Crippled genius

"What is cultivation?"

Aether had a few questions he wanted to ask before this one, but he felt he needed to start here in order to understand everything correctly.

Old Herb thought for a couple of seconds before answering.

"There are multiple ways to explain what cultivation is, but it all comes down to the same core concept."

"Cultivation is the road to ascend yourself in order to become a higher being."

"Higher being? You mean something like a God?" Aether asked intrigued.

"I honestly don't know if something like a God exists, but legends do speak of existences beyond the mortal realm." Old Herb said while some longing was faintly visible in his eyes.

"And how exactly do you cultivate?"

"That young Aether, is entirely up to you."

Aether tilted his head with a confused expression. He had absolutely no idea what Old Herb meant. Luckily for him, Old Herb continued with some explanation.

"There are four main ways to cultivate, I'll order them by most used by our human race."

"First we have Energy cultivation. In this method we absorb the energy available in the air, ground , nature,… wherever you find it. We lead it through our body into the Energy Center to make it ours. It isn't as simple as that of course but that's the main goal. We keep accumulating Energy, increasing it as much as we can, in order to ascend higher and higher. People who practice Energy Cultivation most often fight from long range."

"Why do they fight from long range?" Aether asked.

"Most of them have rather weak bodies, so they try to keep some distance from their opponent. Otherwise, they would get injured very fast." Old herb patiently explained.

"The second way we can cultivate is through Body Cultivation. Some people also call this evolution, since you need to develop and evolve your body. The way Body Cultivation is often practiced is by using pills and pastes together with intensive training. Like this you put a heavy strain on the body and push it to the limit, allowing it to grow. Body Cultivators often cultivate the blood as well since blood is a good support to the body. Body Cultivators prefer to fight in melee range since they have the advantage there."

"I understand that they want close combat because of their strong bodies, but does that mean they can't fight from long range?" Aether wanted a bit more information once again.

Old Herb didn't mind the disturbance and answered, "they can fight from long range since they also have energy, but it is much weaker so they try to prevent such scenarios."

"That brings us to the third way, Blood Cultivation. To cultivate the blood you need to erase the impurities within and increase its density. Now, Blood Cultivation is a bit special as it doesn't give any direct power. It allows one to fight longer because it gives you high regenerative capabilities. You tire much less, your injuries heal faster, your strained muscles get rejuvenated, … Blood Cultivators try to drag out the fights as long as possible."

"What range do they fight from?"

"They choose the range they seem fit to fight against their opponent. Close range against Energy Cultivators and long range against Body Cultivators."

After answering this Old Herb silently muttered, "Truly as irritating as flies."

Aether didn't hear this comment.

"Now, the special one, Soul Cultivation. It's not only the hardest to practice, but also the most dangerous one. A single mistake can render you completely useless and turn you into a vegetable. Injuries to the soul are almost impossible to recover from so if you decide to ever try it, proceed with utmost caution. I honestly don't know much about Soul Cultivation. Most of the techniques used to cultivate the soul are tightly guarded secrets."

"How do they fight?"

"They don't fight."

Aether was once again confused. He doesn't like fighting, but having seen the cruelty of this world first hand, he understood fighting was necessary to survive. If so, how do those Soul Cultivators survive if they can't fight?

"It seems you misunderstood something. I said they don't fight because it isn't necessary for them to do so."

"How come?"

"Because they instantly kill their enemies."

Aether was shocked. How can you just kill your enemies without a fight. He couldn't understand how that worked.

"Tell me, Aether, how do you protect against an attack you can't see, hear, smell, feel or taste?"

"… You don't?" Aether wasn't sure how to answer this question.

"Correct, you don't. You just accept your dogshit luck and die because there is nothing else you can do."

Aether felt a shiver run over his spine and cold sweat run down his back. He couldn't imagine just how terrifying of an existence those Soul Cultivators where. How is it possible to kill someone without them being able to do anything.

"Then, are they the strongest?" He felt he had asked a dump question, how could they not be the strongest with such capabilities. Luckily for him, it seemed Old Herb actually didn't mind that question. Even more, he seemed somewhat happy?

"They may be the strongest in their respective Realms, but as I said, Soul Cultivation is the hardest and most difficult one. They often kill themselves by accident or get left so far behind, their enemies just surpass and kill them."

"Soul Cultivators are fucking idiots." Aether once again didn't hear Old Herb's silent comment.

"Cultivation sounds like a lot of fun!" It sounded like the pure excitement from a child, yet Old Herb felt chills upon hearing those words.

Aether didn't realize it, but he had a rather bloodthirsty grin on his face while saying this.

'This child seems to have some problems with his head. He switches personality out of nowhere.' Old Herb couldn't help but think.

"Does that include everything from cultivation?" Aether asked in the same way before the change, as if it had been nothing but an illusion.

"No, out of those four there are actually countless other ways. They call them the unorthodox cultivation methods. They include Alchemy, Forging, Talisman, Array and multiple others. They focus on their crafts and mostly don't have a lot of combat power. Of course, there are some exceptions."

"The ones you need to watch out for the most are actually the ones who prioritize Weapon Cultivation."

"What do you mean by Weapon Cultivation?" Aether was even more interested now. He couldn't help imagining himself swinging a sword.

"Weapon Cultivators focus on the bond between themselves and their weapon. Most of the time they are Energy Cultivators who synchronize their Energy with their weapon and form some kind of bond, giving a tremendous boost to their overall power. Their combat power is the highest from all cultivators."

"Also, and this is rather important to know, whatever way you cultivate, it'll push the others forward as well. What I mean by that is when you practice Energy Cultivation, your body, blood and soul will also advance. But because you don't focus on them they'll be much weaker than the main way you cultivate."

"Like this I have explained the most basic knowledge you need for cultivation. Whatever cultivation you choose to practice, don't choose Soul Cultivation. All you'll do is doom yourself."

Aether felt like crying, wasn't the blessing he received for Soul Cultivation? Was he supposed not to use it?

No, he felt like that blessing would help him tremendously, so he had no intention of not using it. Of course, he wasn't going to tell Old Herb about it.

"Should I go for Energy Cultivation like the majority?"Aether still didn't know that much about cultivation, but since most people cultivated that way there should be no problem.

"No, you can't practice Energy Cultivation. In fact, it's the same for Body Cultivation and you can try Blood Cultivation, but I don't know if you'll succeed there."

"What do you mean?" Aether felt anxious. He felt a bad premonition.

"Sigh, I mean that you are a cripple." Old herb said downcast before continuing, "when you were unconscious, I completely examined your body. I have to say I was a bit shocked. Never in my life have I seen something like that."

"Old Herb, please explain." Tears were already visible in the corner of Aether's eye.

"You originally had the most talent I've ever seen. You have two Energy Centers and Energy Veins so numerous and powerful I thought I was seeing double. If you focused on Energy Cultivation with such talent, I'd be only a matter of time until you were the strongest in the world."

"Unfortunately, both your Energy Centers are cracked and your Energy Veins are completely withered. It seems like they were deliberately destroyed by someone."

"You mean someone destroyed my talent?" Aether felt depressed. He was exited at the prospect of starting his own cultivation journey, only to have it all fall apart even before he started.

"Yes, someone destroyed your talent, but I don't think it was with any malicious intent."

Now Aether was completely lost. How could destroying someone's talent be done with anything but malicious intent.

"I found signs of hidden traumas in your body. Scarred tissue next to your Energy Centers and Energy Veins, only half a drop of Essence Blood, undeveloped muscles and bones. The list goes on and on. You have so many problems I find it hard to believe you actually lived to ten years old."

"My conclusion is that your talent was too much of a strain on your body. Your Energy Centers and Veins siphoned everything from your body in order to develop. My guess is that the person who destroyed your talent wanted to wait and see if you could live past a critical point. This way, you could have kept your talent and live a glorious life. Unfortunately, it seems like your Essence Blood would go dry, so they didn't have any choice but to cripple you in order to save your life."

"Then the people who did this, were my parents?" Aether asked to himself. "But we lived in a village in the woods with ordinary mortals who knew nothing about cultivation."

He didn't understand. It seemed he missed some important parts in order to connect the dots. Even more so when he considered the fact that his parents gave birth to someone as talented as him. He didn't know much about cultivation, but he would never believe ordinary mortals could give birth to someone like him.

But, why did they die so easily that night if they were not ordinary?

"Don't beat yourself up like that, I'm sure you'll figure everything out in time." Old Herb consoled softly.

Aether took some time to calm down and move those thoughts to the back of his mind. Just like Old Herb said, he would find the answers he was looking for sooner or later. There was no need to keep brooding over them like this.

"You said I can try Blood Cultivation?"

"Oh, it seems like you heard that. I thought you had missed that part with how you were reacting. Well, I understand it. Nobody would react positively upon hearing they were crippled, especially with such talent."

"Now then, back onto topic. The reason I recommend you try Blood Cultivation is because, as I said, it works supportively to Body Cultivation."

"As you are right now, you can't practice Body Cultivation. In order to cultivate the body, it needs to be complete. Do you understand what I am saying?"

"You mean because of my injuries, like my hand and my eye, I can't practice it."

"Well, it's not like you can't, but it's better you don't. Your road of Body Cultivation will be very short if we don't do anything about your hand and eye. That's why, at the beginning, you should start with Blood Cultivation."

"Wait, Old herb, you mean that if I first practice Blood Cultivation, I can restore my body?"

"Blood Cultivation does indeed have that effect, but if we rely on only that it will take decades in order to heal your body completely. What you are going to learn now is a bit of a secret, but it should be fine."

"I am going to teach you how to create a new bloodline and make it your own. This way you can create a bloodline that will heal your body and allow you to transition into Body Cultivation later on."

"I am going to teach you Bloodline Forging."