Time passed.
Adam's desire to progress his Cultivate base was met with surprisingly large amount of support: Apparently, his rapid advancements had created something of a paperwork nightmare.
People needed time to review, to test, to design security procedures and so forth to properly use the stuff.
His child subjects were all progressing towards Second Order, though most were unable to detect their own percentage of growth. Apparently that was ALSO an unusual ability, as strange as that seemed.
There were also (apparently) another ten initiates selected (Adam never met them) going through a duplication of Adam's experiments. A carefully selected and secured group of other Sect Members right now were controlling that situation, and similar such actions would probably occur with every new Martial Spirit Awakening Ceremony in the upcoming months and years.
Why? Because the Sect Patriarch wanted a large amount of documentation before making this 'Trash Transformation' process widespread and accepted.
The suggested name came from the kids, by the way... seriously, this society REALLY felt low Spirit talent rankings were worthless. Even the kids themselves felt their former situation was somehow THEIR fault and not a lack of options. At least things would improve for them from now on.
Point was, Adam wasn't involved with that mess... thank goodness. Doing the research himself was fun, doing it forever would be horrendous.
In addition to the children, a few trusted Sect members at near every Cultivation level (Fourth through Tenth Order Houtian, First through Tenth Order Xiantian) had also volunteered to undergo the physical transformation method 'Gentle Rebirth Body Cultivation Technique' (Recent Version, 2.0352). The differences in improvement however were lower with those having higher cultivation ranks, but still gave stronger results than many other options. Progression through the various levels of cultivation automatically enhanced the body naturally to some degree anyway, it made sense that the biggest advantages would seen by those with the worst bodies.
Adam thought the lower level of improvement would disappoint the various higher level Cultivators... but was a bit shocked to find otherwise. Apparently, at the highest levels of advancement, certain resources and pills just... stopped working. A resource free method to make your body more compatible with your Cultivation Technique was apparently quite appreciated even if it could only offer a few percentage points of betterment. The few Cultivators Adam directly talked to felt any risks of future issues caused by the new method was worth the dangers considering the rewards. Huh.
Right, speaking of the body cultivation technique... strange hair colors seem to be a side effect. Not one that caused much concern (Even if a few people complained that it clashed with their 'style'), but it WOULD make it a bit obvious who had fully completed the cultivation method in the future. When anyone besides Adam got that far, at least.
No one had experienced the other oddities that Adam had so far though. Breathing napalm, flame eye, magical scar tattoos, strange fingernail colors. And toenails too, apparently, as those were overly bright blue at this point. Sigh.
Even his student/disciple Tianshi Qianzai looked mostly normal. Her hair may be a shifting from blond to a similar blue (Sometimes green?) as his own, but her progress towards body conversion wasn't even above fifty percent yet... and no glowing tattoos or whatever had shown up so far. Lucky girl.
With a hum Adam ignored the light blue smog that drifted from his nose as he sat, meditated, and cultivated. Seven Pulse Method was pulling the massive amount of stored Blue energy from within his Shard, even as the Shard glowed white with 'Purification' and regenerated its contents by cleansing the two gathered swirls of energy that Adam dragged around everywhere. That gathered power was shoved into his routes, converted to Battle Qi, and so forth as usual.
The Binding Swirl Adam kept around was easy enough to maintain, by default it didn't quite interact normally with other energies. But the Blue Swirl? THAT took some effort to strip out odd Heat, Warmth, and Flare energies that came from... somewhere out in the world. Everything else slid off, but hot type energies were more icky and sticky.
With his Shard Martial Spirit Pulsing within these two swirls controlled outside his body, manipulating the energy within his domain was still simple enough at this point. And yes, he still extended his domain straight up as far as possible. Not really to avoid detection (That ship had sailed), but more to grab the energies swirling so far up in the sky... it tended to be less dense energy types than the mess down here on the surface.
Occasionally Adam would pause cultivation to examine some of the more odd energies his Domain would capture. A few even seemed to be related to Bloodline powers released by some attack somewhere that drifted until it fell under his control. Had to be a powerful creature though, the energies he detected being emitted by that spherical pig dissolved within moments of leaving its system into the air.
With a grimace, Adam felt his progress hit 90% towards Second Order Warrior... and the coating of Blue energy over his skin and inside his cultivation routes poured over the 'river banks' of his meridian paths, soaking his flesh, skin, and organs again.
More. Damn. Impurities.
At least it was only disgusting slime now, not thick sludge and muck. His Cultivation Cells purified many impurities automatically at this point by passing them through his Shard for processing... which made cleaning this gunk easier.
Still smelled horrible.
~~~Broken Adventure~~~
Sister Tianshi was having trouble following the new 'Gentle Rebirth Body Cultivation Technique' due to pure excitement!
She was reaching a milestone, as according to the notes once she hit 33% conversion rate the process would accelerate to unreasonable levels! Because the more of her body converted, the more material was ready to grow and duplicate. She wasn't ENTIRELY sure what that meant, but as far as she was concerned that was great!
Absently wiping sweat from her brow, she focused.
Her Master had seen her previous failure to progress without his help, when her energy supplies ran out... and had not punished her in the slightest.
Now she had ten circles surrounding her Binding Formation, each one feeding stored power that her Master had generated, all of them secured and directly supplying energy into her own formation for use!
Even better, she got to hear Master Adam's voice too! He had finally fixed it somehow.
...Well, technically she got to TRY and hear it.
When the young man tried to say... something... the whole world had shook slightly and Tianshi may have fallen unconscious. As far as the healers could tell, there was some sort of resonance between his powers and her cultivation base, since she was using the same energy as HE was. Also, whatever odd stuff that Binding power counted as was being used to rebuild her Master's Throat, so that may be related.
So uh. They still couldn't have a direct conversation yet.
...She was studying his provided manuals and learning materials with the other children. The professional Teaching experience was going well, even if it was her first time as an official 'Student'. Much better than the one off 'lessons' from back in the orphanage anyway.
Hopefully she could read Master's jade slips too in the near future.
Her thoughts were thrown off track as her body seemed to pause... to breathe in...
Pulse.
In one wave, young Tianshi felt an OCEAN of power suddenly drain into her body from the reserves. Nearly cold energy that... vanished into somewhere as it flowed inward. Even as the rapid draining of power seemed to feed into her Martial Spirit, the black Betel Nut blazing bright blue fire as more and more Binding energy flowed forth, it all felt... empty. Hungry.
According to Master Adam, one couldn't fully advance in the 'Gentle Rebirth Body Cultivation Technique' using only Binding energy. It needed something to grip on, something to work with... and she realized that the previous instructions, to contact him when she felt anything odd, had fallen from her focus as she had struggled to advance. That she should have asked for help hours ago, but had missed the signs.
She couldn't move! Her system was nearly aching with spiritual hunger even as more Binding energy flooded her limbs, skin, her body open and searching for... something. The massive wave of Binding energy was moving too fast and with too much power provided to be absorbed fully by the body it flowed past, but even so Tianshi felt her system experience a purification, a cleansing.
Without a second energy to work with however... this cleaning was leaving her empty. Hungry. Needing.
As her panic started to grow, something within her Martial Spirit CRACKED.
To her shocked attention, the Burning Black Betel Nut... began to germinate. Black roots, the color of a moonless night and the soft shadows that hugged one safe at night, extended from the bottom of the rock-like nut even as raw, PURE HUNGER forced the Binding energy to continue to flow...
The solid black object ignored her paralyzed form, settled into her chest, and took root in her heart.
Near instantly, those strange black roots spread! From Meridian to meridian, artery to vein, directly into her flesh and organs! The ghostly roots rapidly formed a thick mesh that seemed to be searching, desperate and reaching...
And somehow, as the strange network of thin black mesh roots grew ever more dense and expansive... Binding energy was caught.
Her gaze was astonished as ever so slowly, Binding energy was collected from the vast ocean smothering the girl. Individual motes of energy passed up the solid black ghostly root network... and gathered into the seed within her heart. That Betel Nut Martial Spirit accepted the energy source rapidly, examining it, processing it...
And a bright green energy was released in her chest.
Most of it was burned away as fuel for the blue flame living on her Martial Spirit, but the rest was CONSUMED by the RAVAGING HUNGER of her Cultivation Cells! Her heart nearly tore itself apart, accepting the green mist and the many cells duplicating, spreading, strengthening!
As the thin layer in her heart became satiated, it caused her Martial Spirit to Pulse again... and suddenly all the roots that even now spread into her muscles, digging painlessly into her bones, the ones that were begining to reach into her skull... they started to somehow interact with more and more Binding Energy.
The black ghost mesh in her skin could now FEEL the Binding Energy, The cords in her eyes let her see the formally invisible power. The seed in her heart was now becoming the focus of the never ending tide of power her Master had provided... and that same Betel Nut was singing out waves of green Nature energy. The song of plants. The Sound of Life.
And as her Master had described, her Cell were forcing that Nature energy to change.
Even as the green mist was hunted by her own body, somehow the dense Binding energy was able to combine with the floating Nature energy her Martial Spirit was generating at the core of her being. The process just... ignored the Blue Fire glowing in heart altogether. It was reaching somewhere, making something.
The new energy was a dense, thick energy... Something that felt right to call 'Green energy', following in her master's footsteps.
While Nature energy was vanishing rapidly, the hunger in her Cells slowly lessening as more and more was created directly into her bloodstream thanks to her Martial Spirit, this new 'Green energy' was a richer color, a thicker mass, and seemed to be drawn into the 'Blue energy' flames over her Betel Nut.
A sudden SPIKE of pain!
If she could shift or move, Tianshi would have screamed!
Within her heart, the Burning Black Betel Nut Marital Spirit had shaken violently... as the bright Blue flame shifted. Dimmed. Changed.
And became a bright, Emerald Green.
Instantly her body seemed to double the Binding energy absorption rate. Power was being hurled down the root network into her now bright green glowing Martial Spirit, and from the Emerald flames a new, CLEAN Nature like energy flooded her body. Like some strange obstruction had finally found the true path, an impossible blockage cleared and reinforced, her Martial Spirit seemed to glow with pride as the root network expanded and explored her new system.
The raw hunger was still there, even as the Green energy began to flow and feed her desperate body... but if she could, Tianshi would smile.
The Binding energy was what her Martial Spirit needed to heal and recover, that was clear now... but this Green energy was what she needed to grow. Before, all that early Nature energy was being generated and sacrificed, desperate to generate even a thin wisp of blue Binding energy flame over her Martial Spirit for her body to gather... But now?
She could see her body in meditation form, her skin glowing as the GREEN energies began feeding the many starving Cultivation Cells. Converting the surrounding cells at astronomically faster rates than before, shifting and nurturing her progress and potential... it was beautiful. It was growth. Life.
As Tianshi tried to not wince from the many pains that even now were recovering, as she observed her body finishing its transformation process... she knew this had all been worth it. The doubt, the fear, the dangerous travel, the disdain... finding her Master had been an act of luck, chance, fate and destiny!
Her gaze grew serious as she slowly regained the ability to move.
She would eventually prove that his faith in HER was worth it as well.
~~~Broken Adventure~~~
Adam blinked as he felt a pulse of... something.
Huh... his disciple now felt like a tropical island instead of a smoldering volcano.
That was neat.
Right, focus. He was brushing against the upper edge of Second Order, 99% until finally reaching Third Order Warrior and (one day) the first bottleneck of Houtian Cultivation, the barrier between Third an Forth Order.
What was interesting was the shifting occurring with his spiritual network. The closer he came to starting the new meridian route and hitting Third Order, the closer the two existing spiritual networks twisted together.
He was stuffed with food, had a Cultivation Formation filled with Blue Energy, and was sitting on a disposable cloth to keep his meditation room mostly clean from any impurities.
Focus.
Adam felt his Seven Pulse Cultivation Method cycle frantically, somehow speeding up further as the Battle Qi in his second spiritual river began solidifying into a new series of tubes. The many meridian nodes, already expanded from his First Order advancement, began to swell once again as his Soul and flesh felt pressure, far too much pressure... the gas like Qi was hurtling along the cultivation routes, all seven paths hitting ridiculous speeds as the cycles completed ever more rapidly...
CRACK! CRACK! CRACK!CRACK!CRACKCRACKCRACK!
Adam felt raw pain and accidentally spewed fire streams of blue liquid from his open jaws as the massive amount of flowing energy cracked away from the second enclosed meridian route, the final of three networks of new channels carved into his Soul, his flesh, his Cultivation directly!
There were now two Cultivation networks fully enclosed and filling with compressed Battle Qi energy, like bendable crystal tunnels sparkling in his body. The third new network was a raw wound, but still was managing to bind and twist between and around the existing two. A strange woven pattern emerged even as the three meridian routes continued to twist and twirl until the new product looked like a spiritual braid of cultivation foundations.
Three meridian paths, two sealed and growing in size, pressure, and stability as Blue energy rapidly converted into more Battle Qi and was rapidly stored away, the final meridian route an open river that was weak, tender, and oh... so dry.
Adam could actually WATCH his body begin to improve, the flesh consisting of Cultivation Cells being cleansed by the frantically supplied Binding energy, Blue energy, and his own Battle Qi. The massive reserves of energy swirling over his skin was now flowing inward like a hole had opened in the world, a baptism of heaven and earth spiritual energy cleansing his recently emptied system.
It hurt. The shifting of his existing cultivation networks was not a good feeling. Nearly felt like Soul damage.
It blessed. The new network forming around the two previous creations added stability. Structure. Support. Energy paths too weak and badly formed were straightened, redirected, enforced, improved!
Again, Blue energy and Battle Qi flooded the body and Soul as Adam tried to recover from the experience. The new impossible river (What stream could flow in something that could travel upside down and in a spiral?) was binding the entire mess into something MORE than just a spiritual construct. Just by existing some parts of his body would no longer UNDERSTAND the concept of decay or falling apart. The spiritual components of this slowly developing foundation acted like a conceptual anchor. A 'Foundation' indeed.
No wonder the next, future step was a bottle neck point during cultivation. The next level of progression would require breaking free of this three rope foundation, something so strong and self-reinforcing... it was not a surprise that others could fail at this. It also made sense that any failure at attempting to advance would drastically lower your chance at future success, as this cord of spiritual support would react to any damage by attempting to grow stronger and defend itself.
Adam nodded. Best to have 'Research' design a 'Houtian Realm Fourth Order Essential Cultivation Method' first, something to ensure a high success rate instead of hoping each person's Martial Spirit and energy gathering skills would be enough to brute force their advancement. This first foundation was probably strong enough to have no issues, but better safe than sorry.
A crackle had Adam summon his Shard... just as it shattered again, revealing it had grown ever so slightly once more.
It looked like a true physical object now, his energy crystal seemed to bend light itself when something got too close... and it felt heavy. Conceptually heavy, at this point.
Well, according to Healer Jin, growing more defined and larger was normal.
For Animal related Martial Spirits. Not Object-like ones.
Even so it was probably fine. Damn it, it better be fine.
...Were those tiny eyes? Did his damn Shard have tiny, cute, anime eyes!?
With determination, Adam released his Shard back into his heart.
Right, ignore that disturbing topic for now. How was his Domain range when not in use?
A quick examination... yep, as expected Adam could apply a new Domain covering a range of nine feet or three meters from his heart when not cultivating.
WHILE cultivating, his Domain was so large it was hard to tell... but in general, around three times initial volume maybe?
More importantly, he had guessed correctly on a different issue: The Shard could now easily store a hundred times the amount of energy internally than as a First Order Warrior, or in other words ten times the amount he could at Second Order. If the pattern held, every stage would vastly increase Adam's ability to save up power for dangerous experiments, or breaking through bottle necks, or to make refilling those damn circles less annoying.
A sharp sting made Adam wince. Couldn't USE that storage space yet, his body was devouring energy as fast as he could shift it around. Both 'swirls' he had carefully nurtured over the last few months were empty and had collapsed entirely, all three meridian routes (He was going to call it the spiritual cord network since the three twisted together so much) were dry of power, and his Shard seemed to have absorbed all the backup emergency energy reserves while it was improving itself.
Thankfully the cultivation formation was still half full of power, even as the Seven Pulse Method desperately dragged in more Blue energy for conversion and distribution to his thirsty Cultivation Cells and meridian routes.
With some caution, Adam risked a chance and opened one eye... Oh? Wonderful!
As the new meridian route was VERY close to the previous two before they all swirled up together, the amount of material the path had to carve through and purify was much less than the previous two advancements! Yes, he was covered in nasty smelling black slime, but it was WAY less than expected. Not much of a mess at all!
Adam tried to stand and go get the nearby bucket to clean himself, tripped because his legs had fallen asleep, nearly caught his clothing on fire because of his own cursing and bad language, and then just gave up and lay on the floor for a few minutes considering how frustrating life could occasionally be.
