On its own, the Qi gathering stage of cultivation was as simple and straightforward as it could get. In a way, even the formative stage of body tempering could be considered to be more complex, with how one had to adapt their body so that it could not only sense but also accept mana into itself.
When it came to Qi gathering, however, all that one had to do was absorb the world's Qi until their body couldn't accept any more of it.
This simplicity, however, existed only on the surface. Absorbing mana into one's flesh and, through it, into one's mana-sea couldn't be any simpler than that.
Doing so, however, was so slow, it took an exceptional level of patience and discipline to ever complete the step.
That, or one could almost fully skip this part of the process as long as they had enough money and connections to surround themselves with artifacts and spirit stones.
After all, what was the point of slowly absorbing what little spiritual Qi there was in the air, if just a single spirit stone could make up for weeks of diligently harvesting the Qi from the air?
Still, in Theo's eyes, this process simply couldn't get any more interesting. Because now that he observed it with his changed perspective, it unveiled more and more differences between the cultivation technique of this place and the standardised mage's exercise from his old lifetime.
'Rather than trying to absorb the mana through their mana-gate, they use their entire bodies to do it. And rather than focusing on filling up their mana-sea, once again, they fill their flesh with mana, only filling their mana-sea by proxy, by having said mana spill over from their flesh and into its proper storage.'
The differences would be obvious to anyone with Theo's kind of perspective. It took his genius level of understanding of the mana's nature to actually see through the implications those differences brought forth.
'As much as it pains me to admit it,' Theo's lips curled into an uncomfortable, awkward grimace, 'cultivation really seems to be much more optimal than any of the practices I've engaged in before.'
There was a lot for Theo to learn from what even the lousiest teen in the sect would know by heart. The scary part of it? As a talented fifth-rank cultivator, he had yet to experience cultivation of a second stage or above, while his mind was already racing to record all the new information he gathered as he observed his own cultivation.
Still, the show had to go on. And while re-learning all there was to learn about his powers from his new perspective was a must, the time Theo could spend on the task was limited.
And given the plans he shared with Narmidor and how they were going to influence the sect as soon as the bell-towers would announce the soon coming of the daily's morning assembly, he didn't have all that much time before he would be forced to get on the move!
'I would love to just stay on this stage and observe it a little bit more, but I really need to move on.'
Firm in his decision, Theo closed his eyes and allowed his instincts to do the rest, soon pushing the mana in his body to move according to higher, more complex principles of cultivation.
Beyond the opening realm of cultivation, the Qi gathering, there was the Spirit Awakening stage. A realm where a cultivator, by pushing their limits far enough to amass the critical amount of spiritual Qi, could forcefully awaken their spiritual root.
It was a source of the 'personality' of one's internal mana, the origin of its quirks. And curiously enough, Theo couldn't recall a single element of the magic system of his old life that would translate to the existence of a spirit vein.
"Could it be something that we've all missed?" he whispered under his nose, theoretizing while allowing his cultivation to keep growing stronger and more profound with each breath he took.
The spirit vein awakening - or spiritual awakening as the locals commonly called it - did pretty much nothing but add various qualities to one's mana. For some, it would mean a greater affinity towards certain elements. For others, it made their spiritual Qi greatly reinforce their bodies, while some could boast a great increase to their speed and reaction-time.
There was no research in this part of the world - at least, as far as Theo's new, royal self could tell - explaining where did those qualities come from. There were some theories… But despite many attempts, not a single soul in the history of this place has managed to properly prove any of those.
When it came to the attributes of Theo's own mana, however, even as his cultivation started to approach an even higher realm, it failed to change even in the slightest bit.
It was as if… this entire stage of cultivation provided him with absolutely no benefits, despite all the hard work Theo had to put in to reach it, back in the day.
And so, rather than struggling to see through the intricacies of the step Theo didn't feel qualified to properly talk about, Theo allowed his cultivation to raise even higher.
Qi manifestation, where his mana revealed its constant presence outside the limits of his body.
Core formation stage where Theo's overflowing mana… finally did what most mages would consider the very first step to their practice, reinforcing the limits of his mana-sea and forming what locals called a dantian, a mystical organ designed to hold and control one's own spirituality.
Then, with the sun already rising upon the horizon, Theo brought his cultivation all the way to its current limits, to the Spiritual Sense stage.
The highest level of cultivation he was supposed to ever achieve like a good political pawn that has already accepted its fate.
By all means, this was supposed to be the limit of Theo's cultivation. And yet, as he focused on his inner state even further, the truth became too obvious to ignore.
'So I was ready to break through for over a year now?!'
Theo's whine reached quite the high note only for him to powerlessly fall down to his knees, pretty much at the same time as the knocking sound reached his ears…
Only for one of Theo's sect colleagues to burst through the unlocked doors and then quickly run straight into Theo's training room, his face nothing but a bundle of excitement.
"The patriarch is calling a morning assembly!" Kato explained in a hurried, breaking voice, his eyes brimming with pride and happiness for his friend. "And that can only mean one of two things!"
Kato took a breath before taking a hearty sip from the cup of water Theo offered him.
"Either the old guy is about to give up on breaking through and retire and you are likely to become a new top-dog of the sect, or…" Kato's smile only grew wider as he allowed his thoughts to pass freely.
"Or, he is actually going to break through, meaning," by now, the sparks in Kato's eyes could light up candles, "you will now be able to cultivate again!"