But that wasn't all. As he read more and more, a revelation gradually dawned on him—one that explained why understanding Cultivation Methods, Techniques, and even certain books in the Scripture Pavilion had felt so taxing, requiring more focus and time than expected.
It all came down to how the knowledge was transmitted.
The books housed within the Scripture Pavilion were far from ordinary. Although they looked like normal books at first glance, they were anything but. Whether it was a Cultivation Method, a Technique, or a book from the knowledge section, the information they contained wasn't merely ink on paper—it was comprehension itself.
Each of these manuals held not just words, but also the understanding and insights of their original creators. The knowledge within wasn't written in a conventional way. It was infused—imbued with the author's own comprehension of the subject. Without that embedded understanding, the books would be incomplete, and at best, only offer a shallow grasp of the material.
This was the true essence behind them. The words merely acted as vessels, conduits through which the embedded comprehension flowed. That was why reading these books required not just attention, but genuine insight—and why the challenge became increasingly steep on the upper floors, where the depth and density of comprehension rose dramatically.
It also explained something else.
When Lyra had transcribed the Divine Sense Refining Method, she had only managed to copy the superficial layer—the words themselves. The true core, the infused comprehension, hadn't been replicated. Without it, progress was inevitably limited.
And this was precisely why copying cultivation manuals was so incredibly difficult. It wasn't enough to transcribe the text; one had to also replicate the embedded comprehension, a task that was far from simple. It was in this crucial aspect that Lyra had unknowingly fallen short during her attempt to copy the Divine Sense Refining Method.
Following this realization, Mikael continued to deepen his grasp of cultivation. As more time passed, he began to feel that the once-cryptic terms and strange wording used in the book he had previously attempted to read on the fourth floor were gradually becoming clearer. He had the distinct sense that if he were to revisit it now, his understanding would be far more complete than before.
After spending a full week on the first floor, he finally decided it was time to seek out more advanced knowledge. He could have gone straight back to the fourth floor, but instead chose a more methodical approach—ascending the levels one by one in order to steadily strengthen his foundation in cultivation and its related disciplines.
He then spent another full week on the second floor. However, due to the increased difficulty in comprehension, he was able to read far fewer books compared to his time on the first floor. Even so, his progress was undeniable. His understanding of cultivation concepts advanced by leaps and bounds.
On the third floor, he followed the same approach. Yet again, the number of books he could finish diminished, the contents more intricate and demanding than ever. Still, he persevered, extracting every drop of insight from each challenging text.
And finally, three weeks after he had first left the fourth floor, Mikael returned to it—stronger, sharper, and far more prepared than before.
***
Currently seated at a table on the fourth floor, Mikael wore an expression of focused intensity. Scattered across the surface were several books, each bearing titles that hinted at highly specialized and advanced content. Names such as Soul Cohesion Across Broken Realms, Integration of Divergent Cores: A Theory, Pathways to Independent Ascension, and Divergent Pathways Compatibility could be clearly seen. Right now, Mikael was fully absorbed in one of them.
His eyes narrowed as he carefully traced a particular paragraph. 'It says here that it's impossible, but it doesn't explain why.'
'Could it be an issue of body compatibility? Or maybe the body becomes oversaturated, exceeding its capacity and triggering an internal collapse?' he wondered, the fire of determination gleaming in his eyes. Where others might grow discouraged in the face of something deemed "impossible," Mikael felt only more driven—driven to defy limits, to make the impossible possible. No matter how difficult the path, he had no intention of giving up.
Although the reading was slow and mentally draining due to the complexity of the material, he eventually finished the book. Yet instead of resting, he immediately reached for another volume, this one centered entirely on the soul.
'The soul, huh?' he mused. 'It was barely mentioned on the lower floors—only scattered fragments, and even then, the information was vague at best. This is the first book I've found that's entirely dedicated to it. I hope it'll help me understand the nature of Souls more clearly.'
With those thoughts circling in his mind, Mikael immersed himself in the new text, his eyes locked onto the first page with unwavering focus.
Unbeknownst to him, someone had taken notice.
A gaze—light as air, yet razor-sharp—had quietly settled on him from the fifth floor. It was a flicker of attention: calm, observant, and discerning.
But Mikael, wholly absorbed, sensed none of it.
'I see… so the soul is the true self—the core that contains my personality, emotions, memories… everything that makes me me. Back on modern Earth, we believed all of that resided in the brain, what we called the "mind". But here, things are different.' His thoughts paused, then resumed with a sharper edge. 'The mind still matters, but it's only a medium—an interface the soul uses to engage with the world, to process experiences and exert will.'
'In terms of combat power, the soul contributes the least compared to Qi, body, or even the mind. Yet ironically, it's the most essential. At sufficiently high cultivation realms, it's possible to survive without a body—but surviving without a soul? That's impossible. That alone says a lot about its significance.'
'And then there's recovery. Physical damage is relatively easy for cultivators to heal, but soul damage… that's a completely different story. All of this points to just how vital the soul truly is. Even if, for now, I can't control it or utilize it to enhance my combat ability, it still—'
A sharp pulse suddenly struck his mind like a hammer blow.
Mikael halted mid-thought, his fingers rising instinctively to his temples as a throbbing pain spread across his skull.
"Argh…" A low, frustrated groan escaped his lips as his eyes narrowed. 'Fuck… not again. I pushed my mind too far.'
Grinding his teeth, he shut the book with a quiet snap and exhaled slowly before easing himself into the familiar lotus position. As his legs crossed and his spine straightened, his breath began to steady, falling into a natural rhythm. The pain didn't vanish, but with each cycle of breath, his mind began to calm ever so slightly.
This wasn't mere habit—it was grounded in experience. Even without his former Meditation skill, this posture remained the most efficient way to recover from various forms of strain, especially mental overload. There was a reason cultivators almost instinctively adopted the lotus position—for healing, introspection, or cultivation, it had always been the most reliable foundation.
By aligning the spine and stabilizing the body's internal energy centers, the lotus position fostered a state of structural and energetic equilibrium. Qi flowed more smoothly. Blood circulated without unnecessary resistance. Most importantly, the mind became anchored by the body's balance, allowing mental force to reorganize and consolidate itself without further fragmentation.
The position minimized physical distractions, eased unconscious muscular tension, and encouraged the soul to settle into the body, rather than drift restlessly within a haze of mental agitation. In this aligned and grounded state, even without invoking active meditation techniques, recovery came faster and more naturally.
It was as if the position itself whispered to the body: Be still. Heal.
Of course, Mikael wasn't concerned with the theory behind the posture at the moment. Right now, he cared about one thing—recovering from the mental strain as fast as possible.
After a while, he let out one final slow exhale, then gently opened his eyes. The ache had vanished. His mind was steady again, fully recovered and ready to dive back into study. But before turning the page, he rubbed his temple once more and inwardly complained,
'These books with their infused comprehension are absolutely ridiculous. It's only been a little more than three weeks, and I've already had to stop and recover six times!'
He shook his head in quiet disbelief.
'Six times might not sound like much… but I'm a Spiritual Foundation Realm cultivator—I shouldn't need to rest my mind at all. Okay, maybe not never, that's unrealistic, but at the very least, not this frequently. It's supposed to take some kind of overwhelming mental burden for it to even become necessary.'
'And yet, in just three weeks, I've already reached my limit six times—and the intervals between each rest are getting shorter the higher I go. Now that I've reached the fourth floor, I'll probably need a break every twelve to fifteen hours!'
'And that's with my Mental Talents and Mental Force assisting me. Without them, I doubt I could even manage a full hour of reading before collapsing from fatigue!'
He sighed inwardly.
'Anyway, there's no point complaining. Let's just focus back on this book.'
True to his thoughts, Mikael's focus promptly returned to the pages in front of him. His eyes resumed their steady scan across the dense lines of text as he absorbed the soul-related knowledge one page after another.
'I see… soul… the physical and soul link…' His gaze remained fixed, his attention fully locked on the book before him. Every word, every idea—it all sank into his mind without distraction.
In this way, Mikael continued his quiet study, time slipping by unnoticed as he delved deeper into comprehension.
Until another three weeks had quietly passed.
Author Note:
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