Right now, inside his Dantian all the particles of ‘heavy Qi’ were being rapidly drawn towards the center. That starlike glow of light created by the Seed of Life, and filled with other Heavenly Materials, had formed when Sage reached rank 4. That meant it was his foundation, and all the energy being forced into the foundation was the first step of advancing to rank 5. It was very likely it was truly starting. He quickly notified King and passed him some control over the Universe Ring. If something were to happen to him during this process and he failed, King would be needed to protect the Universe Ring and maintain communication with the Jade Horde and all the Little Birds in his absence.

It would take him a few years to recover if he failed, but the real worry was what could happen to the Heavenly Materials. If he failed and his Core didn’t form, would they be destroyed? Would he be able to reclaim them again like last time, or would they abandon him even if they survived? It was hard to tell. If he failed, then he may have to give up on the Life Nebula technique and practice a different Qi Cultivation Technique. It would probably be an improvement to actually gain control over his Dantian again, but it would likely be many times weaker.

At that point, all of the energy in his Dantian was finally collected. Not a speck of Qi was remaining, every last drop had gathered into the light. Sage put aside his thoughts of failure and focused on doing everything he could to assist his advancement. At this point he had no idea what he could do to help. He only knew that the third step required his input, the fusing of the soul into the core. As for the first or second step, he could only hope that he would know what to do when the time came.

The six Heavenly Materials within him began to shift and react. The Blue Icesilver softened, melting from a cube like crystal shape into an amorphous blob and extending tendrils outwards. The dark stone eyeball, the Eye of the World, looked to be on the verge of crying. The tears of black water gathering all over its surface. A small mote of white flame, the First Light, expanded rapidly like it was fed an accelerant, growing brighter and brighter like a tiny sun. The little blue piece of dry ice surrounded by a vortex of vapor, the Stormbreath, swallowed up its own vapor. The spinning blue mist thickened and swirled like a cocoon, completely obscuring the Stormbreath from view. A tiny cyan sphere, the Sovereign Stone, was hidden within a yellow light like a shell. The yellow light seemed to thicken, getting brighter, but not expanding its influence. It was like there was a glass shell around it that slowly reduced its transparency, looking more like a jewel than light.

Lastly, the large brown seed in the center, the Seed of Life, had a tiny crack form on its surface. The crack was quite uniform, more like a slice. Much like an aperture starting to open. All of the Qi from his Dantian had already entered the light surrounding the Seed of Life, where the other Heavenly Materials were also housed. Now that Sage peered closer, he could see the last few specks of Qi entering the Seed of Life directly, falling against its surface and being absorbed like the rain falling on soil. The other five Heavenly Materials altered their paths. They had been orbiting around the Seed of Life on different axis, but after a few moments they fell onto a single plane. Slowly spinning around the Seed of Life, they reached out towards each other with their different energies.

Blue Icesilver’s amorphous tentacles extended outwards, the tears of the Eye of the World splashed, the flame of the First Light flared, the blue vapor of Stormbreath expanded, and the yellow jewel around the Sovereign Stone extended crystalline spikes. They each overlapped with the two materials to their left and right in the spinning order, their energies interacting. With his Spiritual Sense, Sage suddenly felt the energy of the world around him greatly reducing. Huge amounts of it was being drawn into his body, rapidly being refined by the five Heavenly Materials and being fed into the Seed of Life.

At this point, all he could do was manage his mental state. Controlling his expectations and anticipation, there was no telling how long this could take. He had to keep a level head, staying calm while maintaining a certain level of vigilance. It was like standing guard or keeping watch. If he let himself get excited by every minute change there was no way he could ‘make it through the night’. At the same time, he also had to be wary. If he missed an important detail, it could lead to him dying without even knowing why. Thinking to this point, he used the breathing technique he’d learned from Tao Ba. It wasn’t just the fastest route to change from a mortal to a cultivator, it also helped to regulate his bodily functions. A cultivator gained more and more control of their body as they increased in rank, but this breathing technique was a method for a regular person to exert control over their body. When used by a cultivator the effects could be layered, calming his heart and clearing his mind.

Time continued to pass. The sun rose and fell. After the first week, Sage was glad that he could use Qi to sustain his body instead of food and water. Then he wondered whether the changes going on inside him would interrupt that process. After the second week, he was relieved to find out that it didn’t. He didn’t feel hungry at all. On the other hand, it had turned into a thirst. It came from the Seed of Life. It thirsted for more energy. Sage spread his Spiritual Sense and felt the weakened energy of the heavens and earth. As time passed he could feel the effects at a further and further range, reducing the density of the worldly energy in an ever expanding area. More and more of it being pulled into his body, refined by the other five Heavenly Materials and then fed into the Seed of Life.

After the first month, Sage felt slightly worried. How long would this first stage last? He consulted the records of other Qi Cultivation Techniques he had and found that most of them only took a few days, but some of them took a few months to complete the formation of the core. Reassured, he continued to maintain vigilance.

After the third month, he felt a bit of apprehension again, but held it back. Performing the breathing technique once more. He spent most of his time in a state of light meditation, staying aware of the changes in his body, while reducing the strain on his mind and removing the need for sleep. At the six month mark, nervous tension began to bubble up once more, but upon reflection he had no methods to directly interfere. The area that was drained of wordly energy had grown to the full range of his Spiritual Sense some time ago. He could feel the concentration of the energy still within his range dropping, and the Heavenly Materials were still refining more energy. That told him the Seed of Life was still working, so he forced himself to maintain his calm. All this while the tiny slit on the Seed of Life had grown larger and larger. The side of the seed was gently unfolding and a small shoot began to sprout.

Finally, a change!

From that point on, his apprehension dropped a couple notches. Each day that passed, the sprout grew larger and larger. Stretching outwards and slowly unfurling a single leaf. The next month a second leaf sprouted and slowly grew larger. During the third month, a third leaf followed after. All along the first and second leaf had been growing larger and larger. During the fourth month the first leaf stopped growing. In the fifth, the second leaf reached its full size.

What will happen once they’re all the same size?