Lin Feilin did away with Yan Zaizen after learning he had no talents whatsoever, storing him in one of the cultivation rooms in the cavern hall and giving him ten drops of low-grade liquid essence. Her instructions? Rest.
Yan Zaizen could tell that she had given up on him, but he didn't blame her. In the Yan Clan, he was determined to have lowest-grade of talent possible at the tender age of five. If it wasn't for his grandfather being the Clan Lord, he wouldn't have received any worthwhile resources or arts. Then, after that, he gave all those resources to Ya Qinqan and stagnated in his cultivation. At ten, even those resources were snatched from him due to his worthless showing in cultivation.
He couldn't help but sigh.
Who told him to be such a poor sap?
Observing the cultivation room, he realized it was rather spacious. It had a bed, a small reading table and chair, an area exclusive for movements in regards to martial arts, and even a pool of clean water. A closer look at the pool, one would realize that it emitted faint whirling sounds like it was being constantly cleaned. It seemed that a formation had been set up for that sake. Even the air was nice, being rather thick with essence - extremely suitable for cultivation.
Yan Zaizen couldn't help but grow emotional. This cultivation room was almost ten times better than his own room. It reminded him of his parents' room, before their deaths.
Many memories flashed through his mind of his late father and mother.
"Mother...Father…"
He missed them.
A lot.
It was only a long while till he stabilized his emotions, and looked at the bottle that held ten drops of low-grade liquid essence. A hint of excitement gleamed in his eyes. In the Clan, he used to receive ten drops of essence every month for his cultivation among other things, but now he received one drop a month. A month! These ten drops that were so casually given to him by that ice-cold senior sister of his were ten months of resources he'd receive from the clan.
Seems like being the disciple of an Origin Core Cultivator truly had its advantages. He felt sure that if he possessed enough talent, it's likely he would have received far more than that. Hopefully, he could still milk this situation fully.
Firstly, he consumed a drop and rotated his cultivation base to expedite his healing. Despite the Earthly Wood Spring helping him mend his bones and flesh, he still had a few minor discomforts and intended to get rid of those first. It required a total of three drops and an hour before he returned to his peak condition. Truly, cultivation was a pricey endeavor. If one gets injured, they can either expedite healing using resources or take a long time to do so naturally. Either way, one would lose something valuable, either money or time.
He was inwardly surprised at the rate of his healing, using his self-observing spiritual sense made it much easier to target specific areas precisely, reducing resource expenditure and time required. It was also far more thorough, ensuring the removal of any hidden injuries that may remain. If Lin Feilin were to see his actions, she would be immediately enlightened as to why Han Genji was adamant on accepting Yan Zaizen as his ninth disciple.
Soul cultivation wasn't for everyone, but for those who embarked on it, they would possess an undeniable advantage over others in regards to healing or perception, especially in regards to laws. As the saying goes, one sees the world with the eye and its inner core with the soul. His previous attainments into the laws may be low, but his soul cultivation was an indication that it wouldn't be an issue in the future.
"Advanced, Nascent Soul." Yan Zaizen mumbled. His thoughts were still absorbed in Han Genji's words from before, as well as his explanation of soul cultivation. The significance of it, he was sure he hadn't fully grasped it. Because, besides his soul cultivation being rare and valuable, he pretty much had no other areas worthy of being the disciple of an Origin Core cultivator. This, he knew. So it must have incredible benefits, perhaps even greater than simply reduced healing time.
Thinking up to here, he decided to await Han Genji's return and let him explain the miraculousness of soul cultivation. As for now, he sent his sense into the Meteor Ring.
Originally, when he explored the ring, he found out it was a nearly infinite space that had a small area with a multitude of books, materials, and wealth. Unfortunately, he had no way to remove them from the ring. He had to put aside this matter for later, but he had a faint feeling that his inability to remove anything from the ring or put anything inside was because of his soul cultivation being too low. If that was the case, then he truly felt lost.
A treasure chest right in front of you, but incapable of doing anything but look.
It was incredibly vexing.
However, the Immortal Herculean Method was one of the books, and when he wrapped it around with his soul energy, it directly entered his soul and revealed its contents. Therefore, he decided to try to do that for the others.
After several minutes of continuous failure, he finished going through each book with the same method that he used earlier and only met failure. It seems the immortal herculean method cultivation book was unique and could be assimilated into one's soul, but the others were simply readable. Unfortunately, they were all in languages he didn't understand.
"Forget it, I'll just cultivate." He said in defeat.
As he was about to take his exit from the space, his spiritual sense caught a glimpse of the inky black wood from before. Initially, he felt an overwhelming sensation of death from the wood, so he stayed away in fear for his poor little life. However, it currently had a white weak flame flickering atop its surface, and the sensation of death was weakened considerably. What took its place was a weak emission of life, which originated from the white flame.
The flame was so small it seemed that even the slightest breath could snuff it out of existence, yet also looked like it would survive a tornado. It gave Yan Zaizen an odd sensation. Curiosity filled his heart, he slowly wiggled his thin line of a soul form over till he was no less than five meters away. Intending to stay a safe distance in case of anything unexpected happened.
"What's this?"
Observing it closer, it seems the white flame emission of life was slowly getting stronger and stronger, and the sensation of death in the inky black wood got weaker and weaker as a result. There was no equilibrium as if for one to exist, the other had to perish, but neither could completely destroy the other.
"The wood represents death and the flame represents life, when one reaches the extreme, the other is born." His personal insights to the scene flashed through his mind. He hadn't realized that his soul had entered an almost perfect state of clarity while observing the wood. Many cultivators could only wish to enter this state, but he'd done so unintentionally, drawn by the exuberance and miraculousness of the events.
A state of enlightenment!
"The white flame is persistent and unyielding, only when it decides its end does it perish. The wood is all present and looming, it can not be fully burned by the flame, and reclaims what's been taken." A cycle of life and death circulated inside his mind as all sorts of insightful ponderings of the inner workings of the flame and wood rose.
He didn't realize that he had watched the cycle of the flame consuming the wood, and the wood reclaiming the flame thirty-three times before his soul energy ran out and sent him out of the Meteor Ring.
When he returned to the world, his eyes were glossed over while he fell into a trance. He felt like the myriad laws of the world were right before him but also so far away. He could only reach out and grasp one of them, the nearest one. A white flame fluttered about in his soul, and he grasped it tightly, unwilling to let such a beautiful thing disappear.
Several hours passed before he awoke from his state of enlightenment.
"This...concept? Unyielding Flame of Life!" He reached out his hand, a flickering white flame slowly appeared within. It was weak and looked as if it would dissipate with a soft gust of wind, but also as if even if the world collapsed, it wouldn't dissipate until it decided.
This was the law of life! A World Law!