The Pathway

The passage of time was like a brisk wind. It flew over us but left only its shadow behind. Before its prescence was realized, it had already gone.

It felt like it was just yesterday, but, five hundred years had gone by since the wheels of reincarnation were turned.

A young woman, was sitting in a lotus position in a cultivation chamber that was located inside a cave. This was a place she called her home. It was located inside a knoll [a small hill]. This knoll was located at the outskirt of Skyspring village. A large village in the southern province of Ankhora.

Ankhora was one of the three continents in this world called Lorra.

She was using the ancient Astral primal technique to circulate the Chi in her body. The astral primal technique was a rare primordial cultivation technique and very difficult to cultivate. The technique absorbed two different types of cosmic energies into the body. These were the heavenly spiritual energy and the stygian energy.

The heavenly energy is the energy needed to form and to replenish Chi in the body. It was necessary for cultivation advancement. On the other hand, the stygian energy was the sparse dark energy that caused the acceleration of the expansion of the universe.

The astral primal technique combined these two energies, to expand the dantian and the meridians in the body.

Then, these energies would form a large amount of highly condensed Chi in the dantian. This technique was excrutiatingly painful on the meridians and the dantian. It also made breathing extremely hard when practicing it.

But, there were great benefits derived from it. The meridians would be greatly enlarged making the Chi flowed freely and in large amount. While the dantian would be bigger and stored more Chi energy. The best thing about this technique? Its breathing and meditation methods were similar to the rhythms of the universe.

It was a true treasure of her family. Though, not many cultivators would embark on its journey.

This woman was Reena, an Asura[demigod]. She was born five hundred years ago, as a matter of reincarnation, in a village known as White-Fountain. A village on the other side of the world. On the continent of Xuanpu.

Planet Lorra was a major mortal world of the humans. A world of three monarchies.

Lorra!

There were three continents or mornachies on this planet. Ankhora, Xuanpu and Yimachi. Each of these continent was ruled by a monarch [A mornach was an immortal of the hegemon soul who had achieved immortal ascension but failed to ascend to the heavenly realm to become a god]. Why? It was due to the common knowledge that every cultivator had come to acquire.

If an immortal ascended to the heavenly realm, neither the immortal's main body nor avatar would be able to come back to the mortal world. The laws of creation that protected the fabric of the mortal planes from being destroyed. Only a god's image could be sent back to the mortal world due to its limited power.

These monarchs, didn't want their physical bodies and nascent souls to part with the mortal worlds. For some, it was due to their families while some prefered their ruling powers in mortal worlds. But, in accord with the laws of the universe, an immortal without ascension would forever be at the quangtian stage of the hegemon soul. The stage preceding the transformation into a god.

Planet Lorra!

Each of its continent was divided into four provinces. The northern, the southern, the eastern and the western provinces. Each of these province was under the control of a marquis or a marquess. Every province had many cities that were controlled by city lords.

Reena was a young beautiful pregnant lady when her parents moved here with her. They had bought this land from the owner, a young man who had been eager to move to the city. The bargained price had been very steep. It had cost them more than half of their ancestral money. Nonetheless, they loved the quiet location and the vast land.

This property they bought had large areas of land. This would be ideal for the farming of millet and the rearing of animals. Furthermore, it was located outside the village area which made it more perfect.

They, being farmers, had settled in perfectly. They had divided the land into four parts of two large parts and two smaller parts. The two large parts are for farming the millets and the rearing of goats. One of the smaller parts was designated as the practice area for martial and mystical arts. The second smaller part was where the pond was.

Her father was Aodh Amynthas. He was a swordman from the Eagleblade clan and a second stage golden core. While her mother was Euanthe Amynthas, a first stage golden core, from the Phoenix clan. She was also known as the flaming claws.

They had been unaware of the cultivation chamber located under the knoll. Until, her father made the discovery when he was creating underground storage in the building. The cultivation chamber had been secretely carved out from the rich deposit of emerald green jadeite and emerald blue nephrite that were located under the knoll.

The walls of the cave were all emerald green jadeite while the large area at the center was all emerald blue neprite. There was a clear and peaceful stream of water flowing through it. The circular sides of the floor, were of white marbles and attached to the cave's ceiling were red rubies.

This was a marvel of a cave. A wondrous immortal cave that could only be a heavenly blessing.

Since her pregnancy had manifested, Reena had been absorbing vast amount of energy. The spiritual and stygian energies that were continually trapped inside the cave. She was also consuming large amount of Chi which was in the form of blue crystallines.

These blue crystallines were edible transparent rocks formed on the surface of the emerald blue nephrite. This was due to the crystallization of vast amount of highly dense spiritual energy with streams of water and the emerald blue nephrite. These were materials that occupied a very wide area at the center of the cave.

The effect of one blue crystalline in the dantian, could last from several weeks to few months.

A number of these powerful crystallines had been formed over the course of hundreds of millions of years that the cave had stayed hidden. The inside of the cave was littered with these crystallines when it was discovered.

They had spent an amount of time mining these crystals secretely and created a safe storage room for them underground. But a handful of these crystals were left on the floor of the cave to create a serene atmosphere.

Reena's advancement in cultivation had abounded in leaps. She had advanced from the Jindan stage to the nascent soul stage within one hundred years. At the young age of five hundred. The avatar of the nascent soul she formed was the mini replica of herself. An avatar in white feathered armour and flaming wings.

Having been born with the divine evasion power, she had grown into a full Asura[demigod] that could survive on her own.

"Mastery of the mind. Order and harmony within oneself. Only by this can one's conscious awareness be free to understand the laws and nature of the universe and become harmonized with the universe."

Reena put a blue crystalline in her mouth and closed it with a crunch as strong Chi energy stormed her dantian. She commenced the circulation of the Chi energy from her dantian through her meridians and back into her dantian. She didn't stop but continued her breathing exercise and meditation using the astral primal technique.

"Understanding true mortal self is the beginning of understanding the true nature of our universe."

After cultivating for some time, she exited the chamber taking one blue crystalline with her. She went to the training area to practice her Phoenix Inferno mystical art with her sword, Navaris. An ancestral heirloom of her mother's family. The feather blade was crafted from the single tail feather of a primordial phoenix at the heart of the Eternal Rest.

Due to her rapid advancement and development, her mother had decided to give her the heirloom. She could only be a genius to do that. Therefore, the sword would be safe in her hand and properly used.

She was slowly swinging the feather blade. Her martial art was already at the Yinhu[Silver tiger] level, where she could call herself a young master. Her swordmanship was still at the expert level. And, she knew she had a long way to go before reaching the legend level. She had to become a master and then a grandmaster before becoming a legend.

Though, not much of a difference and she was at a bottleneck, her joy was in her mystical arts. She was at the fourth stage of the Phoenix Inferno tecnique.

"Both mind and body must be cultivated to understand true self. The rhythm of a sword and the motion of fire. They nourish the body and soul, yet, they can also be destructive. It takes a true self discovery to bring out the constructiveness of a sword and the protectiveness of fire. Intent of the heart determines the nature of a martial and mystical arts. Peace is needed, yes, inner peace, in order to be one with nature."

She thrusted her sword forward and flaming ribbons spread out from it. They covered the training area in spirals without burning anything. The spirals of the flaming ribbons, was truly, a beautiful scene to behold.

"Art is nature and nature is art. "

Aodh looked slightly concerned at his daughter as he walked up to the training area.

"Gently Reena, you know you are seven months pregnant. You have been practicing your sword arts and meditation for hours everyday since you became pregnant. Don't you think you should take it easy a little bit?"

Reena smiled as she stopped to look at her father.

"Father. I'm being very careful. It's just a little practice. Besides, you remember what the physician said to me about exercising regularly? The more I practice, the more healthier the baby will be."

"Yes, you are right. I'm just worried about the fire arts. Can you focus on sword art for now?"

"Okay father."

"Alright then, let me join you for some practice."

They started moving their swords in a perfect rhythym.

"Understanding the laws of nature and the principles of sword arts."

"To attain perfection, the heart of a sword and force of a blade must become one."

"A heart of Dao. It's really difficult Reena but for you, it's only a matter of time."

"Father! You flatter me too much."

Reena smiled appreciatively at his father. Her parents had been very supportive of her right from her birth. What a wonderful parents she had. She couldn't have wished it any other way. She was perfectly happy with her life.

They continued practicing for a period of time before her father waved her down.

"Reena, let's stop the practice for the afternoon. Let's go inside. You need to have a nourishing meal and a rest. Your mother is preparing the yellow coloured mountain goat. As a rare and magical animal, it will surely nourish your body and the baby further."

"Father, with all this magical animals, by the time I give birth, I would've turned to a magical animal."

"That would be a sight to behold, Reena. A magical phoenix flying through the sky with wings of inferno. A magical sight indeed."

Reena's mind wandered off to the image of her nascent soul. A mini avatar of herself with feathered armor and flaming wings. A flaming bird? She laughed dismissing it from her mind and her father laughed too.

They left the practice ground and headed towards the direction of the cave.

Inside the cave, they sat round a wooden table at the center of the living chamber with pots of steaming goat meat on it.

Reena savoured the meat with her eyes closed.

"Oh mother! This is truly amazing. I never knew animal meat can be this tasty. Thank you mother and you too, father."

"This is a rarity, Reena. The quality of the energy in the meat will strengthen the bones in your body and nourish your blood. Even the baby will benefit from it. That's why you need to eat a lot of it."

"Eh? Father, do you want the baby to have goat horns and goat hooves?"

They all exploded in laughter.

An hour later.

Euanthe left for the market to sell some of the goat milk from the farm leaving Aodh and Reena in the living chamber. Minutes after Euanthe left, Aodh went into his room and changed into his farming attire. He turned to Reena as he was passing the living area.

"Reena, I will be in the farm if you need me."

"Okay father."

He left the cave and headed towards the farming area of the land. On his way, he glanced back at his daughter apprehensively. After all, she was their only daughter. He remembered his daughter's husband, Huan Longwei. He had died when a portal had opened in their village and an army of fiends had passed through the portal from the nether plane and attacked them.

They had managed to vanquish them, but many of the villagers had died. It was a sudden attack. Many of the villagers were just foundation stage and evanescent core cultivators. Only two elders of nascent souls, were present at that time. Their family had left the village after that. To raise a child without a father would have been very difficult for any mother. Hence, he had decided to try his best to ease the burden as much as he could.

The good thing? Reena, was pregnant!

He remembered when he had gone to the Sunset-Hills village in the northern province. He was there to look for a senior alchemist named Tau. An immortal cultivator of the peak stage golden core. In order to buy the Heavens Spring spirit pill. Alchemist Tau had lived for over five million years which was a reasonable years of experience. Not minding that, golden core cultivators had a lifespan of hundred million years.

He had seen all forms of life on planet Lorra. Thus, he had decided to ascend to the heavenly world. So, he had chosen to live a simple life to practice. He would focus on his alchemy and cultivate in seclusion, in-order to reach the Nascent soul stage for his immortal ascension.

"Welcome to my humble home, fellow Daoist. I am Tau but I believe you already knew that."

Said alchemist Tau, as he looked jovially at Aodh.

"Greetings Daoist Tau. My name is Aodh, from the Skydome city in the southern province here on Ankhor continent."

"Long way from home. What bring you all the way to my place, fellow Daoist Aodh?"

"Thank you alchemist Tau. I have heard about your pills, the wonders of your pills. So, I came to see if I can buy the Rainbow Womb spirit pill for my wife. I heard it's especially good for the unborn baby. I will be very grateful if it's available for me to buy."

Aodh had sought assurances from the alchemist.

"Hm, the spirit pill. Yes, it's really good for a baby in the womb. The pill only contained the refined essence life energy from some sources. Although, I have to admit, the materials were very rare and a little difficult to gather. But once consumed, the essence energy in the pill will combine with the womb nourishments to form the cloud of life around the baby."

"It naturally flows through the meridians of the baby. But, I need to tell you this, the effectiveness of the pill depends on the child. On, how much of the essence energy the child can absorb. While the womb nourishments is left to the mother. So, the outcome is not on me."

He uttered as he stared keenly at Aodh.

"I can tell you that the pill is safe and works accordingly. And yes, I do have one. Only three were ever made on this planet and two of those were made by my father before his ascension. One was sold but the outcome of it was not that effective. The result and the materials needed made my father to abandon it."

"When I came across some of the needed materials, I decided to give it a go. I searched for the other materials for hundreds of thousands of years. I also had to use some alternative materials but the effect should be the same. Still, if you want to buy it, it will cost you fifty thousand high grade spirit stones."

"Uh?"

Aodh had been caught off-guard with the price before gathering himself together.

"Okay, I will take it."

It was very costly but he had taken it.

Remembering the effect on his daughter after she had taken the pill, had brought joy to his heart.

He happily continued his walk to the farm.

In the village market, Euanthe saw a road antique merchant and branched to check. She was looking for something nice but cheap.

"Greetings, Nu Shi. Do you want to take a look at my collections? Maybe, you can find something fancy that can catch your eyes? I have all collections of antiques. Magical, decorative, talismans, seals, I have them all."

Euanthe went through the collections and saw a small white crystal pagoda. This was something he could give Reena's child when the child grew up. It looked beautiful as a gift for a child.

"I would like to get this little crystal pagoda. How much will it cost?"

"Oh, the gate of seven realms of fortune. This is the best, Nu Shi, and there's a myth about it too. This is a gate that leads to seven ancient realms with all forms of treasures. You see the layers of the pagoda, Nu Shi? They are layers of treasures. Even just having it can bring you good fortunes."

"And why are you not keeping it for yourself, if it has all sort of treasures?"

"Ah, fate, Nu Shi. Fate. Me and the pagoda were not fated to be together. But you Nu Shi, you are fated to have it. Destiny is on your side."

for visiting.

"Haha, very funny. You merchants have ways with words. How much is it anyways?"

"Nu Shi, with a heart full of sorrow, I will take five thousand pure grade spirit stones from you."

"Eh? Five thousand high grades? Well, I don't have that amount but I can give you one thousand high grade stones."

"Make it two thousand then and it will be."

"Okay, two thousand it is."

Euanthe paid the money and left the market with the pagoda in her spatial sac.

Their quiet life in the cave went on without disturbances.

Two months later, Reena gave birth to a boy and named him Jufeng.

Reincarnation completed.