Chapter 308: Cultivation Paths

A week after the Basilisk showed up, Mira and Robin went back to descending further into the chasm. They both wanted nothing to do with such a beast so they decided to camp out in one of the caves for a week until they were sure the threat had passed.

They probably would've been fine to start their journey again after a day or two, but Elenei recommended they wait a bit longer just in case. Mira agreed with her suggestion and told Robin that it would be better for them to wait.

Although Robin was a bit worried that she would be too far behind the Branch Head, she was more worried about her life.

Now, after a week of resting, the two of them plus Rhydian began making their way down the chasm again, except this time things were a bit more peaceful. It wasn't hard to guess the reason why as they literally just encountered the beast and its minions.

However, Mira was not happy about such an outcome. She came here to collect Contribution Points by killing beasts and collecting loot, but that damn snake came in and not only stole her Earth Elemental Essence but the rest of her prey as well.

Nevertheless, the three of them were able to make their way down the chasm at breakneck speeds for this very reason.

Meanwhile, Mira and Robin haven't talked much ever since their encounter with the Basilisk and Robin was starting to find the atmosphere a little uncomfortable. She was still a little on edge from their encounter with such a deadly beast and traveling in silence even while having a companion wasn't helping.

That's when Mira began talking to her.

"Do you know anything about Body Cultivation, Robin?" Mira asked as she might be able to get some proper information about the topic.

"Body Cultivation? Well, a bit. From what I know, although Body Cultivation Techniques are a bit rare, they aren't uncommon. Even I cultivate one, but it's just a standard Body Cultivation Technique that's handed out to anyone who works for the Mercenary Association. Why do you ask?" Robin explained.

"Well, I was just thinking about how I could have defeated that golem and I think having an especially strong body would be a huge help, but I think you got the wrong idea of what I'm trying to ask. I also cultivate a Body Cultivation Technique, but that one has very specific requirements. What I'm asking for is if there is a standardized Body Cultivation System just like there is for Qi Cultivation? Do you know anything about that?" Mira asked with somewhat hopeful eyes.

Robin pondered over Mira's words for a moment. She was a bit surprised that Mira also cultivated a Body Cultivation Technique and now she understood why she was so strong given her current Realm.

She also thought about what to say to Mira in regards to her question. The truth is, she does know a bit about the Body Cultivation Path, but she's not really supposed to share it with other people. In fact, the true Body Cultivation Path is generally only known to the Upper Echelon of each Continent.

It might be more widespread in the Central Continent where the competition between cultivators is exceedingly fierce, but again, she's not supposed to tell others much information, if any at all, regarding the Central Continent.

However, she's grown quite fond of Mira over the last few weeks. As a fellow cultivator, she respects Mira for her strength and drive to move forward. As a fellow human, she admires her honesty and how genuine she is even if she's a bit cold and brutal. And as a fellow woman, she's inspired by Mira's strong will and unyielding personality.

All in all, she can tell that Mira isn't actually a bad person. Cruel? Definitely. Ruthless? 100%. Decisive? Maybe a bit too much. But she's generally a person who won't step into other people's business and won't do anything unless you provoke her.

At least, that's the kind of feeling she gets from Mira. The feeling of someone who just wants to be left alone most of the time...

"Ahem! It's not that I don't know anything about the Body Cultivation Path, but it's not really something that's meant to be shared. I'm only a little receptionist at a Branch location and I don't have the authority to share this kind of information with outsiders. You must understand that this is one of the reasons why the Big Sects can stay at the top. I'm sure even you can tell that your battle prowess is much higher with a strong body." Robin explained and Mira nodded her head in understanding.

"So there really is a Body Cultivation Path, huh. Is there anything more specific that you can share? Like what the Body Cultivation Path is meant for. Is it purely for increasing the strength of the Body? Does it raise the body's potential? Is there a unique source of energy that one needs to absorb in order to start cultivating it?" Mira bombarded her with questions causing Robin to smile wryly.

'Is the only thing this girl cares about cultivation? Well, whatever.'

"As far as I know, besides making the body stronger, the main reason for cultivating one's body is that with each stage you progress, you are essentially evolving as a life form, unlike Qi Cultivation. I don't know if you know this or not, but everytime you enter a new Major Realm in the Qi Cultivation Path, you are only increasing your life level. Simply put, your body's resistance to Qi, lifespan, strength, and comprehension abilities increase, but at the end of the day, you are still a human. You are just a human who has gone down the path of cultivation. However, the Body Cultivation Path is different. With each stage of true Body Cultivation, you are evolving, turning into something much better than a normal human. So while it's safe to say, yes, you are increasing your potential, but that's just a side effect. I don't know if I explained it that well since I haven't actually gone down that path, but hopefully you get the gist of it." Robin let Mira know as much information as she could while trying to keep things vague.

As much as she admired the girl, she didn't want to be killed by the Mercenary Association for spreading information that others weren't supposed to know in the first place.

Mira understood this and she wasn't bothered by it at all. The two of them weren't friends and could hardly be considered colleagues or teammates. The fact that Robin was willing to answer some of her questions was already more than enough for Mira and it gave her plenty to think about.

From what Mira could tell, things were not as simple as Robin made things out to be. From what she knew, evolving for any species is a serious topic. Evolving isn't as simple as just absorbing enough Qi to break through to the next Realm to improve one's capabilities. Just take humans and apes as an example. On some of the worlds she reincarnated into, the people believed that humans evolved from apes. But in this Cultivation World, apes won't turn into humans just because they cultivated a little. Even if an ape ascends and becomes an immortal ape, that still won't change.

However this is where Mira got a bit confused because from what she knew, evolution has many different pathways and takes millions of years. Also, evolution is something that is passed down through one's genes not something that someone can impose on themselves.

'Elenei, what about beasts? Can't they evolve? Also, do beasts have 2 separate Cultivation Paths?' Mira decided to ask Elenei to clear up some of her doubts.

'Yes, beasts can evolve, but their evolution is much different compared to humans. You see, a beasts' talent is highly dependent on their bloodline. Their bloodline determines whether they'll have a strong body, good eyesight, sharp sense, powerful regeneration, etc. However, their bloodline is also what hinders them. Take Rhydian as an example. Her bloodline allows her to devour anything and consume its power while also being able to take her all the way to the peak with hardly any bottlenecks. However, not every random beast can do this. Most beasts have a bloodline restriction that only allows them to go so far.'

'Say, for example, a bear only has the ability to cultivate up to Rank 2. No matter what it does or how hard it cultivates, it won't be able to break this restriction. It'll have to find some way to evolve or refine its bloodline in order to go further. While this might not be so difficult for weak beasts with trash bloodlines, the farther a beast goes down the cultivation path, the harder it becomes. Take that bear as an example. If it wants to become a Rank 3 bear then it essentially needs to change species or dig deep into its ancestral bloodline in order to keep progressing. That's how beasts evolve, through their bloodline. However, it seems things are different for you humans.' Elenei explained which helped solve a few of the mysteries around the evolution process.

This information gave Mira a lot to think about. Not only that, but her intuition was telling her that she'd need to go down this path if she wants to be able to fight with those closer to or in the Central Continent.