There were many projects to manage on the Inner World. Aside from the continent wide infrastructure, there were many other smaller scale activities. Large scale breeding and raising of different Demonic Beasts and Insects continued, supplying the research teams with experimental materials and also mass producing things like Blastids and lesser forms of Bio-computers. There were also other organizations that rose to power.

One of the largest mountains on the continent was home to a series of temples. The elaborate roofs and rafters were gracefully arched and covered in detailed carvings. Beneath them, there were the droning yet haunting sounds of throat singing. The chants filling the mountain valleys down below. Rows of gold robed figures, sat in silence, eyes closed in meditation while only the dozen leading figures lining the central walkway were doing the singing. As they finished, large copper bells were sounded and the many bald heads rose upwards, heading out into the yard to start training.

Just as this temple finished its chanting, the one on the neighboring mountain picked up the tune. Each of them taking turns to ensure the song never ended as long as the sun was up each day. After their turn singing, the monks started their training. This place followed traditions that seemed remarkably Buddhist in orientation. Sage had no idea how it could be so similar to the practices from Earth, but they were nonetheless Cultivators. It was of a different style than Qi Cultivators, but it wasn’t that far off. It seemed closer than Gu Cultivation if one were to examine the constant training, meditation and fighting styles, but actually Gu Cultivation was closer to Qi Cultivation.

Sage was curious from the time he’d spent with Abbot Kunga, the member of the Jade Horde, from so long ago. There were clues on how the Cultivation system of the Eightfold Kingdom worked, but he never got confirmation. It was only after capturing Venerable Surari that his questions were finally answered. It was not a short or easy process, but eventually he came around. Sharing some secrets with them in return for being able to start over here in this new world. These Buddhist style cultivators turned out to be Soul Cultivators. All the while he had been searching for these mysterious existences and there they were, right in the neighboring Kingdom.

It had always been a goal of his to find a supplementary Soul Cultivation system like the Infinite Immaterial Seat for his Spirit Cultivation. His Body Cultivation was not a full system, but it was close enough. That left only his Soul without any cultivation at all. He’d constantly strengthened it with his Heavenly Materials and natural abilities from different creatures he’d merged with, but it wasn’t the same as a full cultivation technique. Unfortunately, it turned out that Buddhist Soul Cultivation had to be the main system. They assisted Surari in developing this immense monastery, spreading the Buddhist techniques and getting to study them in return. They used Qi and Body Cultivation techniques only as a secondary to their main Soul Cultivation. They constantly strengthened themselves to create a more powerful vessel for their soul.

There was no way to use Buddhist style cultivation as a supplement to other cultivations. They infused some sort of energy into their souls, transforming them with what they called divine energy. It would be impossible for him to switch as he’d already formed his Nascent Soul. Others could follow this path, but they’d have to fit the behavioral tenets and ways of thinking to become compatible with the strange energy. It was too restrictive for the Lang Clan to switch to, but it still had its uses. Even without recruiting them for combat purposes, it was still useful to study how these Soul Cultivators worked. From the rumors that Sage had heard, Soul Cultivators could be drastically different from each other, unlike the other types of Cultivations.

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Qi Cultivation was channeled through the meridians, and varied in the energies used, the pathways it traveled, supplementary abilities, or how the Dantian might be formed. Spirit Cultivation was similar, using the Spiritual Sea to build something, changing it into something greater. Body Cultivation transformed the body, and while Sage didn’t have a full understanding of this, they were constantly improving and strengthening it through various methods. Soul Cultivation on the other hand wasn’t always so straightforward. Some of the more weird and unusual things he’d seen in the Depths were said to be Soul Cultivators. Like that fellow rolling immaterial dice as part of his attacks. Studying Buddhist Cultivators wouldn’t be a conclusive study of Soul Cultivation, but it would at least be able to give them some clues to a field they knew nothing about.

The aforementioned Psionic Crystals had also turned into a school of its own. With careful study, and the majority of the remaining Psionic Crystals and materials from that Hidden Realm, Sage was able to create an environment that could allow people to unlock the Spirit Power technique tree. With the limited supply of crystals this place was important as it allowed this path of training to be carried on. It took a few thousand years of research and experimentation before they figured out the type of energy that was the most important, and Sage modified the world to support it. Just like the Buddhist Monastery, this Psychic School constantly trained students and they spread throughout the Inner World. Their unique capabilities were put to use for not just combat, but for mundane activities as well. Telekinetic construction services, and telepathic therapy services were just the tip of the iceberg.

After checking on these schools, Sage also checked in on two of the continued research projects. One of them was a massive containment chamber, into which colored smokes were being released. These colored smokes were there to highlight a swirling mass of wind. The colored smoke created a backdrop to make the normally ‘invisible’ creature stand out. With time, it would incorporate the colored smoke into its body and hide once more, so the solution was to constantly introduce new colors of smoke to keep the creature visible to the research team as they conducted other tests. This was the Wind Elemental, captured from the Violent Sun Sect ruins. With the ruins as an example, they were able to create a proper containment area for the creature and had been studying it for a very long time.

Like many of these projects, the timetables were extremely drawn out. This was mainly because time was the one resource he had plenty of. Many times the goals of the research were esoteric and with many unknowns. The researcher had to blunder about in the dark and spent hundreds of years before a single advance was made. With a few of these mysterious breakthroughs needed, the projects could easily span a millenia. Another project of this kind was a mountain within a mountain. The inner mountain was far too round, the corpse of the Living Disaster. The immense volcanic tortoise, tempered by thousands of years with the Heart of Eruption. There were studies on how to make use of its ‘flesh’ and others on whether or not the immense body could be brought back. Sage had run into multiple techniques that used the dead in various ways, creating different sorts of undead puppets. None of them worked directly on the very unusual corpse of the Living Disaster, but the research hoped to change that. Or, at least figure out a good use for such a huge stone body.

Each of these projects and many more were ongoing, becoming part of Sage’s rotation, breaking up the monotony of his own training. He had Spirit Cultivation, Body training, and the relatively new Infernal Qi to train with and that wasn’t even taking into account what could be done with Blastids.