Shattered Sanity

Once inside the room, Aldren personally laid out a woven meditation mat upon the stone floor for Riven to sit on, where Riven quietly lowered himself into the meditation posture that Garron had taught him back in Ashfang.

Crossing his legs, and placing one palm gently over the other, Riven formed a closed circuit within his body, as Aldren nodded approvingly as he observed the young man’s posture.

”Excellent.

Your posture is flawless.

That alone will make the breakthrough considerably smoother.”

Aldren said, as he accepted the crystal vial from the Imperial Anatomist before carefully placing it into Riven’s waiting palms.

”I will now explain to you the exact breakthrough procedure, Young Master....”

He began, as his eyes turned serious, while his voice deepened ever so slightly.

”This potion, once you ingest it, will immediately begin dissolving inside your body before releasing an enormous quantity of refined Aether.

However, the Aether contained within this medicine is unlike the natural Aether found throughout the world...”

”..... rather than merely entering your Soul Vessel and remaining there, it immediately forms a powerful whirlpool at the very centre of your Soul Vessel, in the same way a whirlpool is created in a container of water, with the whirlpool then starting to pull surrounding natural Aether towards itself, as it continuously draws more and more Aether from the environment into your Soul Vessel.”

He explained, as Riven listened to his words with rapt attention.

”Now, because we are inside a specialised breakthrough chamber, where the flow of natural Aether is guaranteed to be uninterrupted....

The longer the whirlpool keeps spinning for, the more Aether will gather within your Soul Vessel, as the pressure inside it rises rapidly.”

He explained, as he used animated hand gestures to drill the point home.

”After the first few minutes, you will feel an intense burning sensation spreading throughout your chest, accompanied by a crushing pressure that becomes more painful with every passing moment.

At that stage, your instincts will desperately urge you to allow your Soul Vessel to expand and relieve that pressure.

However, you must resist that urge.

Because that is the single most important part of the entire breakthrough!”

Aldren warned, as Riven listened without interrupting.

”The moment your Soul Vessel begins expanding naturally, the internal pressure immediately starts falling.

As a result, the whirlpool gradually loses its momentum before eventually stopping altogether.

So, although allowing your Soul Vessel to expand immediately is considerably safer and far less painful, it also produces a much smaller Soul Vessel once the breakthrough is complete.

And instead of allowing that, you must resist the expansion with every ounce of willpower you possess and endure the pressure for as long as possible, so that when your Soul Vessel finally gives way, the vessel created is far larger than it would have been otherwise....”

He explained, as Riven finally began to see the full picture behind the breakthrough process.

”Young Master, imagine your Soul Vessel as a sealed container.

The whirlpool created by the breakthrough medicine will continue pulling more and more Aether into it without stopping, while you refuse to let the walls expand.

With every passing moment, more Aether enters the vessel, causing the internal pressure to rise higher and higher.

Every additional second that you endure strengthens the foundation of your breakthrough.

Eventually, however, you will reach your limit.

The pressure will become so overwhelming that your Soul Vessel can no longer remain compressed.

When that finally happens, it will burst open all at once, expanding violently into a vessel far larger than anything you could have achieved by allowing it to grow naturally from the very beginning.

That single moment determines the quality of your entire breakthrough.

The longer you can resist, the greater the pressure becomes, and the greater the pressure becomes, the larger your Soul Vessel ultimately grows.

That is why two cultivators who consume the exact same breakthrough medicine can still emerge from the process with vastly different foundations.

One may possess greater talent.

Another may possess greater determination.

However, especially at the Ember rank, it is often determination that decides who walks away with the superior Soul Vessel.”

Aldren explained, as he gently pointed towards the crystal vial resting inside Riven’s palms.

”Once your Soul Vessel has finally expanded, the most dangerous part of the breakthrough will already be behind you.

The whirlpool created by the medicine will gradually disappear, your Soul Vessel will stabilise into its new size, and the Aether gathered within it will naturally begin circulating throughout your body.

That circulation is what strengthens your muscles, bones, organs, and mind, completing your transformation into an Ember Rank Ascendant.

From that day onwards, your Soul Vessel will forever draw small quantities of natural Aether into your body on its own, allowing you to cultivate continuously without requiring another breakthrough medicine until you eventually prepare to challenge the next rank.”

Aldren concluded, as silence gradually settled over the room while Riven lowered his eyes towards the crystal vial resting within his hands, fully understanding that the quality of the foundation he built today would depend not only on the medicine itself, but also upon how long he could endure the pain that was soon to come.

’If it’s just pain, then I don’t think I’ll be fazed too much by it at all...’

Riven thought internally, as although he did not put out any outward boasts, he still felt pretty confident in his ability to resist the urge to let the soul vessel expand for quite a long time.

”Can you accidentally damage your soul vessel by resisting the pressure for too long?

Or is that not possible?”

He asked eventually, as Aldren chuckled at his question and shook his head in dismissal.

”It’s generally considered impossible, young master, because your soul vessel is not something that can easily be damaged by internal pressure.

If it were external pressure then yes, it could be damaged, but never from internal pressure.

So yes, in theory, every rule admits an exception. However, no documented Ember Rank breakthrough has ever ruptured a Soul Vessel through internal pressure alone....

So you can confidently resist it for as long as you like without worrying about permanent repercussions.”

He assured, as Riven nodded and opened the cork to the breakthrough potion, before drinking its contents in one large gulp.