Journey Towards Dao

“Father, what kind of meat was that?”

Cedrick replied simply, “Demon flesh.”

Silence fell in the meditation room.

Emotions of disgust and repulsion sprouted in Auslen’s heart, clashing with his overwhelming, addictive desire for more of the delectable meat.

Needless to say, his sickened thoughts were very quickly beaten into non-existence.

After Auslen played around with the idea of consuming another intelligent being, specifically one that also consumed humans, he began to understand that the idea was not so strange.

Demons were predators that ate humans, even though humans were a type of predator as well. It wasn't common, however, similar situations certainly appeared within ordinary wildlife; for instance, leopards eating lion cubs and lions consuming leopards.

Auslen sighed as he got his thoughts in order.

Looking back at his father, Auslen asked with confusion, “If we can eat Demon flesh to quickly nourish our bodies after cultivation, why did Aiden have to starve for so long?”

“Because no reasonable cultivator would waste such nutrient rich sustenance like Demon flesh on a practitioner.”

After Cedrick spoke, he placed a cushion on the floor in front of Auslen before sitting upon it gracefully.

“Practitioners can obtain feasible amounts of sustenance from normal food. Even though it may take days to multiple months to fully nourish their bodies, it's still considered a relatively straightforward method of advancement.

“Cultivators, however, can no longer feed their cultivation advancement with common cuisine.

"Unless one can find some type of nourishing substance that's scarcely produced within nature or from a rare Spirit Plant, they must consume the flesh and blood of Demons in order to provide for the extraordinary transformations that occur within the body from Foundation Establishment and beyond!

“However, the number of Demons are a great deal less than the number of cultivators, making Demon flesh quite difficult and expensive to obtain. Considering that every cultivator, including myself and your mother, need Demon flesh to continue to advance, why would we waste such a rarity on practitioners who are perfectly capable of advancing without it?”

After hearing his father’s explanation, Auslen understood more about his future cultivation journey, which was almost certainly the reason why his father allowed him to eat Demon flesh today.

Cultivation could not create something from nothing, and such extraordinary strength had to be built up by something that was equally extraordinary.

But, what did the first group of human cultivators consume to increase their cultivation? What about the first of Demons?

Auslen sat aside his hypothetical thoughts in favor of immediate benefit, deciding to try and press his father into guilt with a pair of cute, golden puppy eyes.

“But I’m leaving soon, Pa-pa! Are you never going to let me taste Demon meat ever again?”

Unfortunately, Cedrick did not fall for his hasty ruse.

Shaking his head with his blank face, he said “No, I will not. You'll have the opportunity of obtaining more for yourself at the Five Profound Elements Sect.”

Heart breaking slightly from his father’s admission, Auslen could already imagine how tasteless his meals would be during his remaining time in the Qi Refinement realm.

If only I never knew how delicious it was…

At a sudden thought, Auslen’s eyebrows began to twitch uncontrollably.

This man fed me the Demon meat on purpose to torment me! He’s bullying me again!

Cedrick continued speaking as if he had not seen Auslen’s expression.

“For now, we shall discuss the speed at which you will be allowed to cultivate from now on.”

Auslen immediately cleared away his annoyance and listened closely.

Cedrick sighed as he began, “You have to understand, Auslen, that your speed of cultivation is remarkably fast, even when compared to the greatest of known human geniuses.

“Normal genius practitioners can absorb anywhere from three to five percent of Profound Qi from an elixir droplet, meaning that it'll take them 12 to 17 hours to theoretically amalgamate one strand. If we account for Soul Force exhaustion and juvenile absentmindedness, that number is drastically extended, taking anywhere between one to four weeks to gather merely one strand of Profound Qi!

“You, with your nearly 200 points of Soul Force, need less than twenty minutes to completely absorb a strand of Profound Qi. Although you also have supreme Grade 1 Dao Roots, they don't play any significant role in Qi Refinement cultivation.

“So, if I allow you to cultivate at your natural speed, although you'll certainly complete Qi Refinement within a year's time, everyone will then know that you possess unparalleled Soul Force strength at your age.

"If you value your life, then that's the last thing you want to happen, my son.”

Auslen nodded his head solemnly. He had naturally come to be aware of this fact over the past month, as his father continuously found ways to prevent him from absorbing Profound Qi. Although his father refused to tell him the cause of this danger, this did not prevent Auslen from growing incredibly wary of what others knew about him.

Cedrick continued, “For this reason, you won't be allowed to exceed the 4th Stage of Qi Refinement until after you've joined the Five Profound Elements Sect, as that's still within the normal bounds of a talented child.”

Auslen tilted his head in thought before asking, “Then, when will I be able to break through to Foundation Establishment?”

Cedrick was silent for a moment before he replied, “It would be best if your Soul Force could exceed 200 points before building your foundation.

“Advancing to the Foundation Establishment realm will increase the strength of your Soul Force by a considerable percentage amount, depending of the Cultivation Method. So, the stronger your Soul Force before your breakthrough, the better, as you'll need an exorbitant amount of Soul Force points if you hope to condense a Heavenly Dao Path. Of course, waiting too long will be counterproductive, as your inborn talent will begin to degrade as you age.

“Therefore, breaking through to Foundation Establishment once you reach the age of eleven is the safest route, and in this way, you'll draw much less attention to your talents.”

Auslen nodded to his father in understanding.

He didn't mind the wait too much, as this body of his was still very young. Additionally, he hadn't even gotten his hands on a Heaven Grade Cultivation Method yet. In reality, he couldn't advance even if he wanted to.

Cedrick, who had opened his mouth to continue his lesson, paused as he turned his head, staring blankly at the stone wall.

Auslen glanced in the direction of his father’s gaze, wondering what on the wall that he found so interesting.

Glimpsing Auslen curiously gazing at nothing, Cedrick mirthfully shook his head as he stood up from his seat.

“Lessons are over for today, Auslen. Guests have arrived at the Main Palace.”

…

Auslen followed Cedrick to the Main Palace.

The two had just finished walking through an exasperatingly long stretch of colonnade before they entered into a beautiful secluded courtyard. Red roses and yellow daffodils decorated the green grass.

A stone pavilion was placed in the center of the courtyard, in which a large circular table surrounded by gorgeously carved wooden chairs could be seen within.

Amabella was currently seated at the table, talking animatedly with a young, muscular man sitting beside her.

His handsome appearance looked quite similar to Amabella's, bearing the exact same golden blonde hair and crystal blue eyes. However, he sported a medium length beard that covered half of his angular face. On his body hung a long white cloak which was densely stitched with gold thread.

Next to the man was a young, brown-haired child, who was wearing similar clothing. He looked around Auslen's age.

The boy was currently scowling in Auslen’s direction, but Auslen treated him as air. The angry child was at an age where he only had two modes of operation: clingy when paid attention to and bitter when ignored. For certain reasons, Auslen preferred the latter over the former.

“Grandpa Toby!”

Auslen giggled as he ran up to his grandfather, throwing himself into the man’s outstretched arms.

Cedrick walked over from behind as he greeted, “Welcome to the Palace, Tobias.”

After Tobias nodded in his direction, Cedrick took a seat beside Amabella.

Tobias was currently looking down at Auslen with a wide smile as he harshly squeezed his small cheeks, causing Auslen to wince slightly in annoyance. However, he refused to abandon his act so easily.

Seeing that his grandfather similarly refused to let go of his cheeks, Auslen was forced to speak without the usage of the majority of his facial muscles.

“Wash yoo doin heuh, Gwanpaw?” (What are you doing here, Grandpa?)

Hearing his grandson’s sloshed sentence, Tobias laughed loudly in satisfaction as he let Auslen’s face go. Amabella gently giggled beside them as she watched their playful interactions.

Auslen rubbed his bright red cheeks gently as he made himself comfortable on Tobias’ lap, acting as if the man hadn’t nearly ripped his face in half.

Tobias spoke up from above as he patted Auslen’s shoulders harder than necessary, “I came to visit you, kiddo! I also brought your cousin Nathaniel along. Do you remember him?”

Auslen didn’t even look at Nathaniel’s scrunched up face before shaking his head quickly, “No, I don’t!”

Nathaniel’s jaw dropped in dissatisfaction.

He pointed at Auslen and yelled, “Liar! You’re ignoring me like you always do!”

Disregarding the screaming boy, Auslen asked, “Grandpa, did you bring me any gifts?”

As if he expected his question, Tobias reached into his cloak, pulling out a small, silver toy boat.

Tobias introduced, “This is a flight-type Mystic Artifact. Consider it your belated birthday present from me!”

Auslen’s eyes glowed as he gently took the exquisite silver boat into his small hands, closely examining its structure in awe.

Flying-type? I can fly with this little toy boat?

Although he was somewhat skeptical, Tobias’ gifts were each proven to be more extraordinary than the last. Auslen put the boat away within his spatial ring, making a note to play with it at a later time.

Satisfied, Auslen jumped off his grandfather’s lap, making his way to greet his mother.

Meanwhile, Tobias spoke to Cedrick with a smile.

“I heard from Amabella that Auslen will be leaving us to become a disciple of the Five Profound Elements Sect within the Eastern Empyrean Continent.”

Cedrick agreed, “Yes. We'll be traveling for the Sect in four months' time.”

“Good! Then make sure to leave some space for little Nathan here, as its been decided that he'll also be joining the Five Profound Elements Sect. I’m too lazy to bring him myself, so it’s great that he can hitch a ride with you both.”

Auslen, who was talking with his mother, lifted one of his eyebrows as he glanced at Nathaniel’s silent figure.

The boy certainly didn't seem too happy about the arrangement, but he did seem prepared. It appeared that the two had discussed things beforehand.

Cedrick nodded his head in understanding, glancing at Nathaniel as well.

As Nathaniel looked up to meet his uncle’s gaze, a loud rumbling sound arose from his small stomach.

Hearing the sound coming from his own belly, Nathaniel lowered his head to the table in an attempt to hide his bright red embarrassment underneath his brown hair.

Silence followed briefly before Auslen’s small chuckles filled the void.

Nathaniel’s face shot up as he glared at his cousin sharply.

“Shut up, Auslen!”

Auslen began ignoring him once more, causing the boy to scream from built up frustration.

Cedrick sighed before waving to a nearby servant.

“Bring Nathaniel to the Dining Hall and prepare enough for him to eat until he is satisfied.”

The fuming boy was led off into the Palace, glaring holes into Auslen’s small frame until he was out of sight.

Tobias laughed once again as he stood up from his chair, grabbing Auslen suddenly by the collar of his robe before pulling him up to hang over his shoulder.

Tobias held the surprised Auslen securely as he spoke to Amabella and Cedrick.

“I’m going to teach Auslen how to use his new gift. Help me keep an eye on little Nathan, will you?”

With that, Tobias carried Auslen and disappeared without even a ripple of wind.

…

Within Auslen’s personal study.

Tobias casually placed Auslen down until his little feet touched the marble floors, stepping back to thoroughly examine the child in front of him.

Auslen, who’s hair was messily displaced from their previous terrifying speed, seemed completely oblivious to the man’s piercing gaze as he spoke with excitement, “You're going to teach me how to fly with my boat, right Grandpa?”

Tobias smiled, ignoring Auslen’s delight-filled words as one of his hands brushed the closed door lightly. Instantly, countless small, crimson-colored glyphs raced across the stone walls and wooden bookshelves, encompassing the entire study, forming a large Sound Concealment Spell Formation.

After completing his preparations, he spoke with an amused smirk, “You can cut the performance now, my dear grandson. Acting your age really isn’t cute.”