Teaching The Twins
"Spiritual Qi is going to reemerge on Earth, finally turning Earth back into a low-tier world," Matthew answered.
But after seeing that John and Joanne looked extremely confused, Matthew decided to explain it a little deeper.
"Currently, Earth is desolate of Spiritual Qi. This puts it into the lowest category of civilization, otherwise known as a Primeval World. This means that the world either doesn't have any intelligent life or Spiritual Qi. But after Spiritual Qi reemerges on Earth, it will then finally turn back into a low-tier world." Matthew explained.
"But since our solar system is in such a remote part of the universe, it won't really matter much." Matthew sighed.
"Mat, where in the universe is our solar system?" Joanne asked.
Pulling out the paper he had prepared beforehand, Matthew drew a large square-circle hybrid shape. In the bottom left corner of the shape, Matthew drew a small circle.
"Our Universe is called the Chaotic Universe and is shaped somewhat like this, give or take. And in that tiny circle is where we are currently. In the Desolate Region of the Chaotic Universe."
Hearing another unfamiliar word, John asked, "Mat, what is the Desolate Region?"
"The Chaotic Universe, though it seems to be one large and open space, has actually four border-like walls throughout it, separating the Universe into five sections. And as you get closer and closer to the center of the Universe, the denser the Spiritual Qi, which in turn makes it easier and faster for the inhabitants of that Region to cultivate. But we, in our desolate solar system, are somewhere called the Desolate Regions, a place that is known for its severe lack of Spiritual Qi." Matthew explained.
As John took his time to process the geography lesson, Joanne, somewhat knowledgeable of Cultivation, asked, "You said that we are in the Desolate Region, right? So then, how can we go deeper into the Chaotic Universe so we can cultivate faster?"
"Well, there are three ways to go deeper. Get an escort, meaning someone with some influence in the next region, to get you through. Advance to the limit of your region, but in this way, you'll never be able to return to your home region. And finally, pay the toll, but the toll is something astronomical and is only there for a gimmick, not for paying." Matthew explained.
Finding that question sensible, Joanne paused for a moment before speaking her mind again.
"Two questions!" Joanne asked as she raised her hand, which had two fingers raised up.
"Go ahead, my dear sister."
"First! Where is the border of the Desolate Region, and two, can't you just break past the barrier? I mean, it spans the entire universe. Surely the security is lax somewhere?"
Smiling at his sisters' questions, Matthew answered, "The Desolate Region doesn't have a border that leads to the next Region. But before you get your hopes up, even with the other barriers, they are still impenetrable. No one can break through the barrier. It's a secret technique of our Universe Lord."
After Matthew answered that, John finally finished thinking and spoke up.
"Mat, what comes after the Desolate Region?" Joanne asked.
"It goes Desolate Region, Outer Region, Inner Region, Central Region, Core Region, and finally, Chaos Region. But the Chaos Region is the core of our Universe and is completely blocked from outsider access, and unless you have a relationship with our Universe Lord, you won't be able to enter. " Matthew answered before continuing.
"What is the limit of the Outer Region, then?" Joanne asked a follow-up question.
"The limit of the Outer Region is a Rank 4 Cultivation Base, but if you want to go into the Inner Region, you must either be at the Peak of Rank 4 or Rank 5," Matthew explained.
But after seeing their confusion, he continued his explanation in greater detail.
"Cultivation in the Universe is split into many different realms, but since the rest are too far away, I will explain only the first four because you won't even be able to see cultivators above that rank for a while, and becoming one will take even longer. So, for now, I'll only go into details about these four." Matthew said.
"The first Realm of Qi Cultivation is what I am in right now. It is called the Meridian Opening Realm. And just as the name says, this realm is about opening up my meridians and unclogging them of the impurities that stop me from absorbing Spiritual Qi and cultivating. This realm has 12 normal stages and 8 hidden stages."
"The second Realm of Qi Cultivation is called the Qi Refining Realm. This realm serves as the foundation for all of your following cultivation and is usually looked at as the most important realm. What you do now is gather wisps of Spiritual Qi within your dantian and create cyclones of Spiritual Qi within it. This realm has 13 stages."
"The third Realm of Qi Cultivation is called the Foundation Establishment Realm. Now, on top of your thirteen Cyclones, you have to create a strong, firm, and stable pillar of Spiritual Qi on top of it using the Spiritual Qi within the cyclone. This realm also has 13 stages."
But just as Matthew was going to explain further, Joanne suddenly raised her hand.
"But Mat, if you used all of the Spiritual Qi from your Cyclone, wouldn't that make them disappear? Where are you going to store the Spiritual Qi if they are gone?" Joanne asked.
Matthew, before the question, had the feeling of playing piano to a cow, but his face brightened up after hearing Joanne ask a good question.
"Good question, Joanne! But the answer is simple. Instead of your cyclones holding your Spiritual Qi, your foundational pillars hold them. We do this because not only the cyclones are extremely hard to improve upon, but also because the foundational pillars help with the next realm."
"The fourth Realm of Qi Cultivation is called the Palace Formation Realm. To enter this realm, one must, above their foundational pillars, create a palace that will follow them during their entire journey. This palace, in the beginning, doesn't do much other than absorb and hold Spiritual Qi. But once you advance through the cultivation realms, a Palace can be used for a bunch of things, whether it is storage, travel, or even as an attack mechanism. And this realm, unlike the others, only has four stages." Matthew spoke.
Thankfully, both of his siblings understood his detailed explanation of the beginner's stages of cultivation. But Joanne had a very good question.
"Mat, you kept mentioning Qi Cultivation, but earlier, you said rank 4 cultivators. Does that mean there are other types of cultivation?" Joanne asked with a raised hand.
Joanne had read far too many cultivation novels and was just as much an expert on this type of stuff as an elder from the Outer Regions. Because of her knowledge, she was able to catch on to the unique language Matthew used and ask questions based on it.
"That is correct. Throughout the universe, there are many different cultivation types and methods. But there are three main cultivation types that we humans use. Qi Cultivation is the most popular and widespread among humans. Body Refinement is the second most popular and easiest of the three. But it is also the most painful and expensive of the three. And finally, Soul Cultivation. It's the hardest and the one that has the most requirements." Matthew answered.
Joanne seemed satisfied with Matthew's words and began to think over them. But John was still curious and decided to ask some more questions.
"Mat, which is the strongest of the Cultivation types?"
"There is no strongest, as they are all equally powerful at their peak. Moreover, you'll eventually have to merge all of them anyway. So even if there were one, it wouldn't matter in the later realms of cultivation," Matthew answered.
"Then, how strong is somebody in the Palace Formation Realm? Can they fly and do magic stuff?"
"A Palace Formation Realm cultivator is invincible on Earth. Even if they stood dead center at a nuclear bomb explosion, it wouldn't do much to them. However, their bodies are weak. If they run out of Spiritual Qi, a hydrogen bomb could potentially kill them. But nothing on Earth would be able to run their spiritual QI dry. They could kill everything on this planet long before it did."
"Then what about a Rank 7 cultivator?"
"Why are you worrying about such stuff? Rank 7 cultivators are rare, even throughout the entire Profound Spirit World. You won't be able to see one for a very long time, so get them out of your head." Matthew said angrily.
John didn't pay much attention to Matthew's words as they were rude, but Joanne, on the other hand, caught the unfamiliar noun that he used and was curious.
"Mat, what is that Profound Spirit World you just said? Aren't we in the Milky Way?" Joanne asked.
From what she had heard so far, she assumed the world to be a galactic cultivation troupe where there were civilizations with black hole engines or white star cannons, but hearing the odd 'Profound Spirit World' come from Matthew's mouth, she grew confused.
"Oh, right! I forgot to tell you. That space stuff you see in the news—the Andromeda Galaxy, The Milky Way, and those other things—are illusions. Nothing you see currently is real. All of that comes from the illusion that the seal around our solar system makes." Matthew explained nonchalantly.
But Matthew forgot how groundbreaking his words were. After all, on Earth, there are countless professions related to astrology and outer space. But Matthew just openly called it fake. So what does that mean, then, that astronomers were researching their entire lives?
Matthew saw their shock, but he ignored it and continued on with his explanation. They were going to find out eventually; better now than later, when it was too late.
"Our solar system is a real place, though. And we are still in the Chaotic Universe, but the stuff you see about space on the internet isn't."
"Though we are still in the Desolate lands, our specific corner is under the jurisdiction of another world named the Profound Spirit World," Matthew explained.
(Note: Though I am using the word world, it isn't the same world as we use on Earth now. It's more like how the world is used in Martial World, where a single world can be the size of the entire Universe. In my novel, the word world will usually refer to a close cluster of landmasses, planets, and other things. Think of it like a Galaxy, but less spread out. And planets will be much larger than they are in our reality, so if the numbers describing length seem off sometimes, remember that it's not realistic.)
John and Joanne were, at this point, at a loss for words. Joanne had some foundational knowledge about cultivation, so she was less affected by Matthew's words. However, John's brain, at this point, was beginning to overheat.
He was able to accept that there were things in the universe he didn't know, as it was the scientist's job to learn about the unknown and analyze it. But after hearing that everything humans currently knew about space was wrong, John almost collapsed.
Seeing that the two kids wouldn't be able to function for the next few hours and were in dire need of time to process the mountain of information he gave them, Matthew decided to head out and go to the next two locations.
'Cultivation comes first. I don't believe that after I absorb these two Spiritual Qi veins, I can't complete the Meridian Opening Realm!'
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