In a long, narrow tunnel, faintly lit by moss traversed a stream of water, barely three metres wide. A boat had been travelling on it, moved by its weak currents. Its edges were rugged, covered by moss, and damaged over extended use. The texture was coarse as tiny, hair-thick spikes jutted out of the material due to wear and tear, sharp enough to prick fingers.
Seated on it was Blola, exuding an air of depression. He had been in this dull, humid environment for six months, causing his already gloomy aura to worsen further. On the boat was a few kilograms of Spirit Moss, a treasure valuable enough for cultivators to kill.
But now, they lay before him, uncared for. Blola consumed nothing apart from Spirit Moss for the past six months, fed up by now. Spirit Moss wasn't tasty in the first place. And having consumed the same for so long pretty much killed his taste buds.
With his tongue dead, his depression only worsened. But, that was the extent of his issues. His gains vastly overshadowed that.
First of all, the consumption of Spirit Moss strengthened his Spirit Containers, allowing him to build up Prana at a rapid pace while offsetting the issues brought by the Fragment Disease. As a result, Blola had already reached the peak of Spirit Stage, now possessing 100 Prana.
His Spirit Containers were robust to the extent that even when he is rattled by something, they wouldn't crack. He had consumed enough Spirit Moss to not worry about his Spirit Containers breaking at his current cultivation.
In the future though, when the quantity of Prana in his body is vastly higher than the current amount, the pressure on his Spirit Container would be significant. He would have to consume more Spirit Moss to endure that level of pressure. But, that was merely an issue for the future.
Blola already had a solution in place for that.
Secondary Nature—Spirit Moss Cultivator!
By consuming only Spirit Moss for six months while cultivating his Mystic Bone Art nonstop, he gained this nature.
An entity's Nature was pretty much how it existed in its natural state. A fish swam in the water. A bird flew. A spider weaved web. That was how they existed innately, their primary nature.
The Primary Nature possessed by the Pranic Beasts was pretty much that, their state of existence manifested by their Prana.
Therefore, the most-definite way to gain a Nature was to subject oneself to an extreme environment and adapt to it. Once their body adapts to the environment, surviving there becomes a part of themselves.
Thereby, their Prana manifests that into a Nature. But this needs an extreme case where the entirety of the body focuses on only adapting to the extremity.
Blola had done exactly that, surviving on a diet solely of Spirit Moss. Of course, a large contribution to the success was the Mystic Bone Art that allowed him to consume and assimilate such large quantities of Spirit Moss.
It was one of the best cultivation techniques for a reason. And Mammoth Clansmen could gain Natures from extreme situations related to consumption. This was a proven fact already.
Though, living in the Settlements wasn't an extreme situation. Therefore, Mammoth Clansmen never capitalised on their advantage. Of course, it was also due to their ignorance. Having been living all their lives on an Empyrean Tusk where the environmental conditions were perfect for their survival, they never explored this aspect of the Mystic Bone Art.
After the 44th Empyrean Tusk dies and the 20 survivors of the 44th Settlement had to fend for themselves without the aid of an Empyrean Tusk, they eventually figure this out. But it takes them a century to do so.
And Resha was the one that figured it out, obviously. Closely before the Fourth Major Disaster began, after raiding multiple Mud Viper Nests to refine their toxin into an Elixir, Resha arrives at the Ennoudu Plains.
There, he stumbles upon this tunnel filled with Spirit Moss and spends the next few years in it. By sustaining himself with an exclusive diet of Spirit Moss, he ends up gaining the Tertiary Nature of Spirit Moss Cultivator.
A cultivator could gain three Natures in total. There wasn't any difference in the Natures of Primary, Secondary, and Tertiary. They were just names for the slots. Generally, by the naming scheme followed in Sumatra, Primary Nature was reserved for the ability they gain from fusing with a Pranic Beast.
For the Pranic Beasts, it was the nature they were born with, hence the term primary. Mutated Pranic Beasts would gain a Secondary Nature. And very few individuals that satisfy extreme requirements obtain a Tertiary Nature.
As Resha already obtained Spirit Moss Cultivator as a Nature, there was no need to experiment. Blola only followed whatever was written in Sumatra Chronicles and behold, he obtained it too.
Spirit Moss Cultivator was an ability semi-combative in nature. If Blola activates it on a Pranic Beast, a layer of Spirit Moss would grow on the target by consuming its flesh and Prana.
The greater the quality of the Spirit Beast, the greater the quality of Spirit Moss obtained. But as it needs to be alive, there was some trickiness involved in using the Secondary Nature.
Though if the need arises, Blola could pretty much activate the ability on trees. But, the Spirit Moss grown this way was useless. Even for a student, the effects upon consumption would not be worth it.
The Spirit Moss would have to continue growing on the trees for a long period of time, anywhere from a century to a few centuries. Only after that would it reach the level of Spirit Moss he had been consuming.
If he could grow it on the body of a Silver Grade Pranic Beast, the maturity duration would only be a few years. 'I don't need to worry about it for the time being. I have already consumed enough to last for ten years of my growth.'
His Spirit Containers were now robust enough to withstand 10 years' worth of Prana that he would be accumulating in the future.
As he had such thoughts, the water current vanished. Blola felt his mood improve upon noticing that he had reached the end of the tunnel—a dome-like cave.
The dome-like cave was massive, spanning a couple kilometres in radius. Most of the ground area was covered by a pond. The water from the stream fed into this pond. Luminescent moss covered the floor of the lake, causing it to sparkle, keeping the cave brightly lit.
Blola inhaled the fresh air, feeling his Prana stir up in response. There were faint traces of Prana in the air, something that never happens anywhere in Sumatra, "That's only because of this phenomenon."
At the centre of the pond was an island, barely spanning two hundred square metres in area. On it grew an old, wilted tree, the target of Blola's excitement, "It's here,"
"One of Resha's fortuitous encounters!"