Demon Immortal

The reason the Violet Palace realm is known as the watershed in separating cultivators from experts is related to this process. Unlike breaking through from the Qi Gathering realm to Spirit Sea realm, where the qi is converted into a liquid state from gaseous state, the break through to the Violet Palace realm involves a lot of things to be done.

The first and foremost requirement for a cultivator breaking through to the Violet Palace realm is that their Spirit Sea must grow to the fullest extent. Throughout the Spirit Sea realm, a cultivator condenses their liquid spirit qi further and further and refines them. 

Each stage of refinement in the Spirit Sea realm is denoted by the color the spirit qi takes after refinement. The initial liquid spirit qi obtained after converting it to a liquid state will be filled with impurities. The red color of the Red Sea is an indication of it.

As a cultivator refines the spirit qi in his body and accumulates more spirit qi, the color of the spirit qi will change as per the cultivation level. With this refinement, the impurities will be filtered out and the liquid qi becomes more and more condensed as time progresses.

From the Red Sea to the Violet Sea, there are seven stages of refinement. These seven stages are known as the rainbow state as well. When the cultivator\'s spirit qi is refined and takes on the violet color, it is an indication that the spirit qi in the cultivator\'s body is free of impurities and ready for the next stage of refinement – a semi-solid state.

After attaining the Violet Sea, a cultivator will amass more qi so that the Violet Palace they build will be bigger and stronger. This is where the different cultivation techniques come into play. The better the cultivation technique, the stronger the resulting Violet Palace will be.

However, it doesn\'t mean that a cultivator can directly condense the Violet Palace from the Violet Sea. There are several stages to it. The first stage in condensing the Violet Palace is laying the foundational pillars.

The foundational pillars are a key part of the strength of a cultivator\'s Violet Palace. The kind of foundational pillars one establishes will determine the level of foundation one has built in the Foundational Realms as a whole.

There are four stages in the Violet Palace realm. The entry stage is where the Foundational Pillars are established; followed by the mid stage where the six walls are built; the late stage where the four gates are set up; and the peak stage where the lotus pond blooms.

These are collectively called the Eight Pillars, Six Directions, Four Gates, and Lotus Pond. The combination of these four will determine the strength of a Violet Palace of the cultivator. 

Once a cultivator establishes their foundational pillars, they will need to slowly accumulate more qi and build the remaining parts of the Violet Palace while being in the Violet Palace realm. This process can be done within a short time or really take a long time.

The Violet Palace realm is also known as the Consolidation Realm due to this. This is where one consolidates their foundation. The better the foundation of a cultivator, the faster their Violet Palace will take shape.

Duncan was currently in the process of establishing his foundational pillars. In order to establish a legendary foundation, a cultivator must fulfill certain requirements.

They need to have attained the right mental state that is in line with their cultivation technique. They need to have accumulated enough qi. They need to have grasped at least one martial dao concept completely and integrated it.

These three conditions seem simple on the surface but they are anything but that. A typical cultivator will focus only on their cultivation technique. With the cultivation technique only one of the conditions related to accumulating enough qi will be fulfilled.

Geniuses will also focus on martial dao cultivation alongside their cultivation technique. Even among them, there will be differences. Understanding a concept is one thing, But, integrating it and making it your own will take it to a whole new level. Only very few geniuses will be able to reach this level.

Then comes the esoteric requirements regarding mindset, dao heart, luck, and other factors that are not usually known to most cultivators in the lower realms. That\'s where the cultivation techniques come into play. 

High-ranked cultivation techniques will let the cultivator know what kind of mindset they need to reach and how to accomplish that. While lower-rank techniques omit these pieces of information in favor of faster cultivation speed at the foundational levels.

Things like proper mindset, dao heart, luck, and other such esoteric factors are too profound to be expounded in low-level cultivation techniques. This causes the foundation that a cultivator builds to have weak points thus hindering their progress as they cultivate to higher realms.

As a side effect of establishing a faulty foundation, the cultivator will see his cultivation speed drastically drop at higher levels. Before becoming an Earth Immortal, they wouldn\'t have another chance to reshape their foundation. Cultivators with faulty foundations will find it very hard to even reach the entry stages of becoming an Ascendant Being, let alone an Earth Immortal.

If a cultivator establishes their foundational pillars with just their cultivation technique as a base the most they could reach would be a mid-level foundation. If they can combine their cultivation technique with their martial dao cultivation, then they can at most establish a peak foundation.

In the Dragon Scale Continent, the highest level of cultivation techniques available can only allow a cultivator to establish a peak foundation, that too if they are able to integrate their martial dao concepts with their cultivation. If not, then even the best cultivation technique can at most establish a top foundation due to the nature and the profundity of a cultivation technique.

That is why those who were able to grasp concepts in the early stages of the Spirit Sea realm are remarked as geniuses. By being able to grasp concepts in the early stages of the Spirit Sea realm, they have ample time to integrate those concepts into their cultivation and establish a top foundation at the minimum.

The cultivation speed of cultivators will vary based on the type of foundation they establish. The speed of those who establish a top or peak foundation will be several times faster than those who establish mid or low-level foundations. The time taken for them to completely build their Violet Palace will also be shortened dramatically.

If a cultivator with a low-level foundation requires several years to build their Violet Palace, then those with a peak-level foundation can build their Violet Palace completely within six months. That is the level of difference that is usually seen in the cultivation world.

Hence, the type of foundation you establish will determine your future prospects as a cultivator. Those with potential will never settle for establishing low or mid-level foundations. This is akin to sharpening the axe before taking it to the woods. The time spent on sharpening can drastically reduce the effort put into cutting the wood.

Duncan had been relatively lucky in that aspect. His entry into the cultivation world landed him right in one of the hegemonic sects in the Dragon Scale Continent. 

The Heavenly Demon Sect may be evil, but they are a legitimate hegemonic sect. This meant that the exercises they possessed from cultivation techniques to martial arts were all the best available ones in the Dragon Scale Continent.

Any random exercise from the Heavenly Demon Sect will be highly sought after by cultivators outside the sect. The profundity and concepts they had can only be matched by the other three hegemonic sect exercises. 

And, Duncan\'s cultivation technique was handpicked by his master and the Sect Master of his sect.

It was no wonder his cultivation technique was able to establish a top foundation without much effort on his part. Moreover, Duncan\'s bloodline was aligned with the cultivation technique he practiced. This further aided Duncan in his cultivation in the early stages.

The time Duncan spent cultivating was relatively short compared to others. However, with the right exercise and a perfectly fit bloodline for it, his progress during the early stages had been astronomical.

To add to that, Duncan\'s master had plans for him. That meant he needed to grow stronger as soon as possible. So, his master took action to make sure that Duncan was in the ideal environment to cultivate faster.

Whether it be throwing him into the cannibal cave or arranging for Chen Wangjie to lead him into the Grotto Heaven, Duncan\'s master worked behind the scenes to ensure he grew up faster than others. With these advantages, his cultivation speed was simply mindblowing compared to normal cultivators who had to search for opportunities like this.

In a similar manner, Duncan had also lucked out when it came to martial arts cultivation. Unlike other cultivators, Duncan was relatively clear-headed while choosing his martial arts. He didn\'t try to cultivate several martial arts from the get-go. Rather, he stuck to his strengths.

Duncan\'s heart towards his sword was relatively pure. He didn\'t get distracted by other martial arts techniques. He wholeheartedly cultivated his sword art. The only exception to it was the movement art he cultivated. But, Duncan also used it as only an aid. He didn\'t base his martial arts cultivation based on the movement technique. Such a thought never even bloomed in his mind.

Sometimes, ignorance is bliss.

Duncan\'s relative ignorance of the cultivation world made sure that he didn\'t waste time trying out other avenues. His experience as a mercenary made him go after attack power the most. This type of mindset was very suitable for sword cultivators.

However, this also had a shortcoming. 

Duncan\'s overall knowledge of martial arts had been stunted because of his single-minded focus on his sword art. His vision was narrower. This made it a potential problem with his martial arts cultivation.

However, his fateful meeting with Shen Wulong, from Central Continent, opened his eyes to this fact while he was still in the Qi Gathering realm. Following that, he experienced a lot in the Grotto Heaven. Even then, his martial arts knowledge was still lacking compared to most sect disciples. There was no variety in his martial arts.

This problem still persists to this day. 

But, as a sword cultivator, Duncan didn\'t find these much of an issue. So, he was able to relatively get by. His pure heart also allowed him to comprehend and integrate two martial dao concepts into his cultivation with relative ease.

All these factors made it so that Duncan could easily establish a peak foundation. 

But then, his bloodline awoke…

*****

A/N: Check out my other stories and let me know your thoughts...

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