Somehow, Sage knew he had succeeded. All of the stress, worry, and apprehension in him suddenly disappeared. The cracks on his soul almost instantly were repaired and it drifted over to sit peacefully underneath the tree inside what he would now be calling his Green Core. Even if the term was wrong, it didn’t matter to him. The Seed of Life had created it, so that is what he would call it.

Waves of energy rippled outwards from the Green Core, nourishing the planet that surrounded it and then bursting out into the rest of his Dantian. The tiny motes of light created by the ‘Heaven’ leaf shone brighter. The specks of light turning into a field of stars swirling through the universe that was now within his Dantian. When first looking into his Dantian the place seemed quite small, but as he sent his perception inward it kept growing larger and larger. From afar it looked just like a sea of swirling spots of light, but from up close it was a galaxy. He could sense all the way down the surface of the planet, seeing new sorts of life starting to form. The burst of energy seeming to have brought to life and completed all the half-finished forms inside his Dantian.

That pulsing energy continued its path outwards, leaving his Dantian and rushing through Sage’s body. Just like every advancement of rank or stage, this one was no different. The rush of energy transformed his body. Raising the quality of his muscles, bones, tendons, organs, and everything else. A thick oily black liquid coated his body, it was the impurities contained within him that were being expelled. These impurities were not simple things like chemicals or toxins, these were ephemeral blockages that were a result of bathing in the energies of the heavens and the earth. It was said that only in the womb were humans pure. As soon as they breathed in the air, the heavens, and consumed food, from the earth, they became tainted. As a cultivator advanced, they expelled these impurities and moved closer to their pure and perfect form.

Of course, that was just what they said. Sage had no idea how true any of that was, but he surmised it had something to do with energy refining. Qi Cultivation Techniques were created to draw in external energies and then refine them so they could be used by a cultivator. He guessed that these impurities that were being expelled were remainders from the cycles of constant energy refinement. Once they reached a new rank or stage, they became better able to refine their energy, so they were purifying what they already had, expelling the resulting waste. He didn’t have any proof either way, and it was a very difficult sort of thing to test.

Maybe I could do something like a dye test. If I could find a way to carefully taint someone’s energy, then have them advance. Then test to see if the ‘impurities’ contain the ‘dye’.

He threw aside those idle thoughts and returned to examining his new body state. Most cultivators didn’t bother to practice any body tempering techniques. It was far too painful, and a cultivators time was limited. Why spend all your time on body tempering when you could be using that time to increase your cultivation level? The majority would rather be a rank 2 cultivator instead of a rank 1 cultivator with a very strong body. Sage had only limited accomplishments with body tempering, he mostly relied upon Blood Refining and had the body of a beast. These two aspects combined to make him the equal of any body refiner.

When his body was upgraded it had a much greater effect. This was the main draw for body tempering techniques. Each advancement in cultivation would have a greater and greater effect upon the strength of the body. In the early ranks, nearly everyone could be considered a Body Cultivator. Everyone mostly relied upon martial arts and having powerful fists. As their levels grew, their Qi became more powerful and useful, while body tempering became harder and harder. Very few would choose the path of hard work with slow progress, but those that did would eventually be rewarded. Sage wasn’t really one of them, accumulating more and more strength with each stage of advancement.

He instead gained the body of a beast while in the third rank, and didn’t learn Blood Refining till the fourth. He didn’t maintain the progress of a real Body Cultivator, but he could likely match their prowess with the strength of his true body and its many special abilities. The upgrades to his body took some time to perform, Sage’s huge serpentine form was coiled up in the center of a large chamber, simply monitoring the changes as they happened. When they finally stopped, Sage thought that his advancement was over, but then he felt a ripple from his Dantian and sent his consciousness back in.

The tiny galaxy within wasn’t the source of the disturbance, it was actually caused by the five Heavenly Materials that still existed within. During the formation of the small universe, Sage had been focusing his attention and only now did he see the five objects slowly orbiting the outer edge of his Dantian. The tiny planet seemed to shine and the Heavenly Materials pulsed with energy like they had acknowledged it. Like troops following the orders of their general, the Heavenly Materials flew towards the planet, shrinking as they got closer and closer.

The Eye of the World flew down first, plopping down into the soil. Almost immediately the soil began to grow moist, water began to accumulate, but it wasn’t clear. It was murky and dark. Almost immediately, it began to form a sort of bog. It spread outwards, spidering over the surface of the whole planet, creating swampy zones.

The Sovereign Stone fell to the planet next, and the inner parts of the planet began to transform. The many layers of sandy dirt starting to diversify. Clays, soils, and stone formed. The uniformly plain dirt took on many different compositions.

Next, like it was putting a damper on everything, the First Light flew over to one of the largest motes of light and flew inside. The tiny star grew many times and then flew over near the planet, shining bright sunlight down upon it. At first there was a rapid growth of algae, but then they started to burn up. It also caused much of the watery bogs to evaporate, moving into the sky to form large banks of fog.

Blue Icesilver joined the party next, sinking down to where the Green Core was and wrapping around it. It formed an outer core, staying in a liquid form, it began to swirl and spin. A person from this world would have no idea what happened next, but as an Earthling, Sage had an inkling of the how. The Blue Icesilver was probably not the most compatible Heavenly Metal to act as a core, but it still heated up. Creepy blue magma formed from the interaction between the stone and heat. Volcanoes began to form upon the surface of the planet. The heat escaping through the layers of stone and dirt caused seismic activity and the planet began to reshape itself. The solid stone cracked into large sheets, creating tectonic plates. Mountains and canyons were caused by the motion of these tilting tectonic plates.

More amazingly, the Blue Icesilver must have some magnetic properties. Sage recognized some of the qualities of a magnetic field, the atmosphere of the planet strengthening. Both the gases released by volcanoes and the magnetic field would have such an effect. The thicker atmosphere shielded the planet from the harsh rays of the First Light’s sun. The algae, the only vegetation on the planet, started to recover. A person from this world would just find it completely mystical, but Sage could make some guesses based on the science of Earth. That said, he could only observe the changes and couldn’t make any definite claims.

Lastly, Stormbreath joined the party. It further strengthened the atmosphere, helping to incite the planet to increase its rotation by pulling over a planetoid to act as a moon. It set up the conditions to create a full weather cycle, empowering the Eye of the World to produce more water and using a moon to create tides. The thickened atmosphere, rotation of the planet and its air, the tides, and evaporating water forming clouds were all things it took subtle control of. Soon there was wind, rain, clouds, and with a magnetic field: thunder and lightning. Stormbreath got what it wanted. Storms!

With all of the Heavenly Materials working together, a complete planet had formed within his Dantian. Sage was pleased, the books were correct. He now had a full world within his body. He now had five different Heavenly Materials within him, and inside his soul he saw that the five of them were gathered around him next to the tree. Their power acted on the planet, but they were all truly gathered in the core. More amazingly, he could feel acceptance from them. Unlike when he fought to gain control of the Blue Icesilver, he felt like if he tried to refine the others, they would welcome him.

That wasn’t the end of the benefits. What was more astounding was that this world didn’t just house Heavenly Materials. It was real!