I closed my eyes, reflecting. It had been five years.

Five years since I left this world, from my sister’s perspective. But hundreds for me.

Since I left my sister, alone. My parents were gone, taken by the force that changed the world— the gates.

Briefly before they opened, some percentage of the population suddenly awoke with super human power that grew as they trained it, almost like cultivators, though she made no mention of Qi. My sister was one of the lucky few who inherited strange powers— superhuman speed, strength, and spells similar to my own techniques.

Gaping holes in reality that lead to other worlds, opening the way for monsters to enter ours. They devastated cities, slaughtered humans, and brought the world to a state of panic. The rise of the gates and the Awakened Humans upended the balance of the world, and even now, it was thinly held. The Awakened enjoyed privileged legal status and abilities, each of the awakened at the highest level individually representing the fighting strength of a nation. They were similar to the pinnacle members of the martial world, enjoying a level of fame and status unlike anything else.

I had left a world ruled by the strong, and found another. I had to become stronger.

As far as I knew, Earth had no Qi.

So why, when I enter the state of meditation, can I sense it in the air around me?

It isn’t dense, by any means. Its one of the lowest states possible— enough to reach the First Realm, Foundation, and little else. But it would be better than nothing. The first cultivation realm wouldn’t miraculously restore this body— but it would speed the recovery of it.

But first I needed to select a technique. In my last life, I found myself the servant of a demonic sect. My early days were spent in toiling misery, working day in and day out, until I earned myself a position as an Outer Disciple and began the long walk down the Demonic Path. But it was a path that beget violence. A path that required sacrifice of lives that I didn’t have the right to give. The Demonic Path of Slaughter was one I wanted to walk away from.

On the other hand, it was one of the two highest quality paths I had. One of them. The other being one I found within the treasure in my soul space. Though I couldn’t access my soul space in this state, it was ingrained in my soul. Completely incompatible with both my philosophy and cultivation base, it was something I had thrown away as useless, not even worth teaching to my disciples.

It came with its own restrictions— dozens of them, restricted by the phase of the moon and the tides. But each restriction increased its power.

It was primordial, an ancient power based on the position of stellar bodies, especially the moon. The path of Silver Light… it would be perfect for me. Of course, far before I could worry about lunar attunement and treasures, I had to build my foundation. I slowed my breathing, counting as I inhaled, tugging on the Qi in the air. This body had no dantian, no Sea of Qi. The body was unrefined, and the Qi barely responded to my will at first. I held my breath, counting, then breathed out, counting again. As I extended my breaths, the Qi shifted towards me, and I directed it into my body.

I breathed in, Qi scorching me as it carved a path down meridians that I didn’t know I had for my entire mortal life, carving the technique and nature of the cultivation path into my very essence.

This time, I would carve a different path. Seeking power for the sake of power was meaningless.

I breathed out.

This time I would build a legacy— not one of betrayal and aggression. I would build a sect here, on Earth. I would gather strength.

Qi circled inside me with each breath.

It took hours, but between last night and this morning I eventually reached the first stage of the first realm— the Qi Gathering stage of the Foundation Ream. The first stage involved little more than gathering Qi into yourself, though that alone would already enhance the body. It flowed through me at a trickle, my meridians unable to support much Qi yet, but my recovery was already speeding far beyond what a normal humans would.

Along with that accelerated recovery was my roaring metabolism. I was worried about the quality of the hospital food here, but it didn’t seem like I was at a normal hospital at all. I should have noticed— the way the walls were pristine, almost brand new. The way my room was set up— hospitals were always full of indecipherable technology, to me personally. But the technology in this one looked like a space ship.

Even the complex patterning in the tiles on the floor and on the walls should have given it away. This was some kind of new complex. I wonder how much keeping my comatose body here had cost? Years of paying for my bed and care… almost any one else would’ve given up on me.

And the final giveaway, the one I was staring at now, was the food.

There were entire restaurants built into the cafeteria, serving orders without question, and I felt like I could the meals of five men. I hadn’t tasted food from earth in centuries, and I drooled as I stared at it, worried it wouldn’t be as good as I remembered.

I picked up a burger from the table and took a bite, and then I was throwing myself at the food.

A person fresh out of a coma this long probably wouldn’t have been able to make it to the cafeteria by themselves. It wasn’t as though I had healed away all of my issues with Qi, I had just started to remove the atrophying from my muscles. It still ached to make my way here.

But in that moment, I knew it was worth it.

“Rain?” I heard my sister shout. “Holy shit, you gave me a heart attack!” She said, and even as I turned to look at her, she was nearly jogging through the cafeteria, throwing an arm around me. Her weight made me wince, bending down into the table. She was covered in armor still, and—

“Is that blood?” I asked, staring at her. The entire right side of her body was covered in it, up to the shoulder.

“Huh? Oh, yeah, I got off work early to come see you.” She said, dusting off her clothing. “Oh, its uh, not mine, obviously. There was a gate opening just an hour away from here we cleared. Had these, like, scaled cats inside. Hate them. My least favorite, maybe. Well, except for the bugs…” She frowned.

I looked at her worriedly.

“You’re out of bed early, huh? You know, some front runners—“ she sat down as she spoke, stealing fries from my plate and shoving them into her mouth. The table bounced when she landed. “— on the genetic study of Awakened suggest that the qualifications are hereditary. You know, like, if I am one, you likely are too.”

“Awakened?” I asked, raising my eyebrows at the implication. The power of the Awakened… I wonder what it was like. I knew Willow was supposedly powerful in this world. Would I gain that power on top of my own? It wasn’t likely.

“Uh, yeah, ‘Awakened’,” She repeated, making fun of my tone. “You could sound more excited about it, you know! Once you’re healed up, I’ll take you out on a gate and show you. You can’t really know for sure until you experience some, you know, actual action.” She said, helping herself to my plate. “Did you get all this just for you?” She looked around.

“Pardon… I’m still not really sure what it means to be awakened, yet.”

She nodded at that. Then squinted. “’Pardon?’ Since when did you talk like that?” Then she looked worried. “Are you okay? You holding up in here? I know this is probably…” She gestured at the room. “This is probably a lot for you, right? Do you need anything? I’m going to come back once a day until you’re done with physical therapy. The doctors said it could take months, so… if you can think of anything you need…”

“I need a phone.” I said, picking up a slice of pizza.

“A phone… oh my god, duh!” Willow stood, stomping out of the room.

“Umm.. Bye?” I said, once my mouth was empty, but she was already disappearing down the hall.