[Five Days later]
A few days later, as cultivation slowed, Caelus wanted to train his techniques without fighting too much. Alongside that, the first two days that passed were more like a breeze. Caelus slept for almost the entire two days, conserving tons of energy as he worked at full brain capacity.
He didn't expect to move fast in cultivation after this point, since he had heard that this was where most cultivators were; about 10% of the entire World's Population was virtuoso, which was why sects had so many of them.
Of course, there was the majority of cultivators at Foundation Establishment, which was 25% of the world, and almost every other living human was at the Awakening Realm, since it was extremely easy to do, about 45% of the Population. And the rest were Soul Formation, and higher realms, going smaller and smaller, till the 0.01% at Spirit Tempering, and then Nyx, who he knew, was the only one ever at Tribulation Transcendence, as it's called.
"People have reached higher realms, it's obvious, since ascension used to be common in what they called the Golden Age... I do wonder, why has it slowed down now?" Caelus wondered why it had started slowing down. Maybe someone from the ascended realm was why.
Still, as he finished the history book, he put it away, walking out of the pavilion, since it was on the first floor, he was about to go to begin making pills just to get a feel, even if he had a Vase, it still felt way too much of a cheat for him to use. And while he did cheat a lot in tests, especially in subjects like Math, because he hated the fact that letters were introduced too.
Caelus shook it off; he had to focus on this world, not reminisce about the past.
[Mission Path unlocked!]
[First Pill Mission]
[Make a Pure or Higher Grade Virtuoso Pill, one which is not Lesser or Low!]
[Reward: 2,000 Gold + Increased Mana Reserves]
"...? No time limit? Well then, I'll relax and take my time first." Caelus shook his hands, letting the dust fall from them, since the pavilions hadn't been cleaned in a long time.
As he walked over to the Cultivation one, he noticed Elysia walking towards him while looking around. Stopping in place, he looked at her as she noticed him, walking over quickly, almost like jogging.
Only now he saw her hair was a light purple, weird, since most people he saw here had black, brown, or even sometimes an orangish color.
"Are you here to cultivate?" Caelus asked her. "I almost forgot that I said yes to training, apologies. I was busy training with Tellus." He continued.
"Ah- No, it's fine, I came here since I saw you from my room when walking here. I also reached further into the Awakening Realm. I might reach Foundation even!" Elysia spoke, ecstatic, because she really wanted to fight; it looked cool, and she didn't want to just have people die without at least trying to help.
"Well, don't rush it at least. You have to stabilize yourself after the Awakening, from Foundation and Onwards, it would take longer than it takes me, at least from what I assume, since I'm... Made of Mana mostly. At least my scales are like that." Caelus replied. "Try to absorb more Mana inside of you first. That's generally the first step during Awakening, once it's reached."
"It's weird why the books here lied and said Tribulation began at Virutoso, since Tribulation began at my crossing to Foundation for me-" Caelus continued, realizing how weird that was.
[That's because you're a Dragon, different species have different thresholds, Dragons are at Awakening when Tribulation starts, Wyverns are at Foundation, Drakes are Foundation, Banshees are at Virtuoso. And Humans at Virtuoso! :3]
"...Ah, you could've said that earlier." Caelus thought. "Nevermind, maybe it's because I'm a Dragon, Awakening is when I get my tribulation, you'll get it at Virtuoso." Caelus finally continued.
"Uhm- Okay, that's a lot, but I'll start," Elysia spoke, a little nervous now since he was speaking so much, but also because he was sounding considerate of her.
As more Mana flooded her body, it didn't stop; it held even more Mana than Caelus held right now at his realm, growing more and more. Finally, once it stopped, she'd reached the peak of Awakening, which wasn't too hard for anyone; it's just what people decided, if they wanted to cultivate or if they didn't.
"So- What about now? What do I do?" Elysia spoke, already feeling the Mana everywhere around her body, like an ocean inside of her. "This does feel a little good, though."
[Humans also have meridians, but your body doesn't, since Dragons are devoid of such, since their human form is still draconic. Every world has Humans with Meridians, but each world serves a different purpose. This one is to contain Mana, so now she has to clear it, think of it as cleaning your own body.]
"...I see. Again, why did you not inform me earlier?" Caelus was getting a little fed up with Aphro barely explaining things to him in a world he had no idea about, especially for another species he was reincarnated as.
[Mostly because I'd rather you learn a little or get explained on why some stuff works :3 Also because telling you everything would make it boring, no?]
"...Kind of." Caelus thought to himself that it was annoying, but it would be like knowing everything about a story while reading it. Only then did Caelus finally speak to Elysia.
"Now, you should go and clean your meridians, I guess err..." Caelus thought, wondering how it even worked, since his memory was so good now as a Dragon, he searched his own memories, compared to before, it would be so small it wouldn't even be able to fit a year's worth of memory, yet now he could remember everything from his past life, alongside right now.
Remembering he studied Chinese History and some stuff involving meridians before, not what was in cultivation, but instead just about certain stuff he found interesting, he knew where the meridians were, almost exactly, though there was a little discrepancy between them since he doubted it still.
"Okay... So the Meridians begin at the head." Moving his finger, he slowly ran it down her body, touching specific parts of her hand, head, and legs, and only pointing when near her chest, since he wished to be respectful, but she could tell exactly where. "That's about where it is."
Elysia nodded, moving her Mana around to clean each area with care, since she didn't want to mess up, especially since she was in front of him, only to feel her body react to it; each part that it was supposed to fit reacted to the cleansing as it became slightly violent, only to stop and adapt to the change. Unnaturally quickly.
[A Hour Later]
Elysia was being... a little too careful, making it so it took a bit of time. Still, after each meridian was finally cleaned, her power surged, skyrocketing, reaching Foundation Establishment, but not fully. She still needed to make one herself.
"Now for Foundation, think of it like a..." He was trying to find the right words for a time period like this without his technology. "Road. Yeah, make it so the Foundation is a cylindrical road." Caelus demonstrated by making a cylindrical shape float above his hand, taking on a light blue, mystical appearance, like pure energy.
Elysia nodded, trying to make it first, slowly advancing, though it would take a lot longer than it took to clean her meridians, though it was unnaturally fast for Caelus due to his... The old world had taught him the basics about his own body. "Connect each cylinder to a sphere that covers each body part. That includes the one in your head."
Elysia took a moment, not knowing what he was even talking about. Feeling a little weirded out. "Okay, but... Where are each body part? Like a circle around my entire hand or part of it-?"
Caelus, no longer putting up much of an act as he would before, simply replied. "I mean your organs. You know, the heart, brain, and stomach. And the rest. You have to make it to each area. But be very careful, take as much time as you like. One mistake would be extreme injury."
Elysia simply listened, genuinely interested because it's things she, in some way, understood. Though she did want to know exactly where. She felt she was rude to ask. "Kiana said that no cultivator explains anything about their power other than the Church and Sects.... So I shouldn't ask, plus I'm just stealing."
"Also, if you need help in locating where it is, then just ask, or if it's possible, try making it so your Mana is applied to your Eyes to exaggerate the inner part of the body to find it properly," Caelus spoke.
"Uhm-" Elysia tried replying, not expecting him to just explain.
"That might work, if you don't see anything or see your entire body still covered, that is not the organs." Caelus continued. "I'm not fully sure. So if you can't tell, I'll help point out where it is so you can with my help."
Caelus took a second as he tried to understand this world more, how it worked. And also... Why didn't they allow Elysia to cultivate?
Noticing from the side as what looked like nobles walked in. Still, they didn't have clothing from here; it was different, with subtle changes in the color, hints of light blue and white instead of the usual he saw with nobles, and a purple and a greyish color in this Empire.
He expected Elysia to be at least decently versed in politics, so he spoke once more, though quietly. "So... What are they? I don't think they're from this Empire, are they?"
Elysia looked to the side, and her eyes widened, only to calm herself and nod. "Indeed, they're from a renowned Sect, inside of another Empire called the Crimson Moon Empire. Though different from the Marou Dynasty, they're more aggressive when it comes to their demands, and hold very... Traditional beliefs, such as saying that only women can handle money and other such things, are similar because they are magic."
Caelus listened and didn't fully understand, but he found it fair; he couldn't do math, so if someone else could, he wouldn't care, as long as they were allowed another path.
"They also believe whoever they defeat is inherently theirs, so that means most of the people they have working are unpaid; they're extremely large, but for some reason, they're asking for more and more resources every time they need to get any. Especially food from us."
Caelus listened and nodded. Watching the Nobles walk by the pavilion. As he did, he felt their aura, and it was... If anything, at most Soul Formation.
"This is the Yun clan; they're a prominent clan in Valencia City of their Empire. These are some ambassadors they've sent to negotiate with Father, but I'll have to go and negotiate instead since he is not well right now." Elysia continued, a little bummed she hadn't been able to reach Foundation yet.
"I see, well, just don't rush Foundation, a mistake could lead to it spiraling to death. Or at least your body is incredibly hurt. Though it can be healed, that doesn't mean you should depend on that." Caelus replied. Sighing, seeing she was bummed, while it made sense, someone that interested in cultivation? Of course, they would want to go fast.
"If you go slower and take time, it means you'll master it a lot faster than most other cultivators do." He warned her just so she at least had an incentive to not rush. But from that, he looked to the side and saw a younger kid, probably just reaching adulthood. Staring directly at him.
Caelus, for a second, realized he had never truly reached 'adulthood' because he had assumed it was at 25. And he had died at 19. But he shook his head; he could reach adulthood in human years easily now.