Bzz!
Aether chaotically destroyed his body, but at the same time, it tempered it. Rhys was under constant suffering, while Ina monitored everything to make sure he didn't die.
When the Aether reached Rhys's fire and nature attributed dantian it started to be rejected. Like two opposite energies meeting they started to battle for supremacy.
"AAGH!!" Rhys groaned through gritted teeth. He felt every second of it, the Aether traveling through his meridians, which weren't used to that energy, made them burst apart.
Aether was a superior form of energy that surpassed fire and nature by a long shot. Slowly Rhys's dantian started to become unable to fight back and the Aether made its way into his dantian.
Kakaka!
Rhys's dantian started to collapse as it was not used to the energy of the void. All the cosmic energy that had been refined and stored within his dantian started to be released slowly as cracks appeared. Thankfully the moment the dantian cracked the Supreme ranked cultivation technique started to refine the Aether near Rhys's dantian, making the cracked dantian adapt to the wild and chaotic energy known as aether.
Of course, this would take a long time to do, as tempering the dantian had to go at a slow pace.
——
[1st Week]
Rhys had not stopped cultivating yet, slowly but surely the pain receded, not because it was getting closer to finishing, but because Rhys grew used to the pain.
Because of his cultivation, he could go without eating and drinking for around 2 months. Since the cosmic energy in his body would keep him nourished. Even sleep was unnecessary for most.
Still, Rhys by now was tired physically, he had to circulate the Eternal Paragon Void Body technique for a week straight, his dantian by now was also purple, as his meridians were healed slowly and tempered to be able to withstand aether.
Because of the peak-grade spirit crystal Rhys used on the Phantom Orb it was still active and concealing him.
'I'm so tired…' Rhys said inwardly, Ina needed no sleep, so she was basically fine.
Yet Rhys did not stop, he could feel he was close to reaching the first stage of the technique, afterwards he would be able to move on to the second stage and his current limit.
'2 more weeks…' Rhys sighed as his body shuttered from the pain, even now the Void Caller kept on calling aether from the void only for it to be absorbed by Rhys.
——
[2nd Week]
At this point the aether had turned quite docile, it no longer harmed him allowing Rhys to rest a bit more mentally. But that did not mean everything was over. The meridian tempering was over, only the dantian tempering remained. Rhys's body also started to change, internally all of his organs, muscles, bones, and veins got strengthened as well as tempered to make sure they could withstand and be more resistant to aether attacks.
During this time Rhys had achieved enlightenment in Space laws, so he hurriedly remembered the feeling before continuing.
Sadly, Rhys could not comprehend Space laws since he needed to enter the Saint realms to comprehend the real laws. Instead, one would be considered to have only 'fake' comprehension if they comprehended any laws before the Saint realm. The higher the rank of the law the higher one had to be in the saint realm to comprehend said law.
Rhys would need to be a Supreme Saint, the final stage of the Saint realm, to start comprehending Space laws since the law of space is one of the Universal rank laws.
Still having a fake comprehension of the Universal Law of Space was pretty good for Rhys, since even fake comprehension was better than any common laws. Although Rhys had only touched the tip of the iceberg when it came to the comprehension of Space.
Time, cultivation, resources, talent, as well as a correct place, was required to comprehend any laws.
——
[3rd Week]
It was the final week for Rhys, he felt he was close to finishing and entering the first stage. So Rhys made sure to focus all the more during these few hours.
Bzz!
His dantian had changed quite a lot, if before his dantian had a green inner color with the edges being reddish, now his dantian was mostly purple, the tyrannical energy had consumed and dominated his fire and nature cosmic energy.
So only aether dominated while fire and nature were like slaves to it.
Rhys's breathing calmed, his body that was full of sweat, and other disgusting liquids was calming down. His body had remained in the same position for three weeks! His body felt stiff, so he held on for a few more minutes.
Eventually, a popping sound was heard.
Pah!
Rhys had made a breakthrough the moment he finished circulating his technique. The moment the breakthrough happened he felt a rush of cosmic energy enter his body, before being turned into fire and nature cosmic energy.
His body, soul, and mind also felt invigorated. He was now a High-Level True King cultivator. It was also then he heard Ina's voice for the first time in three weeks.
"The blood essences will begin to be refined." As her words echoed in his mind he felt his dantian rumbling before it started to spin quickly inside of his body, cosmic energy slowly refining the drops of blood in his dantian.
Rhys didn't respond but focused on the changes in his body. He saw his meridians were much bigger, meaning the flow of energy would be smoother. His body was also stronger, much more than he would be in his level and with his dragon physique.
Rhys took a deep breath, immediately Void Caller vanished into the Jade ring as Ina recalled it, because of that the twisted and folded space quickly healed, and with that, the Aether in the surroundings left as well.
"I can be considered to have the first stage of the Eternal Paragon Void Body…" Rhys said as he stood up, he open and quickly closed his palms, feeling a rush of power coursing through his whole body.
His body had changed, he was still the same height and his body looked the same, minus the refined muscles he had, and his hair had turned a bit silkier. Although it was all covered in his dried sweat.
Rhys looked at his new physique, although it was only at the first stage it brought a lot of benefits. The first one being his dantian and meridians were able to circulate aether, his body was more resistant to aether as well. Not only that, he could use aether to attack and defend.
Another benefit is he can now destabilize space to some point. It wasn't a lot, but it was enough for Aether to pass through and refill as well as refine his body. Since aether only existed in the void and unlike cosmic energy he couldn't just refill his dantian by absorbing the energy in the atmosphere. He needed to destabilize space for the aether to pass through and be absorbed by him.
Lastly, he had a sense of the space around him. Aether had attunement with space, so he could feel it more clearly. Albeit it wasn't much since he still was not a Saint realm cultivator and unable to comprehend laws.
'Although it is an artificial physique it is still pretty good.' Rhys thought to himself.
That's right, the Eternal Paragon Void Body is an artificial physique. But that didn't mean it was inferior to the normal physiques granted by the 'will of the heavens' as some called it.
Unlike the normal physiques granted at birth by the 'heavens,' artificial physiques had fewer drawbacks, limits, and hindrances. While they could draw forth more power. Normal physiques had a lot of drawbacks in exchange for more strength.
So one could say artificial physiques were much better. Sadly artificial physique manuals are hard to make and work out. The amount of testing, calculating, and work that needs to be put into it to make it safe was astonishing. One error and the physique could turn out to be a double-edged sword or a poison to the cultivator. This is why there weren't as many manuals, the few that existed were hidden, destroyed, or lost in the universe.
——
It had been two weeks since Rhys had acquired the first stage of the physique. Since then he would hunt and train in the day, take a bath in the nearby river before cultivating the Eternal Paragon Body Cultivation technique all night long.
During this time he had realized a lot.
'If Swarshlen foresaw all of this, doesn't this mean he knows my future? That he can control the route I take to fit his goals? All of this benefits me… but was he really that righteous to help me to save the universe? Can I trust him?' Rhys's thoughts were wild.
He felt he was being used, and he had a lot of experience with that.
'I can only continue to move forward… for now, I should continue to strengthen myself.' Rhys decided.
Rhys was currently in the river, his naked body was covered up to his waist, his top being out in the open. Even then his whole body was covered in freshwater, his body seemed charming, if any girl was here they would have some wild fantasies.
'I should move from here now… A bigger city would be better, one far from here where no one knows about the Zuldroan family… outside of the Highsky Empire…' Rhys thought as he washed his body.
——
Within another part of the empire, a twenty-year-old woman walked. Her golden hair tied in a ponytail swaying with the wind, her tightfitting robes making her look charming. Her beautiful but sharp golden eyes shone as she walked with pure confidence. This was Ailin, Rhys's twin sister.
She had left the Zuldroan family a week after Rhys, by her side walked her mother, Edea. They both left, of course no one stopped them as for the clan members they were only going out to explore the world.
"Are you sure about entering the tournament?" Edea asked Ailin as they walked side by side, unlike her daughter her hair was free, and she radiated a golden aura that was filled with pride.
"Of course, my name must spread!" Ailin replied arrogantly, she knew she would win, she had the experience and strength required for this tournament where only True rank cultivators under 21 could participate.
"Haa… you are as stubborn as Rhys at times." Edea muttered as she recalled Rhys's stubborn personality.
"Bah!" Ailin snorted before she continued to walk towards the arena to enlist herself. Her twin peaks bounced up and down as her buttocks swayed from side to side. Edea looked at the figure of her daughter and sighed, 'Her body is developing just as well as mine. Truly my genes are the best… yet how did Rhys come out so handsome? The man that impregnated me wasn't anything special…' Edea's mood turned sour when she recalled the man. She never loved him, he was now dead since she had killed him.
'I'm sure Rhys is the more handsome man I have seen… even as a child… Fufu… I'm such a blessed woman, a beautiful daughter, and handsome son!' Edea thought pridefully.
——
It had been a month since Rhys had acquired the Eternal Paragon Void Body Stage 1 body, he was now close to the border of Highsky Empire, he had hired a man with a flying beast to take him to the next empire, which took a week flying without rest.
Current Rhys looked at the border that separated both Empire's as he crossed into the Eternal Moon Empire, ruled by an Empress who had a Yin-type physique. There were a lot of only female sects within the empire. Rhys came here since the Zuldroan family was not well known, not because they were that bad, but because the Eternal Moon Empire was neutral, it didn't care about other empires as long as it wasn't bothered.
'Here I will start from zero and build my way up…' Rhys thought as he flew above the clouds, already making plans to cultivate, train, learn alchemy, learn formation making, and more. He had the knowledge but he needed to train it to see how it would go.