[NR] Benefits Of Being First - Chapter 508

Rosha shrugs, “So what did the wizard do?”

Jason sighs, “Apparently they got us sidetracked. While we have a bit of time to get this figured out, actual cultivation needs to happen irl. You can’t cultivate while plugged into your pod. So I figure I teach you the ins and outs of getting started. Then you try it irl before reporting back.

“Courtney can confirm this, but the actual first step is either going to take basically no time to complete or you’ll need a good chunk of time. However, I suspect wherever you’re located will be a decent place to give it a go. There was more than enough free floating energy even in my apartment to handle it and I doubt you’re any lower than I am.”

Courtney nods, “And he is being literal about the whole height thing to a degree. While the amount of actual energy is pretty stable throughout the atmosphere at this point. The higher up you go, the more active it is.”

Jason, “The higher you are, the more air attuned energy there will be which inherently moves more. With more movement, it becomes easier to feel it. Sort of like the difference between sitting on some sand and having sand blown in your face.

“Of course if you have help from someone already on the road or a formation, you can get started even in the deepest depths. Also, it isn’t like there aren’t flows of power under the earth. After all, there are rivers and such under there. Plus, if someone is cultivating there will be an inherent flow to the area as energy from outside flows in to replace what was used.”

Rosha, “Then does it matter at all once you get the ball rolling?”

Jason shrugs, “You have to take every advantage you can get. Plus, while we should all be able to advance pretty far on the back of the fact that we’re the only ones right now. Once it is a common thing, just think of how many people there are.

“I can see things potentially working out differently here, at least on the low end. However, to advance when everyone else is attempting the same thing and grabbing for the same resources? Well, you're both experienced with the top end. Now think about all that with the additional pressure of money being able to buy extra years of youth. Not just the extra years like what you get from life extension, but extending the time spent as a young adult.”

Rosha grimaces, “Yeah, even with the safeguards currently in place to keep people like my family out of trouble, things would go down hill real fast. Whoever gets to the top first would have to want things to stay the way they are right now or society would break.”

Jason, “Eh, we have a long while to figure things out. While after a certain point, personal power would defeat even modern weapons. Most people spend decades being about as strong as high end soldiers and mercenaries. We’ll be different, though. It is just that I don’t want to rule the world or even a decent portion of it. That sounds like a hassle.”

Courtney, “Why would we be different? It can’t be talent or anything. You’ve never met us in person so it isn’t like you sensed something.”

Jason smiles, “Being first has its perks!”

Courtney, “While I’m sure we will be able to grab some useful resources. However, I don’t think that would translate into condensing literal decades of work into a tenth the time. Sure, maybe you can manage even twice the speed if you can keep a monopoly on the supplies.”

Jason shakes his head, “Nah, nothing to do with that, though it will help. Rather, the less cultivators there are, the easier it is to cultivate because of one simple fact. A large part of cultivation is forcing your will upon the surroundings. This is significantly easier if no one else is around doing the same thing.

“There was even some speculation that the highest levels of cultivation are inherently limited in how many can exist within a dimension. After all, in theory, there is a point at which someone would cover all of existence with their will. So unless there are cultivating aliens out there with enough power that they have the solar system covered, we have free reign locally.”

Rosha, “But couldn’t people just not use their will on an area?”

Jason shrugs, “It is more like flying on an old style plane. No matter how much you try to stay in your seat, your elbows just sometimes end up bumping into others or the seat in front of you leans back enough to jam into your knees.”

Rosha frowns, “So we’re basically taking a red eye flight so we don’t have to deal with others?”

Jason, “A close enough of an analog. Though, of course, any abstraction will inherently be less than accurate in some manner. I would almost say this is more like flying on a plane and telling other people not to breathe because you don’t want to inhale the same air as them.

“All that aside and speaking of breathing, that is where we will start. There is a specific technique to it and I want you to stop and return after you succeed at all.”

From there, Jason explains a couple of patterns that seem to work for those first learning to cultivate. In turn, Courtney actually has a couple of tips to add on after her experience with getting others onto the path, despite them not even knowing what they were trying to do in the first place. Though she also shared some things people had tried and saw no success with.

This included a couple of people under her who, despite not realizing it was for legit cultivation, had tried some stuff they had read in cultivation stories. The few who did this not only found their attempts not working, but a couple of the attempted actions actually made using the proper method harder.