Chapter ten :
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Mai headed into the forest as soon as she left the library, as secretly as she had entered. Irin set off as well, leaving Mai alone to think about the legend that had stuck in her mind.
How similar it was to her previous world and the greed that blinded man, made her shiver.
But that was her hope, maybe she would discover her problem.
While she was in captivity, when she was a half-dragon, she was always listening to the mortals talking around her.
They were discussing their desire to gain power, authority, and live long. Of course, immortal cultivation was the means. In a world where monsters and humans competed for ascension, their cultivation paths and strength differed.
In her memory, not from experience but from what she had heard, Immortal Cultivation consisted of 10 known stages: Qi Refining, Qi Construction, Golden Core, Nascent Soul, Primordial Soul, Four Axes, Integration, Dormition, Rebirth, and Nirvana.
Humans collect the essence of the soul according to certain concepts.
While monsters farming method differs and they basically represent explosions.
The inner cores of the beasts concentrate the soul essence within them before causing an explosion.
All monster methods are based on the following principle:
The spirit essence of heaven and earth rotates like yin and yang and forms Taiji.
The essence of the beast method is to forcefully rotate the Taiji inside the inner core, smashing it together to create an explosion.
While Yin and Yang explode upon collision, they also instantly achieve harmony and stability, ensuring the safety of practicing the beast methods even though it may be painful.
Eternal cultivation advances in stages along with the expansion of awareness and training in its methods.
It was the methods of awareness that clicked in her mind as she thought about her past life.
But she was not sure because all her knowledge was questionable because she had not personally tested it, especially the methods of awareness.
She started preparing herself mentally for her first experience, excited and anxious, but she decided to be brave.
She has never trained before so she needs to learn the basics.
To control consciousness you need to enter a state of deep meditation. In this state, the mind becomes clearer, and the consciousness can separate from the physical body and become in a state of absolute calm and concentration.
The body must be in a state of deep relaxation so that it is easy for the consciousness to detach itself from physical limitations and reach a state of connection with the soul.
Then adopt deep, calm breathing techniques. Breathing should be slow and directed so that it clears the mind of daily thoughts and allows it to reach a deeper meditative state.
Focusing attention on a single point or mental image, such as the center of the forehead, which represents the "third eye," can make it easier to enter into a state of meditation.
The attempts were repeated once, twice, three times, and more...
With every attempt, there is only failure.
Failure after failure and failure continues.
It did not work, it did not achieve the desired state.
Bitter failures are repeated and accumulated.
It's cruel, shameful and frustrating.
It will break her down physically, mentally and emotionally.
Yes, she finally made her fall into a deep sleep.
Mai woke up late in the afternoon, realizing how exhausted she had been.
She may be an incarnate being who has lived a long life estimated at hundreds or thousands of years, but she is still in the body of a child and no matter how mature her thinking is based on what she has seen through her memories, she is still a child mentally and psychologically.
That was enough to force herself to take some rest and enjoy the rest of her day.
In the evening, Stella visited her to check on her and told her that she had to join the training in two weeks.
Her day ended with her going back to sleep and getting more rest.
When she woke up in the morning, she felt refreshed so she decided to practice meditation with a clear mind.
It worked, all the steps were correct.
Eventually her growing joy distracted her from her meditation, but she succeeded, her quest was crowned with success.
After verifying that she had mastered the principle once again, she decided to move on to the next step.
Mai began to draw the twelve symbols with her own consciousness and will.
The process is difficult as the mind is trained to register certain spiritual symbols, corresponding to the energies of the soul, at a deeper level than visual and auditory memory.
During this stage, the cultivator experiences intense physical and mental pain due to the pressures he is putting on his mind to change his mental structure. These symbols require constant concentration, and may lead to headaches or a feeling of pressure on the brain due to the intense energies the cultivator is trying to absorb.
It didn't work but she found out her mistake.
Symbols are keys to open the channels of mental energy. They can only be drawn in parallel with the practice of immortal cultivation. It is necessary to be a cultivator who possesses spiritual qi.
Mai was practicing the initial stages of cultivation, which she discovered required reaching a meditative state.
It's a good thing that she has already practiced it, she can now walk her way smoothly.
Mai began to open her spiritual roots; she had the roots of the five elements but their quality was not poor unlike usual where the fewer the elements the faster the cultivation, of course she did not know that.
Next is the creation of the law-transforming dantian that beasts do not need. Unlike the insanely complicated way of humans, the way of beasts is as simple as leaving it to instinct.
She senses and absorbs the essence of the soul, starting with the fire element as it is the closest to her having been a fire dragon previously.
There are nine barriers, Mai didn't hesitate to break them one by one.
This stage is called Qi-refining and consists of 9 levels, each barrier represents a level, and the transition to the next is made after the qi stabilizes in the first.
She was in isolation for 5 days and reached level 4, fast progress but she has no idea.
Now she can continue drawing, after eating some food.
Three days passed, without proper rest, she finished drawing most of the engravings, eleven to be exact.
At a rate of six on the first day, three on the second day and two on the last day.
These symbols are engraved on the brain in a gradual manner. At first, the symbols are simple, and as training progresses, they become more complex and profound. Each symbol refers to a different realm of the soul, which confirms that engraving the symbols is not simple and requires understanding.
The more inscriptions, the higher the difficulty.
She was planning to draw the twelfth inscription on the fourth day but she received a summons from her grandfather and had to go.
There were many faces gathered in what looked like a reception hall and she didn't bother trying to identify them.
Stella also stands on the side of the wall, accompanied by Irin.
"Mai, come here."
Grandfather pulled her and sat her on the sofa in front of him.
It wasn't solid wood, it was a luxurious sofa covered in soft fabric, strange to see in an ancient tribal village deep in the jungle.
Mai felt something strange in the air, as if something important was being discussed, but despite her curiosity, she chose to remain silent, hoping that the next moment would reveal the reason behind this sudden meeting.
Maybe it's time to tell her what really happened after the accident and how she was saved.
But, oh my, it turned into an interrogation session. Do you remember this and do you remember that? Look who this is? Have you met this person before? Don't you remember who he is?
Mai answered the first few questions but her feeling of discomfort slowly built up.
Why was this session held, you ask? Well, it seems she hasn't been causing much trouble lately so Grandpa was worried about her memory, if she hasn't fully recovered it or if her personality has changed. That's why.
So why not make a mess? She vented her frustration in every way she could think of and left after letting a few words behind :
"Don't waste my time, or else..." She left the ending to their imagination.
In the end, Mai gained a useful piece of information, perhaps.
Her grandfather's name appears to have been Vladimir Balingia and her mother's name was Beatrice Balingia.
Also her grandfather seems to be a womanizer and had many wives and sons who were killed by her mother, scary, but these are the rules of the tribe, nothing out of the ordinary. It's kill or be killed, that's how the heir is determined when there's only one child left. Balingia will only fall into the hands of the worthiest.
In the end her mother died and the heir to the tribe is now her mysterious relative who somehow survived. She's glad she won't fall into this predicament, she has enough problems and no need for more.
On the other hand, they came to a conclusion, the culprit is none other than Irin.
They seemed to get along well during this period and it seems that Irin's personality affected her, for better or worse.
Mai went back to her room and continued her training, finally finishing the last engraving. Her strength was gone and she fell asleep again.