Soul Formation was split into three substages. There was the first Dao Discovery Realm, the second Dao Infusion Realm, and the final Dao Perfection Realm.
The key to cultivating an Origin Soul was that it now had sufficient spirituality and could freely roam the world, but the use of spirit energy to fortify it is minimal, and merging your soul with the energy was not enough to induce a qualitative change.
So one had to let their soul out of their body and let it cultivate directly, abandoning not the energy of the world, but the truth of it. In other words, Soul Formation is the realm of cultivation where a cultivator first comes into contact with the illusory 'Dao'.
This was a purely comprehension-focused realm and your absorption talent did nothing to help you, cultivation through this stage varied greatly, because those with excellent comprehension would make leaps and bounds of progress by day while those with weaker comprehension might spend days grasping threads.
Since Soul Formation was the first stage of Adept, the Pan version of psychomancy is finally born within the cultivator, and they called it the 'Spirit Sense'. Darius had tested out the spirit sense and found that it was similar to elementary psychomancy, but not.
Psychomancy allowed you to touch and interact with objects with your mind with very poor sensory abilities while the Spirit Sense had terrifyingly accurate senses. It could strip down a person straight down to their cells, but it could not come together to attack any lifeforms, not physically at least.
So the Western style Psychomancy of Fallon and the Eastern style Spirit Sense of Pan. Which one was better and which one would you prefer?
The Dao Discovery stage covered levels 21 to 24. At level 21, you have just entered the stage and are now in possession of a newly formed Origin Soul. This was where Darius and the others were right now.
Here, it would leave your body for the first 'soul wandering' in which it would leave your body and hover in the air above you. It would then begin to comprehend the various Daos of heaven and earth and then select the one best for you within a range.
Now this part was important. This was where having a background helped, because bigger sects had indexes of various Daos and insight from seniors, so you could read them and have an easier time when doing this for the first time.
Another point was that sects had Mystic Realms where the various Daos converged and were much purer and easier to sense. An example would be how Darius created a temple for every element, which was one for every elemental Dao.
There was no strongest or weakest Dao, just how you used it. Daos could be either elemental or concepts, and even some energies! For example, the Dao of Weeding, the Dao of Childbirth, etc. These were abstract concepts but could be learned. They didn't have much combat use, but when applied to the relevant fields, they could become godly.
For the group, they each directly chose the Dao that was most relevant to them. Darius released his Draconic Origin Soul and let it comprehend the Dao of Dragons, Gunner released his Tree Origin Soul and let it comprehend the Dao of Earth, Xela released her three Origin Souls which were cute maidens, and comprehended the Dao of Light, Life, and Divinity while Luna released her Moon Origin Soul and comprehend the Dao of the Moon.
Of course, one would need a technique to comprehend the Dao with an Origin Soul or how could one connect to such ethereal forces?
[Soul Formation Technique - Manual
Durability: 200/200
Grade: Basic
Description: Contained within is the required knowledge to obtain the Nascent Soul skill. Due to the high quality of the material and the penmanship, the success chance of learning the skill is increased by 100% while its effectiveness is increased by 500%.]
[Nirvana Technique - Manual
Durability: 200/200
Grade: Basic
Description: Contained within is the required knowledge to obtain the Sarira skill. Due to the high quality of the material and the penmanship, the success chance of learning the skill is increased by 100% while its effectiveness is increased by 500%.]
And then there was the Nirvana technique for Body Refinement. Body Refinement had already fundamentally branched out from Qi cultivation and began walking a similar but distinct path.
The Nirvana stage was exactly as you thought, it was the famous 'destruction and rebirth' stage in various Body Refinement theories from eastern lore where one had to reduce their body to the most basic primordial soup and then rebuild it.
Unlike Soul Formation, the Sarira formed in the previous stage is kept within the body and not exposed. Rather, when the body is reduced to primordial soup the sarira would be left alone to face the Heavenly Dao Tribulation.
This Heavenly Dao Tribulation was another necessary assistance from the heavens which also doubles as a test. There will be a Three-Three Dao Lightning Tribulation that will strike the sarira.
Each strike will test the strength of the sarira and the soul inside, and also carve the laws of the most suitable Dao for you right on your sarira, allowing you to access its power without needing to comprehend it like Qi Cultivators.
That was basically how Nirvana worked. It was split into three sub-stages as well, the Dao Etching, Dao Carving and Dao Embossing realms. The goal was basically to pass through the first Three-Three Tribulation for Dao Etching, then the Four-Three Tribulation for Dao Carving and finally the Five-Three Tribulation for Dao Embossing.
Similar to Soul Formation, by the time one reached the peak, they should have fully mastered their Dao!
[Soul Formation Technique - Level 1000 (1) Skill
Grade: Advanced
Cost: None
Description: This is a sub-technique within Qi Cultivation that specifically aims at introducing the Origin Soul within the dantian to the world outside and allowing it to comprehend the esoteric truths of the world into its very being. The longer your Origin Soul spends outside your body comprehending and the better your overall connection to the laws of heaven and earth, the more progress you will make and the more potent your usage of the Dao. By using this skill, the Dao itself becomes open like a library to you and you can easily comprehend any of the various Daos without ejecting your Origin Soul from your body. Currently, this skill adds 1000% (1%) extra comprehension speed and comprehension Quality to your Origin Soul.]
[Nirvana Technique - Level 1000 (1) Skill
Grade: Advanced
Cost: None
Description: This is a sub-technique within Body Refinement that specifically aims at using physical power to explode the body and reduce it to its fundamental essence while releasing your sarira outward to have the Dao carved upon it gradually through the usage of heavenly tribulations. The more strikes you can handle and the sturdier your sarira, the more amount of Dao Essence is carved onto your being and the more you can call upon your Dao. By using this skill, your Sarira is perfectly embossed with the highest quality Dao Runes, granting your body the best ability in using your Dao. Currently, this skill adds 1000% (1%) extra perfection to your body's Dao Runes.]
It would take a look at their stats and this kind of comprehension to climb to the peak of this stage. In fact, it only took slightly over 3 weeks to reach the peak of Soul Formation and Nirvana, and most of the time was obviously spent on Nirvana since they had to get things done perfectly.
With their tough bodies, undergoing destruction was not easy, especially for both Gunner and Luna. The former had the toughest body and various skills and abilities that made him nearly indestructible, and the latter had the highest overall stats of the group.
Darius thought, found that in destroying himself and reforming, he perfected his grasp over the Dragon Ancestor bloodline and made leaps and bounds of progress to going from a Fledgling to a Young Dragon.
Darius was not sure how much benefit going up from the former would be to the latter, but it could not be too bad since it was an elevation of life, right?
As for Xela, her three souls were now more distinct and one could finally tell which was which thanks to their Dao Aura. The first miniature Xela had a cold and valiant expression, like she was here to cleanse the world from evil.
She gave an elder sister vibe and was the tallest of the three souls. The second was an extremely kind and gentle miniature Xela who had a loving expression for the world. She gave a motherly aura that filled the heart with warmth.
Hiding behind the two was a normal Xela who was uncertain and seemed slightly shy. This version gave the aura of a maiden and a little sister who was not yet used to the cold world, being sheltered by her family.
