Elder Han also entered the meditation room and closed the door behind with a soft thud.
The room was simple with a stone floor and bare walls. A cultivation mat lay in the center while arrays were carved into the floor to contain spiritual energy and prevent it from leaking during intense practice.
"Remove your robes and the inner shirt," Elder Han said. "Sit in lotus position on the mat."
I obeyed without question, removing the dark blue outer robe and tossing it aside casually, then the inner shirt, sitting cross legged on the mat.
Elder Han stood before me with his arms crossed, his expression serious.
"Listen carefully. What we're going to do is not common practice and these pearls are far more expensive than you can imagine. Do you understand?"
"Mm."
"Normally, using these pearls together, a cultivator can increase their cultivation by forcing one breakthrough."
He paused.
"But I didn't ask for just any configuration. Haha, three pearls. Fire. Water and Metal."
"With these three, your cultivation will jump TWO stages. Not one but two stages."
My mind jumped. That was...If I was publicly body refinement peak stage, two stages would push me to Foundation Establishment middle stage.
But my real cultivation was already Foundation Establishment Peak, close to Qi Condensation. Two stages from there would mean…
I really couldn't guess what was coming.
"Hehehe..." He laughed, but I interrupted with a question that needed answering.
"Master, can these pearls also increase cultivation at higher realms? Golden Core? Or beyond?"
Elder Han looked at me like I was the stupidest person alive."If that was possible, I wouldn't still be stuck at Golden Core, you fool!" He scowled with genuine annoyance on his face.
"Humph! Did you give your brain to dogs? These pearls ONLY affect cultivators up to the Qi Condensation realm, and they work because there is no mature or fully formed core yet."
He tapped his chest, right where a cultivator's core resided.
"But after someone steps into the Core Formation realm, they form a TRUE mature core. That core increases the cultivator's power tremendously. Makes them qualitatively different from the lower realm…. And this is the reason that the pearls are completely rejected."
Understanding crossed my face.
"Now, the process…. It is simple in theory, you will swallow the metal pearl first as it will become the foundation. Then the fire pearl as it starts forging that metal base."
He paused and his expression grew more intense.
"Normally that is where practitioners stop. They let the forging process continue naturally and it takes days to calm down and the breakthrough happens."
"But our sect's Immortal Ancestor, I believe you know who he is?"
I nodded.
"He pushed this process one step further and discovered a method to achieve two stages instead of one as expected of an immortal."
Elder Han's smile widened."By using the water pearl. But..." He raised one finger. "Here it gets tricky. Haha, if you swallow the water pearl whole like the others, the entire forging process inside your body gets interrupted. The elemental essences will clash violently and destroy your meridians. Your cultivation base will shatter and you become a cripple."
Haah?
"Hoho," he smirked.
"But our ancestor was simply too smart, that's why he became an immortal cultivator in the first place."
Elder Han leaned closer, his voice dropping slightly as he continued. "You don't swallow the water pearl whole. Instead you break it with your own teeth, bite down hard and shatter the crystal structure."
"And when you do that the essence doesn't enter your stomach like the others, it spreads immediately through your mouth and because the brain meridian is closest while the lower meridians are farther away the effect spreads differently, the water essence floods your body while the fire essence is still actively forging the metal base….. this all forces two breakthrough at once..."
His smile was almost manic now as he burst into laughter."Hahahaha!"
But….yes, this was a brilliant way of using elemental opposition to force advancement beyond normal limits.
Right then the door opened and Elder Shen entered carrying a black box. He walked carefully as he handed it to Elder Han and then looked at me directly
"I believe your master has explained everything to you"
"Yes, Elder Shen"
"Good, now you must remember that you can never speak of it outside these walls, do you understand?" His tone was dead serious.
"I swear I will never reveal this technique, Elder Shen."
..
"Shen, just sit down." Elder Han interrupted. "And let me do my work."
Elder Shen sighed but still moved to a corner of the room while Elder Han set the black box down beside me and opened it carefully.
Inside were three pearls, each about the size of a large grape. One was red, deep crimson, the fire pearl, pulsing with internal heat.
One was blue, clear and cold, the water pearl, evoking ice and deep oceans.
And one was greyish, dull metallic, the metal pearl, dense and heavy even while just sitting there.
Elder Han picked up the grey one first and held it out to me.
"Swallow it immediately, don't crush it."
I took it; the pearl was surprisingly heavy for its size.
"Once it's down, close your eyes and concentrate on your meridians. The essence will begin flowing and you need to guide it, circulate it through all eleven primary meridians."
I nodded.
"Do you really understand?"
Without answering, I placed the metal pearl in my mouth and swallowed it.
GULP.
The pearl went down hard, like swallowing a stone and I felt it travel down my throat.
…Nothing happened for a moment.
Then a sudden heaviness, like an iron weight pressed against my torso.
My body wanted to hunch forward, collapse under the pressure, but I forced myself upright and held the lotus position. I could feel the metal pearl breaking apart in my stomach, releasing its essence as I guided it into the meridians.
Time passed and I didn't know how much.
….
Each meridian filled with metal essence. The heaviness spread through my body. My awareness narrowed as the flow of the essence stopped. Eventually—I opened my eyes.
The room was dark as the spiritual lamp were glowing. The night had fallen!
(How long have I been meditating?)
Elder Han and Elder Shen were both still awake and the moment they saw my eyes open, Elder Han moved, picking up the red pearl and holding it out.
"Good…Now comes the forging, swallow this immediately"
I placed the fire pearl in my mouth and swallowed it.
GULP.
The difference was instant as the pearl traveled down my throat, I already started feeling the burn and when it reached my stomach the burning intensified tenfold, heat spreading through my skin increasing my body temperature.
I took a deep breath to calm myself, and when I exhaled I actually felt like fire was coming from my nostrils. I gritted my teeth and forced myself to concentrate, trying to control the flow of the fire essence but it was already spreading aggressively, moving through my meridians on its own.
But this time the process was different, for the fire essence wasn't just filling meridians but interacting with the metal essence already there, forging and transforming it.
Pain, I felt real pain as if my inner body was on fire, yet I pushed through and maintained the circulation keeping the process controlled as time passed slower now.
Finally, the fire essence settled and found equilibrium with the metal.
I opened my eyes again to find Elder Han right there holding the water pearl, his expression completely serious now. Even Elder Shen had stood up and moved closer.
This was a critical point where everything could go wrong.
"Remember," Elder Han said, "this is where you must be absolutely precise. I'm going to place this pearl in your mouth, so DO NOT swallow it and hold it between your teeth."
"And when I give the command you will bite down with all your strength, shattering the pearl in an instant."
Elder Shen also warned. "Be carefull."
"Yes."
"Open your mouth."
I opened it and Elder Han placed the water pearl on my tongue carefully.
It was cold, freezing cold like a sharp contrast to the burning throughout my body that made it feel like ice.
I positioned it between my molars and held it there, waiting.
Elder Han stepped back and gave me space.
"Break it! Now!" he shouted.