Chapter 17: Mind Cultivation

As soon as Eric made his decision, the Basic Mind Cultivation Method was deposited in his inventory and the chain quest updated.

[New Quest: Discover the Secret of the Paths of Cultivation! (2)

Task: Figure out if it truly is impossible to cultivate the three paths of cultivation at the same time or not.

This is a chain quest and has multiple parts.

The task for this part is to become a cultivator of all three paths; which means reaching the first layer of the first realm in each of the paths.

For success, willingness itself isn't enough, ability is also a requirement!

Time Limit: None

Completion Reward: ???, Progression of the quest

Failure Penalty: None]

Eric saw this coming and he was relieved that there wasn't any time limit on this quest. He would have to divide his time between all the paths of cultivation as well as keep the fact that he is cultivating the mind hidden from everyone.

Because of that reason, while at home, he could only cultivate the mind at night when both his parents would be fast asleep. Other than that, it would be risky to cultivate the path of the mind when he had a chance of being caught.

For the rest of the day, Eric continued with his normal routine and waited it out until night to test the Basic Mind Cultivation Method. Since all three paths of cultivation had completely different methods of cultivating them, Eric was looking forward to the experience of cultivating his mind.

Eric still remembered how enlightened he felt when he first started to cultivate the path of the soul; if he were able to feel a similar sensation once again, he would definitely look forward to it.

***

Soon night fell and Eric got ready to cultivate the path of the mind. He had taken a bit of rest before waking up in the middle of the night so that he could practice the cultivation method at full energy and mental capacity.

Eric made sure to shut his door and lock it properly before he took out the scroll from his inventory and started to read it.

'In order to cultivate the Mind, one requires a will as firm as steel. Since the pressure goes to the Mind instead of the Body or the Dantian, if one doesn't have a resolute will and high mental strength; they will faint and will be unable to cultivate the Path of the Mind.

The key differences between the Path of the Mind with the other two paths is that it doesn't make use of Qi, instead it absorbs and uses Mental Energy. In order to sense Mental Energy, there is no requirement of sitting in a certain meditative posture, as the state of one's body doesn't matter here at all; only the mind does.

Get in any comfortable position and then calm yourself along with clearing your mind of any stray thoughts; this part is similar to the Cultivation Method of the Soul.

Once in this state, start visualizing energy being collected in your mind. There are no instructions on how or what to visualize, that is purely dependent on the cultivator's personal choice.

This will take about an hour for most people and for talented cultivators, about half an hour. After this, you will be able to sense your Mental Sphere, also known as the Sea of Consciousness. This is where all the mental energy is stored; basically, it is the Dantian for Mental Energy.

After sensing the Mental Sphere, your speed of absorbing Mental Energy will increase and you will require less effort to partake in the process of absorbing it.

In the cultivation of the Mind, there is no gathering of energy externally before sending it to its destination.

Instead of that, the energy is absorbed directly into the Mental Sphere, making this a more direct and simple process compared to cultivating the soul.

However, as the untamed energy is directly entering the cultivator, it will be more risky and will have more severe consequences if something goes wrong. Because of this, it is seriously advised to be extremely careful while cultivating the mind.'

Eric read all the text on the scroll quickly, yet seriously. Once again, he was a bit amazed at the method of absorbing the Mental Energy into his Mental Sphere. It had some similarities with the Soul Cultivation Method, but also had quite a few differences in it.

Eric calmed himself a bit and revised the method in his mind. Once he was sure that he retained everything, he decided to not waste any more time and get to it.

He laid down on his bed in a comfortable position and started visualizing blue strands of energy coming to his head and permeating it; getting absorbed by his mental sphere. It took him about 20 minutes this time before he was able to start feeling something.

His eyes were closed and his mind was empty, but he started to feel as if something had entered his mind; it wasn't particularly painful, but he felt that something foreign was entering him. This did not deter him though; and he remained unchanged while this strange sensation enveloped his entire mind.

After a couple seconds, Eric felt his mental capacity skyrocket. Instantly, his thoughts sped up, his senses increased in range and precision; and he felt that his reflexes had also increased. Though the change wasn't much, it was still an increase in his sensory abilities and mental capacity.

Along with this, Eric felt that the strands of mental energy which he imaged, had actually started gathering in his sea of consciousness and began filling his mental sphere.

As soon as he sensed his mental sphere for the first time, the speed of gathering the mental energy also significantly increased.

This part was similar to what he experienced when he cultivated his soul initially. The mental sphere was pretty similar to the dantian, but instead of qi, it stored mental energy. As for the absorption process speeding up, it was basically the same as when he first sensed qi and the increase in speed after comprehending the cultivation method.

Even though this sensation was similar, it still felt somewhat majestic to Eric. He felt a new type of energy start surging inside of him, rejuvenating him and making him feel like a different person.

No matter how many times he felt something like this, it would always be a marvelous experience.

The significant difference Eric noticed between the two methods of soul and mind was that the process of initially absorbing mental energy was way more direct and way faster than the soul. While cultivating the soul, it would take quite a bit of time after sensing qi for the first time in order to successfully absorb it.

However, for mind cultivation both of those processes had been merged into one. This was advantageous and made the process overall faster, but it also came with its own repercussions.

After about half an hour of absorbing mental energy, Eric started to feel a slight headache and decided to take a break. Since the process was faster, in order to balance it, it had a shorter individual duration as well as a higher risk.

This didn't really bother Eric, though, as he was happy that he had successfully sensed and had started absorbing mental energy in less than half an hour.

He had started to practice two paths, but didn't feel any extra pressure on himself, which people said you would feel if you cultivated more than one path.

Eric didn't really find this strange, because his soul cultivation level was extremely low and he hadn't even gotten to the first layer in the mind cultivation yet.

After going through the endeavor of absorbing mental energy for the first time in his life, Eric was a bit tired and rested for a bit. He particularly focused on resting his mind and didn't think about anything; he fell into a peaceful and tranquil state and relaxed his mind.

After a while, he opened the system and checked its notifications to confirm that he had started absorbing mental energy; and sure enough, he had.

Seeing this, he smiled and went for one more round of cultivating his mind, this time a little longer than previously. This time, when he started feeling like he was having a headache, he decided to stop just like the previous time.

Since this process tired him out, Eric decided not to force himself and after some time, fell asleep on his bed out of tiredness and a bit of exhaustion.

Nevertheless, there was a smile on his face as he slept; he was proud of his success and was excited for cultivating his mind even more the next day.