Yugong looked through the gate and saw the other side.
"Is this my spiritual sea?"
There was a large yet very bare space.
If he didn't know it, he would have thought this was an empty and abandoned cave.
As the spiritual power fell into it, he saw that it was filling up slightly.
But, his spiritual power distanced itself more and more from the gate.
Although the space seemed to be filling, Yugong also saw that with the increased distance, it would become harder for him to pull it.
Then, he remembered something in the inheritance.
'The spiritual sea is shaped by the cultivator themselves. Their initial thoughts will also be the initial form of the spiritual sea.
Through visualising, one can slowly change the form of the spiritual sea.
Only at the initial state before one had stabilized their spiritual sea, is it possible to do this without harm.
This is one of the reasons why it's so important to have an orderly inheritance.
Others might convey the wrong meaning and start with a badly shaped spiritual sea.
Of course there are ways to change it.
With every major stage, one gets a "free pass" to change the spiritual sea, always after the breakthrough when spiritual power was unstable.
There were many different forms in the spirit inducing technique.
He checked them out quickly and found a form fitting for him – a downward spiral.
The note next to it said that it was a good form for wind root cultivators, as the wind elemental spiritual power could move around in a full circle this way.
The double spiral has an entry and an exit, while both these are connected.
The goal is to create an endless circle of spiritual power moving in the spirit sea.
Yugong thought about creating his own form, but he didn't want to be rash, as he was very inexperienced and didn't want to take an unnecessary risk.
He put his thoughts on the form in his mind and focused on it, with the wish to change his spiritual sea to be like this.
Indeed, in just a few moments, or maybe hours and days, as Yugong couldn't sense the passage of time since he had entered his first cultivation, there was indeed a change!
He felt the space moving and stretching, becoming thinner over all, but longer in the end.
As he looked at it, he saw the large rough cave transform into something close to a spiral.
From here on, he had to slowly refine his spiritual sea.
This was what one called "stabilising the realm".
It was nothing more than filling the spiritual sea with the spiritual power and slowly adjusting the spiritual sea to be fitting exactly.
Some forms were wider and had the largest form from the get-go, while this spiral form would grow over time with the growth of the realm.
So, Yugong just had to let the spiritual power find its way into the spiritual sea and be absorbed into the spiral.
Time passed and soon, Yugong saw that the spiral was full, without having the possibility of absorbing more, even though there was a lot of spiritual power waiting for him outside.
This situation wasn't rare.
Different forms had different cultivation arts, and Yugong had to refine his spiritual sea until it reached the final step.
This is an arduous task, but compared to others, it was just hard work but wouldn't have any bottlenecks.
Yugong's senses told him that this spiritual form was the best for him.
He was confused of course.
As a single root cultivator, he shouldn't have any bottleneck until later.
'Maybe this is to prepare a solid foundation… after all, who knows how many talented young masters lost their way because they thought nothing of the lower bottlenecks, only to be stomped by the higher!
By slowly refining it, the spiritual power and roots will be enhanced alongside the spiritual sea.
Maybe an impossible bottleneck in the future will suddenly be opened because I didn't rush things…
Regardless, it's not a bad idea, since my absorption seems much faster than normal cultivation."
Yugong focused once more, his goal to complete the final steps and refine his spiritual power fully.
…
At the entrance of Yugong's cave, three people were standing.
It was Yiye, Lingyue and Elder He!
"Elder, is big brother really fine?" Yiye asked anxiously.
"Well, the formation responds that his token is in there, and there is also a living person.
The chance that it's not him is very little."
"But-" Yiye wanted to ask more, but was stopped by Lingyue.
"Brother Yiye, you should not forget the person inside is elder brother Yugong!
Who knows, maybe he had a sudden enlightenment and has to stay longer in seclusion?"
"Haha, little friend Yugong might have realised something!
After all, he is born smart and has many ideas, maybe one of them boosted his cultivation!
Who knows, if his new idea is good, he might be rewarded by the sect leader!
Don't think too little of such things.
The qi refining realm is the start of all cultivators – if one can improve it in any way, there will be a lot of profit to be gained.
After all, the qi refining cultivators are the most numerous in the sect.
If his idea is appliable on a large scale, we might boost our lowest ranks!"
Elder He thought about this as he explained to them.
He was invited by the two younger siblings of Yugong, and considering they were all younger talents, he didn't mind checking out the situation.
If he was busy with something, this might've been difficult, but as an elder in the peak of middle stage of the origin light realm, his main mission was to advance.
A breakthrough isn't something that can be delayed just because of a small situation – it depended on opportunity or long cultivation.
Yiye, who heard this, made a serious expression and said "The strength of a force is measured by its weakest members!"
Elder He was surprised to hear something smart from One Page, until he saw Lingyue giggling on the side.
She saw Elder He looking over and put her hand in front of her mouth, looking shy as she commented "Elder… when Yiye does this, it always means he's quoting elder brother Yugong, hehe."
Elder He nodded "Well, it does sound like something he could say."
Although he didn't know Yugong that long, as a high cultivator, he could understand many things from few words.
If it wasn't for this, he wouldn't have become friendly to Yugong so fast.
The three spend some more time talking about Yugong before they dispersed – Elder He specifically told them to visit him once Yugong is out of seclusion.