Chapter 3: First Time At The Beach

‘Now if you wonder, potential heir, why the mere trials of the mortal’s second realm shoulder such immense significance in the eternal Martial path, you first need to understand what the six bottlenecks of insight are.

‘First five bottlenecks may vary in order but overall are equal and the same among all who aspire to traverse the Martial path; they are elevation from the small minded material, a comprehension of the worldly. If a cultivator denounces any of the bottlenecks in the appropriate time, his or her chances of Evolutionary Ascension will drop drastically. It is virtually impossible for cultivators who broke through the Martial Mortal realm by perceiving and comprehending just three bottlenecks of insight to achieve Evolutionary Ascension. At the best, after fifteen thousand years of livelihood they will reach the pinnacle of their path in life. Martial Mortals who comprehended four bottlenecks of insight ... should they be lucky enough to reach the Peak of the Martial Mortal realm and should Nature look upon them favorably, perhaps will have one to ten percent chance for Evolutionary Ascension. Lastly, five bottlenecks of insight Peak Martial Mortals, they are the cream of the crop among mortal cultivators, titled as ‘Ascended Elite’, they possess between ten to fifty percent chance for Evolutionary Ascension.

‘That being said, potential heir, don’t miscalculate and think that all Evolutionary Ascensions are the same. The more insights you comprehend, the more ... forget it. Some knowledge should be left alone until you acquire it yourself; it would be less bitter if you’ll fail...

‘At any rate, these are the basics of the six bottlenecks of insights. I haven’t mentioned the sixth bottleneck, since wherever you search in the three Valleys, their infinite Plains and myriad stars, to encounter someone who comprehended it is nearly impossible even for the all can Gods. In fact, for the piddling perception of a mortal to fully comprehend the sixth bottleneck of insight is an incredible wonder even Gods will find difficult to compare to with their most striking feats!

‘So, potential heir, are you starting to understand the magnitude of this one of two conditions you have left for cultivating Legacy Of The One’s Path?’ The expert’s voice sounded provocative, as if challenging Zax to answer, whilst indicating in his tone that he did not finish speaking and rather have not an heir who reacts like a robot.

Up to this point Zax was listening attentively, so much that he brought himself to halfway open up his mouth to utter “Yes”, when it dawned on him that it is meaningless. The expert was already dead and this was just a message. Moreover, as excited and enthralled as he was by the informative content of the message, Zax was more trembling by the realization that if the expert cultivated Legacy Of The One’s Path then it means that he was none other than one of those extremely spectacular individuals who comprehended all six bottlenecks of insight!

‘Passible’, a positive shift in the expert’s temperament was noticeable as he continued with barely the space of time for his listener to reply rashly. ‘Although I did not complicate things, if you had casted the slightest hum, potential heir, then with accordance to how I formulated this message, it would have sensed it and end the message there. Regardless of why you held your tongue, here is the reward you earned, which is something I would like to stress out for you, potential heir ... that is, much like when trying to perceive the bottlenecks of insight is a task you must do on your own, essentially, there is no really such thing as Master and Decuple relationship or external guidance on the Immortal Martial path. Yes, you can find assistant in all kinds of various and unique ways, profound or shallow, but ultimately the path to greatness is something that you should forge by contemplating understanding without others asking you for it, be it immediately or hereafter’. The expert’s voice tuned down, as if he reminisced personal mistakes. ‘It may seem an obvious thing to do, but I do not expect nor believe that you can get the small wisdom of these words until the day of your Evolutionary Ascension, should it be reached accordingly, thus I will not expound on the sixth bottleneck’.

‘Is it over?’ Zax wondered after a moment of silence on the expert’s side.

‘These are the last of my words, potential heir’, finally, the expert began to conclude. ‘Legacy Of The One’s Path is what all believe to be the summit. In my life I was fortunate to find it and meet its conditions. It brought me far and beyond my peers, then my elders, eventually those ancient ones ... but as you got to know, it did not make me invincible and could not compensate for my carelessness and poor judgment...

‘Outside of the earthly star, past the eddying Plain, encompassing is the lower Valley. Here is where you are. Do the best to carry yourself onward’.

The expert’s voice dimmed, as for now and forever there was nothing more for him to say.

“Evolutionary Ascension...” Zax let out a sigh. “Did he have to be so obscure about it on purpose?”

He got that it is a sort of transformation that preceded the realm of Immortality and what the overall conditions to meet it are, but there were still some unknown factors the expert hinted toward before deliberately leaving behind.

“Star, Plain and Valley. In the first message I could not interpret certain words, now they are clear, but their meaning ... I suppose its self explanatory that by Stars the expert meant Earth, Sun, Moon, etcetera ... Plain and Valley, though...”

The subject of space was in decline since humanity and beasts immigrated to New Earth. Whatever was taught in schools or shown in games and other forms of entertainment was even less educational. At best, Zax could only assume that “Plain” is probably a synonym to “galaxy”. As for “Valley” or even more confusing “lower Valley”, he had no idea what the expert referred to.

His eyes lingered on the horizon as his doubts were slowly put to rest. After a while, his body began to shiver and he had to place his left hand on top the clenched right to restrain it.

“Perfect mortal path, transcending tribulations that are in concert with all six bottlenecks, of which I comprehended five”. Zax voice was shaking in ecstasy. “I want to know, what percentage for Evolutionary Ascension would I have after comprehending the sixth? If it’s truly like the expert indicated ... fifty? More? Hundred?!”

Never encountering those legendary existences known as “Immortals”, Zax impression of them was, mostly, by the small stuff he learned in the expert’s messages and recent events in Demirva Ridge, which showed him the scarifies many cultivators are willing to make to improve their chances for Evolutionary Ascension.

As for the eagerness to stride forward onto such realm, as someone so young yet bordering the mortal Peak whilst being so close to surpass it, it was unavoidable for his blood to boil for desiring to further the Martial path he all his life was immersed with.

Standing up abruptly, the nest shook along with some of the branches making it issuing cracking noises under the force of his feet.

“Two things, that’s all I got to do!” Everything else will unravel as he progresses, so no point letting it bother him.

“The sixth bottleneck of insight required time, effort and patience. The dark attribute is absolutely the catalyst to comprehending it”. The relations between the two were so close he spared no second thought to the notion. “The last spark of insight is only partial; to completely grasp it my best chances are by utilization and exhaustion of the Dark Titan Storm form, that’s when I’m most in sync with it”. The prerequisite for that were foes who can actually challenge the Dark Titan Storm form, therefore just transforming was insufficient, and also why he decided to concentrate on the other thing...