Boundless Cultivation
Chapter 100 - Dreams and Ambition

Alaric experienced a surge of elation inside his chest as a grin spread across his face. He had finally received the invitation to the Tower of Trials - something he had been looking forward to for a long while.

He immediately accepted the system prompt in anticipation of receiving his token. A block of space - the size of his palm - started shimmering in front of him with a golden glow, before slowly materializing into a regal token.

He grabbed the token suspended in mid-air and started inspecting it. The token was made of solid metal that felt similar to gold.

It was engraved with the depiction of a mysterious tower piercing through the clouds, surrounded by various illustrations of mighty animals and elemental entities alike.

He could sense something special about it and just like he had suspected, the token blazed with an otherworldly energy in his true vision.

It represented another opportunity for him to get stronger in this new life. He squeezed the token, relishing the cold contact of the metal, before reading its system description.

Tower of Trials Token - Just as a seed needs fertile soil to flourish, a cultivator requires the right trials and resources to unlock their true potential.

The system has deemed your strength, skill, and potential as worthy of its recognition. As such, you have been granted the opportunity to ascend the Tower of Trials—a crucible where you may unlock the next stage of your evolution.

This token serves both as proof of your worth and as the key to enter the tower. Your journey beyond begins here.

The information he learned by reading the token description was nothing new. However, holding it in his hands while reviewing the official description made it feel real for him. He had finally achieved another of his long-awaited goals.

No, this can wait. I still have to take stock of all the transformations that have occurred after ascending to Tier 2. Alaric restrained his grin and pocketed the token before he could waste any more time.

Upon witnessing the token, both the count and Edgar congratulated him with happy faces. Edgar even clapped him on the back. However, Alaric wasn’t fooled.

Remembering where they had left off, Alaric questioned his father and Edgar about the mysterious entities they had referred to earlier. However, they continued their excuses without offering any more insight.

In the end, he had to let go of the matter when Edgar warned that even whispering their names without proper cause could invite misfortune.

With renewed focus, he circulated mana through his new energy channels to evaluate the changes and was pleasantly surprised. It took only a split second to saturate his entire body with potent energy.

Only one comparison came to his mind. As if previously, his energy channels were akin to muddy roads riddled with potholes, limiting the velocity at which mana could travel.

And now, they were akin to smooth, paved roads with no speed limits. Additionally, since the energy channels had widened, he noticed that it was now possible to channel far more mana at any given moment without straining his body.

In fact, it was almost too much for him to handle currently. Alaric guessed that if he hadn’t formed a solid core, he would’ve burned through his mana in only a few bursts.

But his test wasn’t complete yet. Empowering his limbs as much as he could, he attempted to lunge a short distance, only to vanish and crash into a large tree with a loud boom.

The upper portion of the tree in question was shattered into splinters while the lower portion was uprooted. Alaric was toppled over, his clothes packed with broken twigs and leaves.

He wasn’t hurt, but it definitely soured his mood. As if somebody had playfully smacked his face. “Ugh,” he spat a leaf while wiping his face. “That didn’t go well.”

Edgar burst out laughing, witnessing his peril while the count simply frowned. Alaric briefly updated them on the other transformations he had noticed inside his body and why he suddenly lost control over it.

If his control over his body at full power was poor before, it had turned terrible after ascending to Tier 2.

Edgar and the count discussed something for a while in hushed tones before glancing at him. Judging by their expressions, Alaric determined they had arrived at a solution.

“A nice little conundrum we have on our hands,” said Edgar as he winked. “Unleashing your full power doesn’t seem like a viable option for you at the moment. And yet, we cannot have you train while limiting your powers.”

Alaric nodded. He knew more than anybody that training while limiting one’s power was akin to shooting oneself in the foot. Habits, once ingrained, were difficult to unlearn, and it messed with the psychology as well.

His father approached Alaric and placed a hand on his shoulder. “Cheer up, son,” said Eustace with a smile. “We have devised a solution. Just wait till tomorrow and rest until then.”

Alaric was more than happy to wait for one day to allow the adults to produce a solution. Regardless, he had already figured out a solution to the problem on his own.

It would simply involve him awakening another one of his signature abilities. Something that he intended to do that very night.

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With nothing further to dwell on, all of them returned to the mansion, eager to get busy with their respective responsibilities.

***

Inside the Cultivation Sanctuary - The Crown Chakra Island

Alaric meditated on his crown chakra, tempering his soul and preparing it for when it was ready to partially awaken. Among all the chakras, it was the most elusive to master properly.

In his original world, only a handful of chakra cultivators had been documented to partially awaken their crown chakra through willful effort. However, there existed many sages and saints throughout history who had their crown chakra bloomed since birth.

The crown chakra was associated with contradictions where logic and reason ceased to work as reliable tools. However, Alaric had already bloomed his crown chakra once, and he had grasped many fundamental truths that guided him towards his goal.

His insights matched the guidelines of his old master - the surest way to partially awaken the crown chakra was to accumulate good karma. However, it wasn’t something ordinary humans had control over.

Some higher force beyond human comprehension kept track of karma. It wasn’t possible to manipulate this higher force into generating good karma.

Thus, nobody could predict a timeline for blooming their crown chakra or even estimate how far they’ve progressed in their journey. It was the same for partially awakening the crown chakra.

There was another method to hasten the progress - to forcefully direct an immense amount of energy inside the crown chakra. But Alaric hoped he never had to face such a situation again, especially when they dictated his doom.

There is nothing I can do for now. Trying to force it open will negate my efforts. He inhaled a deep breath and slowly opened his eyes, beholding the beauty of the snow-capped mountain peaks that glistened golden under the bright rays of the artificial sun.

Alaric was grateful for his cultivation sanctuary. It allowed him to meditate while relishing the beauty of these breathtaking landscapes, all from the comfort of his home.

Until he managed to awaken his other signature ability - Lucid Inner World - this served as a nice alternative.

Of course, he had already started the appropriate training to awaken that ability. The first stage involved him having lucid dreams at will.

So he practiced remaining hyper-aware of his every waking moment and performing reality checks at regular intervals to verify whether he was currently inside a dream world or not. These included counting his fingers, attempting to breathe through his nose while pinching it, or pushing his fingers through his palm.

The dream world wasn’t bound by the rules, limitations, and logic of the waking reality. So, many of these reality checks failed inside it, alerting the user to their current state of consciousness.

Once this practice became a habit, practitioners could instinctively perform a reality check while dreaming and become lucid inside it when it inevitably failed.

The next step was to remain calm and ground oneself inside the dream world long enough to stabilize it. Otherwise, too much excitement could lead to detachment from the dream body and result in awakening in the real world.

It was one of the most common reasons why inexperienced lucid dreamers failed to go beyond the initial stage and thoroughly manipulate their dreams.

Alaric also maintained a dream journal where he recorded every minute detail he could recall from his dreams. This step might not seem that important, but it was absolutely crucial.

In fact, he had already perceived a stark difference in his dream quality ever since he had started maintaining a dream journal.

His dreams had turned more vivid, extended in length, and he could recall more of them since his conscious mind had grown more attentive during his dreamful sleep. Additionally, he had detected having multiple dreams a night.

Now, he simply needed to gain lucidity during a dream and acquire the special ability.

The power of lucid dreams couldn’t be underestimated since it allowed cultivators to form a direct connection with their subconscious mind. Additionally, it enabled them to tap into resources that were not possible to access in the real world.

But in order to unleash the real potential of the dream world, a cultivator must attain an ability similar to his Lucid Inner World.

Attaining an ability that allowed cultivators to willfully manipulate their dreamworld wasn’t something too complicated. It simply demanded a tamed mind, discipline, and the knowledge of proper dream manipulation.

Nothing a talented cultivator couldn’t accomplish if they really tried their best. However, most cultivators simply underestimated the usefulness of acquiring such an ability.

The fact that such abilities demanded substantial time and dedication to master didn’t help their reluctance. Not when they could focus on acquiring and mastering abilities that were deemed more suitable for their purposes.

At least, this had been the case in his previous world. Alaric wouldn’t bet it wasn’t the case in this new world as well.

In Alaric’s case, his extraordinary affinity for the third-eye chakra - which governs the dream realm - further boosted the strength of his ability and his odds of success.

A sudden chime in his mind pulled him out of his reverie. Alaric promptly checked the system notifications, and what he saw caused his face to break into a grin.

The rewards for defeating the boss of the final zone have been determined. You have received - Mind-forging Dream-root. Please accept the gift.

Alaric immediately accepted the prompt and stretched out his palm. A finger-sized space above it shimmered before solidifying into a twisted ash-black root, reeking with the smell of damp ground.

That is something different. For the first time, he had received a cultivation resource that wasn’t a pill or an elixir.

Of course, he had expected that to happen someday. Only natural treasures were potent enough to reforge the mind and the soul. It wasn’t possible to replicate the benefits provided by such natural treasures through crafting pills or brewing elixirs.

The ash-black root resembled the gnarled claw of a wild beast, humming with a power that lulled his mind. He believed that if it wasn’t for his reforged lungs, the stench would’ve gagged him.

Alaric stopped gazing at it and pulled up the description.

Mind-forging Dream-root - A small tree root that has acquired sentience by absorbing the physic resonance of cultivators meditating in nearby regions. It can be chewed directly or brewed into a tea. It induces vivid lucid visions, drawing the user into a dream realm shaped by their own mind.

Within this constructed mental realm, the user is confronted by manifestations of their deepest fears, limiting beliefs, and subconscious barriers. Successfully completing the dream root trial allows the user to restructure their cognitive framework, break mental shackles, and elevate their capacity for abstract thought, clarity, and insight.

Failure may result in mental backlash, confusion, or entrapment within one’s own mind. Often used by ancient mind-cultivators, philosophers, and soul-path ascendants seeking to refine not their memory or knowledge—but the very way they think.

Alaric drew in a sharp breath, before pocketing the rare resource. The mind-reforging dream-root was exactly what he needed to reforge his mind, but it was also evident that the treasure couldn’t be consumed without proper preparation.

I have to consult with the count and Edgar. He had also decided to go through the books in the library that specifically detailed the list of rare cultivation treasures found in the Aurion Empire.

However, his surprise wasn’t over yet when he noticed another notification pop up.

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