Ken asked the most important question he could think of.

  “EIS as I am now, what is my projected life expectancy after CCC ends?”

  Your age is 73 USTI. Estimated life expectancy previous to world breakthrough: 90 USTI. Estimated life expectancy posthumously to world breakthrough assuming no further cultivation: 200 USTI. Estimated life expectancy posthumously to world breakthrough assuming a continuation of cultivation to the best of your ability: 10000+ USTI.

  Ken grimaced. I would have died before 30, but now I have time. 10000 USTI was 2500 years. Ken wasn’t truly surprised at the number. Just as the sun did not form overnight, beings such as L’Raksha must be far older than he could imagine, and he wasn’t deluded enough to imagine himself reaching that level. He had too much in front of him to focus on. Cultivating his soul was his goal all along, whatever he had to do to give him enough time to do that he would do it. He hoped that whatever he had to do to increase his lifespan wouldn't conflict with his soul cultivation or else it would all be pointless.

  “EIS how can I increase my soul cultivation?”

  Current soul cultivation has reached the peak of Base Layer. To ascend the barrier and reach the First Domain, all Core Pilrs must reach the peak of the Base Layer.

  My body and mind are holding me back. Ken thought. In the past 6 years he had been bottlenecked, he had tried training his mind and body, because he felt it had a positive and reinforcing effect on his soul, but he had quickly reached bottle necks there as well, stalling his progress again.

  “What is the most time efficient way to further cultivate my mind and body?”

  Qi Cultivation. Just as growing the soul overflows, empowering the mind and body, so does Qi Cultivation overflow, empowering all three of the Core Pilrs. Additionally, the higher density of Qi in your surroundings allows for incredibly effective new ways of targeted body and mind training.

  “Besides cultivating the Qi and Core pilrs, are there any other skills or training that you would recommend to help improve my chances to survive and cultivate successfully?” Ken asked. Before he dove into learning about Qi cultivation, he wanted to make sure he covered his bases so to speak.

  You have a Talent for Language. Cultivating your Talent has positive benefits to soul cultivation. Depending on the specific details of your Talent, a vast array of benefits may or may not be received.

  Be Advised. Cultivation of a Talent can only be beneficial, it is the safest and most reliable way for almost all beings to cultivate. It is also a long and arduous journey to reach the peaks of mastery.

  Ken frowned. He had seen that line on his description but he had glossed over it. Ken had learned nguage fast but it was because his brain was more advanced, not exactly a personal talent. He had learned it at about the same rate as any other skill he had. It didn't seem any easier or harder than others. To Ken nguage was just a tool to communicate, and a bad one at that. If someone had a healthy soul, and could sense other beings, there was no need to talk. You could just sense and understand one another.

  Could you understand a being such as L’Raksha with just your Insight alone? You should aspire to one day reach such an exalted level.

  Ken grimaced at the obvious hole in his quick conclusions. Although he felt he had a decent understanding of his own soul, he had almost zero experience interacting with other healthy souls, at least human ones. He wanted to understand more about souls in general instead of just making assumptions based on his own experience. He was lost. He had stopped progressing for years, and despite his constant research, he still didn’t understand what he needed to do next.

  “EIS, I know what I want to do but I'll admit I’m completely lost on how and where to start. Can you help me create some kind of structured training pn?”

  There was a slight pause, and then Ken smiled at what he saw.

  Ken Enderson

  Personal Goal: Reach the First Domain of Soul

  Current Priority: Reach the Peak of the Saturating Stage

  Suggested Schedule:

  Period 1: Eight hours of sleep

  Period 2: Twenty hours of qi cultivation

  Period 3: Two hours of body cultivation

  Cycle until the Priority Task is complete.

  Do you intend to begin a training cycle?

  Ken chuckled. He was going to be locked away from his cabin, his nd, and his pets for three whole months. He’d experienced periods of isotion in his life, probably more than most, but finally being able to actually progress? It was worth it. Plus, now that he understood what the Pilrs of Cultivation actually were, he had a much clearer understanding of what Consciousness Level 1 actually was and honestly it was an incredibly low bar. To be level one you only had to show the ability to cultivate a pilr. From what he could tell from his view of the world from the pyramid, most people didn't cultivate at all, or if they did they never reached the first level of any pilr. But Ken’s thoughts were not really concerned with humans at the moment, he was thinking of his pets.

  “EIS, have Sunshine and Rain reached Consciousness Level 1 and also gone into CCC?”

  That is correct, but expect them to leave CCC considerably changed. Earth intends for all beings capable of reaching Consciousness Level 1 to have the opportunity to grow and cultivate.

  Ken was of course relieved that his two cuties wouldn't be running around in the woods with possibly mutating pnts and critters by themselves. Ken smiled as he pictured exploring the new world with them. He couldn't wait. However this topic brought up so many interesting questions he couldn’t help but ask.

  “EIS, how much of Earth's flora and fauna actually managed to enter CCC?

  Global Status Report: Earth

  Consciousness Level: 4 (Soul: 3 Mind: 4 Body: 3)

  Qi Domain: Base (Adaptation)

  Number of Unique Species: 15.6 Million

  Number of Unique Conscious Species: 2154

  Number of First Domain Races: 2 (Primordial Savage, Primordial Wanderer)

  Pnetary Mission: Reach the First Domain of Qi before Earth does to gain a reward.

  To update or view this information again, think “Pnetary Status”.

  As always answers lead to more questions. What the hell is a Primordial Wanderer?

  Primordial Wanderers are commonly referred to as elephants.

  Ken realized that he had never actually seen an elephant in person. The moment he realized that some animals had souls, was the moment he knew that he could never enter a zoo and remain sane because of his Insight, not to mention the crowds of people. Being able to see the suffering of others was terrifying and he was not about to torture himself. He had also never left the continent of North America and thus never met an elephant.

  Once I find my feet in the new world I would definitely like to meet an Elephant. But that was a goal for the future, and Ken realized that with all this information he had access to, he could get lost on tangents for days. I need to be progressing.

  “EIS please start a training cycle.”

  Commencing training cycle period 1: 8 hours of sleep

  You are very sleepy.

  Ken bcked out instantly.