Soul Refinement

An old man was walking towards a forest close to the city he lives in. He was going to search for herbs like he did every morning.

Humming a cheerful tune as he walks through the forest and harvesting herbs left and right is something he thoroughly enjoys.

After some time, his basket was filled to the brim. The old man was ready to return home when he spotted something from the corner of his eye.

When he walked over, he saw it was a girly looking boy around ten years old. The young boy was seriously injured and clearly exhausted as he lay there unconscious. This boy was Aether.

After Violet left, he had buried his parents and started walking in the direction of the closest city he knew of. He had once come to this city with his father, so he vaguely remembered the way.

Unfortunately, he was still heavily injured. His inner organs had been healed by Violet, but his leg, torso, hand and face hadn't been affected. In fact, the injuries had become worse over time. There hadn't been enough energy available in the essence blood to heal anything more than his inner organs.

As a result, he had dragged himself for more than ten kilometers while suffering torturous pain. No human should be able to achieve such a feat. Yet, he had somehow almost successfully reached the city. He only fell short around five hundred meters.

The old man looked at Aether with pity as he picked him up surprisingly easy. He took Aether with him as he returned home.

When he entered the city, the guards on duty looked at the child in his arms a bit strangely but ultimately didn't say anything. Normally, everyone who enters the city needs to be identified, but no one stopped the old man. If you looked closely, you could even see a bit of fear in the eyes of the guards.

The city had a surface of around sixty square kilometers and was bustling with activity. People were shopping or simply walking from one point to another everywhere.

The old man carried Aether through the city for a few minutes until he reached a poor looking medicine store. There was a name written on the door post that read 'Herb's medicine store'. After entering the store, the old man brought Aether towards the back. It was clear that this was the old man's home.

The old man laid Aether on an empty bed and made an easy infusion filled with a medicinal solution and a bit of anesthetics . This way, Aether would regain some energy and his body could restore some of the lighter injuries on its own.

When the old man confirmed Aether would stay fast asleep, he removed Aether's clothes. When checking the injuries on the boy's body, the old man had a serious look on his face.

"I can restore the leg and the wound on his chest, but the hand and face are pretty much done for" the old man lamented.

The old man turned and went into the front of the store where he started creating and mixing some medicinal pastes. He was preparing to treat Aether's injuries to the best of his abilities.

When the pastes were ready, he returned to the room. He put a blue paste on all the burns and a green one on the big, bloody wound on his chest and his hand.

Afterwards, he pulled and twisted Aether's left leg to return it to the correct position before putting a bone colored paste on the left knee. The old man then put a splint on the left leg to keep it in position.

The old man had a satisfied look on his face when everything was done. He left the room after giving a last glance at the young boy on the bed.

......….

When Aether opened his eyes, he was stumped. Everywhere he looked were stars. Some were big, others small.

The weirdest part, however, was how every star, without exception, had a different color and aura.

At this moment, Aether was inside his Soul Space in the form of a Soul Avatar. Every living being possesses a Soul Avatar and Soul Space.

For mortal beings it was normally impossible to enter the Soul Space, but Aether didn't exactly find himself in a normal situation.

After looking at the stars for some time, he slowly muttered to himself, "It looks amazing, but I still don't know what is happening to me. What exactly is going on here? It actually feels somewhat familiar."

While Aether was pondering about the situation, the stars suddenly began to shine brighter.

A chant formed in front of his eyes while he watched the spectacle unfold.

'Blessing of the Ancient Stars'

'The soul is the most mysterious, yet most important part of any existence. It controls everything from body to energy. It contains all your knowledge and experiences. A powerful soul allows you to search for uncharted Paths and reach for unknown heights.'

'Chapter one: Soul refinement'

'That which falls under their illumination, shall begin its domination!'

"Blessing of the Ancient Stars…" Aether commented after reading the first line that had appeared.

After reading everything, he said to himself, "yep, I'm completely lost. I have no idea what it is talking about. What even is a blessing? What does it mean by illumination? Who will start its domination?"

Placing his right hand on the left side of his chest, he discovered something else strange.

"My heart is beating steadily, I'm completely calm."

"…"

"I have changed."

"I am ten years old, yet it feels like I've lived multiple decades."

"I am a child, yet I feel as if I am not."

"There seems to be some mystery as to who I am. Some secret."

"Seems like it'll be a lot of fun" Aether conclude as a big smile plastered his face. Nobody knew it yet, but at this moment a seed had been planted. A seed that would sprout probably the most terrifying being to ever exist.

A few seconds later, the starlight started to shine on Aether's Soul Avatar. When all the starlight with different colors descended on him, he could feel his perception increase. At this moment he realized what it meant by illumination, and also who the domination part was targeted at.

What he didn't know, however, was just how insanely powerful his soul was becoming. Everything from perception to awareness and intelligence was increasing at a ridiculous speed. This way, his memory and deduction would also increase significantly, and be of tremendous help in his cultivation journey.

Unfortunately for him, this process was accompanied by soul crushing pain. It felt like his soul was melt down like metal before a forging.

When it looked like his soul was going to collapse, the light changed a bit and remolded the soul just to start all over again.

This cycle kept going for what appeared to be hours.

After some time, the stars started to dim.

When everything was over, his soul was completely exhausted and entered a deep slumber. It needed to properly process the evolution it just underwent.

......….

Some time passed until Aether finally woke up.

When staring at the ceiling, he realized he was in an unfamiliar room. Unlike what one would expect from a ten year old child, he didn't panic at all.

After calmy looking around for a bit, he tried to get up. This caused him to experience sudden and unexpected pain.

Looking down, he saw the bandages all over his body and the splint around his leg.

He squinted his left eye when looking at his right hand.

"I am actually blind in one eye and even almost lost a hand."

"Well, it still beats dying I guess."

He didn't notice this when he was in the Soul Space because the soul is different from the physical body. While they both take on the same original shape, physical injuries are not applied to the soul. The reverse is also true.

After talking a bit more to himself, Aether took the infusion out and tried to stand up.

Some minutes and a bit of trial and error later, he successfully left the bed and started skimping on his right leg since his left was still splinted.

He pushed open the door and reached the front of the store where an old man was leisurely sipping some tea.

The store looked worn out, yet clean.

It was obviously an old store, but it had its own unique charm.

The tea had a soothing smell that could relax anyone who was tense for whatever reason.

"Hello kid", the old man said, "you woke up faster than I expected."

"I wasn't sure that you could survive even after I treated you. Those where some pretty ugly wounds.", the old man suddenly uttered after looking at Aether a bit more.

Inwardly, the man was actually a bit shocked. Aether surviving could still be accepted, but the speed at which he woke up and started walking and talking was abnormal.

It would still be normal if it was a grown man or cultivator, but by all rights and means, a child of barely ten years old should not be resilient enough to be able to withstand the pain Aether was currently suffering.

He should have woken up screaming and crying in pain.

Yet, he calmly looked at the old man as if nothing was wrong.

But it was this look that allowed the old man to understand why this was the case.

When suffering through extreme pain, both physically and emotionally, a person's willpower would be honed and grow stronger. This would allow them to better withstand pain and keep fighting on full power even when suffering injuries in battle.

In short, willpower is what drivers a cultivator. A desire to grow stronger for whatever reason.

Every cultivator goes through pain and suffering, so how else would they keep moving forward without sufficient willpower.

The old man sighed with pity. He didn't know what happened to the child in front of him, but he knew it was something no child should have to experience.

The old man didn't know that this was not the only reason. The pain he just suffered because of the soul refinement and the strength it received as a result also played a huge part.

After staring at the old man for some time, Aether turned his head to look at the cup of tea on the table and swallowed audibly.

The old man laughed softly, while Aether turned red from embarrassment.

"Come sit and have some tea.", the old man said after a new empty cup appeared out of nowhere.

The tea pot floated a few centimeters above the table before tilting a bit and filling the empty cup.

Aether sat down on the opposite side of the table before downing the entire cup at once.

He hadn't drank anything since the attack on his village and the smoke from the fire had also burned his throat. This little cup of tea soothed his painful throat and lessened his thirst quite a bit.

The old man smiled gently while he watched Aether drink and said, "I am sure you have a few questions, so let's talk for a bit."

Upon those words, Aether looked at the old man again and calmly asked, "What should I call you?"

He had a lot of important questions, but he didn't want be rude. His parents had always thought him to only be rude to people who don't respect you.

"You can simply call me Herb or Old Herb if you prefer.", the old man replied.

"Thank you for saving me, Old Herb.", Aether politely said before introducing himself, "My name is Aether."

"Now that that is out of the way, let's proceed with the questions you have, Aether. I'll answer those that I can."

After thinking for a bit, Aether decided to go with a question he had had from the moment Violet had talked to him.

"What is cultivation?"