Is your Young Master doing well?
That question echoed across the beach, bringing silence in its wake. Everyone stopped and stared at Harry like he was crazy. The Inner Disciples sitting around him simultaneously choked on their food.
'He's actually taunting the Ivory Fist Clan?' they thought in shock.
As expected, the two Inner Disciples from the Ivory Fist Clan immediately grew angry, their faces twisting into expressions of rage. Since yesterday, all people were talking about was the new disciple recruitment event and the colossal upset. And how a Spiritless cultivator defeated their Young Master in a single move.
In just one day, their clan became the butt of the jokes in the entire Swan Sea area.
Though they were one of the most powerful clans around, it didn't mean they didn't have conflicts. Both within and outside the Swan Sea Sect, their clan had plenty of disputes with the other powers. Once word of Maynard's plight got out, those people were more than happy to ridicule their clan.
Now, seeing James openly mock them was like pouring salt in the wound. All their anger and rage bubbled up inside them, and one of them leapt forward.
"Brat, you must want to die!" the first man roared, and made a motion to grab Harry.
Seeing the man headed right towards him, Harry grinned and screamed at the top of his lungs.
"Elders, help! An Inner Disciple is attacking me!"
As soon as he heard that shout, the Inner Disciple froze in his tracks. His outstretched hands were just inches from Harry.
He hated James from the marrow of his bones… but once James yelled, he froze anyways.
He didn't dare to touch James. If he did, it would be a violation of a core sect rule, punishable by an Elder, and being whipped by an Elder was enough to immobilize him for weeks. He wasn't about to suffer that punishment over a single comment.
That created an awkward situation, where Harry sat perfectly still, not fazed at all by the massive man ready to strangle him.
"Hahahaha," Harry burst into laughter. "You don't even dare to attack me. Do it if you have the guts, or if not, you can scram."
Originally, he had a lot of misgivings about injuring Maynard so badly. He was worried the Ivory First Clan would cause trouble for him, or seek revenge. But after he read the rulebook, he felt more relieved. As long as he was in the sect, he didn't have anything to fear. If these Inner Disciples attacked him, they'd receive a painful punishment.
Most people were the same. They bullied the weak, but feared the strong. Though these Inner Disciples were many times stronger than Harry, they were many times weaker than the Elders. As long as the Elders were here, Harry knew he was safe.
The attacking man hideously glared at Harry. Yet, he still didn't attack.
But at the same time, he couldn't back up, or else that'd mean he was admitting defeat, and to an Outer Disciple, no less. As a result, he awkwardly stood in a fighting pose, feeling the weight of everyone's stares crushing upon him.
'The Ivory Fist Clan… maybe they cultivate their body at the expense of their brain,' Harry mused. Any sensible person would just walk away. If it were him, he'd probably attack without caring for the consequences. But this man just stood still, the worst possible action.
"That's enough. Matthew, Mathias, get back here," one of the Elders ordered.
Finally getting his excuse to leave, the two men turned around to head back to their tent. They were too humiliated to stay any longer. But they left one threat before leaving.
"James, you can't hide behind the Elders forever. One day, you'll get what's coming."
Over the next week, Harry entered into a routine. He woke up and headed over to the beach, where he caught breakfast. Then he relaxed on the beach, watching the fighting, or walked around the sect, just exploring the area. When it was time for lunch, he went back to the beach, then in the afternoon, repeated his morning activities. Then for dinner, he of course returned to the beach for crocodile meat. And at the end of the day, he slept in the comfort of his dorm.
It was a simple life, but he enjoyed it. The best part was, he didn't even need to earn merit points for food. He made friends with some of the Inner Disciples, and they struck up an arrangement. He provided meat, they provided some food from the cafeteria, and they had a feast for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.
The only part he didn't like was his slow rate of progress. Without using Burning Blood, he couldn't kill a peak Ordinary Grade crocodile, but he could only use that move three times in a row. And due to the danger, he didn't dare use the move all three times, in case something went wrong and he needed to escape.
Over the week, the crocodiles actually grew to recognize Harry. Whenever he headed towards them, twenty of so beasts would rise to attack. But Harry wasn't scared of them. A couple of his Inner Disciple friends always watched his back, along with an Elder. They weren't allowed to help him, as he was supposed to retrieve these Beast Cores himself, but Harry was never in any real danger.
It took one activation of Burning Blood to get into a position where he could kill a crocodile, then a second activation to actually kill it. Then the third was for backup situations. Due to how slowly Burning Blood recharged, he was limited to just three Beast Cores a day. Yet, the rate at which he killed crocodiles paled in comparison to the rate they arrived. Seeing a pack of reptiles exiting the water and piling up on the sand was now an hourly occurrence. There were so many crocodiles, they were now packed shoulder to shoulder, and fights between the beasts broke out regularly.
He also spent time with some of the Inner Disciples. Over the week, their relationship grew, and Harry felt like they were the first friends he'd ever made. For the first time, he had peers he could talk to. He knew Shaun, who introduced his close friends, Slade, Sam, and Scott. Sometimes, they were joined by a couple other Inner Disciples when their schedules permitted.
As for Harry, he relished the opportunity to ask all the questions burning in his mind.
"I was wondering, what cultivation level are people here at?" Harry asked.
"Pretty much all the disciples here are at the middle-level of the Qi Absorption Realm. But Matthew and Mathias, along with a couple others, are at the 7th level, making them the strongest."
'7th level!' Harry thought with shock. No wonder those two slaughtered Earth Grade beasts so easily. Even the middle-level beasts were killed with ease.
"Then, do all the Inner Disciples come and fight at the beach?"
"No, only around half of us Inner Disciples are fighting. There are roughly 200 of us here, but there are three battlefields in all. I'd estimate there are 500 Inner Disciples are fighting, out of 1100 in all."
"1100 Inner Disciples?" Harry repeated in surprise.
"Yeah, somewhere between 1000 and 1100 Inner Disciples. A couple hundred of them are only at the 2nd or 3rd level though, so they're not fighting here. And there are also people who just don't care for the rewards – the rewards on the Inner Task Board," Shaun explained.
"Then are Matthew and Mathias the strongest Inner Disciples?" Harry asked.
"You mean in the entire sect? No, no, most of the strongest Inner Disciples aren't here. There are 200 or so Inner Disciples at the high-level of the Qi Absorption Realm."
"200?" Harry repeated again. As an Outer Disciple, his contact with the Inner Disciples and Elders was limited. He never realized there were so many powerful cultivators here.
"That's not all, we also have four Core Disciples, not to mention all the Elders. So, when considering them all, we're actually pretty weak," Shaun admitted.
"There are only four Core Disciples? Is it very difficult to become a Core Disciple then?"
"Yeah, it is. Disciples are separated by their cultivation realm. Qi Absorption Realm to become an Inner Disciple, and Core Formation Realm to become a Core Disciple."
"Core Formation Realm?" Harry echoed.
"You don't know about the Core Formation Realm?" the Inner Disciples stared at him strangely.
"No, no one ever told me," Harry shrugged. So, after the Qi Absorption Realm was the Core Formation Realm.
"But to become a Core Disciple, there isn't just a cultivation requirement, but also a talent requirement. There's an age limit of 28 years old," Slade added.
"That's true, I forgot to mention that. If you don't reach Core Formation by then, well, there are two options. Most will leave the sect, free to spend the rest of their lives however they want. Or, if you're strong enough, you could be appointed as an Elder. A couple of the Elders are high-level Qi Absorption Realm actually, though most are at the Core Formation Realm."
28 years… then even for the fastest cultivators, it took 10 whole years to reach the Core Formation Realm? On average, that was over a year per level!
Harry voiced that concern to the Inner Disciples – did it really take that long?
"Yeah, it does," Shaun sighed. "Each cultivation level is more difficult to break through. The amount of Qi you'll need to absorb just grows and grows. Maybe for the first few levels of the Qi Absorption Realm, one could advance in half a year. But for the 8th or 9th, it can take two or even three years. An average of one level a year is already very fast, and only the geniuses of our sect can cultivate like that. After all, we only have four Core Disciples."
"I'm 25 this year, but still at the 5th level of the Qi Absorption Realm," Slade said. "It's impossible for me to reach Core Formation in three more years."
"Same, but I'm already 26."
"I'm 24, at the 4th level," another Inner Disciple offered. "And at the Core Formation Realm, cultivating takes even longer. It can take years of accumulation, maybe even a decade, to advance a single level. Most likely, low-level Core Formation is where we'll spend the rest of our lives, but that won't be for another decade."
As the disciples talked, they revealed their innermost thoughts and frustrations to Harry. But they were also warning him about the reality of the world.
If it took these people a year to advance a single level, then Harry shuddered to think how long it'd take him. His consumption was ridiculously high, many times that of others. Would it continue in the Qi Absorption Realm?
"Can you tell me about the Qi Absorption Realm and the Core Formation Realm? How do you cultivate there?"
"Sure," Sam said, and launched into an explanation.
"When you enter the Qi Absorption Realm, the Qi in your meridians forms into the Qi Sea, which is located here," he pointed to an area under the navel. "In the Body Tempering Realm, you have to use your body's internal Qi, or the Qi in pills, to open your meridians. But that Qi is scattered throughout your body, while the Qi Sea is more concentrated."
"Once you reach Perfect Opening in the 9th meridian, all the Qi in your body will naturally gather into this area, and form the Qi Sea. That process usually takes a couple of days. The Qi that you refined in the Body Tempering Realm becomes your Qi Sea. And then you'll be at the 1st level of the Qi Absorption Realm."
"Then to cultivate, you need to fill your Qi Sea eight more times, once for each level. After you fill it, the Qi Sea expands each time, so each level is harder to achieve than the last. It's a really slow process. But when you're finished, you'll be able to break through the Core Formation Realm."
"As for the Core Formation Realm, well, we're all in the Qi Absorption Realm, so we don't have any experience with it. But in that realm, the Qi gathers and forms into a core, like the name suggests. Then to cultivate through the Core Formation Realm, you need to increase the core's size and quality of Qi."
So, in the Qi Absorption Realm, one formed a Qi Sea, which Harry recalled Slughorn had mentioned briefly. Then after that, the Qi Sea compressed to form a Qi Core. There were nine levels in each realm, and contemplating on that, Harry finally realized the long path ahead of him.
"By the way, what's above the Core Formation Realm?" Harry couldn't stop the outpour of questions. Since Slughorn and the cat never answered any of his, he had to get his answers somewhere else.
"After Core Formation is the Spirit Fusion Realm," Slade answered. "At that realm, you develop your Magic Spirit, and cultivate alongside it. But that's just a dream. It's impossible for any of us to reach it."
"Why's it impossible?"
"Ok, it's not entirely impossible. But it pretty much is. You know how your Magic Spirit determines your talent, right? Well, it also plays a big role in the cultivation level you can reach. In theory, anyone can reach Spirit Fusion. But in reality, only those with Rank 4 Magic Spirits can reach the Spirit Fusion Realm. There's a fundamental difference between Rank 3 and 4 spirits. Unless you have a Rank 4 Magic Spirit, you'll face a bottleneck when trying to break through the Spirit Fusion realm."
"It's been done with Rank 3 spirits of course, but it's just more difficult. And for those with Rank 2 or 1 spirits, well, finding someone like that is harder than finding a phoenix feather or dragon egg. For most people, it's pretty much impossible," he sighed.
"Well, actually," Shaun said awkwardly, "no offense James, but there are some people who can't reach the Spirit Fusion Realm – Spiritless Cultivators."
'Ah… of course.'
Actually, that went without saying. How was a Spiritless Cultivator supposed to cultivate alongside a spirit that didn't exist? And besides, no one had ever heard of a Spiritless Cultivator reaching even the Qi Absorption Realm, much less something like the Spirit Fusion Realm.
"Spirit Fusion, does that correspond to the Spirit Grade?" Harry suddenly made the connection.
"Right, after Heaven Grade is Spirit Grade. I'm surprised you know of it. Any Spirit Grade item is an extremely precious treasure, and impossibly rare. If one appeared here, everyone would go crazy to fight for it."
"Haha, exactly. Everyone and their clans would go to war to get it. The entire Swan Sea would be dyed red with blood. Thankfully, it's impossible for one to appear here."
Wisely, Harry didn't mention the Spirit Grade plant the cat showed him. Then… was the Exalted Cat a Magic Beast that reached the Spirit Fusion Realm? What about Slughorn?
'There's no way… right?' Harry thought dumbly. Based on what these Inner Disciples were telling him, anyone at the Spirit Fusion Realm would be a peak character in the entire empire. If Slughorn was truly that strong… then why was he hiding? And if the Exalted Cat was that strong… why was its mouth so foul? Surely someone that strong would act with a more dignified demeanor?
"How do you cultivate in the Spirit Fusion Realm? And what abilities do you gain?"
"I'm not sure. Actually, I don't think anyone here is sure. There hasn't been a Spirit Fusion cultivator from these parts for a century. We're just a Tier 2 Sect, after all. Though we do know a couple common things."
"In the first three realms, you cultivate your body by using Qi. But at the Spirit Fusion Realm, you cultivate your Magic Spirit. All I've heard is you can keep it materialized permanently, and apparently it becomes a part of you."
"A part of you? What do you mean the spirit becomes a part of you?"
"I dunno," Sam shrugged. "But that's why they call it Spirit Fusion, isn't it? You fuse with your Magic Spirit."
"I've read something similar from my clan's old books. But there's another major difference that distinguishes the Spirit Fusion Realm. For the first three realms, it's the same for everyone. Like everyone opens the same nine meridians, everyone fills their Qi Sea, everyone forms a Qi Core. But in the Spirit Fusion Realm, your cultivation method starts to differ based on your Magic Spirit. There are still nine levels, but everyone needs to cultivate slightly differently. As for what the difference is, the book didn't say."
"I heard they develop something called Spiritual Sense," Shaun said. "Supposedly, it can be used to sense your surroundings, and even for telepathy."
Harry almost dropped the food in his hands. Sensing your surroundings… telepathy…
"And once Magic Beasts reach that realm, they can change to human form, and gain the ability to speak. But I mean, who here has actually seen a Spirit Grade Magic Beast?"
"Right, those are impossible to meet. Just a glance from one could kill you."
The Inner Disciples all chuckled and shook their heads, but Harry was stiff with shock.
The Exalted Cat… the Exalted Cat… the Exalted Cat! It was… it was…
"Hmm? James, is there something wrong?"
Harry realized he was frozen with his mouth open, and quickly closed it.
"Nothing, nothing. Just a bit shocked, that's all. I never realized there was so much to cultivation."
"Haha, I had that same expression when I first heard about those realms too. Wouldn't it be nice to have that power? Unfortunately, it's impossible for us."
'Ah, whatever,' he finally agreed. He didn't have any aspirations to reach the Spirit Fusion Realm – his goal was just to reach the 9th level of the Body Tempering Realm, and expel the poison out his body. He'd known he was a Spiritless Cultivator for years now, and he had come to terms with it.
"So, are there many Spirit Fusion cultivators in the empire?" he probed. "And what about Spirit Grade beasts?"
"Very, very few. Honestly, I have no idea. I'm just guessing here, but I think there can't be more than a hundred Spirit Fusion cultivators. And probably even fewer Spirit Grade beasts," Shaun guessed.
Soon after, the Inner Disciples were called back to fight. Alone again, and watching the battle with half-interest, Harry was only left with more questions about Slughorn and the Exalted Cat.