"With great power comes great responsibility" Is a classic line that almost everyone knows. It is true for the little or the small powers too. Just because you can do something doesn't mean you should. Even if it hurts no one there are still consequences, its just you can't see them yet.
The book on cultivation went over six main points, the history of the system, an introduction to cultivation, and a warning about the dangers of cultivation. The very first page had a warning to read the entire book before attempting anything described in it. It said some old proverb about learning how to walk before you try to run. Honestly, the warning felt kind of unnecessary because I would have read it before trying anything anyway.
The basic introduction to cultivation had some interesting history, some of which I had already read about. It went something like this: In the past there was a great being of the six affinities that created the solar system that we live in. The various races that inhabit it now were either born from this world or came from others like it. After an age of prosperity led by that great being, everything seemed to start to fall apart. I is due to this that much of our world's history and cultivation methods were lost. First the great being was mortally injured and was forced to retreat to the center of the world. Second a force from beyond started to invade from beyond. They were led by a hostile great being. This resulted in much of the population of the world being killed off or corrupted.
This is where the account starts to become biased. The saying history is written by the winners is very true. Of the races of the six affinities, one turned against all others. This was the dead races, or in other words the death affinitied races. This I know to not be true. My mother had the fortune to come across an ancient account of what most likely happened in some ancient ruins. Much of what happened then was lost during the battle for survival that ensued. It was not only the dead races that turned, and even then, it was only the most persecuted that turned their back on the world. A significant portion of all of the affinitied races defected to the invading side. It was due to that that many of the most powerful places and races fell.
During all of this the injured being was not idle. It had taken most of the greatest crafters and spellcasters to the core of the world with it. It then started a project that would save the world and what was left of the solar system. There was a saying that frequently popped up in the battles that had occurred off world. "When immortals fight the mortal suffer." This was very relevant to what happened next. The hostile great being made its move. From what little the races have recovered from that age; it was apparent that the entire surface of the world was purged seemingly at the same time. It was only the races that had retreated underground to the lower layers that survived. This resulted in the complete collapse of this world's defense.
It was after that that the injured great being completed his sacrifice. The last recorded message he had for us was, "Become strong my creations." That was his last message before he sacrificed himself to create the system. What exactly happened after that is frequently disagreed on because of the simple fact that no one was on the surface to witness it. All we know is that the system somehow created a massive veil around our solar system and cut us off from all outside interference. Where the enemies that were in the solar system went is still unknown to everyone. What we do know is that after a decade the system finally let us back on to the surface. It is during the reconstruction age that we truly found out what a marvel the system is. The system, as is its name, created a new systematic form of cultivation that majorly helped us to reclaim our ruined world.
The next thing the book goes over is the card cultivation that the system created. The foundation of it is two main things you awaken on your 18th birthday after you create your core. These are the core slots and the body slots. You start out with 2 core slots already created, one as your field card and the other your energy card. Then you have your six empty body slots. The first thing you need to do in order to progress your cultivation is fill up your body slots. There is one slot for each limb and one slot for your head and chest. Before you do this all professionals decide on the 'path' they want to take whether that is mage, warrior, ranger, or any other specialization out there. The paths are generalizations of the directions you want to take your abilities in. The biggest thing to note is your affinity. While all affinities can do anything some do it much better than others. For example, a blacksmith path would be best suited for fire or earth while an alchemist would be best suited for water. The path is the direction you shape your power in.
After you have decided your path, you then need to start crafting cards. The two main ways to create cards are either condensing energy until it turns into a random card or creating a card based on a known card's pattern. Every card has a pattern and as long as you have sufficient knowledge of a particular card's pattern you can replicate it. In order to create a core card, you first need to have space in your core. This space is created as your core grows. Practices like meditation, card creation, and even physical exercise can grow your core. The best thing to do before you create your next core card is to max out your stats as much as you can. This provides you a sturdy foundation through which you can base your path off of. Another way you can grow your stats is through refining your body with essence. Thanks to the system the sentient races can bathe their bodies in essence to strengthen themselves.
After you have maxed out your stats and filled all your body's card slots, you can start creating your core card. The highest rank your core slot can be is dependent on the highest card you have slotted in your body slots. This means that if you only have common cards, your core slot will also be a common card. If you were to have a single legendary card your core slot could hold a legendary card. In order to create your core card, you first have to know how many abilities it can hold. This is determined by the rarity of the card. For example, mundane cards can have up to one ability, common up to two, and so on. After you have done that, you then select the abilities you want to keep, and which ones become fuel for the core card creation. You then rip the abilities from the respective cards, combine the remnants to form the base, and merge the abilities into that base. After that you slot the core card you just created, and the body slots will return empty within a day at most.
When you have slotted the core card the system will provide you with the choice of one trait out of the three it will show you. These traits will be based on your new core card and the cards that were used to make it. This is a huge reason why it is recommended to specialize your core card. If you use a random assortment of your affinitied cards, it dilutes the trait selection with traits you won't need or want. Traits are going to be a very important part of your progression. They can provide many different bonuses depending on what trait you get.
Lastly are the dangers of cultivation. At one point the author wrote, "Cultivation can kill. I, the author, cannot stress this enough. Cultivation has killed some of my best friends, some of the most cautious and talented people I knew. They are dead. Not because they made a mistake, but because no matter what you do cultivation is dangerous. If you don't have the will to face these dangers stop now. The best advice I can give to someone who is starting out is to know your element, find teacher, or even learn from nature. Going off the beaten track is thousands of times more dangerous than following an example. Do not think you are better than the millions that have gone before you." Cultivation is dangerous. During all the examples the author was giving he was repeating that one thing. The sad part was all the propaganda. Most of the examples were where death affinitied beings went insane and caused mass destruction all around them.
Even though the book was littered with the Order's propaganda it still answered a lot of the questions I had, many of which my parents wouldn't answer because I wasn't old enough. Now that I know, I agree. If I had known about this, I would have tried it. Its magic. The fact that this will allow me to bend the laws of reality makes it very tempting. With all I had read I am ready to try to make my first card.