Ascend with you? Laughable!

Shen Yue's life is crappy but not as shitty as others. She has not been mistreated, abused, nor hated. Life in the Hu Tian Sect and her youth's first ten years has gone smoothly, except for one major thing. But that doesn't matter, because not a single will to live is left.

If she could move, her hands would gladly choke herself. Her own two feet will lead her to a river and jump in willingly.

Unfortunately, most of the nerves and her muscles, including bones, still haven't recovered. To show the feelings she can't say, she's been staying up. Thus causing the dark eye bags under her eyes.

Yun Wei begged, "Please, Shen Yue. Take a break. Sleep!"

No response.

"I swear, I will find another way for you to cultivate. My people are already searching for a way, don't worry. I'm confident, how do you suppose the ancient mortals could cultivate?"

A shame that the person he's speaking to isn't even listening. Shen Yue could only close her eyes in disappointment. Coaxing only works on kids.

A few moments later, there was a knock on the door, and they both knew who it was. The person who would interchangeably switch with Yun Wei, or her master to watch her. It was no other than the bitch who caused everything.

"First Brother," Yun Wei stood up and went immediately for the door. He's been here for two days straight without sleep, so, understandably, he's spent. "I will go take a rest. I'll be right back, Yue."

Staying with the person who caused this state of hers isn't really comforting. Especially when he'll be with her for 24 hours straight, in absolute boringness. He opened his mouth, spoke gibberish, talked about his life experiences, and his future plans. It's already what, thirteen times that he mentioned it?

"Uncle's been missing you too." He whispered but well aware that she could hear him. "He's waiting patiently back home…"

Yun Renshu looked at her to see any reaction, but there was only a blank stare on her face. As he thought. "I'm extremely in the wrong. I will find a way to bring you along when I ascend."

Lies! Both of them thought. A mortal person can never ascend.

Why? If any average person could, why would there be any need for cultivation?

Cultivation firstly cultivates your body. It allows a person to be stable and robust, increasing the body's limits. That is the body refining stage. The second is Qi gathering. The beginning of the set requires one to feel the Qi around them, although unable to tell all the elemental energies apart.

Further up the second stage, one would use their body as a vessel. To allow the power to enter inside the body, and let it pass through the veins and main vessels, then back to the outside. The latest part is encircling and gathering them inside your daintian.

That would be when the foundation stage, the third stage begins. The Qi would be breathed in, and out of the daintian. They are ones that determine whether one could cultivate or not. Their walls act as a filter somewhat. It would allow the elemental specks of energy inside, but retain some of them when they breathe again. Since the person's cultivation stage is too low, they cannot decipher the elements they can control until their core is made. However, there are rare cases, such as this person close to Shen Yue, Yun Renshu. Everything points out that he has a natural aptitude in controlling lightning.

As the stages climb, the experience becomes harder. After gathering enough Qi inside the daintian, one must little by little turn them into liquid. This stage is where most people, even ordinary cultivators stuck on, even if they can pass the first two things. Converting the Smoke into liquid takes a significant amount of energy and qualifications. Your body strength and your mental capabilities are its leading force. One's brain would focus on changing them into liquid, but your body will also be strained due to its connections to the brain.

Most of the general would fail at this point. Their minds can't focus on two things. By focusing on their inside, their body will be forgotten, causing them to forget things. Some might stop breathing, causing them to die. But after gaining enough liquid energy, that's when making a foundation comes in. They come in many shapes. Some might make an altar, a dome, a simple square box, etc. No matter how different they are, their purpose is to one and only aid in stabilizing the future core. It also aids in making the core since controlling the Qi would be more comfortable.

The next level is the hollow orb stage. That's when only the shape of the core is done. The liquid would be shaped into a sphere, and hardened into place, relating to its name, a hollow orb with nothing inside. This increases the rate of Qi absorption and liquidation. It also allows one to control little Qi outside of the body, instead of using the liquified energy. It's pretty straightforward, but that's because advancing to the next one is very difficult. Only about a tenth of cultivators can breakthrough, but it doesn't mean that their cores won't be fragile.

For it to be successful, an amount of liquid is again necessary, but if your hollow orb is successful and perfect, it won't be a problem.

First, the cultivator must create a small crack on the hardened spherical shell. Just a reminder, it is very fragile and might set you back into the beginning of the hollow orb stage. But when successful, push the liquid inside, then use the core's walls to condense the energy, filter it more, and more and more, while continuously adding more liquid. Unnecessary impurity will evaporate and out your body.

When filled to the brim, use the foundation created before, and harden the liquid. People struggle with this the most, and some might never harden, causing them to retain at that level. Some would be successful, but if not in perfect, dense, hard, and fully filled, caution should be placed. Some people's cores have slight bubbles- unfilled spots that cause the core's rotation to be unbalanced. It would cause it to move around and not stay in a single place.

Others simply aren't hard enough in the very inside, and whatnot. But upon going through the breakthrough, the shell should break in pieces and reveal the full core. Rare things like the shell staying could happen. It's because the center core isn't strong enough to bomb a surge of energy, capable of distributing an equal amount of Qi to every place. Intense energy is needed since every force is distributed entirely.

The shell might restrict the Qi(in smoke form) to reach the core. The purifying and liquidation process could be hindered.

After being in the jindan/ core-forming stage for long enough, you will begin to notice your core change colour. It might be brown, red, blue, and other more colours. It's reflecting your preferred elements. In some cases, it can be multicoloured, or a mixture, making a different colour. Those signify that the person can control more than one element. It's an undesired thing because to drive in further stages, each element's control and perfection must be close or balanced.

There's another benefit, once you've practiced enough, you can locate the specks of elemental Qi and only absorb those. One would be capable of controlling those specks outside the body, and use them to attack. Guiding them would be easy. The liquid Qi would be incredibly effortless to move around or imbed into something.

Gathering the liquid is done in everything breathing. One doesn't need to consciously do it from then on.

Once a cultivator reaches this stage, everything about them would be enhanced to ten times or more than their peak hollow orb state. Their vision, their ears, perception, and spiritual connection. Every single thing one could think of. A person also won't need to eat at this point. After this time, they'll begin with the spiritual stuff necessary for ascension. Everything is because one's soul can be dispersed by the ascension lightning.

Everything done is for the ascension's preparations, so saying that Renshu can simply take ShenYue with him and ascend sounds impossible and slightly laughable.

There was a very long silence until his highness stood up from his seat and got closer. "Are you hurt? Where are you bleeding?" He sensed around for a while, looking and smelling its direction when his eye went down.

"..."

Shen Yue's master entered the room with a bang and pushed the crown prince out of place. "She has her monthly visit. Call a maid over to bring sanitary pads, she'll need them."

Renshu was dumbstruck. 'What? Monthly visit Sanitary pads?' They've been taught about human anatomy, so it was self-evident what the master meant. The prince looked at the laying woman with her head leaned away from the door. 'Could it be that she's really a woman? Then…'

"Did you not hear what I said? Go and call a maid now!"