A 4 years old wearing a set of fur white clothes sat in the middle of clearing in the forest near the Ji manor. His silky smooth white hair reached his shoulder, he had three eyes, one in the middle of his forehead was crystal white while the other sets of eyes were red with a ripple pattern adorned by magatamas.

His fraternal twin brother and parents observed him from the other side of the clearing. His brother gaze was full of curiosity while his parents was that of worry and expectation.

Unlike his twin brother, the cultivation method he chose was simple but profound at the same time. [Crimsonbright Diagram of the Nine Heavens] require one to be able to sense the heavenly bodies to cultivate. Meanwhile to cultivate [Heart of Sage] one must be able to sense the natural energy in the surrounding, which almost everyone could sense easily.

Law closed his eyes and entered a meditative state. Although he could sense and even could see the natural energy he chose to close his eyes and slowly expanding his sensory range.

The natural energy in this environment were thick and energizing. Even without using the cultivation method it already strengthening his body naturally. Then he started to absorbed the natural energy in the surrounding in accordance to [Heart of Sage] body cultivation manual.

The natural energy gathered around Law with an astounding speed. The energy around him became denser as time passes that even an ordinary mortal could see it with their own eyes. an unnatural amount of natural energy poured into his body at an astonishing rate. His body greedily sucked the energy like a dehydrated person who found an oasis.

“Crackle… crackle…”

The pure and rich energy assimilated with his blood and flowed throughout his entire body. Every cells in his body was strengthened at an astonishing pace. His bones became more sturdy, his muscle became more firm and flexible and his veins became larger.

Throughout the process Law gritted his teeth and his face was as red as tomato. [Heart of Sage] cultivation method of distributing energy was similar to how the body distribute energy from digested food.

Most of energy would be stored in his heart. Then the blood flowed from his heart and strengthened every inch of his body with the natural energy. After absorbing the energy from the blood, every cell would be strengthened and had its own energy storage.

When the body suffered from an injury, it could be instantly regenerated using the energy in the destroyed cell and if it’s not enough the heart would send energy to repair the damaged part via blood.

It was a great body cultivation method.

Of course it had its drawback too. Although almost everybody could cultivate using [Heart of Sage] cultivation method, no one in the Ji clan was willing to cultivate it. The reason is although the perquisite to cultivate [Heart of Sage] is ridiculously simple, the initiation stage was too difficult and risky. If one was not careful enough, then they could blow up their heart.

Facing with the high risk of death of course nobody would have the guts to cultivate in it. Beside compared to other body cultivation method [Heart of Sage] could at most considered a high rank cultivation method, not a peak ranked like [Crimsonbright Diagram of Nine Heavens] thus the benefit is not worth the effort.

Law could feel his body was strengthened at a rapid pace very clearly. The pain he withstood was unimaginable. His body ached and his heart was on fire. But he tried his best to control the energy in his body. He severely underestimated the danger of initiating [Heart of Sage] body cultivation method and himself.

The Ootsuki was really the darling of nature, although he only meant to absorb a moderate amount of ki in the nature, it was absorbed into his body at a frightening pace as if his body was a giant black hole. He could only grit his teeth because the absorption in the initiation stage was an automatic process and tried his best not to blow his heart.

“Aaaaaaaa!”

When a strange mark appeared on top of his heart, he couldn’t help but to scream in pain.

Seeing his youngest son in pain Yuchi Snow wanted to help him, but she was stopped by Ji Yichuan.

Waves of natural energy entered Law’s body at a faster pace than before. The natural ki in the area of 10 miles around him flew at Law like a moth to a flame.

Law was at his limit when suddenly hundreds of trees started to grow near him. It grew at an astonishing rate, at first hundreds of buds grew, one minute later it was already a meter tall, six minute later it was 10 meters tall, and all the way through to 100 meters tall in only 15 minutes.

When the trees grew it helped law to absorb the natural energy that entered his body madly. With the support of the trees he could finally stabilize his body and condensed the overflowing energy in his heart.

Nine fiery magatamas mark appeared on his heart, followed by a flame like magical pattern that spread throughout his body.

When the mystical mark appeared on his body, Law could finally experience what ‘become one with the nature’ really means.

As if he was fish back on the water, he felt like he could do anything and invincible with the mother of nature on his back. At the same time, he could think clearer and could keep his calm no matter what happened as long as he was in this state.

After a minute his cultivation finally stabilized, the mystical mark disappeared leaving only 3 black magatamas mark on his left chest.

When he opened his eyes he could see hundreds of trees bloomed beautifully. Law could only sigh when he saw the beautiful scenery around him. It was really dangerous, he was at his limit and almost blew up his heart.

He really underestimated the bloodline of Ootsuki. The Ootsuki was the clan of progenitor of chakra. Ootsuki Kaguya ate a magical fruit from Shinju, the primordial god tree and attained its power.

He thought cultivating in [Heart of Sage] would be easy because the Ootsuki are beloved by nature. But it never crossed his mind at the initiation he would be overloaded by unnatural amount of natural energy.

Yichuan and Snow was overflowing with happiness. Their youngest son was talented and smart but they never thought Law would be a Houtian after the initiation.

“Congratulation brother,” Ji Ning said while hugging Law.

“Congratulation on becoming Houtian, Law, you have taken the first step to become an Immortal. You still had a long road ahead, don’t let small matter like this make you complacent,” Ji Yichuan advised Law.

“This Goldstar Shirt and Kalestone are for you.”

“Thank you father,” after receiving the goldstar shirt fused immediately with Law’s skin.

“Mother, could please embed the kalestone into an earring.”

“Of course.”

“Ning, Law, your potential is extraordinary but the path of immortality is harsh and full of danger. For example, although the goldstar shirt could protect you from those below xiantian, many people could shatter it with a finger poke,” Yichuan said sternly.

“With the Fiendgod Body Refining, your strength will be great, your movements will be fast, your vision will be clear at great distances, your hearing will be more sensitive, and even your body’s recovery ability will be astonishing!” Yichuan looked at his sons. “In order to transform these into true, mighty power…”

“First of all, what you need is a weapon!” Yichuan said. “Your strength might be ten times greater than your opponent’s, but your opponent might be able to shoot you to death from afar with an arrow. That’s what makes a good weapon so powerful.”

“In addition, you must be good at wielding a weapon. For example, a swordsman who has no internal strength but who has reached the second level of sword mastery, ‘man and sword become one’, is capable of easily piercing the throat of a powerful yet inexperienced warrior. After all, no matter how much internal strength the warrior has, he can’t block the sharpness of a sword!” Yichuan said slowly.

Both of them understood this logic of course.

A powerful but stupid brute who encountered an assassin who was good at wielding shortswords would die in a single exchange of blows!

A strong body was just one aspect. Skill and technique was what determined how much of your power would be actually utilized! For example, in his past life, those competitors in the kickboxing or jujitsu competitions all were roughly on the same level in terms of physical fitness; it was technique and battle strategy which determined their competiveness.

“Tell me, what do you want to learn?” Yichuan looked at his sons.

“Ning, Law, think carefully.” Snow looked at them as well.

Actually, in their hearts, they had already mapped out a plan for their sons. After all, as they saw it, their sons were still too young, even though they were smart and capable. But they still wanted to ask their sons what they wanted, so as to help them learn to think everything through. And then, they would tell them what they thought and let them reflect on the differences.

“I want to learn three things.” Ning suddenly said.

“First of all, I wish to learn archery.” Ning said.

He was to walk on the Fiendgod Body Refining path. He would possess astonishing eyesight, and also enormous, heaven-granted strength. Naturally, he had to learn archery. The arrows released by a mighty Fiendgod were definitely capable of breaking past the sound barrier, and the power of its arrows was definitely far greater than the bullets of sniper rifles in his past life. He could kill his opponent from far away. And archery, according to the books he had read, wasn’t too hard to learn.

“Second, I want to learn how to use twin swords!”

The Ji clan specialized in sword techniques!

His father Yichuan was nicknamed the ‘Raindrop Sword’. With a resource such as this at his disposal, he absolutely had to learn how to use swords!

“Twin swords?” Yichuan frowned. “Continue.”

“Third, I need to learn agility-enhancing techniques and escaping techniques.” Ning said. “These are what I need.”

If he encountered a powerful opponent, he would flee!

Only escaping techniques would allow a person to live longer. And the longer one lived, the more possibilities one would have.

Snow laughed. “Ning is headed in the right direction. However, I think it’s best if you first start with single swords…there isn’t a single twin sword expert in the entire Ji clan, and when training in swords, the greatest danger is in losing concentration. You must focus all of your concentration on a single sword. Only this will allow you to achieve greater accomplishments.”

“Your mother’s words are correct.” Yichuan looked at his son.

“Father, mother, I’ve been able to divide my mind since I was born.” Ning raised his head to look at his parents. He wasn’t able to explain about the [Nuwa Painting], and so he just had to claim that he was able to divide his mind since he was born.

“What?!”

“Divide your mind?”

Yichuan and Snow were both shocked.

“Do you know what dividing your mind means?” Yichuan growled. “It isn’t as simple as multitasking. It means that your mind can simultaneously contemplate two separate matters without losing any effectiveness or causing any disruption.”

“I truly can divide my mind.” Ning said hurriedly.

“Then let’s give it a test.” Yichuan’s eyes began to glow with an astonishing light. With one hand, he pulled over two pieces of chalk. “Use these two rocks to write on the ground. With your left hand, write your mother’s name, while with your right hand, write my name. Write simultaneously!”

“Yes, father.” Ning nodded.

Ning took the two pieces of chalk. It felt rather similar to the chalk he had used in his previous life. Immediately, he began to use his hands to write as instructed. Writing with the chalk actually felt quite natural.

Hua! Hua!

His left hand and right hand easily wrote at the same time, and what he wrote was the ancient, complicated script of this world. On one side, he wrote the name, “Ji Yichuan”. On the other, “Yuchi Snow.” His strokes were firm and very graceful.

“Ning, you…” Snow was stunned.

“But…” Yichuan was stunned as well.

“No wonder. No wonder you were able to train in the [Crimsonbright Diagram of the Nine Shining Heavens] so quickly.” Yichuan said slowly. “So our son’s soul is so powerful that he can divide his mind!”

Yichuan looked at his son as though he were looking at a piece of priceless, unpolished jade. Extremely excited, he said, “I’ve only been able to reach the level of dividing my mind because I’ve trained for so long. However, I’ve focused on using a single sword since I was young…my path is set, and hard to change! But my son is able to divide his mind since birth…he is a born twin sword user. He will be able to use twin swords as though two people were wielding them and make his opponents feel like they are being attacked by two people at once. What’s more, those two people will have their hearts and intentions totally linked, increasing the effectiveness ten times over!”

“From today onwards, I will personally train you in using swords!” Yichuan looked at his other son. “Law, what do you want to learn?”

After a while Law finally spoke what’s on his mind. “I want to learn how to wield a katana.”

Although he could divide his mind like Ning thanks to his dojutsu. Wielding a twin sword is too cumbersome for him, besides he had some experience in kendo in his past life.

Yichuan furrowed his brow and said. “a katana is very hard to wield, it is harder to master than an ordinary sword. Whilst your father is an accomplished swordsman, there is nothing I could teach you except the basics,” Yichuan gazed at Law sternly. “the Ji clan was famed for our outstanding swordsmanship, but katana is rarely wielded, in addition there were no high ranked manual for katana in our clan. If you wanted to be a master in wielding katana you have to work harder than everyone.”

He paused for a while and observed his son. “Do you really want to learn how to master a katana despite the difficulty?”

“Yes father,” Law replied softly.

“Don’t be too harsh on Law. If it was too hard for him to wield a katana, he could always learn to use another weapon” Snow said to Yichuan.

“He could always learn to use another weapon, but no one could return the time wasted. Learning a martial arts or weapon arts is as important as their cultivation. A weak cultivator killed a stronger cultivator because he was more skilled than the latter is a common occurrence. What else do you want to learn Law?”

“I want to learn the art of assassination and formation,” Law replied.

He wanted to learn the art of assassination because of the skill set usually used for assassination is extremely useful. He would learn how to identify, create and how to handle poison properly. How to hide in the darkness, concealing his presences and merged in plain sight. How to launch a sneak attack, which vital parts to aim, and lastly how to handle the corpse.

Handling a corpse is actually very important. How to clean the killing site, erasing evidences. All of it was essential. According to what he read in a lot of xianxia the majority of disasters which befell the main character was because the murder of someone connected with a major figure. Sooner or later he would bound to kill such person, so it is better to learn how to sort it out and hide the truth.

He didn’t know much about formations. But he knew it is a magical ability which has a very broad application. He envisioned that formation was similar to programming. A formation is a program which made of ki and other treasures that is arranged in an orderly manner to achieve a certain feat.

Technologies in the three realms are not as advanced as earth. But it was replaced by formation instead. There is teleportation formation, sealing formation, protective formation, attacking formation and a many more. In hindsight the civilization on the three realms was much more advanced than earth even if they had a different concept of technologies.

“Are you sure you want to learn about formation Law?” Snow asked worriedly. “Formation is a complicated field that requires years of studying, even then not everybody would be able to properly create a formation.”

“I’ve made up my mind mother,” Law replied.

“I will ask brother white to teach you in formation then, don’t be discouraged if you meet an obstacle in learning formation,” Snow smiled.

“I want to learn a movement technique too,” Law added after pondering for a while.

“Ning, Law,” Yichuan said as he looked at them. “Both of you has chosen what you wanted to specialize in. Some of your choices matched up with our intentions, while we disagreed with some of your choice. Nevertheless, we decided to let you do what you want the most. If we force you to train in what seemed to be most suitable for you, maybe you could become good at it but you will never become a master. But if you wholeheartedly trained in the fields of your choosing’s then even if it takes a long time one day you will be a master in your chosen fields.”

………………

Note:

Dojutsu: it refers to extraordinary eye power like Sharingan, Byakugan, Rinnegan, Tenseigan, Jougan and many more.

Ootsuki: Ootsuki is the clan which the mighty Ootsuki Kaguya and her sons hailed from. One of her son is Ootsuki Hagoromo is often called as sage of six path or Rikudo Sennin. Ootsuki Kaguya gained most of her power from eating a fruit from the shinju, a primordial god tree. The fruit of chakra is made the bloodline of Ootsuki the darlings of nature.