Warhammer Cultivation: Cultivating the Tao Te Ching in the 40K Universe

He was no longer the self-conscious, timid miner's son. He was becoming a seeker of truth.

But today, as that fateful test loomed over him like an invisible dark cloud, his newly established confidence in his Dao heart once again began to waver violently and uncontrollably.

He walked through the corridor paved with white jade towards the assembly point located at the "Altar of God." Along the way, he saw other trainees. They too wore solemn expressions, their eyes flashing with tension and determination.

He saw the chief student, Karen, whose grey monk's robes, set against her pure and pristine aura like early spring snow, gave her a touch of holiness.

He also saw another chief, the barbarian youth Grol, who was like a volcano awakening. His obsidian eyes burned with an undisguised desire for the upcoming trial.

Compared to them, how insignificant I am...

Eli instinctively lowered his head.

When all two hundred students had gathered under the nameless ancient tree at the "Altar of God," their mentor, Hector Kane, was already quietly waiting there.

Unlike usual, he didn't sit leisurely under the tree with a cup of tea. He simply stood quietly, his simple gray monk's robe fluttering slightly in the simulated, gentle morning breeze.

His face was expressionless, but his dark pupils seemed more profound than ever before. His gaze swept over every student present, as if he could see through all their pretenses and look directly into the deepest truth of their souls.

"It seems everyone has arrived."

Hector's voice, though not loud, was clear and resonated in everyone's hearts, instantly overwhelming all the noise in their minds.

"Today is the first major test for the 'Intercepting Sect Academy.' It is also your only chance to prove to me, to the Empire, and even more so to yourselves, what you have learned over the past year."

He didn't offer any further encouragement or motivation. He simply turned around slowly, faced the empty platform covered with fine white sand, and gently waved his hand.

A deep, resonant sound, like the tolling of an ancient bell, came from beneath the platform! Immediately afterward, the pristine white sand, as if controlled by an invisible hand, silently and slowly slid apart to reveal a bottomless, colossal entrance composed of pure darkness...

A cold wind, filled with an aura of "nothingness" and "the unknown," burst forth from the dark entrance, causing all the trainees present to shiver involuntarily.

"This is the 'Torture Space'." Hector's voice, like the calmest guide, introduced them to this hell that was about to devour them.

"It was once a training facility used by a mysterious organization in ancient Terra for 'psychic traversal'. Its walls are made of psionic crystals that can amplify mental energy to the maximum extent. Here, every thought of yours will be amplified a thousandfold. Your deepest fears will become... more real than ever before."

He paused, his gaze sweeping over the young faces that had turned pale instantly because of his words.

"Your assessment criteria are very simple."

"Sit still in this space. Endure a warp whisper storm of the highest intensity, lasting two Terran timescales, that the Martian sage Arkan once used at the hearing and personally simulated for you."

"Those who can maintain control for two hours during this storm and preserve the last bit of clarity in their Daoist hearts are qualified."

Chapter 104 Torture Space

“And the losers…” Hector’s gaze shifted to the shadows on either side of the entrance. There, unnoticed, stood ten silent nuns clad in dark silver power armor, as silent as death statues.

"...The great 'Silent Sisters' will take you away immediately and send you to the 'Pure Mind Space' that I have prepared for you, to eliminate the effects of losing control, and then you can go back and continue to hone your skills with the Profound Ice Technique and the Rock-Solid Method."

"You will only have three chances to enter this place. If you fail on the third attempt..."

Hector did not continue.

These words struck the hearts of every student like a heavy hammer forged from extremely cold ice!

You only have three chances, once a year!

Three opportunities to completely change one's life and gain the Empire's recognition!

Eli felt his heart pounding in his throat. He saw that some of the students around him had turned pale and their legs were trembling slightly due to the immense pressure.

"Now, go inside."

Hector gave them no more time to hesitate.

"Remember, what you are fighting against is never the storms from the outside world."

His voice, like a final warning bell, rang in their ears.

"It is yourselves."

Inside the "torture space," all was darkness.

There was no sound here; not even the movement of air could be felt. Two hundred students sat cross-legged on two hundred futons made of force fields and emitting a faint light, like two hundred lonely stars suspended in the endless void.

Eli struggled to regulate his breathing. He tried to circulate the "Rock Solid Mind Technique," imagining himself as the central mountain range that held the entire world. But in this all-consuming darkness, he felt his will was so insignificant, so...rootless.

at this time--

A buzzing sound, not belonging to this dimension, filled with malice and madness, exploded without warning in the deepest part of everyone's soul!

The long-awaited simulated warp whisper storm has arrived!

It's not just noise.

It was a spiritual tsunami composed of billions of broken souls, the dying cries of countless civilizations, and the alluring whispers of ancient beings lurking beyond dimensions!

Countless distorted and insane hallucinations instantly appeared before Eli's eyes!

He saw the leaden sky above Hecate IV being torn apart! Countless winged, grotesque demons, like rotting bats, screamed and poured out of the rift, rushing towards the mining area that had long been submerged in despair!

He saw his frail mother, terrified, desperately shielding his young sister beneath her! And the overseer he had once subdued with his psychic powers was now leading a group of demon-possessed thugs, their faces twisted with a vengeful grin, as they approached them step by step!

"Help me... Eli... save us..."

His mother's desperate, silent cries for help were like the sharpest knife, piercing deep into the depths of his soul!

"Do not!!!"

Eli let out a silent roar! He wanted to stand up, he wanted to rush forward! He wanted to use the power he had just learned to control to tear those monsters apart, to protect his family!

A violent, furious, and destructive "aggressive energy" erupted uncontrollably from the depths of his Dao heart!

The force field cushion beneath him suddenly became incredibly bright, about to emit a piercing alarm that signified "out of control"!

"what--!!!"

Almost simultaneously, on a futon not far from him, a student could no longer bear the terrifying illusion and let out a heart-wrenching scream! His body began to convulse uncontrollably, and wisps of black smoke filled with chaotic energy overflowed from his seven orifices!

A silver, ghostly figure appeared beside him in an instant. It was a silent nun. Without the slightest hesitation, she extended her hand, clad in a silver power gauntlet, and gently pressed it against the back of the student's neck.

The student's screams abruptly ceased. His entire body, as if all his bones had been removed, collapsed limply to the ground. Then, the silent nun dragged him, like a tattered sack, into the darkness without a sound.

This scene was like a bucket of ice water, poured hard on Elia's head, which was about to be completely ignited by anger!

He shuddered, and a sliver of clarity returned to his eyes, which had turned bloodshot with rage!

He remembered his mentor's words.

"What you are fighting is not the storms outside, but yourselves."

"Observe it, don't fight it."

Eli bit his tongue hard, the sharp pain bringing him back to his senses, which was about to be completely consumed by the illusion.

He forced himself to stop looking at that bloody, horrifying scene. He forced himself to focus all his attention back on his own trembling, insignificant body.

He began to "visualize".

He imagined his feet piercing through this false darkness and sinking deep into Terra's solid core.

He visualized his spine transforming into the unyielding central mountain range that bore the entire weight of Hecate IV.

He visualized his wildly beating heart transforming into the scorching yet incredibly calm lava lake at the heart of the mountain range.

“I am... Rock.”

With all his might, he made the most resolute and tenacious declaration to himself in his heart.

The illusion before his eyes did not disappear. His mother's wails and the demon's snarl still echoed in his ears.

But he stopped "listening".

He just “watched”.

He watched as the rage, powerful enough to tear him to shreds, crashed against his "mountain of the heart," a mountain of willpower, again and again.

He looked at the terror that was enough to shatter his spirit, like a biting wind trying to freeze every inch of his soul.

He was no longer the helpless traveler struggling in the storm.

He became the mountain itself, unmoved by any storm.

Time has lost its meaning.

I don't know how much time passed; perhaps it was a moment, or perhaps a century.

When the mental tsunami filled with malice and madness receded slowly from his soul like the receding tide, Eli slowly opened his eyes, which had long been soaked with sweat and tears.

Inside the "torture space," the darkness has dissipated. Soft, dawn-like light has once again illuminated the area.

He saw that of the two hundred prayer cushions around him that had once twinkled like stars, nearly half of them had been extinguished.

One hundred and seventeen people.

Only 117 people survived.

Chapter 105 Qi Refiner

When the surviving students, dragging their exhausted bodies as if they had been pulled from the water, helped each other back to the familiar, vibrant land of the "Altar of God," they saw their mentor, Hector Kane, standing quietly beneath the ancient tree, smiling down at them.

Behind him stood a massive stone tablet, crafted from an unknown black metal, exuding an aura of antiquity and weight. Engraved on the tablet were one hundred and seventeen names, each shimmering with a faint light.

"Congratulations."

Hector's voice carried a hint of heartfelt satisfaction, "You have passed the first and most difficult trial. You have proven with your own will that you are qualified to bear the glory that is about to come, and you deserve the power that is enough to change your destiny."

He slowly turned to the side, revealing the stone tablet behind him in its entirety to everyone.

“From today onward,” his voice became incredibly solemn, as if announcing the arrival of a new era, “you will no longer be ‘students’.”

"You will be granted the rank of First-Class Cultivator, officially recognized by the 'Intercepting Sect Academy'—"

"A Qi Refiner!"

These unfamiliar words, full of metaphysical connotations, struck the hearts of all the survivors like a thunderclap of creation!

They stared blankly at their own names on the stone tablet, then looked at their hands, which were still trembling slightly.

An unprecedented and indescribable sense of pride and belonging, like a flood bursting its banks, instantly overwhelmed all their fatigue and lingering fear!

They were no longer "monsters" in the eyes of the empire, nor "cargo" on the black warships.

They have their own identities! They have their own "titles"!

However, the shock Hector brought them was far from over.

He slowly raised his hand, and the thunderous cheers were soothed by an invisible hand, instantly turning into a silence filled with anticipation and awe.

"Becoming a Qi Refiner is merely the starting point of your path." Hector's voice, like that of a top-notch political commissar, painted a future blueprint brimming with boundless hope for these young soldiers. "It represents that you have already acquired the 'qualification' to take control of yourselves. But the true path still requires the guidance of 'law'."

He nodded slightly towards the shadow of the ancient tree.

Chief student Grol emerged from the shadows with a gait as steady as a mountain. In his hands, he carried a simple, unadorned sandalwood tray. On the tray, a book lay quietly.

The book had no cover, no decoration. It consisted only of dozens of thin, shimmering pages of memory metal.

“This will be the foundation of your future cultivation.” Hector’s voice became extremely solemn, as if he were passing on a sacred relic. “I will name it: Daoist Canon: Qi Refining Scroll.”

He took the seemingly thin book from Grol's hand, a treasure that seemed to carry the weight of a civilization, and held it high.

"There are no shortcuts here that will allow you to rise to the top, nor are there any forbidden spells that will destroy the world." His gaze swept over every young face that was flushed with excitement. "There is only the 'path' here."

"It will teach you how to achieve your first true 'connection between heaven and man' through the 'Baoyuan Zhuang' (抱元桩) stance."

It will teach you how to find and open the first 'bioenergy field resonance channel' within your own body;

It will teach you how to purify the violent spiritual energy from the outside world into the first strand of your own 'true essence';

It will also teach you how to confront your own deeper and more powerful inner demons…

"It is your map, your compass, the only lighthouse you can trust in this ocean of your heart filled with fog and storms!"

Hector slowly infused a wisp of true essence into it.

The blank metal book suddenly burst forth with a dazzling, soft golden light! On those originally blank pages, golden characters, imbued with the essence of "Tao," appeared, flowing like living things!

"From this day forward, rubbings of this precious book will be distributed to each and every one of you. You must cherish it as you would your own lives, study it, and... verify it!"

"For the Emperor! For the Dao Academy!"

It's unclear who it was, but the first person to let out a frenzied shout, using all their strength!

Immediately afterwards, a deafening roar of cheers, like a chain reaction that had been triggered, instantly engulfed the entire "God's Platform"!