While Lucas was still curious and wanted to learn more about Spirit Tools, there wasn't much more that his parents or aunt and uncle could tell him as none of them had a Spirit Profession.
Sasha adjusted the Freezing Tool to its minimum output then placed a bowl of water atop it to produce a big block of ice; she then chased everyone else out of the kitchen and got to work on dinner.
With nothing better to do, Lucas, Eris, Charles, Anna, and Drake began chatting about what to do next now that their initial experiments had proven to be at least somewhat successful.
"The Cultivation Techniques that Anna and I use are both far worse than the Flowing Flame Art and Solid Body Art, so it might not even be worth it for Lucas to learn them now," Drake pondered out loud.
Anna, however, disagreed, "I think it will still be good for us to teach them to him. In fact, it would probably be best if we also taught him the Focused Breathing Art."
"The Focused Breathing Art? Why would you want Lucas to learn that piece of trash?" Charles asked incredulously.
"Indeed, even though it's called a Cultivation Technique, it isn't worthy of such a label," Drake frowned, wondering just what his wife was thinking.
The Focused Breathing Art was technically a Low-Rank Mortal Grade Tier 1 Cultivation Technique, but that was only because there wasn't a lower Grade for it to belong to. After all, unlike a proper Cultivation Technique, the Focused Breathing Art didn't have a Circulation Mantra at all!
In the Rockwell Kingdom, it was called the Focused Breathing Art, but in other kingdoms it was known by names like the Elementary Art, or just the Breathing Art. Despite the many different labels it had, the Focused Breathing Art's essence remained the same, as did its execution and use.
For most people, they would begin cultivating at the age of 10. There was a variety of reasons for this, such as wanting the body and mind to mature enough, but the truth for most people was that they simply couldn't afford to begin cultivating until that age.
All Kingdoms, Empires, and powerful independent organizations recognized the importance of having as many strong Cultivators among their population as possible. In this world where strength was the ultimate currency, the more powerful Cultivators a group had, the stronger they were.
As such, most nations and organizations had set up a way for children who reached the age of 10 to have their Innate Talent tested and assessed while also providing the necessary resources to begin their cultivation journey.
Typically, all towns and cities would host a Baptism Ceremony during the Summer, and every child who had turned 10 since the last ceremony would be allowed to participate freely.
Spirit Tools, which were in the possession of the local administrators, would be used to determine each child's talent by exposing them to their first trace of concentrated World Qi, often from a Spirit Crystal. These Spirit Tools would then measure how quickly the children could absorb this World Qi and provide a very rough estimate of one's talent.
It was hardly the most accurate method, but it was enough for screening purposes.
Those with high Innate Talent could be picked out in this way and nurtured to support the local nobles, or the kingdom itself if they were gifted enough.
As for those who had ordinary or unremarkable talent, they were given some version of the Focused Breathing Art and sent on their way. With this basic Cultivation Technique, even the lowliest of farmers could cultivate, though the efficiency with which they did so was abysmal.
In general, 90% of people had Low-Rank Mortal Grade talent, making up the overwhelming majority of the population. If one had such aptitude, simply going about their daily life until they died without actively cultivating would generally result in them reaching the Fourth or Fifth Step Body Tempering Realm.
On the other hand, by using the Focused Breathing Art to cultivate for an hour a day, every day, one with such talent could conceivably reach the Tenth Step Body Tempering Realm even if they lived in a remote place with very low ambient World Qi density.
Few actually managed to achieve this level of success, but it was possible.
Innate Talent didn't limit how far one could go in cultivation, but it did indicate how hard it would be for an individual to become a powerful Cultivator.
Someone in the Tenth Step Body Tempering Realm was about 30% stronger than someone in the Fifth Step, though this could vary wildly depending on numerous factors such as build, age, gender, etc. However, regardless of everything else, the general rule was the higher one's cultivation, the stronger they were, and thus the more work they could do.
It was for this reason that all nations provided at least the bare minimum of support for their people to cultivate.
A stronger farmer could till more land and grow more crops, a stronger labourer could carry heavier loads for longer, and if war ever broke out, having a stronger pool of people to recruit soldiers from might mean the difference between victory and defeat.
All that being said, the Focused Breathing Art was literally the worst Cultivation Technique in existence, vastly inferior to even the ones Anna and Drake cultivated, much less the Solid Body and Flowing Flame Arts that Charles and Sasha used.
Since that was the case, why would Anna even suggest teaching such a worthless Art to Lucas who was clearly a gifted genius when it came to comprehending Cultivation Techniques?
Taking a moment to gather her thoughts, Anna explained, "When it comes down to it, although the Focused Breathing Art is the simplest and most inefficient Cultivation Technique in existence, it can also be said to be the origin of all other Cultivation Techniques, the base upon which everything else is built. In a certain sense, it's actually somewhat similar to the Unarmed Foundations Art."
While this explanation did make some sense, it was also difficult for the other experienced adults in the room to accept for the simple reason that the Focused Breathing Art was only used by those who had no other alternative.
"I'd like to learn the Focused Breathing Art," Lucas suddenly spoke up, "Maybe it will come in handy one day, and there's always a chance I might be able to improve it somehow in the future."
After gawking for a moment, Charles let out a hearty laugh, "Hahaha, good good! It's always good for a man to dream big! One day, when you create a new and improved Cultivation Technique, be sure to teach it to your Uncle Charles!"
"Oh oh, me too! Don't forget about your Big Sister!" Eris chimed in enthusiastically.
On the other hand, Drake and Anna both exchanged glances, not quite sure how to react in this moment.
Ordinarily, if a child said he was going to study and improve a Cultivation Technique which had been passed down for hundreds of years, they would have casually smiled or made some kind of encouraging remark like Charles had.
Lucas, however, was no ordinary child.
What's more, their son had already shown a surprising learning capacity as well as an impressive ability to innovate, so what would normally be considered impossible might not be for him.
Even so, such matters weren't immediate concerns, and when Sasha, together with Helen and Grace, the two kitchen helpers, began bringing in the dishes, all other thoughts were set aside in lieu of the feast before them.
After a scrumptious dinner, followed by a new frozen dessert made possible by the Freezing Tool, Lucas was apparently in for one more treat before the eventful day ended.
Pulling out a small bottle, Sasha waved the young boy over and handed it to him with a smile, "The Freezing Tool I ordered came from the capital, so I had the merchants I bought it from also throw this in as an extra. I hope it helps you with your little project, Lucas."
Accepting the bottle, Lucas curiously opened its lid and found a thick, white cream-like substance inside. The white cream had a slight aroma to it that the boy couldn't quite describe, but it was refreshing none the less. Taking a moment to comprehend what he had just been handed, the boy's eyes soon lit up and he exclaimed, "Aunty Sasha, is this the Bathing Cream you mentioned before?!"
Receiving a smiling nod from his aunt, Lucas cheered, "Hurray! Thank you, Aunty Sasha!"
Lucas was practically dancing right now, drawing a wry grin from the adults in the room who couldn't help wondering, Is a bottle of Bathing Cream really more exciting to you than inventing a new, more efficient cultivation method?
Still, not wanting to dampen her son's spirits, Anna played along with his joy for now, even commenting, "Maybe now that you've got some real Bathing Cream, you can find some inspiration to finish your own version; after all, you've spent quite a lot of time working on your Ash-Water."
Nodding along, Sasha chimed in, "I agree. The Ash-Water you created has come in handy for a number of things, but if you could really find a way to turn it into Bathing Cream, it would have many, many more uses. It might even become something you could make a fortune from!"
All smiles, Lucas simply nodded his head enthusiastically.
To the side, Eris watched the whole scene play out with some curiosity. As the daughter of a Baron, it wasn't like Eris didn't bathe herself. In fact, a hot bath in winter, or a cold one in summer, was one of her favourite activities, but aside from some rough scrubbing cloths or scented oils, normally she just used a type of local herb that had a fresh fragrance when mixed with water to keep herself clean.
In short, she had never seen a product like Bathing Cream before, something specifically designed to cleanse oneself with, so she couldn't help feeling curious.
Seemingly noticing this fact, Sasha smiled and said to her daughter, "Don't worry, since I had the opportunity, I asked those merchants for a few bottles, so you can use one too, Eris."
"Yay!" This time, Eris was the one who cheered. She was so excited she almost proposed for all of them to go take a bath right now, but when she thought of being naked in front of her Little Brother, she suddenly found her cheeks becoming a bit red.
It was a strange sensation, especially because they had swum naked in the river along with the other children in Redwood Town plenty of times when they were younger. Still, she decided to not make such a suggestion this time.
After all the celebrations ended, Anna, Drake, and Lucas headed back home where the young boy was eager to begin 'experimenting' with his bottle of Bathing Cream. His Aunt Sasha had said that typically, the bottle she gave him could be used to clean oneself about 20 times, but since Lucas was just a small boy, that could probably be stretched to 30.
Of course, Lucas didn't plan to just use up this bottle for bathing, he had bigger ambitions in mind.
And so, a night passed, then another, and another, and soon, the last remnants of summer gave way to autumn.
Lucas was kept busy during this time as he had to once again revised the Unarmed Foundations Martial Art so that there was no possibility others could use it to cultivate. The young boy also tried numerous experiments with the bottle of Bathing Cream his Aunt Sasha had gotten him, most of which involved him trying to identify what was in it by testing it in various ways, one of which resulted in him getting a very upset stomach and a harsh scolding from his parents.
Over this period, the young boy quickly got results in his Martial Arts modification effort, further reducing the Stances from 14 to 12, the Figures from 25 to 21, the Motions from 52 to 42, and the Forms from 110 to 80, and it wasn't long before the Town Guard were given a surprise 'gift' from Baron Newton and his wife Lady Sasha.
Unfortunately, the formula for Bathing Cream still eluded Lucas, frustrating both him and his Big Sister Eris, who after using the new product for the first time had taken quite a liking to it and had even begun rationing what was left of her supply to try to make it last longer.