NOVEL WEB Chapter 31: Cultivation?
Valerio started his journey towards the mountain with a small spatial box in his pocket, which was the emergency resources in the pod.
He had made sure to check where the sun of this planet was and which direction his pod was in. Although he would keep a mental map of the forest in mind, it never hurt to be cautious. There were simply too many variables on an unknown planet with Lu. If it had been a mortal planet, he would've been completely fine, but with Lu and cultivation, everything changed.
'Step softly where the ground is unknown.'
Valerio swept his gaze over the redwoods, the sky and the increasing vegetation as he continued his journey. This planet was quite beautiful. That was, of course, if one ignored the horrible air quality, he felt like he needed 3 breaths for 1 breath's worth of oxygen. However, Valerio felt his body was quickly adapting to the air quality and the consequent smell.
He found it quite odd that there weren't any rivers, swamps or lakes in a redwood forest, or whatever these trees were, though they looked a lot like redwoods. Did the ecosystem here work differently from Fluxara? That was very possible.
He sighed.
It would be much easier to scout ahead if he had Spiritual Lu, but the soul sea only opened at Tier 7, and he was only Tier 1.
'I have to reach Tier 7 as soon as possible. But how? I read through all of the books regarding the first plane, but I haven't tried it yet. Oh, and food as well, I'll have to eat something eventually. I've got to find an animal, an easy one to kill.'
Lost in his thoughts, Valerio tripped over a tree root, barely recovering his balance in time before he faceplanted into the dirt. He quickly straightened his back and adjusted his robes as he shook his head at himself.
Why was he feeling embarrassed without anyone near him?
It was a shame to walk around the wilderness in his family's clothes, but they were much more durable than normal clothing, well, not that he had normal clothing. Since he hadn't cultivated, his mom had insisted on having the highest quality clothing in case of accidents. The matte-black robes with gold accents were crafted with some of the softest silk in the universe and some self-repairing and cleansing formations etched onto them.
But the one who had the honour of wearing such prestigious garments had no such opulence, without any water to wash himself and the aftermath of the previous night, he truly did look like a peasest that had survived the a plague and come back in the clothes he had found on the corpse of a noble.
Who'd have thought the Heir of the Augustine would one day be so humbled?
After four long, arduous hours of traversing the land, Valerio finally saw the fruits of his efforts.
Water.
He had finally found water.
And it was a lake!
Most lakes were freshwater lakes; if the water wasn't drinkable, as long as he could disinfect the water, he could drink it.
The lake in the middle of the clearing was inconspicuously surrounded by lush berry bushes spotted with tiny little red dots.
Joy painted Valerio's face as he rushed over to the edge of the pond and slumped down.
'Please please please please do not let it be salt water,' he prayed with the entirety of his being.
He dipped a finger.
'It's not salty.... IT'S NOT SALTY'
Countless thoughts of disinfecting the water flashed by his mind as he stared at the lake like it was filled with ambrosia.
After a short battle between his thirst and reasoning, his reasoning lost.
'Eh, you have an immune system for a reason.'
He immediately dropped to his knees and indulged. His entire face and the front of his hair got wet as he gulped down the lake water like a thirsty animal.
After a few long seconds, Valerio raised his head as he flicked his short black hair back. A small sigh escaped his mouth as he relished in the refreshment of drinking cold water. The water tasted fantastic, he didn't know if the water was special or if it tasted good just because he hadn't had anything to drink for almost 2 days.
Now that his thirst was fulfilled and his stomach was full of water, his need for food shone forth; he was hungry, hungrier than ever before. Valerio sat down at the edge of the lake with the redwoods behind him and stared at the clearing ahead.
He reached into his pocket, pulling out the white spatial box with small dividers. The emergency pod mainly contained healing pills. They were likely forged by the alchemists of the Augustine Family. Luckily, there was also a small dagger in the arsenal. Valerio pinched the miniature dagger and tossed it up, just a second afterwards, the dagger reverted back to its old size, falling towards the ground.
Valerio masterfully caught it in the palm of his hand, twisting and inspecting his only weapon out in the wilderness.
'It should be high enough ranked for now, I suppose it makes sense, why would a pod have a decent weapon inside, if anything, it'd be healing pills.'
He twirled his dagger as he thought about hunting for food.
'I could fight hand to hand, but that's just asking for death against a beast.'
Even though Valerio hadn't cultivated beforehand, as an heir, he had been trained in his family's martial arts. His father had allowed him to do as he liked, but he never allowed him to skip martial arts training before the age of 16. It was one of those things he wouldn't budge on. Though no one in the Augustine family was a body expert, they still practised some hand-to-hand combat arts.
Although he could have gone out to hunt immediately, a mixture of both risk assessment and excitement made him decide against it.
He was looking forward to cultivating properly, and he knew that if he could progress fast enough, it would be easier to hunt as well. Of course, if it seemed like he'd start starving before making it to Tier 2, he'd hunt.
Cultivation was an act of self-elevation. During the first plane, the cultivator circulated Lu within their meridians, priming their body to start absorbing and integrating with Lu. A higher level of integration would correspond to moving up tiers within the first plane. Within the first three Tiers of the first Plane, they would gain increased control over the Lu within their own body. From Tiers three to six, their body would start integrating the Lu and increase the strength of their constitution. From Tiers six to nine, the soul sea would form and expand, allowing the user to utilise their very own Spiritual Lu.
There were many cultivation techniques, their ranks depending on their special effects, how far they could take the user, and the efficiency of absorption. Some manuals had higher ratings just because they were easier to follow. If a manual was not followed in the correct order, most could suffer from cultivation deviation, where the flow of energy was disrupted in the meridians, damaging the internal organs. In extreme cases, cultivation deviation could even lead to the cultivator becoming crippled or regressing in tiers or planes. Fortunately for Valerio, most 1st Planers could cultivate naturally without the use of techniques, almost free from the risk of mistakes. After all, if you are born with meridians, you had been with a talent, no matter how big or small.
Valerio sat at the edge of the lake, the redwoods behind him swaying in a gentle rhythm. His eyes were closed, attempting to sense the Lu in the air.
A few seconds after he sat down, he realised it was much harder to absorb Lu here compared to his home planet. Though it only took Valerio a few more seconds before he latched onto the same ethereal feeling he had once felt in Fluxara.
He reached out to Lu around him and willed it to enter his body through his pores.
What Valerio didn't know was that most cultivators needed to absorb Lu through their mouth; however, [Voidwoven] allowed Valerio to cultivate throughout his entire body with ease. This was one of the possible advantages of a physique supporting your Lu path. In Valeiro's case, his whole body was essentially able to phase to another plane of existence, naturally, it could allow some Neutral Lu to flow in.
Since Valerio had never intended to cultivate properly, he didn't practise a cultivation technique. The only ever bit he had ever cultivated was to reach Tier 1 when he was young, and even that had been done on instinct. Thus he could only wish for the atmospheric Lu to enter his body, his meridians greedily absorbing the Lu he had neglected them of.