Dressed in fresh robes, Tim stared at the pile of food stacked in front of him with a vacant expression. He was too busy pondering over the implications of what he had just read to spare it any attention. To think he was so concerned with the exact definition of cultivation, he didn't even consider that he already was doing it this entire time.

It was slightly bugging him all this while, he couldn't understand why levelling up in itself didn't seem to provide him with any tangible benefits. All it did was help him absorb more spiritual energy from the surroundings, which the system utilised to augment his attribute of choice. After his attributes were enhanced, most of the energy gathered near his stomach dissipated. In simpler terms, the energy of all creation was something that Tim had no way to utilize.

Now though, Tim had a far greater understanding of the process of cultivation. The key lied in the difference between harnessing and controlling. Though initially the terms may seem deceptively similar depending on one's perspective, there was a wide chasm between the two when it came to understanding the nature of the energies of all creation.

Cultivation was the process of harnessing the power of all creation to strengthen the body, mind and soul. By continuously cycling the energies of all creation through one's body, over a long period of time one would find certain aspects to have been augmented depending on their cultivation technique.

However, this was cultivation before the system's debut in the multiverse. The post system era could be termed as a renaissance, albeit one painted in blood. Every living creature inhabiting a planet with a world spark was naturally reinforced by the energies of all creation. Upon killing another creature or cultivator, usually their accumulation of the energy of all creation would dissipate back into the atmosphere.

The system....coaxed this energy to be cycled back into the one who killed another, preventing any 'waste' of resources in a manner. Now there was a much simpler alternative to gaining power, one that soon gained popularity.

Much to Tim's relief however, the system was neither omnipotent nor omniscient. Instead of breaking the natural edicts of the multiverse, it had to find loopholes around them. For what reason, the book did not mention. That was the good part. Perhaps it didn't hear him cursing at it, after all.

The bad part..... Tim wondered why there always had to be a bad part. Well, it wasn't anything particularly life threatening but it certainly didn't seem like an enjoyable process. The natural edicts did not allow one to attain power so easily. For one to progress a rank, they had to go through three minor tribulations and one major tribulation.

From what Tim understood, a tribulation was the natural edicts testing him, deeming whether he was worthy of the power he sought to wield or not. There was not much else mentioned about tribulations, except the themes of the first three ranks.

Much to his chagrin, the first tribulation's theme was the 'mind'. It was irritating, but for all he knew it would be completely different from what he imagined. Or it won't, but it still didn't matter. He was tired of running away from his problems, whatever the system threw at him he'd take by the horns. 

'Well, whatever. It's time I try out that Dao fruit anyway" thought Tim, slightly miffed.

Tim decided to submerge the lower half of his body in the hot spring, trying to calm himself as much as he could for what was to come. That, and the high density of spiritual energy in the hot spring made him feel a lot more comfortable.

He took the fruit out, looking at its beautiful visage one last time before taking a large bite out of it. He felt a soft sensation envelop his body, and a few moments later the area around him was shrouded by thick mists. If speed was the first thing that came to his mind when Tim thought about the wind, then for the mists it was permeance. It's almost illusory nature, being able to obstruct sight without physical impediment, fascinated Tim as he thought about the practical usage.

If the wind was straightforward and relentless, then the mists were deceptive and treacherous. A blade that was coming for his neck, could still be parried. But if one's sight could no longer be relied on, surviving would be a far more challenging endeavour.

Tim got up and composed himself. If he wanted to truly utilize the Dao of the mists, he had to act as if he were one with the mists. His movements had to be nimble and in concert with the tempo of the mists that surrounded him, completely concealing his location.

Slowly, he tried to use a large cloud of mist as cover, straining his high agility and using a sequence of odd movements to try and erase his presence. A few minutes later, Tim could no longer keep up. He found it absurd, the movement of mists were not dictated by any discernible pattern, how was he supposed to keep up?

Perhaps try to influence it via the wind? Tim thought that would work, but unfortunately the moment he tried to use two dao's at once he felt like he would collapse from the immense pressure, hurriedly cancelling it.

"Think. Think. It can't be reliant on another Dao for it to work. There has to be another way."

Over an hour had passed, but Tim's efforts continued to fail. The only logical answer left was that he had to exert his dominion on the mists as he did with the wind. Unfortunately, it was as if Indranath had cursed him, his words had turned out to be mostly true. The bitter truth was that Tim didn't seem to have a great affinity for the Dao of Mists, perhaps only a desperate fight could awaken it. Or perhaps a Dao Treasure, if he could acquire one.

However, every cloud has its silver lining. Perhaps Tim couldn't use both his abilities at the same time, and neither could he utilize the Dao of Mists due to his limited understanding.

What he could do though, was summon a field of mists. Few would be stupid enough to fight with their sight restricted, even mythical beasts would be hesitant. A last ditch effort though it may be, perhaps it would save his life one day.

"Never thought I'd see the day. Me an optimist, huh" he wryly thought.