Capítulo 12: Chapter 12: Foundations & Cultivation
"See, I told you it was easy, Elif." Told Marcus when Elif arrived near them.
"It was, but how was I supposed to know, father?" Replied Elif, looking at Marcus in annoyance.
"Alright, now that Elif has returned, the only thing left is to teach you some important things when you cultivate, and after that, you're free to start cultivating." Stated Tiana as she picked Elif up and carried him in her arms.
While in grandmother's arms, the scenery suddenly changed again; now we're back in the dining hall, although this time, I didn't hear a snap before everyone was teleported. The table was full of delicious food made by the Royal chefs, which always tastes great, especially when I'm hungry, like right now, freeing myself from grandmother, I make my towards the table and sit down before starting to eat. Everyone else did the same as me and started eating as well, with father and mother sitting beside me and my grandparents sitting across from me while also feeding Elaine some baby food.
"Elif, a few things to take seriously when cultivating, and probably the most important is the foundation of your cultivation." Said Maria, as she wiped her face with a handkerchief before speaking again once Elif was paying attention to her.
"Now, I'm sure you've already figured out that in cultivation, there are different levels, quite a lot actually, and we'll get into that later, but what you need to understand is that every time you advance a minor realm or more importantly, a major realm, your foundation will weaken. It's nothing serious as right after advancing, you'll usually strengthen your foundation again, but do you know what happens if you don't?" Asked Maria, looking at Elif, who looked like a chipmunk from the amount of food in his mouth.
"If you don't do anything about it, then it'll get harder to advance to the next level?" Answered Elif after he swallowed all the food he had stuffed into his mouth.
"Yes, you're correct, but that is just a minor side effect of ignoring your foundation when cultivating; what usually happens to people who don't strengthen their foundation is that they're forced to stop cultivating, and if they continue on their foundation will collapse, destroying their cultivation base and effectively killing them." Replied Maria, who had just finished her food, although, with her cultivation base, she doesn't even need to eat to survive, which is the same with every other adult at the table, though they do it to spend more time with Elif.
"If I didn't have my special physique, could that have happened to me?" Asked Elif, slightly scared at the idea of having an Immortal Spirit root.
"No, as long as every time you advanced a level in cultivation you strengthened your foundation afterward, then you would've been fine, but that is why we told you cultivating fast doesn't always mean strength. Most people who start on the path of cultivation don't have a teacher or a master to teach them and fix their mistakes, so they'll ignore their foundation when cultivating, deeming it unimportant and focus on speed, but in doing so, they destroy their potential in the process and are forced to stop cultivating less they want their foundation to collapse." Responded Marcus, easing Elif's tension.
By the time father finished explaining the consequences of ignoring the foundations of cultivation, I had just finished my food and the first thing I wanted to do was return to my room and continue deciphering the manual from earlier.
"Is there anything else you need to tell me? If not, I want to return to my room and start cultivating." Said Elif, with enthusiasm while hoping down from the chair he was sitting in.
"I believe that is everything we deemed important enough to tell you before you start cultivating; oh also, whenever you start cultivating, make sure to hang a sign so the servants know not to interrupt you, as doing so could be dangerous, ok." Remarked Tiana as she stood up with Elaine in her arms and headed towards one of the dining hall exits.
"Yes, that is everything, but be careful; cultivating is not something to play around with, and if you don't take it seriously, it could be harmful to you." Said Tyler as he followed behind Tiana, both of them leaving the dining hall.
"If you don't understand something in the manual, ask one of us for help, although I highly doubt that'll happen with you." Said Maria as she arrived near Elif and picked him up while kissing him on the cheek.
"Happy birthday Elif." Muttered Maria, before putting Elif back on the ground.
"Hehe, thanks, mom!" Responded Elif, in happiness.
"Make sure not to rush when you cultivate and happy birthday, Elif. Now your mother and I must report back to our jobs as the Empress and Emperor of the Empire, as with you now turning four, we can no longer delay it." Declared Marcus while patting Elif's shoulder and also becoming dejected halfway through his speech.
"Hmm, what do you mean report back? You two haven't been doing your duties as the Empire's leaders?" Asked Elif.
"No, we haven't; a few weeks after you were born, we took a break from our duties and allowed some of the nobles to manage the Empire, and with you becoming four, we have to start preparing for your first appearance to the Empire." Stated Maria in an irritated voice.
"But with me being the Crown Prince, doesn't everyone already know of me?" Asked Elif while looking slightly confused.
"Well, you're sort of correct, everyone within our domain and even beyond knows of your existence, yet you've never been publicly seen, sure there are probably spies from some of the noble families as well as different factions from around the world that are posing as our servants but ever since you've been born we've restricted access from allowing anyone to step out of the Elven Royal family grounds, which means no one actually has any information on you other than knowing you're alive." Answered Marcus.
"If there are spies in our castle, then why haven't you gotten rid of them yet!?" Asked Elif, slightly angry at the fact that people had been spying on his family.
"Don't get so worked up, Elif; we have this under control, and we know who all the spies are, so if we wanted to, we could permanently dispatch them, but the reason we don't is that if we got rid of spies that the noble families or other factions sent; then they would just send a new batch of spies. Besides Elif, it isn't your job to worry about stuff like that; what do you think your mother and I are here for? Alright, now stop worrying and go cultivate." Answered Marcus, rubbing Elif's head affectionately before following Maria, who had already left the dining hall.
Once I was alone in the dining hall, I figured I should listen to father since If I couldn't believe my own parents, who would I be able to believe?
'Alright, I will listen to father and start cultivating.' Thought Elif, in excitement at the prospect of finally being able to cultivate, almost forgetting about the spy problem.
Leaving the dining hall, I make my way to my room. While walking down the several hallways, I pass by several servants who bow when they see me before moving on with their duties, but whenever I see them, I always eye them carefully now, because if what father said was true, then one of these servants who I had walked by could've been a spy. By the time I had arrived at my room, I had walked past ten's of servants, and I couldn't tell if any of them were spies, which makes sense considering I don't know how a spy would behave, but ignoring that, I walk inside my room and before I start cultivating I reach into one of my dressers and grab a sign that I'm going hang outside my room.
[This room is off access; entering it will result in severe punishment! You've been warned.]
'This will work, now to start cultivating.' Thought Elif after reading the sign.
Once I hung the sign outside my door, I went and sat on my bed and started deciphering the manual, which I'm almost done with as it's not too hard to understand as long as you know a little about cultivation.
After a while of constant deciphering of the manual, I had finally finished comprehending the manual, which meant I could now follow the instructions and start on the path of cultivation.
'Luckily, the manual informed me of the first six levels in Cultivation; Meridian Opening, Qi Gathering, Foundation Establishment, Core-formation, Nascent Soul, and Half-step Saint. I already knew about Meridian Opening, and I automatically bypassed that level since I don't have any meridians. For Qi Gathering, I would absorb as much Qi as my meridians could hold before advancing yet again, but because of my physique, I must absorb as much Qi as my body can hold before advancing. However, before I can do any of that, I must be able to sense Qi, and if I'm correct, that's what mother used when she tested my physique, so feeling it again shouldn't be too difficult.' Though Elif, after reviewing the manual he had deciphered.
Status de energia semanal
-- Ranking de
Poder 
-- Pedra de
Poder