146 Cultivation

The next morning. Ed returned to Sect Leader Fang's castle at the peak of the mountain. Once again, the two sat within the small tea room.

"You must try this drink." Sect Leader Fang insisted as he poured Ed a cup of black liquid. "My friend brought me some a few years ago from a distant land. The taste is out of this world. I simply can't start my morning without it!" He excitedly explained as he poured his own cup and took a sip.

'Smells like coffee.' Ed thought as he took a sip. He grimaced at how bitter the taste was, but there was no sugar or cream at the table to make it better. "This is coffee?" He asked, feeling fairly sure he had guessed correctly.

"Mm. Yes." Chonglin nodded. "Coffee. Such a wonderous drink with so many benefits. To think I lived almost my entire life without it. Such a waste." He sighed while taking another long sip.

'Did China lose coffee during the apocalypse somehow...?' Ed wondered. But when thinking about how Sect Leader Fang had acted so far, he was hesitant to believe that was the case. "You're... messing with me again, right?" He asked.

"No, no." Sect Leader Fang made a serious face as he shook his head back-and-forth. "Truly, this drink is a blessing to humankind. Such a wonderful aroma!" He waved his hand over it. "Such a strong taste!" He took another sip. "It even helps you wake up in the morning! Why would I lie about such things?"

"That's... not what I meant." Ed frowned. "You must've drank coffee before now. It's been around for hundreds of years at the very least."

"Tsk." Chonglin scowled while clicking his tongue. "No fun. No fun at all. Do you know what those other honorary elders and personal disciples of mine say when I gave them the same shtick? They praised the drink to the highest heavens and proclaimed me a genius for having found it. They insisted on passing my good word to the rest of the sect so that all members could share in the benefits."

"Somehow... you remind me of my friend, Dupe." Ed sighed while shaking his head, feeling rather tired of the jokes."

"Oh, you know Dupe?" Chonglin smiled. "He's an interesting young esper. Feels like it was just yesterday that we inducted him into the sect, but it's probably been about a year now?"

"Wait, Dupe is a sect member?" Ed's eyes widened in shock for a moment before he quickly calmed back down. 'Wait, is Sect Leader Fang just messing with me again?'

"Mm." He nodded. "Dupe. A young boy. Thin frame. Black eyes with short black hair. If I remember correctly, he traveled from Langfang city to attempt joining the sect. Such a talented young man."

"What are his powers?" Ed questioned, testing whether it was really the Dupe he knew or not. The physical description didn't match up, but that hardly mattered when it came to Dupe.

"Ah, he hadn't awakened yet when a sect elder first took him in." He replied. "Truthfully, I was surprised a sect elder had recruited him. He only had the elements of dark, light, and earth. Hardly a qualification for direct recruitment into the Purple Origin Sect. But he proved himself to be quite talented, as he's already stepped onto the 49 paths."

"Is that so..." Ed nodded, still unsure whether this was the Dupe he knew or not.

"Anyways." Sect Leader Fang grinned. "Let's get down to business. I'm going to teach you the full system of cultivation. It's not as complicated as most people expect, so don't worry too much." He reached into his robe and pulled out a thin book.

Ed recognized the book. It was a copy of the Mortal Dragon Technique, which he had trained in completely.

Chonglin placed the book on the table. "Contrary to what many think, cultivation isn't necessarily a sequential process. Most that are knowledgeable on the subject view it in five steps to be taken in order. But the reality is that it can be done in any order with the exception of the final step."

'Five steps?' Ed thought to himself. 'Meridians, 49 paths, and purple mana? Tai had also mentioned laws once, so that's probably the 4th. What's the 5th though?'

"Though they can be done in any order, most espers do choose to go sequentially since it's easiest." Chonglin continued. "The first step is to fill the body's meridians with mana. There are many ways of doing so with various benefits to each method, but ultimately, the end result will be more mana capacity and a stronger body. If a cultivator hasn't awakened powers yet, then they'll also be able to cover their body in a thin aura in the color of their elements. The aura only increases the defense and offense of the esper a bit, not being all that useful." He placed the thin book on the table. "The second step is known as the 49 paths. You're already familiar with that, right?"

"More or less." Ed nodded.

"I'll explain it anyways in case you're missing anything." Chonglin replied. "The 49 paths are divided into the seven elements, making for seven paths per element. Most cultivators will master the default path upon completion of storing mana in their meridians. So, if an esper using a fire cultivation technique completed it, then he would most likely start with control over the basic fire element, which is the default path." He paused to take a sip of his coffee. "However, there are exceptions to this rule. Stress awakened espers can skip meridian cultivation altogether and start out on the 49 paths. They may start on a default path or one of the branch paths. It's a shortcut that gives them the edge in the short-term but may be harmful in the long-run. They are learning to multiply before they can add, or to walk before they can crawl. It's often harder to work backwards than it is to work forwards. Do you understand?"

"I guess..." Ed agreed, though he didn't seem to find it too difficult working backwards himself. "But I didn't start out on the 49 paths despite being stress awakened?" He replied.

"I'm getting to that. Wait patiently." Chonglin waved his hand. "The third step is known as purple origin mana. It represents a mana that balances the seven paths within a single element. Again, there are shortcuts to this. There have been stress awakened espers that started with control over such mana. There have also been geniuses that have obtained purple mana despite only mastering four or five paths. I even met a cultivator once that finished his meridian cultivation only to jump straight to purple mana. The problem with such a method is that the amount of purple mana one has is determined by how many paths one has mastered. In the case of the cultivator who had mastered no paths, he had very little purple mana. He was weaker than all his peers while he struggled working backwards to master the paths. Because of this, those that take the shortcut to purple mana often find themselves significantly lacking in mana when compared to their peers that have mastered the paths before obtaining purple mana."

"I see..." Ed nodded. "But I seem to have a decent amount of purple mana despite only having mastered two paths?"

"Barely." Chonglin shook his head. "You might have an amount comparable to an ordinary cultivator that has mastered seven paths, but you're a bit different. As someone with a seven-elemental mana-core that has obtained purple mana, you've basically completed a very tiny portion of each element. In other words, if a two-elemental mana-core esper stepped onto the 49 paths ahead of time, then he would have two tiny portions of purple mana, whereas you would have seven. It also looks like your... unique body... holds more mana than ordinary bodies."

"Oh." Ed nodded. 'Seems like he can see through just about everything... is that a special feature amongst sect leaders?'

"The fourth stage is known as law. Have you ever heard of it?" He questioned.

"Only in passing." Ed shook his head. "I don't really know anything about it."

"Mm." Chonglin rubbed his beard. "Law. It's a bit of a misleading term, but it's what the cultivation community decided on, as that's what our ancestors called it. To put it simply, law is made up of the essential rules governing one or more elements. For example, my adopted son, Fang Bai, is working on the law of blood. This law allows one to manipulate their blood as weapon, shield, and more. At later stages, it may even allow him to take control of the blood of his enemies. From what my son has told me, his law seems to rely primarily on water and light. However, that doesn't mean it is the only law related to water and light. In truth, there are likely thousands of laws making up each individual element. There may be even more if counting laws that utilize more than one element.

Ed frowned, not really understanding it fully.

Noticing his confusion, Chonglin continued. "You wanted to know why you didn't start on the 49 paths, right?" He questioned.

"Right." Ed agreed.

"It's because of these laws." He explained. "Perhaps it's determined by luck. Perhaps by innate affinity or skill. No one really knows. But stress awakened espers can start out on the law stage of cultivation. This is where your powers fall on the spectrum."

"My powers?" Ed thought about his powers, where he typically needed all seven types of mana. "And what law is that?" He asked.

"Don't know." Chonglin shrugged. "Maybe recreation? Matter manipulation? Elemental reconstruction? Your guess is better than mine, as you're the one that uses it."

"That..." Ed hesitated a moment before speaking. "Then what about 2nd awakenings?"

"More of the same." Chonglin explained. "It's basically just a re-roll of the dice while keeping the same base. A 49 path esper will probably still be a 49 path esper after. A law esper will still be a law esper. If they're lucky, then they'll progress much farther along their path. There are a few rare cases where 49 path espers will jump up to the law level, but it's rare."

Ed closed his eyes and thought back on the many espers he had interacted with in the past. 'If I assume I'm a law esper, then what about others? Dupe was probably law awakened? If not, then his 2nd awakening definitely was. Flair's power might be a law too... Relm awoke at the purple stage? That would explain her initial lack of mana and weakness in fights. Well, the Reef city espers are unique in the first place. Maybe it's related to that thing I found underneath the city. What about other places? Ray... He might actually be on the lightning paths...' He looked up and opened his eyes. "So, what stage are you at?" He questioned, curious as to how far Sect Leader Fang had gone.

"Naturally, I'm also on the path of laws." Chonglin laughed. "I've mastered quite a few of them too."

"Just the path of laws?" Ed questioned in surprise.

"Right." Chonglin nodded. "I even know an esper that has mastered hundreds of laws without moving onto the next stage. In fact, all of the sect leaders are only on the stage of laws."

Ed frowned. "Then how do you know there's a stage beyond it?"

"Because of my son..." Chonglin sighed. "You already know Tama, right?"

"Mm." Ed nodded. "Mr. Sai and I... well, we know each other."

"Tama is the only cultivator to step onto the next stage." Chonglin explained. "He wasn't a particularly impressive esper at the start. He focused on the light element and efficiency in his fights. But he never gave up and kept growing. Talent isn't truly determined in the early stages. It's only the later stages where it can truly shine. He struggled to master the 49 paths and purple origin mana. He didn't even cultivate his meridians until later. But when he started comprehending laws, his genius really shined. It wasn't uncommon for him to master multiple laws a day in the beginning."

"How many did he master?" Ed interrupted.

"From what he told me, over 3,000. And that's only as it relates to the light element." Chonglin answered. "However, something interesting happened when he finally reached full mastery of light. We had records of it from our ancestors, but it was the first time we ever saw it firsthand." He stared into Ed's eyes. "Tama fused entirely with the element of light."

"Fused with it?" Ed questioned, not really understanding it fully.

"Right." Chonglin nodded. "This is a bit of an open secret. You remember the vision I showed you where espers fought over control of the elements with the gods? That's exactly what Tama did not long ago. I'd say it's been about..." He closed his eyes to think and tilted his head. "Five years or so? It happened when he was chasing some esper across Africa."

Ed thought back to the vision where cultivators with extraordinary powers fought. "But... isn't Mr. Sai kind of weak compared to them?"

"Yes." Chonglin agreed. "But there are reasons for that. For one, he's new to controlling it. Imagine controlling one of the seven elements throughout the world. He can even forcefully take control of light away from other light espers. But the burden is large. He is currently like a toddler wielding a large sword. It will take him a very long time to master it completely. Not only that, but it seems someone or something is fighting him for control."

"Could there be another esper that gained control over the light element?" Ed guessed.

"There shouldn't be." Chonglin shook his head. "After all, mana had disappeared for so long. Either way, Tama is constantly battling for control. But even with that hindrance, he is the strongest esper in the world. We should be grateful he values efficiency so much. Last thing we need is him destroying a city on accident or something."

"I see..." Ed nodded. 'So, there are five steps. First is cultivating the meridians, which I've already mastered except for six of the remaining storage meridians. Second is the 49 paths, of which I've barely started. Third is purple origin mana, which is currently keeping pace with my progress along the 49th paths due to my unique circumstances. Fourth is laws, and surprisingly, I started at that level. My law probably uses all seven elements, making it extremely complicated. Would I need to master 21,000 laws to master all seven elements completely? Where do laws that use multiple elements come into play? Maybe Mr. Sai would give me some more in-depth knowledge... but I doubt it. The last stage is fusion with the element itself. I wonder what happens if someone manages to fuse with all seven elements?'

"Ahem." Chonglin coughed. "Well, let me show you to the training rooms. I think you'll like them."