After months, no, years, of stagnation for Yuan. Today, I’d taken a step ahead. I was still at the peak of the Third realm, and so my Qi would only grow marginally no matter how much I cultivated, but even that, had been something Yuan hadn’t experienced for months. Even such a small step made me almost break out in a smile, filled with delight. It wasn’t quite the addiction of a drug, but rather, the addiction of working hard and having your efforts pay off. That mixed in with the sensation of your Qi and very being growing was a sensation I’d sensed for the first time, and even just that was enough to change my stance of cultivation already. I sat in silence, thinking over things. Cultivating had ultimately led to Yuan’s untimely demise. Perhaps I could argue that it was due to his weakness, yet at the same time, Yuan was me. At least, I was him now. This was my reality and this was my world to live in. Could I really walk down this path? I didn’t want to fight. I already knew wh

You didn’t know about the library, Yuan?” the Old Man asked me and I found myself stuttering. I went through Yuan’s memories, trying to find any mention of the library. As it turned out, Yuan had heard of the Library when he’d first joined the sect and then had made the extremely smart decision of completely ignoring it as it wouldn’t help him at all to grow his cultivation.I wanted to facepalm so badly.“No, master,” I finally replied. “I’d forgotten about the library.”The Old Man hummed to himself, looking at me with a strange expression. I probably looked like an idiot right now. I certainly felt like one.“Well, I suggest you have a look there. The sect library in the outer sect is open for all to visit. Though there are certain sections in the library you can only access once you have collected enough tokens from the sect,” the old man said, and I paused. Right, the tokens were another thing that I’d completely overlooked.“Whatever the result may be, this old man wishes you we

Flee leapt through the spirit grass, lightning flaring all around her. Qi burned within her with a fervent crackle, as her fur shimmered from the sparkles of lightning surrounding her. She let herself run wild, as she ran through the heaven of spirit herbs all around her.Her great master had created a miracle! Flee almost felt herself turning dizzy from excitement at being so thoroughly surrounded by spirit herbs all around her. Her core ached to bask in the Qi and her instincts screamed at her to tear through the stalks, and chew through the spirits down to the roots.She resisted. Her great master had instructed her not to eat through the spirit herbs. And she knew now, that if she waited, her great master would turn the spirit herbs into wonderful pills for her to eat.Flee crackled once more in delight, envisioning sitting on a pile of spirit pills, on a throne that she’d lay claim to, under none but her great master.The idea pleased Flee greatly and she found her desire to eat

I walked into my room, to the sight of an orange cat lying on its back as a tiny rat sat on top of its belly, licking its paws.Flee froze for a second, as she saw me come, before she jumped from her table and rushed towards me.Flee had protected the spirit herb haven from the evil cat, Great Master! Flee has also made the cat its loyal minion!She sent me the words, accompanied by a series of excited squeaks, as my eyes went to the cat squirming on my desk as if extremely high on catnip. The slightly ajar drawer to the spirit pills and the open window to the room gave me sufficient hints what may have happened, and I walked to the shelf to check how bad the damage was.“Huh, only a couple of pills. I’m actually impressed,” I said out loud, sending a sense of pride to Flee, who stormed in with a series of squeaks as she jumped about among the spirit herbs.I shook my head, almost jumping in surprise when the cat had walked over to my feet, and began to aggressively rub itself against

Flee felt Qi thrumming in her core. The vague mass of Qi at the centre of her foundation now slowly but surely solidifying, as shimmers of Lunar Qi began to mingle with the Lightning Qi. A conflicting mixture of a soft gentle Qi, with the volatile thunder waiting to erupt.Flee could see her understanding of the world grow. She’d understood one cycle of numbers that her Great Master had taught her, and now, the Qi echoed his words, as many, many cycles all around the world began to be obvious to her. What was cold but the absence of heat, and the heat, the lack of the other. The night an absence of light, spirit the absence of the physical.The absence contained a symbol. A meaning that she’d never known. The numbers the Qi had whispered to her, took on a different meaning altogether, as the new symbols lit up in her mind, like beacons of insight.“Flee… are you okay?” her Great master spoke, his face covered with concern for her wellbeing.Flee squeaked back at her Great Master. Flee