Nexus Of The Mind: Rise Of The Martial Cultivator

"Hey, that was very comforting." They again said in unison. After hugging each other for what seemed like eternity, they finally let go of each other.

"When I came here, after almost a month of wondering, I met this man, well he doesn't want to be addressed in that manner, who took me in and started taking care of me. It was strange but I had no choice." Shalyn spoke again.

After arriving on this planet, she had nowhere to go and she was wondering until she met Vexis who took her in. She told all that happened to Neon. "So you mean you have a home in this forest filled with wild beasts?" Neon asked. Shalyn looked at him and chuckled awkwardly, "yes and a really good one at that."

"So what now?" Neon asked, scratching the back of his head. "We go home so you can finally take a shower. You are stinking." Shalyn said in a mocking tone. Neon was ashamed. Honestly, he had also been thinking of that.

The name of their house, based on it's structure is the Ripplestone Cottage. It is a quaint, oval-shaped home made from polished river stones, surrounded by a moat of perpetually flowing water.

The stones hum faintly with water-aligned energy, promoting tranquility and focus.Water from the moat purifies the body and replenishes energy when consumed.

The home has a natural cooling effect,making it ideal for warm climates.Practitioners inside experience heightened fluidity in movement and thought. The ripple patterns on the stones shift subtly, reflecting the state of the resident's energy.

Without wasting much time, they headed straight to the Ripplestone Cottage. Neon has to get a time to take a shower and stabilize his realm while Shalyn has to replenish her energy and get them something to eat.

---

"Do you always walk to your house like this. I mean it is tiring", Neon asked in tired manner. "Yeah, I was about to say that." Zypheriel quipped. "Oh sometimes I kill myself to get there. What do you think?", Shalyn said sarcastically. Oh not you as well, Neon thought to himself after thinking about Zypheriel.

Tshhe tshhe, there was rustling in the nearby grass which seemed to be as if nothing ever existed. They quickly halted. Shalyn readied herself for anything. "I will get you covered, don't worry", she said to Neon. "And what are you trying to do?" He asked curiously. "Protect you of course." She said plainly.

"Oh.. I should be protecting you. Also, I have been going on beast hunting with my father so I know a few handy tricks." He said without bothering about what Shalyn said.

"You couldn't even save yourself from those noobs back there, nevertheless, something of an unknown rank." Shalyn said looking at him in disgust.

"Really, I think I chose not to react because it was my fau.." "Shhh", Shalyn shushed him before he could even finish it, "I think it is a beast", she added.

"Yep, a tier one beast." Neon said without even flinching. Shalyn seems to be amazed, "how did you know that?" "It is simple, the lower the tier of the beast, the lower their confidence. Usually, the lower tiered beasts will attack their prey when they are unaware. This allows them to have a higher chance of victory." He explained.

There are different tiers and types of beasts. There are wild beasts, furious beasts, demonic beasts, rage beasts, legendary beasts amongst others. They also range from the tiers of one to nine. Some beast are known to even transcend beyond existence and thus beyond the ninth tier.

"There" Neon said as he lunged forward, sprinting past Shalyn like a bolt of lightning. Before he passed her completely, he looked at her face and smiled. Jaguar paw, he muttered under his breath protruding his hand forward, with his fingers clawed and slamming it into the air.

Yes, that's what Shalyn thought but it was really a beast. All beast have different properties and characteristics. Some are strength based while others are defense, agility or transformation based. There are others too.

For this beast, it had the invisible attribute, allowing it to become invisible for some moments.

Crash! It slammed into a nearby tree. Grrrr. It snarled after standing up almost instantaneously. After it came into a clear view, it looked like a lion with the tail of a scorpion. "It's the venomous lion beast", Neon finally said after getting caught of it.

"Time to see what you've got. Finally, there will be some action. And remember, I will assess you based on this combat." Zypheriel said in an enthusiastic manner. He has always loved action and when there is none, he gets bored. That's when he will start speaking thrash.

"Stay out of this Shalyn, it is my fight." Neon stretched a little and warmed up. Shalyn did as she was told. Although she had been surprised at all that's happened, she was also curious about something. That's because Neon seems to have a different combat style. One similar to the Flowing Stream Discipline.

The venomous lion started out slowly, circling Neon and looking for an opening. After seeing that there was no way it could get that chance, it leapt up and then forward, in the posture of slamming it's claw's into Neon's chest. He slowly sidestepped, allowing the beast to brush past him.

Smoothly, he spun in a hundred and eighty degree angle, slamming his foot into the belly of the beast and sending it rolling on the floor. "Uhmm..nice one there, two out of ten" Zypheriel remarked.

The beast quickly regained itself and sprinted forward. Neon didn't hesitate, he also did the same thing. Shalyn couldn't understand the reason why someone will choose to confront a beast head-on.

When there was around three meters distance between the two, Neon seems to accelerate and suddenly, there was a loud bang, the sound of metal banging on something was heard. His fist connected with the skull of the beast. Iron strike, he said. Oh I love this skill he thought. " Seven out of ten", he heard.

Shalyn was starstrucked. How is it possible, someone that couldn't be anywhere near a Pulse Initiate could already do that?. Iron strike allows Neon to get a temporary hardened hand to strike.

When it comes to cultivation, there are also ranks just like beasts and other creatures. There are a total of nine ranks. They are:

Mortal Initiate, Pulse Initiate, Veil Breaker, Stellar Knight, Celestial Vanguard, Astral Sovereign, Ethereal Sage, Void Ascendant and Eternal Apex.

The higher you go, the longer your lifespan and the stronger you become. This blends the concept of Realm cultivation and martial cultivation together to create an international and universal ranking system.

The beast let out a low growl before taking action again." Not giving up?" Neon said as he confronted the beast. This time, he showed no mercy by punching the beast mercilessly until blood spluttered everywhere.

"It's already dead stop it!!" Shalyn yelled. "Ten over ten, assessment complete. You sure are vicious", Zypheriel said with an applause. Shalyn is a girl and at least, she has the least thing of a girl, sympathy.

"Just take the core of the beast and let us get out of here." Shalyn said. Neon finished it quickly. The beast core and the core of other creatures too contain essence that are crucial for growth and development.

"Hey kid, you should better hunt a lot of beast cores to grow faster otherwise, you will be left behind." Zypheriel advised. " And what's that supposed to mean?" Neon couldn't understand it.

"Your Realm is no ordinary realm, it is called the Ultimate Realm. You will know more about it when you have the time." Zypheriel said, quite interested in unlocking the mysteries within the Ultimate Realm.

They headed through the woods and moved forward.

---

After walking for what seemed like eternity, they finally stopped in front of a tree. It looked odd amongst the other trees but without paying close attention to it, you wouldn't be able to notice it. Neon couldn't make sense of anything but before he could speak, Shalyn touched the tree and moved back.

Out of nowhere, a great door with crimson runes appeared. Shalyn entered first followed by Neon. When he entered, the world within was a stark contrast to the world outside. He leaped his head out of the door to see if he was really seeing things. Shalyn quickly dragged him before the door slammed behind him.

Everything inside was just as Shalyn described. The appearance of the Ripplestone Cottage and it even seemed to have a different environment. Good furniture, polished water stone floors, lighting crystals and other good qualities. It was indeed qualified for it's construction and function.

Welcome home, Vexis said.