Morning had come. A faint golden hue brushed against the horizon, filtering through the tall, stick like trees outside, trees whose silhouettes resembled bamboos from earth. The light was tender, barely warm, and the occasional chirping of birds broke the deadly silence set by the nature.
Zhuo Meng sat in his bed, reading a book with a yellow cover. It was extremely interesting, it not only delved into this world's philosophy but also about the human mind.
Two weeks have passed since his sudden transmigration. Zhuo Meng was more or less at peace with the idea. He decided that the best course of action was to get the old man, Zhuo He, to be his teacher, teaching him about cultivation while in his free time he is to get accustomed to this world.
Zhuo Meng was not in a rush to become a cultivator even though he had learned how important they are in this world. On earth you have armies, politicians and world leaders. Here you have weak cultivators, cultivators and strong cultivators.
This world is vastly different from earth, not just in mindset, but even in its very physical nature, if you can call it that. This world is so large that its total surface is approximately five hundred times that of earth's.
There are also magical beasts and sub humans. One could sense how dangerous this world is. If on earth people are money hungry, in this world they are power hungry. Battle maniacs and killers are far more often than on earth.
If you are part of the weak cultivator group, your death is a matter of when, not if. One must be strong enough to dictate his own destiny.
Zhuo Meng needs to get familiar with this world to thrive in, a bird has to learn to fly to survive, even if the sky is full of hawks.
...
"Cultivation can be categorized in three main categories, core type, veil stage and beast bond together with artifacts."
"A cultivator at the ferrium stage is most common, only very talented people can reach the higher stages of cultivation and only dragon amongst men could achieve the highest stage."
"You failed the ascension, little Meng. But don't fret over trivial matters. You didn't die that's what matters. It also doesn't mean you are not talented, just that you are not ready." said Zhuo He with an assuring smile.
Zhuo Meng mentally rolled his eyes, this was the type of speech you give your children when they are getting low grades or when making mistakes.
"Yes grandfather, I will work hard to not disappoint you again." Zhuo Meng said, lowering his head slightly.
Zhuo He gave him a warm, absent smile. That distant look in his eyes had become familiar over the past two weeks. Zhuo Meng chalked it up to age and stress, likely from years spent scraping by to raise him.
Zhuo Meng had already learned of the matter of the ascension. The previous me had probably rushed the process, desperate to support Zhuo He. Admirable, but foolish. I won't repeat that mistake.
But this Zhuo Meng wasn't going to make the same mistake. He has no ties in this world, no one to really worry about, and a mature mind as well.
The matter of ascension can't be rushed. I need to gradually gather qi from the surroundings into my body and at the moment of ascension I need to condense it to form a core.
Evidently, the higher the amount of qi used during ascension the better quality the core has. However the amount of qi that can be stored in the body differs from person to person, and so does the ability to gather it.
Unfortunately due to the failed ascension I need to wait until the current qi in my body dissipates. Mixing two incompatible types of qi is like pouring oil into fire, if it doesn't kill you, it'll cripple you.
But the more time I waste, the more I am at a disadvantage against kids my age. I heard from Zhuo He that while most cultivators are able to gather qi around the age of twelve, some can do it a lot sooner. Such a shame...
"There is also one more intriguing aspect, beast bonds." Just as he heard these words, Zhuo Meng's eyes couldn't help but shine, just as kids his age would do.
"Beast bonds are extremely important to a cultivator, they are special beasts that can form bonds with cultivators under unique conditions. These beasts also gain the ability to cultivate like us cultivators can do." Zhuo He proudly said as a green light appeared to come out of his body.
"Hehehe, little Meng, this is my beast bond. This beast is a dazzling lycan, his name is Soto." As Zhuo He said that the green light took form into a werewolf like beast that towered at nearly three meters. His fur was greyish but if one came close he could see a glowing green aura.
This dazzling lycan had razor sharp teeth, and had the ability to hide its presence by temporarily camouflaging its qi with the surrounding one.
Sensing Zhuo He's gaze, Soto nodded in agreement. At this sight Zhuo Meng's pupils slightly shrunk as his breathing became rougher.
"It also has intelligence?" Excitement could be spelled on Zhuo Meng's face, he could barely control his ecstasy.
"Not every beast has this amount of intelligence at first, the dazzling lycan is special. But don't worry, when you create a beast bond, you both will get an understanding of each other's intent and emotions."
"But unfortunately, beast capable of bonding with a cultivator are hard to come by, and even if you find one, there is a chance that the beast will die during bonding, or even worse, you." said Zhuo He with a serious gaze, as he swept the ground heaving a sigh.
I truly didn't expect this, would be nice if I could get my hands on a beast bond. How many opportunities would that open for me? But I must not get ahead of myself. Unless I find a good enough bond, I won't risk my life. My life and safety comes first.
A month has passed.
Zhuo Meng was sitting cross legged on the ground outside, under a tall willow tree. The willow towered above the surrounding trees, its trunk was so wide that a luxurious room could fit comfortably within.
For the past two weeks Zhuo Meng has been spending almost fourteen hours a day meditating, taking in qi. Even Zhuo He was surprised and praised him for his perseverance.
Taking in qi was not hard, but not easy either, one needed concentration and willpower which was hard for a twelve year old to have.
When Zhuo Meng was not taking in qi, or learning from Zhuo He, he practiced kung fu, the Chinese martial art from earth. Zhuo Meng was considered a genius, his highest ranking he achieved on earth was the fifth duan, but his martial arts ability are comparable to a sixth duan, in real combat he would likely even beat an seventh duan.
Cultivators from the first stage up to the fourth would often exchange blows in close combat. It's safe to say that besides his intelligence, his biggest advantage is his martial arts prowess.
...
It's time. My body's reached its limit, I can't absorb a single speck more. Should I try to ascend? Hehehe, now or never.
Specks of qi began to collide in Zhuo Meng's body.
Zhuo Meng began to perspire, this process was incredible burdening on the body, he felt like a huge rock was trying to crush him, next he felt sharp pain all over his body, akin to being punctured by a thousand needles. After that, he felt as if he was being burned alive and froze at the same time.
The specks of qi swirled, drawn inward like stars collapsing into a singularity. Then, silence. A formless azure sphere pulsed in his lower abdomen.
Zhuo Meng gritted his teeth, enduring all the pain. After all these stages, the azure ball was already condensed, it was just stabilizing and after a few minutes the entire process was over.
From an outsider's perspective it looked rather boring and uneventful, but the pressure that Zhuo Meng went through was enormous. Even if it wasn't actual pain to the body, it was extremely well emulated.
The pain was directly proportional with the amount of qi used in the ascension. That's why few people would dare to ascend at such a fragile age. Important families and nobles, would often have methods to alleviate pain during ascension.
If one would lose focus and make a mistake, the qi could erupt in various ways and damage the one undergoing the ascension. Also in the case of not having enough qi, the qi would erupt even without a mistake. This was what happened with the previous Zhuo Meng.
A faint smile tugged at Zhuo Meng's lips. Night had just fallen, and exhaustion weighed on him like a heavy cloak. It was pretty silent, the village in which Zhuo Meng and Zhuo He resided was a small one, with only a few thousand people. The number of cultivators likely hasn't exceeded a hundred.
Then, the smile vanished, as nothing had happened. The tiredness has taken over him, he felt like he didn't even have the power to celebrate.
He knocked twice on the old cottage's door and an old man responded, it was Zhuo He.
"Hehehe, little Meng, you sure are tired tonight, come eat!" said the old man with the arms wide open.
This old fart... he sensed I had undergone ascension. His acting is better than I thought. If you want to play a game, then so be it.
The two sat down at the table, eating rice, flavorless but filling. It's better than staying hungry.
Zhuo Meng stood there as if nothing happened, eating with a smile, not giving any attention to the old man's blabbering.
Zhuo He was starting to get agitated, he started to involuntarily tap his leg on the table's leg, a nervous tic Zhuo Meng picked up on instantly.
"So you've ascended, great news, little Meng, great news. So... what core type did you get?" Zhuo He slightly leaned forward.
"Umm, actually I am ashamed grandfather. I let you down once again..." Zhuo Meng looked down with a shameful expression.
"It's okay little Meng, you will be my grandson no matter what, there's no reason to be ashamed. Now tell me which core type you got." Zhuo He calmed down, his expectations were at an all time low as he began to drink from a glass of water as the back of his throat was getting dry.
"Ahh, fine if grandpa says so, I'm ashamed that it's only the Thousand Silent Bloom" said so Zhuo Meng as he plainly looked at Zhuo He.
Zhuo He was still drinking water when he just heard the words 'Thousand Silent Bloom', instantly he spat the water towards Zhuo Meng, landing on him, not missing a single point of his face.
Nice... Nice... Water. On the face. He wiped himself down without an expression, then leaned in like nothing happened.
"Are we going to Feiyun? When?" Zhuo Meng instantly asked as he leaned forward with urgency.
Zhuo He was stunned, he panicked. "Tomorrow, tomorrow!!"
Without another word, Zhuo Meng stood and left, leaving Zhuo He frozen in place.
There were countless types of cores, more and more of them being discovered. The Thousand Silent Bloom was a recently discovered core type, only eight hundred years ago, with the appearance of a man whom people called the 'Thousand Flower Emperor'.
Usually a core type would only have a set number of abilities that are hard to cultivate, but the Thousand Silent Bloom was different, Thousand Flower Emperor had many types of abilities, most of them actually belonged to other core types and they were not a cheap copy.
Unfortunately, due to the murderous and selfish nature of the Thousand Flower Emperor, the Thousand Silent Bloom could not be properly studied because the Flower Emperor was hunted down and eventually met his end.