Anos tried many times to create another 'avatar'. But despite his great efforts. It seemed to be futile. It was as if his soul could only handle one at the moment. He didn't know what to think about this.

  But this restriction disappointed him. Not to mention. When he first acquired an avatar. It was like a copy of his body. But it lacked his cultivation.

  During those six months he had been duel cultivating. He went from a mere mortal to the third level of qi condensation in his avatar body. His cultivation speed had improved by quite a bit.

  The first level of qi condensation would normally take him 3 months in his previous life. But in this life, he beat his personal record. Anos noticed that when you already have attained that realm. All you need is accumulation in future attempts.

  Anos decided to create his own set of spells.

  The first spell he wanted to create was a 'disguise' spell. One that could change his face and warp his body. Such a thing could even adjust the skeletal structure and skin color.

  Anos knew of such spells in his last life. But he hadn't learned any of them. So he was going to make it from scratch. His first attempt was a illusion that would cover the body at all times.

  His avatar didn't blow up this time. But it simply burned through spiritual energy too quickly. While he could pull from a massive pool of spiritual energy now.

  This spell was too wasteful and it almost drained spiritual energy faster then he could retrieve it! So he then looked at more 'permanent' adjustments.

  Anos wasn't a doctor and lacked knowledge on basic anatomy of the body. To create a spell that changed the skeletal structure would not only be painful.

  But it would end in disaster if the user didn't know what they were doing.

  Luckily, Anos had a body he could study. Not just a regular human that may deviate from his goals. He had his avatar! He grit his teeth and used spiritual energy like a scalpel.

  He dissected his avatar while it was still conscious. He apologized to himself a hundred times before doing so. But even he felt some resentment towards himself! This was an incredibly painful procedure and he had no real goal at the moment.

  His 'goal' was to familiarize himself with the human body.

  Cultivators are different from normal humans. They have a spiritual sense! Even a lousy qi condensation cultivator can examine their internal condition.

  So why research his body in such a crude way?

  You can sort of think of the spiritual sense having limits. Just like how an X-ray won't give you all data on your body. The spiritual sense, especially at this stage is also limited.

  Anos made a lot of very painful mistakes. He suffered greatly. The first hundred dissections, he was like a clueless butcher that wasted the material.

  It wasn't until months later that he felt he knew the anatomy of the body enough to make a transfiguration spell. Anos found himself losing track of time in his research.

  Once he got used to the painful aspect of these test. Once he got into the flow of things. He found he was making rapid progress!

  5 years later...

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  A old man sat in a cave cultivating. This man looked nothing like Anos! His clothes were pristine. He looked nothing like someone who had been isolated for years struggling to survive.

  The old man waved his hand and a screen of water appeared like a mirror in front of him. He looked at his beard and white hair and shook his head.

  "I look as if I spent a lifetime here..."

  This was Anos! The next second. His bones started to wriggle underneath his skin and he felt a deep pain. But such pain was now nothing to him. The hair on his face was pushed out like putty and soon Anos resembled himself as a teenager again.

  "I am now 21..."

  Anos had reached the fifth stage of qi condensation. His avatar had also broken through to the fourth level.

  During this time. Anos had created a variety of spells. But he lacked information and had to use his wits and imagination. It was like trying to invent complex mathematical formulas.

  Most people won't be able to do so even if they spend their entire lives. Anos actually hadn't explored much of this dream valley. He instead focused on arming himself with knowledge and spells.

  There was little knowledge here.

  But the place was quiet and he had no visitors. Anos knew that group of people may have found a way out years ago as he never ran into them. Or they might've died of starvation.

  Who knew? Anos just hoped his friend Edrea survived.

  As for why Anos didn't leave?

  He didn't know how! Even if he could, why should he? He could research as much as he wanted in this place and didn't have to worry about hiding his secrets.

  Anos did long for a few things however. He wished he had a storage bag and spirit stones. Maybe some formation disk or a hundred arts inheritance jade slip.

  It took Anos almost five years to perfect his transfiguration spell.

  "I have less then 40 years to breakthrough to foundation establishment."

  Despite 'researching' new spells. Anos never gave up his cultivation. With enough effort, one can even move a mountain! The transfiguration spell was one of the hardest spells he had created. It was also the most complex.

  But when he was studying this direction. He also managed to create spells that could regenerate the body. Once he did this, he didn't have to worry about most injuries to his avatar as he could heal himself!

  This sped up development quite a bit.

  He called this spell 'Undying Body'. Unfortunately, this spell requires one to have memorized countless information of the target. So unless he could scan their body with spiritual sense. This alone would require his cultivation to be at foundation establishment. There was no way to heal others.

  Unless it was an incredibly small wound. Like a small cut. This spell didn't make one immortal. It could repair almost any injury with the perquisite of there being enough spiritual energy and the person still being alive!

  Anos had also tried to get around higher levels of cultivation. For example, a golden core is able to freely fly in the sky with little expense. Anos made a flying spell. But using it for even a few seconds drained him of his spiritual energy. He felt it could be useful.

  He just couldn't use it for long. It cost him far more then god step.

  Thanks to him being a cultivator. He aged at a slower rate then mortals. Five years left no impression on him. But mentally, he felt as if he was no longer a child.

  He had died when he was only ten years old.

  He then lived another life until 15 before getting trapped in this valley. But during those years, he grew up in a village. Now he was alone. This left him with a lot of time to ponder and think about things.

  He felt great joy in growing in both spells and realm.

  5 years later...

  "I'm 26..."

  Anos had reached the sixth level of qi condensation. But he had been at the bottleneck between sixth and seventh for two years now. He now had a plethora of techniques.

  His avatar was also now at the fifth level.

  But he still lacked important external objects.

  So he had no talismans, formations, pills, bugs, or puppets. If other cultivators knew about him, they would think he was quite poor! Not a single spirit stone...

  It wasn't that Anos didn't want to learn these things. But they just required systematic education. Not to mention, all those things required resources.

  Spells on the other hand? The only price to failure was death! With his avatar. He was quite rich in regard to 'lives'. So he progressed rapidly in the field of making spells.

  The last year. Anos had been working on something he thought could be revolutionary.

  In the past. He had tried to bring his avatar outside of his sea of consciousness. To make the false true and the true false. This always exhausted himself and caused him to pass out.

  That hadn't changed even with his cultivation of the sixth level of qi condensation. But what if he made a 'puppet' made from spiritual energy?

  But don't puppets require heavenly treasures? A puppet core? Spirit stones to power it?

  Anos was working on a different type of puppet.