As the sun began to rise over the quiet mountains, Bastian started to stir from his slumber, feeling the warmth of his women’s bodies beside him. He opened his eyes and gazed at their peaceful faces, admiring their delicate features. He slowly arose from the "futon", careful not to disturb his women's rest, and began his morning routine. Bastian slips on his traditional "yukata" and makes his way to the kitchen, where the servants prepared a simple breakfast of "miso" soup, rice, and grilled fish. As the aroma of the freshly brewed green tea filled the air, he returned to the bedroom and gently woke his women, offering them a warm smile and a soft kiss on their foreheads. Together, they went to the dining room, and sitting at the low table in the dining room, the family enjoyed their meal, savoring the flavors and the quiet moments of togetherness before the start of a new day.
As they finished their breakfast, Renee and Maleen helped Julya with the dishes, the servants carefully washing each one by hand and placing them back in their proper place. With a sense of contentment and gratitude, Bastian went to the Family Clan Hall where some adjustments would start to be placed to fulfill the Clan’s Chief obligations. As he was nominated by his Father as the young master of the Family Clan, he asked not to uphold the Chief’s position in order to cultivate for a while. Even if he showed the appearance of a 14 to 15-year-old tuned muscular body, in fact he was only an 11-year-old kid, and none of the elders were against it, so an Elder Council was implanted.
After the Family Clan meeting, he went straight to his father’s old office, where he started to read some books that he had borrowed from the library in his Abode. 5 days passed under the "time acceleration array" effect, but in the real world, 5 minutes had passed because the ratio of acceleration is 1 minute in the real world for a day under the "time acceleration array", so during 6 hours and 8 minutes out of the array in the real world, while inside it, he had an entire "Year" to improve himself. Bastian kept his routine the same until he felt good enough to resume his cultivation again. In short, Bastian took this time to gather all the information he could have gotten his hands on about paths for cultivation for high elf anatomy and physiology, making his annotations aside, and analyzed the best path to take in order to optimize the gains, including the fact that he had 3 different paths of cultivation inside his body.
So, we (well I said we because I share the same belief of Bastian) will try to explain about these aspects that could be cultivated:
“The life is split in 3 aspects and you can imagine like there are 3 circles one inside the other, in the most inner circle is your “soul”, in the middle circle is your “spirit” and at last but not for least the outer circle that is your “body” and in the context of cultivation, the concepts of soul, spirit, and body are often seen as distinct yet interconnected aspects of a person's existence and we will put some brief description of each:
The soul is considered the eternal essence of a person, transcending physical existence, and carrying the core identity, memories, values, and purpose. Between the beliefs, his primal is the mind processing capabilities and it is also believed to be the source of consciousness and the driving force behind personal growth and spiritual evolution so cultivators often focus on nurturing and understanding the soul to achieve a deeper connection with the true self and the universe.
The spirit is the energetic aspect of a person, often associated with emotions, intuition and the life force that animates the body. It is the bridge between the soul and the physical body, connecting the eternal essence with the temporal existence and cultivators work on refining and balancing the spirit to enhance their control over the energies, also increasing intuition and overall vitality.
The body is the physical vessel that houses the soul and spirit, allowing them to interact with the material world. It is the instrument through which the soul and spirit express themselves and experience life and cultivators emphasize the importance of maintaining a healthy and balanced body, as it directly impacts the overall well-being of the soul and spirit. Practices such as meditation, Tai Chi, Music, and mindful eating are often employed to cultivate a harmonious relationship between the body, spirit, and soul.
In summary, cultivators view the soul, spirit, and body as distinct yet interconnected aspects of a person's existence. We believe that nurturing and balancing these elements is essential to achieve the overall well-being and “illumination”, which is the fusion, of the three aspects in a single being.
So, we have 3 paths for cultivation and we will start explaining some of the level’s insights, to ease the understandings, cultivation is a process of developing and refining one's physical, mental, and spiritual aspects to achieve mastery and harmony. The levels of cultivation can be broadly categorized into achievements:
Author’s Note: “Up here we say physical, mental, and spiritual aspects where physical refers to the body, the mental refers to soul and of course, Spirit refers to the spirit. I understand that it appears to conflict now, and it could be explained differently, but I have to say that this theory was not created by me, it was interpreted by Bastian and continuing down you will understand the interconnectivity and relations.”
The first one is the physical conditioning because the foundation of martial arts training involves building strength, flexibility, dexterity, agility, endurance, and coordination. This stage focuses on improving the practitioner's overall physical fitness and mastering the basic techniques and forms of the chosen martial art technique. Exercises such as stretching, calisthenics, and practicing fundamental movements are essential at this level, some also says that the body resilience should be achieved also in internal organs, muscles, bones, veins, and skin.
The second and also important is the technical Proficiency because the practitioner advances, they begin to develop a deeper understanding of the martial arts techniques, strategies, and principles. This stage involves refining one's skills, learning advanced techniques, and honing the ability to apply them effectively in various situations. Sparring and partner drills are often used to enhance the practitioner's adaptability, timing, and precision.
The third stage is Internal Cultivation the martial arts emphasize the development of internal energy to enhance muscular power, health. This stage involves cultivating and refining one's internal energy through practices and in that “Earth incarnation” Bastian had achieved some Tai Chi mastery. The focus is on balancing and harmonizing the energy systems to improve overall well-being and unlock hidden potential and as it is energy it can be used to enhance muscles and other organs.
The fourth is preparation for Mental Development because Martial arts training goes beyond physical prowess and requires mental discipline, focus, and resilience. This level of cultivation involves developing a strong mindset, emotional control, and the ability to remain calm under pressure. Meditation, visualization, and mindfulness practices are often incorporated to enhance mental clarity and concentration.
In the fifth stage is the Spiritual Growth as the highest levels of body cultivation, martial artists seek to transcend the physical and mental aspects of their practice and achieve spiritual enlightenment. This stage involves deepening the connection between the body, spirit, and soul, and using martial arts as a path for personal growth and self-discovery merge them all. The practitioner strives to embody the core values and principles of their chosen martial art, such as humility, respect, and compassion, both on and off the training floor.
In summary, the levels of cultivation involve an approach to personal development, encompassing physical conditioning, achieving technical proficiency, acquiring mental discipline, controlling internal energy, and structuring spiritual growth. The journey through these stages is unique to each practitioner and serves as a lifelong pursuit of mastery and self-improvement.
Author’s Note: “So it is like this for example: “Using body cultivation to be a MASTER in martial arts for example, requires that the MARTIAL ARTIST had a body with capable strength enough of fully demonstrate the complexity, movement control, speed, and agility of exercises of a very high ranked TECHNIQUE, be capable to stand, move, attack, defend and withstand combat instances for a long period of time. The levels in fact are like a glass box that must be filled with knowledge and practice.”
The levels for each and every path are similar resuming from novice to beginner, from beginner to apprentice, from apprentice to practitioner, from practitioner to adept, from adept to expert, from expert to master, from master to guru, from guru to grand master, from grandmaster to elder, from elder to sage, from sage to God, as for now this is the knowledge applicable in mortal realms, we are going just until here, after we continue to other levels as required.
At this point Bastian merged his, his uncle’s and “his last incarnation” cultivation to his actual body, where Bastian achieved a martial arts core in master level also because his body was tempered by the venom of the venomous snake dragon, the bone and blood essence from its horn and the bone essence from the giant skeleton. The lower status of this world helped but unfortunately his muscular memories were not fully developed, and he lacked in techniques than in order to integrate it all, he was going to start exercising and there he continued after fully analyze his entire situation and the thought within his mind:
Author’s note: “If he were in a game his status would be the cheat of the cheats and for sure he would be banned.”
So, he held both his hands in front of him and in gratitude to the “lucky goddess” he made a bow in the four directions, in between giggles said:
- Hi! Hi! Maybe I can thank you personally some day! Hi! Hii!
