The Realms of Vital Energy

Yuan Shouzhen saw the sweat-soaked Luo Jun and smiled, deep crow's feet creasing around his eyes.

"I knew you could make it up here." The old man chuckled. "These are the Trial Stone Steps. They're normally hidden within a Concealing Barrier, and only Vital Energy Cultivators can see them. The higher you climb, the greater the resistance. They drain both Vital Energy and physical strength immensely. Anyone below the Foundation Establishment Realm who can climb this far is considered a top genius!"

"Whew!" Luo Jun was already too exhausted to speak. He staggered into the pavilion, dropped onto the ground across from Old Yuan, leaned against the railing, and panted heavily. After resting for a while, he swallowed and handed over what he was carrying.

"Old Senior, I didn't know what you liked. You taught me Vital Energy and saved my life. Please accept this small token of my gratitude."

"You're quite thoughtful." Old Yuan took it and opened the bag. He was fairly pleased when he saw the liquor, but when he saw the two cartons of cigarettes, the corner of his eye twitched...

"You won't need to bother with such formalities in the future..." Old Yuan set the things by his feet. "Do you know why I called you here?"

Luo Jun took a deep breath and dropped to his knees with a thud. "Master, please accept this disciple's bow!"

Old Yuan smiled. "Quick-witted, aren't you? No wonder you made it out of a Tier B Mission."

"I do cherish talent, but before I formally accept you as my disciple, there are matters of consequence I need to make clear. You can decide afterward."

As he spoke, Old Yuan raised a hand, and Luo Jun felt an invisible force lift him from the ground.

"First, do you know the realms of Vital Energy Cultivation?" Old Yuan looked at Luo Jun.

"You mentioned them last time." Luo Jun recalled their conversation in the hotel room. "I only remember the Body Refinement Realm and the Foundation Establishment Realm."

"It's good that you haven't forgotten." Old Yuan nodded. "Today, I'll give you a theoretical lesson first. The currently recognized realms of Vital Energy Cultivation are divided into four major stages, from lowest to highest: the Body Refinement Realm, Foundation Establishment Realm, Heart Refining Realm, and Ascension Realm."

"I explained the Body Refinement Realm to you last time. It means continuously tempering the body with Vital Energy. Once the Body Refinement Realm reaches the Third Layer or above, one can attempt to cultivate the Foundation Establishment Realm and condense Vital Energy. One major hallmark of the Foundation Establishment Realm is releasing Vital Energy externally to form Body Protecting Qi!"

As he spoke, Old Yuan waved his hand. A falling leaf before them suddenly split in two, its cut as neat as if sliced by a blade.

Now that Luo Jun had entered the path of Vital Energy Cultivation, he could see that when Old Yuan waved his hand, a faint glow about half a foot long extended from his fingertips like a sharp sword, severing the leaf.

Luo Jun's eyes lit up. With this ability, wouldn't I be carrying all eighteen kinds of weapons with me at all times?

Old Yuan continued, "Once the Foundation Establishment Realm reaches the Third Layer or above, one can attempt to cultivate the Heart Refining Realm. This stage involves advanced applications of Vital Energy, and the abilities it produces are varied beyond measure. As for the highest Ascension Realm, that is the supreme realm of Vital Energy. Those who reach it can be said to transcend humanity and become another species entirely. In the present world, fewer than ten people have reached it."

Luo Jun listened with yearning in his heart and casually asked, "Then what realm are you in, Master?"

"Me?" Old Yuan stroked his beard. "I've cultivated both the Body Refinement and Foundation Establishment Realms to the highest Seventh Layer."

"Ah?" Aren't those just the foundational realms? He hasn't even reached the Heart Refining Realm, where the advanced applications begin.

Though he did not say it aloud, Old Yuan clearly saw his disappointment. He coughed lightly and explained, "The Body Refinement and Foundation Establishment Realms are indeed the foundation of Vital Energy Cultivation, but not everyone can cultivate them to the peak."

"Actually, rather than three progressive realms, Body Refinement, Foundation Establishment, and Heart Refining are better described as three dimensions of Vital Energy."

"The Body Refinement Realm appears to improve physical fitness, but what it truly increases is one's Vital Energy reserves. Since the upper limit of Vital Energy reserves is basically proportional to one's constitution, its cultivation method involves expanding the meridians, accumulating Vital Energy until it reaches the limit of one's current realm, then tempering the body to increase its capacity and tolerance for Vital Energy."

"The Foundation Establishment Realm, meanwhile, primarily cultivates the quality of Vital Energy. If the Vital Energy of the Body Refinement Realm is merely pure, attribute-less energy, then the Foundation Establishment Realm gives Vital Energy special attributes—for example, the sharpness I just displayed."

"When Vital Energy from the Body Refinement Realm encounters Vital Energy from the Foundation Establishment Realm, it's like tissue paper meeting a blade—it collapses at the slightest touch."

As he spoke, Old Yuan condensed a ball of attribute-less Vital Energy in one palm. He activated the blade-like energy in his other hand and swept it across. The attribute-less Vital Energy was instantly divided in two and dispersed.

"By the Heart Refining Realm, what one cultivates is the technique of using Vital Energy. Only at this level do Vital Energy Cultivators truly become profoundly powerful, with all kinds of abilities emerging one after another, no less extraordinary than the immortal arts and magic of legend."

Luo Jun nodded. "So the Body Refinement Realm has to reach the Third Layer before cultivating the Foundation Establishment Realm, because you first need a certain amount of Vital Energy before improving its quality... By the same reasoning, only once the Foundation Establishment Realm reaches the Third Layer, with the quality of Vital Energy assured, can you learn the Heart Refining Realm and start pulling off all sorts of fancy moves?"

"What fancy moves? They're called advanced applications!" Old Yuan gave a cold snort, but still nodded approvingly. "You have good comprehension."

"Therefore, as long as the prerequisites are met, all three realms can be cultivated without regard to order, improving the three dimensions of Vital Energy at the same time. Only when all three dimensions have been honed to perfection does one have the chance to challenge the final supreme realm."

Luo Jun nodded. "Then, Master, you're only lacking one dimension?"

Old Yuan sighed. "I have an old injury, so I cannot cultivate the Heart Refining Realm. For all these years, I could only continuously hone the Body Refinement and Foundation Establishment Realms. I am destined to have no affinity with Ascension..."

So that was it...

Luo Jun saw the loneliness in Old Yuan's eyes and was just about to offer some comfort when a trace of pride surged onto the old man's face again.

"Still, speaking purely of the Body Refinement and Foundation Establishment Realms, no one in all Dawnland can stand shoulder to shoulder with me except the Grand President of the Yuan Cultivation Society."

"You're that amazing? As expected of my Master!" Luo Jun praised him aloud, though inwardly he was curious. These two foundational realms only had seven layers at max level, yet no one could cultivate them to the peak?

Seemingly reading the doubt in his heart, Old Yuan smiled. "Don't think the Body Refinement and Foundation Establishment Realms are easy to cultivate. The further you advance through these seven layers, the harder it becomes to break through."

"That makes sense." Luo Jun nodded. "You said that each layer of improvement in the Body Refinement Realm increases exponentially by percentage. Then the time needed for cultivation should also increase exponentially, right?"

"Not quite." Old Yuan shook his head. "Although the gains grow greater and greater, your foundation also becomes stronger. Take the Body Refinement Realm, for example. By the Fifth Layer, your speed of accumulating Vital Energy will certainly be far faster than at the First Layer. So in truth, the time needed to cultivate each layer until a breakthrough is roughly the same."

"The main difficulty lies in the breakthrough itself!"

"Breakthrough?" Luo Jun blinked.

"Do you remember when I passed my cultivation to you and said the success rate was only one-third?" Old Yuan stroked his beard. "That wasn't a problem with my technique. It's a characteristic of Vital Energy breakthroughs themselves—they inherently have a certain probability of success."

At this, Luo Jun's eyes lit up. Now you're talking about probability. I'm wide awake.

"Again, take the Body Refinement Realm as an example. With normal cultivation, depending on one's talent, it may take as little as one or two months or as long as half a year to a year to finish a layer. But once you reach the breakthrough, it all comes down to luck. Based on the experience gathered by countless cultivators, breaking through the First Layer has roughly a ninety percent chance of success, the Second Layer seventy percent, the Third Layer fifty percent... By the Fifth Layer, the chance of success is less than ten percent!"

"If you succeed, you can smoothly enter the next layer. But if you fail, not only will all the effort spent on that layer go to waste and require you to start cultivating again, you'll also enter a sealed state for a period of time, completely unable to use Vital Energy."

"The cultivation of the Foundation Establishment Realm is more or less the same."

Hearing this, Luo Jun calculated in his mind with his limited mathematical knowledge. The probability of reaching the Fifth Layer in one go without failing even once... was less than one percent. And every failure would cost the time of another one or two layers. On average, that would take about...

Seeing him count on his fingers, Old Yuan chuckled. "In my experience, cultivating to the Fifth Layer usually requires seven or eight failures. Including the time when Vital Energy is sealed, even someone with first-rate talent would need two to three years. If their talent is poor and their luck truly bad, a lifetime might not be enough."

"Looking at it that way... it doesn't seem too bad..." Luo Jun suddenly frowned. "Wait, then what are the odds for the Sixth Layer?"

Old Yuan smiled faintly. "Most cultivators only treat the Body Refinement Realm as a prerequisite for the later realms. Once they reach the Third Layer, they focus on the Foundation Establishment Realm, because that yields the greatest increase in strength for the same amount of time. Even if they want to increase their Vital Energy reserves later, returning to cultivate up to the Fifth Layer is usually enough. Very few people attempt to break through to the Sixth Layer, so there isn't much statistical data..."

"But according to my investigations, it's probably around one percent."

"The Sixth Layer is only one percent?" Luo Jun was stunned. "Doesn't that mean even a genius would need an average of ten years or so for this layer, and might still not succeed?"

At that moment, Luo Jun suddenly remembered that Old Yuan had reached the Seventh Layer in both realms...

"Master, how long have you... been cultivating?"

"That's a secret." Old Yuan gave a proud smile. "But I can tell you this: my luck is very good... In your young people's terms, I'm a Lucky One."

A Lucky One? Just how lucky did he have to be? Even assuming no failures at all, the probability of reaching the Sixth Layer was less than one in ten thousand. The Seventh Layer had to be even harder than the Sixth. Luo Jun did not dare imagine it. He estimated that 99.99% of people could not reach the Seventh Layer in even one realm over their entire lives, much less both...

But Luo Jun remembered his Dice of Heavenly Secrets, and his spirits soared. No matter how lucky you are, can you be luckier than me?!

"Don't worry, Master!" Luo Jun slapped his chest. "No matter what hardships and obstacles lie ahead, I'm confident I can press forward all the way! I'll take you as my example, Master!"

"Don't be so eager to declare your resolve." Old Yuan chuckled. "What I just told you is merely common knowledge. What comes next is the condition for entering my sect. Whether you will cultivate under me or not, listen to this first, then decide."

Thanks to Zui Qu Ren for the 100 Origin Point Coin reward!