Just as Felix was beginning another cycle of qi in his cultivation, a slight sensation beckoned him back to awareness. To avoid causing an issue, he finished out the cycle. Felix opened bleary eyes and blinked, hearing a birdsong on the air. A ray of sunlight just peeked through the window, warming his forehead, and leaving the rest of his body in shadow.

Morning already? Is it normal to be able to fall so deeply in cultivation? No wonder people can cultivate in isolation for months.

Getting to his feet, he absently called upon his spiritual energy and his eyebrows rose in surprise.

Huh, so I made a breakthrough to the 6th level of essence gathering. I do feel different, but the breakthrough felt so easy that I wasn’t sure…

Felix raised his arm, taking a sniff of his armpit.

Shouldn’t I smell? I mean, not only do I recall stories of people expelling impurities, in uh, variety of different ways. Gross. But even a few texts in the Hall of Knowledge alluded to such expulsions. Is it only a body cultivation thing? I suppose I smell a little but I think its just sweat from the spar last night.

With a mental shrug, Felix wiped himself down and changed into a new sect uniform.

Mm, I am in a better headspace today. I really lost it last night. I hope I am wrong and no one saw me.

Putting on the finishing adjustments to his outfit, he began to make his way out. The figure of Xue greeted him at the door.

“Ready to go to your next class?” Said Xue in a bored tone.

Felix nodded and they started walking. She set a brisk pace and Felix found himself eying her back in annoyance.

It’s not really fair but I am pretty sure I wouldn’t have been tackled by the bathtub idiot or trounced by the Onooka if someone had my back. No, no, that doesn't make sense. Laying that at Xue’s feet is just irrational. Though those legs leading up to that ass. I can really appreciate how the sect robes seem to hug that curve…

After a subtle adjustment, Felix caught up to her. As she glanced at him, he held up the protective jade talisman.

“You know, this talisman didn’t really seem to do much last night. I found myself in two situations where a little bit of protection would have been nice.”

“What could have happened that you needed protection last night?” Said Xue, slowing her pace slightly. “You should have been fine. Elder Shen would have done something if you were in real danger?”

Well, she does seem concerned at least. Mmmm.

“Nothing much, I just got assaulted and then fought with an assassin.” Said Felix with a roguish smile.

Xue's eyes narrowed.

“…So you fought with the Onooka? Huh” Said Xue. Felix blinked in surprise and Xue rolled her eyes. “I mean, if it were a real assassin, I would have heard about it or you would have been dead this morning. After that, I only had to think of who our guests were. Though, that does still leave the question of how you ended up fighting with the Onooka?”

“Huh, I suppose that was pretty obvious.” Said Felix, pointedly ignoring her question. “and here I was thinking I could create an air of mystery.”

“Well, you do have me confused about being assaulted by a disciple.” Said Xue. “Were you just going around insulting people?”

Felix shrugged. “It was an accident, an accident that sent me flying through the air. Would you believe me if I said it involved a bathtub?”

“A… a bathtub?”

Felix just smiled and kept walking. He just grinned at her annoyed look until she relented. Then he couldn’t help but ask about the talisman not working.

“What you did must not have been enough to trigger the active effect.” Said Xue. “From what little you’ve said, which is still quite annoying by the way, none of the attacks you received last night were powerful enough for the talisman to fully activate. This talisman has two abilities according to Elder Shen. A passive one that will dampen most low-level attacks automatically as well as the ability to activate in response to a single strong attack.”

Felix looked at the talisman in surprise.

Wow, that’s amazing. I can only assume there is some limiting factor or else every low level cultivator should have one.

Before he could think of another question, they arrived at the lecture pavilion from yesterday. He said a quick goodbye to Xue, then looked over the crowd. The crowd was smaller than yesterday and only a few people looked familiar. After a minute of searching, Felix finally located the three recruits near the back. Walking around the crowd toward their location, he stopped in front of them with a frown.

Now that won’t do. I expect more from those under my wing.

They gave him a confused look and he shook his head. Making a come-hither motion, he turned and started walking toward the front. Exchanging baffled looks, the trio followed after.

“Come on then,” Said Felix, taking an empty spot in the front row. “If you three are really serious about cultivating, then you should at least make the effort to get the most out of these lessons.”

The three gave him an awkward look but took an empty seat nearby. Looking around, Felix realized he recognized one of the other students.

Isn’t that the kid that tried to kill himself the other day? Edward, I think it was? Is it fine for him to be here unattended so soon?

Felix watched Edward who seemed to be in his own world. The little kid sat cross-legged like the rest of them but simply stared at his hands in his lap.

He still has something going on. People don’t just make faces while clenching and unclenching their hands…

Feeling he had a big brother thing going, Felix scooted a little closer. Then, he gave an exaggerated cough, looking right at the child. Edward paid him no mind. Felix resisted the temptation to roll his eyes and scooted even closer.

“Excuse me, Edward. Are you alright?”

The little boy's head snapped up to face Felix. Felix resisted the urge to flinch from the pure rage in Edward’s eyes.

“Fuck off you wanker.”

Then Edward went back to gazing at his hands. A lull in the surrounding conversation stopped at the outburst and then restarted a moment later. Felix just stared.

W-wanker!? Who the hell does-

[Quest: Rebellious Element]

[A seed of malcontent has been accepted in the Sect, darkening the threads of Karma. Reweave or sever this thread]

[Reward: 15 KE if severed. Variable reward if reweaving dependent on degree of success.]

[WARNING: Failure may result in negative repercussions to your fate.]

Felix stared at the prompt,

What the fuck! Sever?! It is suggesting I kill the kid. My god, why?

He ignored the prompt for a moment, looking at the lonely figure. Hunched over, the child’s angry face had gone back to one of despair.

Fuck that. I am NOT killing a kid. I mean, maybe if it is for the greater good… No, that is totally giving me a come to the dark side vibe. Not doing it. That line about affecting my fate… Damnit. If it isn’t just the system punishing me for failure, which based on the quest’s text, it isn’t, then this kid will definitely cause issues if left alone.

An elbow to the side brought him out of his thoughts. Rubbing his now tender side, he glared at the unrepented Chu. Chu ignored his irritated look and indicated toward the stage with his eyes. Blinking in surprise, Felix turned to find a man sitting on the previously unoccupied stage. That or a cracked statue.

The shirtless man sat in the lotus position with his eyes closed. Though lacking the bulky build of a bodybuilder, the man’s frame showed the sculptured figure of a mortal martial artist. A perfect balance of muscles, with no exaggerations. However, Felix's focus was on the angry red welts that covered the man’s body. Staring, he realized that the red was actually pulsating from light to dark.

Then the man opened his eyes and looked them all over. The man let out a breath that turned into a coughing fit with literal smoke leaking out of his mouth. They all started nervously until the man finally got the coughing under control.

“Well isn’t this embarrassing. A little injury and I can’t even speak.” Said the man with a wry smile. He glanced at Felix. “Now that I finally have all of your attention, I suppose I better introduce myself. For those who don’t know me, I am Elder Jackie. I am also the only nascent soul elder that specializes in body cultivation.”

Chu nervously raised a hand and Elder Jackie nodded in his direction.

“Excuse me elder but shouldn’t you be focusing on healing. I wouldn’t want you to hurt yourself for our sake.”

Elder Jackie cracked a full smile.

“I should be fine enough to talk. Plus, I can actually do some healing while talking. The only annoying part is that it is harder to ignore the burning pain. Feels like someone injected liquid lead.”

The red welts seemed to respond to the elder’s words, flashing extra bright. Elder Jackie’s expression underwent micro winces with each pulse. Felix eye’s eyes traced the cracks, seeing how they seemed to reach everywhere on the elder’s body.

And considering how some of them seem to continue down into the elder’s shorts…

Felix held back a shudder.

Alright, going back to my theory that cultivators are insane. Maybe I should start keeping a tally?

A boom sounded out as Elder Jackie brought his hands together.

“Enough about that, let's focus on why you are here. The noblest type of cultivation. Body cultivation.”

Then Elder Jackie used just his legs to go from the lotus position to standing in one graceful motion.

“Now,” Said Elder Jackie. “What is body cultivation?”

Really? More of this? Is this how each class will start?

“To put it simply, body cultivation is about specifically elevating the existence of the body into something greater. It is using the body as the means through which you become an elevated existence and immortal. Now, many new body cultivators have the misconception that this is about making just the muscles, skin, and bones more powerful. That however is false. It is true that many body cultivation methods may emphasize such to the detriment of others. However, a method that truly ignores parts of the body completely is setting you up for failure. Think, if your body becomes the means through which you become immortal, what happens when your body is put to the test mmm. I can fight you with all of my strength but please don’t hit my heel. Pathetic!”

Elder Jackie's arms moved with his words, literally causing whooshing noises with every emphasized point.

“We can go into that topic in more depth later. Now, let’s discuss the very first major realm of body cultivation, essence saturation. I believe you all have had the first general cultivation class, so I won’t go into explaining the reasoning behind the use of the term essence in the title. At this step, you are beginning the process of adjusting your body to be the weapon of your chosen essence, in our case qi. You will make sure the qi reaches every nook and cranny inside your body. You are quite literally saturating. Filling it up, and then breaking through a rank to fill it up with even more.”

Felix shot his hand up. Elder Jackie paused mid arm swing, a slight frown on his face.

“Yes, disciple Felix? What is it?”

“Excuse me Elder Jackie, but what is happening to the body when you saturate it? Such as forcing the body to use qi as fuel?”

Elder Jackie frown turned into a thoughtful look.

“I suppose that’s a fair question. I believe you should know that qi is not energy or at the very least cannot be considered JUST energy. That’s why people have moved away from calling it spiritual energy or energy of heaven and the earth. So, what you are doing to your body in the first major realm, essence saturation, is changing it fundamentally with each breakthrough. This step also makes the essence you use to be fuel. Still, in this realm, the body does not appear that much different from a mortal. It is still constrained to mortal bodily construction, things like cells.”

Felix’s eyes opened wide and he couldn’t help his hand shooting up again.

How does a medieval society... well that's not a fair comparison, but how does this world know about cells? I haven't seen anything to indicate they have microscopes. Can divine sense see things that small? Would a disciple know about them?

Elder Jackie glared at his raised hand but nodded in his direction.

“Um, sorry elder, what are cells?”

“Can you wait till the end of the lecture for any further questions?” Said elder Jackie. When Felix looked away, he continued. “This is also a good question, as cells are something that noncultivators may never know about. As I hope you all know, the body can be divided into many different parts that are normally separated by their functions. Your skin for example or your heart. However, most of these parts in a mortal’s body are made up of even smaller components called cells. In fact, many mortal creatures are made of such a small unit of life. There is more to this but leave it at that for now.”

“The reason I did not describe them is that one, you don’t really need to know about them now. You can just follow your manual and the method will allow you to do what’s needed. Secondly, the bodies you may end up with may be very different from what you have now. So, why learn about it with so many other priorities. Thirdly, your ability to inspect your own body will only improve as you cultivate. In fact, once you reach a certain point, you will be able to discover these truths for yourself, if they still pertain to you.”

Jackie shook his head profoundly only to be ruined by a trail of smoke from his nose getting in his eyes. He waved the smoke away with annoyance.

“I repeat, cells are the basic building blocks of most mortal creatures. As being cultivated, they are no longer so limited.”

Felix blinked.

How can you have life without cells? Wait, will I not have cells after cultivating? That’s a weird thought. I want to raise my hand again and ask…

Luckily, another student raised their hand first

“Um… I am not sure what these cells are, but what changes that cultivating makes them superfluous?”

Elder Jackie shrugged.

“The heavens are filled with mystery and the mystery of life is certainly a large one. I have some understanding, but I am not sure I can give you a short one that would not also be misleading. I can just speculate that different existences have different needs and abilities. What brings confusion into this is that a supreme cultivator may have these cells, I just know of information that some can also become immortal and not have them. If that sounds unbelievable to some of you, well, you’ve never met a living stone.”

Elder Jackie shook his head and gave out a rasping laugh.

“Now, essence saturation. As I was saying, you are essentially making sure a certain concentration of qi reaches every part of your body. Once your body has a certain amount, you make a breakthrough just like with essence gathering. There are nine minor levels. Each level results in many benefits along with the expelling of impurities. These impurities come from different sources, some of which is a part of your body being broken down when you break through a level in cultivation. Another source is from impurities accumulation in your lifetime.”

“The next level is essence forging. This is where your body begins to undergo a fundamental change. If the previous step is your body adapting to spiritual energy, then this step is where the body is truly beginning to be remade. The impurities expelled doing this major step is much… messier. The results are also much more dramatic.”

“Those are the two steps you need to focus on for now. Try to absorb this information and investigate what body cultivation method you want to use. Though I am loath to admit it, even if you are just going to do dantian type cultivation, it is worth achieving essence saturation to protect from injuries. Essence forging would be even better.”

“However, if you keep at it, you can enjoy the benefits of fighting with the might of your body alone. Perhaps even joining me at the equivalent of a Nascent Soul cultivation, Body Synchronization.”

Elder Jackie reached forward and seemed to grasp at air. As his fist closed, the air seemed to shake and sound like thunder washed over the crowd. The elder's smile of satisfaction waned as his wounds flared to life once more, coughing up a wave of smoke. Felix and the other disciples in the front rows grimaced as the smoke hit them, smelling of burnt flesh.

“Whew,” said elder Jackie, releasing another puff of smoke. Felix scooted back in a vain attempt to avoid it. “Maybe this was a little much. Alright, please come up with questions before I get out of here.”

There was a pause and then a couple of disciples rushed forward to ask questions. Most however left, either in a hurry or lost in considerations of their own. Felix glanced toward the still self-absorbed Edward.

Mmm, I need to address that issue soon but if he is not leaving, I should ask about Yang Mei.

The three recruits looked at him and Felix waved them away. Taking one more glance at Edward, he hurried up to Elder Jackie. After a minute, the elder finished answering the second disciple turning his gaze to Felix.

“Well disciple Felix, what is it?”

“Elder, I wanted to ask you about disciple Yang Mei.”

Elder Jackie’s eyes narrowed and then shook his head.

“You mean how you are going to help her?”

“Well, um yes.”

“Don’t look at me like a disciple.” Said Elder Jackie. “I heard from Elder Shen. I wouldn’t normally allow it but he has assured me you can handle this.” Then Jackie took a step closer and Felix saw the Elders pupils narrow. “but know that I am giving you trust in this matter. Do. Not. Break. It.”

Okay, that is a little much. I will try to interpret that as him just really caring about her and not pride.

“Of course, Elder.” Said Felix. “If it wouldn’t be too much of a bother. I would be grateful if you would allow me to witness one of her body cultivation sessions. I found the Sculpting Flesh in Stone enlightening. I feel I would learn much from seeing it in practice.”

“Mmm, that would be alright. Meet us at noon in two days. Yang Mei can show you where we practice.” Then with a snort of smoke, Elder Jackie backflipped into the air, disappearing.

And now he does that disappearing thing like every other high ranking cultivator… I want to do it too.

Felix watched the empty space for a moment, as the smell of burnt flesh faded. He turned to look down from the lecture stage, seeing the lone seated figure.

Edward didn’t even seem to notice as Felix got off the stage. Felix glanced around to see that they were alone, save for a few disciples just disappearing down a pathway. Once they disappeared, he took the final few steps up to the boy. Felix stopped half a meter away, and Edward finally looked up to meet his eyes.

Felix had to fight to keep the exasperation from his face.

I bet the elders are watching, at the very least whoever brought Edward here if not a secret protector for me. Even if they’ve gone crazy, Xue will be here soon. I need to be better at keeping secrets. However, even if I wanted to ignore this boy, the quests, and its warning…

“So, how are you doing?” Said Felix

“How are you doing?” Responded Edward, his glare turning incredulous. “How about you go and mind your own business.”

Felix blinked, expecting something like this yet still taken aback.

God damn this kid has a chip on his shoulder. Still, something about him just seems…

“You just appear to be in a dark place. I wanted to know if I could lend an ear.”

Edward just gave him a look of disgust and got to his feet, turning to walk away. Felix watched as the kid muttered under his breath.

“Its a lie. It has to be. They’re NPCs, they’re just fucking NPCs…”

Felix started, his mouth dropping open,

What…? Wait. How couldn’t I’ve seen it? Even the name Edward…

Taking a step forward, Felix found himself resting his hand on the boy's shoulder to stop him. The need to know driving him forward. Edward spun back, knocking Felix’s hand away.

“I told you to mind your own fucking business.”

You little shit!

Calming himself, Felix took a breath.

Okay, once again. People watching, I haven’t told the elders everything. But, but… he’s from Earth. He said NPC, there is no way. I mean, we aren’t even speaking in English but he is clearly saying the acronym.

“Wait,” Said Felix, trying to make soothing motions. “I am just here to help. Do you mind telling me what an NPC is?”

Edward looked back at him, seemingly torn between answering. Then the child seemed to crumple, the fire dying from his eyes.

“Just some word I made up.” Mumbled Edward, slowly turning to go.

Like shit it is! Screw this. I need to know.