"Once one has endured all nine Tribulations in the Tribulation Transcendence Realm, they can Cultivate to enter the Ascension Realm and Ascend to the next World.
This is the current stage I am at, but my Cultivation speed is too slow to take that final step. Of course, I'm not willing to give up just yet.
There are three ways to Ascend. The first I just mentioned, but the other two are less conventional. If your body becomes strong enough, a simple movement will be too much for the World to handle your presence and it will open a path for you to Ascend.
The last method isn't confirmed, but according to some Ruins more ancient than me, one can Ascend once they acquire enough Soul Strength. I have explored this path thoroughly, and although I don't know the specific amount required, I feel I am getting closer and closer to success."
As he spoke the last sentence, Riyald's body became an ethereal blue and hovered in the air. His body became more and more ethereal until he was nearly invisible, after which the laboratory began to shake violently.
Riyald hurriedly returned to his original form and looked at William with a smile, "Do you have any questions about this?"
William's mind was shaken by the sudden events in the laboratory, but he quickly collected himself.
"What is the next World? And why would you give out Soul Stones as a trial reward if you are trying to improve your Soul Strength?"
Riyald laughed, "Those are two very different questions. To answer your first question, I do not know. I just know that there is another place above our own world where even more powerful Cultivators exist that can only be reached through Ascension."
William raised an eyebrow, "Even you do not know?"
"How can I? After all, I've never been there myself and the secrets of Ascension can't be revealed so easily. Perhaps some of the less reclusive folks have a better understanding of Ascension than I do."
William nodded, waiting for Riyald to continue.
"And as for the Soul Stones, it's quite simple. I've already consumed all of the miniature and regular-sized Soul Stones, and they are no longer useful to me. Consider them as leftovers I decided to give out to the trial challengers.
I have even created a machine that can harvest Soul Energy from the world and turn it into Soul Stones. I have little control over the quality of the Soul Stone, but if you would like some more of the smaller variants that I have stored up, I would be happy to oblige."
William decided to accept Riyald's offer, "Thank you, Master." Tʜe sourcᴇ of thɪs content ɪs novel·fiɾe·net
Riyald handed William ninety-nine miniature Soul Stones and ninety regular Soul Stones, which was the perfect amount that William could consume before reaching the limit.
If the miniature Soul Stones gave one Soul Strength, and the regular-sized ones gave five, that meant William would have six hundred Soul Strength once they were all consumed!
Riyald stood up from his chair and removed both the chairs and the table with a sweep of his hand, causing William to almost fall to the ground had he not reacted quickly enough.
How did he cancel the effects of his Magic after it already took root? I usually have to control the wood to retreat back into the ground.
Before William could give Riyald an angry look at his obvious prank, the old man used the Plant Element to create a tiny seed, "Back to our previous conversation, I wanted to give you a lesson on Magic."
William threw away his anger and adopted a respectful stance while Riyald spoke, realizing the man was already teaching and had only used the table as an example.
"What do you know about Magic so far? Don't cut corners on the explanation." Riyald asked him.
William explained everything he knew, from the existence of Mana Particles to specifics of each Element. His knowledge was vast, but William knew it was limited at the same time.
He even repeated what Yuming had said to him about how unspecialized Space Rings can't store Alchemy ingredients due to the Space Mana's interference that would damage the ingredient.
While William spoke, Riyald would nod his head at some points and shake it at others, but he didn't interrupt. When he was finished, Riyald released a light sigh.
"It seems you have so many Elemental Affinities that it has clouded your judgement of Magic as a whole. While I am impressed that you have managed to improve your Elemental Affinity to S-Rank and unlock your Domain, it can all be attributed to luck.
I hope you don't let the fact that you have eight Domains get to your head in the future, since someone like me who is forever stuck as a C-Rank Plant Mage could easily tear your Magic apart if they have a greater depth of knowledge."
William nodded. He already knew this, having experienced it firsthand in the trial tower when Gu Dianlong's younger self used the Space Element to teleport behind him before he even had a chance to react.
If William hadn't had the Attack Reflection Talent, he probably would have failed the trial right there and then.
Riyald spent the next few hours teaching William many intricacies of Magic, starting with each Basic Element. While William's improved understanding of each Element didn't lead to a free upgrade, he felt he had gained a lot that day.
The lessons continued after teaching the Basic Elements, and William even revealed the existence of most of his other Elements to Riyald after confirming with the System that it wouldn't cause him any more trouble than he was already in.
William only decided to conceal his Illusion and Order Affinities, since there was no reason to share too many of his secrets with his Master.
"Twenty-three Elements! I've never heard of such a thing. Perhaps you should be the focus of my next experiment..." the man trailed off, giving William the shivers.
Riyald snapped back to reality, "Considering the massive number of Elements you control, I now understand why your knowledge was so shallow. I apologize for my earlier rudeness, Disciple William."
William felt awkward hearing his Master apologizing to him, especially when he knew that the Elements weren't awakened all at once. The truth was, William had plenty of opportunities to increase his knowledge of the Elements, but he was too stingy to spend his Potential Points on the System.
With even more Elemental topics to cover, Riyald and William spent the remainder of the day discussing the various Elements. William learned how to cancel his Magic Spells after their formation, which would both save a lot of time when he needed to cover his tracks and be a great tool for deception during a battle.
When William listened to Riyald's lectures on some of his lower-ranked Elements, his understanding improved at a rapid rate, leading to a series of System messages that almost made him dizzy.
-Knowledge of the Darkness Element improved: Conditions met for free upgrade...
-Knowledge of the Light Element improved: Conditions met for free upgrade...
-Knowledge of the Poison Element improved: Conditions met for free upgrade...
-Knowledge of the Curse Element greatly improved: Conditions met for three free upgrades...