That night, his past lives’ thoughts and memories flooded his mind. This world cultivated quite differently, and it made sense now why their aura and Qi felt different! Their internal structure, which meant the shape of their layers were entirely different, the aura emitted is naturally different!

But, this difference was now a risk. If he used the cultivation methods of his old world, he would clearly be detected by the agents of the Devourer Dragon before he would be able to defend himself. He pondered whether that was just overthinking, but when the memories of the betrayals resurfaced, he felt certain that the Devourer’s agents have already infiltrated this world and have begun their work of ‘sweetening’ the land.

The good thing was, aura doesn’t appear until 4-star, so he theoretically could still use the old world’s cultivation methods without detection. But he didn’t know how well those two styles of cultivation methods worked together, so it may well be just better to go with this world’s cultivation methods and blend in.

He thought for a long time about the wheel and spokes concept, and he had the memories of all those master cultivators and craftsmen enter his mind. Sure, they were not combat focused, but they were all at least 7-star, some even 8-star or 9-star, so they still had tremendous comprehension of their original world’s cultivation methods.

It could work. No. It can work, and it has worked. This world is clearly using it. But how high did they go?

“What’s the highest ranked cultivator?” Mingwei asked the next morning. Mother was about to leave in two days for another town.

“Hmmm... debatable! There are plenty of hidden masters and ancestors who’ve reached great heights but have since withdrawn from the world. But publicly, the Sect Master of the Grand Falls Sect and the Sect Master of the Heaven Sword Sect are both pinnacle 9-star cultivators. Perhaps they will discover whether it’s possible to build the 9th layer and be the first 10th star cultivator!”

Mingwei nodded. This was important. That means this world’s cultivation method is just as good as the one’s in their world, because both worlds have pinnacle 9-star cultivators, and trying out this world’s cultivation method was something Mingwei should do. If their cultivation methods are so different, there must be some profound truth to their way of cultivation that their old world has never grasped.

“Surely there are more than that?” Mingwei asked because two pinnacle 9-star cultivators weren’t much.

Mother nodded. “Of course, of course. There’s rumours that a few sect masters are also at the same stage, but everyone’s hiding their cards.”

Ah, that was something Mingwei nodded. Cultivation sects and wars are inseparable. It is perhaps the nature of mortals. Just as sects bring people together, wars tear people apart, in many ways, these two must come together.

“So, do you want to be a cultivator like me?” Mother asked. Mingwei nodded.

“I do, but I’ll be a craft-focused cultivator.”

“Oh...”

Mingwei leaned on his mother’s shoulders. “Tell me more about the world, mommy.” That wasn’t Mingwei’s past selves. That act of intimacy with his mother came genuinely from his 10-year old self, who’s happy to see his mom pay attention to him.

His mother beamed. “Sure!”

Mother explained about their city, the Green Snow City, of the Green Insect Blade Sect that ruled this town. Nominally, Green Snow City, and many other cities, are part of the Red Imperial Central Kingdom, ruled by the Redgold Emperor. But, the Emperor’s powers are derived from the many sects under his command, so the large Sect Masters frequently have incredible sway over nations, and are in practice, ‘Kings’ of their respective domains. Though, because cultivators often have to enter cultivation for whatever reason, these Sects would appoint administrators and magistrates to run the country on their behalf.

Their uncle was one such person, a nominee and representative of the Red Tiger Temple, and he is the head magistrate of the West Tigerriver City, where Mingwei’s elder brother and fourth brother also worked as administrators and assistants.

Again, this concept was not lost on Mingwei. His past selves have frequently done similar things, and Sects frequently require talent capable of managing land and cities well, because the wealth of the domain feeds into the Sect’s resources. A large populace means a large supply of future disciples, and so, expands the military force at the Sect’s disposal.

Mother then expanded on the elements, and that there is some variation, but generally, earth, metal and wood are considered the stronger elements. Again, something for Mingwei to think about.

But, he then directed his mother to explain about the cultivation methods. He sat and listened extensively about the wheel and spoke concept, and though it was clear mother's understanding of cultivation concept was middling, it was sufficient for Mingwei to gain an overview of how they cultivated.

That night, he considered his options, and digested the methods of this world. He understood enough of it that he felt confident to construct his Qi-core.

He closed his eyes, and sensed the presence of Qi. It is ever present, and indeed, the same. But he gained from Mother's lecture, and he was keen to try. The core, fundamentally, was the same.

He felt Qi enter and leave his body. Qi is everywhere, and passes through everything.

The core is the essence of every cultivator, it is the battery, the store, the key, the receptacle, the linchpin, the health bar.

Qi. He remembered his past lives, the concept of a dense core with the textures of tofu. Solid but flexible, moveable.

No. That was the old world’s way. This world used a rigid, solid core. He tried to grab the Qi that entered his body, to condense it into a solid block. Mother described it as little bricks, condensed. In their old world, the concept of a rigid block was deemed as entirely illogical. Qi is ever present and flowing, to force it into a rigid form? How?

He tried. He tried to hold the Qi in place but it struggled. Qi wants to flow, how did their concept of a rigid core actually work? He tried for a bit, but he decided it was best to ask his mother.

“Mother, can you tell me about the rigid core again? How do you actually make the core?”

Mother perked up at the talk of cultivation and sat down next to him. “Oh? You’ve tried?” She smiled and sat next to him. “A triangle.”

“A triangle?”

“Yes. One of the first tasks to form a rigid core, is to bind four specks of Qi into a triangular pyramid.”

Mingwei paused, and he digested that statement for a while. Back home, what they did was form the Qi specks into circular rings, and each of those rings are free to move. “But won’t the Qi struggle?”

“Yes it will, but a triangle is strong, and the bonds between them will hold.” Mother briefly took a clump of dirt and formed it into a small triangular pyramid, a tetrahedron. “This is the building blocks of our core. Forming this block is the first step. You may have to distort the triangles every now and then, but this is it.”

Mingwei just sat.

“Try it?”

“Yes.” Mingwei nodded and retreated back to his room. He closed his eyes again, and sensed the Qi entering his body through all the meridians. The 5 core meridians, the Mind, The Heart, The Core, the Arm and the Limb.

Qi. He had neutral meridians, and no particular gift for any element. But that’s fine. Qi. He sensed it, ever present. The density of Qi in his home was normal.

Once the Qi entered his body, his soul was able to interact with it, and so, he reached to it, and pulled. The Qi moved, and it wriggled. Back home, it’s not uncommon to describe Qi like flowing water.

He grabbed another speck of Qi. Now there’s 2 in his Core. He connected them. In a way, each speck of Qi is like a white blob, and what he did was he pulled at each of the blobs so a strand of it came out, and he tied the two specks of Qi together. In their world, multiple specks would be connected to form a ring. In their world, it’s all about flow, about forming the Qi specks into a chain of rings, bundled together into a core, like using rubber bands to form a ball. This meant the ball is rather flexible, because the rings are moveable. In truth, because the way the Qi specks was bound into a ring, the entirety of the core really behaved like jelly or tofu.

The Qi didn’t like it, so it struggled. But a triangle. He pulled another speck of Qi. Again, he did something similar, he pulled at the blob, and a strand came out. Then he joined the ends, forming a triangle. Back home, some cultivators formed their Qi-rings by adding to this triangle.

Now this is where things are different. He sat, and he pulled a fourth speck. Instead of adding to the triangle, he manipulated it to position, and pulled three strands out, connecting this fourth speck to the first three.

Then, something he didn’t expect happened.

All the four Qi specks suddenly pulled together, as if something sucked them inwards, and the strands became thicker.

A triangular pyramid formed. Solid, and the Qi didn’t struggle that much.

“This has never happened before.” He sat, and he wondered why. So many genius cultivators in their world, none of them had tried something like this? Or is this event only something that happens when one starts to form the core?

Confused, he pulled more Qi specks, and did things their old way. A ring of Qi specks, formed from 6 qi specks. Indeed, it didn’t pull together, and behaved like what he expected.

The ring floated in his soul. “Weird.” But clearly this world’s rigid cultivation methods had merits.

So, now that he had one triangular pyramid and one ring. He tried gathering Qi specks again, but this time, using the ring and the pyramid to store them. He wanted to see how it worked.

The pyramid didn’t store QI specks. It was small and rigid, and it had a repelling effect. That was new to Mingwei. The ring contained Qi specks, it acted like a fence. The ring would spin and the Qi specs would be bound inside.

He now had so many questions. If the pyramid repelled Qi specks, then how did this world store the Qi specks? Isn’t the Qi specks the fuel of all Qi methods?

“Oh you’re moving quickly. Well, the answer is, make a lot of the little pyramids, and join them together into a sphere. You would have to start with a central pyramid as the core, and then slowly you would stack the pyramids outwards, kind of like a spike or wheel, and then build your core. Then the Qi specks would enter via the gaps, and be stored inside!”

Mother was quite impressed by Mingwei’s questions, but MIngwei was too oblivious at this time to notice it. But it now made sense. On their own, these pyramids do not store Qi specks, but together, in the right shape, they could. This was a different concept from the spinning rings that fenced in Qi.

But then... could he meld the two concepts together? These triangles into spinning rings?

It’s possible, but he decided not to. He didn’t know the effects at the higher stars. He could possibly redo his entire cultivation once he gained sufficient comprehension of this world’s methods, but for now, he decided, it was best to first follow the well trodden path set by this world’s experts.

So, he tugged on that first triangular pyramid, and then pulled it really close to his core. His soul. In the old world, the ring would encapsulate the soul, but here, it was this pyramid at it’s very center. That very action caused the pyramid to shrink even more, but then, it was firmly rigid now. It didn’t shake or wriggle at all!

He broke the ring of Qi specks he made earlier apart, and with a bit of twisting, made it into another triangle. Then he added it to that central piece. When two pyramids were arranged correctly, the 2nd pyramid would also stop moving.

He was really impressed. Was there a profound truth like this that no one in their entire world realised? Is it because this was at the very start of cultivation, so no one tried something different at this point?

What other assumptions their old world held sacred and are considered laws that should be challenged? Surely, this isn’t another way, there may be ways other than this.

Still, slowly... and he ran out of Qi.

He had to gather Qi. That’s also one step of cultivation. Gathering Qi. 10 specks a day. That was simply because he didn’t really practice any proper cultivation technique, so these 10 Qi kind of just ‘drifted’ into his body. If he remembered correctly, back in their world, it took 1,000 Qi to form a proper core.

He closed his eyes, and tried to calm his breathing. Qi. In order to gather Qi, one has control and open all the 5 core meridians. Meridians are the inlets and outlets of Qi, so opening them will improve Qi gathering. Each sect practiced different methods of absorbing Qi and their inlets, though they are all derived from the same root.

“Maybe this world’s way would be different.” Mingwei stopped, and asked his mother to demonstrate her Qi gathering technique.

As he watched, he was relieved to still discover it was not different. It’s still gathering via the meridians, the way of breathing and gathering were close. He probed, whether there were any variations in how the cultivators opened their meridians.

His mother just smiled, “Wow, since when did you become so knowledgeable?”

“Oh... I overheard...” Mingwei quickly backtracked.

“Ah. Maybe your brother. Anyway, perhaps there is some variation, but most of us don’t do anything major to our meridians. I heard only 5th or 6th star cultivators need to focus on their meridians.”

Mingwei paused. Again, was this a sacred law? No. Maybe not. If he had the time, he should see whether this was also something that could be changed. For now, he will take the well trodden path.

“I’m going away tomorrow, so you be good, okay? I asked your brother to take you there, if you’re interested to join the next Sect Trials.”

“Oh...” Mingwei sat and thought about it for a moment. It was a difficult thing, to be in a sect with an elder brother. If one overshadows the elder brother, that would be terrible for their family dynamic. “I think I want to join a different sect.”

“Ah.” Mother seemed to have understood the problem quite quickly. “Fine, next time when you are ready, let me know. You can travel with us to another city.”

Mingwei nodded and bowed politely. “Thank you, mother.”