Chapter 2: Ignition
Time passed. Every day felt like a treasure: in the real world, I got to run around and play with my best friend Seran, while in the spiritual realm, I cultivated and mined spirit stones. As it turned out, I could indeed bring items from the real world to the spiritual realm. All I had to do was hold them in my hand when I fell asleep. To bring them back out, I just needed to have them in hand when I got into the bed in the house.
Cultivation progress was slow, but over time, I increased how many drops of qi I could refine in a single visit, with each day gaining one more drop than the previous. As I accumulated inner qi, I noticed that I felt healthier and more energetic, despite not yet having even ignited my qi center, let alone opened any of my meridians or done any body tempering. It took me exactly one hundred days to completely fill my qi center with refined rainbow qi, and in that time I had mined a thousand spirit stones (my stamina for mining very slowly increased as well).
According to the cultivation method the obelisk had imparted, the next step was "structuring" my qi center to nurture my spiritual roots. This step was apparently optional, but neglecting to do it would stunt my growth as a cultivator. The fact that I had this optional step available to me indicated to me that my cultivation method was of a high grade rather than some run-of-the-mill thing. Of course, I already thought that based on the fact that it was utilizing eight elements.
This process was mind-bending because it involved thinking in more than three dimensions. First, I had to figure out how to sense my qi center in more than three dimensions, which would let me sense my spiritual roots. I didn't know much about spiritual roots – they meant different things in different xianxia stories – but the knowledge imparted to me by the obelisk indicated that they governed both power and acquisition speed of cultivation techniques and cultivation method processes.
It took me nearly four months of nightly frustration before I finally managed to "see" my spiritual roots in my qi center. They weren't very impressive, thin and short, but there were a total of nine of them: one for each of the eight elements and one non-elemental root. Once I hit that point, the actual hard part began.
Using my qi, I carved pathways for the roots to grow in, then soaked the roots with my qi. I followed the instincts given to me by the cultivation method in my head so that the roots didn't grow haphazardly but in intricate patterns, forming designs that would amplify elemental properties and provide synergy between elements. Because my qi center wasn't ignited yet, I didn't naturally recover my qi, which meant that as I used up the qi in my qi center, I also had to cultivate and refine all over again to continue my structuring and nurturing process. I could have stopped at any time, but I wanted to go as far as my comprehension would allow me to.
My patience and perseverance surprised me. It took me around nine and a half months – autumn of the following year – to reach my limit and then refill my qi center. Since I had continued mining spirit stones the entire time and my stamina for mining had constantly been improving, I had a stockpile of approximately seventeen and a half thousand low-grade spirit stones. The mine replenished with each visit, so I didn't have to worry about running out, and I could collect enough shards for over sixty spirit stones in a single visit now, which amounted to an hour or two of mining and sorting (I didn't have any way to measure the time).
The time had come to ignite my qi center.
-x-
I sat cross-legged on the grass outside town, fully naked, and closed my eyes. I didn't really need to do anything to let my awareness of qi blaze into the forefront of my mind anymore. It still required focus, but no more than, say, reading a book did. Turning my attention inward to my filled-to-the-brim qi center, I mentally prepared myself.
There was a reason I was doing this in the real world rather than the spiritual realm. Each major milestone would expel impurities from my body, and I'd rather sweat and vomit black tarry filth outside than in my bed. It hadn't been easy to get away out here without Seran, but fortunately her family – they were farmers – had told her to help out at home, so I'd just needed to slip away while she was busy without telling her.
Ignite!
Agony.
It felt like my qi center exploded, and pain radiated through my entire body. Sudden, overwhelming nausea overtook me and I projectile vomited black sludge. My meridians – the qi circulatory system – shuddered as minute amounts of qi forced their way through the tiny veins, and I began to sweat a thin layer of black filth. The process didn't last long.
The pain subsided.
"I feel… so alive! All my senses are heightened, and I'm so energized…" I wrinkled my nose. "Of course, my enhanced sense of smell means this filth stinks even more than it would to an ordinary person. I need to go wash off in the stream."
I examined my qi center in multiple dimensions. It had evolved. Not only was it able to hold more qi than before – maybe ten times as much – but it could also gradually regenerate expended qi if I meditated. I couldn't recover more than the maximum I'd had, even though I had extra space, though.
I headed to the stream, scrubbed myself off, and then got dressed before testing my body for changes. Despite not having opened meridians or started body tempering, I found that not only did I have way more energy, I was also noticeably stronger and faster.
So exciting! I finally feel like a real cultivator!
The next step was to return to the spiritual realm and see what I'd unlocked from the obelisk, since I needed a meridian-opening method and a body tempering method. Unfortunately, that meant waiting until I went to sleep, since I hadn't yet figured out a way to visit without sleeping. Presumably, I'd eventually be able to meditate my way there, but for now, sleep was my only gateway. So for now, I returned to town and met up with Seran, helping her out on the farm.
-x-
I checked the obelisk.
SIDE FOUR
Cultivation Stage: Meridian Opening (Early)
Qi Center: Ignited, 9 Celestial Harmony Roots
Meridians: Unopened
Body: Un-tempered
Mind: Gated
Progress Rewards: 8-Element Qi Refining Method,
Spirit Mine (Grade 1 – Low-grade Spirit Stone Shards),
Solar Dragon Meridian Opening Method
The moment I put my hand on it, new knowledge flooded into me. The Solar Dragon Method was fairly straightforward: I needed to meditate under the sun and mentally recite a mantra to transform my qi into a serpentine dragon, which I then would send tearing through my meridians one at a time. There were seven primary meridians: left arm, right arm, left leg, right leg, head, abdomen, and torso. Each of those primary meridians had secondary meridians (some more than others): hands, feet, eyes, ears, nose, guts, liver, heart, and lungs. All meridians were connected to the qi center, and all primary meridians had branching paths that led through the bones, muscles, and connective tissue. Once the seven primary meridians were opened, I could move on to secondary meridians, and once they were opened, I'd be ready to move on to the body tempering stage.
Once more, this was something I'd need to do while awake, because with each opened meridian, more impurities would be purged. I decided to spend my visit gathering and refining qi. When I was done, instead of mining, I sorted my thousands of spirit stones into separate piles. When the first pile had exactly one thousand spirit stones in it, it created a resonance and the pile flashed before disappearing, leaving behind a single stone about two inches long and twice as thick as an adult's finger. The stone was no longer dull but gemlike.
A mid-grade spirit stone, most likely.
I didn't stop until I had seventeen mid-grade spirit stones and a pile of about six hundred low-grade spirit stones, after which I finally used the bed to return to reality. After breakfast, I left town and got to work with the new cultivation method. Unfortunately, turning my qi into a dragon proved to be a lot harder than I expected. The qi kept wanting to return to a formless liquid state. In the end, I returned home without having made any real progress.
And so a new normal emerged: every night, I would refine qi, and every day, I would go off to meditate for half the day before returning and helping Seran for the rest. I'd always been an independent child, so my parents didn't think much of me disappearing every day, assuming that I was out playing. It took me about two weeks for my first success.
The qi dragon, built from my original maximum qi – about half of my current maximum – slammed into my torso meridian, roaring as it tore through and enlarged the channel. The pain was as intense as when I had ignited my qi center, but localized just to my torso. My eyes flew open and I hacked up filth, even as I sweat out more impurities all over my chest and back. I felt lighter, freer.
After washing, I meditated to stimulate my qi recovery. This allowed me to replenish what I had just expended, a process that took about an hour. Now topped up again, I immediately set about opening the abdomen meridian to similar results, though this time it required twice as much of my qi – all of it. I washed off again, dressed, and returned to town.
It took me nearly another two weeks of qi refining before I had a high enough maximum (three times what it took for the first time) to attempt the next meridian, my head meridian. Everything worked as before, except the pain—
It was so, so much worse.
"GAAAAH!"
I writhed in agony, my whole world reduced to white obliteration, filth pouring out my ears, nostrils, mouth, and eyes. I passed out.
-x-
"Alzeic! Oh, by the heavens, please be alive!"
I groaned and opened my eyes. Seran looked down at me with fear and concern.
"Oh, thank the fates, you're alive! What happened?!"
"Seran…?"
"When you didn't come by today, I went to your house to see if you were sick, but your mom said you left like normal, and I was so worried, so I went looking for you all over town, but I couldn't find you, so I thought maybe you were by the stream, so I came out here, but then you were passed out with black stuff all over your face and you looked dead, and oh I'm so glad you're alive! Are you okay?"
I sat up. It was already late evening… how was I going to explain this to anyone? I could tell Seran the truth, but my family? I didn't know what to do.
"Um… yes, I'm okay."
"Why are you naked?"
My eyes widened. Crap! I'm naked and Seran is a girl!
"I… I need to wash up and get dressed. I'll explain everything after, so could you look away? Please?"
She nodded and turned around. I washed as fast as I could, getting the gunk off my face and out of my hair, and then dressed.
"I'm decent now."
She turned back around, looking at me expectantly.
"Okay, so, to explain, I have to tell you about last year."
"Last year?"
"On my birthday. Remember when I fell from the cliff?"
"Uh-huh."
"Well, the truth is that it awakened some special hidden power in me, and I learned how to cultivate."
She tilted her head in confusion.
"You're a cultivator?"
I nodded. "A beginner one, yeah. Let me explain…"
And so I told Seran all about the spiritual realm, the qi gathering array, the obelisk, and the spirit stone mine.
"You can't tell anyone," I told her. "Not until I'm strong enough to say I'm a real cultivator. And even then, you can't ever tell anyone about the spiritual realm. That's not normal, even for cultivators, and other cultivators might kill me or enslave me for it."
She nodded vigorously. "Your secret's safe with me!"
Tilting her head again, she said, "So… that stinky black stuff is 'impurities' that come out when you cultivate?"
"That's right. I was naked because I didn't want to ruin my clothes."
"Makes sense. So, can you teach me to cultivate?"
I shook my head. "I want to, but I don't know enough to teach somebody else. My cultivation methods are tailored to me, specifically, and we don't have a qi gathering array for you either. Maybe in the future?" I considered. "Though I might be able to teach you the breathing pattern for meditation that I use. And with spirit stones around you, you'd have something to sense with qi in it. That's the first step before you can become a cultivator."
"YES!" she crowed.
"We'll have to wait until tomorrow, though. All my spirit stones are in my spiritual realm."
"All right! I can't wait!"
"For now, let's go back home."
It was night by the time I arrived home. I profusely apologized to my parents, claiming that I had fallen asleep far from town. As punishment, I wasn't allowed to leave town for two weeks, which was fine because it took me almost that long to build up my qi to the level I needed for the next meridian opening: my right leg. My left leg was next, followed by my right arm, then my left arm. By then, it was nearly winter, so I would need to hold off on opening my secondary meridians until spring. Despite not having started the Body Tempering Stage yet, opening the primary meridians and expelling the impurities had greatly enhanced my body, far beyond what igniting my qi center had.
The winter passed. I taught Seran the breathing pattern and supplied spirit stones to be sensed; it took her far longer than it had taken me, but by the time winter was half-over, she was as good at slipping into meditation and sensing qi as I was when I started teaching her. For my part, I could now sense qi in a small radius around me without meditating, since that was something I focused on learning. I also maxed out my inner qi at ten times what my qi center could contain before igniting. Finally, I mined enough shards to have twenty-seven mid-grade and seven hundred low-grade spirit stones.
Spring arrived.
-x-
The snows didn't fully melt until a few days before my twelfth birthday, a couple weeks into spring. I headed out to open my secondary meridian. Only once I had done that would I be able to start circulating my qi, which was necessary for all cultivation techniques as well as the next stage, Body Tempering. Opening my hands and feet meridians was relatively easy, and I was able to do it all on one day. The next day, I opened my guts and liver secondary meridians. On the third day: ears, nose, and eyes. My senses sharpened dramatically.
On the day before my birthday, I had two final secondary meridians: heart and lungs. If I wasn't careful, this could actually kill me, but the risk of that happening was very low. I decided to do lungs first. Upon success, I felt like I had never actually breathed properly before in my life compared to what I could do now. Finally, I moved on to my heart. This was the highest (though still low) risk, since I could cause cardiac arrest if I screwed up.
Success!
I was more alive than I had ever been, overflowing with strength and energy, and my stamina felt boundless. With this, I had completely the Meridian Opening stage. I couldn't immediately move on to Body Tempering, though, even if I'd had the knowledge; it took ten hours of meditation to refill my qi center now.
That night, I checked the obelisk again.
SIDE FOUR
Cultivation Stage: Body Tempering (Early)
Qi Center: Ignited, 9 Celestial Harmony Roots
Meridians: Open (Tier 1)
Body: Un-tempered
Mind: Gated
Progress Rewards: 8-Element Qi Refining Method,
Spirit Mine (Grade 1 – Low-grade Spirit Stone Shards),
Solar Dragon Meridian Opening Method,
8-Element Body Tempering Method,
Spirit Garden & Orchard Activation
Placing my hand on the obelisk gave me the new Body Tempering Method. Immediately, I noticed a problem: it wasn't just about soaking my body in qi. It didn't require "cultivation baths" like in some stories, but I did need to consume resources – specifically, herbs and other foods that had "spiritual properties," known as spirit plants. It would be even better if I also consumed the meat of spirit beasts, but that would require finding and killing spirit beasts. Despite being only twelve years old, my cultivation thus far put me at Olympic levels of physical ability, so killing a low-ranked spirit beast wasn't out of the question if I had a weapon – especially since the woods of my spiritual realm undoubtedly held low-ranked spirit beasts, which I could fight without worrying about dying.
I also received information on my spirit garden and spirt orchard activation. By planting a normal plant of the same general kind as a spirit plant, it would be transformed into the lowest quality of spirit plant of that type and grow at a rate of one year per day. For example, if I planted ginseng, it would become spirit ginseng and reach basic maturity in five days. Spirit plants grew more potent and higher-quality the longer they lived, so if I let it wait for ten days, it would rank up to 10-year ginseng, and if I waited a hundred days it would rank up again to 100-year ginseng. If I left it even longer, I could get 1000-year ginseng at about two years and nine months. Spirit plants were worth a lot to cultivators, especially older ones, so the sooner I planted a wide variety of them the sooner I'd have a wealth of spirit plants at my fingertips.
I made a mental list of the plants I needed: ginger, ginseng, ginkgo, angelica, astragalus, goji, licorice, sage, thyme, kale, plums, and figs. To get these, I'd need to go to the city.
That'll be my birthday wish: to go with dad to the city the next time he goes. But I need money, too. I frowned. Spirit stones are a little too valuable to be using, but maybe I can find someone to buy one anyway. I am a little tall for my age, so maybe if I wear a mask I can pass for a young cultivator in disguise?
I shook my head.
"Well, time to head back."
-x-
Dad's next trip to the city was a month away, so I chose to focus on hunting a spirit beast. I needed a weapon, because as powerful as I was, I would still be at a disadvantage against a spirit beast, even a low-ranked one. I pestered Ketter, one of the town guards, to teach me to use a spear, and surprisingly Seran's parents allowed her to join me. She had several siblings, so she often got away without having to help on the farm as long as she was spending time with me; I suspected her parents were expecting her to marry me when we grew up and considered our friendship to be an investment in her future.
We didn't actually do any sparring, focusing entirely on grip, footing, stance, movement, and attack motions. This was for the best, as revealing that I was stronger, more dexterous, and more agile than my teacher could have been a problem. I was surprised that Seran actually picked things up faster than I did, despite my advantages. Apparently, she had a natural talent for the spear. I thought it would be cooler to use a sword, of course, but learning the spear was both faster and better suited for the purpose of defeating beasts by keeping them from getting close enough to kill me, at least when I still had abilities that were only human, if near the top end of the range.
Every night, I would mine around five hundred shards and then go to the forest to hunt. Every night, I would do a bit better. At first, I was getting killed almost immediately upon encountering a dog-sized squirrel, ridge-backed boar of realistic-by-former-world-standards size, ten-foot-long snake, solitary horned wolf of normal size, or three-foot-tall armadillo-like beast. By the time the night before the trip arrived, I was able to do a bit of back and forth before dying. These weren't normal animals, they were low-ranked spirit beasts: creatures that had broken past the limits of their physicality. Fortunately, none of them had any magical techniques, but they were still challenging to face. If I could have been assured of facing the same kind repeatedly, I probably could have killed at least the squirrel, but I didn't have enough practice fighting it.
Even though I had yet to win one of the fights, I was doing much better, and I knew that it was just a matter of time. That wasn't good enough for me, though – I wanted to kill one before the trip. I didn't know what kind of rewards I'd get for killing foes, but even if the reward was worthless, I could still have the spirit beast corpse, which would include the meat and the beast core. Beast cores, unique to each type of beast, were valuable in the cultivation world, possessing distinct properties that could be harnessed in forging, alchemy, and possibly other things like enchanting. Unlike spirit stones, low-ranked beast cores could be bought and sold for money by non-cultivators as well, so I wouldn't need to find a cultivator to buy one if I acquired it.
And so on that final night, I gripped my spear and headed out into the woods, determined to succeed.
Chapter 3: City Trip
I walked through the woods, spear in hand, head on a swivel. Rustling caught my attention. I looked up.
A squirrel beast dropped down and landed a couple dozen feet away. Swallowing, I set my stance.
It leaped. Shooting through the air almost faster than I could react, it closed the distance in a moment. I didn't try to dodge; instead, I thrust. The squirrel was already committed to the attack and had no way of altering its trajectory midair, and my iron spearhead pierced its chest. It landed, dragging my spear down, but when it tried to pull itself off, I pushed. It squealed.
The squirrel was faster than me, and probably stronger as well, so it was able to overcome me and get its body off the spear. It jumped backward, and I didn't follow, simply tracking its movements with my spear. After a few seconds of us eying each other without moving, it decided to try again, but it was smarter about it this time: it dashed toward a spot at my two o'clock and then toward me in a brief zigzag. It darted around my spear when I tried to intercept, and only when it was within a half-dozen feet did it launch itself at me.
I blocked with my right arm, unable too move fast enough to do anything else, and its teeth pierced down and cracked bone. I fell back, dropping my spear, and drew a sharp dagger I had "borrowed" from the watch station as I landed on my back. With all the strength I could muster, even as my bones snapped in my right arm, I used my left to jam the dagger in the squirrel's throat. It thrashed, releasing my arm. Blood spilled all over me. I lay there in incredible pain, waiting for it to stop moving.
It fell over and bled out. I knew the moment that it died because its body disintegrated into motes of light.
After all that, I don't even get the harvest?! How is that fair?
I passed out from blood loss not long after and woke up in bed, completely unharmed. I sighed.
The trip takes two days, so maybe the reward will be worth it tonight, I reasoned. After all, the woods can't just be for training without rewards, and I know that there is such a thing as a "kill reward" on the obelisk.
Dad, Calik (my older brother), and I headed out right after breakfast. We didn't own a horse or wagon, but we rented both from Seran's family whenever Dad went to the city. Calik was sixteen, almost seventeen, years old, and he looked more like Dad than either of them looked like me: rusty brown hair tied back in a short ponytail, sharp cheekbones, large nose. I had a softer appearance, and my hair was a truer brown like Mom's. I was blessed with a smaller nose as well, and I kept my hair shorter – long enough to cover my ears, but not long enough to tie back. All three of us had lean builds, though. Considering my current height, I was probably going to end up taller than either of them, even though they weren't short.
It wasn't just us three going to the city. A few other families were heading there, including Seran's, and two of the town guards were escorting us. This was the first time either Seran or I had been to the city, so we were hanging out together in the wagon and chatting excitedly about it. From what I understood, it was a relatively small city, but it was still much bigger than our town, and I was eager to see what it was like.
The first day passed uneventfully, and I soon found myself back in the spiritual realm, which I really needed a better name for. Soul Farm? Training World? I'd have to think about it. I approached the obelisk.
SIDE ONE
Visits: 751
Deaths: 15
Kills: Rank One x1
Visit Cooldown: 12 hours
Kill Rewards: Unclaimed
=Rank One Giant Squirrel Beast Core x1
=Rank One Giant Squirrel Meat (5lbs)
"Claim kill rewards," I said as I placed my hand on the obelisk. Several chunks of meat – no bone – in a stack covered by big leaves and bound by twine appeared on the ground, as did a mottled green sphere the size of a large marble. I picked up the latter.
"So this is a beast core. I can feel the qi inside it. It almost feels alive, unlike the static state of spirit stones. Still, there's far less qi inside this than in a spirit stone. Maybe half as much as a low-grade spirit stone. I can sell this."
I looked at the meat. "I hope that the meat won't spoil if I leave it here, because I'm not in a position to prepare it yet. I suppose I could try eating some raw while I'm still here, but that seems like it might be dangerous. Well, considering that time doesn't seem to actually pass here as such, chances are good that it won't spoil. I think I'll bring five spirit stones and the beast core with me, just in case I end up in a situation where I actually can use a spirit stone. After all, there might actually be a cultivator or two in the city. They usually keep themselves separate from regular society, but wandering cultivators aren't exactly rare. Even if I've never seen one."
I sighed. "My spear is still here in the spiritual realm, since I dropped it last night. I wonder if it's still in the woods." I looked around and almost immediately spotted it in the house. "Well, that's convenient. Still, no point in fighting during this visit. Might as well head back already."
I put the spirit stones and beast core in a pouch and held it while climbing into the bed and closed my eyes.
-x-
"Bandits!" someone screamed. My eyes widened in alarm.
We were still half a day out from the city, so there was little hope of anyone coming to our rescue. We had only two fighters – enough to protect us from wild animals and deter any lone vagabonds, but not enough too face off against a group of bandits. I scrambled to the front of the cart and looked out. We were at the front of the procession, so I could see the bandits clearly, as they were blocking the road.
There were only four men, and if they hadn't been armed with spears and axes, I would have taken them for mere travelers; they didn't look especially run-down or vicious. Still, the way they were blocking the road and brandishing their weapons made it clear what they were. The town guards with us – Ketter and Zhon – moved to the front as we slowed our approach.
"Give us the toll if you want to pass!" one of the bandits shouted when we came within hailing distance.
"Back off!" Ketter yelled back. "We won't bow to bandits!"
"We've got you outnumbered! Stand down or die!"
The procession came to a halt about fifty feet from the bandits, with Ketter and Zhon in between. My heart hammered in my chest.
I need a weapon. I need a weapon right now.
I reached out my hand, flexing it subconsciously. Suddenly, it grew cold, and I looked down at it.
It was completely shrouded in mist.
"Alzeic…?" Seran whispered. I turned. She was staring at my hand. Calik was as well.
"What in the netherworld is that?" he breathed.
Realization hit me like a thunderbolt.
I'm reaching my hand into the spiritual realm somehow! Spear! I need my spear!
My hand closed on wood, and suddenly the mist spread out in a pole-like shape, then vanished, leaving behind my spear in my hand.
"Clear off or die!"
"Attack!"
I climbed to the driver's seat, beside Dad, and then – while he was still processing the fact that I was next to him with a spear in my hand – I jumped out and dodged around the horse. Good horses were much stronger in this world than in my previous, so there was only one for the wagon, and it was brave enough that it didn't flinch at my movements. In front of me, the town guards and the bandits charged at each other. It was clear almost immediately that the town guards were better trained, but they weren't so much better that two on one was easy for the outnumbered side to win. The bandits with spears occupied the guards (who also had spears) while the bandits with axes got it close without risking getting attacked. I ran for Ketter, who managed to dodge an axe swing and a subsequent spear thrust, stepping back; he wasn't going to be able to go on the offense like this.
The bandits didn't expect me. I lunged, my spear piercing all the way through the axe bandit. This shocked the spear bandit enough that Ketter was able to take advantage of the opening and end him. I pulled my spear out, and we turned toward Zhon. The other guard was still alive, but he had a deep slice along his left arm that was bleeding profusely. He dodged an axe swing and spun his spear to attempt to gain some space, but the spear bandit stopped his weapon with his own.
I charged at the same time as Ketter, simultaneously with the axe bandit's follow-up swing. Zhon cried out as the axe broke the bones of his right forearm, and then our spears felled the bandits.
"We need to stop the bleeding and splint the arm!" Ketter shouted. "The bandits are dead; hurry!"
The doctor, thankfully, happened to be in our procession, so he immediately came out to treat Zhon. I backed away from it all.
"Alzeic."
I looked up to see Dad looking down at me with a frown, no longer in the wagon.
"Um…"
"I have two questions. Where did you get the spear, and what were you thinking?! You're a child!"
I shrank back. Dad didn't get mad often, but when he did it awakened instincts from my previous life. There had been a time when my previous father had been an alcoholic rather than a "recovering alcoholic," back when he wasn't doing very well as an author. My parents had come very close to divorcing, but they had worked through things, and eventually my father became a better person once he was no longer drinking. Still, seeing Dad angry reminded me of my previous father's drunken fits, and I couldn't help but react.
"I… I…"
He breathed out heavily. "Alzeic. I know that the only reason the bandits lost was because you helped. But that could have easily gone differently, and then I'd have a dead son. You're a child; you shouldn't be in life-or-death fights, killing people. And where did you get the spear? You didn't bring it with you."
He placed a hand on my head, and I flinched.
"I'm upset because I almost lost you, not because I'm angry at you for what you did," he said gently, and my worries melted away. I might not be the favorite child – that was Calik – but I was still loved, and Dad had never hurt me.
"I knew I needed to help, or Ketter and Zhon would die. They were outnumbered."
"And the spear?"
"I… don't know," I lied. "I needed a weapon, and when I reached out, I suddenly had my spear in my hand."
Dad sighed. "Let's just… call it a miracle. Now, I do have one more question. How are you that strong?"
"Strong? I was lucky."
He frowned, but didn't contradict me. I turned back toward the site of the battle.
Corpses. Four dead bodies.
Two of whom I had killed.
And there was still blood on my hands.
I bent over and heaved, but nothing came out.
"A child shouldn't have to kill people," Dad repeated softly, placing a hand on my back.
Yeah… I completely agree.
-x-
I was quiet for the rest of the trip. The fact was that I'd killed in self defense and defense of others; I wasn't a murderer. But it was hard to accept what I'd done. In the heat of battle, I hadn't hesitated – a good sign for my future as a cultivator. The world was brutal, and the cultivation world was violent; to be a cultivator, one had to be willing too kill both spirit beasts and people. Even so, to take the life of another person was a heavy burden. I hoped that I never grew completely desensitized to it. That way lay the path of monsters.
Seran didn't fully understand the situation, but she did at least realize that I was dealing with emotional and mental issues as a result of what I'd done, and she stayed with me in silent support. I was lucky to have her as a friend.
We arrived at the city gate in the early evening. I didn't pay attention to the entry process, or much of anything, until we reached the inn where we would be spending the next few nights. It wasn't anything fancy, but it was definitely bigger than the inn back home. We split up into our family units and went too different rooms. I went to bed immediately, but it was a while before I actually fell asleep.
In the spiritual realm – soul space? – I confirmed that the spirit beast meat was in the same exact condition as before, then simply meditated. No cultivation, just simple meditation until my mind was calm and unbidden thoughts of killing people no longer came to me. Then went to the bed and closed my eyes, waking in the real world the next morning.
-x-
Twelve years old. We're only twelve years old, and they're letting us explore the city by ourselves, I thought for the hundredth time. Seran and I had been told to go have fun and be back at the inn by evening, given a bit of money (a couple pouches of copper tablets about the size of a spirit stone except only about as thick as a coin from my previous life), and then shooed away so the adults (and older teens) could work unimpeded. In a world that was more dangerous than my previous life, this kind of irresponsibility was jaw-dropping to me, but apparently this sort of attitude was normal, because I saw kids considerably younger than us playing in the streets, dodging horses and carriage wheels as they ran about.
The first thing we'd done was buy concealing brown cloaks sized for us, which used about half of our money. Next, we walked around in one of the markets until we found someone selling full-face wooden masks. I ended up with a simple white mask that had a blue spiral on it, while Seran got a black mask with a red spiral. This used up about half of what we had left, leaving us with fifteen copper tablets, or about enough for us to get a decent lunch and some snacks.
We were currently looking for a place I could sell the beast core (and possibly spirit stones), our cloaks and masks tucked under our arms. Once we found it, we'd leave and come back wearing them.
Or at least, that was the plan. Then I saw the man.
Since this world wasn't exactly Asian, he wasn't wearing stereotypical robes like in the xianxia stories I'd read. In fact, other than the clearly higher quality of his clothing, he wasn't really dressed all that differently from some of the wealthier normal people. However, the man's sky-blue shirt and navy trousers, silver-buckled black belt, pale brown soft leather shoes, and crimson ponytail stuck out at me for some reason. Perhaps the way the young man carried himself, with fluid grace that paradoxically reminded me of both a dancer and a hunting cat, had something to do with it.
He was a cultivator. Of that I was certain.
Should I approach? If I could sell him my spirit stones, I could make a lot of money, but… would he be willing to buy? He might not have the coin, or he might just steal them instead. I doubt he'd kill us in broad daylight in the middle of the street, but if he tries to steal and I resist, he might leave us crippled.
I pointed him out to Seran.
"That man is a cultivator. I'm thinking of talking to him. Can you put on your cloak and mask and wait here?"
Seran nodded, then put on her mask and threw on her cloak. I did the same, then headed straight for the cultivator.
The moment I got within fifteen feet he turned toward me. He raised an eyebrow.
"Let me guess," he said. "You're trying to pretend you're older than you are by hiding your features."
"Er…"
"Come closer, kid. You were approaching me on purpose anyway, right?"
I walked until we were in conversational distance, and only then did I notice that there was a bubble about eight feet around him occupied by nobody else. How had I missed that? It had probably played into why I'd noticed him in the first place, but I still hadn't picked up on it. Were people subconsciously avoiding him because he was a cultivator and they could sense that in their hindbrains?
"Now. Based on the way you walk, either you're trained in combat or dance, or you're somewhere close to the Peak of Meridian Opening. The fact that you came to talk to me makes me think it's the latter, but you're very young for that. Most sects don't accept anyone younger than fourteen. Which means either you're part of a clan… or you're a self-taught genius with no backing. You're alone except for your friend back there, so I doubt you're some young master. That just leaves clueless prodigy."
"…Are all cultivators as perceptive as you?" I said after a moment to collect my thoughts.
He smiled. "No, I'm just special that way. So tell me, prodigy, why did you approach me?"
"I need money to make some purchases. I could tell you were a cultivator, and I was hoping you could buy some valuable items I have."
"You realize that I could just rob you, right?"
I swallowed. "That is a risk, yes. But I didn't know where to look for selling a beast core, and I didn't think anyone but a cultivator would buy spirit stones."
He scratched his ear, raising an eyebrow again. "And you have these things?"
"I could show you?" I said hesitantly.
"Do."
I took the pouch that didn't have the copper in it from my belt and opened it, pouring the five spirit stones and one beast core into my hand. His other eyebrow went up.
"Five spirit stones and a Rank One beast core? How did you get these?"
"I found the spirit stones. I hunted the spirit beast."
"You… hunted a spirit beast? At the peak of Meridian Opening?"
"It wasn't easy."
"No shit it wasn't. I surprised you survived. I'm genuinely impressed, little prodigy. But you won't find cultivation resources available for sale in this city, other than a few low-rank beast cores. What are you trying to buy?"
"A better spear. A sword. Some herb, tree, and shrub seeds. Better clothes for me to wear as I grow up."
"A better spear? So you use a spear?"
"It's not like I had much of a choice. I think swords are cooler, though."
"Hah! Well, you are still a kid. Is your friend a cultivator, too?"
"No. I'm self-taught, and I was worried I'd teach her wrong. Risking myself on my cultivation journey is okay, but I don't want to risk my best friend getting qi deviation or something. But I did teach her how to meditate and sense qi."
"Hm." He tapped his chin. "You really don't know any other cultivators?"
I shook my head.
"Do your parents know you're cultivating?"
"No. Just Seran. My friend."
"Then let me give you some advice. Until you enter a sect, don't trust other cultivators. Even then, don't trust easily."
"Even you?" I said jokingly.
"Kid, I used to belong to a sect and got kicked out because I pissed off the wrong young master. The reason I'm helping you… well, let's call it sympathy, I suppose. Also, I need resources, but it's easier to get money than spirit stones when you don't belong to a sect. I have no need for the beast core, but I can show you to a place you can sell it. As for the spirit stones, there isn't exactly a perfect money-to-spirit-stone exchange rate, but if there were, it would be something like ten gold tablets for one low-grade spirit stone."
My eyes practically bugged out of my skull. I knew they were valuable, but ten gold tablets? A gold tablet was worth ten silvers, each of which was worth ten coppers, and a copper coin was something like a dollar from my past life. So, a thousand dollars for one spirit stone? Did he even have that kind of money to give?
"So I'm willing to give you twenty gold and one hundred silver tablets for the spirit stones. More than half the theoretical exchange rate. Considering that you wouldn't be able to sell them at all otherwise, that's a pretty good deal."
"I'll take it!" I said eagerly.
He held out his hand and suddenly a pouch large enough to have the amount of money that he said he would give me appeared in his hand. I looked closer and noticed he was wearing a jade ring.
Is that a spatial storage ring? I have no idea how rare those are in this world, but I assume they're expensive, at the very least by non-cultivator standards.
"Is that a storage ring?"
"Yes. Now, let's swap."
I handed him the spirit stones and he gave me the pouch. I checked inside and verified that at least the twenty gold tablets were there, as well as a bunch of silver. It weighed several pounds, so I assumed it had all the silver, too.
"Get your friend, and I'll show you where to sell the beast core."
I put the pouch on my belt and waved Seran over. She joined us. I looked up at the cultivator.
Now… what to say?
Chapter 4: Stages
This was a golden opportunity to learn more about cultivation in this world. I had only to ask questions.
"What stage are you at, sir?" I asked the cultivator.
"Early Awakening Stage. Do you know what that is?"
I shook my head. "I know Body Tempering comes after Meridian Opening, but not what comes after that."
"Let's talk while we walk." He started walking, and we followed. "As you're aware, Qi Refining is first, followed by Meridian Opening and then Body Tempering. The fourth stage is called Awakening, and it's when you open the gate to your mind so that you can perceive the World's Path. During the Awakening Stage, your mind gets enhanced and your soul becomes aligned with the Branch of the World's Path that you will follow – your True Way of Cultivation. This is less simply work and following set guidelines than the previous stages and more introspection and epiphanies. It's the stage where most cultivators fail to advance. I don't know the numbers, but the vast majority of cultivators never get beyond the Awakening Stage, which is sometimes referred to as the beginning of true cultivation."
"What comes after that?" I asked curiously.
"Foundation Building. Once you know your True Way, it's time to build the foundations that you'll be building off of for the rest of your cultivation journey. I admit I'm not super knowledgeable about how that part works, since I haven't gotten there yet. But I do know the name of the next stage: Inner Palace. In that stage, you begin to shape an inner pseudo-world… or so I've heard. I have no clue of the details. The most advanced stage I know the name of is the stage after that, which is called Crystal Core. I know nothing about that stage at all."
"Is it true that cultivators are immortal?" Seran piped up.
"Well, that's half the goal. We live a lot longer than mortals, anyway. Once you ignite your qi center, your lifespan increases from the approximately seventy to eighty years of a mortal to about a hundred. Reaching the peak of Meridian Opening extends that even further to around a hundred and fifty years. Peak of Body Tempering means you can live two and a half centuries, and reaching the peak of Awakening means a lifespan of about three and a half centuries. After that, it varies a lot, but two more centuries for Foundation Building and another four and a half for Inner Palace seems to be pretty normal. You have to reach Crystal Core to live beyond a thousand years, though."
"Wow…" Seran said in awe.
"How do people keep from going crazy, living that long?" I wondered.
The cultivator chuckled. "Asking the wrong question."
"…Are you implying that old, powerful cultivators are all insane?"
"Not to their faces I'm not."
"Fair."
He stopped in front of a jewelry stall.
"Hey. This guy's got a beast core to sell you," he said to the man manning the stall.
"Oh?"
I showed the beast core.
"Well, that's a genuine Rank One beast core, I'll admit. I can buy it for… three gold."
"Want to haggle?" the cultivator asked me.
"Nah. That's good enough for me."
"Pleasure doing business with you," the merchant said as I handed over the marble and got three gold tablets in return.
"I'll stick around while you go shopping. Might help keep you from getting robbed or fleeced."
"Thank you, sir. …What's your name, sir?"
"Lant. You can just call me Senior, though."
"Understood."
We went to purchase weapons first, since Lant knew where to find them. He did warn me, however, that as I advanced through Body Tempering, even good quality spears and swords wouldn't be able to keep up with my increasing strength, especially if I had a good Body Tempering Method, and that I'd eventually need to seek out weapons made from special materials that could only be worked by cultivators.
Seran, it turned out, didn't want to learn the sword, being perfectly happy with the spear, so I bought two spears of appropriate size and just one sword. All together, that cost me five gold, most of which was the sword. That left me with eighteen gold and a hundred silver.
Next, I bought clothes. Rather than fancy stuff, I focused on stuff that was sturdy and looked decent. I figured that if cultivation sects allowed fourteen-year-olds in, then I really only needed to be prepared for the next two years of clothing. Each outfit cost two gold for a shirt, belt, and pants; so I just bought four outfits for myself (of four different sizes), bringing me down to ten gold and the equivalent value in silver. Seran helped me carry everything.
Finally, Lant escorted us as we scoured the markets for the plants I wanted. To my pleasant surprise, I was able to find everything I was looking for. I spent the money freely, acquiring enough to bring my funds down to a mere four gold and forty silver, carried in a satchel I bought for that purpose.
Being the surprisingly nice man that he was, Lant then accompanied us back to the inn where we were staying.
"I doubt you want me to meet your families, so I'll take my leave," he said when we reached the front. "I don't know how you plan to hide all your purchases, but good luck."
Once he was out of sight, I led Seran over to the stables. We couldn't get into our rooms since we didn't have the keys, so the best place to hide was in the stables.
"What are we going to do with all our stuff?" Seran asked.
"I'm going to see if I can hide it in my spiritual realm. I've never gone there except when I fall asleep, but when I pulled the spear from it yesterday, I learned that I can access it without sleeping. I'm going to try to put things in it and see if that works."
We set everything down. I picked up one of the spears.
I need to store this away, hidden in my realm. I need to stow this away, I thought forcefully.
Mist enveloped the spear and I let go. It vanished.
I grinned. Success!
One at I time, I stowed everything else, only keeping a few silver tablets out to mix with our remaining copper. I even put away the cloaks and masks, since I didn't have a good excuse ready for why we'd bought them. Once all our loot was safely hidden away, we left the inn and went searching for a place to eat. Instead of buying street food or finding a cheap restaurant, I found a mid-class restaurant that cost a full silver piece per meal, plus drink and sides costs. I had no idea whether this world had a tipping culture or not, but when I assured the host that we had enough silver to cover everything even after being told the prices, we were treated respectfully by both host and waiter despite our young age, so I gave the waiter six copper and told him to share it with the host. That left us with one silver and three copper (plus what we had in my spiritual realm, which was four gold and thirty-seven silver). We bought small snacks with the copper later in the afternoon while exploring.
Nothing too notable happened for the rest of the day, and we reconvened with everyone that evening at the inn for supper, then went to bed.
-x-
I was tired, but I was satisfied. Using a full-sized shovel and a trowel that I had stowed away ages ago, I was able to plant quite a lot, both in variety and quantity. This was reflected on the obelisk.
SIDE TWO
Spirit Garden 1: Ginger, Ginseng, Licorice, Astragalus
Spirit Garden 2: Angelica, Sage, Thyme, Kale
Spirit Garden 3: Nothing
Spirit Orchard: Ginkgo, Goji, Plum, Fig
Spirit Pool: Cleansing Water
Spirit Pool Inhabitants: None
Advancement Tree: Sapling
While I still had one garden plot left, I hoped that leveling up my cultivation would grant me more plots or expand the size of my current ones, because I imagined that highly-valuable spirit plants that I found in the future would need to have places they could be planted, and I'd used up much of my space already.
I had no intention of harvesting things from my plants anytime soon, since waiting until they were all 100-year versions of themselves meant a massive increase in effectiveness. That meant waiting at least a hundred days. Instead, I would spend my visits first mining, then hunting, building wealth and combat experience while letting my cultivation stall until the spirit plants were ready.
I mined, then hunted. This time I was paired up against a wolf and died without killing it.
-x-
We spent two more days in the city and had just as much freedom as the first day, though we weren't given any more money, so I had to retrieve some silver so that we had enough money to eat well and buy ourselves trinkets. Fortunately, we didn't run into any real problems other than on the last day, when someone tried to kidnap Seran and I kicked him in the balls hard enough to bust them. We left him whimpering on the ground and didn't even bother trying to report the crime.
The day after – and the day after that – we headed back home. Once back home, Seran and I played, trained with spears, and helped out our families.
And so time passed. Rather than wait exactly one hundred days, I waited until summer was giving way to autumn, which was about a month longer than that. In that time, I'd grown much more skilled with using the spear in combat, partially due to watching and sparring with Seran, who was far more talented than I was with the weapon, and partially due to my repeated hunts in the realm's woods. My parents did question where I'd gotten the clothes when I started wearing them, but I said I had a "fortuitous encounter" in the city and they eventually let it drop.
SIDE ONE
Visits: 888
Deaths: 130
Kills: Rank One x40
Visit Cooldown: 12 hours
Kill Rewards: Unclaimed
=Rank One Giant Squirrel=
Beast Core x19, Meat (95lbs)
=Rank One Green Viper=
Beast Core x10, Snakeskin x10, Vial of Venom x10
=Rank One Ridge-backed Boar=
Beast Core x5, Meat (100lbs), Hide x5, Tusks x10
=Rank One Horned Wolf=
Beast Core x4, Meat (40lbs), Pelt x4, Fangs x8
=Rank One Armored Roller=
Beast Core x1, Meat (5lbs), Armored Hide x1
=Bonus (10 Rank One Kills)=
Lunar Phoenix Unarmed Arts (Basic Forms)
=Bonus (20 Rank One Kills)=
Stellar Rain Spear Arts (Basic Forms)
=Bonus (40 Rank One Kills)=
Harmonic Eclipse Sword Arts (Basic Forms)
While my squirrel meat hadn't decayed at all, I hadn't claimed any of my subsequent kill rewards yet just because I didn't want them taking up space. Now, however, I was going to start harvesting stuff, so I was also going to start eating spirit beast meat, which meant claiming all the rewards at once.
"Claim kill rewards."
Everything appeared in the field between the woods and the rest of my realm. Thirty-nine cores, all about the same size, as well as 240 pounds of meat and a bunch of body parts/hides/etc. were all neatly piled based on type. I smiled; it was satisfying to see the fruits of my labors. After all, I had "died" a hundred and thirty times for this.
The biggest rewards, though, were the bonus rewards for meeting certain kill counts. These took the form of three "jade slips," which were six-inch-long, half-inch-wide pieces of green jade that magically stored information inside. Each was clearly labeled with etchings saying "Lunar Phoenix," "Stellar Rain," or "Harmonic Eclipse" on them. I picked up the Lunar Phoenix one and extruded qi out through my hand and into the slip, a task that wasn't all that difficult despite the fact that I hadn't been doing any real cultivating since opening my meridians beyond simple qi circulation to keep things from getting stagnant.
Information flooded into my mind, much as it did when I used the obelisk to claim cultivation methods. Instead of a cultivation method, though, I got detailed instructions on unarmed martial arts forms. No special cultivator martial arts techniques, just basic forms that any sufficiently fit person could do, but it included positioning, offense, and defense. Apparently, the moves were more powerful at night under the moonlight.
I checked the Stellar Rain jade slip next. This one included spear forms and was a massive upgrade from the extremely basic stuff we'd been learning from Ketter, even though it didn't have any supernatural or magical stuff. It wasn't more powerful in the starlight or anything, but the movements were largely sharp and quick except for when they were sweeping or lunging.
Finally, I excitedly examined the Harmonic Eclipse slip. This one was focused on sword forms. Where most of the spear attacks were based on the concept of "piercing," most of the sword attacks were based on the concept of "slashing." Unlike with the spear, I'd be starting from nothing with the sword, so it would likely take me longer to reach competency in my new sword arts than my new spear arts, but I really wanted to use a sword more than I wanted to use a spear – though it made sense to attempt to master all three types: unarmed, spear, and sword. After all, I was given these as rewards for my hard work.
I'd have to teach Seran the spear arts. It would have been even better if she could use the jade slip directly, but she wasn't a cultivator yet, and she needed to at least have a hand meridian open to extrude qi from her fingers into the slip to use it.
If only it were possible to bring her here into my realm. Then I could attempt to use the obelisk for her, and she could at least use my qi gathering array.
Though… I haven't actually tried to see if that's possible. I just sort of assumed it wasn't. But if we fell asleep holding hands… maybe it would be? Though how I could convince anyone to let us sleep side by side like that.
I tilted my head thoughtfully. "If I could acquire blank jade slips, I might be able to work out how to transfer my knowledge to one and share it that way. And I could probably recreate the gathering array and use spirit stones to power it instead of the ambient qi, like in the realm. Hm… Well, for now, I'll start on body tempering. That needs to be done in the real world, though, because of impurities. To start, I'll harvest some of my 100-year spirit plants and bring them – along with some spirit beast meat – into the real world."
I got to work.
-x-
Body Tempering consisted of several targets: skin, bones, muscles and connective tissue, blood, and organs (each done individually). The process wasn't overly complicated, but it was rather involved. Eat – whether raw, cooked, or turned into a pill using alchemy (in order of increasing effectiveness) – spirit plants or spirit beast meat according to what target you were, well, targeting; then circulate your qi soak your target in your qi, which was energized by the spiritual properties of the food. Then, to cement your gains, physically exert yourself while repeating mantras based on your Body Tempering Method. Rinse and repeat until you reached the peak of Body Tempering. Exactly how upgraded you could get depended on the Method you used; better methods had higher ceilings.
I didn't know how to do alchemy, unfortunately, so I couldn't make pills even though I had an alchemy pill furnace in my realm. Instead, I would have to rely on cooking, which meant getting permission from Mom to use the kitchen or finding someone else in town who would let me use theirs. I didn't think I'd be able to convince Mom without revealing that I was a cultivator, and even then I had no explanation for where I'd gotten spirit plants that I was willing to give, so that meant seeking someone who would let me use their kitchen, no questions asked. Fortunately, I had someone in mind.
That was why I was at the outskirts of town, knocking on the door to a building that was more hut than house.
"Who the fecking hell is it?" an old woman's voice called out.
"Alzeic, second son of the general store owners."
"What the hell do you want?"
"I want to use your kitchen to make cultivator food."
Silence.
"Get in here," she ordered after a long pause.
I opened the door and entered. Old Granny Harra's home was a single room, albeit a decently large one, with the kitchen on one side and the bed on the other and a table in the middle. She herself was ancient by mortal standards in this world at ninety-five years old; I was pretty sure that the wizened old woman was actually someone who had stepped into the world of cultivation, though there was no indication of this other than her advanced age. At the moment, she was sitting in a rocking chair on the far side of the room, staring straight at me.
I clasped my hands together and bowed.
"Junior Alzeic greets Granny Harra."
She stared at me as I held position.
"Well, don't just bend over, close the door and get over here."
I straightened, closed the door, and walked around the table to stand in front of her. She held a hand up to her face, covering her mouth.
"What stage are you?"
"I'm about to begin Body Tempering." I held up the sack I was carrying. "I have spirit beast meat and a variety of 100-year spirit plants to cook with. The heavens have favored me, and I have a Body Tempering Method already."
She blinked, then sighed.
"Your parents have no idea, do they?"
"They have not a clue. The only one who knows is my best friend, Seran. Well, and now you. You're the only cultivator in the town, so I figured it would be safer to come here than try to do this at home."
"And what makes you think I'm a cultivator?"
I raised an eyebrow. "Well, you're ninety-five years old, for one thing. But the fact that you asked me what stage I am confirmed it. If I might ask… what stage are you, Granny Harra?"
"I never made it beyond igniting my qi center, so I'll likely die within a few years. I broke my meridians when I tried to open them, you see. That's one of the risks of trying to open your meridians without possessing a proper cultivation Method. You… what sort of fateful encounter did you have to possess Methods through Body Tempering and a bag full of 100-year spirit plants?"
"…You won't tell anyone, I assume?"
"That's why you came to me, isn't it? To have someone who would understand but not rat you out?"
"Well… yes. On my tenth birthday, I fell from a cliff and hit my head. It unlocked some sort of personal spiritual realm for me that I go to in spirit every time I go to sleep. Let me tell you all about it…"
Granny Harra listened as I told her everything I knew about my realm. When I finished, she shook her head.
"The heavens favor you indeed. I've never heard of anyone innately possessing a semi-physical spiritual realm like that. Legends of treasures granting purely spiritual realms, or powerful cultivators creating physical pocket realms, or the existence of hidden realms, which are like that but bigger, yes. But an innate realm that you travel to in spirit but give real physical gains and you cannot truly die in? That's something I've never even encountered a tale of. You are right to keep this a secret from everyone."
She sighed again. "Go ahead and use my kitchen. Just don't cultivate inside my house. I don't want you stinking up the place when you sweat out impurities."
"Thank you, Granny Harra."
And so I cooked. Every day, I came to her hut and cooked and ate, then ran to the stream outside town, stripped, and cultivated. Each session, I focused on a single thing: skin, then blood, then bones, then muscles, then guts, then lungs, then heart, then eyes, then ears. After cultivating, I washed myself off, dressed, and exercised while repeating mantras related to the elements. For example, bones had a metal mantra, while skin had an earth mantra, the heart had a fire mantra, lungs and ears had a wind mantra, guts had a wood mantra, muscles had a lightning mantra, blood had a water mantra, and eyes had an ice mantra. Each thing actually had multiple mantras using different elements, but those were the first. After a full cycle (nine days), I started over.
It only took me about three hours each day to cultivate, so I also spent a lot of time practicing unarmed and weapon arts, including teaching Seran Stellar Rain Spear Arts. Despite being far weaker than me, she picked up on it pretty quickly; she just had trouble getting her body to keep up with her intentions. I stopped hunting for the time being, since I had plenty of meat and figured I'd wait until my skills and body were at a higher level before I resumed.
Ten completed cycles later, winter had finally arrived, but I was basically immune to the effects of normal cold, even while nude, at this point, so I kept up with my cultivation. Ten more cycles marked the start of spring – and also an update on the obelisk.
SIDE FOUR
Cultivation Stage: Body Tempering (Mid)
Qi Center: Ignited, 9 Celestial Harmony Roots
Meridians: Open (Tier 1)
Body: 40% Tempered (Worldly)
Mind: Gated
Progress Rewards: 8-Element Qi Refining Method,
Spirit Mine (Grade 2 – Low-grade Spirit Stones, Low-grade Spiritual Jade),
Solar Dragon Meridian Opening Method,
8-Element Body Tempering Method,
Spirit Garden & Orchard Activation
I had reached Mid Body Tempering Stage, noted as "40% Tempered (Worldly)," and as a result, my spirit mine had been upgraded to Grade 2. Right now, I had 49 mid-grade spirit stones and about 800 low-grade spirit stones. Descending into the mine revealed that it no longer had spirit stone shards, but full spirit stones, as well as pieces of light green jade of various sizes. Digging out the spirit stones and jade was more mentally taxing per stone than the shards were, but I could still increase my spirit stone gains by about twenty-five percent (so, around eighty spirit stones) on top of getting ten pieces of jade before I had to call it quits.
It was a major boon, and I wasn't even close to done with the Body Tempering Stage yet.