Bon revived at the spawn point and Tian Bu Ru immediately emerged from the necklace in a stream of smoke. Bon knew that the smoke wasn’t real but he couldn’t stop himself from coughing. It was probably a reflex action.

“Are you sure you’re teaching me correctly?” Bon asked. What if this Tian Bu Ru was an evil spirit sent to torment him, purposely teaching him the wrong qi technique just to see him explode?

Tian Bu Ru looked at him with wide eyed innocence, “Are you doubting your teacher? Why would I willfully harm my ticket out of here? You made a mistake. It happens. Try again. Pay more attention this time.”

Since there were no cave drawings to gaze at, Tian Bu Ru made a spirit projection of the body’s meridian pathways in the air. Bon was able to feel the rough network within him when qi passed from his dantian to his meridians. Strands of qi were refined into a gas, and then spread throughout his body in a neat little circuit. He reached one full circuit and felt a strange feeling pass through him. It felt like a hot breeze passing through his body. He felt a light tingling sensation all over him, like electricity.

“It works!” said Tian Bu Ru. “It really works! My life’s work has just been proved true. My hypothesis was correct all along. Take that, you doubters!” He was so happy that he started dancing, floating around in all directions.

“What do you mean, ‘it works,’ Bon asked indignantly. “You were using me as a guinea pig?” The old man was extremely shady.

“Well,” Tian Bu Ru shuffled his legs, “It worked didn’t it? What are you complaining about.”

“So Cultivation isn’t a well established practice?” Could the old man be trusted at all? Maybe Bon was overthinking it. He had been able to feel qi after all.

“Cultivation is millions of years old. As soon as humans learned to walk, they learned to cultivate. This particular method of cultivation, using this set of meridians, was invented by me. It allows one to use the Tutorial Tower’s mana system as well as to cultivate, at the same time. Congratulations, my disciple, you have proved the universe wrong. Kowtow to your great master.”

“I’m not kowtowing,” Bon snorted. “You’re just teaching me because you need me.” Kowtowing wasn't a part of his culture.

“That may be true, but I am still your master.” Tian Bu Ru floated upside down as he looked at Bon. “You can kowtow later, after you acknowledge my greatness.”

“What other secrets are you keeping? Will this cultivation method harm me in the future?”

“No no no,” Tian Bu Ru said, full of enthusiasm. “It will make you much stronger than the more conventional methods. It doesn’t require that many resources either. When I get back, I’m going to be famous. Of course, one can only learn such a dangerous method within the Tutorial, where the Laws are twisted and death isn’t the end.”

“What are Laws?” Every time Tian Bu Ru opened his mouth more questions appeared in Bon's mind.

“Nothing you need concern yourself with now,” Tian Bu Ru stroked his beard, and then nodded at Bon. “You have earned yourself a break. Do whatever you want until I call you.” Then he began to mutter to himself, “First stage Qi Condensation in just two tries. He is naturally gifted at this.”

Bon walked out of the safe zone into the swamp water. He had the feeling that something was wrong. It had been bothering him since he had died the first time. He tasted the swamp water.

“What are you doing?” Tian Bu Ru asked. “There’s cleaner water in the pool in the safe zone.”

“This is fresh water,” said Bon. “That’s how all these trees can grow here on the banks.”

“So what?”

“Mangroves live in salt water. They can’t live in fresh water swamps.”

“I don’t know if you’ve noticed, boy,” Tian Bu Ru harrumphed, “The level design here doesn’t exactly follow common sense. If it did, my cave wouldn’t have existed. Such a hill cannot possibly exist in a marshy area. I was worried that the Admins would find it and delete it, but I couldn’t disguise it better within the time I had.”

“Still,” said Bon, “The environment must follow some natural laws. Look at all the attention to detail, the birds and animals, the flow of water, the smells, the insects. I think that the Mangrove Giant has his own little pool in the swamp somewhere. Let’s go and find it.”

“What good will finding it do?”

“Know yourself and know your enemy.”

“Don’t try to quote Sun Tzu to me, kiddo. He wasn’t even born when I was toppling empires.”

“You want me to clear this level quickly, right?” Bon asked, walking in the direction he had heard the Mangrove Giant’s roar come from earlier. “Maybe we can find its weakness.”

Bon crept through the swamp, careful not to get scratched by any thorns. He took off his boots so that he wouldn’t make any sound. After an hour of searching he finally found the Mangrove Giant. Just as he guessed, it had a little pool to itself. The tree seemed to be sleeping. There was no sign to distinguish it from a normal mangrove tree, apart from its size.

“You were right. What now?” Tian Bu Ru whispered.

Bon had been ruminating on a plan ever since they had left the safe zone. “Now we poison it,” he crept away.

He came to the berry bushes and began to pick as many as he could carry. He used his shirt as a bag. They weren't going into his inventory for some reason. Maybe they were special items or something.

“You want to kill it with rili berries?” Tian Bu Ru stroked his beard, his eyes lost in thought. “That’s not a bad idea actually. It’s a very potent poison. You can add the juice of the pula leaves there to make it more effective.”

Bon pulled out the grass. “Are you a herbalist as well?”

“I dabble in alchemy. You will need at least three bags full if you’re going to dump the poison in that pool.” Tian Bu Ru smacked his head, “Almost forgot. Why don’t you increase your Poison Resistance while you have such a good opportunity. It’s just eating some berries. Poison Resistance will definitely come in handy later. You’ve already gotten used to the pain of death anyway.”

Bon was far from getting used to the pain of death, but the old man had a point. There were lots of berries, more than enough for him to grind some resistance. No pain no gain.

Bon took the berries back and ate one in the safe zone.

“You’ll need to move out of the circle for it to be effective,” Tian Bu Ru rolled his eyes.

Bon moved out of the safe zone and ate another berry. He immediately felt the poison take effect. He screamed. This was just too painful. He took in deep breaths as he felt his body melt inside.

“Circulate your qi,” said Tian Bu Ru. He was watching Bon with a detached expression, as though examining a lab rat.

Bon did as he said.

You have been poisoned by a Class 3 Super Toxin Poison Resistance has leveled up to LVL2

Bon kept circulating his qi. It helped alleviate the pain.

Poison Resistance has leveled up to LVL3

He wasn’t dead yet. The last time he had died almost instantly. Had his qi helped his body adjust to the poison?

Poison Resistance had leveled up to LVL4

He turned on his HUD and saw his HP draining away. Whenever he circulated his qi his HP would regenerate a little faster.

You have died

Bon kept eating berries until his Poison Resistance reached level eight. After that, it didn’t matter how many berries he ate, the poison couldn’t overcome his health regeneration rate. He mixed the berry juice with the leaves, which turned the solution into a Class 4 Super Toxin, and managed to get his Poison Resistance to level nine. This seemed to be the limit for now. A few days must have passed while Bon was eating berries. His hunger/satiety rate kept resetting every time he died, so he hadn’t died of hunger yet.

“You have just passed the threshold of the beginner level of Qi Condensation,” said Tian Bu Ru. “Now that you have finished poisoning yourself, it is time to learn the next step. This qi flow diagram is slightly more complex. Your dantian will be working much harder than before. Refining the qi will also take more effort. It will hurt a little in the beginning.”

Bon made his qi flow in the same pattern as Tian Bu Ru’s diagram, but it was much more difficult than before. He had to retract his qi many times, to prevent his body from exploding. He grew tired as time passed and couldn’t help making more mistakes, until he inevitably exploded.

“I need a break,” Bon said. “I haven’t slept for days. Dying more than a hundred times has taken its toll on my mental health as well.”

“What mental health?” Tian Bu Ru waved his hand. “Just make your mind stronger. It’s all about will power. You don’t need to sleep within the Tutorial. I’ll let you have an hour of meditation instead.”

“I’ve got to pick more berries too,” Bon complained. “And make a bucket to carry the poison.”

“Alright! I’ll give you five hours. You can sleep, but next time I want you to try and meditate instead.” It was always dusk in the swamp, so it was hard to tell the time. Bon hoped that Tian Bu Ru would be lenient when he counted the minutes.

He fell asleep as soon as his head hit the ground. His brain was too tired to dream. In no time at all he was woken up by the old man.

“You have two hours left,” Tian Bu Ru said.

Bon stretched and groaned. He picked some more berries, and with the hour he had left, he began carving out a hollow in a wooden stump. He used a sharp stone to do the carving, since he didn’t have a knife. The wood was soft and easy to cut. He was about half way through when Tian Bu Ru made him start training in Qi Condensation again.

After a few days, and many more explosions, Bon had finally gotten the hang of refining the qi and circulating it. He had now officially entered the low level of qi condensation.

“How many levels are there in Qi Condensation?” he asked the old man.

“All stages of cultivation have five levels—beginner, low, middle, high and peak,” explained Tian Bu Ru. “After Qi Condensation comes the Foundation Building stage. After that comes Core Formation. You can worry about the rest after you form your core. For most geniuses, it takes decades, but you’re in a place where time moves faster by a factor of one million. You have all the time in the world. You also don’t have to worry about death, which makes progress that much faster. You can take risks that others can’t afford to take.”

“Old man,” Bon said indignantly, “I don’t want to keep dying. The pain of death might have decreased because of qi, but it still hurts—a lot! I don’t want to take unnecessary risks.”

“Grow up and be a man,” grumbled Tian Bu Ru. “This is an opportunity that others would kill for. You will gain great power very quickly, and without the interference of the Laws of the Universe. When you enter the world again, you will be able to shape it to your will.”

“I don’t need to shape the world to my will,” said Bon. “I’m content with the way things are out there.”

“You won’t be content with the way things will soon be,” Tian Bu Ru said cryptically. “The Tutorial Towers are there for a reason.”

“What reason?”

“I’m not allowed to say.”

Bon spent his days cultivating, picking berries and grass, extracting the poisonous juices and filing his bucket. When his bucket became full he crept to the Mangrove Giant’s pool and quietly dumped its contents into the water. After some time he noticed that the Mangrove Giant’s HP bar was missing a big chunk. It was working!

Then one day:

You have killed (BOSS) Mangrove Giant You have leveled up

X 8

What was the use of a level up if he couldn’t assign his stat points?

[As the first player to kill a BOSS in Tutorial#9591230164 you have gained the title ‘Boss Slayer’]

[Do you wish to equip Title? ]

“Yes,” Bon said quickly. “Show Title: Boss Slayer.” Hopefully that command would work.

Boss Slayer LVL1

Increases damage to BOSS monsters by 5%

Increases all stats by 5%

Bon couldn’t stop himself from grinning widely.

“What’s going on?” asked Tian Bu Ru.

“The plan worked! I killed the Mangrove Giant.”

“Quickly, go gather the loot.”

Bon ran to the salt water pool and found a number of items floating in the water within spheres of light. One sphere was green, and the rest were gray. Near the banks of the pool was a big blue vortex, presumably the exit portal.

“What’s the green one?” Tian Bu Ru asked excitedly.

“It’s –” Was the Tutorial messing with him on purpose. “It’s a guitar.” The other spheres contained a spear, twenty gold coins, and a round shield. At least they would be useful. The items all disappeared into his inventory as soon as he touched them.

“What’s a guitar?” asked Tian Bu Ru. Bon took it out and let the old man examine it. “ Hmm—A musical instrument of some kind. Something new. Too much has happened since I last gazed at Earth. A pity it isn’t a guqin. Play something.”

Bon strummed an E minor chord. “Happy?”

“Yes! Yes!” Tian Bu Ru was delighted. “This instrument must have belonged to a prodigy. The sheer destructive power it contains is tremendous. This is a good musical weapon.”

Bon examined the guitar. He didn’t see how it could be used as a weapon. “It’s signed Jimi Hendrix. This might have belonged to him. What do I do with it? Smash people’s heads?”

“So ignorant,” Tian Bu Ru snorted. “By imbuing the vibrations of sound with qi you can transform it into a potent force. I have witnessed entire armies being decimated by one virtuoso musician. You can learn this technique right away from Qi Condensation. It’s just a matter of becoming one with the instrument. I will teach you.”

“Okay. Shall we leave this level?”

“Go on, but prepare yourself. The levels only get more difficult from here.”

Bon stepped through the portal and entered a new area. It was filled with trees. It was a full moon night, and a cold wind blew gently through the area. Bon groaned.

“Don’ tell me I have to fight a tree again.”

Just then he heard a wolf’s howl. It was so loud that he felt his ears pop.

“I told you it gets worse,” Tian Bu Ru sighed.