My parents left to go pay the bills. The girls and I went on ahead and got on the game.
"I hope this advancement works better than last time."
My thoughts were extremely kept to myself.
Entering the game, we went and found a set of stairs. It took several hours because the stairs never appear at the same place.
"These stairs are the Realm Advancement Stairs. In order to completely advance, you will be tasked with a test. We cannot help you with the task." Iris spoke.
"You and your parents can do Family Advancement. It will be extremely tough. Some people who have made it to the Ninth Realm have said that doing Family Advancement is worse than most Warlord Ranked Dragons." Liz followed.
"We cannot force you or your parents to do Family Advancement. We will give you the pointers to do a normal Advancement at any time." Margaret spoke.
"We hope you follow your instincts to the fullest either way you go. We believe in you." Amber followed.
"Be sure not to disappoint these girls in front of Rex." Violet gave a funny smile.
The other girls looked at Violet like she stepped on a landmine. She was the one who the girls would betray instantly and leave her hanging.
"I will wait for my parents. I am sure they want us to do an Advancement together."
The girls looked at me. They knew the answer I gave was the correct one.
Margaret and Amber both returned to where my parents would re-enter.
I sat down in a lotus position and began to slowly cultivate and think about the past.
Rex's first time seeing the stairs
"I want to advance with all of you." Rex shouted.
The girls looked at each other. They had upset faces.
"We cannot enter here. Unless we want to face tribulations worse than death." Amber said.
Rex had already made his mind up. Walking up the stairs, Rex disappeared but the girls had already left for the Second Realm.
A bright room entered Rex's eyes.
"Wow this place is amazing."
Rex saw nothing but pure gold and silver across the entire room.
"So are you here for a normal advancement or do you wish to enter a harder advancement?"
The mysterious voice filled Rex with questions.
He did not know what harder advancements were. Knowing that no one would help me through this, he began to think about doing a harder advancement.
"What are the harder advancements?"
Rex's question filled the mysterious voice with questions. Rex should already know what kind of advancement he wants.
"Have you not been told about advancements?"
The mysterious voice had a fatherly voice to it.
"I have been told that there are harder advancements but I have not had a good explanation."
The mysterious voice filled the room with laughter to the highest degree.
"Well, little one. There are many ways for one to advance in the Realms. First is to do the stairs. Simple and easy to explain. Second is to do it with friends. Harder but still easy to explain. Lastly, do it with your family or the people closest to you. It is the hardest to do because one person has to bear the entire advancement."
Rex wakes up from his cultivation.
"That was a good reality of what I have to do. Even though he will give the best explanation. I still have to learn about the other advancements."
Rex looked around and Iris and Liz were no one to be seen.
'Ding'
Rex decided to look at his menu.
"For cultivating and thinking about the past, you have been granted 174 Heavenly Qi and 11 Godly Qi."
"Congratulations for unlocking 200 Heavenly Qi."
"Heavenly Qi will unlock your strength seal for 5 minutes using all 200 Heavenly Qi."
"Congratulations for unlocking 100 Godly Qi."
"Godly Qi will use all 100 Qi when forming your next Soul person or creature."
I frowned upon seeing the Godly Qi. Using all 100 of them on my next Soul Partner, Mate, or Tame.
Knowing how the Soul Mate and Tame are only once in a lifetime event. Spending 100 Godly Qi with the forge, I do not want that to happen.
I want to find better ways to use the Godly Qi.
It was not long and my parents arrived with the girls.
"Alright son, how about we start this stairway walk?"
Hearing my father speak, my mother slapped him across the back of the head.
"We need to rest before we continue. You might be okay but I will not have our unborn child suffering from lack of rest."
Hearing my mother's bicker, I laughed. She looked at me upset.
"Of course. We were going to rest. I found it funny how you hit dad, mom."
Mother gave a side smile. The one that 'I should just keep my mouth shut'.
We rested and we decided to talk about the advancement.
"Iris, Liz we need an explanation on the advancements please." I called out.
"What do you need to know?" Liz asked.
My parents wanted to know everything. Liz and Iris both gave a defeated sigh and started with the basic advancement.
"Most people just walk up the stairs and see if they are qualified to advance to the next realm. Simple right." Iris spoke.
My parents nodded.
"Next the advancements are harder but are group oriented. First off, the basic group of people. They climb and face something and move on." Liz spoke.
My parents smiled and nodded greatly.
"Finally, the Family Advancement. It is the most powerful advancement. It not only affects everyone's advancing. It relies on a singular person mostly. The others will have small stuff to do. It will mainly be one person."
My parents frowned. I knew they did not want me to burden the bear by carrying them to the next Realm.
I also wanted to have a chance to show them how powerful I can be.
"I will accept what you two want to do. I prefer to do Family Advancement. The choice is honestly yours."
My parents looked at each other and gave a defeated sigh themselves.
"We accept doing the Family Advancement. We need to learn more about it when we start the climb." My mother protested.
We started up the stairs.