The Modern Immortal

Cultivation Stages

Sitting under the willow tree, Daemon let the breeze comb through his hair as he relished the refreshing cool air from the lake.

The cultivation progression was divided into eight stages: Body Tempering, Foundation Establishment, Core Formation, Golden Core, Nascent Soul, Soul Formation, Body Tribulation, Mind Tribulation, Soul Tribulation, Immortal Core.

Within each stage were sub-levels. The first stage, for example, consisted of three sublevels: Initial Stage, Middle Stage, Late Stage.

As the name suggests, the first sub-level was about building a solid foundation from which all the other cultivation stages were developed upon. Once completed, the cultivator would have immense strength, speed, and agility. It was a transitional period when the cultivator reached beyond the limits of the human body. The cultivation should also have the ability to gather some degree of internal energy to perform inhuman feats.

The next two sub-levels were usually combined together and were called the Body Moulding Phase. Once the cultivator had completed both levels, he or she could be even more powerful with just their body. In the eyes of an ordinary human, these cultivators were no different than a god, although they were technically not gods by a long chalk.

After the cultivator had breached the first stage, he or she would enter the stage called half stage Foundation Establishment, during which one could ride on the back of the wind to wherever he wanted to and live more than five hundred years. However, even with those magical powers, they were still far from being immortals.

“It’s too early for me to think about Foundation Establishment. I should start by focusing on the Body Tempering for now.”

“What kind of art should I use to rebuild my foundation?” Daemon asked himself.

“The reason why my cultivation had failed during the tribulation was not only because of that ambush but also my weak foundation, i was too hasty last time but even then i had to wait to prepare for my ascension which i failed miserably.” Daemon nodded as he reflected on his past cultivation.

“Ignoring all the pretenses and excuses, my downfall was in my inability to complete each stage to perfection. This time I need to learn my lesson and build each and every stage as firmly as possible.” The thought of his slip up during the most critical moment of his cultivation made Daemon heave a sigh of regret.

Nonetheless, there were still many things that Daemon should feel grateful for. For one, he was miraculously given another chance to start all over again.

Body Tempering stage was the first stage of the cultivation; it was arguably the most important one as well. In order to not repeat his mistake, Daemon was resolved to take his time and perfect this stage.

“I have collected all kinds of secret arts and magical spells in the past Ten Thousands years. In my collection, the arts of building the foundation alone amounted to Twenty thousand five hundred and eight different pieces. In the last iteration of my life, I have used the art of Foundation Establishment from the Heavenly Armament sect. It was simple and straightforward; however, I need something more powerful to achieve perfection.”

He had formulated a plan and decided on the art in his mind ever since he started walking towards the mountain..

“I will use the art which I get on a expenditure of God Burial site,”The Great Art of Ancient God Body Refinement!”

The God Burial Site is said to be the area where once gods and demons fought with other races, the area is the most barren area of the immortal realm but it is filled with countless treasures.

The Great Art of Ancient God Body Refinement is the art said to be cultivated by the Ancient Gods, this is the most powerful body refinement art in the God realm which with great luck and effort Daemon obtained in the site. Once it was mastered, the art would help the cultivator to harness much more power than those who used other arts.

“Inclusiveness was not only the key in mastering this art, but it was also important for me to cultivate with such limited Qi resources. The Qi on earth is drying up, and I need to scrape any useful resources that I could find, including any medicinal herbs, numinous treasures and even unsavory elements such as the malice Qi and death Qi. There would be no art more suitable than The Great Art of Ancient God Body Refinement given the circumstances.”

The so-called Malice Qi, Yin Qi or Death Qi were not that much different than the bread and butter of cultivation: Spirit Qi. They were all an extension of the universe itself, a reflection of one or two of its countless facets.

That being said, the spirit Qi was much readily available on a planet, and it was easier to bend into whatever shapes or forms the cultivator desired. The other forms of Qi required specific dharma or other immortal arts to be harnessed. Without the aid of some very special arts, an ordinary cultivator wouldn’t be able to harness all forms of Qi until they had reached the Golden Core stage.

However, with the special ability of the Ancient God Body Refinement art, Daemon should be able to harness Qi from all sources from the very beginning.

This is the only art in the entire universe in which you don't need other arts to cultivate qi, the more you advance the stronger your body will be and the more qi you will have. The boundless space contained an unimaginable amount of Qi from various sources, all of which could be harnessed using this unique art. whether it is the Qi inside the core of a star or the Qi of demonic origin deep underground; the art could handle them all.

Daemon shook his head and heaved a sigh. However ambitious the ANcient Gods were, they all died in that war, to advance cultivation required specialization instead of diversification.

Daemon gathered himself and started the Ancient God Body Refinement Art.

The art was not only useful in harnessing Qi but was also effective in straightening one’s flesh. It was a good way to improve both internal and external prowess.

As he gradually progressed with the cultivation, his body seemed to become a black hole that sucked various Qi and energies into him. The air around Daemon was soon devoid of any life, so much so that even the breezy wind became stifled.

He was so engrossed in his cultivation that he nearly forgot the passage of time. The moon rose and the night sky covered everything.