The morning light seeped through the cracks of the cave, painting golden lines on the rough stone. The faint sound of wind outside mingled with the rhythmic drip of water, forming a strange harmony — nature's own heartbeat.
Elias Kairen sat cross-legged in silence. Around him, several crude tools lay scattered — a broken jade slip, fragments of spirit stones, and a half-burnt notebook. His black eyes reflected the flickering flame in front of him.
For the last three days, he had done nothing but think.
Not cultivate.
Not sleep.
Just think.
The meridians act as conduits for Qi flow… comparable to neural pathways. Qi circulation speed is dependent on mental focus… which is, in turn, governed by synaptic rhythm.
He scribbled notes on a piece of parchment with an ink-soaked reed, muttering to himself.
If I can synchronize Qi compression frequency with the oscillation rate of neural signals… then theoretically, I could achieve continuous Qi amplification without meditation fatigue.
He paused and sighed. "Theoretically," he muttered, "but this world doesn't care about theory."
A soft breeze brushed past his cheek, carrying with it the faint floral fragrance of the mountain valley.
In the distance, faint voices echoed — laughter, shouting, the clash of Qi techniques. The outer disciples of Cloud Peak Sect were already training.
Elias stared at the cave entrance. He hadn't stepped outside since he woke up in this new world. The original owner of this body had lived here in isolation for years — a low-ranked disciple who couldn't even pass the sect's basic evaluation test. His Qi sense was weak, his meridians narrow, and his spiritual root… almost non-existent.
In this world, he recalled from inherited memories, spirit roots define one's fate. The better the root, the faster the cultivation. The lowest ranks — like mine — can spend their entire lives stuck in the Qi Gathering Realm.
He chuckled softly. "So… the universe threw me into the weakest vessel possible. Typical."
He placed a small spirit stone on his palm — a dull gray crystal with a faint inner glow. When he focused, wisps of Qi began to leak from it, curling like smoke into his skin. The sensation was mild — warm, almost comforting.
This world's energy… it's pure potential.
His eyes sharpened.
But potential without control is waste. Let's fix that.
He closed his eyes and sank into meditation. The spiritual energy entered his body slowly, drifting into his meridians. Normally, cultivators guided it through breathing and visualization — but Elias approached it differently.
He visualized his body as a biological circuit. The meridians became wires. The Qi became current. His neurons became signal transmitters.
Then he applied logic.
If he could control the rate of neural firing, he could theoretically regulate Qi flow efficiency. He focused on the sensation within his skull — the faint pulse of thought. Slowly, he synchronized it with his breathing.
A low hum filled his mind.
The Qi that previously scattered through his body began to move in rhythm — pulse by pulse, wave by wave.
There it is… the resonance.
A faint light appeared on his fingertips — a small thread of silver, flickering like static electricity. It lasted only an instant before fading.
Elias opened his eyes. Sweat dripped down his temples, his breathing uneven. Yet his lips curled into a smile.
"Heh. First prototype… successful."
He jotted down his notes quickly, muttering under his breath. "Neural-Qi resonance achieved. Output frequency approximately fifty hertz… but stability is trash."
The humor in his tone was faint, but genuine. He enjoyed this — the process of discovery, of turning abstract theory into tangible proof.
For a moment, he almost forgot he was no longer on Earth.
"Oi, cave rat! Still alive in there?"
A loud, mocking voice echoed from outside.
Elias blinked and sighed. He recognized the voice from the inherited memories — Darin Wei, another outer disciple. Mediocre talent, slightly better resources, and an ego that outweighed both.
Elias rose, dusted his robe, and stepped outside.
The mountain air greeted him — crisp, fragrant, and cold. Outside his cave stood three young men in gray robes, arms crossed and smirks plastered across their faces.
Darin spat on the ground. "I thought you'd starved to death in there. Guess trash lives longer than I expected."
Elias studied them silently. His expression remained calm, unreadable.
"Need something?" he asked evenly.
"Yeah," Darin sneered. "Elder Lin's asking all disciples to contribute ten low-grade spirit stones for the sect's upcoming evaluation. But I figured I'd save you the trouble and take them now."
Elias tilted his head. "You mean, you're robbing me?"
Darin grinned. "Robbing? No, no — it's called 'helping a useless disciple reduce his burden.'"
Elias sighed. His tone stayed calm — even amused. "You know, in my world, people like you had a name."
"Oh yeah? What's that?"
"Statistical anomalies," he said dryly. "Short lifespans."
Darin blinked, confused for a moment — then his face twisted in anger. "You little—"
Before he could finish, Elias raised his hand. A faint crackle of silver light sparked at his fingertips — unstable, but visible. The bullies froze mid-motion.
Elias's smile didn't reach his eyes. "Leave."
The brief display of Qi — though weak — carried precision and cold intent. The men stepped back instinctively. Darin clicked his tongue, spat again, and turned away.
"Don't get cocky, cave rat. A flicker of light won't save you when the evaluation starts."
When they were gone, Elias exhaled and sat on a rock, rubbing his forehead.
That was reckless. I used unstable resonance again. The neural strain's too high… I can't maintain it yet.
Still, he couldn't help but smirk. "But it worked."
Refinement Begins
Back inside, he resumed his work. Days passed in intense silence. Every waking moment became an experiment. He tested breathing rates, mental visualizations, neural feedback timing.
He discovered that his Qi efficiency increased drastically when he treated the Dantian — the energy center cultivators used — not as a "spiritual core," but as a bio-reactor that stored potential energy in a feedback loop with the brain.
He called this theoretical model the Neural Core Hypothesis.
If I can stabilize the resonance between the Dantian and brainstem, then perhaps I can form a "Neural Core" — a cognitive equivalent of the Golden Core realm.
It sounded insane, even to him. But insanity was simply a word for discovery before it was proven.
A Visit from the Outer World
One evening, while he was sketching meridian diagrams on the stone floor, a soft knock echoed at the cave entrance.
"Disciple Elias? Are you… here?"
The voice was gentle, feminine.
He frowned, slightly startled. Few people ever visited him.
When he turned, his gaze met a girl standing at the entrance — about his age, wearing the same gray outer-sect robe, her long black hair tied neatly with a silver ribbon. Her eyes were bright yet cautious.
"Ah, you must be from the Resource Pavilion," he said calmly. "Here to collect my contribution?"
She blinked. "N-no… I'm Mei Lin. Elder Su sent me to check if you're still cultivating. You… missed the last two gatherings."
Elias nodded absently, not looking up as he continued to write notes. "Understandable. Tell Elder Su I'm alive and busy creating godhood."
"Creating what?" she asked, confused.
He smiled faintly. "Never mind. What's your cultivation level, Miss Mei?"
"Uh… third stage of Qi Refinement."
"Hmm. Median neural frequency of roughly ninety hertz, then," he murmured to himself. "Do you feel fatigue when circulating Qi for more than ten minutes?"
"I—what?"
"Never mind again," he said. "Just curious."
She watched him sketch strange patterns on the floor — spirals, circles, and dots connected by lines. "Are those formations?"
"No," he replied absently. "Schematics of human consciousness."
She blinked again, clearly unsure whether to laugh or leave. Yet something about his calm intensity made her stay.
Finally, she smiled awkwardly. "You're… different."
"I've heard worse," he replied dryly.
Before leaving, she hesitated. "You know, Elder Su said you had potential once. You just… lacked focus."
Elias chuckled softly. "Tell your Elder not to worry. I've found focus now — too much of it, probably."
When she left, the faint fragrance of mountain herbs lingered in the air. Elias stared at the door for a moment and then shook his head with a smile.
Attractive. Smart eyes. But… research first.
He returned to his notes.
Birth of the Technique
Weeks passed.
He no longer counted days — only iterations. The cave became both his laboratory and sanctuary. Every night, the faint glow of Qi surrounded him like drifting mist.
He learned that by combining deep breathing with rhythmic thought pulses — mental oscillations — he could accelerate Qi movement exponentially. His spiritual energy became smoother, purer, more responsive.
He named this method Cognitive Breathing — the first layer of what he envisioned as the Cognitive Dao.
Unlike traditional techniques, it didn't rely on external energy manipulation but internal signal synchronization.
When he reached the peak of resonance one night, something extraordinary happened.
The Qi within his Dantian condensed sharply. His consciousness expanded — not just inward, but outward. He could feel every vibration in the air, every heartbeat of the forest beyond the cave.
The connection between brain and Qi solidified.
Thought and energy became one.
A small sphere of silver light flickered within his mind's eye — not in the Dantian, but in the center of his brain, pulsing gently with each heartbeat.
The Neural Core… it's forming.
He didn't cheer. He didn't shout. He simply sat there, trembling slightly, overwhelmed by quiet awe.
For the first time, he understood the path he was walking wasn't just cultivation — it was evolution.
The Mountain of Sects
As Elias's strength grew, so did his understanding of the world beyond Cloud Peak.
The Great Sky Continent was divided among countless sects and empires. Cloud Peak Sect was one of the mid-tier factions under the Azure Dominion, a vast alliance ruled by Nascent Soul cultivators.
Here, cultivation was divided into realms:
Qi Refinement — foundation.
Core Formation — the birth of power.
Nascent Soul — enlightenment of the spirit.
Void Ascension — the breaking of mortality.
Each realm represented a new level of existence — both physical and spiritual. Yet every cultivator pursued these steps blindly, following ancient texts and myths.
Elias saw it differently. To him, cultivation was a series of system upgrades, each stage an iteration of self-optimization.
They refine Qi. I refine cognition.
A Glimpse of the Future
As the silver light within his mind grew brighter, Elias opened his eyes. The cave walls were etched with his diagrams — spirals, waveforms, energy routes — the madness of genius carved into stone.
He reached for his notebook and wrote slowly, deliberately:
"Cognitive Cultivation — Layer One complete.
Efficiency improvement: 320%.
Emotional control: stable.
Neural fatigue: negligible."
He smiled faintly. "Not bad for a week's work."
His stomach growled. He glanced at the cold remains of dried herbs and sighed. "Note to self: remember food next time."
Outside, the sunset bled across the horizon, painting the mountains gold and crimson. The wind carried faint echoes of disciples training and laughing below.
Elias leaned against the cave wall, gazing upward at the rising stars.
"A world of Qi and Dao, ruled by power and arrogance…" he murmured. "Let's see how it handles logic."
The silver light flickered in his pupils.
"This time, I'll ascend — not by faith, but by understanding."