Inside Asura, the huge crimson and blue crystal, two hearts throbbed slowly with deep and powerful heartbeats. It began to condense slowly, no longer a huge size, forming a powerful rhythm beyond a normal heartbeat but two beating in tandem.
It echoed in his muscular chest, the sound resounding as his body finally reached the First Layer of the Earth Cycle.
The power starts to formulate his first stages of body and foundation establishment, improving his muscles, organs, flesh and bones for his future journey.
The door opened with a gentle snap as a beautiful woman with her face covered and black feathers drifting around her. She gazed affectionately at Asura with a gentle gaze.
Standing beside his bed was the beautiful woman with black hair who finally finished helping Mu Xue reach the same point, but it was far simpler due to her unique body.
"If you can hear my voice, and it brings you relief. I have allowed her to take the same path."
"Her heart is now a crystal of Nether Ice, and even the greatest flame could never melt it."
His veins became thicker, all impurities and plaque within them burned away by the strange blood now flowing through his veins.
The flame of a black dragon and the ice of a devil twirling around, forming his blood of pure life essence.
A single drop of his blood was enough to save a normal mortal from death or burn them into ashes, depending on the thoughts and desires of Asura.
"Did you know how dangerous this was?" A husky, baritone voice chimed from her soft red lips as she bit them while stroking his soft raven hair.
"If I didn't use my flame to help refine both of your bodies, I would have lost you again."
"idiot..."
She scrunched her face as her fingers poked his nostrils, making him look like a pig, bringing a smile to her face before looking at Mu Xue, who slept beside him peacefully. Now, her eyes were ice blue, and her beauty seemed to have increased.
"Please protect and love him as you always have."
The black phoenix stroked Mu Xue's cheek with a smile, and there was no jealousy or ill will before she stood up and snapped her gaze towards the window.
In the distance, a red-haired woman with a long scar down her cheek was staring into this room.
"Ah... If I don't leave, she will find me for sure."
"At least she doesn't know of his true colours. That damn red bird woman is hard-headed."
A group of ravens fluttered away from the window as the beautiful woman figure vanished like a phantom. On the desk was the large book with brown parchment she wrote for Asura and a small blue one for Mu Xue.
***
"Ugh.... my head feels so heavy..."
Asura began to wake up his body felt strange.
He thought he would feel heavy, tired and sore because he only remembered collapsing and then hearing a beautiful woman's deep voice whispering in his ears, spurring him on and saying he could do it.
'Who was that voice... Did I mistake Brian's voice for a woman, haha?'
Slowly climbing from his bed, he found the familiar back of Mu Xue, who was cooking at the stove, but her naked back was on show.
Xue'er was cooking in only an apron!
'How erotic!'
However, before he rushed over to her, he sat on the edge of his bed, completely naked, checking every part of his body to discover most aspects of him had improved.
Some more than others, but his sight, smell, hearing and dynamic vision were improved greatly, and he could see both the magical particles, mana and floating dust in the air without focusing or squinting.
'It feels... really good.'
'I can see the hairs on Mu Xue's little sister...!'
'Her cute light blue hairs are a little curly and cute.'
His muscles felt a little tighter, more condensed, but the power he felt punching out caused a small snap of air that swirled around his fist.
Asura then leaned back and took a deep breath, feeling that his body could finally absorb the natural mana from the air directly into his body.
'I can feel the magic particles entering my body, being converted into Anima and through my veins.'
'This isn't normal...'
Slowly opening his eyes, he noticed the large book with his name written on the front and a weird black aura of magic particles that burned and rejected all others that approached the brown and white parchment.
He opened the first page, a magical glow of black flames writing the page as his eyes looked, introducing him to this new power he could feel within his body.
—Congratulations on taking the first step, Asura.
The First Layer of the Earth Cycle is the first step to creating an inner core, the very start of a cultivator's path, to create their world step by step.
The inner core was superheated, even hotter than the sun. This will be the energy source of your future cultivation life and your biggest advantage.
Normally, one would only make their inner core inside their Mana Core or abdomen, but because you are a little stupid and strange, you chose your two hearts.
This means your inner core is connected to everything else in your body.
Essentially, you are creating your world with yourself as the core.
Do not worry or become anxious.
Asura, this path is yours and is closest to the true path of World Formation.
Your Current Level is the Earth Cycle's First Layer.
First Layer - Using the most powerful energy in the known universe transforms your organs and bones to accept your future cultivation as the foundation of your beginning. The size and shape depend on the user's will and desire.
A larger core is dangerous and can cause irreparable damage or death!
(Inner Core that forms your foundation.)
Second Layer - Create a filter to allow your Anima to flow even smoother and protect your inner core, the soft but dense outer core, which will be created from your muscles and empower your bones even more. (Outer Core to protect the Inner core)
Third Layer - Create earth that will keep your entire core safe from harm and all your Anima to be distributed all over your body. Your flesh will become stronger, more durable and absorb more energy. (A hard and protective Mantle that would keep both safe.)
Fourth Layer - The final Layer of the Earth Cycle transforms your skin, hair and nails into extremely durable, able to absorb the strongest blows and once again, the amount of Anima absorbed from the world increases, bolstering cultivation.
The final layer covers the mantle and core completely, allowing for the future evolution of your living world. (This state is known as the Crust formation.)
⁜
As Asura turned the pages, he found that the flame suddenly stopped writing; instead, it wrote a cute message.
"This is enough for now, beautiful! Too much might be negative to your growth!"
"Please check again when you reach the Third Layer."
"Focus on slowly growing the power of your monoliths and keeping them in balance."
"Now all are Stage One apart from that pesky unknown one and your Asura monolith."
'Really!?'
Asura hadn't thought to check the pillars because his physical changes and the feeling of Anima flowing through his veins made him feel extremely good, forced to read this book to make his morning glory finally sleep.
'I wonder why I woke up so horny. Is it because I no longer feel ashamed of myself?'
"Asura, are you awake?"
The sound of clanging pans and the hot oil used to fry bacon and eggs was followed by the delicious scent and Mu Xue's voice as she called him to the table.
"Come eat while it's hot!"
"You worked hard last night, so let me help you recover your strength."
He could feel she was in an extremely good mood from how happy her voice chirping was, the pitch slightly higher than usual as he stood from the bed and wore a loose red robe before walking into the kitchen holding the book.
The moment he left the bedroom, the book began to transform into a strange swirl of black fire that entered his back, forming a black wing tattoo covering his shoulder blades.
Asura only knew because the mirror was facing him, showing him the detailed wing in his reflection.
'Why did the book hide?'
'Probably due to secrets...'
[You should lift your left hand and desire to see the central monolith data. That book has some good uses.]
Brian's voice sounded weak and much hoarser than before, so Asura didn't argue but did as he said, and the next moment, his jaw dropped.
Not only did he see a flash of Mu Xue's naked body due to the draft of wind from the opened window as her flimsy blue apron fluttered to the side, but a small black window with white runes hovered above his left forearm.
"Such pretty blue hair..."
His words turned Mu Xue's face bright red as she quickly covered herself, feeling her heart almost bursting from her chest.
'This is the information on that stone!?'
'My information!'
"!!!"
"Sit down and eat!!"
Asura also hadn't noticed. His brain could process two things simultaneously as he reacted to Mu Xue's view and the screen in tandem.
A primitive parallel thinking ability.