his thumb and took in the world qi with the other, he breathed out and then closed the other nostril with his index finger and followed this procedure again and again in an unfeigned rhythm. Kora took deep breaths as he relished in the qi that entered his empty dantian like moths attracted to light.
'This is it!' Kora's eyes shone brightly and his face lit up as the heavenly energy entered his dantian. Undulated waves of fresh qi, extracted from spirit stones, swirled around Kora as he breathed with a steady taut pace.
He kept chanting several mantras from his previous life to focus on his meditation and breathed in the qi around him filling his dantian with more and more qi, as cracks started appearing on the walls of the spherical organ, his dantian!
6 hours passed by in concentrated meditation as Kora's eyelids drooped a little but he refused to stop his cultivation. Kora was an Early-Stage Elementary Profound Realm, and he had barely formed his dantian a day before, That being said, he still needed sleep and all the other necessary actions that non-cultivators perform daily.
"The greatest oak was once a little nut who held its ground." Kora's mind, heart, and soul all roared in repudiate as 3 more hours passed by, as Kora, slowly lost consciousness.
Unbeknown to him, his 'Soul Weapon' started to take shape inside his dantian.
Soul Weapon, a weapon, carved out from the heart of cultivation. Its shape, depending upon the deepest resolves of a person...
There were two ways to form a Soul Weapon, One was to form a weapon inside your dantian on your own and the Other, choose, or get chosen by a spirit weapon from the outside world.
....
"Master!"
"Master!"
Kora woke up to a sweet voice of a maid. He furrowed his brows as he tried to recall the events of yesterday. Spreading his spiritual senses inside his body, he could feel that he was still Early-Stage Elementary Profound Realm. Early-Stage was divided into 3 ranks, similarly, Middle-Stage and Higher-Stage were divided into 3 ranks each, and lastly came the Peak-Stage. A total of ten ranks are composed together to form a realm.
Kora raised his eyes and gazed upon the black-eyed, black-haired maid. A Ralvuzeth, a being that cultivates the 'cultivation' of her master or partner. The higher the cultivation of the master/partner, the easier it is for them to breakthrough ranks. Many saw them as leeches, thus their status was forcefully degraded to housekeepers. In the past, many would make Ralvuzeth their partners but upon getting as strong as their partners, unlike the servants who are always under the master's control, betrayed their partners and found new stronger cultivators, much stronger than their previous partners.
Kora looked deeply into her black-colored eyes, as deep as abyss even her sclera was black.
Curious, he asked:
"Are you not disappointed?"
"Why? My job is to serve my master!"
"Don't call me master, I am not your master yet!" Kora ordered.
"Okay, Kora Le Blank." The maid answered unhesitantly which piqued Kora's interest. His brows raised in fascination!
Kora stood up and looked deeply in maid's eyes as he muttered to himself while chuckling amusedly:
"Haha, I like you..."
"As expected of you Kora" No ripples of emotions could be seen on her face as she replied in a matter-of-fact tone. The maid knew about Kora's hobby of indulging in the sensual pleasures that he called 'Kama Sutra', a strange name that he said he developed himself.
"What's your name?" Her allure was unique, and Kora couldn't deny it as his eyes burned with desire and oogled her supple body and beautiful curves.
"Alea Mevit" Heard about Kora's debauchery, Alea replied in a flat tone and ignored Kora's 'inspection' of her figure.
"The Mevit Clan?" Kora understood something as his smirk widened.
"What did you do to become the maid of a 'Zero'? A member of the noblest clan of Ralvuzeth, the clan which only accepts marriages and finds a partner, refuses to bow down to anyone...tell me how did you end up here my Alea, Alea dear?" Kora said as he grabbed her waist.
"Killed the son of a marquess for flirting with me" Her black eyes flickered dangerously as she felt Kora's hands on her waist.
"Kill me and I won't regret it!" Kora grinned as he felt the aura of the High-Stage Elementary Profound Realm suppressing his movements.
"You know why?" His jade-colored eyes flickered within his handsome visage and a sweet scent filled Alea's nostrils.
"Why?" Captivated, Alea couldn't help but ask.
"You see, 'Kama Sutra' looks not with the eyes, but with the mind and the soul, and therefore is winged cupid painted blind" His voice was enthralling, pulling Alea's heartstrings.
Kora thought many times about how to achieve nirvana, but since he couldn't let go of his sensual desires, he decided to embrace it in this life and live without any regrets. He spent 37 years of his previous life, roaming around Earth to achieve nirvana, after the death of his wife who died when he was 22, but failed, so why not embrace it if he is destined to fail? It won't matter anyway, right?
"What do you mean?" Compelled, by Kora's gripping and riveting voice, Alea couldn't help but follow his lead and ask the question that appeared in her mind, neglecting the hand on her waist. A fatal mistake! She didn't know about 'cupid' and was genuinely intrigued.
"Ardently do today what must be done. Who knows? Tomorrow, death comes." Kora leaned forward with a smirk and sealed her lips.
"!!!"
Alarmed, Alea unleashed her cultivation and suppressed Kora's movements, pushing him down on his knees.
Alea had a complex look forming on her face as she scrutinized Kora.
"Do you have no pride or dignity?" Alea was bewildered when she saw that Kora had neither rage nor humiliation on his face because he was forcefully kneeled on the ground by a maid, he only had calmness in his jade-colored eyes. Anyone else in his place would have lashed out at her and punished her with 100 whips on her back as kneeling meant total subservience. Furthermore, Kora was utterly shameless, as he just stole her first kiss without any warning.
"So soft!" Kora exclaimed.
"Your worst enemy cannot harm you as much as your own unguarded thoughts."
"I am neither bounded by pride nor anger, I go beyond sorrow drifting in the waves of pleasures of Kama Sutra." Kora replied with sly smile.
Alea's mind short-circuited, she had no idea where this anomaly came from. She could only blankly stare at Kora who got up with a slight smirk.
"So tell me, my Alea Mevit, why are you here, serving a 'Zero'?" Kora's interest in Alea Mevit was piqued as his lips curved up thinking why the Mevit clan would serve a 'Zero'. Their talents were the best among Ralvuzeth's and their loyalty was guaranteed as a partner, thus many people who wanted a Ralvuzeth as a Dao partner would try to marry one from the Mevit clan. But a direct descendent of the Mevit clan with the surname 'Mevit' would never serve a 'Zero'!
"Orders from above, don't ask me why." Alea shrugged as she looked around the room only to find cinders of spirit stones overlaying a skilfully crafted bloody wheel.
"What is this?" She asked as she squinted her eyes in suspicion.
"Guidance from above, don't ask me how" Kora pointed towards the ceiling as his lips curved up in a roguish grin but he suppressed himself as he had to clean himself up and prepare for another 'awakening event', the same event in which the talents of a person is measured using the Grand Celestial Steps after their dantian is formed.