The Asura Immortal Asuras
CHAPTER 2: 2
Chapter 2: 2
The next morning after getting out of bed, John walked into his wardrobe. There is an assortment of luxurious robes with many shades and designs. He decided to wear a black robe with Phoenix embroidery on its back, the symbol of the Fenix clan. From the time he was young, John loved to wear black, and it was rarely seen that he did not wear it.
After preparing himself for the day, John came out of his house and headed for the martial library. The martial library was located in the middle of the Fenix clan courtyard, near the martial training area. Ever since John learned that he could not cultivate, he decided to make up for it by expanding his expertise in other fields, including academia, military strategy, weapons theory, and more. He often spent the entire day inside the martial library, reading the countless books contained within.
After walking for a few minutes, John arrived in front of the martial library. The martial library was named the White Feathers Library, and had served as the library of the Fenix clan for hundreds of years. It stood seven stories tall with six towering brownish-red walls and eight black flying roofs, and was made of fine stone and wood. The interior is lightly decorated with carved beams and statues of the Elders and past leaders. Each floor contains an interior balcony overlooking the entrance hall to the library, as well as an exterior balcony overlooking the clan courtyard.
John stepped through the main door and directly walked up to the stairs. As he started climbing the stairs, he stared towards the center of the library and thought, “Sial, I will be out of reading material in a minute”.
John had read all the books on the first two floors and was finishing the third floor. Arriving on the third floor, John passed through several alleys before deciding where to start. Each passageway was lined with dark wooden bookcases, filled with neatly packed books and scrolls.
He turned to the third passageway and picked up a book on cultivation theory. Although John was unable to cultivate, he enjoyed learning all he could, and cultivation theory was also so. The book was covered in dark leather on top of bamboo panels, the courtyard was white sandy with a wood-like texture sanded. After checking the cover, John walked to one of the outer balconies overlooking the martial arts training grounds.
Below the library, dozens of children between the ages of eight and eighteen are seen training and competing. Sighing, John opened the book and opened the first page.
“Cultivation is heaven-defying itself. Only those with unbreakable wills would have to tread the path of cultivation, for doing so.” Reading the opening pages of the book, John felt those words stir up a strong desire within him, which he had a deep desire for, but also a deep bitterness.
“I don't care how, but one day I'll find a way to get this damned body of mine to start cultivating” thought John inwardly. He turned his gaze back to the page and continued reading, finally finding the part he was looking for.
“Cultivation starts with the body. In order to train and utilize Qi, one's body must be strong enough to handle the raging energies raging within. Starting with the organs, the five stages of Body Refinement were Organ Refinement, Bone Refinement, Tendon Narrowing, Muscle Refinement, and finally Blood Refinement. After one's body was fully refined, he was able to handle the Qi provided by the Dantian.
After the refinement of the body, came the realm of Fog Creation. To enter this realm, one had to absorb the Qi from the surrounding air, and guide it through the body and to the location of the Dantian, three fingers below and two fingers behind the navel. Successfully cultivating to this stage would result in a misty Qi Dantian formation. Fog Creation has three stages; Early Mist Making, Middle Fog Making, and Final Fog Making. Each small realm would condense a fog dantian, until it could no longer condense in its fog state. Every major realm after Body Refinement all had three initial, middle, and late stages.
At the peak of Fog Creation, the Dantian would condense into a liquid Dantian, known as the Qi Condensation realm. After condensing the liquid dantian to its peak, a cultivator would condense their dantian into a solid core. This realm was known as the Core Formation realm. Outside of the Core Formation realm was the realm of Meridian Forging. ”
John read the pages explaining the stages of cultivation, but seemed to stop at the realm of Meridian Forging. No information was given other than his name.
“It's a pity that there's no more information about Meridian Forging and nature after that. I think the book with that information is stored in a safer place.” thought John. John stopped reading and watched the children under him practicing, various thoughts swirling in his mind. After several hours of watching the debate, John decided to pick up a few more books to read.
The moon was already high in the sky before John gasped from reading and realized what time it was. Stretching his aching leg, John stood up and left the martial library, and returned home and fell asleep.
The next morning, John got up and walked back to his wardrobe. He was debating whether to wear his favorite black robe or something more luxurious. After all, today was the day that the nearby Varis Clan visited the Fenix clan, and a celebration party was planned for that night. John decided not to wear fancy robes and wore his favorite black robe with Phoenix embroidery.
“It looks like I will read more today before I go to the party hall” thought John as he walked out of his house. He walked to the martial library and climbed the stairs to the same book passageway that he had visited yesterday. Grabbing the next few books to read, John sat back on the balcony and opened the first book, perusing its contents.
“John, the Varis clan is already here. Come down” a shout suddenly interrupted John and made him stop reading. John looks over the edge of the balcony and sees Ryan at the base of the building, waiting for him.
“How long has the Varis clan been here?” ask John.
“About thirty minutes. Your father told me to look for you because you were late. In addition, Miko keeps asking about where you are.” replied Ryan.
“Hah” John rubbed his head. He felt a headache every time Miko was mentioned.
John and Ryan walked through the clan courtyard before they arrived at the vast large building. The building was a hundred feet tall and nearly a thousand feet long, with luxurious jewelry and original like statues along the exterior and on top of the building.
John noticed that there were many carriages parked outside. In front of the carriage was a Qi Condensing Level Armored Rhino. Armored Rhinos stand nine feet tall and fifteen feet long, and have gray armored plates along the back of their bodies. They were not very fast, but they were quite powerful and served as perfect beasts to pull heavy carriages. The Armored Rhino signaled strength that the Varis Clan should be able to make the Qi Condensing beast serve as a mere carriage donkey.
Walking through the carriage and up the front stairs, John and Ryan entered the large hall. The hall was large enough to accommodate thousands of people, with hundreds of tables scattered everywhere. The walls and ceilings had detailed designs painted on them, and large, lively statues of clan leaders and ancestors lined up on the edge of the hall.
“John, you're finally here, let's greet our guests” a loud sound on the middle table. The voice belonged to Cade Fenix, the leader of the Fenix clan. He was quite tall and had an intimidating face and short black hair in gray.
Next to Cade was a group of people, with the front led by a middle-aged man in a luxurious white robe. He has long brown hair, a bushy beard, and a friendly face. This man was Waylon Varis, the leader of the Varis clan.
“John, nice to see you again. Been a long time. How are you?” ask Waylon.
“I'm fine, uncle Waylon. I hope the journey is not too heavy” replied John.
“Not at all” replied Waylon. John smiled and turned his gaze behind Waylon.
In the crowd behind Waylon John saw two girls talking to each other, both fourteen years old. One of the girls had long black hair, a pretty face, and was wearing a luxurious golden robe embroidered by the Phoenix. She is Ralia Fenix, the daughter of the second son of the sect leader, Rodi. Next to Ralia was Ella Varis, the only daughter of clan leader Waylon Varis. She has long brown hair tied into a ponytail, with slender eyebrows, large brown eyes, and a bright smile.
Looking at Ella, John looked at Ryan and said, “It looks like you are still crazy about Ella. Why don't you go and talk to him?”
Reaching out, Ryan looked at John and replied, “More easier said than done. Why don't you just talk to him?”
“I'm not the one who loves her now, am I? All you have to do is ...” John's voice disappears when he senses something is wrong. He quickly looked towards the other Varis clan group, his eyes darting back and forth trying to find someone. Failing to find the person of interest, John felt bad and quickly turned around.
“Eat this” a voice screams as feet hit John. John was one step late to block him and his foot landed right on his face, making him fall backwards and pass one of the tables, food and drink flying everywhere. Slowly standing while holding his face in pain, John looked up to see a child standing there, with arms crossed and a satisfied expression on his face.
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