Xander, using Wen Jie’s memory as a guide, continued to run until he was safely within the territory of the Five Elements Sword Sect. Only then, did he exhale a breath of relief. He had not encountered any other travellers on the way back, as he had purposely chosen the most deserted route out of all that were available to him. A cultivator running away like his life was on the line and wearing bloodied robes raised more questions than he would wish to answer.

There was a reason that the Jia Clan did not wish to step into the territory of the righteous sect, and instead limited themselves to the mortal world. Perhaps they lacked manpower, or maybe there were other powers hunting them.

In his present state, Xander could not return to the sect. Because apparently, possession was a thing in the cultivation world, and even a Qi Refinement junior like Wen Jie was privy to such a fact. Usually, it was limited to Nascent Soul Ancestors possessing juniors, which made it a rare occurrence. However, the demonic path had a few methods that could emulate such results.

Thus, if Xander returned to the sect and suddenly claimed to have lost all memories of cultivation, he would likely be soul searched and then tortured for information.

Wen Jie had taken a month’s leave from the sect, a culmination of all the leaves he could take in a year at once, and thus, Xander thankfully had time before the sect labelled him missing and went out to search for him. Five days had already elapsed, leaving him only 25 days. Or, he could simply not go back to the sect at all and become a rogue cultivator.

The second option held almost zero appeal for him, as he had first hand experienced the dangers that lay hidden in open sight, waiting for gullible fools to jump in.

He had decided upon his location, he would head towards a makeshift accommodation that was roughly 50 kilometres away from the sect that Wen Jie had created to hide his ill-gotten gains from scrutiny of the outer sect elders. Well, the unit of measurement that Wen Jie used was a Kalim, but Xander had done some calculations. At his current pace, it took Xander another day to reach his destination.

Night had turned into day, and a white sun illuminated the sky with its almost soothing, energizing rays. Xander would love to admire its beauty from afar, however the clock was ticking.

He found the withered Kulai Tree that he was looking for, a massive tree that boasted of a sturdy, bright orange bark and in its youth, produced Kulai flowers that were a common alchemy reagent.

Using it as the base marker, he took a hundred steps, one foot after the other, until he reached his destination.

It was an ordinary patch of grass, but Xander knew there lay more beneath the surface. With his bare hands, he searched along the seams, and voila. He felt soft earth meet hard wood, and he knew he had found it. It was a trapdoor, which he pulled open with glee in his eyes. A minute later, the trapdoor was reverted to its original position, and there was nothing there but empty pains.

The underground cavern was quite well lit, though perhaps cavern were too generous a description. Xander would suppose it was the size of a one-bedroom apartment back on earth, the kind that he lived in when he had lost everything.

Luminous stones, a failed by product of spirit stones, lit up his small surroundings. They were useless for all purposes except lightning up mortal homes, and Wen Jie used to be a surprisingly pragmatic man. It was a rectangular room, that contained a small, bamboo mat that rested in the centre, and a small, wooden chest that rested against the wooden walls of his small hideout.

He opened the chest, already knowing what lay inside. One copy of the flowing river qi refinement manual, which was useless, since he had already memorized it. Five spirit coins lay at the bottom of the chest, so it was something at least. A spare sword and a temporary medallion, that could only be used for one entry into the sect in case he lost his original, turned out to be a hassle saved for Xander. One’s medallion was linked to their soul blood, and even if it was stolen it was useless to the the thief.

There were also other miscellaneous items, like a spare pair of azure Daoist robes, which he thanked his luck for, along with some dried meat and mortal wine. There was also a quill, ink pot, and empty sheets of paper, which he would like to have on hand.

Since everything had been accounted for, it was time to cultivate.

============================================

“Okay,” Xander spoke, to no one but himself as he looked down upon the notes he had scrawled down.

Name: Wen Jie.

Cultivation: 3/13th Stage Qi Refinement, Bottleneck.

Qi Cycling Technique (Qi-Tech, in short form. Heh..): Flowing River

Spiritual Root: Single Vein (Average)

Net Worth: 5 Spirit Coins (Extremely Poor. Dad would kill me himself if he saw how low I’ve fallen.)

Cultivation Lingo:

Spiritual Root: Basis of all cultivation. Determines talent and future potential. Can be single vein, double vein, or higher (unknown). Forms a network of veins across the body, much like human physiology. However, it is intangible. Cannot be seen, only sensed. Single veins implies single layering, double veins implies double layering, etc. Only physical materialization is within the Dantian.

Dantian: House of the spiritual root. Infinitesimally small, invisible to the naked eye. Visible to cultivator senses. Located three finger widths below and two finger widths behind the navel.

Cycling: One cycle= one cultivation session. Process of strengthening the body by absorbing qi and increasing the threshold of qi the body can withstand.

Bottleneck: Occurs at the third stage of Qi refinement. Must break through the ‘first wall’ that separates the spiritual root from exerting full potential.

Spirit coins: Qi can either be absorbed from the atmosphere: slower but smoother, or from spirit coins: faster but leads to impurities that makes breakthroughs harder.

“That should be it, then?” Xander mused to himself, and scratched the back of his head. “Oh well, let’s just give it a try.”

Xander sat down upon the mat, cross-legged, and positioned both his arms in a meditative posture.

First, he tried to sense his dantian. He tried taking deep breaths in and out, thinking about a white space where nothing could harm him, and even poked at his tummy in hopes of a reaction. Nothing happened, even after five hours passed.

He then tried to sense his spiritual veins, flowing through his body. Another bust, and five hours had turned into twelve.

“Aaah, fuck it,” he finally snapped. Wasn’t he supposed to be half the reincarnation of a legendary cultivator? What was this nonsense!

He could only cheat. After all, he was essentially trying to speedrun three years of curriculum in thirty days. He unshackled the dormant part of his own will, and it enveloped his body within a mere minute.The part of the will he had inherited from his 'friend' in the heavens, and now, the part of the will that completely belonged to him. Xander still found it hard to consider it a part of himself, and it felt a bit creepy at times to draw upon it. But now, he simply did not have much of a choice. Either he had to completely consider the will his own and absorb it, or give up on rejoining the sect within a month.

“Sense, damn it!” he angrily muttered, for if even his will turned out to be useless, he was well and truly in a dangerous situation.

At that very moment, an influx of information hit him at the same time. Xander was shocked for a moment, then slowly, the beginnings of a grin could be seen on his face.

He opened his eyes and looked at his right hand with marvel in his eyes, as he saw the intangible azure veins flowing through them, branching out to each of his fingers. Qi was colourless, but each cultivator saw a different colour based on their personality, perception or expectation.

He then looked down at his navel, and saw an organ akin to a misshapen organ similar to the human heart, but far smaller in size and with only a single artery that then branched outwards into countless smaller ones.

Recalling Wen Jie’s memories, he pushed the organ to act, exerting gentle force upon it, and causing it to send out a pulse of spiritual energy outwards. His whole body felt full of energy, though his dantian felt like it had expended a significant amount of energy.

Feeling full of power, Xander got up and walked towards the wooden chest. He pulled his fist backwards, and punched.

The wooden chest shattered and then splintered into countless pieces, some of which that harmlessly bounced off his cultivator body.

Xander looked at his clenched fist with wide eyes, and exclaimed, “Holy shit,” the next moment.

Unbeknownst to Xander himself, his original, jovial personality that had laid dormant for so long, had started to surface. The new world might be even crueller than his own, but something about it greatly excited him. He had something to look forward to, again. A whole new world full of mystery, intrigue and power awaited him. He no longer had any ties binding him, no people judging him. He was truly free, and on that regard, no one could compete with him.

“Okay, let’s maybe not do that again,” He sighed as he saw the mess he had created, but the grin on his face did not fade.

Next, he would learn the Flowing River Technique.