Log Entry 1: Moonfall Peak, Year 11 of Core Formation
The endless jade moon mocks me tonight. Another meditation session, another frustrating wall. My Qi refuses to coalesce, refusing to surge. I’ve tried every method, devoured every pill. Nothing. The Core remains, stubborn and unyielding. A century in this realm… a hundred years spent in the purgatory of stagnation. Surely it won''t be like this forever?
Log Entry 2: The Whispering Caves, Year 27 of Core Formation
I stumbled upon them, these so-called Whispering Caves. They are certainly misnamed, no whispers, but a cacophony of chaotic energy. Inside I found ancient formations. I thought the array I used to manipulate winds was complex! The carvings here hum with a power that defies my understanding. I dared to tinker, a fraction of what I understand. It nearly cost me my life. My own formation shield barely deflected the first backlash, my spirit nearly dissolving under a flood of corrupted power. I barely escaped. It was a foolish gamble, driven by a desperate hunger for… something to move me forward. I must never be so reckless. Yet, also… I felt something, a spark of understanding, buried within that chaos. Perhaps… perhaps that is the key to breaking the impasse.
Log Entry 3: Crimson Peak Trading Post, Year 43 of Core Formation
Flea-bitten, greedy merchants. But, they do have what I need. My hands ache after a week of setting up a concealment array for a merchant convoy. The spirit stones are hefty, I even managed to get a portion of rare fire-resistant silk as payment. I''ve been refining and adjusting my mobile formation lately. The layered shielding, the heat signature disruption, the scent masking... it grows more complex, always. I’ve learned over the years. It started from a desperate need to keep the core stable so I could grow. Now, it''s become a tool to survive. I had a close call near the Jade Valley. Some old fogey, one of the elders of a lesser sect, recognized the work I did in that market. Turns out, I fleeced his nephew. Lucky my new stealth formation includes sound dampening. It’s sad that I have to run around because of my past deeds.
Log Entry 4: The Azure Wastes, Year 68 of Core Formation
The wind howls across the wastes like a hungry beast. This is… lonely. I haven''t seen another cultivator in weeks. The desolation… it’s a mirror of my inner state. I can feel my cultivation, it''s… stable. Too stable. Like a pond that never rises or falls. The formation research is my only company. I am dissecting a defensive array I found etched into the wall of a ruined temple. It uses the earth itself to reinforce the wards. Ingenious, really. I am thinking of adapting this principle to create a sort of mobile fortress. It would take me time to gather the correct materials. But, the challenge occupies my mind. It has to be done, it is what keeps me moving forward.You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.
Log Entry 5: The Serpentine River, Year 81 of Core Formation
I managed to sell a series of advanced array diagrams to a wealthy merchant caravan. It netted me enough spirit stones to replenish my dwindling supply of jade marrow, that is an ingredient necessary to maintain the core stabilization array I cast every few weeks. The river flows with a strange energy, like liquid moonlight. It is almost... calming. I have begun to meditate, sitting on the banks of this strange river. I am focusing on the flow, both of Qi and of the water. Maybe, just maybe, I have been focusing on too much power and too little of the fundamentals. Perhaps, cultivation is like a river, it cannot be forced, it simply needs to flow naturally. I will rest here a season, and re-examine the basics. I feel like there''s something... something waiting.
Log Entry 6: Nomad Camp, Year 94 of Core Formation
I’ve joined a nomadic tribe for a while, they live on the outskirts of civilization, away from the bustle of towns and cities. They are not cultivators, but they possess a strange understanding of the land, a harmony I envy. I''ve been trading formation advice for their hospitality. Teaching them to protect their flocks from predatory beasts and how to conserve heat during the winter months. It doesn’t feel wasted, I feel… useful. The simplicity of their lives is a stark contrast to the complicated web of formations and intrigue I usually exist within. My mobile fortress is almost complete, the earth-based defense array is coming along nicely. I spend less time in forced meditation now, sometimes I just sit around the campfire and listen to stories and sing songs. It is… peaceful.
Log Entry 7: The Shifting Sands, Year 100 of Core Formation
A century. One hundred years. And yet, I feel no closer to breakthrough. The formation work is advanced. The mobile fortress hums with power, and I am a master of stealth and defense. I am a resourceful survivor, a seasoned manipulator of arrays, but… I am not growing. Is this my fate? To be forever bound to this level, to merely continue existing in the same stagnant pool? The shifting sands mirror my own shifting path. But… I am not giving up, Not yet. Perhaps, the answers lie not in the pursuit of more power, but in understanding of the fundamentals, of rediscovering the core values, that I seem to have lost somewhere long ago. Tomorrow, I’ll have to move on, go towards the rising sun, in a quest for knowledge and maybe… for peace within myself.