Prime Originator

Leon glanced Elder Evergreen with a pleasant surprise at the news but realized the elder did not have the same expression. Instead, a blank one hung on his face. 

He smiled wryly, remembering that Elder Evergreen had yet to learn the Gaian language and didn't understand what the palace guard had just said.

"My palace guards have just informed me that they have reached the surface. It seems that you will be able to see the sunlight today, elder." 

Elder Evergreen's eyes glowed brilliantly at his words.

Logically speaking, sunlight would not be able to reach the elder tree's subterranean space due to the inclination of the long tunnel. However, reflective mirrors could be used to bend light and beam into the subterranean space. 

After Leon gave the palace guard the instruction, he followed Elder Evergreen to a spare dwelling that used to belong to an older generation treant, but it was not used as accommodation for guests after the older generation treant had succumbed to a perpetual stone-like death.

Leon felt like it was disrespectful to the dead, but it seems that the treants did not think the same way. Perhaps, they were already numb to the deaths of their kin as their numbers dwindled over the long passage of time. 

If this were the case, it might be the reason why he was able to establish an alliance with the treant's village so smoothly. 

After all, a few treants had been killed by them. Although it was under the spy's instigation, it was irrefutable that the treants died by their hands. He was expecting a few treants to still be harboring hatred.

After they arrived at the outside entrance of the spare dwelling, Elder Evergreen left him to his own devices and followed the palace guards towards the location just beneath the tunnel above.

"Unless it's something urgent, do not disturb me," Leon instructed another palace guard that followed him.

"Yes, Your Highness." 

The palace guard complied as Leon entered the spare dwelling.

When Leon entered the dwelling, he made sure the surrounding was clear before proceeding to enter his Worldspace. 

Once inside the Worldspace, he immediately sat down in meditation and begun drawing in energy to refine new pseudo-Grandmist energy. 

Although his cultivation was sealed, it did not stop him from refining more pseudo-Grandmist energy. As long as the new energy he refines does not enter the glabella region and fuse with the Revolving Core, he would still have control of it.

This was the only loophole he had discovered when he was trying to regain control of his cultivation base. It was only through this little bit of energy he still has control over that he was able to transmit knowledge to Lilith. 

After circulating the [Hegemon of Primal Chaos] technique and refining a few strands of energy, Leon ended his short cultivation session. 

He could not have too many strands drifting through his meridian channels when he cannot store it in his glabella. It would wreak havoc when he is not consciously controlling it. 

But what he found surprising was when the energy wreaks havoc on his meridians, it provides some tempering benefits, strengthening it. 

He started to wonder if he had been practicing the [Hegemon of Primal Chaos] technique wrong this whole time…

As soon as he opened his eyes, Maya appeared in front of him. She started circulated around him a few times with a studying gaze while her eyes sparkled with intelligence.

"What is it?" 

Leon asked inquisitively. Did the artifact spirit discover something?

"Seeing it for a second time, it still amazes me to end. To think that there was such a heaven-defying technique in the world that is capable of creating Grandmist energy… but it seems incomplete. It is pseudo-Grandmist at best." As Maya spoke to this point, her cute brows creased together and slowly said, "It's just that…"

Leon, who was listening with rapt attention, noticed this peculiarity and said, "Just… what? What's wrong?"

"You."

"Pardon?" 

Leon thought he heard wrong.

"Are you stupid?"

"What?"

"Are you a pig?" Maya continued. 

"I don't think I follow what you are saying?" 

Leon was completely nonplussed by the sudden verbal abuse.

"Why are you cultivating pseudo-Grandmist energy like you are cultivating spirit energy?" Maya questioned him with an expression that said she was asking the most obvious thing in the world.

Leon was speechless. 

If he does not cultivate pseudo-Grandmist energy like he was cultivating spirit energy, then how else was he supposed to cultivate it? They were both energy and this was the way to cultivate energy.

But then he suddenly became extremely confused.

In the [Divine Fiery God Manual], one was supposed to cultivate with the purest fire energy to become a Fire God, but this was obviously impossible. 

No mortal can withstand the high temperatures of the purest flames at the beginning stages of cultivation. They would all be reduced to ashes without exception.

This was why everyone that had practiced [Divine Fiery God Manual] substituted fire energy with the malleable spirit energy and transformed it into fire-attribute spirit energy.

[Divine Fiery God Manual] wasn't created by man but also found from the ancient ruins. Clearly, it wasn't designed to be cultivated by mortals but gods.

Nevertheless, whether it was spirit energy or fire energy, the method was the same. It was about refining energy.

Logically speaking, pseudo-Grandmist energy should fall under the same category. After all, he did not have any problem cultivating it… until the Revolving Core Realm…

Seeing Leon was silent, Maya asked, "What do you think Grandmist energy is?"

"The source of all matter," Leon answered subconsciously.

"That's right, the source of all matter. In other words, the source of 'essence'. Where does energy fit here? Nowhere." Maya said.

Leon had an abrupt change in expression. He had been fooled by the word 'energy' in 'Grandmist energy'. Just because it had the word energy in its name, did not mean that it falls under energy refining.

It was in fact, essence, and what else was essence? The body. Thus, it was actually used for body forging.

Leon didn't know whether to laugh or cry at this revelation. This is what he gets for practicing an incomplete technique. 

[Hegemon of Primal Chaos] listed how to create True Grandmist through the five stages of five primal elements, space and time, life and death, creation and destruction, and finally primal chaos, the fusion of all stages through one's body.

But it never said what to do with that energy! Assuming energy cultivation was the way was his mistake and also the Divine Realm's misinterpretation of the technique. He had simply followed what everyone thought. 

"Fuck!"

Leon could not help but curse, but he was not all that frustrated. He had been practicing wrong all this while, but it could have been so much worse, had he realized the problem much later.

Maya said no more and allowed Leon to figure the rest out himself. If he could not even do that, then he was not a worthy master of her.

Having understood the problem, Leon realized why the Five Element Body exists and why he advances so slowly after reaching initial success. The Five Element Body correlates to the five-element stage. 

He would only gain mastery of the five-element stage when he fully tempered his body with pseudo-Grandmist energy.

Recalling how the energy tempered his meridians when it wasn't being controlled and bumped against the walls of his meridians, and the body forging method of [Black Turtle Heavenly Guard], Leon understood the general direction he should take to temper his body with the pseudo-Grandmist energy.

Wait a minute. Leon suddenly paused.

"Would there be any complications if I temper my body with both pseudo-Grandmist energy from [Hegemon of Primal Chaos] and improved artificial spirit energy for [Black Turtle Heavenly Guard]?"

Leon did not hesitate to ask the artifact spirit. Since there was such a knowledgeable artifact spirit besides, it was only right to ask it instead of wasting time pondering the answer himself. 

As the saying goes for efficiency; work smarter, not harder.

There was nothing wrong with seeking expert opinions. He was neither an expert in martial arts nor the divine way. One must know that his cultivation swiftly rose to the Divine Origin Realm through heavy reliance on divine pills.

But when Maya heard the question, she silently grumbled at the stupid question.

"Since you have the superior pseudo-Grandmist energy, why would you still use the inferior artificial spirit energy?" Maya rolled her eyes before she continued, "But answering your question, there are no complications when practicing two similar body forging method. It is just that only the superior one would show results, while the inferior one would be wasted efforts. However, practicing the [Black Turtle Heavenly Guard] is like putting on a big sturdy shell. It protects the outer body, but not the inner parts. Your pseudo-Grandmist energy should be able to temper your inner body…"

No further explanation was needed. Leon had understood and experienced the internal tempering. After thanking the artifact spirit, Leon refined a few more strands of energy within the Worldspace before his eyes snapped open with determination.

There was no pain-free body forging methods. Tempering his internal body was no exception and would only be worse than creating his first Body Rune. However, he was prepared.

Without further ado, he purposely drove the few strands of pseudo-Grandmist energy roaming mindlessly in his meridians, amok. 

His determination was noteworthy, but reality was often brutal. It was he was being electrocuted after being struck by lightning with 10 million voltage of power. 

His meditative posture broke as his body fell sideways in a violent spasm. His eyes rolled back until the whites were seen and passed out, but no real harm befell him. 

The pseudo-Grandmist energy continued to work wonders in his unconsciousness as it rampaged throughout his meridian channels and strengthened them like a bunch of balls scattering from a powerful break in pool.