Ryker decided to stay at the mountain range for the next four weeks to improve his cultivation, Soul, and regular cultivation.
While the others were displeased with having to spend four weeks without coming in contact with other people, they agreed to it nonetheless, as cultivating there would be beneficial for them.
And so, began their four weeks of spending their life as hermits.
-x-
Ryker opened his eyes. He had already reached the second realm in Soul Cultivation and almost broke through the third realm.
Soul Cultivation, at least in the Genesis Realm, is divided into 4 levels. The first is the Formless Realm. When one begins practicing, they are already at this level in their Soul Cultivation.
The second realm is called the Illusary Realm. This is the level he is currently in. His Soul could be released in this level but it will be hazy and there is not much use for it in terms of fighting power though it helps perform any auxiliary professions.
The third realm and the one he currently trying to go through, is called the Corporeal Realm. The Soul would be able to interact with physical objects, to a certain degree.
It could even harm the opponents' souls easily if their Soul Cultivation is weaker than the user's. Though, if the difference between realms is too large, then it would not help, at all.
The final level of the Soul Cultivation in Genesis Realm is called the Manifestation Realm. The one who achieves this realm could create a Soul Clone. Even if the Soul Clone is destroyed, it would not cause harm to the user except for fatigue.
The Manifestation Realm of Soul Cultivation could also create a Soul Weapon, a weapon formed from the Soul. While it will be fragile to some weapons, if it hit the enemy it would cause severe pain to the Soul.
When one uses Soul Technique with Soul Weapon, the effect will be doubled. He planned to get to the Corporeal Realm first before moving deeper to the core of the Birak Kingdom.
And if he is lucky, he will find a volcano or something similar and able to temper his body.
But for now, his focus in achieving the Corporeal Realm of Soul Cultivation.
-x-
During the time he spent cultivating, the number of Celestial Nascent Qi strands had risen and fallen, all according to how much he used in practicing the Celestial Soul Art.
It was a necessary sacrifice so he did not feel too bad about it, just troubled by how little he could create during the time he spent cultivating.
Thankfully, he learned as his cultivation became stronger, the number of Celestial Nascent Qi strands he could create also increased. He learned this when he became a 4th Stage Genesis Spring expert.
He also realized with his Soul becoming stronger, his cultivation speed also became better. Though it is still negligible compared to just cultivating normally, he believed getting his Soul Power to the highest realm would help him a lot in the future.
Besides, in the book, it said that having a perfect foundation in cultivation requires one to reach perfection in all three fields, Energy, Body, and Soul.
Currently, he planning on achieving the closest he could in terms of Soul. Maybe at the core of Birak Kingdom, if he is lucky, he would be able to find Soul Treasures.
He pushed such thought to the back of his mind for now as he had better things to do, namely trying to achieve the Corporeal realm.
He had reached the peak of the Illusory Realm a few days before. During the grace period, he had spent it all in cultivating the Celestial Nascent Qi strands.
During the 5 days, he was able to become a 5th Stgae Genesis Spring expert and able to create almost 2000 strands. Considering he needed almost 200 strands to break through the Illusory Realm, 2000 strands sound like a good bet.
He had prepared everything, even creating some pills that would help in improving one Soul Power. He planned to eat it after his breakthrough, though, as breaking through would leave him in a vulnerable state and he did not want to die just because of negligence.
He then prepared himself for the next thing he needed to do, exhausting his Soul. Yep, it would take a long time.
-x-
He let out a tired sigh. While he did not need to exhaust his Soul completely, it is the best way to improve one soul. He had tested both methods, one exhausting the Soul completely while the other nourishing it after exhausting it slightly.
In terms of efficiency, the former is better, and it was not even close. So, with his Soul exhausted, he began to pour the 2000 strands of Qi into his Soul Manifestation.
The exhausted Soul absorbed the strands with ease. Thankfully, it reached its peak with the 2000 strands so he did not have to create any more Celestial Nascent Qi for now.
With him enhancing his Soul with the Celestial Soul Art, he could feel his Soul slowly transforming, reaching the next level.
It did not take long before his Soul reached the Corporeal Realm. Compared to either Body Cultivation or Cultivation, Soul Cultivation posed the smallest harm to cultivators.
During the breakthrough of Energy Cultivation, at least from major realm to major realm and grand realm to grand realm, or during the entire process of body cultivation, there are dangers in the process.
As for Soul Cultivation, it is boring and nothing more. This makes sense as the Soul is the most delicate part of one's body and if damaged would cause severe harm to the person, cultivators, and mortals alike.
So, it makes sense Soul Cultivation did not possess much harm as if one feels pain during the process, they might die instead of being crippled like failing to advance a major realm in energy cultivation.
He then used his Soul. Unlike before, he could feel his Soul able to interact with physical objects. He played around with it, pushing small stones and lifting some objects near him.
While doing so, he feels some strain in his soul but nothing too great. The downside is that doing this does not seem to give him any benefits. He had hoped moving objects with his soul could improve it somewhat but that does not seem to be the case here.
He sighed, it seemed training his Soul would require him to constantly exhaust his Soul Power. Oh boy. At least with this, it is likely he could improve his ability in auxiliary professions.