The next day, I woke up feeling like I had made either the best or the worst decision of my life; there was no middle ground with the World Tree Sutra, and I knew it.

  All of the outer disciples that had chosen a cultivation method had been gathered by Senior Sister Liu in the central courtyard. The sun had not yet risen high enough in the sky to cast short shadows across the gray-blue stones. Disciples held their jade tablets and showed varying degrees of enthusiasm and apprehension.

  “Over the course of the next week, there will be no official classes,” Senior Sister Liu declared. “No combat training, no weapon practice, and no herbology classes. This time is to allow you to focus exclusively on your selected cultivation method.”

  A collective wave of excitement moved through the group of disciples.

  “Most of you selected the standard Human-rank cultivation methods,” Senior Sister Liu continued. “These are well-documented. If you have any questions, you can go to the library. But do not, under any circumstance, rush your foundation.”

  She looked over the assembled group of disciples, and I could swear that she looked at me for a brief instant longer than the rest of the group.

  “Cultivation is not a race,” she said. “It is a journey. Those who rush may damage themselves. Those who take their time build foundations that will support them to levels beyond what you can currently conceive.”

  At that point, she dismissed the group.

  “A whole week to cultivate using the Flowing River Method?” Lin Mei turned to me when we left the courtyard. “I’m excited to finally start but I’m nervous, what if I don’t have any affinity with it?”

  “You’ll do great,” I replied. “You know more about herbs than half the inner sect. Your method will be perfect for you.”

  Wei Lin joined us and seemed too composed for someone who had stayed up late reading cultivation texts. “I'll start my method today. My father gave me detailed instructions, so I should be able to avoid most of the common mistakes that beginners make.”

  I noticed that he was still keeping his cultivation method to himself.

  But I suppose merchant families didn't get wealthy by giving away their secrets freely.

  And it's not like I could call someone out for having secrets when I was a transmigrator from another world with a sentient cultivation companion in my soul space.

  If anything, I was more paranoid about my own secrets than Wei Lin seemed to be about his.

  “What about you?” Lin Mei asked, then her expression changed to concern. “Are you seriously going to try the World Tree Sutra?”

  “Yes.”

  “Be careful,” she said. “And if you feel anything wrong—”

  “I’ll stop immediately,” I said. “I’m not trying to grow into a tree. Trust me.”

  We separated at the dormitory entrance. Lin Mei went to her cell to begin cultivating, and so did Wei Lin. I headed to Cell Ten, the jade tablet securely tucked under my arm.

  Once I entered my room, I locked the door and sat on my bed.

  The jade tablet felt heavier than it should have.

  This was the weight of potential. The weight of danger. The weight of having chosen a path that could either save me or destroy me.

  “Master,” Azure said quietly. “Are you ready?”

  “As ready as I’ll ever be.”

  I shut my eyes, pressing the tablet to my forehead exactly how I had pressed the Void Touching Leaf to my forehead during the entrance exam. Unlike the leaf, which had simply guided my awareness inward, the tablet felt alive. As soon as the tablet touched my skin, information poured into my mind.

  Unlike reading a book or studying a manual, the knowledge simply appeared like I had always known it and was simply now remembering it. Words, diagrams, theories, and instructions, all flowed into my consciousness at once, perfectly organized and coherent.

  The World Tree Sutra.

  One of the first things I noticed was that the method deviated from the typical cultivation progression taught by the Azure Peak Sect. Senior Sister Liu had told us that the typical cultivation progression was to follow a linear path: Qi Condensation, then Elemental Realm, then Stellar Realm, then Life Realm, and finally Civilization Realm. Each realm built upon the previous one in a logical and sequential fashion.

  The World Tree Sutra abandoned this logic completely.

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  Instead of clearly defined realms with established stages, the method had its own unique progression system that didn’t correlate with the Azure Peak Sect’s teachings. The stages weren’t even given proper names. Instead, they were simply referred to as the First Stage, Second Stage, Third Stage, and so on.

  “Azure,” I said, opening my eyes. “Do you see this?”

  “Yes, Master. The method is quite different than what Senior Sister Liu described.”

  That was an understatement.

  The First Stage discussed how to form the Genesis Seed.

  Fortunately, this part of the method was complete. All the details, diagrams, and instructions that described how to create the Genesis Seed were contained within the tablet, and all of them were preserved. According to the knowledge that now resided in my mind, I’d need to create a Genesis Seed in my inner world. A Genesis Seed was not a physical seed, but a concentrated point of pure potential that would eventually grow into the World Tree.

  The formation of the Genesis Seed involved five separate and increasingly complicated steps.

  Step 1 – Establish a Thirteen-Coil Spiraling Energy Circulation Pattern Within The Inner World

  Unfortunately, the number thirteen wasn’t arbitrary. It represented fundamental principles of reality itself, although these principles weren’t fully explained in the method. The spiral acted as the foundation for all subsequent steps of the method.

  Step 2 – Create An Element-Cycling Washing Curtain

  An element-cycling washing curtain was a rotating field of energy that allowed the Genesis Seed to absorb the essences that were needed during the Second Stage of the method.

  Step 3 – Establish Nine Resonant Channels Tied To Fundamental Laws

  These channels would serve as the conduit that connected the Genesis Seed to the fundamental laws of reality: space, time, matter, energy, life, death, order, chaos, and something the method referred to as “the void between.”

  Whatever that meant.

  Step 4 – Perform Higher-Dimensional Reality Folding

  The instructions for this step were painful to even think about.

  In essence, I needed to take my inner world and fold it onto itself in ways that defied our understanding of three-dimensional space. The folded structure would create areas of compressed reality where the Genesis Seed could pull energy from multiple dimensional layers at the same time.

  Step 5 – Complete The Recognition Or Remembering Step

  This final step was perhaps the most abstract portion of the entire process. I needed to make the Genesis Seed ‘remember’ that it was meant to become a world. Not just any world, but a World Tree that bridged dimensions and connected realities. The method described it as waking a memory that never existed. That sounded like philosophical nonsense until you read the detailed instructions that accompanied the method. At that point, it became somewhat intuitive.

  Fortunately, the best part of the Genesis Seed Formation was that it was designed to incorporate foreign or otherworldly energies. The method stated that the Genesis Seed needed to be fed essence from multiple realities to achieve its full potential. So, I had reason to believe that my random soul-hopping problem might actually be a benefit.

  Assuming I could successfully create the Genesis Seed.

  “The First Stage is very detailed,” Azure noted. “Much more so than I anticipated from a remnant method.”

  “Yeah,” I agreed. “Which leads me to wonder why so many people failed.”

  The tablet didn’t offer an explanation for that question, but I could hazard a guess. The instructions were certainly detailed, but they were also very complex. One mistake during any of the five steps could result in disastrous failure. And as per the warnings, most people who messed up the Genesis Seed Formation ended up transforming into trees before they even reached the Second Stage.

  That was a comforting thought.

  The Second Stage of the World Tree Sutra was focused on collecting elemental energies, which should have occurred during the Elemental Realm according to traditional cultivation methods. However, World Tree Sutra users collected elemental energies during Qi Condensation. I would need to collect pure essence of wind, water, and earth, and absorb each one into both my inner world and my Genesis Seed.

  Each elemental essence I collected would naturally raise my cultivation level.

  Also, once I had the elemental essences incorporated into my Genesis Seed, I’d be able to create real geography, climate, and weather conditions within my inner world. Not just an empty void with Azure floating around, but a working environment.

  That part sounded fantastic.

  The problem was that I had to successfully complete the First Stage before I could even try the Second Stage.

  The Third Stage was where things got interesting and also very nebulous. According to the tablet, each World Tree Sutra cultivator took a different path at this point. The method gave no explicit instructions since each inner world developed differently depending on the cultivator’s choices and circumstances.

  Some might create stellar bodies such as stars and planets. Others might concentrate on establishing fundamental laws. Some might create life. The tablet simply stated that I’d need to determine what my inner world needed and focus on its development. Very helpful.

  However, I was glad the method worked that way. It meant I didn’t have to worry about completing the Elemental Realm and then getting stuck because I couldn’t advance to the next part of the method. I could simply focus on developing my inner world the way it needed to grow, following my own path rather than a predetermined and fixed structure.

  As for the incomplete portions of the method, there were two major gaps.

  The World Tree Assimilation stage was heavily fragmented. Only partial records remained, and what remained appeared to be utterly terrifying. Full assimilation into the World Tree. Become a living connection between realities. Extend consciousness throughout multiple planes of existence. The tablet contained no comprehensive cultivation sequence for this stage, no guarantees regarding stability, and no established procedure for reversing or stopping the process.

  This was different to what happened to Zhang Wei, he had likely failed the First Stage and turned into a tree against his will.

  The World Tree Assimilation stage was something the cultivator chose to do.

  Apparently, the transformation into a World Tree was a form of ascension.

  I had no intention to undergo that transformation myself.

  The later stages of the method were nearly entirely lost.

  References to things such as transcending reality, existing throughout multiple universes, and the cultivator becoming a fundamental structure of the cosmos were found scattered throughout the tablet.

  But I didn’t care about those stages right then.

  I needed to survive the First Stage without becoming a cosmic tree.

  I opened my eyes and placed the tablet back down.

  “Well,” I said to Azure. “Time to see if this was a terrible decision or just a really bad one.”

  “I will closely monitor your progress, Master,” Azure said. “If anything seems wrong, I’ll let you know.”

  “Thanks, Azure. Let’s get started.”