When I opened my eyes again, it was dark outside. The moon shone gently on the lake, now calm and still, with the soft hum of bugs in the background.
I slowly got up, expecting to feel soreness since, you know, I was just struck by lightning nine times in a row, but I felt good, great even.
I did some quick punches and kicks, finding them to be faster and stronger. I was lighter on my feet and even breathing felt easier.
I felt Qi all around me, a constantly shifting landscape ebbing and flowing through the world. I couldn't dream of sensing this much without being in a herb bath before.
But what took my breath away were the colors.
Qi was always colorless to me before, but now I could see the blue Qi drifting off the lake before turning into green as it entered the surrounding trees. There was always silver Qi gently swirling around with the breeze, and the area was dominated by black Qi, only broken up by the few specs of white Qi from the moonlight.
My internal Qi was much the same, eight different colors swirling around my newly created meridians, though my meridians were empty.
'Huh, I should have broken through,' I thought, confused, before mentally pulling out the Nine Color Purifying Elemental Body Manual and flipping through it.
After a few minutes, I had my answer. The energy I got from the heavenly tribulation was all used up to create my new meridians.
As a result, there wasn't any leftover to push Qi into the meridians so, the elemental Qi gathered around my newly created meridians while the neutral Qi stayed moving around my body.
No, not neutral Qi. It was Qi of every element combined in harmony, resulting in it looking colorless, but I could divide it into the elemental Qi. Which is what I needed to do if I wanted to finish the meridian creation phase.
The good news(?) was that after I finished the meridian creation phase since I still wasn't done with it apparently, then another heavenly tribulation would come down and I could use that energy to push Qi into my meridians.
So, how do I complete the meridian creation phase then?
The meridians were created, but they were small and fragile. I needed to spend this phase reinforcing them by drawing in the corresponding elemental Qi, then I could go and get struck by lightning.
If I tried to push the Qi that was in my body to my meridians, then the heavenly tribulation would start again, and my newly created meridians would not survive that.
So, for now, I have to reinforce them with elemental Qi.
Elemental Qi had to be separated from normal Qi since I couldn't absorb specific elements from the surroundings. The different elements would combine as they entered my body forming the Qi I was familiar with.
I have to take that Qi and separate it into elements in my body, take what I need, and then let the remaining elements coalesce back into regular Qi.
With that information gained, I sat down again in the lotus position and started to breathe. Each breath brought forth a rush of Qi, which flooded my lungs before spreading out in my body.
I marveled at how smoothly I could control it now. I no longer would have to hope it ended up at the right place. Now I could guide it there whenever I wanted.
The Nine Color Purifying Elemental Body Manual stated I needed to start with strengthening my conception vessel before moving on. Each vessel had a corresponding element and the conception vessel was wood.
I found it kinda funny. I started the first stage of cultivating by punching trees, now it was time to start this stage by absorbing their essence.
That sounds weird. I've got to think of a better way to say that.
Anyway, I slowly started cultivating. Draw in the Qi with the breath, slowly untangle it into its elemental components, and then guide the wood qi to the conception vessel meridian.
The other elemental Qi just merged back into normal Qi, then hung out in my body to replace my lost reserves, or exited back into the surroundings when I was filled up.
It was a bit infuriating watching the rest of the Qi leave after I extracted the wood Qi, but there was nothing for it. There was an order to this, each elemental vessel laid the foundation for the next.
If there was one thing I learned about Xianxia worlds, you do not fuck up your foundation. Ever.
So, slow and steady it was. It was more pleasant than my old cultivation method, that's for sure.
I can not stress enough how much of a boon it is to finally be able to control the surrounding Qi and just guide it where it needs to go directly.
It wasn't until I was done that I discovered the other improvement. I had cultivated through the night, yet I didn't feel tired at all.
It could be the leftover energy from the forced nap I took after the tribulation, so I'll have to try again and see if I reached the stage where I could replace sleep with cultivating.
With that in mind, I got up and stretched, mostly out of habit rather than being stiff, before heading back to the Orario with a spring in my step. The gentle light of morning illuminated my walk and uplifted my mood even more.
I arrived back at the gate, finding a line of merchants and travelers all waiting to get in. I was surprised since it was still early morning, but I'll just wait.
As I waited I noticed I could see the Qi from the world flowing into the people around me before flowing out. I couldn't see what the Qi was doing inside them, but I could see it entering them now.
After about thirty minutes of marveling at the surrounding Qi, it was finally my turn.
There were three guards at the gate, two on either side and the third manning the line. They seemed tense, their postures were rigid, and they looked at everyone in line with a certain wariness.
The guard at the table eyed me up and down as I approached, he didn't relax but he didn't tense anymore either. I guess that's a good thing.
When I got closer to him, I realized, unlike the other people in line, he didn't have any Qi radiating off him.
Hmm, looks like I ran into another blessed.
"Name, gender, and race," The guard curtly asked out, getting a quilt ready to write my answer down.
"Uh, Leon Alanis, male and I'm…human," I hesitated, taken off guard by the question. I guess you can't be too sure what you're looking at if there are other races going around but it was a novel experience.
"Where are you coming from?" He continued.
"I am traveling from the Far East," I answered, not knowing any other countries. Well, there was the Amazon country, but that would have raised more questions.
"Reason for entry?" The guard didn't look up from writing my answers down.
"To… visit the dungeon," I hesitated again, not sure if it was a good idea to just admit that but I couldn't think of a good lie in time.
The guard looked up from his paper and searched my face for a moment before letting out a snort.
"Ha! That's a good one. So, joining a familia, huh? Got it, then it's a permanent resident fee of 10,000 vails," The guard said before pushing forward a deposit box.
I brushed my finger over my storage ring and took out the required amount, only to almost cry at how much I had left afterward.
"H-here you go," I calmed myself before handing over the required amount, only to see the guard staring at me in bewilderment.
"What's that?" The guard said, pointing to my storage ring.
"Huh, a ring?" I said which made the guard snort again.
"I can see that, I mean how did you just pull vails from it?" The guard asked which made me blue screen for a moment.
'They don't have storage rings here? I can get the villagers not having one since they are out in the middle of nowhere, but this place should be swarming with cultivators.' I thought before answering.
"It's a magic trick! I'm practicing! What do you think," I quickly lied though the guard didn't buy it.
"A magic trick? It sure looks like a magical item to me. I've never seen one like it though. Where'd you get it?" The guard pressed, clearly interested.
Alarm bells rang out in my head. I needed to get out of here before the guard decided he wanted it and I got dragged into a stupid plot point.
I'm glad he hadn't noticed my necklace at least.
"It was a magic trick. The ring is a gift from someone who died recently and they loved magic, so I used it in the trick. Can I go now?" I explained, my voice harder as I moved my hand back to cover the ring.
"I see. Looks expensive, must have been a hell of a gift," The guard muttered, marking something down on the paper before looking up again.
"Still, one last question for you. Do you know anything about the lightning strike yesterday?"
Fuck.
"What's lightning?" I said, the words flowing from my lips before any thought could be put behind them.
Double fuck.
"You don't know what lightning is?" The guard asked incredulously.
"I mean…" Oh shit, gotta think of something, "I've never heard the word before and am still learning the language. Please explain what it means," I explained hastily.
"I see…" The guard didn't believe me. He did not believe a single fucking word that just came out of my mouth.
"Well he did say he was from the far east," I heard the guard mumble under his breath before he spoke louder.
"Lightning is the flashes of light in the sky when it gets stormy outside. It lasts for a second or so before a loud booming sound happens that we call thunder," the guard explained and I put on a face of enlightenment as if I just now heard of lightning.
"I see! I did see some lightning yesterday when it stormed. It was far away from where I was though," I said with a smile to hide my nerves.
"And where did you see it?" The guard took out a notebook and started writing in it. This dude needs to chill out writing stuff down.
"It was… in the forest southeast of here," I answered truthfully. If the guard was asking everyone about the lightning then the location had probably already been revealed.
I don't want to get caught lying and sentenced to death because I lied.
"Understood. Thank you for your information and time," the guard stated after he finished writing in the book and putting it away.
"This is your pass," He continued, "You'll need to go to the guild to get your official ID and to apply for familias to join. Go straight from here, take a right at the square, go for two blocks, then a left. Congratulations on being a citizen of Orario," He said before calling up the next person.
I took the paper and entered the city. It wasn't until I was far away from the entrance that I took a deep breath and relaxed.
The interview was nerve-racking but I shouldn't have given away too much. I hope so.
"Argh, what's lightning? Seriously brain, that's the best you could come up with," I mumbled and rubbed my hands through my hair in frustration.
The guard was suspicious of me, but not enough to do anything about it. Hopefully, I don't run into him later and he decides he wants my storage ring. That was a cliche of a plot.
I pushed out the thought and recentered myself. I can worry about the guard if he comes and finds me later. For now, I need to go and get my ID from the guild.
With that thought, I started making my way through the square. It was busy, people lined the streets, vendors shouted out trying to sell their wares, and everyone went about their daily lives.
It was nice to be around people again but I realized I kinda missed the quiet of the woods. It was comforting, peaceful, besides the monsters but I don't think they could help me much with my cultivation now that I had broken through a major realm.
The way forward was the dungeon then. The whole reason I came here in the first place. Unfortunately, I did not know a single thing about it other than it has a lot of monsters. According to Ouka anyway.
Hmm, you know, I guess I can just ask about it. The guild is supposed to buy 'magic stones' and it's where I go to apply for a familia, so it's probably a safe bet for getting information.
Speaking of familias, I didn't want to join a familia. The whole thing seemed sketchy to me, especially since the blessed that I've met so far didn't have Qi flowing around them. It just wasn't natural and I wanted nothing to do with it.
Hmm, I'll ask if I can just go down into the dungeon without having a familia. I'm sure there were plenty of people who did it so it shouldn't be out of place.
I can't imagine other cultivators, not dungeon diving to get monster cores would slow down cultivation way too much. And I doubt every one of them is part of a familia.
Though, the fact that I haven't run into any other cultivator, the closest thing being a blessed, was odd.
They were supposed to be everywhere in Xianxia worlds. Even more so now that I've reached what is obviously one of the biggest cities in the world.
Yet, the most popular form of strength seems to be blessing rather than cultivation. Actually, I haven't seen or heard of something other than getting blessed.
Very odd, considering getting one's power from the gods was not how people rolled in fantasy land China.
If anything, you were supposed to kick the god's ass for even daring to attempt to offer you the power, much less take it.
Was this really a Xianxia world? Cultivation didn't seem to be that widespread, and everyone acted relatively normal and completely opposed to how I expected them to act.
Nothing like those murder hobos called 'young masters'. It reads more like a general Western fantasy than a Xianxia world.
I was pulled from my thoughts when I arrived at the guild. I took a deep breath, and mentally counted to ten, before letting it go and entering.
The inside was surprisingly normal. Sofas and tables were scattered about, the walls were carved wood, and ceiling lights illuminated the interior. On one side of the room, there were help desks, and people lined up.
It reminded me of a waiting room, like the ones at the DMV or something. Just a bit more…fantasy, I guess.
As I picked the shortest line, I realized a few things. One, nobody lining up had any Qi radiating from them, meaning that I can safely guess that they were all blessed.
Two, everyone was on edge. It was hard to describe but the entire room seemed to have this weird tension. The blessed stole glances at me as I entered, the people at the front desk worked with their heads down and everyone talked in hush whispers.
And three, there were a lot of other races besides humans.
In front of me was a person with dog ears and a tail. The ears twitched at sounds, and the tail lazily swung from side to side. I wanted to pet them but I resisted the urge.
In the line next to me there was a short bearded figure that I assume was a dwarf and in front of them was a dark-skinned woman, an amazon. Hm, she wasn't Aisha. Bummer.
I'll be honest, I didn't grasp what it meant for other races to be running around when I met Aisha, probably because she looked exactly like a human, but now that I can see the others, the reality of this situation hit me again.
It was weird, and it caught me off guard so badly that I didn't notice when it was my turn.
"Ahem, next! Sir, please approach the window. If you don't have any business here, then please step off to the side," The guild employee cleared their throat loudly, which finally snapped me out of my daze.
"Ah, sorry about that. I was told to come here to get my ID," I snapped out of it and gave an apologetic smile.
The guild employee was a woman with long red hair and what looked like dog ears on top of her head. Or maybe wolf ears? Hmm, some kind of canine ears. They were cute. I wanted to pet them.
A look at the forced polite smile on her face told me that was a bad idea so I pushed it from my thoughts. Her lips twitched slightly before she gave a nod.
"Of course! Please let me see the permit the guard gave you at the gate," She said to which I obliged.
"Let's see here…Leon Alanis, human, male, blond hair, green eyes, the reason for entering… joining a familia," the woman muttered to herself before stopping at the last bit.
"What kind of familia would you like to join?" She asked.
"Ah, about that. I was wondering if I could ask you something," I said to which she nodded and I continued.
"So when I talked to the guard I said I just wanted to go dungeon diving but he just laughed at me and changed my answer to joining a familia. So, my question is do I have to join a familia to go into the dungeon?" I asked only to watch as she went completely silent and just stared at me.
Her eyes scanned me up and down, searching for something for a few moments, before a look of complete disbelief washed over her face.
"You're serious?" She whispered to which I nodded.
"Yeah, I feel like I might be better off on my own–"
"Are you suicidal!" She slammed her hands down on the counter which made me jump and then made everyone in the room look at us.
The tension raked up several degrees. I shifted my weight to get into a better position to run. Or fight.
"Uh, No?" I said curtly. What the hell is this chick's problem?
The guild receptionist seemed to realize what she had just done as her face gained a light blush of embarrassment before she looked around and apologized to everyone.
"Ah– sorry everyone. Please continue what you were doing," She said as she gave a quick bow before bolting around the counter.
"Come here for a moment," She said as she dragged me away. I debated resisting for a moment before noticing that she had Qi flowing in and out of her, meaning that she should be normal.
'I'll hear her out for now,' I thought as we walked down a hallway into a private room.
It was a cozy wooden room with two green sofas on either side of a rectangular wooden table. The window had a lovely flowery pattern on it, letting the sunlight in and giving the room a welcoming vibe.
The vibe on the guild lady's face was the opposite of welcoming, however. She closed the door with a bit more force than necessary before dragging me along to sit across from her.
She just sat there with her arms crossed and eyes closed as she took deep breaths. Slowly the blush on her face faded away and she opened her eyes.
"So miss…what was that all about," I asked, breaking the silence that had descended upon the room.
"I apologize. I could not hold my reaction when I heard your question. It was so ridiculous that I could not believe someone sane would ask it," She apologized but then followed it up with an insult.
"I don't think it was that stupid of a question," I mumbled with my arms crossed. Seriously, I thought there wouldn't be a better place than here.
"It is, definitely, a stupid question. To enter the dungeon without a falna is suicide. How could you not know that?" She asked, her voice full of disbelief.
"I'm new around here. I don't know anything about the dungeon other than that there are monsters in it. And considering I've killed all the monsters I've encountered on the way here with relative ease, I didn't think I needed to join a familia," I explained truthfully.
"Wha-? Just because you can kill surface monsters does not mean you can handle dungeon monsters! They're stronger, faster and there's way more of them," The guild lady was growing more and more angry though she did bring up something interesting.
"How much stronger are the dungeon monsters?" I asked, feeling both excitement and nervousness creep up in me. The thought of fighting something stronger than the randomly mutated wildlife I've encountered so far filled me with a certain giddiness.
"I don't know. I've never personally fought them," She lost some steam but quickly regained it, "But I know they're stronger, and going down there without a falna or comrades is a death sentence."
"Oh," I sighed in disappointment. I thought she was gonna put it in terms of cultivation power like the monsters were in the Qi refinement stage or something. Not as helpful as I thought.
"Look, I get you to want to go be an adventurer, but doing so without a falna is just suicide. I don't want someone I've met to carelessly throw their lives away," She said, taking my sigh as I gave up.
"Wait, what are adventurers?" I asked. I could guess but better to ask just to be sure.
"An adventurer is someone who gets a falna and joins a familia," She explained, having gotten used to me not knowing anything it seems. Ah, never mind, her eyebrow twitched.
"And you need to be an adventurer to go into the dungeon. It's against the rules otherwise." She continued which made me deflate a bit.
'So, one had to join a familia and get a falna if they wanted access to the dungeon. Seems like the typical hoarding of resources,' I thought bitterly before an idea popped into my head.
What if I just sneak into the dungeon? It would get me in trouble with the ruling familias but as long as I don't get caught then it's fine right?
It'd save me from having to join a familia and getting involved with the gods. And I could just get stronger without a falna so there isn't really a point other than gaining access to the dungeon.
"So," I was pulled from my thoughts when the guild lady started speaking again, " That's why you need to join a familia. You would get a falna, comrades, and access to guild support in the form of an advisor," She said before a weird look came across her face.
"In fact, I would be your advisor. I may be inexperienced, you would be my first adventurer after all, but I'm confident in my ability to learn and help you. You just have to–"
"It's fine. I think I'll give up on going into the dungeon after all. Seems too dangerous for me honestly," I cut her off. Since I've decided to just sneak in then there's no point in listening to her. I'm not joining a familia after all.
"Oh," She deflated a bit before bouncing back, " I understand. Learning about how dangerous the dungeon monsters are compared to the surface monsters would make anyone give up. Since that's the case, let me go get the paperwork to give you a civilian ID," She said before standing up and leaving the room.
A little while later she came back with a few slips of paper and filled them out with me. It wasn't anything too complicated, much easier than immigration in my old world so that was nice.
When asked what I planned to do now that I had 'given up' on becoming an adventurer, I had to think for a moment before answering.
"I think I'll join a clinic. Help treat people with injuries or those who are sick," I said after some thought.
My days of helping out Ouka's grandfather were etched into my memory and I wanted to relive the happiness I felt when I helped there.
"I see… got it. Alright! All done," The guild lady said before handing me a document. It had my name, description, and civilian status on it and said I was a citizen of Orario. Yay!
"Thank you for your help, miss…" I stopped when I realized I still had no idea what her name was. Whoops, I feel like that's happened before. I got to get better at introducing myself.
"Ah, pardon my manners. My name is Rose Fannett," Rose introduced herself with a small smile and bow.
"Ah- my name's Leon, though you already knew that. Anyway, thank you for your help, Rose. Hopefully, you get to advise your first adventurer soon," I said with a wave before exiting the room and making my way to the exit.
It was evening when I stepped outside. A fact that took me off guard considering it did not feel like I had been in there for hours. Weird.
Anyway, I needed to find the dungeon, then I could figure out a plan to sneak in. As for how to find the dungeon well…
I looked around, taking in everything before noticing something. There were a lot of adventurers coming this way. They were in smaller groups, some were alone, but everyone was heading this way.
And they all seemed to be coming the same way.
'Well, it's the best lead I have. Might as well follow the path,' I thought with a shrug before walking against the flow of adventurers.
They were all coming from a tower.
A tower that was visible from anywhere in the city and was surrounded by a circular courtyard with benches and a fountain. From the circle extended a few main roads that lead down to the walls.
And from the bottom of the tower, from too many archways to count, spewed forth a torrent of adventurers at a steady rate, the vast majority of them were heading towards the guild.
"So, that's where the dungeon is," I muttered as I took a seat on a bench and just watched people file out of the giant tower.
From this distance, I noticed something. There was no one who was going into the dungeon.
Everyone, that I could see anyway, was leaving the dungeon, and judging by the sheer number of people, it seemed like everyone was leaving at the same time.
Interesting. That means either the dungeon has a closing time, like some kind of bizarre nine to five job, or everyone has collectively agreed that nighttime was too dangerous to go dungeon diving.
Either way, it means I shouldn't have to worry about running into anyone from a familia and getting reported if I go down during the night. Which is exactly what I plan to do.
I kept watching from my spot on the bench and slowly, the sun began to dip below the massive walls that surrounded the city, letting the area get dark.
At some point, the streetlights came on and illuminated the place in an orange glow. The stars shone gently above and the hustle and bustle of the city slowly began to quiet.
All the while, the flow of adventurers had stopped leaving me free to walk in unnoticed by anyone.
As I was making my way towards the stairs, I heard footsteps behind me. Looking back, I saw some people who looked like guards slowly positioning themselves around the base of the tower.
I quickly ducked down and observed them. Had I been caught? Was I about to get into a fight that only ended when I died or I wiped out the whole familia who was chasing me?
Was the universe about to make me become a young master MC!?
My worries were quickly disproven when the guards simply took up a post every few arches or so and sat down on some stools. A few of them even began playing cards, with a few looking towards the stairs but not seeing me or anything else of note.
'They're not trying to stop things from getting in,' I realized. 'They are making sure nothing gets out.'
I let out a breath I didn't know I was holding when I figured that out. Makes sense, don't want monsters to start coming up the stairs and making their way into the city when all the adventurers left.
Though, I guess the guards are adventurers themselves. I wonder how they got stuck doing night shift duty while everyone else got to go explore the dungeon during the day.
Food for thought I suppose but I need to focus on the task at hand. Doing my first dungeon dive.
I slowly began walking down the giant spiral staircase. My heart was racing in my chest and my breathing began to speed up while my hands began to sweat.
I was nervous, excited, happy, and a host of other emotions that I couldn't quite put my finger on.
This was it. This was the destination, the whole reason I left the Far East and traveled here. My cultivation had broken through as far as it could and I was in perfect condition.
It was time to see if the journey was worth it. Let's see what this dungeon could throw at me.