We had talked for a while before I finally started to get it. During which he explain that he was an artist, and all the carvings were his work, it was a hobby and not tied to his cultivation but it was something he rather enjoyed. I was able to inspect them closely and it showed various animal, which he gave details on. Some of the more tablet like pieces has landscapes and the like. I could tell he was skilled, but I didn’t think I could share much about my appreciation for them.
“There you go, that one wasn’t too bad.” He said after around an hour. “But now I’ve got a small confession, I got most of your responses, but they were, how shall I say this… crude, or possibly filled with too much of yourself. My teacher told me it is important that I, or you in this case, learn how to do it on your own, because it’s harder to learn being taught. It could be he was just a bad teacher, and that could be the case since I struggle to talk all the emotions out of my transmissions still. It hard to really say what you were doing wrong either, it was like you gave me more a snapshot of your mind rather than just a response. It could be that some would get self conscious about that kind of thing, but maybe it was also for his safety. I was a rather large bear, and he was a little turtle. With cultivations size doesn’t matter as much, but I think he wanted me to feel more in control than I was.”
“Well anyways, I'm sorry about that, but if you keep working at limiting just what you want to send to someone, the better, and more secretive you will be, which is importance if you ever leave the Wildlands.”
“What are the Wildland?” I asked.
“Well they are a large area that we are in, and by large, I mean it. Half a continent the humans say, but they call it the Reserve. It’s supposed to be a safe place for beasts and nature to grow without human interference. I would also like to tell you, I can tell you are annoyed but accepting of how the training worked to begin with. It can be helpful to share that kind of think to show sincerity, because it is rather hard to fake, but most times, you don’t want to share that much.”
“Oh, I think I understand, I will keep working at it” I said knowing it would be true. “So what is a name, and why did you put such an importance on it earlier?”
“Ah, well you see, or no I suppose rather, now I should give a proper introduction. I am Cunzia Jimo, a bear of the Wildlands. This in general come from the humans, and we teach it to each other for their sake, they tend to be a bit more ‘civilized’ or whatever. Now we should get you a name as well.”
“How do you get a name?” I wondered out load.
“The humans get them from their parents or care takers, for for beasts and creatures like us, that’s not really a thing out here. We tend to choose our own, and get help from a teacher. We like to give a bit of out nature into our names, while the humans tend to sound pompous or grandiose. So, what is your nature?” he asked with a bit more seriousness than normal.
“Well I am, or was a peach tree, all of this is rather new to me. I was awoken when my tree was attacked by fire, and I ended the beast that was responsible after is chased me down trying to retrieve something precious it stole.”
“Ah so you are a tree spirit, or something like it, Táo could be a good surname for you. Líng could be good to show you spirit side, or if you want something more powerful, Xian?”
“Hmmm, well I do like Tao, and Ling sounds better to me. So let go with that.” I said playfully.
“Are you sure, a name is not something you want to change, you are your name, and you name becomes you.” He said, again being more serious than normal.
“Yes, I see no problems with it. It show at least where I came from, and I think I need that right now.”
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“Well if you like it, I guess it’s fine. Its probably better you didn’t go with Xian, I think the humans have a legend about a peach tree. I think that character was Xi Wangmu though, and there are no mountains here besides. Now, how about you introduce yourself?”
“Greetings, I am Tao Ling, tree spirit of the Wildlands.” I said, with a bit of humor, since we had been talking for a while at this point.
“Are you sure you aren’t a human, fully proper and everything. HAH, well, let me guide you a bit with cultivation, just enough that you shouldn’t make any mistakes early on. Firstly, cultivation is an individual journey, finding how you interact with the world, and your place in it. At least thats what they say, for most its just about how powerful can you get before you die in some disastrous way. Any questions so far? Ask whenever you need to, this is important stuff for us, it keeps us safe and long lived.”
“What is it though, like how does it really work?” I asked
“Ah, well those are more questions for philosophers I would say. In general though, it is taking in the energy of the world and making it a part of yourself. I can feel you have a decent amount of Qi inside of you, but haven’t really done anything with it. In fact, it feels like its not even all yours, just in you, which is a bit odd.”
“Then what do you do with it to ‘cultivate’?”
Well, its almost up to your imagination really, there are of course limits, but with enough time and resources, you can do nearly anything. I guess we should talk about the stages available on this world.”
“This world? As in there are others?”
Of course, I mean I know nothing about them, but the humans know much more, and they share some information with the Awakened, and well, we get around as well. First, there are the four basic pillars, the Genesis, Keystone, Zenith and Catalyst. The names themselves, aren’t really all that important, more human stuff. What they do, now they are how you change Qi in various ways. These come into play at the end of a stage, but they are important to the whole of the process. Each pillar will condense, solidify, liquefy and shape Qi respectively. I say it is important throughout the process because each stage is about doing the same to your core. It is important to do so slowly, so that you learn how to, and build on that knowledge because when you are done with a stage, forming the pillar is the foundation of your core, and cultivation.” He nearly endlessly rambled.
“There is a stage before any of this, but I can tell you are past it, and most awakened being are. They call that stage the mortal realms, where you don’t even know how to manipulate Qi. I’ve heard the humans have ways to get around that as well though. Now, each core state you should be working on a new foundation. While you work on condensing your core, you should also be building the foundation of your Path. The Path is your way of fighting, on not, but how you keep yourself safe, and move through the world. Its said that you never really stop working on your foundations, just expand them.”
“Now things start to get more interesting, while solidifying your core, you start building the Attunement foundation. This might sound like it just about what flavor of Qi suits you best, but its so much more than that. Your Attunement, its your connection to the world, the method of controlling it and for most, the flavor of their attacks. I chose stone as the base for my Attunement, but with it, there is water, and some more esoteric things thrown in. For most it is what they are most in tune with, what is easiest for them to control. For the smart, it is what they love.”
“ I will not touch on these as much, but when you begin to liquefy and shaping your core, you will work on the foundations of Focus and Ideal. These both come from will more than your core, but are still formed from both, just like the others, but they are more core than will. Your Focus, is a bit esoteric in nature, but tends to be about what drives a person to cultivate. Whereas, your Ideal is about who you want to be at the end of cultivating, your ‘perfection’. Keep in mind, with all things cultivation related, perfection is not the goal, because it states to the universe that you know better than it. Some worlds may have tribulations, this world just likes to show you how wrong you are. In doing so, it tends to either kill you or you live, just with a broken foundation, making you have to work hard to recover what you lost.”
“Surely you have questions by now?” he asked
“Truly I don’t know enough to even ask, but I would like more details on where to begin.”
“Well then why don’t we talk about…”
We went on for hours on the intricacies of cultivation. Nothing that would truly influence how I cultivated, just on thing he knew of, different names of the same things, and other nuances. We went on late into the night, or so he said, and offered me to sleep in his home. I accepted, but told him I didn’t know what sleep was, so he told me to just meditate on what I had learned.
