Lin Wu felt far more powerful than before after breaking through but realized that his spirit Qi was the same overall. It was a strange feeling, and he didn't know what to think of it fully.
Only when he looked at the spirit Qi needed for the next upgrade did he realize something.
"Huh? The amount needed didn't increase?" Lin Wu questioned.
~DING~
——
ANSWER: The Shell Initiation stage is the shortest stage of the Dao Shell realm and as soon as the cultivator starts to use spirit Qi to form the Dao Shell, they would reach the Shell Genesis stage.
The Shell Initiation stage is mostly a realm for stabilization as the cultivator or beast decides what shape do they want their Dao Shell to be. The shell outline can still be modified in this stage and once the shell starts to form, it is hard to change its shape.
Thus, the cultivators spend time in finding the most suitable cultivation technique for them, if they don't have one or pick on the Dao that they would like to pursue so that the Dao Embryo can be raised later in the future.
——
Seeing the system's explanation, Lin Wu finally understood it.
"Hmm… so this is more of a preparatory stage. I guess for the average cultivator, even reaching this stage is a great thing and they may not have a technique that can take them beyond the Nascent soul realm. After all, only the Top tier techniques can allow one to reach the Dao Treading realm and above. As for the high grade ones, they will bring one to the Dao Shell realm with some luck while the mid grade ones will end at the Nascent Soul realm." Lin Wu muttered
He continued down the newly updated Host data and saw that one of his Qi skills had increased in proficiency as well.
"About time the Unity avatar Technique's proficiency increased, seems like using the fused form for a bit helped and the breakthrough finally pushed it ahead." Lin Wu said, feeling a bit pleased.
Other than this, the one last change that Lin Wu saw was that there was now a new section for Dao Shells. He had already seen that there were two Dao Shell outlines, one each for a Nascent soul.
This was the point where Lin Wu was confused about how he was apposed to proceed.
"So… do I need to upgrade both of them one at a time, or is the second one automatic system?" Lin Wu questioned.
~DING~
——
ANSWER: Host only needs one of the Dao Shell's to be completed and a Dao Embryo to be born, in order to proceed to the Dao Treading realm. Though if both of the Dao Shells are completed and both Dao Embryos are formed, the host will have a stable cultivation base.
——
"~Sigh~… Guess this is the disadvantage that comes with multiple strong bloodlines. While they are strong, they will also restrict at the same time." Lin Wu said with a sigh.
"Hmm… though once I complete the Dao Shells, I think that should be enough for stability. After all one is free to have more than one Dao Embryo and Dao Shell as long as they are willing to make them of course.
This usually happens after they cross the Dao Treading realm though. But perhaps I can make use of it early one." Lin Wu analyzed.
He understood that he now had the opportunity to form more than one Dao Embryos. This would give him a wider scope of power, though he wondered which Dao was it that he would prefer to pursue.
Lin Wu would have to make his choice very prudently since this was something the system would mostly be unable to help him in. The growth of a Dao Embryo depended on both the spirit Qi as well as the individual control over the Dao embryo.
The first part was something the system could asset with, but the latter is something Lin Wu would have to master on his own.
'My progress will probably be slowing down at that point…' Lin Wu understood.
Having understood all these things, Lin Wu decided to take the next step forward.
"Alright, system. Let's not wait anytime and proceed to the next step already. We know what we are going to comprehend." Lin Wu said.
~DING~
——
CULTIVATION BASE UPGRADE: Initiated
HOST CULTIVATION: Shell Initiation Stage Of the Dao Shell realm
-Spirit Qi required to upgrade = [17,785,158/15,000,000] units (liquid spirit qi)
SPIRIT QI CONSUMED: 15,000,000 units (liquid spirit Qi)
——
Lin Wu felt the spirit Qi in his meridians and Dantian flying up to the free Dao Shell in his Dantian. It was as if several strings of yarn were being wrapped around the Shell outline and they were getting merged slowly.
Lin Wu carefully observed as the Spirit Qi started to merge with the outline little by little. About an hour later, his entire Dao Shell outline had been covered and it had become a bit more corporeal.
~shua~
The spirit Qi then started to spin around the outline and spiraled to the bottom of the Spherical Dao Shell. Lin Wu had decided to keep his Dao Shell spherical in shape, as it was the shape that would be able to accommodate most of the Dao Embryos.
He didn't need any specialized shape as he could simply keep on increasing the size of the Dao Shell. Spirit Qi was one thing that Lin Wu had confidence in gathering. Thus he could take the Shell Expansion stage in stride and see if the Dao Embryo he was trying to make suited it or not.
If it was small, Lin Wu would expand it more. And if it fits perfectly, he would still expand it as the Embryo would grow more in the Embryo Growth Stage of the Dao Treading realm as well.
With these two things going hand in hand, Lin Wu had a solid plan ahead.