Larry was finding it hard to come into terms with what was happening.
"Is this the legendary elder in a ring giving out guidance? Or something similar? Maybe its my long lost bloodline awakening! " Larry thought,his thought process even wondering if it was some ancestoral elder who saved him due to his potential or something in the likes.
He couldn't be blamed thinking like that, Norlan's influence in his life couldn't be more pronounced.
Larry reminisced how Norlan would often read all kinds of online novels,and how he would narrate them to the children in the orphanage,usually adding exaggerated parts that were humorous and entertaining to the children.
"Wait, the voice is feminine! Is it not a wise elder with grey hair but some ancestoral hag with drooping breasts and wrinkles?"
Larry couldn't help but cringe.
"What are so dazed about. Although am helping you resist the Abbarent soul Devil tree,it won't last long. I have other. Important things to do."
Larry snapped out of his stupar,posing a question the moment he remembered that this voice was actually not some ancestoral elder from his lineage nor was she helping him out of the kindness of her heart. He recalled her request to aid Norlan, specifically Norlan Grimblade,and hurriedly inquired.
"How do you know Norlan? Is he okay? Do you know where he is?"
Larry couldn't help but ask. From how the voice mentioned Norlan Grimblade,he knew that this elder was trust worthy. For only very few people know the term Grimblade,showing a clear trust between Norlan and this voice.
"Did Norlan send you to help me? What is happening here? What is this Abbarent soul Devil tree?"
The voice turned silent for a while. Larry thought that he had been too impetuous and decided to give it time to answer.
"My name is...well,that's not important for now. All you need to know is that Norlan is a good friend of mine. We made a deal.
He has to accomplish something for me during his first trial,and to do that,he will need good people around him.
You my friend, are very lucky,choosen as a favored of the celestial Tower,blessed with a uniqueness.
Barely able to help him in his task."
Aurelia explain without much need to put on airs. She knows that Larry is one of the few people that Norlan is genuinely close to,hence choosing this subtle informal approach. After all,she is his wife.
"Larry,you now need to make your way into the core of your divine aperture."
Aurelia's figure appeared inside Larry's divine aperture. Larry was startled.
This was one beautiful woman!
Voluminous in all the right places, graceful in all the curving allure and most importantly,a woman of color.
Chocolate!
"Are you really not my ancestor? " Aurelia shot him a neutral glance.
"A slip of the tongue,slip of the tongue" Larry got the hint,his face now looking directly at the core of his own divine aperture.
And all the obstacles.
Obstacles he knew the names of the moment he laid eyes in them.
Frames!
24 of them in total.
He also noticed he was in one of them. Now having to walk through 23 to reach the core.
"Quite an impressive domain,if it's potential is excavated that is."
Aurelia commented, prompting Larry to take a closer look.
It turned out,there were not just 24 frames.
A stream of information appeared in his head.
There were actually 192 of them. Each split into eight paths leading to the core of the divine aperture.
Each path containing 24 frames.
"Get walking! I will only stay here for as long as I have to. Meaning that I will only restrain the Abbarent soul Devil tree until you reach the core and activate your uniqueness!"
Larry moved a step forward,walking out of the 24th frame into the buffer zone between two frames.
The ground was made of the same glassy like material that the frames were made off. The buffer zone filled with ubiquitous and unknown streams of energy, seemingly connecting the two frames.
Feeling the sensation of new information,Larry grasped that even the distance between two frames was intentional and had meaning.
It was equal to his maximum speed in one second!
"It says that the buffer zone is exactly 15 meters! Doesn't that mean I can go 900 metres per minutes?
So this is what it means to be an awakened! Soo overpowered!
One has to know that this is instantaneous speed. His maximum burst which the frames can help him sustained without strain or the need to pick up momentum.
Even the greatest of athletes on earth could only go for about 10 meters per second of sustained speed.
And that was not the best part. The best part is that this power could grow. Everytime he advances a realm,his buffer zones advance and his speed increases.
"Move it!" Aurelia admonished. She didn't have time to allow Larry to think about every single detail of his uniqueness.
"Don't worry,when you activate your uniqueness,you will naturally know every nook and cranny of it's intricacies.
Larry nodded. Moving swiftly towards the core,frame by frame.
After crossing four frames,he felt a slight change in the quality of the frames. It seemed that their quality somehow reduced. He tried focusing for a bit, waiting to see if he would get another innate information as to why he felt that.
Nothing was triggered. Aurelia looked as him curiously. She had also felt it.
Every uniqueness was different,and no two uniqueness can exist at the same time in the Universe. There was no course book to get reference to,and most difficult,there was no guide book that shows how to cultivate a uniqueness.
The user has to figure out it's mechanisms all by himself.
Even equivalent exchange used to get answers from the Celestial Tower would not work.
Each is special. So special that a natural can only exist once and only once in the entire universe. Meaning that if Larry dies,this uniqueness of his will be lost and die with him.
Of course,the Celestial Tower of providence has been around since the dawn of time, and over the course of millions of years of cultivation history,the period now can only be called the golden period.
A period of myriad paths, myriad ways and countless methods.
There exist 10 celestial paths,100 high arts of cultivation,and 1000 schools and myriad methods and ways.
Among those,people have already embarked on the path to create artificial uniqueness!
But of course,such a thing is highly abhored by the Tower and so always restricted with conditions of existence.
One of which is that the owner must have died for at least a 1000 years! Among others.
"I feel it again." Larry whispered as he crossed another four frames.
Then another,and another.
Almost at the core,he bravely asked for guidance!
Aurelia looked at him,explaining the to do's and don'ts of Uniqueness. She explained clearly that one with uniqueness have no predecessors and that they all walk their own path. She was very considerate while explaining. Even going further to state her own conjectures as one in a higher realms.
"In Albera,not all people cultivate via the divine aperture," she began," There are actually many cultivation paths that people take.
For example,the Dao Ancestor took the path of cultivating the upper dantian primary. The Demon ancestor took the essence qi lower dantian while both cultivate the middle spiritual dantian as secondary.
These two ushered the cultivation of dantians. However even they are not the most powerful.
More powerful than them are the bloodline cultivators that cultivate their bodies to give birth to body divine abilities,the spirit cultivators that cultivate the world's natural energy externally and even Royal soul cultivators who cultivate the soul domain.
There are too many others examples,many paths and myriad methods to cultivate.
But all of them have one thing in common,they all eventually all open a divine aperture. Do you know the reason?"
Larry was shocked,talking some time to absorb what he just heard.
From the bits of information he got after passing through the first culling process. The assumption he got was that,divine aperture cultivation was the only one.
"I know what the Tower told you guys,what you were thinking. And it is true,for the divine aperture path is undoubtedly number one on the Celestial evolution path rankings!
But the main reason is not because it is the most powerful path. No,it's because it is all inclusive.
And even more impressive is that,it can be cultivated with another path in tandem. With no rejection,and with full cooperation.
Do you know why that is? "
Larry frowned, realization dawning on him.
"Because the divine aperture path follows the path of comprehension realm."
"You're quite astute. You are correct,all paths although not mainly following the path of comprehension realm,they all need it when they breakthrough.
For example,the bloodline cultivators need battle to excavate potential in order to break through. But what is the process of excavating potential if not gaining experience? Are they not increasing their familiarity with their divine skill to perfection? Is that not an increase in comprehension realm?
Think about this,a bloodline cultivator, practicing the divine aperture path simultaneously with his path."
Larry understood." Half the effort,twice the results!"
"It seems you have understood. Now activate that uniqueness of yours."
Larry nodded,very aware of the favor this elder had treated him. Patiently explaining and widening his horizons.
However,he couldn't help but think. Should he also embark on another path and simultaneously cultivate the divine aperture?
Wouldn't that make him stronger? Maybe that way,he would be more useful right?
Aurelia seemed to have guessed his thoughts. She laughed," Don't get ahead of yourself,cultivating the divine aperture alone also has some benefits that those who cultivate both lack.
But you should not concern yourself with that. Actually,the reason I told you all of this was because of your anomaly of every four frames." She smiled before him, explaining like a generous elder would to his child.
"I think,they represent a minor bottleneck in comprehension. You should know the realms of comprehension right?
Entry level
Skilled level
Minor accomplishment
Major accomplishment
Perfection Level
Great perfection
My conjecture is that every four frames represent a minor bottleneck in comprehension.
There could be other inner workings,but at least you can start there."
Larry was enlightened. He bowed instinctively in thanks. His body crossing the final frame to enter the core of his Divine aperture.
Looking back one more time,he found Aurelia smiling softly, greatly intriging Larry. The next words however, shattered all unfiltered thoughts that were brewing
"Say Hey to Norlan for me. Tell him to take it easy"
She vanished,her body blowing with a non existent wind.