Tarthocas: Chronicles of the Transmigrating Scribe Chapter 56: Info dump the second

Read chapter 56 of Tarthocas: Chronicles of the Transmigrating Scribe by Bigmachine on NovelPedia.

There was a blackboard, a chair, and Carto Harts—sitting on the aforementioned chair. On the board, a series of writings spanned across five paragraphs. To be more precise, these paragraphs contained everything he knew about the cultivation method of this world. "The Five Stages of Aether Arts," Wilford named it as he reviewed the information. Each of the five stages, to his understanding, revolved around the refinement of essence, with Aether serving as the catalyst. The Mortal Stage marked the entry point to this process of refinement. It involved manipulating Elemental Energy, requiring complete mastery of control to reach the pinnacle. In Paradise, most of its inhabitants were still in this stage. This stage was further divided into four major realms, each requiring a level of mastery to advance to the next. Spell Conduits were employed to give the energy a more tangible form, allowing practitioners to progress faster and more efficiently. If he were to compare this stage to his former world, a Great Mortal was akin to an artillery tank in terms of strength. After the Mortal Stage came the Elite Stage, so named because those who reached it could establish their own noble clans or houses. Entering this stage required the practitioner to perform a relatively simple task—refining the body through Elemental Energy. It seemed basic to Wilford, but it got the job done. The Elite Stage was divided into three realms: Outer Refinement, Inner Refinement, and Complete Refinement. During this process, it wasn't uncommon for someone to form a Vestige Mark. Vestige Marks were mysterious in origin. All Wilford knew was that they appeared to a fortunate few in the Elite Stage. Their main utility lay in their ability to channel a specific spell of a particular element with such efficiency that the spell's power was doubled if not tripled. As a result, Elites were considered high-ranking individuals within the outer circles of The Central Hold. Wilford's eyes moved to the next paragraph: the Saints. The big dogs. To the majority of people, Saints were the most powerful beings in the world. They could summon storms capable of sweeping across regions and altering the climate of vast lands. With just a snap of their fingers, they could bring about the destruction of an entire kingdom in mere seconds. To the mortals of Paradise, these Saints were akin to gods. Yet, aware of The Council and its true gods, the people referred to these figures as Saints instead. The Saint Stage was divided into four realms: Iron Seed, Jade Sapling, Bronze Stalk, and Ruby Petals. To enter this stage, a practitioner first had to construct an immaterial Animus Flower with their mind, which served as the framework for the true, corporeal Animus Flower. From there, they had to build the flower using Elemental Energy and give it physical form. While it sounded simple, in practice, it was anything but. Advancing between the realms of the Saint Stage followed a seemingly straightforward procedure: using Elemental Energy to construct parts of the Animus Flower, imitating its natural growth. This wasn't particularly difficult. The real challenge lay in the fact that the Animus Flower served as a proxy for the mind. Therefore, giving corporeality to the flower was, in essence, a process of refining the mind itself. And the mind… that was a delicate construct, shaped by information. Anything that involved it became inherently complex, and refining the mind led to a phenomenon known as Mind Catastrophes . These catastrophes could arise for a myriad of reasons, but any Saint would eventually face them. They took countless forms, yet at their core, one element was constant: The Will. It could manifest as questions or doubts, illusions of fearsome beasts, or even vivid nightmares. No matter how much one tried to avoid it, it would inevitably come—unless the cultivator abandoned their path entirely and gave up on advancing further. Wilford had already faced two Mind Catastrophe