Somewhere in The Great Wildland Forest, thousands of miles away from the SunBurn Kingdom, in the depths of an unnaturally large underground cavern, a confused baby awoke next to a Huge White Wolf.
'Where am I? Who am I? Why am I here?' The little prince questioned with a confused look on his tired face.
He tried to recall what had happened to him prior to his entering a state of unconsciousness.
'Oh, that's right. I reincarnated into a world of cultivation, a world where people can fly, destroy mountains, and erase seas with a wave of their hands. A world where I can acquire all the power I want!'
The little prince regained his unusually large smile on his face as he remembered what he desired so very much. And it was through such conviction that he recalled the pain he experienced after touching the stone.
'Whatever just happened to me hurt like a mother fucker, but if what this transmitted information tells me is true, then all that pain was worth it.'
The little prince's smile only got wider as he went over the knowledge he just received.
'A Secret Cultivation Manual...' he murmured.
You guessed it right! What he had received was none other than a secret cultivation manual!
'I just knew touching that weird stone was the right call to make. Let's see, it is called the Divine Devil Arts. What a cliche name...'
The baby prince's expression morphed a little upon realizing what the name of the cultivation manual was.
However, it didn't take long before that look on his face turned into something more...
'What a glorious name to call the first key to opening up my path to power!' He exclaimed, excitement filling his heart.
The little prince's smile practically reached his ears after understanding that he had acquired his very own cheat! He just knew that you couldn't be reincarnated into a different world without obtaining your very own cheat!
Nonetheless, such elation didn't last for long, as he had to focus if he wanted to make use of his new cheat.
'Time to put this cheat to good use!'
With a new goal, he turned his attention to the contents of the secret manual that were transmitted into his mind before he pondered the matter.
'It says I have to first sit down in a lotus position to begin practicing the technique, but how do I do that with this infant body?' He began with a slightly puzzled expression.
'No one told me that being a baby would be so complicated, but I must make do with what I have, so I guess I should try wobbling myself upwards into an upright position.'
The little prince, upon understanding what he must do, started to rock back and forth as he tried to produce enough momentum to push himself upwards.
...
A few seconds later, and after the 16th try, he finally succeeded!
"...."
The Giant White Wolf looked at the little creature before it with a quizzical look in its eyes.
The Giant Wolf thought for sure that the little creature he found in the woods would die after touching that red stone, just like all the other creatures did before it.
Even the original owner of the cavern, a 30-meter-long bear—a bear many times stronger than the Giant White Wolf—died mere seconds after swallowing that red stone.
The bear first started to decay, and then it just... disintegrated. Not even ashes were left of the once mighty beast.
......
Meanwhile, as the giant wolf was going through its memories, the baby prince was attempting to begin practicing the secret manual technique.
'Now it says that I have to focus on sensing the Qi in the air. God, this is really getting me excited for what's to come!'
His countenance was emitting nothing but exhilaration as he anticipated the beginning of what he assumed would be the first step on his path of cultivation!
'Anyways, back to the matter at hand. Sensing the qi, huh? I wonder how I should go about doing that.'
He contemplated the matter for a moment before he felt like an idiot for putting so much thought into something that the Divine Devil Arts would tell him if he just read it.
And that was exactly what he did, as he spent a few seconds gleaning into the contents of his 'Secret Cultivation Manual'.
'The Divine Devil Arts says I should just think about something that calms my mind, and going about beginning to sense qi will come naturally.'
Following such a discernment of the information presented to him, he started thinking to himself again.
'Something calming, huh?'
That was an ambiguous topic for the baby prince, as he couldn't pinpoint precisely what was capable of soothing his nerves.
At least, that was the case until something was brought to mind—something that had been his reason for living since the very beginning.
'Power... I want Power!' He began with a fervently passionate look on his face.
'I want so much power that I'm capable of splitting planets in half with just a mere finger swipe!' He added with a yearning for something greater building up inside him.
'I want so much power that even the vast, starry skies above can't escape my grasp! I want so much power that even what lies BEYOND those stars is incapable of hiding from me!'
Upon reaffirming his resolve and also his only solace in life, he entered a stupor—a stupor that prevented him from realizing that something quite unusual was occurring around him...
.....
WAAA!
Qi was gathering in massive quantities and heading towards the cavern, specifically towards the little prince.
The little prince didn't even realize Qi was swarming toward him, let alone the face the he wasn't simply sensing Qi--which was the very first fundamental step on the path of cultivation--but he was also absorbing Qi into his Dantian!
Something that shouldn't even be possible mere minutes after beginning to cultivate...
.....
It usually takes months for a person with average talent to start sensing Qi, and weeks for geniuses.
Even the most talented heaven-sent geniuses needed at least a couple of days to begin sensing Qi, and yet the little prince was able to sense Qi and begin absorbing it within a few minutes of his first cultivation session!
That was not even mentioning the fact that you couldn't begin cultivating until you reached the age of 12, and yet... the little prince was capable of cultivating not even a few hours after being born!
What he was doing was an impossible feat by all standards, something that should never have been, and yet it has.
......
Nonetheless, it didn't take long before the baby prince snapped out of his stupor and noticed something odd happening around him.
'Hmm? What is this blue-looking stuff floating all around me?' He asked, confusion overtaking his countenance.
What he saw was a wide assortment of colorful light floating around him, with some of it even entering inside him and doing something unbeknownst to him.
'Is this the Qi in the air? Does that mean I succeeded in sensing Qi? But why is all of it coming towards me?'
He ultimately noticed that all the Qi was fluttering toward him, subsequently doing something inside his body, but he didn't quite know what that something was.
'I'm not actively pulling it all in, and yet it surrounds me before disappearing somewhere inside me. However, after a few seconds of being inside my body, it comes out before entering the orbit of Qi around me, only to repeat that process again.'
The baby prince watched the Qi come inside him, exit him, and come back inside repeatedly before he decided to use his knowledge of the Divine Devil Arts to help him understand what was going on.
......
After a few seconds of glossing over the Divine Devil Arts, he was able to understand the gist of the situation.
'The Divine Devil Arts mentions something about opening your Dantian to allow the spiritual Qi to come in and temper your bones and flesh, but... It said that it would take weeks for even a Supreme Genius to reach that stage, so what is happening around me right now?' He questioned.
The Divine Devil Arts said that after turning 12 years old, one could start to sense the Qi, and if they were talented enough, then it wouldn't be long before they could start to enter the first stage of cultivation, 'The Body Refinement Realm'.
.....
'Maybe I should try to open my Dantian? No harm in trying, right?'
The little prince decided what he would do next as he started actively trying to open his Dantian to allow the spiritual Qi entry—something he decided to do out of pure curiosity and the desire for power.
WAAA!
And as if a floodgate had opened up, all of that Qi started swarming into the little prince's body with no sign of stopping anytime soon.
'What is this magical feeling!?''
All the little prince had to do was sit there, and the Qi was absorbed into his Dantian of its own free will!
It was something utterly out of his expectations, as he was under the assumption that you would need to work under tremendous pressure before you were able to begin cultivating, but this unknown phenomenon flipped that fact right on top of its head!
.....
A few minutes passed by like that.
The little prince had successfully opened up his Dantian and officially stepped onto the first step of cultivation, Body Refinement Stage 0 (A special state not part of the Body Refinement Realm).
The 'Body Refinement Stage 0' was a unique state that very few experienced when they first entered the world of cultivation.
It was a state where a person had absorbed so much Qi all at once that they needed to keep it stored away to prevent premature breakthroughs and an unstable foundation.
.......
'This is the best feeling I have ever felt in both lifetimes!! It's far better than a 5-star massage, better than sex, and better than any other heavenly pleasure out there.' He began with a look of intoxication on his face.
'This is Power!!!' He shouted out inside his mind.
'I finally have a way to acquire more power, but this is far from enough to satisfy me... I will keep absorbing Qi until I can't anymore, then I will start to digest my gains!'
The little prince had decided what he would do next as he entered a deep state of cultivation.
.......
The Divine Devil Arts informed the little prince of a few useful things.
The Divine Devil Arts was split into 7 sections, and each section required a certain cultivation base to be able to unlock.
The little prince was only allowed to read the first section of the Divine Devil Arts because of his lack of a sufficient cultivation base.
The little prince did, however, learn of the first few realms of power the world of Asterion had to offer.
The first thing he learned was that the first realm of cultivation was called the Body Refining Realm, a realm where you had to absorb the Qi in the air and refine different parts of your body to advance.
The second thing he learned was that the Body Refining Realm was split into 14 minor realms, where each minor realm was harder to achieve than the last.
The minor realms, in order from 1st to last, go like this ---> Body Refining Major Realm:
1. Strength Training -->
2. Flesh Training -->
3. Viscera Training Small success -->
4. Viscera Training Large Success -->
5. Altering Muscle -->
6. Bone Forging -->
7. Early Pulse Condensation -->
8. Middle Pulse Condensation -->
9. Late Pulse Condensation -->
10. Peak Pulse Condensation -->
11. 20% Tempering Marrow -->
12. 40% Tempering Marrow -->
13. 60% Tempering Marrow -->
14. 100% Tempering Marrow.
.......
The Divine Devil Arts also stated that there was a special 15th Minor realm where only a select few heaven-sent geniuses could unlock!
Furthermore, it was unknown whether even a single person in all of Asterion had achieved such a state.
The 15th minor realm in question was called the...
Heavenly Gate!
It was a state so grand that even the Heavenly geniuses of old craved it with every fiber of their being!
But, as for all things related to gaining power above everyone else, a sacrifice had to be made.
The sacrifice to achieve the Heavenly Gate Realm required you to temper every part of your body ten times over!
That might seem like no big deal, but spending at least ten times the amount of time progressing through the body refinement stage could mean life or death for some geniuses.
It was an amount of time where your peers could easily surpass you in realm and suppress you…
There was only a difference in power of around three times when refining each of your body parts once like everyone else or refining each body part ten times over—a meager amount like a three-time increase in power could be surpassed with a mere Mortal technique being practiced to a certain point.
It was only when you unlocked the Heavenly Gate that your combat power soared exponentially!
Most geniuses wouldn't even be given the chance to completely refine their bodies ten times and open the Heavenly Gate before they were eventually suppressed by those around them and, in more extreme cases, killed by those they called their peers.
.......
WAAaa...
The Qi storm finally started to calm down as it appeared that the little prince had reached his limit…
The Qi still had the urge to come closer and closer to the little prince to be absorbed, but it knew on some natural instinct that the baby could absorb no more—for now, that was.
'Aiii~, it looks like my limit has been reached.' The little prince began with a content smile. 'It took hours to reach this point, but that time spent will all be worth it once I begin absorbing all the Qi I just gained.'
The little prince's thoughts ended on a high note before he actively used the Qi he just acquired to temper his muscles.
......
He tried to learn how to control the Qi to go where he wanted it to, which he soon achieved after a few attempts.
Following such an accolade, he directed the Qi to go toward the muscles in his arms.
And after a few minutes of trying, it eventually worked!
HUMM!
His arm muscles started to heat up and gain a slight glow as they got stronger and stronger.
Although he couldn't test this strength just yet due to his small infant form, he could still savor the fact that he was getting stronger!
What the little prince had wanted since the earliest years of his past life was finally starting to come to fruition!
......
Following the first tempering session of his muscles, he directed the Qi he had stored to all muscles in his body to get an all-round strength gain.
He didn't want to end up like those insane gym bros with huge arms and twigs for every other part of their body...
*Shiver!*
The little prince shuddered at the mere thought of developing a build like that.
However, such thoughts faded out into the vicissitudes of time as he continued his cultivation journey.
.....
The deepest depth of a dimly lit cave in the Great Wildlands Forest had a flash of light go through it before the figure of a baby in his swaddle was seen when the light died out.
'I have managed to fully temper every muscle in my body, but one round of tempering is not enough to satisfy me, now is it?'
The little prince sported a power-hungry smile as he thought of gaining even more strength!
Following such an achievement, the little prince started to temper his muscles once again.
........
Do note that the process of tempering your body was not a painless one, nor was it a simple and easy one.
Going against the norm to achieve something more would never not come without a price, but the little prince could hardly care about the pain when he was so looking forward to the power he would gain after this experience!
The Young Prince stopped caring about the pain he had to go through to acquire more power after the 'unfortunate accident' he went through in his past life...
He was willing to pay any price!