168 Side Story: Soul Cultivation (1/2)
The world was vast and endless and there were countless immortals. Many lost their lives everyday but even more rose up to fill its ranks. Such an important book like 'Staying Immortal' that every new Spirit Lord needed remained so tightly controlled because of a single reason, human greed.
Every mortal wanted become a spirit lord and at the same time, every immortal at the higher realms also wanted the new spirit lords for themselves. Any Spirit King or higher cultivator could easily teach the contents of the book but they would only do so for their disciples. The Immortal Association was no different and the book was a ploy try and gather loose cultivators under their banner.
Chen Wentian owed Gong Liyun a large favor for the book, but this didn't mean he would join her. If her request ended up being too distasteful, he would simply pay the borrowing fee and leave. Still, having a supporter in the association was convenient even if that support was ambiguous.
The book was very long and had a lot of mumbo jumbo with it. Chen Wentian slogged through the archaic and mind-numbing paragraphs for days until the key concept gradually became clear. It described how there was the clear distinction between spirituality and the soul. People at the mortal realms easily confused the two and used them interchangeably but the book made it clear these were two completely different things and the distinction was important for cultivating in the immortal realms.
Spirit, spiritualty, or spiritual energy; this was the universal constant of the world, the mysterious connection between all things, living or not. Everything from the rocks in the mountain to the currents of the ocean, all of them had spirit. Trees had spirit, rays of starlight had spirit, but none of these had souls. Things without a soul can collect incredible amounts of spiritual energy but none of them cultivated. Cultivation realms were meaningless and were merely artificial labels.
Cultivation was a symbol of a higher form of life, one that had a soul. It was a mysterious artefact that came into existence within the brain. All beings with brains had a soul, this was without question. It was born thoughts, self-determination, and the will to survive. Only those with a brain could cultivate their body, form the mind sea, and utilize spiritual energy. But their soul was neglected because it was ethereal and formless and difficult to grasp.
The new concept within the immortal realms was that the body, mind, and spirit from a triangle of power that supported the soul. At the same time, the soul was the anchor that connected everything together. Without a powerful soul, a being could not improve in other aspects. Without a powerful soul, their body, mind, and spirit could not improve…
To cultivate in the immortal realms, one had to cultivate their soul!
This was the hidden secret, one that would take a clueless newbie forever to figure out on their own. It would waste away the primes of their extended lifespan, leaving them little left to try for the next realm.
In the mortal realms, comprehension was the most important factor to breakthrough. In the immortal realms, comprehension was still important but the most important factor was now soul strength. The result of this dependence was within each immortal realm, the soul had to be strengthened seven times. Each time the soul strengthened, it allowed for a corresponding increase in their body, mind, and spirit. These were known as the seven stages.
Seven was a powerful number in the world of cultivation. There were seven immortal realms; lord, king, emperor, overlord, master, saint, and demigod. There were seven colors in the rainbow; red, orange, yellow, green, cyan, blue, and violet. Seven days were in a week. Seven stages of soul strengthening. There were also myths and legends of the seven heavens and the seven hells.