Cave residence in a hill in Green Blade Dragon Sect.

The cave residence he was given was apparently one belonging to a dead elder; the very one that died in the caravan that found his coffin. Aryon felt a little guilty about that fact, but only a little bit.

Because he finally had some privacy.

The elders said that the residence was not furnished enough ‘for a lord such as reverend’s status’ and sent for furniture and items to be placed inside. During those few hours he was bombarded praise, questions and subtle requests that he simply waved off.

After all the items had been placed, he asked for a bit of ‘alone time’ and sealed the cave entrance away.

Now alone, he could finally focus on his objectives.

‘Starting with the most important:’ he recounted in his mind ‘Return to Tarminas, establish contact with Tarminas, secure self and the Staff, create a safe place to stay, learn about the locals, give aid to hosts.’

He had tried the first and second objectives in the usual way, to no avail. Teleportation and its variations had no effect. Neither did his methods of communication garner a response.

‘Why isn’t it working?’ he thought. It couldn’t be distance; the reach of these spells was said to be infinite. ‘Something, or someone, must be blocking me then.’

If that was the case, then he had a few ideas on how to breach such barriers. But that needed some time to prepare.

‘I might as well move down the list.’

Aryon spent the next two days noting down his spells, his resources, his reagents and his gear as well as experimenting with his craftsmanship.

He made a big discovery on the first day, when he was doing a focused examinations.

‘The magic here… is so -pure-. So -plentiful-...’

Magic existed everywhere, but in his lands the levels of mana in the air was never this high. Even in Tarminas, which was located near a locus of power, had slightly lower amounts of magic than here. It was no wonder that the spell he used on that bandit crushed his chest.

It may seem like a paradise for a mage, but Aryon knew better.

‘“Places of magic breed monsters” as the old saying goes. I saw many strange beasts along the way: parodies of the livestock in my kingdom. Could this land be so saturated in magic that the wildlife had been twisted?’

If there were no Towers here in this land, it may be in danger of facing a beastflood as the legends said.

But he put these thoughts at the back of his mind. ‘Let’s finish my lists firsts, then begin brushing up on the local culture.’

Just outside the cave residence..

Feng Yan sat in a lotus position before the imposing figure of Aryon. The armoured figure circled around him with a scroll in hand, muttering.

He was surprised, and elated, when the mysterious stranger that caused quite a stir in the sect asked for him some eleven days after he settled in. “The lord wanted an assistant and named you.” said the Soul Core elder.

Though he was a little disappointed when he heard from Aryon himself that he chose him simply because 'you are of a lower rank. And I remembered your name.'

Before he was packed off to the cave he had been bombarded with requests, favors, commands and orders from outer disciples to even the grandmaster of the sect himself. The gist of it all was to never displease the lord, to follow his commands and obtain as many benefits as he could for the sect (and themselves).

“So, let me break down what we just discussed.”

Aryon placed the scroll and his hands behind his back. “Cultivation… is a quests of sorts, a process to obtain power and immortality?”

He nodded.

“And to achieve these goals, one must pass through six realms of cultivation, with each split into ten?”

Again, he nodded.

Aryon brought the scroll back in his sights, giving it a cursory glance. “Describe to me the first three of these ‘realms’.”

Feng Yan cleared his throat and spoke. “The first realm is the Spirit Gathering Realm, where practitioners first learn to turn their bodies into vessels for Spirit Energy. Mortals who begin their journey must first be able to sense the Spirit Energy found in the world and take it into themselves.”

“And to do this, they must have a… spirit vein?”

“Yes. One in two people are born with a spirit vein, with others possessing one tied to the Five Elements or special attributes. But only when they achieve the first level of Spirit Gathering Realm are they considered true cultivators. I, myself, possess the Wood spirit vein.”

“That sounds like a sorcerous bloodline, or wild magic. Continue.”

He nodded. “ The second is the Foundation Realm. With their bodies becoming receptacles for Spirit Energy, they must now temper them and remove the impurities within. Only after that can they move on to the next level.”

“That level is the Soul Core Realm, With their bodies tempered and cleansed and Spirit Energy gathered, they must now merge these factors by creating a Soul Core. The core is a manifestation of Spirit Energy located in the dantian, half-physical and half-ethereal. When the core is complete, they may attempt to nurture a Nascent Soul.”

Feng Yan took a short breath of air as he finished his recitation. Aryon nodded and took a seat on a nearby rock as he looked around the area near his cave residence in thought.

He muttered to himself, loud enough for Feng Yan to pick up. “How fascinating. I’ve never heard of such methods… though it seems to be too rooted in mysticism and theology.”

Before he could ruminate on those words, Aryon asked again. “Spirit Energy is everywhere, you say?”

“Yes. It exists in all things. It can also take different forms, such as the energy of the Five Elements, or holy and devil energy.”

“Sounds like magic to me.” he said. Feng Yan didn’t know what he meant, but he didn’t dare question the important guest. “ ‘Same thing, different name’ to put it so crudely. If that is the case...”

“One last question.” he said, stooping down a little to regard him. “Where can I find a magical beast?”