Nodes

“Minor nodes can be found at every intersection inside the body as anyone who has reached E-Grade knows. These can both store and direct power so that magnificent effects can be brought to bear.” **[Chapter 235]**

## **Levelling through E grade**

“To gain a level now it’s not enough to gather up enough Cosmic Energy through kills or cultivation. You also need to break open a Node in your body.”

“It is like a mini-bottleneck. There are spots all through your pathways that need to be awakened, and each node gives you a level. Every time that you break open a node it feels like you break a chain shackling you. Cosmic Energy flows smoother through your pathways, and your body feels lighter.  From what I’ve gathered there are 75 ordinary Nodes, but also a few hidden ones ...

… Every node is harder to open though, and from what I’ve understood most cultivators simply do not have the talent to open up all 75 of them. The majority get stuck on the road of breaking open the nodes even before reaching the real bottleneck of forming a Cultivator’s Core."

**[Chapter 255]**

**Base Attributes Gained Per Node on 76-100 levels:**

**Common, Uncommon: Base Attributes:   +6**

**Rare, Epic: Base Attributes: +7**

**Arcane: Base Attributes: +8**

**Base Attributes Gained Per Node  on  101-125 levels:**

**Common, Uncommon: Base Attributes:   +14**

**Rare, Epic: Base Attributes: +16**

**Arcane: Base Attributes: +18**

**Base Attributes Gained Per Node on  126-150 levels:**

**Common, Uncommon: Base Attributes:   +22**

**Rare, Epic: Base Attributes: +25**

**Arcane: Base Attributes: +28**

**[Chapter 485]**

## **Hidden Nodes**

“Special nodes do not give levels but instead great increases in power. The truly gifted can sometimes open one, or even a few. But it’s not needed to evolve to the next stage.  As to the method to find and open these hidden nodes I have no idea.

Some clans and races have special bloodlines, and these bloodlines may contain special hidden nodes that give specific powers. Other people have somehow gained special constitutions that have special Nodes. A fire constitution might have a hidden node that helps the cultivator come in tune with flames for example, or even form it within one's body naturally.”

### **Locating Hidden Nodes**

“Do you know how you normally find where your nodes are hidden? You use your Cultivation Manual and your inner eye to meticulously scour your body. Sometimes it takes a few months, sometimes it takes decades. For most, it never happens because they can't form a resonation with the nodes. It's exceedingly hard, and not even one in a million can open a single node, let alone multiple.

There are two aspects to bursting open the hidden nodes.  The first is to locate them. This is normally impossible for mortals, so pay close attention to every feeling when you eat this treasure. Don’t let anyone disturb you.  The second part is to force them open. Various treasures can do that, though they are always extremely rare as well.

Sometimes the nodes even burst open due to special encounters. You might get a sense after an intense battle, and might be able to open up a hidden node through resonance. But that is extraordinarily rare.

Hidden nodes is about chance and fate. For most people, especially mortals, it’s impossible to force. So don’t fret if you can’t open as many as you aim for. There are other opportunities to make you stronger apart from bursting up all your nodes..

### **Common Hidden Nodes**

There is no connection between talent and the number of hidden nodes, talent only affects the ease of breaking them open. So you should be fine. Everyone possesses at least the three gates unless their race gives them something similar.

**The Gate of Truth**, **the Spirit Gate** and **the Gate of Flesh**. These are the three foundational nodes that most possess. One increase your connection with the boundless Dao, one expands your mind and one tempers your flesh. All of them are pretty good, though the best ones are usually the special hidden nodes, and those vary from person to person.

**[Chapter 289]**

#### **Special Hidden Nodes**

Hidden nodes could generally be categorized into two types from what Zac had gathered. There were the **Racial Nodes** that most cultivators of the same race had, such as the Three Gates. Pretty much all humanoids had these three hidden nodes, with one important exception. They could have been swapped out by **Inherited Nodes** provided by your bloodline. **Chapter 493**

## **Opening Nodes**

… the method to open the nodes was to grind them down with the help of one’s cultivation technique and Dao … and it seemed the Dao alone wouldn't work.

Some pills and treasures could be utilized. But they often came with side effects and were generally only used when you were right at the end and just needed a final push to get to 75 nodes.

The pills and treasures that could open up Nodes would likely not be too easy to come by, and such treasures usually only worked once like the Fruit of Ascension.

**[Chapter 256]**

“From what I understand you can brute-force the nodes as well. That’s what some try when they are all out of options. You can see every level as an empty glass. When you cultivate or kill enemies you fill the glass with water, and you can keep doing this until it is filled.

When the glass is full of water you need to open up another node, in other words get another glass to fill. Until you do the water will just spill over the edge and not stay with you. Until you break through the cosmic energy will dissipate out from your body.

But you can also forcibly trap the energy inside your body until the accumulated energy burst the Node right open by force. However, using that method is to dance with death. The more nodes you open the more energy you need, and your body might simply not be able to handle it. The glass of water would shatter from getting too much water crammed into it. In other words, your body would explode.

And even if you succeed your body will be severely wounded, and you will need to recuperate for a long time afterward. If you include the recovery period it’s likely faster to just be patient and slowly grind the Node open with your cultivation.  Besides, you would need to kill an ungodly amount of beasts or waste a massive wealth on crystals to accumulate enough energy to force open the nodes, far more than just filling up the glass.”

**[Chapter 256]**

Third, you could minimize the damage to your body by improving your control of Cosmic Energy. **Book 7, Page 529**

## **Mortality and opening Nodes**

“In the same way, mortals can both have an affinity of 20 and 40. Both are trash, but different degrees of trash. And the one with an affinity of 40 will have an easier time of forcing open nodes or turning into a low-grade cultivator in the future.”

"For you, it would normally be completely impossible. Mortals have no conventional methods to create a resonance with their hidden nodes, so they would never be able to break them open by conventional means.

As Zac suspected the general method of Galvarion, the aquatic Mortal, to break through his nodes was to force them open. It took him almost a hundred years to reach the peak E-Grade, most of it spent on a sickbed from his wounds. It had taken him another 150 years to heal his foundations until he even dared to attempt to form his core. **[Chapter 296]**

Zac had found that his Dao of the Coffin had no trouble refining [...] poison, grinding it down to unattuned Energy that was expelled from his body. Zac suspected that [...] he’d even be able to use the cleansed corruption to open up nodes ... He might not be able to absorb Cosmic Energy like a Cultivator, but he could perhaps build his own system. He could get himself poisoned on purpose, and then slowly convert the poison into energy. **[Chapter 407]**

The normal way was akin to unclogging a drain by pouring down some solvent before snaking it dislodge whatever caused the bad flow. Forcing a node open was rather like throwing a stick of dynamite down the drain and blowing up the clog, along with half your house. **Chapter 504**

## **Node Opening Treasures**

 **Eye of Har’Teriam**

**Seed of Eldritch Awakening**