"Meridian Cleansing, Body Refining, Spirit Tempering, Foundation Building… well, those are all the realms that you need to know for now boy, although Meridian Cleansing is not really an official realm as it is much more of a thing that I came up with in order to make sure people like you kid, can have as much chance as those gifted geniuses has…"
Qing Tian, sitting with his arms crossed, explained with quite the enthusiasm in his voice as he watched Argus, whom he bestowed another name, Xing Yuandao, practice the Pure Heaven True Circulation Technique, nodding in satisfaction as he watched the young man practicing in such an earnest manner.
"Although, unfortunately for me, or rather, for the world, they just fail to see any reason to take this roundabout way when they can just enter the Body Refining Realm immediately once they start practicing, especially when my Meridian Cleansing only provides a barely significant boost in exchange for the time it takes…"
The old man continues before he goes into rambling, clicking his tongue before he continues his words.
"Even those fucking sages thought of me as a fool for attempting to change the already long-established system of cultivation, saying that it's a hopeless work of a talentless fool who wants to bridge the gap between mediocrity and supremacy… well, they aren't wrong about that part though…"
The old teacher continues with his rambling, yet, unlike usual, a smile is apparent on his face, tempered by the vicissitudes of life as he watches the young man thread the path that he created yet never managed to experience for himself, his satisfaction obvious for anyone to see.
Little did this old man know and quite possibly beyond even his wildest dream, that such gesture of convincing this young man to take his time to enter this extra realm before embarking on the traditional path of cultivation will be one of the major reasons as to why he will reach such unprecedented level of strength in the future, an ironic pity as he will no longer be there to witness the rise of what he can consider as the magnum opus of his life.
And now, the importance of entering the Meridian Cleansing process has made this old man's sole student for his entire lifetime, Xing Yuandao, or rather, Argus, realize its importance once again, an importance that becomes far more apparent given the uniqueness of the meridian he currently possesses.
'It's not only the Pure Heaven True Circulation Art, but also the Meridian Cleansing process itself seems to be tailor made to suit the nature of the Three Purities Origin Meridian… if I never saw the state of Qing old man's meridians, I might even think that he's someone with the same meridian with how compatible the methods he created are with this meridian…'
Argus thought to himself as he woke up from the mystical state that he previously entered in, stretching his body before releasing a sigh of satisfaction, his face turning from this expression to one filled with surprise as he bears witness to the sun's warm, natural brilliance around his room that was now long gone, replaced by the cool, gentle shimmer of the moon.
Feeling the rumbling from his stomach as he stood up from his bed, the young man then decided to head out for now, taking a well-deserved break from cultivation for a little while, intending to return to it again later in the night.
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"You want to head out?"
Looking at his sole child, his son, with an intrigued expression on his face, an ashen gray-haired middle-age man asked before taking a good bite of what looks to beef, his eyes still trained on the young man as he wonders why is it that he wants to head out all of a sudden, especially after the experiences that he had just the previous day.
Cultivation is a wondrous thing, even if its potential to bring the human body to levels that are never possible through any other means is not considered. For one, it allows a practitioner's body to remain healthy so long as they continue to cultivate regularly, pretty much turning their physique into a bastion impenetrable by any sort of external malice, diseases, poisons, and the like.
Aside from that, while it is true that one needs to pay attention and focus whenever they are cultivating, the effect on one's body and mind is the complete opposite of the convention that one must eventually be tired once they pushed themselves too much as in fact, other than the particularly serious breakthroughs to the next level, cultivation can pretty much allow one to rest as well, allowing cultivators to completely substitute its practice to a proper sleep.
A testament to such a fact is what is practically a younger version of the Ever-Burning Sword Dragon, his child, Argus, whose body and mind are in a complete state of clarity despite going the entire night improving himself through cultivation.
"I thought about it, old man, there's no time to sulk around, especially right now… there's still a whole month before the academy starts taking in applications for new students, I want to at least try…"
Voraciously taking in food as he felt like he had become quite gluttonous compared to before, the young man replied to his remaining family while marveling at the cooking of their people, the older and younger sinking into a calm silence as they continued with their food, none talking as if the conversation never happened at all.
"Great… that's great…"
Under his breath, the father, Arthur, couldn't help but mutter with something still stuck on his throat, not the food, but rather repressed emotions that seemingly want to burst out of himself, something that he only managed to press down out of the aversion from allowing his son to see him other than a reliable parent.
Despite this attempt to hide such emotion, though, the son, Argus, already starting to receive the benefits of his effort, heard the words all too clearly due to his hearing already growing leaps and bounds along with his other senses, causing him to pause on his gluttony for a while as a smile appeared on his face.
"Though, I'm not really sure if I can enter even with all the effort, hahaha…"
Switching his tone to a joking one to lighten the mood, the young man finds success in his effort as the middle-aged man took a gulp of the emotions that nearly escaped before pressing them down even further with a good mouthful of food and wine, before he exploded into a rambunctious laughter that was not quite of his character.
"Hahaha!! Good!! It's good enough that you want to try, my boy, it's already good enough!!"
He said as he looked at the young man with pride shining through his sharp eyes, his heart and mind now assured that whatever result this son of his might receive should he take an attempt to enter the academy, he would definitely find a good, if not a great path for himself in the future.
'Our child has grown into a fine young man, Alissa…'
Such thoughts appear in his mind as the two of them continue to enjoy the food on the long table that still feels particularly full and brimming with energy and life despite having only the two of them.