Chapter 15 First Step in Cultivation

Qin Ming woke up in a cold sweat. He felt his entire body shudder, he looked at his hands then wiped the sweat from his brow. "How am I... where am I?"

He stood up then frantically began looking all over the place "where is Lu Bi… Netherjade.. Feng Xia… anyone!"

The Icedawn pearl began to resonate and hum. The humming caught his ears and he was suddenly brought back. "That's right, my name is.... Qin…. Qin Ming! That's right, I remember everything!"

He picked up the ice heart and stored it in his spatial ring, he tightly clutched it "don't worry Icedawn I shall avenge you!"

Although gaining the memories took an unreal amount of time to explain in reality it took less than three seconds from start to finish! After gaining the memories Qin Ming had grown an insane amount of respect for Icedawn not as a person but also as an immortal cultivator! She was very close to godhood herself but had it stripped away moments before attaining it. Qin Ming however had been born into it. Although even then he would have been killed by a single one of her breaths!

A single tear fell from his face. He had felt terrible about what happened to Icedawn, Lu Snow. after all he had experienced her entire life as if it were his own!

He stood up "well first things first, I must have a talk with Lei Laoshi!"

Qin Ming began to walk out of his room, sooner than not he met with Lei Laoshi! He quickly greeted him "respectful greetings master! Your disciple wishes to ask something of you!"

He scratched his long beard "what is it my child?"

"What is cultivation!?"

Lei Laoshi began to chuckle "so you figured it out, have you well listen here Cultivation isn't some game to play! It must be taken with the utmost seriousness, one single misstep on the path may lead to a disastrous pitfall! Do you understand?"

Qin Ming nodded his head, his eyes started to glow with a sense of anticipation and determination. "Father, I am prepared for everything and anything!"

He put his hands on Qin Ming's shoulders "how can you prepare for something you do not know, come boy allow me to show you the way!"

Lei Laoshi led Qin Ming to his study and when he arrived he motioned for him to sit.

"Let me ask you something first, why is it you wish to cultivate?"

Qin Ming did not hesitate one bit in his response "to avenge my friend!"

Lei Laoshi shook his head "do not walk this path due to anger and resentment, if that is why then I cannot train you!"

Qin Ming sighed lightly "you misunderstand father, I wish to break the bonds of destiny and walk a path I chose! I wish to meet my father. But those are all very far into the future. As of now I wish to bring peace to my friend so she may find rest in the afterlife!"

Lei Laoshi was taken aback "since when did my boy grow so much? A day ago you were so childish now you are like an adult!"

This was true a day ago he still had the mind of a child but now? Well he had millions of years to grow and develop his mind, now he even remotely acted like Icedawn in some ways!

"Well with goals like those I have no choice but to train you! Listen there are three paths of cultivation each with seven ranks of cultivation. The first is of the spirit, some may call them Spirit-refiners or Ki-refiners whichever is your cup of tea."

"This path refines the dantian and makes the spirit energy much more pure and increases the amount of. The second is the body. This just refines your body, making it more durable and stronger."

"The last is of the soul, it increases the connection with your soul which allows for longevity, this is the least known path and thus the hardest to train in!"

Qin Ming seemed to understand and so he continued "the ranks are Basic Mortal, Xiantian, Nascent Soul, Divine Mortal, Violet Exultant, Celestial, and Celestial Immortal!"

Qin Ming held his chin and began to think for a moment "father, is it possible to train in all three, I wish to become the strongest. If I'm lacking in a single field I won't be happy with myself otherwise!"

Lei Laoshi was a bit surprised "well yes I do have some techniques but be careful you are still young if you mess up-"

"I know father, I know" Qin Ming looked resolute as he spoke.

Lei Laoshi sighed "fine then." He laid down three decently thick manuals.

The first one reads [Body of the Ten Crimson Gods], the second [Spirit of the Ten Crimson Gods], and finally [Ten Crimson Gods of Soul Sealing]. Qin Ming was secretly amazed as he read through each of the manuals he started to realize what an impressive background Lei Laoshi had. When the war that nearly ended the universe a small group of rebels arose to power.

These rebels were known as the Crimson gods! They created the Crimson League, an organization composed of the universe's strongest warriors! Now in the modern era they are one of the biggest major powers. They also devised a technique that allowed for people to train to the seventh rank in the soul. Though only one person in all of time has reached that stage, the legendary divine archer Houyi!

When one reached a high enough level in each of these techniques they could merge them together and cultivate everything in one fell swoop! This technique is absolutely the most supreme in the Oldjade major world and most definitely ranks in the top ten for the Three Realms!

He came to his decision "then I shall train in body refinement first! I'm not much of a Ki-refiner."

After all, even though each of the paths are equal, he felt that he was more suited for body refinement! He read through the body refinement, "so the first step in training in this technique requires me to form divine tattoos. And this can only be done in the light of the full moon from the lunar star!"

Qin Ming quietly thought to himself, "if I am to do this then it must be at night, hmm that's not for some time…." he started to trail off going deep into thought.

He respectfully bowed to Lei Laoshi "thank you master for teaching me!" Then he quickly left.

Lei Laoshi was secretly hiding a smile, he knew what a talent the boy was and was sure to grow into something extraordinary. Qin Ming continued off to his room. He sat down on the prayer mat and began to quietly meditate. Slowly his insights into the Dao of Ice began to coalesce into the pit of his dantian. His Dao was morphing with his body!

Qin Ming had gained a mountain of insights from the Dao relic! Thus he was easily able to make a breakthrough to the World level of enlightenment! He even felt as though the One With Everything level was not too far off!

He opened his eyes and silently sighed. He felt as though he now gained a firm connection to the natural world. He could sense the squirrels rustling in nearby bushes and some leviathan quietly sleeping in a cave! He could also sense the amount of ice in the world too!

Qin Ming had just realized that on this day alone he made two breakthroughs in the Dao of Ice all because of Icedawn! He held her in a much higher regard and even counted her among one of his masters and teachers. If it wasn't for her then he never would have been able to make it this far in the Dao. she could have decided to reincarnate, but she decided to transmit the Dao in death!

Icedawn was a very kind person and felt as though she was especially kind to him! After all, transmitting the Dao does not come easy. For her to transmit it to him meant something, and thus Qin Ming felt like he most definitely owed her!

He stood up and patted down his clothes, "let's go see how Augus is doing".

The reason Qin Ming wished to see him was because he believed that he was hiding a bit more than he let on. Thus he wanted to draw this power out of him!

When Qin Ming met Augus he was locked in a head on battle between Ryu and Miko Yang. Qin Ming looked at the display of power and was quite disappointed. After all he saw figures like Icedawn battle at full power; these two were nothing to him now.

"You two let me handle Augus for a moment" He mused quietly.

Ryu turned around "the hell do you want!?"

Miko also wasn't having any of it; she simply just glared at him. "Fine, I tried to be a diplomat."

Qin Ming sighed lightly then waved his hand. Pillars of ice rushed over to them and encased the two in ice! "I tried asking nicely, didn't I?"

Augus was slightly surprised "oh brother have you learned a new Dao path in such a short time?"

Qin Ming smiles back "yes I did but I couldn't have done it without help!"

He slowly walked forward, as did Augus! The tension between the two grew so thick it could be cut with a knife! The Dao of Ice had completely merged with Qin Ming's body and now each of his attacks carried World level power! So when he burst forth the ground under him had smashed apart and when it broke ice pillars shot up from the ground!

Everyone present grew surprised "i-is that World level enlightenment!?"

Qin Ming had grown so much in mere seconds everyone was surprised. Instantly a dark figure crashed down onto the battlefield, "Qin Ming the Icedawn Pearl."

The figure was Jiangsu! Qin Ming stepped back a bit "uh brother the pearl broke apart after I touched it!"

Jiangsu had a very visible frown on his face "hmm that is quite a problem. No matter."

Jiangsu was quite saddened but went back to Tianlong Xun regardless. Augus stopped in his tracks "what was that all about?"

Qin Ming shook his head "don't worry to much brother let's continue"

Augus nodded and then continued to burst forward with explosive power! Flames shot out from the ground covering the entire area! Augus met Qin Ming with a leg that was covered in sapphire flames. The flames tried to greedily eat his legs but the ice that came from Qin Ming blew back the flames!

Qin Ming had a much stronger understanding of ice than Augus did fire! Thus he was easily able to stop his attack. Qin Ming sent down his leg and a wall of ice followed behind it and when it landed it sent Augus flying way back. "Show me you your power Augus, what are you hiding!"

Augus grit his teeth "fine but don't blame me when you die!"

He stood completely still, he took a deep breath and when he did the entire area sank deep into the ground as several million kilograms of pressure surrounded the area. The area started to rise exponentially in temperature and the rocks around him melted slightly. A typhoon of flames grew in his left hand, a swirling vortex started to suck in rock's air and even some of the students! Although they were able to fight back against it. He moved his hands elegantly like a wave dancing. When his hands moved it looked as though a dragon was dancing around him. The dragons began swimming in a circle in front of him.

He ran his fist through the circle and a blast wave of fire and pressure shot towards Qin Ming!

Qin Ming grit his teeth "this was what he was hiding what the-"

Qin Ming put up several walls made of ice each holding the power of the world in them, even then the typhoon ate through each of the walls! However the speed and power fell dramatically, the flames covered his entire body and when the fire dissipated Qin Ming was only slightly charred!

Qin Ming quietly looked back in his memories, although his body was in pain he was calm and collected! His fingers started to delicately dance and snow began to coalesce and collect around his fingers! He quietly whispered "[First dance, Ice shuttle]"

Ten rockets made of ice shoot from the tips of his fingers and shoot at Augus at the speed of sound! The ten rockets tear apart Augus. Parts of his flank are cut off his body! Augus's eyes turn bloodshot "oh ho you've become much much stronger since I last saw you!"

Qin Ming takes a breath "alright that's enough for now!"

When he saw Augus move so elegantly he was secretly inspired and wanted to desives a Martial Arts suitable for him to use. He quietly pondered to himself, he liked how smooth Augus moved when executing his Martial Arts. When he saw him it was almost like looking at a wave!

He respectfully bowed and then departed to a cave that was nearby! The mountain ranges surrounding the school were massive, this one in particular held an entire ocean in it! Qin Ming decided to float about aimlessly in this ocean until he found some inspiration! He slowly started forming a rough outline after a few days he left and once more challenged Augus! Then he would go back to meditate in the ocean. This continued for weeks unend!

He also would spend hours and days meditating on the Icedawn Pearl! His insights in the Dao of Ice were growing exponentially! After a few days of meditating he felt he reached as far as he could as of right now. He pulled out a small manual, this was the abridged version of all four techniques. Rather than actually expounding on the technique it told of the history of the technique.

What Qin Ming lacked the most was information of the outside world! As he began to read he grew a fond appreciation for the Ten Crimson Gods! The Crimson Gods made these three techniques for the Three Princes of the Universe! Each of the princes excelled in one path of cultivation, so as a gift the Crimson Gods made a refinement that suited each of them! When they join together in the [Ten Crimson Soul Binding] array! If they joined together in power every single Celestial Immortal the Three Realms birthed would instantly lose to them!

The Three Princes broke past the bonds of what one could consider strong! They stand very close to the peak of power in the Three Realms! However Xùrì Lièrì could kill each of them with a single breath, even if they make the array! They most certainly didn't even hold a candle to the Sun of Creation at all!

He sighed that this technique is extremely unfathomable; only one sixteenth of immortals that attempt to train in [Body of the Ten Crimson Gods] would actually succeed in turning into a Xiantain! Qin Ming was secretly amazed and found a new respect for the body cultivator Prince!

The prerequisite for even training in this technique requires one to make a soul pact with the Princess of the Lunar Star! The pages in the manual demonstrate the certain movements that one must do in order to form the contract, however If one step is off his entire soul could be incinerated!

He stood up and slapped his face "time to head to the Throat of the World"

The Throat of the World is the tallest point in the world, here one could truly meditate on the principles of the moon and sun! In the morning the temperatures are very close to the surface of the sun. At night the temperature was several hundred degrees below zero! However, the cold didn't really bother Qin Ming! He decided that now is when he should make the venture.

The Throat of the World

Qin Ming made it to the top fairly quickly; the entire mountain was about the size of a minor world! When he reached the top it was well into the night. The moon was big and bright; the moon covered the entire sky! Qin Ming reached his hand out and felt as though he could touch it.

Qin Ming slowly breathed and began to run through each of the motions. As he completed each step trigrams in the shape of a dragon formed on his body. He continued to move and as he continued he looked like a serpent swimming in the ocean! A spiral of moon energy streams down to Qin Ming. This strand of cosmic energy snakes around his body!

It continued to move then the strand entered his mouth and covered his entire body. In seconds he was enclosed in an egg of cosmic energy! The cosmic energy baptized him and transformed him into a child of universal cosmic energy! In the time it takes to boil a kettle of tea he was fully transformed. The divine tattoos were firmly attached to his body. He had successfully made the contract. Now he would be able to draw in cosmic energy and cultivate that in his body!

To become a ki-refiner with this technique is fairly simple, but the properties are the same. He just needed to put sun and moon trigrams around his dantian. With those he would be able to distill cosmic energy into spirit energy this technique was truly unfathomable. To change one form of energy to another was extremely difficult, but the Ten Crimson Gods actually succeeded!

After the contract was formed there was still plenty of ambient cosmic energy. It was like a white mist blanket covering the mountain peak. Qin Ming slowly took in a breath through his nostrils, the white mist slowly started to crawl over to him. The divine tattoos on his body started to glow a bright yellow as the mist was greedily devoured. The cosmic energy filled his body, his cells were transformed, soon all of flesh was transformed. After which his body dissolved the energy into it! Unlike the dantian for ki-refining the body didn't have a place it stored all of that energy so it immediately was absorbed!

After he absorbed all the cosmic energy he was at the mid stage for basic mortals! At the mid stage his strength was significantly higher than before. Qin Ming gently clenched his hands. He felt as though the palm of his hands could move mountains with ease!

On the twelfth week he challenged Augus once more and for the last time. He slowly walked over to Augus. Augus felt his throat slightly clench, "the hell type of training are you doing!?"

Qin Ming's body was illusory like a wave, his body was seamlessly flowing in the background! He even radiated a cold aura. "I think I'm ready!"

Augus was confused "for what?"

He said nothing but he just smiled! Augus began to charge at him. When they meet a cohesive blast of pressure smashes the ground and sends the onlookers back a bit! Qin Ming flashes his cold-blooded eyes, a chill was sent down Augus's back.

This training wasn't for nothing, Qin Ming had planned on devising his own set of martial arts! It would work much better for him than techniques devised by other people. Although his insights into the Dao of Martial Arts were fairly low he would continuously work to improve on this technique. He decided that any good technique needs a blend of offense and defense. So it was settled that the first step of this technique would be split into nine defensive stances. The second step would be split into nine offensive stances.

Augus sent down a fist at him with an ocean of flames trailing behind it. The flames devoured everything in its path! Qin Ming quickly moved, he snaked his arms around his and threw him off balance. Qin Ming ducked down and threw a palm into his chest. The force of his blow was so great it caved his chest in!

Qin Ming was secretly pleased "hmm this is a good technique, I shall call it [Twig in a Stream]"

Qin Ming sighed then continued his battle. He threw a palm at Augus, then Augus used his hand to grab it and send another palm blow! Qin Ming used his forearm and threw it out of the way, he sent his leg up to ram it in the side of his chest, however Augus lifted him up to defend against his attack. This continued for a while until Augus was fed up with all of it, he sent a thin film made of flames to blow Qin Ming back.

The second stance [River Battles Stone]

Qin Ming was heavily breathing this exchange had lasted for about two hours now, he was on his last legs! However Augus was still able to go. In fact he didn't even have a scratch on him! Augus charges at him again sending his leg at him!

Qin Ming quickly acts and uses the first stance to effortlessly guard against his attack. After which Qin Ming sends an elbow at his chest! Augus was thrown off guard for a second then Qin Ming sent his shin to slam against his face! Augus was rocketed into the ground at extreme speeds! Qin Ming's body became black and star-like, this was the first time he ever used his cosmic energy!

Qin Ming slowly overlooked his body and was wide-eyed as he gazed at his new form! "So this is what cultivation feels like, my body…."

Augus tilted his head "cultivation…?"

Qin Ming shook his head "don't worry about it"

In Augus's clan only the skilled and talented learned of cultivation. Even though he was an outsider, he still had no concept of this! In fact the only ones who had a concept of cultivation before they entered was Naomi and the three guardians, but they were long since sworn into secrecy.

Qin Ming's body slowly transforms back to 'normal'. Augus stood up and wiped the blood dripping out of his mouth. Augus charged at him and swung his fist at Qin Ming. Qin Ming wasn't worried; he quickly used [Twig in a Stream]. Qin Ming used his hand to swim about the space around Augus's arm. Then he threw Augus's hand out of the way, when he did a blast of pressure threw him off balance.

Quiet whisperings came to Qin Ming. He heard Lei Laoshi's voice "remember the basics and never stray too far off the garden path!"

Qin Ming closed his eyes and images of Icedawn's life passed before him. Her memories start to flash by in a quilted collage of memories, some mix with others. All of her experiences are finally sewed into a cohesive piece. He opened his eyes.

Qin Ming throws his hand into the pit of his solar plexus, this cracks a few ribs and pieces of his rib cage stabs into his lungs. A jet stream of pressure blasts out from the other side and the ground under them is stripped away in a cone like shape. Augus is trying his best to stand up properly but fails miserably. He falls onto his knees. He tries to conjure his flames, but is unable to do so. This attack Qin Ming just used in fact disrupts the dantian's flow of energy, and puts a tremendous stress on the meridian pathway! If one tried to produce too much spirit energy could potentially lose the ability to become a Ki-refiner later down their path.

The third stance [Wave Cracks Stone].

Qin Ming smiled delightedly "yes this is quite acceptable!"

Augus grimaced "the hell did you do to me!?"

Qin Ming gave him his hand "I am sorry brother but this is my [Wave Arts], in a few minutes the effects should pass"

He tilted his head then Qin Ming quickly responded "my Martial Arts, this technique blocks the dantian, your spirit energy will come back! Thank you for sparring with me!"

He bowed, then left, "I'll give you time to recover, big brother!"

Qin Ming walked around the school gaining insights from others around him, then he stopped at Tianlong Xun. "Big sister, would you mind giving me some insights?"

Tianlong Xun turned her head then noticed Qin Ming. Jiangsu understood then stopped his battle with her. "Here little sister give my brother a chance with you." he gestured his hand to Qin Ming.

Qin Ming bowed then got into position. Wind was rising out of the earth and covered the entire battlefield. It was as if a hurricane gently kissed the battlefield. Even so the earth was rising out of the ground, flying about destroying everything in its path. Gentle like rain, furious like a tsunami!

Qin Ming slowly sucked in all the insights Tianlong Xun gave him. It was obvious how fast Tianlong Xun grew, if it was like back in Trinity this little show of the Dao would have instantly tore him to pieces! Tianlong Xun wasn't the only one to grow. Tianlong Xun tilted her head "little brother have you begun your immortal path!?"

Tianlong Xun was surprised by this, she could also sense the ambient cosmic energy flow off of him. She shook her head "besides the point."

Qin Ming slowly blinked and when he opened them Tianlong Xun had disappeared. A leg crashes into the back of his skull and sends him face forward into the ground and forms a Qin Ming-shaped crater.