Chapter 17: Cultivation Arts (EDITED)

[A/N: The info dump is just for this chapter. Please bear with it, as it is important for future development.]

While resting, Asher's vision became distorted. When he regained awareness, he all of a sudden found himself inside the Mystic Starry Realm. Wandering underneath the starry sky, he saw all the constellations were connected through countless colorful rays, making them seem majestic and beautiful.

Standing beneath it and gazing at the endless sky of stars gave off a mysterious yet exciting vibe. This place's vibe was different—too different from the outside world, making it a perfect place for cultivation.

In fact, Asher felt it would be a bit foolish to do any sort of activity outside instead of spending most of his time here, as this place would no doubt boost his cultivation progress.

Asher began walking towards the center as he took a look at the constellations in the sky and marveled at this mystic place.

After going down the same path as last time, Asher arrived in front of the Astral Nexus Core Orb, where it floated in mid-air.

Taking a step into the aura circle in the middle of the formation, Asher got a bit closer and checked the Astral Nexus Core with caution.

It appeared a lot more amazing and alive than ever before as Asher aimed his spiritual senses at it. But all of it was an illusion to guard against others, as this was nothing more than a fake core, with the real one appearing to be an unassuming small gem that was absorbed into his body.

Although fake was the wrong word to define it, it was also a formidable artifact functioning as a connection that links the Astral Nexus Core Orb with the Mystic Starry Realm.

'Interesting.' Asher thought about it and didn't examine it anymore. Instead, he closed his eyes as his figure began emitting dazzling lights, transforming his whole figure into a beam of light.

The Aura Circle began vibrating when light traveled from the Astral Nexus Orb towards the constellation above Asher, entering it at the origin of its glowing points.

From there, a beam of white light shot at him, getting absorbed inside him. Then Asher felt his soul take in a vast amount of white light, and light concentrated around him.

A strand of light from the vast universe gathers here from an endless path as this energy nourishes every being present here, letting them heal and cultivate with the help of formation.

Over time, the white light faded, giving an energetic feeling to Asher's whole being. Looking at himself, Asher stated, 'This is great; my skin feels flawless and clean!' This white light seems to hold power capable of purifying the impurities.

Even the spiritual backlash was getting more and more tamed as his soul became at ease.

At that moment, the Astral Star Core Orb sent information straight to his mind, leaving Asher perplexed and frightened at the same time.

It was the knowledge that he was poisoned with Dream Poison. It was a poison of the soul, and it's a very rare poison. When someone is poisoned with that, in one week, their soul disappears in a mysterious manner without harming their bodies, along with the poison.

Previous Asher died being poisoned by this Dream Poison. And there were still a few remnants of it left inside the body, linking the poison to the current Asher's soul. He was fortunate, as it was removed before it could have killed the current Asher in the same way if left unchecked.

He got angry, but after some time, his anger was quelled when he found that he was safe and not poisoned anymore. But he still had one lingering fear, as what happened to him was not some ordinary accident.

'There must be an individual who wanted to erase previous Asher's existence, and that person will once again try to do something else since I am alive as Asher and took his place.'

Asher reflected, as he was sure about being targeted again. He decided that, from now on, he would be vigilant against everyone and pay more attention to the things going on in his surroundings to find enemies.

Without wasting any time, Asher looked for the cultivation techniques for himself inside the library, which had all types of cultivation techniques, as he could fight if he was prepared enough; otherwise, he would be trampled by any powerful cultivator.

Soon he found a manual that oozed a mysterious dark aura and was engraved with dark runes, bearing the name Abyssal Spirit Essence Devouring Art.

Grabbing the technique book in his hands, Asher closed his eyes and focused. The mystical manual glowed and sent a light into his forehead, spreading to the soul. Before long, it started engraving itself in his mind.

Soon, Asher knew everything about it.

Abyssal Spirit Essence Devouring Art: It was a cultivation art that focused on absorbing the spirit essence energy of the dark element. This art helps practitioners connect with the spirit essence in their surroundings, drawing in its powerful, dark element and absorbing it like a bottomless abyss whirlpool, increasing the speed and density of condensing the spirit essence inside Dantian. The technique involves active absorption of this dark energy, raising cultivation, and transforming it for the growth of the Dark Element Spirit.

Asher began comprehending this cultivation method. Soon, a huge amount of pure spirit essence gathered around Asher, being sucked inside his body through his skin and forming a black-colored Abyss Whirlpool in Dantian. Spirit Essence Energy started merging into it, making it even stronger and bigger.

It was like an opening to a bottomless abyss, taking all the spirit essence in its surroundings as everything was sucked inside and condensing dense Dark Element Spirit Essence.

After a while, Asher stopped cultivating after forming Abyss Whirlpool within his Dantian. He didn't need to refine it again, as it was already stable. So, as long as the spirit essence around him was enough, he didn't need to do much other than consume as much of the spirit essence as he could to get maximum gains from devouring the surrounding spirit essence.

Asher did a quick lookup of the spirit essence energy inside him. As a result of the condensed Abyss whirlpool in Dantian, his current Initial-Stage Spirit Foundation Realm has already stabilized. If practiced with other manuals, it would have taken him at least a week, but it took him half an hour with Abyssal Spirit Essence Devouring Art, which shows that this cultivation method was powerful.

"This cultivation art is powerful. With this, I didn't have to spend more time just meditating and gathering spirit essence, as Abyss Whirlpool will do that for me." Excited by this find, Asher searched for a few more useful techniques and memorized their effects.

[Shimmering Shadow Technique: A movement technique that allows the practitioners to move like an unhindered shadow and hide in someone's shadow.]

[Shadow Illusion Technique: A technique that can produce several shadow clones depending on the user's level of mastery. Using this technique, shadow clones can move on basic commands without depending on the owner.]

[Abyssal Grasp: A technique that extends shadowy tendrils, which can be used to manipulate objects at a distance or restrain and incapacitate opponents by binding them.]

[Shadow Concealment Technique: Using this technique, the practitioner can disguise his or her aura and cultivation level.]

[Shadow Shapeshifting Technique: A Transformation Technique. Using this technique, the practitioners can disguise themselves as beasts, plants, or other people.]

Asher chose techniques that were practical and more focused on survival. He never liked fancy things. He knew most cultivators were greedy and wanted to learn fancy techniques to make themselves look great. Most of the time, they weren't practical and above their abilities, but they didn't consider those shortcomings.

As he was searching, he found a very interesting section in the library. Dual Cultivation Arts. Asher formed a perverted smile looking at those arts, and he became horny thinking about using them on Aria, Nadia, and other future women that he would encounter. Soon, he found some good art manuals and learned them without any delay.

[Temptation Sex Arts: A handbook about dual cultivation that contains knowledge of various styles of making love and tempting them for more.]

[Tempting Touch: The practitioners using this technique can induce pleasure just by a touch, making the person aroused and horny.]

[Grasp of Temptation: The practitioners using this technique can make love for as long as they want. They can control his or her orgasm at will while also being able to grasp the power to decide whether they want to make someone pregnant or not.]

[Temptation Aura: Creates an aura of irresistible allure around the practitioner, affecting the target and making them susceptible to suggestions and desire manipulation.]

After choosing these techniques, Asher decided to practice them at a training ground designed in the Mystic Starry Realm just for that. Accompanied by many dummy plants. He soon practiced all techniques in the comfort of the Mystic Starry Realm.