Days after his induction, Sel Yun walked through the mountain paths leading to The Nest—the heart of knowledge within the Eagle Mountain Clan. The structure itself loomed like a sacred temple carved into the mountain's side, its spires twisting upward like wings ready to take flight. Golden inscriptions shimmered faintly across its stone walls, each rune representing a law, a history, or a secret technique sealed within. Disciples passing by spoke in hushed tones, reverence evident in their eyes. To many, The Nest was more than an archive—it was a monument to the clan's legacy, where the wisdom of ages slumbered behind barriers of spirit-sealed jade.
It was said that nowhere else in the entire Avion Region held as much accumulated knowledge, ancient manuscripts, and cultivation treasures as The Nest. From the lowest Qi Gathering techniques to tomes detailing long-lost realms, everything could be found within its countless chambers. Even scholars from rival clans sought entry, though few were ever permitted. As Yun approached the grand doors, their metallic feathers gleamed beneath the sunlight, responding to his presence with a faint hum. A strange calm settled over him. Knowledge, he thought, is the true foundation of power. With a respectful bow, he stepped toward the threshold, ready to explore the secrets waiting within.
Sel Yun entered The Nest with quiet purpose, his footsteps soft against the polished jade floors. Though he admired the endless rows of scrolls and glowing manuscripts that lined the shelves, his motive was clear—he had come to grow stronger. Knowledge was his weapon, cultivation his path. To ascend through the higher realms of power, he needed techniques to refine his spiritual essence efficiently and understand the true extent of his strength. Yet, before he could select an appropriate method, one thing remained uncertain: his current stage of cultivation. Without that, any technique he practiced might do more harm than good.
With that in mind, Yun turned toward the eastern wing of The Nest, where spiritual detectors and ancient measuring arrays awaited those seeking self-assessment. This area was quieter, filled with a sense of reverent stillness. Only a few disciples occupied the space, each surrounded by faint halos of elemental light as they tested their progress. At the far end stood a circular platform engraved with complex runes that pulsed in rhythm with one's spiritual flow. Yun approached it calmly, the air around him stirring faintly in response to his hidden depth. He took a steadying breath, stepped onto the platform, and prepared to uncover just where on the cosmic ladder his new life began.
Sel Yun closed his eyes and exhaled slowly, allowing his aura to flow naturally into the glowing nodes beneath his feet. The runes of the platform responded instantly, lighting up one by one in a circular pattern. His breathing grew steady, deep, and rhythmic—like waves breaking upon an unseen shore. Above his head, the faint shimmer of energy began to gather, twisting and coalescing into the shape of a translucent altar. The structure flickered uncertainly at first, but with every pulse of his spirit, it grew sharper, more defined, until it stood as a solid manifestation of his inner world.
Gold, black, and red vein-like cracks appeared across the altar's surface, glowing in alternating bursts of light. The colors pulsed in harmony, yet each carried its own will—gold steady and radiant, black vast and devouring, red burning with fierce vitality. At the apex of the altar, where all three veins converged, their energies clashed and fused, forming a single liquid sphere suspended above it. From that sphere seeped a faint grey mist, its hue neither bright nor dark—an equilibrium of opposites. The platform trembled beneath Yun's feet, and glowing words emerged from the runic circle: "Half Step Core Formation." The air rippled around him, and the few disciples nearby looked up in disbelief. To have reached such a stage without any formal cultivation… it defied reason.
The result brought clarity to Sel Yun's mind. Now he knew exactly where to begin. A Half Step Core Formation cultivator—strong enough to command spiritual energy, yet still unrefined in its higher applications. With that understanding, the path ahead unfolded clearly. According to clan regulations, this level granted him access to the first three floors of The Nest's Central Wing, where foundational and intermediate cultivation methods were stored. He decided he would start from the beginning, mastering the basics before reaching higher. True power, he reasoned, came not from shortcuts but from perfecting each step. With quiet determination, Yun turned toward the Central Wing's towering gates, ready to immerse himself in the knowledge that would shape the foundation of his ascent.
Sel Yun descended the spiral steps leading into the Central Wing's first floor, where rows upon rows of manuals glowed faintly under the warm lantern light. He found a secluded reading chamber and withdrew a thin jade tablet titled The Path of Ascension: Stages of Cultivation. As he pressed his spiritual sense into it, lines of golden script unfolded before his eyes, explaining the hierarchy of power that defined the world. It began with Qi Gathering, the initial step where one learned to sense and draw spiritual energy from the environment. Then came Qi Refining, where the gathered energy was purified and integrated into one's meridians, strengthening body and mind alike. After that was Foundation Establishment, the solidifying of one's spiritual base—a process that separated mere aspirants from true cultivators.
Beyond that lay the Core Formation stage, where one condensed their energy into a spiritual core, marking the birth of inner power. Following it was the Qi Prince stage, a realm of true mastery over elemental essence, leading next into the Qi King, where a cultivator's influence could shape the land itself. From there, the titles grew grander and more distant—Ascendant, the first step into transcending mortal limits; Super Ascendant, where one's will began to defy natural law; and finally, Realm King, sovereigns of entire domains whose mere thoughts could rewrite heaven and earth. Each stage, the tablet revealed, was divided into seven distinct levels, each representing a higher refinement of body, spirit, and will. As Yun absorbed the knowledge, a small smile tugged at his lips. So this… is the ladder all mortals must climb, he thought. Very well. Let's see how far I can ascend.
Yun sat cross-legged in the quiet chamber, scrolls floating before him in a slow, deliberate circle. The crimson script of Tears of Phoenix glimmered faintly, as if alive. He could feel the scorching essence within the words, the legacy of a creature that defied death through flame. This was no ordinary fire art—it demanded emotion, pain, and rebirth. Yun knew that mastering it would mean burning himself from within, purging weakness through agony. Yet his eyes remained calm, unwavering. "If I am to rise," he whispered, "then even fire must kneel before me."
He then turned his attention to the second technique—Fire Eagle Blade Wings. Unlike the phoenix art, this was sharp and aggressive, a style of dominance through speed and precision. The technique required one to channel spiritual fire into their back meridians and shape it into cutting wings. A single misstep could char the veins and cripple flight forever. But Yun saw harmony in the chaos. If he could fuse the immortal flame of the phoenix with the relentless assault of the eagle, he could forge wings that didn't just burn or cut—they would ascend.
He memorized the mantras and formed the hand seals, the air around him trembling. The red glow of his meridians illuminated the chamber walls like molten rivers. Within moments, his back erupted with heat—two faint outlines of wings shimmering with ember light. The Phoenix's sorrow mixed with the Eagle's fury, creating unstable, roaring energy. Yun gritted his teeth, forcing the powers to merge. "Tears and blades," he muttered, his aura flaring wildly. "Let them become one." And as his wings took their first fiery form, a distant cry echoed within his soul—half a scream, half a song of rebirth.
Yun's daring fusion shocked even the ancient arrays within The Nest. The combination of two Grade 2 techniques—each dangerous on its own—produced something entirely new, something alive. The resulting skill pulsed with chaotic grace, burning gold and crimson. While merging arts wasn't unheard of, no sane cultivator would tamper with a phoenix technique, let alone one still below Core Formation. The phoenix arts were considered perfect—sacred flames born from rebirth itself. To alter them was seen as arrogance before the heavens. But Yun had no interest in reverence. His path was not one of imitation but creation.
The result was astonishing. The new technique granted him not only control over fire's destructive nature but mastery over its endurance. His wings could carry him through the air faster and longer than any practitioner of the traditional Eagle Blade Wings, regardless of element. When fully ignited, they shimmered with a hue between molten gold and dusk red—proof of the phoenix essence within. At his peak, Yun could keep pace with a Mid Stage Core Formation Master, who possessed natural flight as an innate extension of their cultivation. Those masters could reach speeds of up to 350 miles per hour unaided, yet Yun, still only at Half Step Core Formation, was already touching the edge of their domain.