Ashes Of Heaven Book 1 : Solar Calamity

"The most important part of cultivation is building your dao foundation.

"Think of a building under construction.

First and foremost, the base, or in other words, the foundation, must be built properly, while keeping in mind that the rest of the building's stability would depend on it.

If you build a narrow, shallow foundation in a tiny land, maybe you can build two small rooms on it, which will be cramped and uncomfortable to live in, shabby to look at. Not to mention, a shallow foundation will never allow you to build higher floors past its limits. If you forcibly do so, one tiny earthquake, one half-decent flood can make it crumble.

BOOM, the cultivation you have achieved throughout your life will be gone just like that.

So if you are intelligent enough to understand this, you'd definitely build a better foundation for your dao tower.

Now imagine a foundation covering more than a hundred square meters of land, delving dozens of feet underground to lay a firm footing for the building in the future.

Even if you build a pagoda with ten floors, your foundation can support the building. You'll have many large rooms on each floor that are comfortable to live in.

You can imagine these rooms as your cultivation techniques.

Each room on the lower floors will be more influential than those above it. The higher you go, the riskier it is. The lower-level techniques may not shake the earth or color the sky, but they'll lay the foundation for the techniques you'll practice at the higher levels.

Naturally, you must make sure to practice the lower-level cultivation methods to their fullest extent or otherwise risk losing a room on the ground floor, which would simply waste the foundation you've built in that area, thus blocking much of your potential.

Of course, all of this is but an analogy. Don't try to argue with me about how buildings are actually made and losing a room isn't something that cannot be remedied...

In essence, cultivation techniques allow us to reach higher, like one floor after another.

Now, the next matter a young cultivator is often concerned with is how many techniques to cultivate.

"As I've said before, these lower-level techniques are just your foundations. Theoretically, the more you master, the better and deeper your foundation gets because different techniques give you different sorts of outlooks and methods to influence nature. The more you learn, the better grasp you have over your own ability.

But practically, it's useless to cultivate dozens of techniques because it will waste your time by keeping you in the lower realms of cultivation for a long time, which can lead to the loss of your youth and potential. You won't even live long enough to reach the truly impactful realms to increase your longevity.

"One may ask, how about I cultivate to a very high level and then practice a lot of lower-level techniques from the scratch with my immense longevity? This will expand my dao foundation, right?

If only the answer was that easy...

"Once you pass a floor, there is no coming down. Either you keep going upward, or you can just jump down to commit suicide, in other words, destroying your own dao base.

"After reaching a higher floor, even if you cultivate the low-level techniques meant to enhance the foundation, they would only leave a shallow imprint on your dao base.

Once a technique has left an imprint on your dao foundation, you may cultivate it to its highest potential, taking your mastery over it to your immense cultivation level.

After the techniques reach your level, they can occupy any one of the rooms on that floor of your dao tower, and be used like any other technique. But they wouldn't have any effect on your foundation like your original techniques, and neither will you be able to execute their full potential.

Now, you might ask, how many rooms are we allowed to have?

That solely depends on you and your foundation. If you cultivate three techniques from scratch and reach a higher level, you'll have three rooms on each floor where each technique occupies one. They can be replaced at will with a technique of a similar level at any time. But it'll never exceed three no matter how high you go.

"There is a theory in legends that once you reach a very, very high realm, you can attain the ability to build more buildings beside the one you possess. They can be used as a substitute, but I doubt they will ever be as effective as your original dao tower.

"Now, daydreams aside, let's move on to more practical stuff, like the effects of cultivation methods at your levels.

"Once you start cultivating a technique, it can allow you to break through layer after layer till its limit. No matter how many more techniques you practice afterward, they won't encounter bottlenecks as long as the previous technique has cleared the path for them. The following techniques will be more focused on enhancing your dao foundation.

"The trend right now is to cultivate three to five techniques in your realm, the realm of physique transformation.

"Naturally, your path ahead should be quite clear by now.

"First, cultivate your primary technique till the ninth layer, the peak of the physique transformation realm.

Then start with your secondary techniques one by one, making them all reach the ninth layer and enhancing your foundation to its highest potential.

Once all of your cultivation techniques have reached the peak of the ninth layer, you are a true cultivator at the peak of the physique transformation realm and ready to step into the next floor. However, there exists a dangerous staircase, a sub-realm named Physique Tribulation where all of your techniques shall ascend to the tenth layer together. Here, you'll transform your body into a vessel strong enough to survive heaven's test and reach the next realm, the second floor, the Soul Reformation realm.

"Alright, that's too far from your current level. So let's put that discussion off for the future and start with our routine qi cycles. Close your eyes and start absorbing qi. "

With elder Kong's shout, all the disciples in the great hall started their qi cycles, their minds still reeling from the precious knowledge they'd acquired today.

"That felt like an info dump. But damn, this stuff is so interesting! " Xuhan muttered to himself.

Sneaking a glance at his boss who was sitting just a bit ahead, Han Xuhan noticed his relaxed posture and couldn't help but feel relieved.

Mu Ran finally seemed to have figured out a proper way to avoid the invasive claws of elder Kong. Even after the elder had examined his qi cycle multiple times rather suspiciously, he didn't seem to have found anything extraordinary, judging by his lack of reaction at that time.

If his boss's secret remained safe, Han Xuhan was hopeful that he would be able to get a few more perks out of him slowly. As a person who had cultivated the zeroth layer of the physique transformation realm, he already understood how beneficial it was after comprehending the lecture from elder Kong today. His dao foundation would be leagues better than most of his peers!

If he could continue to receive such advantages... Hehehe.

Celestials, it wouldn't be long before I, Han Xuhan, show up on your doorstep and take a piss on it. Of course, I'll take care to be discreet about it and run away before anyone can catch me...and I might even shift the blame on my boss just to troll you into picking a fight with the protagonist.

After the lessons had ended, Xuhan accompanied Mu Ran and Xiao Wu to the sect's auction. He carried a large bag with him, something that attracted the attention of many.

"Xuhan, are you planning to buy something big from the auction? I thought your financial situation was a bit tight."

Both Xiao Wu and Mu Ran kept pestering him with similar questions. But Han Xuhan evaded the inquiries, making them even more curious.

He was confident in his money-making scheme. With the sect's direct support, there was no way it could go wrong. He was about to make some big cash.

Hell, he might even earn enough to buy enough resources to propel him straight to the second layer of the physique transformation realm.

If everything went smoothly, he might even be able to buy some good stuff from the auction with Mu Ran's help...

Han Xuhan couldn't help smiling deviously. Was his bullshit luck finally about to abate?