When Ailsa thought about it, Mortal Qi was quite amazing. It was able to take the weakest of creatures and lay a foundation that could allow them to climb to the highest of peaks. It was calm and gentle enough to not kill such fragile individuals, but strong and sturdy enough that to be that base that supported a skyscraper.
This was something that Ailsa had always subconsciously known, but not something she consciously acknowledged until right this moment.
Was Mortal Qi truly just some lesser, inferior qi? Or did it have secrets no one quite understood?
It was easy to dismiss Mortal Qi in this way. After all, one had to remember that the lowest grades of qi in existence, those of the Common and Black Grade, only had Mortal Qi forms. It was easy to take this information and conclude that Mortal Qi must be useless, then.
But… Didn’t higher level Qi’s also have Mortal Realm versions of themselves? If Mortal Qi was truly so useless, why would this be?
Even the highest forms of qi in all of existence, Essence and Chaos Qi, both had Mortal Qi versions of themselves. In fact, had Chaos Qi not had a Mortal Qi version, Ryu would have imploded under its might a very, very long time ago.
If even the highest echelon of qi had a Mortal stage, who were they as creatures born mortals, to dare say that mortality was weakness?
What if mortality wasn’t weakness at all but rather simply represented the start… the Origin?
When a child was born, no matter how talented their parents, no matter what level they had reached, said child would always be mortal. No matter how much talent such a child had rushing through their veins and hidden within their bones, said child would still be born a mortal. No matter which high Plane or lofty location you were birthed upon, no matter how grand and grandiose the momentum of your birth was…
You would still be born a mortal.
Was that meaningless? Or was it a very obvious hint that should have slapped them all awake to the reality of things? Ailsa almost felt ashamed that she had never made the connection before.
‘This is still just the beginning, there are still so many things to consider.’
Ailsa flashed and disappeared. When she appeared again, she had Yaana by her side.
Yaana stood in confusion. She looked toward Ryu, a bit worried that he was still in a daze but when she looked toward Ailsa, her expression flickered. The current Ailsa looked at her as though she was some sort of test dummy, it made a shiver run up her spine.
“Interesting, you’re also in the Immortal Ring Realm but nothing happened. Is that because we’re part Faerie or is there another reason?”
Ailsa looked between Yaana and the euphoric Ryu, her crimson irises spinning with complex gears and Runes.
She had initially thought that the reason nothing happened to her when she stepped foot here was because she was a Faerie or because she had a habit of stepping into the Ethereal Plane. But, she immediately eliminated the second by stepping into the Real Plane and bringing Yaana out. Now it felt like the only potential answer was that Faeries didn’t receive the same treatment… But that made no sense.
There were other problems with this theory of hers as well.
There was Mortal Qi everywhere, even on the Immortal Planes. If not, how would those who had yet to step into the Immortal Realms cultivate? The difference was that the Mortal Planes did not have any Immortal Qi or Cosmic Qi to speak of.
‘Is it purity? Does this process require a certain concentration of Mortal Qi? And if that’s the case, what’s the concentration? If not, is it a matter of this kind of Mortal Qi specifically? Is there a difference between the Mortal Qi on the Immortal Planes and the Mortal Qi here?
‘And even if there is, why is it triggering for Ryu but not for us? Is it because of his Realm Heart? That’s very possible. There needs to be a trigger, a sort of enlightenment of sorts that can only activate after entering a special state. But, it’s likely that Little Ryu skips those steps because his Realm Heart does it all for him…’
With the Realm Heart, one didn’t need to peer into Heaven’s Secrets, they were all already opened up to you. Maybe it was the case that without the noise of other qi levels, re entering the Mortal Plane had allowed the blinders that had been up to be removed in a single instant, sending Ryu from a benign state into one of euphoria in a single leap.
‘If that’s the case, then the root to everything should be in a method capable of peering into the secrets of Mortal Qi…
‘Fascinating. I’ve always wondered about this. The Immortal Realms rely heavily on comprehension. The Cosmic Realms also rely heavily on comprehension. The Sky God Realm relies almost entirely on comprehension… But why is it that of all of them the Mortal Realms are the simplest?
‘Is it really that they’re the simplest? Or is that there was a flaw in our systems of cultivation to begin with? What if we’ve simply missed the comprehensions we were supposed to gain from the very beginning…?’
Ailsa’s mind spun. She hurriedly sat and began to meditate. Though she didn’t have <Focus> like Ryu did, she still had other methods of calming and focusing her mind as a Cultus Faerie.
“Yaana, watch over us. I’m not sure how long this will take, but this is an opportunity we cannot miss.”
“Ah… Yes. I will!” Yaana realized how heavy this matter was and swore to do her best.
Ailsa closed her mind off, immersing herself in the feeling that Ryu was experiencing.
She felt like she had faintly grasped something.
Maybe Mortal Qi was so special precisely because it was the only qi that allowed you to make such thorough use of it without understanding anything about it.
When one compared two creations, which one was the best? Was it the creation that was difficult to use and had a high barrier of entry? Or was it the opposing creation that everyone had access to?
It might be a difficult question to answer, especially if it seemed that the creation with the higher barrier of entry was the more useful and powerful of the two. But, to Ailsa… She had a different way of seeing things.
What made Origin Techniques so great…? Wasn’t it because anyone could use them regardless of their cultivation level?!