The Talent Bead's function that allowed the host's consciousness to materialize in the time-stopped internal storage room was a heaven-defying cheat for scholars or researchers who relied on brainwork. They could study and research endlessly in a timeless environment.
Unfortunately, Leyvi wasn't one for mental exertion; he was mostly physical, so this function was greatly underutilized.
Walking through the vast internal storage room filled with countless items, Leyvi picked up the jade slip containing the cultivation manual—the one he'd demanded as a reward when the clown prince wanted to travel with him.
Howling Kingdom Complete Cultivation Manual for Spiritual Cultivator: Royal Family Edition.
Huh? Royal Family Edition? Can a country bumpkin like me even learn this? They won't come hunting me later, right? Leyvi thought. He hadn't noticed this when he quickly skimmed its contents before.
He chose a random couch in the room and sat comfortably. Though it was just his consciousness, each action mimicked the sensations of the real world.
Leyvi read the cultivation manual recorded in the jade slip with interest. The cultivation realms of a Spiritual Cultivator were based on unlocked abilities: Spiritual Sense Realm, Spiritual Pressure Realm, Spiritual Touch Realm, and Spiritual Domain Realm.
Usually, Spiritual Cultivators unlock abilities in this order: Spiritual Sense Realm, Spiritual Pressure Realm, Spiritual Touch Realm, and Spiritual Domain Realm. Unlike Body and Qi cultivation, which have more defined stages, the potential within each Spiritual Cultivator realm is limitless. For instance, spiritual sense isn't limited to vision. With further improvement, one could smell, hear, and even taste things from afar using spiritual sense.
This reminded Leyvi of the time his spiritual sense could hear and smell within its range. His speculation that such abilities were learnable was correct.
Leyvi's intrigue grew as he read on. He could already use spiritual sense and spiritual pressure, and he had seen spiritual touch in action, but Spiritual Domain Realm was new to him, its name alone sparking curiosity. This was his first encounter with the term.
According to the manual, a Spiritual Cultivator who had mastered the spiritual domain was incredibly powerful. The area around the user became a reality-altering field that could affect enemies physically or mentally, depending on the user's chosen effect.
After a while, Leyvi gained a basic understanding of spiritual cultivation.
Firstly, the foundation of the Spiritual Sense Realm is the ability to perceive the world through one's spiritual sense.
Upon entering this realm, a cultivator unlocks 360-degree spatial awareness—the most basic form of this ability. However, since Spiritual Cultivators can also unlock other senses such as hearing, smell, and even taste, the more accurate term for this basic perception is spiritual vision, rather than the broader term spiritual sense.
Each of these spiritual senses holds limitless potential for advancement. A cultivator can specialize and develop more refined, powerful forms. For example, Leyvi's see-through vision was a higher-level form of spiritual vision. Another advanced technique would be super magnification, allowing a cultivator to zoom in and observe microscopic details from afar.
Secondly, the foundation of the Spiritual Pressure Realm is the ability to transform spiritual sense into an invisible force capable of influencing the physical world.
Upon reaching this stage, a cultivator gains the basic ability to exert force on objects without touching them, whether to push, pull, or lift. It is also in this realm that most Spiritual Cultivators learn to fly, using spiritual pressure as propulsion.
Thirdly, the foundation of the Spiritual Touch Realm is to allow spiritual sense to interact directly with the world in more intricate ways.
At this level, cultivators can touch, grab, or manipulate objects at a distance with precision. This realm marks a dramatic leap in combat capability, transforming a Spiritual Cultivator into a formidable, even terrifying, fighter.
And fourth, the Spiritual Domain Realm turns the cultivator's spiritual sense into a personalized domain of control.
By reaching this stage, a Spiritual Cultivator gains the basic ability to form a sphere of spiritual influence—an area where their will becomes law. Within this domain, the user can manipulate enemies and the environment alike, physically or mentally, depending on the nature of the domain.
In the end, the true strength of a Spiritual Cultivator lies not in raw power, but in the state of their mind and the condition of their sea of consciousness.
If their mental stability falters, their spiritual abilities weaken. If their sea of consciousness suffers damage, they could lose access to those abilities entirely.
A powerful cultivator could be brought low by trauma or emotional collapse. One moment, they might stand as an unshakable force—and the next, after a single mental shock, find their strength crumbling like sand.
But the reverse is also true.
A typically weak cultivator might, under the right conditions, experience a sudden surge in mental clarity or purpose—a burst of courage, a moment of insight, or even a spiritual awakening. In such cases, their mental power could multiply, temporarily or permanently, unlocking greater potential than ever before.
After absorbing this long introduction, Leyvi finally reached the part he'd been waiting for—the actual cultivation method.
The path of the Spiritual Cultivator begins with mantras.
Cultivators enhance their spiritual capacity by reciting specific mantras, but not just any casual chant would do. Each mantra had to be spoken precisely—with the correct tone, rhythm, and frequency. It sounded simple on the surface, but in practice, it was anything but. The vocal precision required was intense, and maintaining consistency over long periods was a challenge of both discipline and endurance.
Thus, the first step was simply learning how to chant the mantras properly.
Only after mastering this could a mortal begin their true cultivation—by chanting these mantras consistently over several years.
But these weren't mere words. The mantras acted as vibrational codes, each one finely tuned to resonate with specific spiritual frequencies. When chanted correctly, they stimulated and enhanced the brain, and in turn, refined and strengthened the sea of consciousness.
After reaching the transformation threshold, the sea of consciousness enters the Spiritual Sense Realm, giving birth to spiritual sense.
At higher levels of cultivation, the first mantra gradually loses its effect. Once the sea of consciousness levels up, it becomes resistant to the same vibrational patterns, no longer stimulated by them.
At that point, a new, more advanced mantra is required to continue progress. This becomes the second mantra, tailored specifically for a leveled-up sea of consciousness.
The same principle applies as the cultivator advances further. When the sea of consciousness transforms again, whether stepping into the Spiritual Pressure Realm or later, the Spiritual Domain Realm, they must transition to the third and then fourth mantras, respectively. Each new mantra resonates with the increasingly refined state of mind, allowing for continued cultivation at each stage.
That said, mantras only serve one purpose: to cultivate and evolve the sea of consciousness.
To train and unlock the wide array of spiritual sense abilities, entirely different methods must be used—methods focused on perception, control, and fine-tuned application.
This is where the Royal Family Edition truly distinguished itself.
Unlike the incomplete public version, which only included partial information and left cultivators to figure out the rest through trial and error, the Royal Family Edition provided full, explicit training methods for each spiritual ability. It outlined step-by-step guidance for how to awaken and develop specialized techniques within spiritual vision, spiritual pressure, spiritual touch, and even the elusive spiritual domain.
The manual made it clear—this edition was crafted solely for the royal family and selected elites. Its content was restricted, hidden from the general public to ensure the superiority of the royal bloodline.
Leyvi didn't expect Dastan to give him the Royal Family Edition instead of the public one.
No, that guy most likely didn't have the public one with him. Oh well, I'm the crown prince's friend now, so I'll shamelessly consider myself a selected person to use this. The Howling Kingdom Royal Family can't complain about this. Hahaha!
Since he had already awakened his spiritual pressure through his Qi cultivation, it meant he had technically stepped into the Spiritual Pressure Realm. From here, there were two possible paths toward reaching the Spiritual Touch Realm.
One was to learn the third mantra and continue cultivating his sea of consciousness through spiritual methods. The other was to follow the path of Qi cultivation all the way to the Soul Formation Realm, where the ability to use spiritual touch often emerged naturally.
Leyvi smiled wryly at the thought. He wasn't some Qi cultivation genius like Fairy Maiden June or Crown Prince Dastan. At his pace, reaching Soul Formation might take him hundreds of years.
However, he was aware that he had an abnormal spiritual sense compared to other people, meaning he most likely had outstanding talent in spiritual cultivation. So, Leyvi decided to learn the third mantra and enter the Spiritual Touch Realm as soon as possible.
After all, having an invisible limb to interact with things was pretty awesome. Leyvi grinned at the thought—he'd have even more weapons in his arsenal to fight the succubuses during the night battle. He could already imagine their surprised faces when an invisible holy rod suddenly pierced through them.
Shaking his head to clear the daydream, Leyvi forced himself to refocus. Thinking about his wives now would only make him miss them too much and cloud his mind. This was no time for distractions.
And so, he began learning the third mantra.