Chapter 7 Advancement
A week passed by and Yang Ning has completed all his preparation both materially, mentally and physically. Cross legged in his Cave abode he began the process of advancing to Nascent Soul Realm. As stated in the sect records, he removed a piece of his soul and placed it in his Core. Simply removing a small piece of his soul was enough for Yang Ning to grit his teeth. His body began to perspirate with sweat heavily when another wave of pain hit him internally.
"Arghhh" Yang Ning cried aloud
The Soul that was placed inside his core began to absorb his energy rapidly. The internal battle had now begun, and the process could not be stopped. There were only 2 outcomes in advancing to the Nascent Soul realm. The cultivator managed to succeed, or the cultivator died due to not supplying enough energy to supplement the advancement.
Only a few minutes had passed, and the excruciating pain made Yang Ning want to give up. In the process of advancing to the Nascent Soul realm, a delicate balance also needed to be achieved. The absorption of the soul needed to have a consistent stream of energy whilst at the same time, the intake of external energy into the core needed to remain constant and the same. If in the process the cultivator allowed more energy than the Nascent soul could absorb, the possibility of death or being crippled may occur. Between gritting his teeth, sweating and cursing inside his cave his advancement to the Nascent Soul realm came to end after 2 weeks. Yang Ning was now in the Nascent Soul realm.
"Huff, Huff, huff" breath Yang Ning as he laid on the floor of his cave abode tired.
"The advancement to Nascent Soul realm was tougher than I thought".
"Had I for once lost my conscience, my advance would have spelt disaster".
"From the records of the sect that I read, I will need to wait for 1 day before I can feel the affect of the my new realm"
Yang Ning has no problem waiting one day. Heck if he had to rest for 1 week, he wouldn't have minded. Yang Ning then left himself laying on the floor too exhausted to do anything. He closed his eyes and decided to rest.
The follow day, Yang Ning finally woke up. He examined his body and his condition and could feel immense power flowing through him. Inside his body he could see his small nascent soul sitting on top of his foundation. The foundation that Yang Ning laid several years ago was that of 3 elements, fire, wind, and earth. He created his foundation based off 3 pillars representing the 3 elements and the foundation platform based off the The Sheathe Mantra. It was strong enough to support the weight of his nascent soul.
Yang Ning after inspecting his condition and realising there was nothing wrong, decided to exit his cave and test his new powers. However, upon opening the door of his cave, his Master, the Sect Leader of the Sect was standing by
"Congratulations my disciple. You're finally in the Nascent Soul realm. You gave me quite a shock when I sensed your breakthrough" smiled the Sect Leader
Yang Ning surprised by his master's appearance couldn't help but smile back
"Thank you Master".
"I can feel the immense power inside of me. I can also sense the surrounding energy more clearly now"
"Am I really the same person?". Yang Ning questioned.
"Hahaha" laughed the Sect Leader
"Of course you're the same person. This is only natural after you've advanced. The Nascent Soul on top of your foundation has an easier time absorbing the energies of the world. This is because it is in an intangible form, sensing the energy of the world in a purer state. As the Nascent soul is a part of you, your ability to grasp and absorb energy is greatly heighted"
"This will also further increase as you advance in the Nascent Soul realm"
"The Nascent Soul realm has 5 levels and you can tell that by having a look at your Nascent Soul"
"So far your Nascent Soul only has a body along with its head. You need to complete your Nascent Soul by adding the 2 arms and legs. For every limb that appears, that refers to 1 level advancement".
"Before I speak any further, are we just going to stand outside or should we have a seat instead?".
Yang Ning smiled and invited his Master back to his house. His house was separate from his cave abode as he only used his cave abode to cultivate. The house that Yang Ning designed for himself was something similar to modern earth. This was a way for him to remember the life he used to have. Although the house wasn't extravagant, it was modest enough for him to feel comfortable and call home.
"Seems like you did a few changes since the last time I was here disciple" as Sect Leader Qing Sat down and looked around
"Only a few changes Master" replied Yang Ning as he brought out tea for his master.
"Have some tea first Master. I managed to harvest these recently. I call it Pure Spirit Jasmine Tea. It has a calming affect on the mind, making it easier to cultivate without being distracted"
"Although it only last's up to 2 hours, I am hoping I can increase the concentration to make it last a day. However, I'm still experimenting"
The two enjoyed each others company, drinking tea and discussing various topics. You could say both Master and Disciple had a harmonious relationship. It was only until a couple of hours later did Sect Leader Qing bring up something important to Yang Ning.
"Before I leave Yang Ning, there's a mission I need you to undertake. With you being in the Nascent Soul Realm, I feel much at ease with safety regarding this mission"
Yang Ning looked at his master with seriousness understanding the mission would be quite important.
"What sort of mission do you want me to do Master?".
"It relates to the foundation of our sect. To be more specific it relates to our Sky Sword Sect Mantra The Sword Sheathe.
Taking a sip of his tea, he looked at his disciple who was sitting across from him and asked
"Do you know why our Mantra is called the Sword Sheathe?".
Sect Leader Qing paused for a moment and waited for his disciple to respond.
"From my understanding on our Mantra, I think it's called The Sword Sheathe as it has subtle focus on cultivation and harmony. In other words, our Mantra prefers to cultivate in peace unlike other Mantra's used by other sects that have a more aggressive nature. I believe this is why the word 'sheathe' is important as there is a hidden element in our Mantra"
"Although I don't know the specifics, I've cultivated our sect's mantra for the last 10 years, however, I've always felt there was something missing. The defensive aspect of our mantra is great however, when cultivating attacking methods, it can be somewhat lacking"
Yang Ning then poured himself some tea before continuing
"I'm assuming that our Mantra isn't complete?".
Unexpectedly, Sect Leader Qing began laughing. The serious atmosphere between the two was immediately popped.
"As expected of my only disciple" smiled Sect Leader Qing
"As you can already tell amongst the various great sect's in our continent of Dawn, our sect could be considered quite highly in strength. However, our strength hasn't reached it's full potential. From what we have gathered, The Sheathe Sword Mantra we use is only volume one of the two volumes that was created"
"You can probably tell how our sect mainly focuses on cultivation and has strong emphasis on harmony. We have for a long time played a defensive role in the grand scheme of things. You can say this was the culture our founder wanted however after many years of investigation, we believe after obtaining the full mantra, we can restore completely our foundation. We are not too sure why our founder withheld half of the Mantra and there isn't enough evidence in the Sect to suggest otherwise"
"Although it is only conjecture, we believe the other half of the mantra focus on more attacking concepts, much stronger then the current one we use. We also suspect the other half was hidden out of necessity although, it is only a guess."
Sect Leader Qing took a moment to let his disciple ponder on what he had spoken taking a few sips of tea before adding further
"I believe once we find the missing half of our mantra, our sect will advance by leaps and bounds. Although our sect is more defensive in nature, it is still strong enough for others to be wary of us"
The Sect Leader paused clenched his fist for a moment, looked at Yang Ning with vigor.
Yang Ning could only stare at his master silently as his master had begun to imagine wildly, spouting crazy scenarios that could happen in the sect if they managed to obtain the second volume. Yang Ning could only scratch his head, silently enjoying the time together.