Chapter 171: Astral & Qi Cultivation

"Vice Principal Fan Lan? Huh….guess even he would be willing to bow down to you two." Amber's eyes danced with amusement. 

It truly was intriguing to see so many official figures bow their heads down. Especially since Amber dislikes those with so much arrogance, it was a bit liberating to witness. 

"The Vice-Principal? Does he have as much as a fearsome reputation as Alisha?" Cain curiously asked. 

"Oh, this guy?" Amber nearly stifled a giggle. "You should've heard these guys talk about him before your status changed. He's practically revered as the demigod of the Academy. His biggest fame was killing several peak Sky Rulers and severely injuring a half-step Sage Core expert dozens of years ago. This was like some war from a rival sect during that time. And after that battle, that sect was legitimately afraid to ever go against the Academy again. But a frightening guy like this is so suppressed by just your status. Truly beyond logic."

Listening to this grandiose tale, Kali lightly snorted, her mind believing it was to be expected. 

While Cain contemplated their choices. Forming a tie with the Vice Principal could potentially be helpful. Especially if he is as powerful as that tale is claiming him to be. 

But at the same time, Cain already had another plan formulated. 

Because of this trip, the drive to make Amber happy surged within him. Though she never brings it up, Cain could tell she hoped that she would become World Spirit Master very soon. 

These sensations were suppressed for her parents but never entirely forgotten.

And when comparing meeting someone like the Vice Principal or fulfilling one of Amber's passions, the choice was plainly evident. 

Cain only needed a moment to arrive at his conclusion and then say, "No, I'll tell him we have important matters to attend to with the World Spirit Master Branch. Tomorrow, we'll go to gather some information." 

"This…." Kali's brows tightly knit. "Why do you want me to come along? From your eyes, I'm guessing you just want to ask about helping Amber to awaken a Spirit Core, no?" 

As she spoke, her gaze briefly swept over Amber. Her eyes nearly rolled over the visible excitement trying to suppress itself on her face. 

Just from this, Kali can tell she'll need to begrudgingly journey out to help this girl.

It would cut into her cultivation time, but Kali realized it simply couldn't be helped if it was her.

"Well, partly about that. But what I'm really going for is information about Astral Energy. I'm sure you're quite curious about this, right? At this point, I feel like we already reached a limit towards what we can absorb."

As Cain spoke, Amber suddenly jumped, her mind flashing upon relevant information. 

With a shimmer of a glint in her pupils, she said, "Did you two never ask me about this before? When I was bored, I read about some surface-level topics about this."

Cain and Kali paused. When recalling how they even find about Astral Energy, they faintly recalled Lei Li's figure. 

After finding about it from her, the sibling duo wanted to search around and dig up any information they could find.

But with revealing talents, World Spirit Masters, and everything in between, the opportunity had just never arrived. 

"I suppose we never had a chance to ask. Just what do you know about it." Cain further inquired.

Before speaking, Amber saunter over to their large comfy couch, sinking in and getting relaxed before saying, "Mm. Well, I say that I read surface-level topics, but I only know of one tale and a little bit of general knowledge. Basically, Astral is the true equivalent to everything about Qi cultivation. They say Qi cultivation is about transforming our Spiritual Being into something divine, something to shed of our Mortal Skin. A bit exaggerated, though; I can see why. As for Astral, this focus on evolving our entire physical state into something otherworldly. Something that's described as akin to a star."

Interest rapidly surged within the sibling duo. Their attentions were rapt over such a mystical-sounding ability. 

In this brief moment, Cain shot a look over to Kali, asking, "I suppose it would be pretty late to ask but have you read anything about this?" 

"No…." Kali slowly shook her head. "Oddly enough, this was one of the few topics I barely heard anything about. Grandmother at most mentioned it off handly."

At this point in their relationship, neither Cain nor Kali had any scruples over casually mentioning their Family. They're faintly aware that it won't be very long until they can come clean. 

And by then, they would have nothing to worry about. 

Amber naturally had the faintest of a clue of this but was simply happy over how trusting they were. Her smile broadened a bit as she continued to say,

"Ah, that's not surprising, you know. Truthfully, Astral cultivation is very rare, even among the Divine Region. Very few have any type of cultivation manual for it. And the process for creating an Astral Core is supposedly very complex. Furthermore, when cultivating Astral Energy, they say the process is brutal. To transform the body, you'll literally need to crush your organs, tissues, and bones with this Energy to evolve them! That's far too painful for me. And, there's also something about needing to replace the entirety of your blood with pure Astral Energy. I'm assuming with how slow and torturous this process is, people just stopped caring to do it."

"Heh. Is that really it? If it's just a little pain like that, how could we call ourselves Martial cultivators if we can't force through it? Maybe the ancient text you read were all from supposed legends with weak Martial Hearts." Kali disdainfully scoffed. 

After experiencing the hell of infusing every inch of her body with Draconic Ice Energy, she's more than aware of how grueling cultivation is. 

Experiences like suffering pain are absolutely needed. Otherwise, she wouldn't have access to an ability that tremendously boosted her prowess. Plus, her Martial Heart would be far weaker than what it is now.

She and anyone's path of cultivation are treading on the path of Heaven's Will and eventually defying it. 

To go against the predetermined will of the entire universe and the absolute Laws and Orders that govern it, naturally, it won't be anywhere near close to smooth, easy, or without pain.

They all want to break free from the shackles of predetermined destiny and be reborn into existence simply on another plane of a higher reality. 

This was the will of many, if not all, cultivators.

There comes a Spiritual Dependence on Martial cultivation, one that can cause even the most average of mortals to transform into a fearsome expert across the starry skies. 

All of this is why Kali merely scoffs at the reason pain is what limited Astral cultivation. 

If that was so, then their entire societies would have never experienced an era of revolution or glory.

Even Cain, someone who had lived as an ordinary mortal and experienced hellish pain beyond all, wasn't so inclined to believe that pain is limiting Astral cultivation.

Moreover, he also recalled how Old Nox Soul says it's very possible to have Astral, Spirit, and Qi Energy all flowing inside him. Though he also recalls him claiming that such a phenomenon is incredibly rare.

In contrast to the sibling duo's critical thoughts, Amber treated this very lightly. 

Shrugging her shoulders, she said, "I guess you're right. I mean, even though it's far rarer for people to cultivate Astral Energy, there are some legends depicting their feats. One legendary expert was said to have such a tough physical body that his defenses were basically impossible to tear through. With defenses alone, he can even fight against those at a higher cultivation level. And when he became a demigod, it was said that not a single other experts could touch him. Naturally, that ancient guy long since moved on from this planet."

"I see, that is quite powerful. But, what about any legends depicting a cultivator at the peak of both Astral and Qi cultivation? Is that another monstrous ancient legend?" Cain inquired. 

As Amber opened her mouth, she suddenly paused. With her Qi enhanced brain, she has an effortless time recalling all sorts of information she read even months ago. 

This was approaching the borders of near picture-perfect memory. And as she recalled a tale that even caused slight tingles to bubble up her skin. 

Compared to all other tales, this one has quite the most exaggerated legends.

Her eyes narrowed as she explained, "Indeed, there is another monstrous legend like that. In fact, this may be the most grandiose legend yet. This guy is even above all others I talked about. Believe it or not, it's a woman this time, and she was known as the Peerless Sovereign. Despite what's expected from her, she was actually a monster in direct combat and couldn't be beaten. All geniuses who challenged either fell or died. She cracked numerous Martial Hearts with just her bare fist. And….she was a heaven-defying Talent. Somebody who could actually nearly jump an entier large boundary!"

"You're serious?!" 

Cain and Kali couldn't suppress their shocks, both jumping from where they stood. 

Fighting a few small boundaries, that's reasonable only if it was another one in a million genius born in the strongest Divine Kingdom.

But a Mortal that could nearly eclipse an entier large cultivation realm? 

That was nearly impossible to believe!

Surely, no Lower Realm planet should have bloodlines, cultivation manuals, or inheritance on the level of God Galaxies.

Kali believed that's the only way a genius like that could be born. 

While Cain, the more open-minded between them, similarly thought a supreme genius like that can only be born in the best of environment.

After hearing so many legends like this, Cain and Kali were confused. 

Just why are so many legends like this appearing from just another high-ranking Mortal Planet?

"Well, I'm hoping those texts aren't lying. I mean, her feat also described her as having a Heaven Ranking Soul Form that was superior to all other Heaven Rankings during her era. She had also ruled the entire continent for thousands of years before ascending to a higher plane forever. Hell, if we were to go to the Divine Region now, I'm sure we can still see legends of the Peerless Sovereign plastered around one of the Divine Kingdoms."

As Amber explained, Cain curled his brows. "Wait, thousands of years before ascending to a higher plane? You mean, she didn't leave and come back like the Thunder Spear Emperor?"

"Nope. She actually lived for that long without shedding her Mortal coil. Have no idea how the hell she managed to achieve that. But not only was she practically the strongest genius but also the oldest one recorded in history. Really, I'm just thankful that so many generations have passed since her reign. I couldn't imagine just living in the same era with someone so domineering."

Even barring the Peerless Sovereign fantastic existence, it could be inferred that the genius of that era wasn't wholly inferior. 

Certainly, there should've been other monstrous existence that the Peerless Sovereign suppressed, causing her own fame to wildly increase.

Even just living among those types of geniuses sounded grueling to Amber. She's thankful that in their generation, the only freakish youth in this generation has incredibly close ties with her.

As for Cain and Kali, they were even more assured about dual cultivating Astral and Qi cultivation. 

At the peak of their powers, just how much more terrifying can they grow?

The battle-hungry drive within Cain and Kali furiously surged. To suppress all other geniuses with an overwhelming ability, who wouldn't want to carve out a legend like this?

This was their pride that's engraved deep within their bones, deep within their very soul! 

And for sure, the sibling duo had the utmost genuine passion for standing at the absolute summit of all geniuses. 

To take a step on this road, Cain knew it was finally time to do some serious investigation.