Ves grew fascinated by the clear and simple explanations given by his mother. He had been looking for answers for a long time. His mother had always played coy and continually told him that he shouldn't learn for her and instead try and figure out stuff himself. Fortunately, he managed to hoodwink her into giving him a basic introduction into cultivation. Even if this was relatively basic knowledge, it already helped him figure out better and more systematic ways to make his own products stronger! "Creation cultivation should be of great interest to you, seeing as it closely fits with your profession." The Lady of the Night spoke to the avatar of her son. "This form of cultivation emerged as an off-shoot of qi cultivation. Those that have chosen to become producers have developed specific cultivation methods that allow them to derive growth through the act of creation. This can encompass many different activities, from producing items in a workshop to growing crops in a farm. It can also include the breeding of cattle and the administration of a city. As long as a cultivation method involves an explicit and deliberate component of production or expansion of a resource, it falls under this broad category of cultivation." That... was way more than Veronica expected to hear. Creation cultivation sounded so all-encompassing that she felt that any worker in an industry should be able to grow stronger just by doing their Jobs! Of course, creation cultivation wasn't that simple. "Anything related to True Gods is extraordinary and beyond the realm of mortality." Cynthia emphasized. "That means that if a creation cultivator wishes to reach this level, then he must constantly endeavor to produce more exceptional results. It is not enough for a blacksmith to produce a million average nails. He must produce nails that are more powerful and exquisite than any mortal craftsman can make. This is also the main difficulty of this broad approach. A creation cultivator must develop and rely on their creativity, ingenuity and other related strengths to create new and exceptional works." That fully aligned with what Ves knew about mech designers such as himself. The speed in which he was able to advance to the rank of Senior Mech Designer was largely a reflection of his own amazing creativity and ingenuity! "Are creation cultivators powerful?" He asked. "They are... but largely in their own areas of expertise. In order to become a True God, creation cultivators must develop extraordinary production capabilities. The more they advance, the more they must develop their creation abilities further, and that imposes greater requirements on their relevant traits. If they succeed in becoming True Gods, then they gain access to an entirely new world of creation." That sounded both impressive and vague. Ves had learned a bit about what Star Designers were like. He looked forward to accessing this new "world of creation" as his mother described. Cynthia moved on to the next cultivation category. "If it is possible for cultivators to pursue immortality through production, then it is also possible for cultivators to ascend to godhood by deriving their power from the output. Any sufficiently powerful item, no matter whether it is produced by nature or a creation cultivator, can serve as a potential "power source ." "So the effectiveness of this cultivation method is entirely dependent on the quality and power of the artifact?" Veronica guessed. "That is correct. Artifact cultivation can be seen as a form of attaining godhood through wealth and privilege as it is expensive and difficult to attain the rare but powerful objects needed to make substantial progress. Creation cultivators and artifact cultivators therefore enjoy a high degree of co-dependence. Artifact cultivators must provide the resources needed to produce exceptional items or cover for their cost in other ways. Creation cultivators must satisfy the needs of their demanding clients." That happened to match the relationship between mech designers and mech pilots. One could not truly exist without the other. They both needed each other in order to thrive to the fullest! The mother moved on to explain the next approach to cultivation. "Body cultivation is just as it describes. It is a means to become a True God by developing one's physical body to an extreme." Cynthia said. "It is considered to be a diametrically opposite approach to qi cultivation. While the latter generally seeks to make a cultivator transcend his mortal body, body cultivation seeks to grow and exploit it to an extreme. It is rare in the Milky Way due to a shortage of relevant resources and the poor strength of the small and fragile human physique, but it is much more common in the Red Ocean." "Because of phasewater.' Ves quickly realized. "Are you saying that phase whales and phase lords are body cultivators?" Cynthia smiled and nodded. "It may seem as if the methods of these aliens are unrelated to our own, but cultivation is as universal as the power of heaven and earth. Phasewater is a special substance in many ways. It is a gateway into different dimensions as it can warp space itself. Another way to look at phasewater from the perspective of cultivation is that it can grant access to normally inaccessible energies that can facilitate body cultivation. This does not have to be spiritual energy, but it may very well be. I am not too familiar with the cultivation methods of phase lords." "I see." According to Cynthia's mode] of body cultivation, it was a method of empowering the body to a divine state by nurturing it with powerful energies. Phase lords did not directly grow powerful by adding phasewater to their bodies. They actually derived their power from using phasewater to open portals to higher dimensions that were filled with special and more potent energies! Perhaps this was the biggest difficulty to getting started as a phase lord. All of those native aliens who failed and died in their attempts had not managed to tap into the right higher dimensions! Did this mean that Ves and Veronica had opened channels to those specific dimensions as well? Both of their bloodstreams contained phasewater, after all! Perhaps even now, their bodies were growing larger and heavier as their physical bodies were constantly nurtured by higher-dimensional energies! Veronica shifted in her mother's lap. "Are the body cultivators of the Red Ocean strong?" Cynthia shook her head. "As I have said, I do not know much about them, but from what I am able to deduce, phase lords may very well possess the highest direct defense and durability against attacks. They should be extremely difficult to kill when confronted by the same level of opposition." That sounded troublesome. Ves had already set his sights on the Eminence of Torment, but if this orven phase lord could withstand the combined attacks of three powerful ace mechs, then this alien god would have plenty of opportunities to escape! Ves did not want the Eminence of Torment to warp away from the battlefield with ease like the Trampier of Stars! "Body cultivators have their own difficulties, though." Cynthia said. "They have formed the greatest dependence on specific resources to grow their bodies. The cultivation process can also be painful and life-threatening. Mistakes can easily result in undesirable mutations and escalating health problems." That did not sound good to Ves. He grew a lot less happy about stepping foot on the path of a phaselord. "Moving on, deity cultivation should also be a form of growth that you should be intimately familiar with." Cynthia grinned. "It is usually reserved for True Gods and beings that have already attained great strength. As its name suggests, this cultivation approach is a means of deriving spiritual energy and other useful resources from the worship of a large number of sentient beings. The greater the quantity of worshipers, the greater the supply of sustenance. The higher the strength of individual worshipers, the greater the quality of sustenance." Ves hated this form of cultivation, yet he also recognized that he had been taking advantage of it. Many of his design spirits essentially relied on this approach to grow more powerful! "I guess this method has become fairly prevalent in the Milky Way due to the lack of the power of heaven, am I correct?" He asked. "Precisely, even deity cultivation cannot easily elevate anyone into a True God. The principal resource is worshipers. This is a major restriction as many humans are alive in the Milky Way today, but the vast majority of them are astonishingly weak. The worship of stronger and higher beings is needed for a deity cultivator to transform into a True God, and that is challenging even in a more energy-rich environment. Strong beings that have aspirations to godhood do not easily worship other gods." Cynthia explained a bit more about the supposed gods that followed this cultivation approach. They did not sound like gods at all to Ves. They sounded more like leeches that stole the energies produced or absorbed by other hard-working sentients! It sounded no different from company bosses who grew fat and rich off the labor of ordinary workers! "What are the downsides to this form of cultivation?" Ves asked. "There are many shortcomings to this particular approach. Aside from the limitations of worshipers, there is also the risk of getting affected by their collective beliefs. If a large group of faithful beings believe that a god is violent, then the deity cultivator will slowly develop more violent tendencies. This can be a double-edged sword, and has ultimately harmed many wouki-be gods." That sounded about right. Ves had already recognized this mutual interaction between his design spirits and the mech pilots that supplied spiritual feedback. He decided to bring up another related topic. "I think I came across faith energy once upon a time. Can you explain more?" His mother shook her head. "You are not ready to learn about the power of faith. This is an exclusive resource for True Gods and higher beings. I will explain it to you on another day." That disappointed Ves a bit, but he already expected to hear this kind of answer. Faith energy was powerful but it was also extremely dangerous to those that were not capable of harnessing its great might. "There is one more type of cultivation." Veronica said instead. "Yes. Contract cultivation may not be the most elegant description that I can choose from, but it has a clear meaning. It is a form of cultivation by establishing an implicit or explicit contract with another powerful being. This contract spells out an exchange where the contract cultivator can obtain the power he needs in exchange for trading another resource. For example, a weak contract cultivator can worship a powerful deity cultivator. The former strengthens the latter through worship. The latter can reward the former by awarding small amounts of specific and higher quality energies." The cyborg cat immediately grew less enthused about this cultivation approach. "That sounds... pathetic. These "contract cultivators' are basically worshipers who pray to "gods' in the hopes of obtaining a handout from what I can tell. Let me guess. These contracts are rarely fair and equitable." Cynthia patted Veronica's head. "That is often the case. A large power balance exists between both sides of the contract. Exploitation is common, but contract cultivators will continue to sell their services at an enormous disadvantage as this is the "easiest" form of cultivation. There is no real difficulty in praying. Even the weakest and most talentless human can become powerful through the blessing of a god, though he will probably require more energy to break his shackles. The rewards they receive are entirely dependent on the generosity and rules of the objects of their worship." All of these different approaches to cultivation made up the vast majority of methods that humans and aliens used to become more powerful. While there were doubtlessly a lot of other weird methods that did not fall into any of the boxes described by Cynthia, the framework of cultivation was impressively comprehensive while also remaining simple enough to remain close to the truth! Veronica rolled her body in her mother's lap. "I think I understand now. There's just one problem. Where do mech designers and mech pilots fall under? They sound mostly like creation cultivators and artifact cultivators, but they encompass bits and pieces of other cultivation approaches." Cynthia already expected her child to bring up this issue. She smiled at the cyborg cat. "That is because cultivation methods have become incredibly advanced nowadays. Countless generations of cultivators have continued to build upon the progress of their predecessors. It has become common to mix and match processes from different cultivation approaches in an attempt to make up for shortcomings and produce greater synergies. Do you understand? Developing a cultivation method is similar to designing a mech. You need to take different components and mix them together in a clever arrangement to draw the greatest possible performance out of the parts." That... sounded remarkably easy, though Ves knew it was anything but simple. "If mech designers and mech pilots are products of large inheritances... then they must have incorporated a lot of different processes." The cyborg cat remarked. "That is correct. Can you guess which cultivation approaches these two relatively new and recent professions have borrowed from, my child?"