A Reason To Cultivate

Zhao Yun slowly followed after Ling Yun into the hut. The moment he entered the gate of the small hut, his eyes widened so much so that they would fall out from his sockets any moment.

Well one can't blame him for that; the inside of the 'small' hut was so big that he couldn't see the end of it. 'Parallel dimension' a term appeared in his mind.

Seeing the boy's reaction, Ling Yun smiled and said, "This is a parallel dimension created by me to arrange those books." He pointed at the shelves that filled this seemingly endless space. To Zhao Yun's horror each and every shelf was infinitely long and every one of them was filled to the brim by thick ancient books. When he toured around with his gaze, he found that every shelf had different books and on different topics. Some detailed herbs while others about beasts, there were also some which elaborated about various other species. Just reading these titles made Zhao Yun's heart pound. This was knowledge. It was so much that Zhao Yun knew that the current him does not even possess the qualification to know everything. This was further confirmed by the fact that 90% of these books were covered in a barrier.

Ling Yun explained, "These books are divide into different minor paths and nine major paths which is further divided into mortal, divine and Dao level corresponding to its value and knowledge that pertains to the world they are for. For example, the current you can only access the mortal column, as for the others, when you come in contact with particular situations, you would unlock the information about it, and if you don't come in early contact then they will be unlocked when you reach the corresponding world."

Zhao Yun nodded. He was not disappointed because of not having all this because he knew that the current him can't even take all of the mortal knowledge let alone the others.

Ling Yun smiled upon seeing his demeanour. He said, "Let's talk about the mortal column. These books contain all the knowledge that those seniors gathered from the mortal realm. They contain the trashiest of abilities created there along with the best of them. I have categorized everything from worst to best in the order from left to right. "He smiled wryly. When he took this job, he thought it would be easy, but when he finished only then did he know how tiring it was.

Zhao Yun was extremely excited at the prospect of having so much knowledge. He was just about to leap on them when Ling Yun stopped him.

"Brat listen to me first." His voice solemn, "Excess to everything in the world is fatal. If you just cultivate every moment, you would lose experience of the world, resulting in less comprehension. If you travel around, you would lose valuable time of cultivation. If you are extremely good then you would be cheated and betrayed. If you are too bad, you would be alone, and trust me that it is the worst feeling you can get. In this manner, knowing too much and not experiencing them would be bad as well. Therefore, although you have unlimited access to all these knowledge, I as your guide would like to suggest that you leave it up to me to select what you should know while you are growing. Once you reach a high level I would naturally stop interfering." His voice serious and his expression sincere, Ling Yun gazed at the young boy.

It was as if cold water was thrown on Zhao Yun, his hot blood calming a little, he seriously pondered what he had heard. He slowly remembered his own life. His obsession with training leads him to become the strongest young member of the kingdom in return he was plotted and almost killed. In his entire life, Yu Mei can be considered his only friend. Thinking of all this, his face reddened a little. 'I sure was lonely' he thought. This also confirmed with some of the words Ling Yun said. He thought for a while and then with a firm expression he nodded towards Ling Yun.

Ling Yun sighed in relief. He was worried that the boy would continue to be stubborn. He slowly waved his hands and four books appeared in front of Zhao Yun. They were [Introduction to Cultivation], [Introduction To Herbs and Beasts], [Heaven and Earth treasures], [Basics Of Mortal Medicine Refinement].

He introduced, "As you can read from the titles, they are all foundational knowledge. Cultivation, you need to know to grow stronger, herbs, beasts and heaven and earth treasures are natural resources that can help in increasing your cultivation speed, natural talent or strength. While basic of mortal medicine refinement is an art, I suggest you learn as it would not only help you but also your friends and family. Of course this knowledge is just for you here. If you want to impart them to others, you have to learn it first. You cannot bring these books to the outside, on the contrary, any new knowledge that you gain outside would be imprinted into the books here thus making them complete. Ling Yun smiled and continued, "Of course these are knowledge of the mortal realm which is different compared to the mortal world, since mortal world is a level higher in existence. Therefore some of this knowledge may be incomplete, or there are chances to be completely wrong in accordance with Mortal world laws. But these error only constitute to 1% of the core component, rest is fine."

Zhao Yun nodded. He knew since mortal realms were artificially created then, there would be some difference from the naturally existing Mortal world.

Ling Yun said, "go, I have created another hut for you, Slowly absorb everything you need to learn"

Zhao Yun nodded, picked up the four books and slowly made his way outside. Sure enough another hut was present there just beside the main one. He truly wondered how Ling Yun could have done that without him noticing.

He entered the hut to find out that it was also a parallel dimension. Compared to previous one, this one was far smaller. There was a praying mat, a lamp and a practise target in the hut. Zhao Yun sat down on the mat, and lightened the lamp. The first book he chose was [Introduction to Cultivation]

He knew that his foundation was not good. His knowledge on how the cultivation system works was extremely low. Thus this was the reason he chose this book first.

He opened the book and started reading.

'Legend says that God created everything. Who is this God, where is he, Why did he created all this, there is no solid answer to these Questions. Some says that the God is an insanely powerful cultivator, who attained mythical heights in his cultivation and thus was able to create other living beings. Other theory is that the God is a being who was born along with the great Void. With time he felt lonely, thus he created Living beings to keep him company. There are other similar theories about Gods. One such theory talks about Cultivation. It says, in order to get closer to their God, creatures are able to cultivate their bodies, soul and energy, thus increasing their level of existence. The ultimate goal of cultivation is to reach the God."

Zhao Yun was stupefied to learn this information. He had always wondered that why do people cultivate for long life span then where does this life span comes from does living long is truly the ultimate goal these questions had always bothered him but now when he read this information, he was even more confused. Does God really exist? Are we really cultivating to reach the level of our God these questions appeared in his mind?

He shook his head to toss these questions out and continued reading.

'Existence of God is a debatable topic. May be that illusionary peak have this answer? The reason for cultivation can be anything. Reaching the God is one, reaching the peak is one, being strong enough to travel the world is one and even being strong enough to snatch other's women can also be one.'

The author of this book sure is something, thought Zhao Yun

'My point is that ask yourself, Why do you want to cultivate? The first answer you get is what you should strive for. To become strong, a strong conviction is needed and a person needs a reason to become strong. Only this belief can lead you to the peak you desire.'

These words struck a chord in Zhao Yuns heart. Yes why do I need to cultivate? If it was before, then he would have the answer to reach the peak. now though, he was hesitating. He went into a trance, his hesitation growing by the minute in his trance he didn't noticed that his cultivation was beginning to decline. Ling Yun who was outside the hut perceived these changes. A sliver of worry appeared in his eyes. "Was it okay to give him that book" he murmured. There were similar books on the topic written by various authors. This one was special as it questioned the very essence of cultivation. Only the greatest geniuses were allowed to view it, but even they crumbled under this heart demon inducing book. The only one to survive and reach the peak was, Dao Father. His gaze slowly became resolute. No if you want to grow stronger, you need to overcome this trial someday. Now is the best time before you have made your foundation."

Inside Zhao Yuns cultivation was slowly slipping away, he was becoming an ordinary mortal. Still the confusion in his eyes did not diminish. I wanted to attain that illusionary peak of martial arts. Now I have a way to do so, now I know where the peak resides, then why do I need to cultivate, this legacy can take me to the peak anyway. He thought.

Slowly he began to recall his life. His parent's blissful face, Zhao Ying and Su Wan's smile, Yu Mei's adorable eyes, Ling Yun's expectations, the scroll spirit's hope and slowly he drifted into these memories. He saw his parent being hunted. He saw Zhao Ling humiliating Zhao Ying and Su Wan. He also saw those traitors of the clan. He was beginning to understand that these were his own memories. Memories of the situation that was saved because he was strong. He thought- "Strength! So this is it! Everyone is safe because I saved them. I was able to save them because I was strong. Strength can kill but the same strength can also protect. So this is my path."

A pure relieved smile appeared on his face. His eyes were still closed, but his strength once again started increasing. The moment he found his path, his heart cleared. All his hesitation was gone. He felt light and energetic. All his cultivation returned slowly.

"So this is it! I never want to witness those scenes again. My parents were nearly killed, Uncle Ying was sent to his death, and Aunt Su was humiliated all because I was weak. I cannot be with Yu Mei because I was weak. I don't want this to ever happen with me again. So I'll cultivate to protect those dear to me. I'll cultivate so that I'm never separated from my loved one." He firmed his heart.

At this moment his cultivation returned to its peak. In fact when he checked himself, he knew he was stronger than before. His conviction was strengthened. He was now stronger than before and now was truly the moment when he was strongest in the kingdom.

He released a breath of murky air. He knew that everything that happened was an illusion. Those scenes, his cultivation dwindling, everything was an illusion, but he also had a vague feeling, that if he hadn't chosen his path and was still lost in hesitation and self-doubt, then he would have experienced the same fate in the real life too.

He smiled wryly but at the same time was astonished. 'just who was the author of this book? Mere words were able to drag me into such a situation.'

Shaking his head he continued reading.

'If you have reached this point, then I assume you have passed the most difficult hurdle in one's cultivation path and you are worthy of the book i have written. Now it is up to you how high you want to go. I hope one day you may reach the peak you have in mind and fulfil your desires.'

'Cultivation path can be divided into Nine realms. Depending on the type of cultivator you are these realms differ by a bit. The three types of cultivators are- Qi refiners, Body refiners and Soul refiners.

Some may cultivate two or may be all three schools together they are known as dual or triple refiners take note that Soul and Qi dual refiners can only come in races with strong bodies as human's weak body won't be able to handle both soul and Qi together. Thus the dual cultivators among humans would be either body-Qi pair or Body-soul pair.

The nine realms of the three are different from each other. Yet at the same time they all lead to semi divinity and finally divinity. The realms and stages of the cultivation system may be named differently in different regions whereas in some places cultivators who create their own path do exist, so all the information here is the commonly referred system.'