Body Tempering

His father's face turned serious, and so Li Zian also became serious as he listened to what his father had to say.

"There exist certain levels of power that cultivators must pass through in order to become stronger. We call these realms. Now, listen carefully; the realms are:

Body Training,

Qi Condensing,

Foundation Establishment,

Golden Core,

Original Infant,

Deity Transformation,

Void Returning."

This was a lot of information to take in at once, but Li Zian quickly memorised the names of the realms.

"There are supposedly more realms, but they don't exist in our Earth-Shattering Continent. I am currently at the Deity Transformation Realm."

"So… Father is strong?"

"Very strong," He nodded his head. "That's why I'm the leader of the Li family. Anyhow, let me explain to you the basics of breaking through," He cleared his throat and continued.

"To break through the realms, there are often different conditions. For example, in the Body Training Realm cultivators must allow the spiritual energy they absorb to temper their body. Once they have fully tempered it, they can begin to transform spiritual energy into qi.

In the Qi Condensing Realm, cultivators must attack the nine layers with the qi they condense.

In the Foundation Establishment Realm, the cultivator must create all nine foundation pillars.

And so on. I was in the Original Infant Realm until today, and to pass through that realm I had to develop an 'Infant Soul' which I can use to possess another body if I die."

Li Zian thought for a moment. "Aren't you immortal then?" He asked with curiosity and innocence.

Li Zixin laughed aloud, making Li Zian feel bad about himself. He then cleared up the confusion.

"No, I'm not immortal. The Infant Soul can still be destroyed, in which case I would really die. The reason people cultivate is to achieve immortality! Just look at how far I've gotten so far, I'm already eighty years old."

Li Zian's heart skipped a beat. 'This guy… My father… Is an old man?! He looks only twenty!'

"Although that's nothing compared to your grandfather who's already eight hundred years old."

Li Zian shook his head- this world was truly unbelievable. He wiped a bead of sweat off his face and then asked his father a question.

"How can I become a cultivator?" He inquired, looking at his father expectantly.

"Haah… I suppose you're old enough to start. The truth is that you're a special case. It normally takes children around eight years for the impurities in their body from birth to vanish, but you were born without any impurities. Which means that, technically, you can cultivate right now."

Li Zian's jaw dropped, and he gave a big smile. "I want to!" He exclaimed.

Li Zixin hesitated, but then Luo Mei appeared with a soft smile. "I don't see any reason why he can't."

"I'm just worried about other families causing trouble."

"Don't worry, the world still doesn't know about his birth yet. Only the elders and those within this villa know. We agreed for him to make his appearance on his tenth birthday, so we'll do just that."

Li Zixin nodded, and then stood up. "Follow me."

"Where are we going?" Li Zian asked curiously.

"To the cultivation room- you're going to learn how to cultivate."

--

Li Zian was led through the villa which had half-collapsed from his father's breakthrough, and he was taken to a seemingly normal wall. Suddenly his father pressed his hand against it, and the wall shifted and transformed, revealing a doorway.

Li Zian didn't even question such bizarre magic, and just followed eagerly down a set of stone stairs into a space under the villa.

The room was a small chamber with a stone bed, some pill bottles, and strange carvings on the ground.

"This is the cultivation chamber. I don't use it much, since It's no longer of much use to me, but it'll be extremely useful to you. Just sit on the stone bed in the lotus position, and tell me when you're ready."

Li Zian nodded and did as he was told, climbing up onto the stone bad and entering the lotus position. "Ready."

"Good," his father smiled and knelt before pressing his palm against the floor.

The carvings and inscriptions on the ground suddenly lit up with blue light, and a strong energy entered the room that lifted up Li Zian's hair and brushed against him like a cool breeze-except it was warm.

"What's this?" He asked, feeling the strange power that flowed through the air tingle across his body. He stretched out his hands and waved it through, the energy drifting between his fingers.

"This is a spiritual array. It increases the amount of spiritual energy in the room. It'll improve your cultivation. Now, I'll impart to you the True Li family technique."

Li Zixin tapped his son's forehead with his finger, and a golden light burst into his head.

Knowledge rushed through Li Zian's mind- breathing techniques, how to control the spiritual energy, tempering his body with it and condensing it into qi.

All this knowledge gave him a headache, but he quickly regained his composure and closed his eyes.

He focused. So much had happened. At first, he had made some claims about forging his own life and making sure nobody got in his way back in the void. He was dead serious when he made those claims, but he had no plan in mind. He was powerless back then when facing fate and that mysterious being.

But now, as the spiritual energy fluctuated through the air and pressed against his body, fluttering through his hair and seeping into his skin, he truly felt that he could find the power to do just as he said.

His goal was clear from now on. Become strong- strong enough to make sure nobody could be taken away from him again, just like Qian Ning was taken away from him.

The spiritual energy poured into his body, crackling through his skin, muscles, bones, blood and organs. Every single cell in his body was on fire as the spiritual energy ripped them apart and recreated them.

He furrowed his brows and pushed himself further, bearing the immense pain as much as he could.

His body was in complete agony, sweat dripping down his skin, blood dribbling down from his pores, and his arms and legs trembling.

His cells were destroyed and reborn from the spiritual energy, and then destroyed again and reborn once more. This infinite cycle constantly made his body stronger, tempering it and increasing his strength drastically.

Anxiously, Li Zixin watched his son undergo the immense pain of body tempering.

'The True Li family technique is one of the harshest out there. Most techniques involve focusing on a single part of the body to minimize the pain and help a cultivator get used to it, but this technique… It's brutal. It rips apart the body and constantly mends it for it to grow strong. It doesn't focus on a single part; it attacks the entire body. But once he finishes his body tempering, he'll be one step closer to true power. I'm looking forward to seeing your future, my son.'