First Attempt at Cultivation

Hah... no wonder that despite Styx's origins, he had gradually faded into obscurity in the end. First, Houtu carved away half the Blood Sea; later, even the Asura Clan he had created was converted by the West. The dignified Rakshasa Princess had only married some insignificant ox demon.

With such a motley inheritance and chaotic origin, it would be a blessing if he did not cultivate himself to death in the end. Styx could not help but smile bitterly. Fortunately, this was still the beginning of Heaven and Earth's opening, when the Great Wilderness was governed by the Great Dao. Though the inheritances were mixed, they were still better than after the Heavenly Dao emerged in later ages, when everyone's inheritance was stuck at the Peak Zenith Heaven Golden Immortal realm. They could only wait for Hongjun to Preach the Dao.

At least, although the inheritance memories granted by the Great Dao were fragmented, they had not been castrated. They held nothing back in the cultivation of Laws. Unlike after the Heavenly Dao emerged, when Ancestor Yang Mei was the only one left cultivating Laws—and after Hongjun attained the Dao, even he was driven out of the Great Wilderness!

After steadying his mind, Styx continued sorting through his own inheritance. He also began combining it with the Nine Revolutions Profound Origin Technique, slowly deducing a Cultivation Method suited to himself. Fortunately, Innate Demon Gods were all beings of extraordinary comprehension. Moreover, Styx had purified his bloodline. Though his origin had weakened considerably, his comprehension and fortune had invisibly improved by no small amount. This also hastened Styx's deductions!

Through Styx's insights, he soon organized a basic Breathing Method that could help him absorb the spiritual energy between Heaven and Earth to strengthen himself. After all, the Chaos Demon Gods, as the Great Dao's favored children, were at least Zenith Heaven Golden Immortals from birth. Trying to sort a low-realm Cultivation Method out of their inheritances was simply ill-timed!

Relying on the Breathing Method, Styx slowly refined his own origin, seeking to formally complete his origin Dao body as soon as possible. After all, although he had already assumed the form of an Innate Dao Body, one of Pangu's Forty-Nine Dharma Bodies—

This form had only gradually taken shape through the tempering of the Red Lotus Karmic Fire and the interference of his own subconscious. It could only be called a half-finished Dao body. Only by refining his own origin could he completely assume his innate form. This form was the origin body bestowed upon Innate Demon Gods by the Great Dao, and the body best suited to his own Dao!

To return to the matter at hand, after Styx completely refined his own origin, his origin Dao body finally condensed into form. There was almost no change in appearance; only the bones and veins within his body had become more complex, more closely fitting the shape of the Dao, while the spiritual light in his mind had become even more resplendent. Only now had he truly completed the Innate Dao Body!

After his Dao body had successfully condensed, Styx began his first formal cultivation. As for the previous Breathing Method, that could not even be considered cultivation. It was merely a little stronger than instinctively absorbing spiritual energy, changing passive absorption into active absorption, that was all...

With the aid of the fragments of the Law of Blood in his Sea of Consciousness, Styx began his first true cultivation journey. He had long since made clear the Dao path of this life: he would primarily cultivate the Law of Blood, while supplementing it with other Laws. For now, the Law of Blood would serve as his direction, the Law of Slaughter as a means to protect his Dao, and the Law of Soul and Law of Avatar as means of preserving his life. After all, the Great Wilderness was no harmonious society. On the contrary, danger lurked everywhere. He had to keep his life before he could speak of pursuing the Great Dao!

Time trickled by, and before he knew it, another Eon had passed. Through this cultivation, Styx had officially entered the Early Earth Immortal realm.

Only now did Styx understand what cultivating the Dao truly meant. Simply put, Dao cultivation was divided into realm, Mana, and cultivation. Realm was one's own understanding of the Dao, determining how far one could advance. Cultivation was a container, representing the power one could currently hold. Mana was what that container contained, representing the strength one could currently wield!

In Styx's view, none of these three could be lacking. Only with realm could one better improve one's cultivation, and only with higher cultivation could one accumulate more Mana! Of the three, realm was especially important. Once one's realm had reached the necessary level, the other two could be raised without concern!

During this cultivation, Styx also sensed an Innate Undying Spiritual Light contained within himself. The Innate Undying Spiritual Light was equivalent to a human soul, yet in essence it far surpassed the soul. It was the foundation upon which all innate deities of the Great Wilderness cultivated. Only by possessing an Innate Undying Spiritual Light could one sense the illusory, intangible Great Dao!

Innate Undying Spiritual Light was unique to Innate Beings. As for acquired beings, what they possessed was the soul. Yet souls were subject to the Heavenly Dao's oversight, which was why beings of later generations found it difficult to attain transcendence!

The Innate Undying Spiritual Light also possessed one extremely important trait: undying. So long as this trait remained, even if an Innate Being fell, it might return from the endless Years, just like Innate Spiritual Treasures. Even if they were damaged, they would slowly recover as time flowed on—though the process would be exceedingly long...