[Word Count 2324]
The history of the art of cultivation could be traced back to the immemorial times - trillions upon trillions of years into the past when the Fan universe was still a singular Wild Continent.
Throughout those immeasurably long years, many outstanding geniuses and heaven-defying beings have risen to prominence while leaving an indelible mark in the history of the universe.
These inexpungible marks are known to every living being and used by everyone in the current Fan Universe and they are in the form of what is known as cultivation arts or techniques.
Cultivation techniques are, without a doubt, crystallization of recorded knowledge of the past forefathers for the future generations.
The current generation could be said to be lavishly enjoying the sweat and tears of their ancestral forefathers.
But has anyone ever questioned, wondered or even contemplated deeply about the history of these cultivation techniques?
Maybe nobody simply cares. An already established path, a path already trodden and paved by others, is always an easy path. There are no stumbling blocks, no hardships. There is simply no hassle. The easy way out is always sought after by humans even if they have to follow it blindly.
Who established the cultivation path in the Fan Universe? No one knew about it but Zhao Wei already had the answer.
It was inarguably the remnant will of a slowly perishing Dream Dao Super expert. The birth of Fan Universe was also shockingly also part of this supreme expert's dao insights and comprehension into the Great Dao of Dream - a superior Dao.
Zhao Wei already had an inward understanding of the whole Cultivation system of the Fan Universe. It was the type of cultivation system that was in itself full of faults that shackled the oblivious existences.
Zhao Wei didn't want his mind to linger much into that topic since it was exclusively something for the higher realms - realms that touched upon divinity and immortality.
So he decided to shelf those thoughts deep in his mind. It was too early for him, a mere new-born pup just starting his journey, to waste his mental energy on such heavy topics.
"The basis of existence is balance. As I steadily increase my cultivation power, I also need to have a strong physical body to accompany it." Zhao Wei silently analyzed. His face was in a state of full concentration.
Those were his future prospects that he was contemplating upon, so he had to take a rather stringent approach.
Closing his eyes, he searched through his mind for any cultivation technique that had to deal with the physical body cultivation.
There were quite a few and they could be counted to almost fifty.
"This is an indication that the cultivation of the body isn't mainstream in the Fan Universe just like in many other cultivation novels that I have read throughout my life." Zhao Wei opened his eyes while subtly smiling to himself.
"It's understandable to some degree anyway. Those Ancient races and their Ancient Gods could already shake heaven and earth, right after being born and since they already had nearly invincible bodies, they had no much need to further expound on body cultivation."
The Ten Thousands Races. The races that dominated the universe trillions of years ago, were truly enviable. Leaving the number one bloodline race - Ancient Race - aside, all the other races were beings with immensely terrifying physical bodies.
'Even having an original pure bloodline from the weakest of the races can be considered a cheat,' Zhao Wei thought excitedly while his dark, abyssal eyes shone with a marvelous zeal.
"The 50 or so body cultivation techniques aren't impressive but they contain so much valuable knowledge for me and my ingenuous mind to create something solely meant for me."
There were no trash techniques, only an incompetent person would say that a basic technique is trash.
Everything had a source and some high-level techniques were derivatives of the low ranked techniques.
"Metal Sand Body, Soft Yin Physique Refining Art, Malleable Snake Body, Sunflower Body Art, Wood Demon Physique Refining technique, Plucking the Moon and Stars Body Art…" Zhao Wei slowly and carefully looked through those 50 techniques.
He was fascinated and he couldn't extricate himself from the pure process of reading and understanding. He fervently consumed each word without leaving anything behind.
"The human body is like a miniature universe. The potentiality in the human body is limitless. A supreme body cultivator can even hold the sun and the moon with their bare hands without as much as sweating." Zhao Wei started talking to himself, his thoughts were being processed at higher speeds.
"There are about 37 trillion cells in the human body. A human cultivator's body is essentially the same as the humans on Earth with an exception being the metaphysical aspect such as the Dantian, and also the absence of physical limiters."
An air of madness surrounded his cross-legged figure. Zhao Wei was in an entirely different world of his own, and if there were people from earth who had witnessed this scene, they would have attributed it to being in the zone.
His computational abilities were top-notch, vastly different from even genius cultivators.
Just from the knowledge withdrawn from those body cultivation techniques, his mind had already started formulating a rudimentary form of the technique that he wanted.
It wasn't instantaneous as there were so many errors impeding his speed.
A good technique cannot be created within a second and just like traditional beer, it requires ample time to be fully fermented.
Zhao Wei didn't despair or rush through the process. With his ocular abilities, he had a deeper understanding of his own body.
In his mind's eye, a computerized model of his anatomical body could be seen.
Blood, bones, inner organs, skin, cells… the embryonic form of his technique required to entail those aspects.
Time flowed fast but Zhao Wei felt as if it had stopped.
A day went by.
Two days passed.
Then Three days.
During the fourth day, while still being in a meditative posture with his eyes tightly closed, Zhao Wei began to utter some strange mnemonics that emitted ancient vibes.
"Unearth the body's potentiality, break the limitations imposed on the body. With the Visualization of chaos, the body can even harbor the universe!"
"Refine the blood and embody the limitless ever-changing galaxies!"
"Refine the skin and walk through the deepest core of the stars! Endure the extermination of the burning embers of the Golden Crow."
"Nurture stars in the inner body and with the supreme power of both the stars and the sun, all life forms shall be extinguished!"
His words seemed to contain the Grand Truth behind the inception of the universe. His steady voice also seemed to create a mysterious resonance with a formless and unseen, overarching power.
Zhao Wei felt as if his astral body had arrived at a sea of stars in an infinite dimension. He felt at peace and at home as if the stars were him and he was the stars. They were an eternal part of him and couldn't be separated.
Meanwhile, his physical body was being swarmed by endless starlight and moonlight. Powerful stellar energy entered through the pores of his body, and started nourishing his cells and reinforcing his bones, refining his blood, strengthening his skin and finally, reforging his very foundation into something never seen before.
His physique was slowly being remodeled. His Energy [Qi] pathways were made more sturdier and larger.
It was truly an enjoyable baptism as Zhao Wei allowed scintillating waves of heavenly energy to wash over him!
On the fifth day, Zhao Wei gently opened his eyes.
His once dark abyssal eyes now seemed to contain countless stellar bodies that shone with an intense brilliance. If one stared deep into his eyes, they would be lost in that hypnotizing starlight shimmering off them.
His young body seemed to have considerably grown. He was now taller than your average 14 year old.
His body was unconsciously emanating terrifying physical pressure that would even make fourth rank Martial artists with inner strength cower in fear.
"Haha, I did it."
"It was a success."
Zhao Wei released a hearty laughter that reverberated all over his little room.
He clenched his fists in excitement while laughing like a mad demon.
"What a masterpiece I have made but I have to thank the past generations of cultivators for the many references that I have inferred from them!"
After celebrating his success, he nodded in satisfaction.
He was obviously beyond satisfied.
[Primordial Stellar Energy Body Refining Art]
That was the name of the technique that he had just created.
A self-created technique?!
Who would dare imagine something like that? And remember he only created it in the span of four days!
Even the holder of the God Eye of Divine Punishment took millions of years to create his ultimate and original technique.
"I know that it's nothing to be proud about but it will still hold a special place in my heart." He didn't like comparing himself to others as he was a person who had accepted his own ordinariness and uniqueness. He was his own person, to say the least.
"[Primordial Stellar Energy Body Refining Art] is a little special since I can't gauge its appropriate rank." Zhao Wei frowned a little bit while thinking.
"Anyway, the technique itself has a lot of potential. By using the energy from the stars and the sun, I will be able to constantly refine my body."
"There's always room for improvement."
Grrr!
The rumbling of his stomach broke through his reverie, and also his nostrils were assaulted by a weird stench coming off the black ink-like impurities dirtying his skin.
While looking at his messy state, Zhao Wei could only utter one word.
"Cliche."
***
"So five days have already passed and in two months, it will be time for the family sparring contest."
Zhao Wei was now clad in clean black robes.
His skin looked pretty smooth and inviting to the touch.
His physical appearance hadn't experienced much changes but his presence was one that demanded immediate respect and absolute obedience.
His body seemed to be hiding a fearsome ancient beast just waiting to be unleashed into the world when provoked.
Then with a thought, his aura returned to normal just as it was earlier on, before the qualitative transformation.
"By the way, I haven't taken my monthly allowance after my breakthrough to the 2nd rank of consolidated realm." Zhao Wei reminded himself but inwardly, he felt that it would be too little, just as portrayed in the novel. There were thousands of disciples in the Zhao Clan so it was expected for resource allocation to be limited.
From the Clan's point of view, if you wanted to receive a lot of cultivation resources, you had to be outstanding than others or just stay back in that lane of mediocrity and become poor.
Zhao Wei liked to be independent especially when it came to monetary issues but he decided to take his allocated silvers nonetheless.
Money was still money in the end even if it was in small amounts. Not to forget that even many little tributaries can form an ocean. The little things in life should always be appreciated.
After taking his twenty silver coins from the Clan's accountant, Zhao Wei rushed back to his courtyard.
He still had a lot to prepare for before venturing off to earn more money and cultivation resources for himself.
And since he was practicing body cultivation, things were going to be pretty expensive henceforth .
Body Refining arts liked to swindle money like crazy but Zhao Wei felt that it was still worth it in the long run.
Suffer today and enjoy your blissful days in the far future.
Now then, when it came to skill training proficiency, there were four levels of attainments.
They were: Beginner level, low level, high level, and finally peak level attainment.
But there was another additional level beyond the peak level… it was Grand Perfection or simply, max leveling in gamer's terms.
If peak level attainment can bring out 90% effect from the technique, then Grand Perfection or max leveling can bring about 120% or more.
Currently, he had one technique at Grand Perfection mastery, [Tyrant Fists], and and the other one, [Primordial Stellar Energy Body Refining Art] at the initial mastery.
Just from mastering the [Primordial Stellar Energy Body Refining Art] to the beginner level, Zhao Wei's defense had been significantly boosted to the level of being able to resist the attacks of martial arts practitioners with the so-called inner strength.
He estimated that if he was thorough and careful enough in a fight against fourth rank martial artists, he could even defeat them. But ultimately, those were just his own rough guesses. He had to engage in a real life and death battle to evaluate his current strength and weaknesses.
Only when one's life is on the line, can one erupt with their full potential. Cultivation, in itself, was a gamble of one's life with the heavens. If a man remained timid or cowardly throughout his whole life, then he shouldn't call himself a cultivator.
Zhao Wei knew that fear can save one's life sometimes but also at the same time, risks can also give you immense rewards. There was always a price to be paid while in the pursuit of power.
"I should probably train the [Illusory Mist Steps] until I am satisfied and since its focus is mostly on maneuverability, I should probably pair it with another footwork skill that focuses on raw speed."
"After that, it will be the offensive techniques."
Zhao Wei didn't waste any more of his time and immediately started training his techniques.
As the sages once said, when a man grinds, he should grind to perfection.
That was the kind of mindset that he needed on his cultivation journey.
***