Listen carefully, and try to memorize this if you can. In this vast universe, cultivation levels are common for humans wherever you go—they are the same everywhere, though no one knows why or how.
In this small world, there are 7 levels. The Tempering Realm is the first step of the cultivation journey, while Soul Primordial is considered the peak, with some exceptions of Astral Manifestation level cultivators. For this world, Astral Manifestation is the highest one can achieve—even that requires heaven-defying talent.
Between Tempering Realm and Soul Primordial Realm, there are four other realms, respectively called: Condensation Realm, Earth Foundation, Golden Pill Realm, and Origin Spirit Realm.
All realms are also divided into 9 minor stages, except Soul Primordial has 8, Astral Manifestation has 6, and Tempering Realm has 10 minor stages.
In the Tempering Realm, a mortal tempers their body through normal exercises. After reaching the 3rd stage, one must practice techniques and duels to gain experience, as this helps temper the body further. After reaching the 6th stage, one can start to sense spiritual energy and begin training it. After reaching the 9th stage, one can use energy to strengthen the physique and imbue swords or weapons with it. The 10th stage is not essential to enter Condensation Realm, but those who reach it are considered geniuses.
At the Tempering Realm, body cultivators have an unimaginable advantage, as they have already trained their bodies so rigorously. However, as one reaches higher levels, this advantage diminishes. If someone cultivates both the body and Qi simultaneously, their advantage is incredible—but they must also endure double the hardship.
Now, I will give you a direct technique in your mind to temper your body. It is called the Dual-Edge Tempering Technique, which will help you become both a body cultivator and a Qi cultivator at the same time.
Then George suddenly felt a surge of warm energy in his mind, and a flood of
information about the technique poured into him. Bao then began to explain again.
"To master the Dual Edge Technique, you are essentially walking two paths that often conflict. Most cultivators choose only one because Qi is ethereal and light, while Body cultivation is dense and taxing.
By practicing both simultaneously, you turn your body into a 'living vessel' that can not only store Qi in the Dantian but also weave it into your very muscles and bones."
He continued, "After receiving all this information in your mind, you already understand the technique and how costly it is. It requires spiritual energy, or Qi, to temper your body, which is extremely painful.
As a mortal, you currently have no energy, and you cannot gain any until reaching at least the 7th stage. Therefore, you must rely on monster cores or spirit stones, which contain energy that can be absorbed safely without any side effects."
"But as your family is so rich, it shouldn't be a problem for you—at least, not for now."
George nodded. "Okay, I understand. But what is your plan now?"
"We should get ready to depart. First, you should tell your mother to arrange some spirit stones and monster cores for you, and relay the message that you will be leaving in three days."
George nodded again, then called a servant and gave the instructions exactly as Bao said. After some time, a servant brought a storage ring to him.
Bao explained, "A storage ring is a spatial artifact that contains a large internal space where you can store your items."
George found it fascinating. He checked it and was shocked to find it filled with numerous spirit stones and beast cores. He couldn't believe they had given him so many valuable items without even questioning him.
George sat in a lotus position to try the new technique. But suddenly, his stomach growled loudly—he was starving. He called a servant again, who brought a huge amount of food. George devoured it all like a little elephant, utterly exhausted from all the previous hardships. He savored the food, enjoying every bite.
Once he had eaten his fill, he returned to cultivation. He first took 20 spirit stones and placed them in a circle around him. Then he began absorbing the energy from them, using it to temper his body.
The sensation was intense—he felt as if countless hammers were striking his body all at once. It was excruciatingly painful, yet he felt a strange joy in it. Time seemed to vanish. In the blink of an eye, two hours had passed, and he had absorbed more than 50 stones. He was elated as he could already feel his strength increasing.
Without stopping, he continued cultivating. Another five hours passed, and he had absorbed 100 stones. The pain was still unbearable, but the sense of progress drove him forward relentlessly.
He still cultivated. Suddenly, his body started emitting some eerie energy that George hadn't noticed. He just continued absorbing energy from the stones, feeling pain and pleasure at the same time—like people would find pleasure in the pain of sex.
But then, he felt so much stronger. He could clearly feel his Dantian expanding and his bones hardening.
Suddenly, a voice came:
"Congratulations, George. You have entered the fascinating world of cultivation."
Bao said, "You have successfully broken through to the 2nd stage of the Tempering Realm. Your talent is truly remarkable—breaking through two realms at once."
George replied proudly, "See? I really am a genius!" and continued cultivating.
But Bao warned him, "You should stop now. Cultivating recklessly can damage your foundation. You need to stop absorbing energy for now and focus on stabilizing your cultivation."
"And how should I do it?" George asked.
"You can simply meditate," Bao said. "But the best way to stabilize your cultivation is through fighting."
"If you simply wanted to duel, there would be lines of cultivators eager to fight you, as you are the heir of the Ven der Meer family. However, that would be troublesome. You were known as a cripple, and it was believed to be impossible to heal you. If others suddenly see you completely healed, it would be difficult for you to explain."
"So where can I fight?" George asked.
Bao replied, "After you regained the memories of the real owner of this body, I also saw them. You've seen it too—there's a jungle on the outskirts of this city, full of beasts. You can hunt them to stabilize your cultivation. And from the memories of your past life, I can see you enjoy fighting very much."
A grin spread across George's face. "Looks like I'm going to have some fun," he said.
After some time, George sneaked out and headed toward the forest on the outskirts of the city. He was excited to fight monsters, imagining how thrilling it would be to fight a monstrous and ferocious tiger barehanded and eventually kill it—something that was considered as impossible in his previous world.
Lost in these thoughts, he reached the outskirts of the forest. Before entering, Bao warned him not to go too deep, as deeper areas contained spiritual beasts far beyond his current level. He told him to stay near the outskirts and hunt only normal beasts.
George entered the forest and was shocked by how majestic it truly was.
George started walking through the forest in a carefree manner. After discovering his new powers, he was quite sure that normal beasts couldn't harm him. However, Bao warned him that if he thought the beasts of this world were as weak and lousy as those from his previous world, he was wrong. They were beyond his imagination, and it would be tough once he faced them.
George just sneered at Bao's words, saying he didn't care.
While he was strolling here and there, he suddenly felt something odd—as if something was glaring at him. He felt that death was right behind his back. When he slowly turned around, he was shocked to see a massive tiger-like beast staring at him from a tree. Its two teeth jutted out like elephant tusks.
George started sweating as he felt the pressure coming from the tiger. All his confidence shattered in an instant.
Now it was Bao's turn to sneer at him.
George couldn't even think of what to do when suddenly the tiger jumped at him. George screamed and started running. He ran as fast as he could with his cultivation, but to his shock, the tiger was even faster.
He tried to use the trees to hinder the tiger's movement. He was somewhat successful at first, but his expectations shattered when he saw the tiger crashing through the trees, breaking them like sticks with its sheer strength.
George started running even faster, knowing that if it caught him, death was certain.
"Mummy! Save your son! Your son is going to die… Mummy!"
But suddenly, the tiger leaped through the trees and jumped high into the air. In a single jump, it landed in front of George, cutting off his escape. George stopped.
The tiger stared at him, saliva dripping from its mouth. It looked as if it were excited to taste a human after a long time.
"Aii…" George sighed. "I think there's no other way. I have to fight it."
"Today, either you will live or I will live… only one of us can live under this blue sky."