He still remembered many of the earliest lessons of the Lang Clan. They spoke of the qualities of a great Cultivator. Talent, aptitude, luck, and heart. Talent was something Sage had greatly looked into. Aptitude referred to intelligence, natural skills, and of course fighting ability. A person could still have great aptitude at a certain profession or the use of their combat techniques without having a great amount of talent, even if it took them far longer to raise their cultivation level they would be greatly respected among others of the same level. Luck. That formless and invisible quality that some seemed to have and others did not. A person without talent or aptitude, but with great luck could still be a powerful cultivator. They might stumble into special natural treasures or special inheritances left behind by a great cultivator. Their talent could be changed or their mind filled with special skills. Those with powerful luck were the envy of others.

Temperament was also a quality that Sects and Clans would often pay attention to. If they were to invest heavily into a young person, different temperaments would be better put to use in different capacities. A brash hothead would not be good for a Clan or Sect Leader, just as a calm mediator would not be a great leader of combat forces. That said, it was not one of the main qualities of a great cultivator, but for a member of a group.

Heart. An oft overlooked quality, but also sometimes the most important. It was a somewhat nebulous name, but Heart was somewhat of a measure of how a person would respond to adversity. Would their values be compromised by temptation? Would they stand by their convictions when faced with certain death? Would they be able to maintain their confidence and positive outlook after failure? Would they have the guts to put everything on the line to chase their dreams? It drove people to devote endless amounts of effort towards a single goal. It allowed a person to sacrifice themselves for the good of those they cared for. It let them stand up when they were knocked down, over and over again. It pushed them to break past their limits and succeed even when all the odds were against them. Even without talent, aptitude, or luck; with enough heart they could still be a great cultivator.

Attaining Soul Spawn tainted my heart. Without the fear of true death, my heart has grown weaker. If I am to be a great person, I have to give it my all. Counting the years of my two lives, I’ve lived near a century. Even if I were to die here, I have seen far more than most ever will. How many earthlings were lucky enough to experience such a fantastic world!

“It’s a good day to die!”

The breathing technique helped to clear his mind and focus his heart. He felt emotion surging within him. There could be no gains without risks. The greatest gains came from the greatest risks. What was a greater risk than putting his life on the line!

Inside his Spiritual Sea, a softly glowing apparition was sitting cross legged. That ghostly figure was Sage’s soul. It had taken on a humanoid form when he cleansed his mind with the Silver Liberator Butterfly. When he left the Holy Flame Sect he slightly modified it to change his appearance using the Human Seal, so his soul currently had the same face as his human form did. The soul was the ultimate root of Sage’s being. It controlled his mind, those thoughts driven by the impulses of the soul. The mind contained his Spirit Power, and sent instructions to the body. The body manipulated the Dantian and the Qi contained within. Without a soul, even if the rest of him were intact he would at best become like an automaton. Thinking and acting, yet without feeling, personality, or any ego.

Sage’s soul rose to its feet. It was more of a symbolic motion than a necessary action. Without any special methods, all a soul could do was float around and influence the mind and body. Even so, if these were going to be his last moments then he was going to go out as heroically as possible. His soul ascended into the clouds above his Spiritual Sea and after charging through a dozen layers of thick clouds, it burst into his body. Almost instantly, he could feel the strength of his soul weakening. Creating tiny fractions and ruptures, just like when souls engaged in combat, slowly weakening until parts of them started to fall off, fading away like tiny wisps.

He sent his soul downwards, traveling rapidly from the space between his eyes where the Spiritual Sea was located down to the space just below his navel where the Dantian was. Those few moments were the longest in his life so far, feeling his soul weakening, rushing towards possible death. His body quivered when his soul burst through the wall of his Dantian and rushed towards the planet in the center of it. He didn’t know how, but he felt like the passage into his Dantian was a one way trip. Worse yet, the energy in his Dantian was not compatible with his soul, the speed of its corrosion only grew. He had truly reached the point of no return.

There was no more time for caution, only action. The ghostly form of his soul stabbed into the surface of the planet like a falling star. Passing through the now many many layers of earth like they weren’t even there. Only when it finally smashed against the green barrier of energy at the center was there any resistance. The green sphere rippled, and Sage’s soul rebounded.

He didn’t give up. He couldn’t give up. The soul form flew back up to the green wall wall and smashed its fists against it. Bam. Bam. Bam. Each strike caused it to ripple, but still it could not enter.

Is this not the core? Am I doing the wrong thing?

He suddenly felt a wave of desperation, a surge of depressing thoughts threatened to overwhelm him. Then the soul slammed its forehead against the green barrier.

Hah, as if I’d let myself be stopped by some puny depressing thoughts!

He went all in. If these were his last moments, he would spend them as a conquering hero! After a few headbutts, he felt the point was made and switched back to throwing punches and kicks. He varied the rhythm, force and tempo of strikes. If a single bit hit, and an accumulation of small strikes weren’t the way forward then maybe it was a trick!

Sage turned his attention over to the five Heavenly Materials. They were currently just floating in a slow orbit around the planet that his soul was battling the core of. Looking closer he saw their energies were not static.

Hah! A clue!

He didn’t hold back, immediately trying to replicate their fluctuations with his soul. He first tried smashing against the barrier with a similar pattern, but then he gave up on force. Instead he started to alter the pattern of his very soul. It was like taking a deep breath and trying to force it out into his body, that tiny quivering of the muscles like you were trying to vibrate them. His soul began to gently vibrate, and he shifted the pose of his soul’s limbs, taking different stances and forms, swaying and curling in different ways to try and find the correct resonance. Finally, he found the right resonance. His arms and face pointing towards the sky, his soul felt like it was shaking itself apart, but at last it sunk into the green barrier and passed into the space where the tree of heaven, earth, and man was.