After watching Goku meditate for over a month, Wuchen grew increasingly surprised. His younger brother was so pure-hearted and utterly focused on cultivation. Now that he had laid a solid foundation, Wuchen could teach him to formally begin cultivating.
Wuchen had many cultivation manuals, all carved into his memory.
The techniques he possessed covered every conceivable field. Some came from exploring secret realms, some were seized from defeated enemies, some were inherited from sects, and some he had created through his own insights. They were not limited to the methods of any one race or clan; some even came from different eras.
Naturally, he would teach Goku a human cultivation method. The human cultivation techniques he knew differed greatly at their core depending on the era in which they had originated.
For instance, cultivation methods from ancient times were created when spiritual energy was abundant. They all involved cultivating both the divine soul and the body. One cultivated the divine soul and the body to the utmost, uniting them as one.
But when upheavals first began to rock the world, spiritual energy also dwindled sharply, making it difficult to succeed with the ancient methods. New methods emerged in response, giving rise to two paths: the divine and the physical.
Some focused exclusively on the divine soul, supplementing the body's weakness only after reaching the utmost level. Others focused exclusively on the body, strengthening the divine soul's shortcomings only after reaching the utmost level.
Later, when spiritual energy had become exceedingly scarce, yet another new method emerged to suit the times.
This was the method of cultivating the divine and the physical separately. One first refined the body. Once it was strong and the vital essence robust, one opened the "Consciousness Realm" and gathered the soul to form an origin. This was called the "Origin Soul." Then one refined the soul and nurtured the divine soul to form the "Origin Spirit." Once the divine soul was strong and a core had formed, one stabilized the energy in the dantian, then followed the ancient method by cultivating both the divine and the physical.
Though far inferior to the ancient methods, it was a broad road to cultivation in an age when spiritual energy was scarce, and it required far less spiritual energy.
Wuchen had been born in the early days of the world's upheaval. He had achieved longevity and lived into the era when spiritual energy was scarce. He therefore knew a fair amount about the cultivation methods of different eras.
He planned to teach Goku a method from the era of scarce spiritual energy, because there was almost no spiritual energy here, and all of it came from his own Yin-Yang Creation Method.
With cultivation methods from other eras, even getting started would be difficult, let alone succeeding. At the same time, he planned to first teach Goku an ancient body-refining method. He did not expect him to master it and shake the world; even a little strengthening would be worthwhile.
"Goku, I'll first teach you a body-refining method called the Heaven-Propping Staff. Though it's named after a staff and comes with staff techniques, it's definitely not a staff art, nor is it a martial skill."
"This method is supremely hard and yang. It has three major stages. Mastering the first stage will forge a Vajra Body, impervious to poison and untouched by illness. Mastering the second will forge a Mystic Yang Body, beyond the cycle of reincarnation and untouched by karma. Mastering the third will forge a Primordial Immaculate Body: your body will be the Dao, and the Dao will be your body. Even if heaven and earth are destroyed, you alone will remain!"
"Big brother, I don't understand. What kind of fruit is karma? Have we ever eaten it?"
"Karma isn't a fruit, and causes and conditions aren't fate. Whether you understand or not doesn't matter. Just follow me."
Wuchen had come across this method by chance. He did not know what its ultimate effects would be; those claims were simply recorded in the manual.
In the era he had lived in, mastering the first stage might have been possible. Mastering the second was a pipe dream, let alone the third.
Wuchen chose this method for himself and Goku to refine their bodies because, in its early stages, it mainly relied on nourishing the body with vital energy and blood, and did not require much spiritual energy.
"Now we'll start with the first chapter of the first stage." He led Goku to a waterfall, found two fairly straight wooden sticks, and went with him to the base of the falls.
Beneath the crashing water, Wuchen guided Goku through a set of staff techniques, showing him each movement by hand. They were the techniques that came with the Heaven-Propping Staff.
"The movements are simple, but there are a few tricks you need to pay attention to. The dantian below your abdomen is where all the meridians converge. Coordinate it with the breathing method I taught you earlier, sink your energy here, then let it flow through the meridians. Carefully sense their paths..." As he spoke, Wuchen pointed out the corresponding locations.
"When you meditated earlier, you gathered a great deal of spiritual energy. It's now hidden in your flesh and blood, but you haven't absorbed it yet. Try to sense it, guide the spiritual energy into your meridians, and circulate it throughout your body..."
"There are several places you need to pay special attention to: the Life Gate, Tailbone, Bubbling Spring, Hundred Meetings, Spirit Path, Spirit Terrace, and Supreme Yang... Don't worry about your tail for now. I'll look into it later." Wuchen continued to explain and demonstrate, carefully guiding Goku as he learned to identify the acupoints and their locations.
And so the two brothers settled into a routine that lasted half a year.
"Rise with the sun, play with the staff in the water; rest at midday, meditate and breathe; stop when night falls, then hit the bed." One thing worth mentioning was that every full moon, Wuchen stopped cultivating in the early evening and told Goku to turn in early too. He called it "moon leave."
In half a year, the brothers had completed the initial tempering of their bodies. Their vital energy and blood surged, and their physiques were robust.
Wuchen continued practicing the Yin-Yang Creation Method, while Goku practiced the Nine-Origin General Knowledge Art, an unrivaled cultivation method from the era of scarce spiritual energy.
It had been created by Bu Wuchen, the mightiest Immortal Venerable of the era of scarce spiritual energy, who had lived for countless ages, read through countless cultivation methods from all three eras, and preserved the strongest among them.
At that moment, Goku was trying to open a "Consciousness Realm" in his sea of consciousness.
Meanwhile, Wuchen was setting up a "cultivation ground"—though it was really just an open-air clearing. Over the past six months, Wuchen had noticed how the nearby flowers, plants, and trees changed while he cultivated, which gave him the idea to arrange a suitable place for cultivation.
He planned to use the spiritual energy that spilled out while he practiced to grow some spiritual plants, making up for some of the energy he expended.
He embedded two roughly circular stone platforms, polished but still somewhat uneven, in the ground. They were barely good enough to serve as meditation cushions. Around the "cushions," he dug a circular plot and planted various things, including crops and all kinds of flowers and plants.
Farther out, he planted wild fruit trees. Some were mature trees transplanted with their roots, while others were saplings. Wuchen hoped they would catch the spiritual energy that spilled out, which he could replenish by eating their fruit later.
Another month passed, and Goku finally opened his Consciousness Realm and successfully condensed an "Origin Soul."
According to Wuchen, he could provisionally be called a cultivator at the zero stage of Soul Condensation. He barely qualified as a cultivator.
While teaching Goku to keep condensing his Origin Soul, Wuchen continued practicing the Yin-Yang Creation Method step by step, and the spiritual plants flourished.
One thing worth mentioning was that the brothers both kept up their staff practice every morning. To reach the Heaven-Propping stage, one could not rush; perseverance was essential.
Several more months passed. Goku had condensed his Origin Soul until it was exceptionally solid, earning Wuchen's approval. Only after repeatedly testing Goku's foundation did Wuchen finally give in and agree to his request for "Spirit Attachment."
"Spirit Attachment" meant attaching attributes—in other words, things like metal, wood, water, fire, earth, wind, rain, thunder, lightning, yin, yang, and every other natural attribute.
Only after comprehending their underlying principles and endowing the Origin Soul with the corresponding attributes could one truly set foot on the path of cultivation. That was when one reached the first stage of Soul Condensation.
Two months later, Goku, who often helped Wuchen start fires by adding firewood, began to grasp the nature of fire. He endowed his Origin Soul with the fire attribute and successfully entered the first stage of Soul Condensation. Then he began to further condense his Origin Soul and prepare for "Soul Splitting Origin Condensation."
"Soul Splitting Origin Condensation" was a special stage unique to the Nine-Origin General Knowledge Art. Ordinary cultivation methods condensed only one "origin"—that is, they produced just one Origin Soul, which was repeatedly condensed and strengthened as one advanced through the stages.
With the Nine-Origin General Knowledge Art, however, each time one advanced a stage in the Soul Condensation Realm, one formed an additional "origin." Each was also a cycle of reincarnation. By the ninth heaven, all nine origins would coexist, granting immense combat power and an endless supply of origin energy!
In his previous life, Wuchen had gathered the essence of countless top-tier cultivation methods and combined it with his insights from countless ages to create this technique, one that answered the time, the heavens, and the Dao.
In his previous life, before he could bring it to prominence, he had inexplicably been reborn. In this life, Goku would spread its renown!
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