"What exactly do you mean by this foundation? What good does it do to have one?" Yin Lian asked. She knew what it was, but just never understood what it meant to have a strong foundation.
And the Will, ever helpful, explained, "The short answer is, in essence, how smoothly one progresses through their cultivation. The long answer is a bit more complicated than that thought."
"I'll listen." Yin Lian said in a begrudging tone, unhappy that she was still confined here for the foreseeable future, but still understanding that the more she knew about all of this, the better.
"Mmm, it's good that you're willing to listen and learn, it means that you are capable of knowing when to take a step back, which will be important if you want to get the revenge you seek."
Upon hearing that she could better obtain revenge, the girls focus became more astute.
"The reason it is good to have a good foundation is because if you don't it will one day collapse. It's like making a tower. If the foundations aren't strong enough to support the weight of said tower, eventually it will fall over and collapse. Cultivation is the same, you need a sturdy foundation to reach the pinnacle."
Yin Lian nodded sternly up into the echoing ceiling of the chamber she was in, as she just felt that it was right to assume that that's where the voice of the Inheritance's Will was coming from, and that this being was a high and mighty deity to her, so almost she felt that she had to look up.
Not to mention this being was basically her benefactor, someone that she would have to kneel and kowtow to, like it was her father. It essentially was as it had been raising her for the past year and a half.
"This is why I had you open your Meridians over such a wide period of time, that way, your body would be able to properly adapt to these changes."
"So, how strong is my foundation?" Yin Lian asked with a raised brow, wondering how well build it was.
"I'm glad you asked. It's always best to know everything that you can to make the most of what you have. As for how strong it actually is? Let me check."
Yin Lian couldn't see, but she imagined that the Will had a smile on its face, if it even had one. And as it finished speaking, she felt something invade her body.
It didn't feel uncomfortable by any means, it was just a foreign force entering her body before it left after less than a minute.
Once it left, the Will gave an answer, along with an explanation.
"You have a Pure foundation, which is the highest that it can be for a mortal. The stages of a foundation's strength range from Unstable, to Stable which has three levels, then to Solid which also has three levels, and after that is Strong, which again, has three levels."
"Above all of that is a Pure foundation, which means there are no blemishes in your Meridians. What this ultimately means is that your cultivation will be as smooth as can be. Do take to mind that this can be damaged by outside forces or taking a misstep in your cultivation path."
"I understand. Do I still have to space thing out though? I'm bored just sitting here." Although the little girl understood the importance of all of this, she was still a child.
A child brimming with enough energy to run several kilometres without issue. But still a child nonetheless. And without anything to properly stimulate her mind, which was much clearer and unclouded by pure hatred and a desire for revenge, she was bored.
*Sigh* "I understand your plight little one, but I can't let you go out into the world like this. You're still highly unprepared. I'm sorry that there's nothing else for you to do here. I wasn't exactly expecting a child to come tumbling down here."
That last line a clear jab at how Yin Lian arrived here but she didn't seem offended by it. Most likely because she couldn't see the underlying tone of the words said.
Either way, her frustrations grew for a completely different reason this time, that being her unstimulated mind.
The only reason she had so vehemently followed the Wills words so far was because she had been blinded by the prospect of revenge that she would do anything and everything to achieve it.
But now that nearly all of those intense emotions were stuck inside of her Asura Meridian, her mind had reverted back to that more like a child.
The girl crossed her arms and pouted in frustration as she started to act like a true child, and would refuse to do anything that involved sitting down and cultivation. She would continue to do this until she felt like cultivating again.
The Will just sighed again as it saw and knew exactly what she was doing and going to do no matter what it asked of her.
"Fine, we can postpone the next stage of setting up your cultivation foundation." But it gave in since it knew it could not win against her when she was like this.
However something the Will said caught her attention, "Wait, you mean my foundation isn't finished yet? I thought you said it was?"
"I may have said as such, but that's only so far. Opening your meridians is only one part of setting your foundations. The other is opening your Dantian's. Once that's done, your foundation for your future will truly be set in stone."
Despair filled Yin Lian's eyes as a realisation hit her. "Just how long will I be cultivating for?" The prospect of getting stronger was intriguing, but the fact that she would have to sit in a spot to do so was the thing that made her shudder and recoil in disgust.
"Let's not focus on that for now. Instead, why don't we decide what weapon you want to use to end the lives of your enemies, just as they did to you."
Like a child, Yin Lian easily fell into the Will's trap, getting excited at choosing what her weapon at last.
She immediately rushed in the direction of where the weapons were being displayed. It didn't take long for her to get there, as she knew roughly where it was and what direction it was in.
When she got there though, she was actually faced with actually having to figure out what she wanted to use.
And the fact that she had to choose with no basis on what she should choose stumped her.
"Uhh… What do I choose?" Although excited, there was still an overwhelming sense of dread welling up inside of her, because whatever weapon she chose to use, would have to stick with her for the rest of her life.
"That is something only you can decide. Feel free to play around with them all though, just try not to get hurt and be aware of your surroundings." The Will advised vaguely, leaving the decision up to her.
For the next few days, she spent all her time swinging and getting a feel for the weapons, trying each and every one of them.
There were different styles of weapons, from blunt, bladed, piercing and some other nonconventional weapons, and she tried each and every one of them.
But still she couldn't determine which one she wanted.
She wanted something that would allow her to easily kill her enemies and possibly torture them. That got rid of most of the available choices, leaving her with mostly a bunch of swords and such along with a couple of the more unconventional weapons that were here.
"Have you reached a roadblock?" The Will asked, mostly out of politeness rather than actually curiosity.
Yin Lian grumbled and responded, "Out of all of these, I'm not sure which one I should pick. Probably a sword or something along those lines. But I don't know how to choose… I want some advice."
"Hmm… Some advice…" The Will went quiet and thought for a moment on what kind of advice it should give.
The reason it was so hesitant was because this was a choice that only the person themselves could make. If it had to give advice, it would have to be vague enough to make them think about it.
"Look for… Something that you can imagine will help slay your enemies… With coldblooded efficiency."
That was the best it could think of. It probably could've come up with something better with enough time, but the Will wanted to get the young girl's foundation set properly.
This included opening one's Dantian's. The sooner the better, otherwise one's foundations might have a crack in them, which could be a huge problem later on in their life.
Once they were open, their foundation wouldn't be able to crumble unless crippled or other sinister forces caused as such.
_
_
_
Another day had passed since the Will had given it's extremely vague and cryptic advice, but Yin Lian had managed to turn it into something helpful.
By envisioning the two bastards that ended her life and brought her here, and killing them with each weapon.
And by doing this, she had found the weapon she desired.