Path.

An abstract concept that held enough weight to decide one's life. An intangible meaning that symbolized the whole to some people.

In the eyes of mortals, it was a direction, a physical route that they use for their daily activities.

However, to cultivators, a path represented their future. It signified their destiny. It was their identity! Their past, present, and future!

At a certain stage in life, just like mortal youth, cultivators would have to choose their path.

They would stop at the periphery of multiple potential paths and choose one. One main path for them to traverse.

This periphery was in between [Realm 2] and [Realm 3]. Those who had already known their paths would have added an attribute to their energy. 

That was the condition for the hidden stage of [Realm 2].

Jake had achieved that when he had gained insight into his path.

Nonetheless, breaking into [Realm 3] signified the actual beginning of the practice of cultivation. It needed one to have already acknowledged their path(s).

...............….

Sitting on the cold wooden floor, Jake began the process by reciting his [Mantra of Origin] as usual.

For the past months, he had not strayed from calming his mind. It was something he would do almost every day of his life. The mantra was important to someone like him who had no idea of his identity. 

After repeating the mantra countless times, Jake delved his senses into his lower stomach region, where his [Dantian] was.

Inside the closed-up place, Jake could 'feel' his [Spirit Pool] swaying about like the cold lake disturbing by the anxious winds.

At every sway, the pool would spill, indicating that its container had reached the highest capacity.

Seeing this, Jake sighed internally, 'It is now or never.'

He fully closed his eyes as he summarized his achievement.

'I am sixteen today. Yet, already potentially achieving [Realm 3].'

Despite that, Jake wasn't insanely proud. What he had achieved wasn't that rare.

In fact, in his [Sword Drawing Book], most of the past users recorded achievements similar to that, with only one of them surpassing it; Shivani!

Even now, if Cheyenne and the trio survived the explosion, he was sure they would be either on the same level, a bit below him, or higher than him.

After reflecting on all his past actions, Jake smiled, 'I'm ready.'

Placing his arms together, Jake brought out the ethereal sparkly blue [Spirit Pool].

The moment he did that, a feeling of weakness washed over him. The energy container had been with him for months. Now that he brought it out, Jake found it hard to adjust.

He was only able to do that as the pool was in a liquid state.

After he brought out the pool of perfection that he had started growing since he entered [Realm 1].

Jake once again gained an understanding of the three realms. The entire process was akin to a blacksmith making a weapon.

After getting the materials, melting them, the blacksmith would have to mold them into shape.

It was the same thing Jake was doing. At [Realm 1], he gathered [Spirit Droplets]. At [Realm 2], he converted them to a [Spirit Pool].

Now at [Realm 2], he was going to turn it into a fully solid object, making it the perfect energy container.

Decisively, Jake squeezed out the [Spirit Essence] from the pool. 

When he was finally left with the concentrated make-up of the [Spirit Pool], he used his energy to compress the concentrate into a ball.

It actually could be any shape, but, the [cultivation manual] that Jake had begun learning required the standard ball shape.

After he was done delicately molding, Jake checked it again, to see if there were any holes in it.

As a seeker of perfection, Jake couldn't condone things like that. He vied for a one hundred percent(100%), nothing more, nothing less.

After all, almost everything about him was perfect. His looks, his appearance, his face, his body,......

Moreover, if he wanted to go far in the practice of cultivation, Jake needed a stable foundation.

That was also why he started following a [cultivation manual]. Checking the gains he had gotten from Aztec, Jake had picked one that aligned with his elements, a basic [Lightning Ice Manual] that could only be practiced by those that possessed both elements.

This enabled him to have attacks that stings and freeze at the same time. Plus, the sparkly blue nature of his previous [Spirit Pool] was a product of it.

Following the perfecting of his mold, Jake did not hesitate as he swallowed the ball.

His face scrunched but he compelled himself not to chew at the ball, but instead, safely guarantee a safe passage for it to his insides.

Based on the mental map he had made when opening his [Spititual Gates], Jake used his energy to guide the ball to where his [Purple Whirpool] was, near his heart.

It was always the cultivator's choice on where to put his energy container.

Jake's decision was basically because that was where his useless [Chaos Cores] and [Purple Whirpool] were located.

One had to remember that his cores were slowly changing him to his destined status. He hoped that it would change his energy container.

After situating his energy container there, Jake refilled the ball, making it glow radiant like it was meant to be. Due to the nature of his energies, the ball turned into a crystal-like object that released an attractive spark almost every time.

Thirty minutes passed, and the crystal got accepted by his body as an additional biological system.

Seeing the success of the entire process, Jake sighed as this was something that could lead to a massive drawback if not handled well.

'I am finally in the [Sageheart Realm],' smiled Jake as he mentioned the actual name of [Realm 3]

He realized that he had almost completed the first half of the practice of cultivation. All that was left was the nurturing of the crystal.

However, analyzing his absorption rate, it would take months for him to complete it.

Moreover, he could finally focus on his technique. He definitely had a lot to master!