As Kairos poured over the old worn-down tome, he found himself having to decipher each pictogram letter carefully. After a while he has come to call the book, ‘The Origin Manuscript’, not only because of the contents he read within, but even the cover has a symbol of a spiral that simply seems to agree with the name.

From his understanding of the cultivation method mentioned within, he has come to understand the existence of this energy which he calls the Soul Force.

“This book says that Soul Force is the actual source of energy for all martial arts, but if that is true, then everything we know is wrong!”

It is generally known that as cultivators rise through the ranks, the flesh will become stronger, gaining not only in energy but also improves one’s vitality.

Not only does it allow a person to survive what was impossible before, but it also increases one’s life span. Therefore, it is not strange to find practitioners who are centuries or even millennia old.

For ages past, practitioners have been calling this life energy the breath of life, Life Force, and they tirelessly sought ways to use it.

Unfortunately, eventually most deem Life Force as a passive form of energy, impossible to control, and the only way to tap a little into this potent energy is when the body comes to great harm. Usually, reducing one’s life span in exchange for power.

However, the tome offers a solution unheard before, describing the body as merely the container of one’s soul, and a vessel that is meant to be mastered. Through perfect control of one’s soul over one’s body, a person’s Life Force will turn into the energy called Soul Force, a manifestation of one’s spirit.

Though it has some setbacks, it is a tremendous power which one could be harnessed and controlled without harming oneself.

A wave of excitement rushed through him over what he read; he could feel that this is the crucial turning point that they were waiting for. As he cautiously interpreted the pictograms, a set of martial incantation and instructions for cultivation mysteriously formed in his mind.

Kairos gasped involuntarily in shock at the information that seemed to appear in his mind as he realises how tremendous are the techniques contained within The Origin Manuscript.

Not only is there a way to use Soul Force, but he will also be able to alter the capacities of his mind, and temper his body. When he reaches an advanced stage, even changing his hair or eye colour could be achieved with a simple thought.

However, the process is gruesome and arduous, as he trains his veins and tendons, build his muscles, restructure his bones, control his body’s temperature, and re-route his brain’s synapses.

A brief hesitation flashed across his eyes but is quickly replaced with determination. Gritting his teeth, Kairos pressed forward.

Following the instructions, the very first step to cultivating a soul force is to position himself in his most natural sitting stance, adjusting his posture to reflect his state of mind and began increasing the synergy between his body and soul. As each person's mental and physical state are different, the Origin manuscripts explain how each person's most suitable cultivation method will slightly differ from one another.

This is quite unlike the lotus position that cultivators deem as the most efficient way to absorb Heavenly Energy, but nevertheless, it is already past the time for doubt.

“Cultivate your body by first cultivating your mind. Let your thoughts be as a peaceful lake, undisturbed even by the storm,” Kairos chanted the martial incantation, and immediately fell into a strange trance. Although he still knows what is going on, his mind is freed of any other thoughts besides cultivation.

Without a teacher to guide him, this became a convenient method to prepare himself, though this seems to be a simple thing, it is a crucial step where the mind must maintain a powerful tranquillity that cannot be disturbed. Those in their haste to become stronger only runs the risk of crippling their future.

His goal is the directly control the Life Energy within him, to mould it, to build it, and to bring it out. At completion, he will gain powers beyond what any practitioner in Saint Empire could imagine and unveil a new realm of cultivation.

But, it is also because of this, that the boy knows anyone would kill to take it away from him if they found out what this martial art can do.

Still, in his natural sitting form, Kairos slowly started to separate his five senses, focusing on them one by one, in his concentration.

Through his cultivation method, he tasted the very air; saw the leaves of the furthest tree outside of his windows just as clearly as the dust in front of his eyes; he smelled the change in seasons with such details that he knows the exact day which spring will arrive; he could hear a pin drop into the haystack from a 100 paces away; and feel the vibrations of the ground as people walked by outside of dorm room.

All of these amazing things are done simply with the initial cultivation incantation from the Origin. He received information like never before from all these that he experiences, and he voraciously retained every feeling, knowing that he will lose all these abilities once he is out of his cultivation trance.

After an hour in this state, he took a deep breath to relax himself as he slowly prepared for the next step of cultivation.

After adapting to his five senses raised to their maximum capacities, he is now required to shut off each of them and isolated himself within his body completely.

Without a moment of hesitation, he reversed the previous process. His sense of taste was the first to disappear; then sight left his eyes completely, even as they are open; his sense of smell turn faint, then completely vanished as though it never existed; the world became an absolute silence; finally, his sense of touch is the last one that left him. Now, even if a huge bed bug is biting him, it will cause him no discomfort.

At this moment, even S rankers and beyond would have become astonished by what Kairos has managed to achieve.

It is fortunate that no one is here, or they will question if this cultivation method is truly from the Mortal Realms, because the very first requirement of The Origin Manuscript is, in fact, the final goal for many of the top tier martial techniques of Saint Empire. An absolute control and mastery over oneself.

There is a name for this starting point of Kairos’ martial arts. Famously known by many top-tier practitioners as achieving the pure-self state of cultivation(純我境界). A high-class technique of separation from the effects of the world and also, a powerful cultivation technique.

After arriving at this point, Kairos continued to spend an entire day solidifying his control and adapting to a complete isolation from the world. His determination is unthinkable for anyone with a weak will. To spend even a second in such a state is unbearable to most people.

Because humans are flawed beings, in complete isolation, they only have themselves.

To stay for hours in this form like what he did is enough to drive most people into madness. Conversely, Kairos felt a sense of peace in his isolation.

What he is doing can be compared to sleeping comfortably on top of a dangerously balanced pin placed upon a thin hair-breadth piece of string tied between the tips of two mountains that is being ravaged by a hurricane and an earthquake at the same time. Only one with a powerful soul and immense control over their body could continue being in such a state without losing oneself.

But, he somehow felt right at home in such a state. Struggling to stay in complete isolation should've worn anyone out after a short while, but as time passed, Kairos felt rejuvenated, and likewise, his cultivation rapidly spurts upwards while his body absorbed the Heavenly Energies. Like a drought-ridden land, it is absorbing all the nutrients that it was previously excluded from.

Suddenly, in the darkness, a new sense was born. It gingerly probed the world around him, but even newly born,Kairos, could tell that it is something powerful, and far superior to his five senses.

As he has finally achieved what the Origin describes as having a soul force, an ability to use an activated state of his life energy directly, that previously unknown part of him begins to take any form that he so desired. It is a mixture of his soul and life energy.

While Soul force is the utilisation of his life force, it doesn't mean that Kairos will live substantially lesser after each use because the life force will replenish itself after a while. In fact, as he trains in this method, his life capacity will slowly increase, helping him to live longer and longer. Conversely, only when one's capacity of life force is damaged will that person’s lifespan will be shortened.

As he toyed with this new sensation of his, while in his sensory-isolation, Kairos allowed it to feel the environment around him. His ‘Soul Perception’ was like a refreshing wind that permeated into his surroundings. Without using his five senses, he once again felt everything around him, and in greater details.

Not only could he taste wind and its change in humidity and contents; he know the colors of everything around him, as clearly as if he is looking at each object carefully; he know the smell of the earth and of the sky and of the things near and far; he know of the conversations people are having within a thousand meters; he even distinctly know of the vibrations in the air to a thousand paces radius.

In his excitement, he directed his Soul Perception further and further, running across the land wildly, as more information went through him. But this lasted only a full second then a sudden wave of fatigue knocked over Kairos, as though he was dropped through a hole in the ground.

His soul force rapidly receded into himself, far quicker than how he expelled it out. Then unable to steady himself any longer, he fell into a heap and laid on his side heaving and gasping for air.

It was at this moment that Alan Walker walked in and saw Kairos, his captain, now motionless and lying on his side.

The boy, wearing similar rags as Kairos, studied his fainted friend intensely. His dark brown curly hair and rough facial features, made the dirt smudges on his face seem only natural to be there.

After careful consideration, Alan screamed, "AHH, a dead body! Janitor! Help! We need to put it in the trash before my room stinks!"

With great effort, the body trembled and stirred. After hearing what Alan said, even Kairos who felt half dead, cannot keep silent any longer, and he let out a weak voice, "I'm not dead yet. And.. I'm not an 'it'.

.

.

.

Also… why do I feel that you're more concerned about your room's smell than the shock of a dead body being here? Please set your priorities straight Alan."

"AHHH, Captain! You've come back to life again!

That shocked me, I was so worried about you! I thought that your martial arts training backfired and you died!"

It is a common thing to have martial cultivation fail and backfire when one practices wrongly. As the Origin’s cultivator method mentions, it is an important step to have a tranquil mind.

"ugghh... I don't actually feel any worry coming from you. However, I think I may have discovered a way to work out of our current depressing situation", Kairos sighs as he steadies himself, slowly pushing against the grey stone floor.

Because of what just happened, Kairos' life force has been depleted more than half of what he has, within a single second. It is unusual for one to deplete that much energy, but he, being an amateur, had expelled all of his Soul Force and covered a vast area in a flash.

As a newbie, and a J ranker, he did not have much life force in the first place, and he lost control over most of it, letting it dissipate away.

Although his body instinctively managed to quickly pull some of them back , the life force that was already lost cannot be recovered anymore.

Now that he expanded so much energy, not only is he groggy like a sick person would feel amidst a severe flu, even getting off the ground took much of the wind out of him.

In this weakened state, his body started craving for energy. It ravenously pulled in the Heavenly Energies around him, until a powerful vortex spiralled around him.

A single strand of colourful light materialised from the ground and was drawn into the vortex, entering him. Then, as though it had announced an invitation, many more quickly followed.

The pathetic amount of things in the room trembled and shook, as he continued to pull in larger and larger amounts of Heavenly Energy involuntarily. Those colourful lights are formed by the very energy that exists in all creation, and somehow because his body is nearly emptied of power, he has begun draining those energies around him almost reflexively.

And together with those beautiful and softly glowing lights, he gained information that he never had before. A tinge of memories from the world.

The things that he read from The Origin Manuscript clicked into place, and, Kairos, once again entered a state of cultivation different from the one before.

Seeing his captain entering a state of meditation, Alan promptly decided to take his leave, his absurdly easy-going nature allowed him to ignore the large commotion that is playing out right in front of him, "Oh since you're okay, then bye captain I'm going off to play!"