After that little incident, he went back to his cultivation. At his level, there’s very little he could do, except cultivate. Only with strength, one can do more.

So, 20 days later, he reached pinnacle 1-star, and by then, his soul began to shape quite like an enlarged larger sphere. He was fascinated.

Qi Cultivated

8,005/10,000

Qi Output Limit

60

Qi Storage

300/300

Core Toughness

900/900

Although he had the experience and memories of cultivating for centuries, and all that challenge it entailed, this was still a new experience. A core built with intersecting pillars which supported the spherical outer layer.

In many ways, it made so much sense. Seriously how did they never think of it? Their world had a few thousands, no, tens of thousands of years of history. Cultivators had existed since those early days, and no one ever thought of this method? Surely that cannot be true! Likewise, maybe somewhere in this world is someone who practiced the cultivation methods of their own world. Surely it is also logical to expect Qi, a flowing, naturally fluid object to behave like water and so shape the core like onions?

These kinds of thoughts were extremely distracting, but it was something he also enjoyed. It’s like tasting a new flavor for the first time.

“Good progress. The next step is a bit harder, breaking through to the 2-star requires you to form the layer, and then letting the weight of the layer rest on your pillars. If it fails, everything might collapse. If it succeeds, the pillars will hold the weight.” Elder Qing said. She took quite an interest in Mingwei, seeing that it’s her first junior disciple in a long, long while.

Pillars.

But are pillars alone really the answer? He looked at buildings and houses all around the Sect, and noticed they all have horizontal beams, not just vertical pillars. Should he add horizontal beams before adding the layer?

He thought long and hard at this, but eventually he decided he wanted to see how things go. He still had time.

So, another 11 days later, he reached 10,000 Qi. The amount necessary for the next layer. He formed the layer in his soul, and then he rested it on the pillars.

It shook. And he felt the pain. No! He saw the layer crack.

It wasn’t going to hold!

The layers collapsed and fell on the pillars!

His cultivation regressed back to middle 1-star and lost 30% of the Qi gathered!

Qi Cultivated

7,000/10,000

Qi Output Limit

40

Qi Storage

300/300

Core Toughness

500/500

If this was in his past world, all of them would look at themselves in shame. They were all at least 7-stars, and they failed at breaking through 2-star? They would be so ashamed they’d never tell anyone of this story!

He nursed his wounds for five days. It hurt!

“Huh, you failed to break through?” Elder Qing was quite surprised that he failed.

He nodded. “Yes. Somehow the layout of my pillars was insufficient.”

“Hmmm... that is a balancing act. Too many pillars, and your layer will sure hold, but then your Qi Storage will be impaired.”

This failure must be a lesson for him. Surely, failure is a lesson from the fates itself.

He sat and thought about the beams again. No, even though the world has a certain way of doing things, he had to trust his own instincts and knowledge. He needed the horizontal beams, and he would prepare them for the next layer. So, he went back to cultivating, and this time, he would try it.

It is like building a series of curved bridges. He had to distribute the pressure from the layer around. His knowledge and instinct told him this was necessary. This was why his past world built the layers in circular rings!