Talk About Cultivation

Ban approached the silent Ariana inside the battleship cabin after a while. Out of all the friends and families he had, she's the only person who don't have anyone accompanying her.

Ariana was like a lone angel, gazing in the horizon with serene look of her mesmerizing face.

Flora, Sally and others who knew Ariana wanted to chat with her, but the latter outright decline any conversation while remaining her distant attitude. Her cold aura intensifies when men like George wanted to have a conversation with her, making him almost freeze before he could start any chat with her.

"Miss Ariana." Ban greeted her silently.

Feeling her aura again, Ban couldn't help but let out a bittersweet expression.

Ariana glanced back at Ban after gazing at the horizon for a while. Her expression was like 'What's your business with me?'. Somehow, her attitude softened a bit when she felt his warm attitude.

"*Cough.. I would like to thank you for giving me this battleship." Ban smiled as he continued,

"I'm actually thinking this is too precious of a gift."

Ariana squinted her eyes at him before saying, "Well, you can return it to me later. I'll replace that for a flying arc. Small but convenient, how about it?"

"I'm quite loving this battleship already. It's like, I've used this battleship for a long time. There was some kind of sentimental connection between me and this battleship too. So I'll have to politely decline the offer." Ban let out a shameless smile.

'What kind of brainless idiot give up such a treasure? The value of this battleship is more than one planet.' Ban commented on his mind.

What Ban didn't know was that, Vince, his enemy before, gave up three battleships in order to save his life from Ariana.

"That's unfortunate to know then." Ariana made a sarcastic remark with her usual cold tone.

Ban dazed for a bit. He never expected her attitude to remain cold until now.

This interaction started when he mentioned his non-existent master whose originated from the 5th Realm.

'Maybe I was wrong? Maybe she just hates men so much? Should I pry on her thoughts? I think I'll pass..'

"Umm. I was just wondering about something." Ban started to lighten up the conversation. He was seeking for her this time for another matter.

"What?" She said.

"Are you familiar with physiques?"

"Oh? Clara didn't lecture that part to you?" Ariana raised her brows. Shaking her head, she continued, "That's a long topic to discuss. However, I'll give you some general knowledge about it."

"I'm all ears." Ban nodded as he waited.

"First of all before we start, I'm not doing it without exchange in return." Ariana focused her eyes at Ban. She continued, "Clara was familiar with you, but I am not."

"I am only here because of courtesy since you are establishing your sect and also, I am Clara's aunt. As she was not present today, I feel obligated to attend in this occasion in her stead." Ariana stared at Ban as she waited for his response.

Ban thought for a second and found her words fairly logical so he shrugged and nodded his head. He was indeed a bit surprised that she really went to his mansion earlier, alone at that.

"Let's do it in a simple way then." Ariana's eyes flashed with devious colors. She continued, "I'll answer all your inquiries and vice versa later on."

'This seems familiar... really familiar.' Ban thought hard, but he already forgot this familiar scene.

"Okay. That's fair enough. I'll start now?" Ban smiled slightly.

"Go ahead." Ariana found it suspicious when she saw his nonchalant attitude.

"Let's get back to basics." Ban cleared his throat.

"After one turns into Profound Practitioner, his/her body can access two new types of energies and that is Profound Energy and Spirit Energy. In total, there are three types of energies in ones' body."

"In theory, yes." Ariana nodded in response as she patiently waited for the question.

"Profound Energy takes the body while Spirit Energy and Elemental Energy takes the soul. As for the energy reserves, Profound energy resides from the heart down to the meridians, Elemental energy resides within the soul root or spirit root and Spirit energy resides in the spirit consciousness sea."

"Go on." Ariana nodded again.

"So here's my question." Ban paused as he continued, "Is there any occasion that these three energies blend together as one?"

'My case are all blended and stored in one place, spirit consciousness sea.' Ban added on his mind.

"Huh? Is there? What kind of question is that?" Ariana seemed lost before frowning. She glared at Ban coldly. She felt like he was messing with her.

"There isn't?" Ban also dazed for a bit. A frown appeared on his face for a second before recovering. He then diverted the question, "No, I mean, is there any record about it? A type of physique maybe?"

"Physique? That's even more impossible. That's a bomb. If one has that, then he/she already died the moment he/she got conceived as a baby." Ariana said in a harsh response. It was as if she wasn't even considering it as a topic.

"Err." Ban was speechless. He just had a blended energies. Was Ariana just cursed him to blow up and die?

"Okay then, I ask again with another question" He could only say after a few sigh.

"Wait a minute. Why are you asking about that? Do you happen to know someone in such case? Did he/she explodes or something?" Ariana curiously asked.

"No. I was just imagining things." Ban could only sigh again. If Ariana doesn't know such a thing, then it is more apparent that no one in the Eastern Realm know about his condition.

However, he still have individuals to approach such as the mysterious man in his dream and unfathomable old Sven, who was fast asleep in the library.

If not for Lesley and the girls bothering him from time to time, old Sven wouldn't open his eyes.

"Umm.. I know this much of every Practitioners. But I don't know much about Physiques and whatnot. Is there any way to identify them? I want to know if these kids have talents or not." Ban asked Ariana again. He was curious about the future of the sect.

Ariana nodded. Thinking for a bit, she replied,

"Let me remind you how a Profound Practitioner works."

"Every Practitioner has at least one specialty within the three types of energies. If one follow the Profound Energy path, then his breakthrough will follow that path."

"Same with the elemental and spirit energies."

"Breaking through using two types of energies are called geniuses. Well, it still depends if one is called a genius or not."

"An old man breaking through to Origin Profound Realm with two types of energies is not a genius, it's called below average. That's a fair evaluation. Desperate per sé."

"Three types of energies leveling together is what we called a Prodigy."

"The energy that is hard to absorb and most likely the bottleneck of every powerhouses out there is the spirit energy."

Ariana paused for a bit before sighing.

Ban could guess she's having the same problem in cultivation.

"Then why don't one focus on Elemental and Profound energy? It's the same as skipping leg day on the gym, right?" Ban said as his shoulders shrugged.

"It's not how it works on higher Realms in cultivation. There are requirements to be able to achieve a breakthrough." Ariana shook her head calmly. She squinted her eyes at him and continued, "Were getting off the topic tragectory."

"We proceed on the speed of cultivation. This is our main topic."

"There are many ways to identify if a Practitioner is talented, average or unique."

"There are Elemental Affinities, Bloodlines, Physiques or any Special Innate Abilities."

"Elemental Affinities. As the name says, it mainly focused on elements that resides in ones spirit root."

"We classify affinities as levels in the Eastern Realm since we used measuring devices."

"If one has a higher value of affinity towards a certain element, then he/she can choose that element to be their main element for a rapid breakthrough. However, it will cause for the other two energies to be left behind and that is a bad news especially in the higher Realms."

"That is why, he/she needs to find a way to balance that out. Or else, that talented individual will be like a big headed dragon with skinny body. In battle, he/she will be easy to solve with simple tricks. If you know what I mean." Ariana stared at Ban with indifference. Her intentions was to warn him not to rush things up or else, problem will rise.

'I can level up these three types of energies without any hitch. I guess my future prospect will be higher than the majority then.' Ban commented on his mind while acknowledging Ariana's words.

"The value of affinities are mostly fixed. From level zero as the lowest up to level three as the highest. Level zero means one don't have affinity to any element. And that is a difficult starting line. Since one need to gain at least one element in the higher Realm as a requirement."

"One need to consume any miraculous treasure to improve his/her elemental affinity."

"Then there is called physiques. It's the improved version of elemental affinities. It basically surpasses the limits of affinity levels."

"People having Physiques are both loved and hated by the heavens though. They are powerful individuals having no match in the same Realm."

"There are four grades of Physiques. Mortal, Heavenly, Saint and Divine. In earlier grades basically classifies the density and pureness of the element a Physique holder has."

"In Eastern Realm, Saint Physiques are so rare that they can be counted in one hand."

"As for Divine Physique holder, you'll only hear them as legends and written down on ancient records. The description on the Divine Physique is not recorded though

"However, despite having powerful physiques, very few actually survived the calamity in reaching Tribulation Realm as far as I know. Some even got crippled for life. That's no less than living in a mortal life."

Ariana paused before sighing a little.

"Having multiple Elemental Affinities will multiply the horror of the Tribulation calamity. It's basically a suicide having so many elements when the ending is a graveless death."

"..." Ban got speechless. 'Impossible to reach Tribulation Realm? I'm fully packed with Elemental Affinities though. This is a very bad news.'

"Let's skip the Bloodline part as it is not that important in this situation. I bet no one in the kids here have bloodlines so let's move on to the Innate abilities."

"Special Innate Abilities serves as the special functions of the body. There are many variants of Special Innate abilities."

"Let's say for example, Eyes. Eyes that can see abnormal things that normal eyes don't. That is called Special Innate ability. Ears, hearing thoughts of other party like a telepathic ability. Nose, can smell a target at an impossible distance. Body regeneration and many more."

"These Innate Abilities can help Practitioners improve their growth, that is why they are unique. It can also provide assistance in battle and many other occasions."

Ariana returned her silence, indicating that she already finished describing the general information of a Practitioner.

...

After a long while of contemplation, Ban asked,

"Out of all the types of Practitioners out there, which one are the most hard to deal with?"

"Mm?" Ariana dazed for a bit before replying seriously,

"Sword Wielders. These individuals are really hard to deal with. Especially their attacks that filled with those mysterious energies called intents."

"Is that so.." Ban rubbed his non-existent beard. He knew how powerful a sword wielder is, but being a swordsman is not to his liking. He found no passion on using swords or any weapons at all. Up until now, he was searching on how to deal with this problem.

Sooner or later, he will need to make a decision as to what will he choose on his path of cultivation.