A week had passed by in the blink of an eye. Essence Theory classes combined with Physical Cultivation lessons had taken up all of Niva’s time. Furthermore, since both were mentally taxing, she always fell into something resembling a coma after classes ended.

Rubbing her eyes, she refocused on the Elder’s words.

“…in the previous lesson, I stated that essence is the lifeforce of the universe and that nothing we know would be able to exist without it. Now let’s develop our understanding of essence further”– Elder Yonyue drew a triangle diagram in the air–“Essence carries two fundamental components: attributes and concepts.”

The elder pointed toward the student who had proven himself the most enthusiastic over the last week. "Orville, recite the attributes for your peers that do not share your capabilities."

Orville readjusted his glasses. “An attribute is one of the seven elements: Fire, Water, Wind, Earth, Dark, Light, and Thunder.”

Nodding his head, the monk took out a piece of candy. “Perhaps you also know what a concept is?” Elder Yonyue said while rolling his reward for excellence in his fingers.

“A concept is an understanding of the true nature of the world around us,” Orville said, already getting up from his seat and extending his hands. ”As an illustration, the concept of heaviness. Create a rock using the concept of heaviness, and the rock will be heavier than normal.“

Elder Yonyue threw the piece of candy Orville’s way and pointed toward another student. But not before Niva heard a whisper to her right.

I wonder how it feels to have the Elder’s cock so far down your throat.

Turning in the direction of the sound, Niva spotted a group of female disciples giggling among themselves. However, she had no time to look them over because another student asked a question.

“Yes, disciple Anith?”

“Thank you, elder. My father taught me that my clan usually has a fire affinity, but he never explained it to me fully. How does one gain an affinity?” Anith asked, a smile creeping on his face as many of the nearby disciples gave him looks of envy.

“Great question, disciple Anith,” the Elder said, forming the outline of a human body in the air. “In your case, it has to do with the soul. That’s where affinities that a cultivator gains over their lifetime are stored. When two humans procreate, a small part of their soul gets passed down to the child. As a result, if their affinity is strong enough, there is a small chance for their affinities to be passed down as well.”

Niva’s hands blurred as she wrote everything down in her notebook.

“However, there is one more way to gain an affinity. That is, to meditate near a place that possesses an abundance of a certain type of essence. It sounds like a simple method; it is not. Only if the cultivator possesses enough talent and understanding of the attribute can they gain an affinity by doing this.”

“Does that answer your question, disciple Anith?” Elder Yonyue asked.

“Yes, thank you, Elder.”

The rest of the lecture went smoothly, with Elder Yonyue explaining how they could use elemental arts. In short, they required attributed essence generally found in attributed spirit stones or around cultivation sites in the wild.

Niva immediately disregarded the latter option. A site sounded very appealing, but finding one wasn't easy. She would most likely need to barter with her peers just for the hint of a location unless she got lucky.

In contrast, to gain attributed spirit stones, she only needed to do some sect missions. The missions would provide her with Sect Points, which she could then trade for spirit stones. One could also find spirit stones in the open world. But the Elders had already cleared the sect grounds.

She’d have to map out her plan of action later because Elder Yonyue ended his explanation.

“That is all of the new theory for this lesson,” Elder Yonyue said, clapping his hands. “It is time for our daily meditation session. At the end, you can ask me questions on meditation. But for now, just try your best.”

Niva needed no encouragement, as today would be the day she formed her dantian. She was sure of it.

Not wasting any time, Niva once again envisioned her inner world and felt for the connection to her essence. Over the last seven days, her ability to perceive the essence inside body through her mind’s eye increased. Because of this, Niva saw the situation more clearly. What once appeared as a blue fog that pervaded her insides now looked similar to streams traveling from and to her dantian. Streams filled with grey spots.

These grey spots functioned as rocks that blocked the passage through the stream, causing the movement of essence inside her body to slow down.

Even though she had a better understanding, her situation didn't change. All she could do was home in on the connection between her and her essence. She pondered over her quandary for a while. Until like the satisfying sound a metal door handle makes when it closes, something clicked in her mind.

When the sect manual said to ‘feel the connection’, weren’t they being slightly misleading?

For example, if essence formed the substance of the universe, then she could envision it as the earth beneath her feet. Following that, wouldn’t she simply be an outcrop, an extension of the ground?

She delved deeper into her metaphor and developed it further. Eventually, her consciousness melted away into the essence inside of her, and she rose out of the ground like a flower in a different place.

Somber. That was Niva’s first impression. An all-consuming blue mist surrounded the island she stood on, and except for the rustling of the soft, green grass beneath her feet, the world was silent.

In front of her, she saw the only notable object in her vicinity, for the rest was an unassuming stretch of green.

Walking forwards, she reached the oakwood bridge of which only its beginning was visible. The rest vanished off the edge of the island into the fog.

She looked around the island once more but saw no other options available to her. She didn't immediately step onto the bridge, however. Instead, she placed a mark on the ground right in front of it that would come in handy to confirm her suspicions.

Sliding her hands along the railing that felt rugged in her hands, she placed her feet on the deck. It creaked in a non-frightening way, chiming through the place like a lullaby sung by a loving mother, enticing her forward to hear the next note of the song.

Entranced, she plodded onward, meeting the intersection of the bridge and the mist. The mist was thick beyond belief. So much so that she felt a slight resistance as she moved her hands through it.

The ominous vibe of the mist combined with the grim mood of the mind space caused a slightly nervous feeling to bubble up. Still, since she wanted to hear more of the lullaby, she advanced.

Very anticlimactically, nothing happened except for the continuation of the song sung by the bridge, and she soon found herself reentering visible land.

Stepping off the bridge, she discovered what she expected. A crosshair populated the ground in front of the bridge, right where she left it.

Finding herself in the waking world once again, her moment of insight ended. Immediately, she sensed a stronger connection to her essence.

She pounced on the development.

Taking hold of her essence, she led it under her navel and formed her dantian. It was only the size of an apple. Yet, it would form the core of the rest of her cultivation path.

Niva took a deep breath and marveled. The manual had said she would feel the difference once she formed her core, but this was extreme. All her senses were heightened, and she felt like a child who opened their eyes for the first time, staring in awe at the myriad of colors that dyed the universe.

“Congratulations on your breakthrough, disciple Niva,” the Elder said to her as he smiled. Following his statement, all the disciples surrounding her turned her way.

“I would like to offer you some special attention,” Elder Yonyue said, taking out a small blue, round marble.

“This is a medicinal pill that contains pure essence. Take it, for it will speed up your cultivation.”

She bowed and walked forward to receive the pill. “Thank you, Elder.”

“All of you should know that the elders will reward talent when they see it. This pill is but one of the many rewards I can offer you for your progress. Moreover, I will let you in on a small secret.

“The various elders will conduct tests in a few weeks to see if any disciples can already qualify for an apprenticeship. Thus, I recommend that you pick an elder you like and try to impress them.”

That shocked her a little, but she quickly stored the information away and bowed. afterward, she returned to her seat and took the pill; holding it on her person would only invite trouble.

It took a few seconds. But when the pill dissolved in her stomach, pure essence started flowing out. Some of it wanted to leave through her pores, so she had to try her best to contain the released energy.

Her dantian expanded as she pushed all the released essence into it and, as she finished, the Elder announced the end of the lesson.

Dusting off her disciple robe, she made her way to leave —she was beyond tired— but she stopped when a disciple called out her name.

“Miss Niva! Could I perhaps have a moment of your time?”

She turned around and saw the Chiru clan descendant approach her. She didn't notice it before because they were seated, but he was a full head taller than her. In addition, his blonde hair, which contrasted with his dark skin, gleamed in Solune's glow, his gait mirroring the confidence glowing in his golden irises.

“Yes?”

“My name is Anith Chiru. I was hoping to make your acquaintance.”

“May I ask why?” Her body tensed slightly when Anith gave her a puzzled look. “Because you’re a talent, of course.”

She peered at him, trying to decipher if he was lying.

I guess that could be true, she thought. Her progress these past few days had been way faster than that of the other disciples. She wasn’t sure if she’d call herself a talent, though.

“I won’t beat around the bush,” Anith said. “There are many activities in the sect better done in groups; I would like you to become a member of mine.”

That elicited some hushed whispers from the nearby disciples that had tuned in on their conversation. Some of which reached her ears.

What a lucky bitch.

She shows a little talent and is immediately invited by one of the major clans?

Maybe, she’s getting invited for more than just talent.

Looking in the direction of the speakers, she saw the group of three female disciples from before and met the eyes of a tall blue-haired girl whose tunic looked uncomfortably tight around her bosom

She flashed Niva a cold smile and Niva’s gaze left the group just in time to see Anith turn his head away from the disciples, his mouth twitching, his eyebrows furrowed.

Filing Anith’s reaction away, Niva asked, “Don’t you think that’s too quick of a progression?”

“Maybe.”–his mien turned amiable, again–”But I believe in striking while the iron is hot. There’s no need to answer immediately since it is an open inivitation. Just know that you can ask me for help whenever you need it.”

The recruitment felt pre-mature. However, it made sense that he was on the lookout for talent. His clan was one of the biggest hitters on their entire continent, and that status required upkeep.

In addition, getting access to his clan and their connections already outweighed any possible negative. This relationship would benefit her more than it would benefit him.

“So, let's say I need help, then where would I find you?”

“For now, at the end of our Essence Theory class.”

“Thank yo.“ She nodded and made a half-bow, planning to make a quick, clean exit. “If I need help with anything, I’ll be sure to find you.”

“That is all I ask.”

Anith returned her gesture, said nothing else, perhaps aware of her desire to leave, and they both made their way down the sect road.

After entering her lodging, Niva searched for Tia to make some small talk, but the nomad wasn't home yet.

I forgot to ask her which class other than PC she’s taking, Niva thought as she sat down in the living room to think over her plan of action.

The next step on her journey of the immortal, was flushing her meridians, according to the sect manual.

What did that entail?

Her dantian acted as a lake of essence slightly below her navel, while her meridians were branches that traveled throughout her entire body., which essence traversed to enter or leave her dantian.

Therefore, flushing meant to remove the spiritual rocks she previously noticed in her meridians.

"I already filled my dantian with essence,” Niva said to herself. "Thus, all I have to do is concentrate my essence and push it through every single meridian in my body one at a time.”

She sighed.

The human body had hundreds of meridians. Luckily, many of those were small branches. There were only twelve big ones, the so-called principal meridians that went to every vital organ.

Because waiting wouldn’t help her at all, she got up and walked into the bathroom upstairs that was as bare as her room and laid down in the tub (not before taking off her clothes).

Focusing her mind, she tried to remember the exact locations of the meridians she had seen in her manual and set out to clear the first large branch she wanted to open.

The main pathway in her right arm burned as she pushed a large amount of essence through it, forcefully expelling the impurities from her body. But it didn’t end there. Instead, in a rationalized act of masochism, she circled through the pathway until she no longer felt the scalding pain. After it was no more, she made her essence congeal in her dantian again.

Next, she led her essence toward the primary branch in her left leg. This time, though, she knew what to expect, and the burn fektless severe.

The same procedure repeated itself for the meridians that snaked toward her head, heart, lungs, and other parts of her body, and Niva felt her mind slowly drifting away as her subconscious took over the repetitive process.

A horrid smell assaulted Niva's nose as her mind returned to the present moment.

Her feet were giving her brain the feedback that a slippery substance covered the base of the tub. On further inspection, it turned out to be a brown-colored goo.

That was all inside me? Disgusting.

Quickly, her hand went to the side of the bathtub, where she turned a lever. As a result, a few lights came into existence on the exterior of the tub, and water started pooling inside.

She grabbed some soap off the shelf above the sink and grimaced after looking down. Her feet were leaving impressions on the bathroom floor.

Deciding other things were more important, like her own hygiene, she reentered the bathtub. It took her about an hour of scrubbing, draining, and then refilling the tub, but she had reached a state that she deemed acceptable. She still smelled a little, but it was nowhere near as bad as it was beforehand.

Her stomach rumbled furiously, which reminded her that she had not eaten anything for the entire day. Yet she held out until she cleaned the bathroom floor. Finally finished, she went downstairs, seeing Tia sitting in the living room.

Tia looked up from the wooden talisman she fiddled with. “Congratulations on your breakthrough.”

Niva turned her head sideways. “How did you know?”

“I can sense your essence fluctuations since they are visible as a newly-born duck's skin."

Cupping her chin, Niva let out a thoughtful murmur. “Can anyone do that?”

"It depends,” Tia said, shrugging. “I spend much of my time working on charms, so I am sensitive to the essence in objects. But everyone can learn to do it, I suppose.”

Niva grimaced. She didn’t like that. It meant that cultivators would be able to know where she was at every moment.

Evidently, she showed her emotions on her face because Tia gave her a reassuring wave of the hand. “No need to worry that much. It’s not explained in the introductory sect manual, but you can hide your fluctuations. You can buy a complementary manual or learn it from someone else.”

“I suppose,” Niva said after trying and failing to sense Tia’s cultivation, “you are not willing to teach me?”

“I am,” Tia said as a sly smile covered her face.

“Then–“

"For a price, of course."

Figures.

“What would you like in return?”

“I need a cultivation site for my charm crafting project soon. If you promise to help me find one, I'll teach you how to hide your fluctuations."

“Deal.” She didn’t have to think hard on that one. All she had to do was help Tia find a site, and finding one of those would benefit her as well.

"Great. Take a seat. The process is simple. All you have to do is…"