Agony

But to start this method, one first needed a source of qi compatible with the Harmony of Everything. Normally, this would involve finding a spiritual herb of the highest quality, an endeavour that would fill many with despair as they were often guarded by truly terrifying demonic beasts. Even in the Abyss such a herb would cause a slaughter.

However, Jack had an added advantage: the dragon-shaped ring. The ring forged intricately in the shape of a black dragon coiling on itself and biting its own tail with ruby-like red eyes had merged onto Jack's index finger and now resembled a queer birthmark. Nothing overly noticeable but an interesting mark if you did see it.

That said, Jack could tell that there were many mysteries surrounding the mark on his finger. Many of which he would only uncover as he progressed across the different levels of the Harmony of Everything. What was clear was that both the book and the ring came together in a set. What exactly was their relationship was a question that Jack could only begin to guess the answer to.

For now, the introductory passages of the Harmony of Everything explained that qi needed to first be filtered through the ring before rushing into the practitioner's body and slowly transforming it as was needed. How the ring achieved this filtering was another mystery, but Jack decided to try it nonetheless.

And so, just as night had fallen and, in his crib, without anyone noticing, Jack began his arduous cultivation.

The qi in his surroundings, albeit extremely thin, flowed towards him at a speed that even complete amateurs would be able to notice if they paid close enough attention. However, it didn't enter his body and instead went through the dragon-shaped tattoo on his finger before entering him.

As it did so, he felt that the purity of the qi had gone up by several folds! In the process, though, much of the energy was lost in its transformation and only enough was left to cover a part of his finger. Although putting it in these terms may imply a waste, the quality of the qi entering Jack's body was so tremendous that the exchange was worth it even if the quantity entering him was minuscule.

With that, Jack allowed the energy to course over his flesh in the manner described.

The energy covered his cells and slowly started to burn them. Wherever the qi passed, his flesh would rip and tear but no blood would come out, as if the energy served as a barrier for the blood, like a makeshift scar. Afterwards, the energy would break down Jack's skin on a molecular level and then would regrow it. Over and over again.

This was tantamount to having your skin burned by acid, instantly regenerate it, and then have it melted again, only to regenerate and melt it again and again in a seemingly never-ending cycle.

But despite the agony, Jack didn't cry out in pain. In fact, his expression remained calm and steadfast throughout the ordeal.

Jack spent the whole night using the energy filtered by the ring to cultivate the flesh on his finger and by the time began to rise, he had succeeded. His finger had completely changed!

Just from using his spiritual sense to inspect it, Jack knew that his finger had reached a level of strength wherein he could easily puncture a hole in wood. This was considering the fact that he was still in the body of a baby!

A baby that could puncture a hole in a tree is a mighty baby indeed.

However, the exercise had left him bereft of energy, both mentally and physically. It seems I am still limited by my body. He thought to himself whilst smiling bitterly. Clearly, from the effects of his body cultivation and the visible changes he went through whilst practicing it, he couldn't cultivate it during the daytime because he ran the risk of being seen by someone wo shouldn't see him.

That being said, he still had the method for soul cultivation to try out.

Although it was called soul cultivation, mind and soul are intertwined to the point that it is nigh impossible to differentiate between the two. To cultivate the soul meant to cultivate the mind.

Given that the Harmony of Everything included a method for body cultivation tailored to it, it also included a heaven-defying method for soul cultivation. The advantage of this was compatibility. In other words, practicing all three techniques at the same time would double the results for less than half the effort. Alternatively, only practicing one or two of the three meant certain failure.

According to the manual, cultivating one's soul was similar to cultivating the body in the sense that there were nine levels, each corresponding to one of the chapters in the Harmony of Everything. However, the method was far simpler to comprehend than that of body cultivation.

All Jack had to do was send his spiritual sense inside the dragon-shaped ring.

Jack closed his eyes and meditated for a few minutes in order to bring his mentality into an optimum state. He was no stranger to soul cultivation and knew that making a mistake could severely injure his soul, which could leave him bedridden and incapable of cultivating for at least half a year. This was something that he did not wish to see happen.

Once he felt his mind was at the peak of performance, he sent his spiritual sense into the ring.

What he'd expected to find in it, he didn't know, but it certainly wasn't what he saw and he couldn't help but gasp in amazement.

Inside the ring was a desolate landscape that extended as far as the eye could see. However, it was covered in a miasma of deathly fog that felt like the netherworld. A normal person would feel the blood in their veins freeze just from looking at it and could very well pass out from the sheer pressure.

Jack, however, was far from a normal person. Even before spending eight-thousand years battling in the Abyss he could have withstood this pressure. Now, it even felt comfortable compared to the aura of slaughter he had become used to down there. But what caused him to gasp was what lay in the centre of the area in the ring.

In front of him was the body of a colossal black dragon that stretched out into the distance, far beyond what his eyes could see. A black dragon with scales the size of cars, claws as big as buildings, teeth the size of skyscrapers and a body so large, it almost could've looked like a huge mountain range.

This wasn't the important part. The truly vexing matter was the fact that there was still a sliver of life within the dragon's massive red eyes.

"Cross—Cross and grow." A deep and ancient voice sounded from nowhere.