Immortal Ice Empress: Path to Vengeance

"Alright Disciples, today I will be talking about 2 things. Some of you are close to entering the Foundation Realm, so I will be talking about that a bit. The next thing I will talk about is a continuation of last week's class. I will inform you about the other cities and sects that are around us." Elder Kendra said to the class and most of the people glanced at Mira and Maria.

"The Foundation Realm is a bit different compared to the other Realms. So you might be thinking that the Foundation Realm has 9 stages to it, but this is actually the only Realm of power that doesn't have 9 stages to it. The Foundation Realm is separated into 2 parts, Houtian and Xiantian. These are further separated into 4 Stages, Low, Mid, Late, and Peak. So technically, there are 8 stages to the Foundation Realm. But let me explain why this is because I can see the confusion on some of your faces."

"The Foundation Realm has that name for a reason. It is to prepare your body and build your foundation for the rest of your cultivation journey. Let me start with the process first. You all are in the Qi Condensation Realm right now, this is essentially the processing of gathering and condensing Qi in your meridians. And each stage in this Realm brings a qualitative and quantitative change to the Qi stored in your meridians. Not only is there more, but it's much denser than the previous stage. Through this process, some residual Qi flows into your body and nourishes it. Now moving onto the Houtian Stage in the Foundation Realm. In the Houtian stage, the process is similar but instead of gathering and condensing Qi in your meridians, you do that throughout your entire body. To break through to the Foundation Realm from the Qi Condensation Realm, you will need to use a massive amount of Qi to start sending it into every part of your body. Skin, flesh, muscles, bone, bone marrow, organs, blood, everything. Once you feel 'full', so to speak, this means you're ready to step into the Foundation Realm. All you need to do is start condensing the Qi that's filled up your body, and once you've condensed it then you've officially stepped into the Foundation Realm. I'll tell you something extremely important though, this process is extremely crucial. How much Qi you condense on your breakthrough will determine how strong you are in the future. The more condensed it is then the stronger you'll be and your growth will be much more powerful as well. To advance to Mid-Houtian, you'll have to fill up your body again keeping the same density of Qi, and to break through the next stage just repeat the process. Like before, the amount of Qi you condense will determine your future growth." Elder Kendra explained, but some of the students thought that the first stage didn't matter as much if they could just condense their Qi even further in the next stage. The Elder seemed to read their minds and corrected them.

"I'll explain it in numbers. Let's say you need 100 Qi to break through to the Foundation Realm. If Person A condenses their Qi to only take up 1% of their body and Person B condenses their Qi to take up 10% of their body, how will their growth differentiate? Person A would need 10,000 Qi to break through to the next stage, while Person B will only need 1000 Qi to breakthrough. It will take 10 times longer for Person A, but they will be 10 times stronger. Let's say they both break through to the next stage and repeat the same thing. Now, Person A will have 1,000,000 Qi compared to Person B who only has 10,000 Qi. Person A is now 100 times stronger than Person B, theoretically. Now, do you understand why this first stage is so important? It lets you stay ahead of the others around you." Elder Kendra said and everyone's eyes shined when they heard the Elder's explanation, but Elder Kendra quickly dumped a bucket of ice water onto them, crushing their dreams of being thousands of times stronger than other people.

"Of course, it's not easy to just simply condense your Qi to the max. You need an incredibly sturdy body to achieve this. You will also need to keep training and tempering your body as you advance further into this Realm. If your body can't keep up with the amount of Qi in you, then you'll either explode or you won't be able to advance. So one must be extremely careful during this stage and always be training." Elder Kendra said with a smile and a lot of disciples just grunted at this. Training is so boring and painful!

"Now, onto the Xiantian Stage of the Foundation Realm. This stage is also incredibly important for your future growth. In this stage, you'll be continuing what you were doing in the Houtian Stage, but instead of your Qi just existing and wandering around your body nourishing it, you'll be creating a center or point of origin for it. The center is what we call the Dantian and is literally located at the center of your body. With each stage, you'll be sending more and more Qi into your Dantian, trying to make this place where all of your Qi will be stored when you reach the Core Formation Realm. This is not the same as forming a core, you are merely setting up the process to forming your core. Does everybody understand?" Elder Kendra finished explaining and asked. A few people seemed to have a question and the Elder just picked the first person.

"How does the Xiantian Stage differ from the Core Formation Realm?" Someone asked and Elder Kendra seemed to expect this question as she answered immediately.

"In the Core Formation Realm, you're forming your core but your core is also where the majority of your Qi will be stored. But in the Xiantian stage, you are merely just sending more Qi to your dantian to prepare for this process. Your Qi is still not stored in your dantian during this stage." Elder Kendra answered the question and it seemed that answered every one else's question as well.

"The Foundation Realm is where a lot of people get stuck, so please be careful. If you need help breaking through, then don't hesitate to ask an Elder to help you. Now, I think I've talked long enough about the Foundation Realm, so I'll move onto the next thing I wanted to talk about. Other cities. So there are actually quite a few other cities other than Lunar Fox City around us. Lunar Fox City is probably the biggest city out of the ones that surround us, though there might be a few that can rival us. To the East, a few hundred kilometers outside of the Torrential Rain Forest, there is a city probably around half the size of Lunar Fox City called Gale City. Gale City has 3 sects in it, but I won't get into each individual sect today as, for now, all you need to know is how many sects there are. Gale City probably has the most trade with Lunar Fox City since it's only a few thousand kilometers away. Plus they are also an intermediary city for the one located inside of the Torrential Rain Forest. This city is called The Elven City of Elsum. Yes, there is another race living there that is not human. They live in the Rain Forest and are extremely hard to find. Elves usually stay secluded in their forest, are very prideful of their race, and have longer lifespans compared to us humans. We usually don't have direct contact with them very often except for tournaments between all of the sects fighting for resources or other events on a similar scale. The Elven City of Elsum has 2 different Sects." Everyone was shocked to hear this news as they've never heard of Elves nor have they seen one. Mira was no different. She didn't expect Elves to be here of all things.

"In the North, there is a rather large city called The Sleeted City located in The Sparkling Expanse. It's around 75% the size of Lunar Fox City and also has many small villages or towns surrounding the city as well. They have 4 Sects there. Even further North, in The Glacial Ridge, there is a small city called Frosted Berg City. That city is only around 30% the size of Lunar Fox City and they have 1 Sect. Now to the South. There is one city called Mysterious Verdant City in the grasslands before the Dead-Zone. That city is around 50% the size of Lunar Fox City, but there are many villages and towns surrounding it. They also only have 2 Sects there. That about sums up the surrounding area, but know that in between these larger cities there are a bunch of towns and villages. Some live on their own, while others have deals or trade with the cities near them. Alright! Any questions?" Elder Kendra finished explaining everything and saw a few people raise their hands with questions.

"Are the Sects located in these other cities also Branch Sects? Or are they their own separate entity?" Someone asked and Elder Kendra shook her head.

"No, the only Sects around us that are Branch Sects are the ones located near Lunar Fox City. The other Sects were formed in those cities to try and compete with us so we don't monopolize all of the resources." Elder Kendra explained and the disciple just nodded her head.

"Are there other races living on the continent? Or maybe the world?" Someone else asked, but the Elder just shook her head.

"I'm not sure. There might be other races living on other continents or even on our own continent, but I don't know. If I had to guess, then I'd say that there were probably other races aside from Elves and Humans." Elder Kendra said and the disciple just nodded her head.

The disciples all wanted to ask more about the Elves, but they stopped after Elder Kendra just told them to find the city and experience it for themselves.

"I'll go ahead and end the class here, so you are free to go if there are no more questions. See you next week!" Elder Kendra said and walked out of the room. The other disciples also soon followed suit and went their separate ways.

Mira and Maria walked out and went straight towards the Cultivation Caves. Mira planned to spend another 8 hours here, go back to her residence, check on Dominique and Rhydian, then just cultivate through the night. She had to get ready rather early since she starts her unarmed combat training tomorrow.