Chapter 0005

Athena laughed at the idiocy, stupidity and general unluckiness of the original body. In order to understand Athena’s state of mind, one has to process the information Athena read through.

Athena reincarnated as Asalia Turant, a citizen of the Point Star Continent in the Cardinal Realm. This world is a world of swords, magic, myth and legends where mortals strive to become immortals through various means.

In order to become an immortal, intelligent beings such as humans, monsters, spirits, magical beast, demons and unearthly creatures must train in at least one of the four aspects, commonly referred to as Immortal Potential: heart, mind, body, and soul.

The Point Star Continent is divided into four domains based on the way the mortals attempt to reach immortality and a neutral central region.

The Land of Ethereal Depth in the East is a land of ice and snow and those who live there attempt to transcend into immortality through their soul force alone. Somehow the people in the east developed a method of freezing the body, or maybe go into extended hibernation, allowing the soul to wander different planes of existence. During their journey, the soul must absorb enough strength to fuse the flesh and soul into one being, thereby becoming immortal.

Mortals in the Mysterious Wasteland in the west train their minds. The people there believe one can bend the world around them to their will. Their training method is based on mental power. How they achieve immortality is a mystery, as those who comes from the Mysterious Wasteland are very quiet about their training method.

More information is available about the Heavenly Mountains in the north and the Magus Alliance of the southern region since Asalia’s family lived along a major trade route between the two regions.

The culture of the Heavenly Mountains is similar to ancient China. They are believed to focus on training the body in that one must be born with the spirit vein if one wanted to become an immortal. A mortal with a spirit vein is referred to as a cultivator. As the dominant domain of the Cardinal Realm, the Heavenly Mountains leads the path in immortal cultivating road. They proclaim all human pursuing the immortal path as cultivators. The other regions had no interest in a term, so they follow suit.

One in every 10,000 humans are born with a separate energy channel called spirit veins, that cycles energy or Qi through their body.

When the spirit veins touches or overlaps with the veins and arteries of the human body, it is then referred to as physique. Different physiques confer different powers to the cultivators.

Over the eons, the Heavenly Mountains developed a method to test both spirit veins and physiques.

Spirit vein is tested by touching a [Spirit Orb] and a [Rainbow Stone] at the same time. The [Spirit Orb] indicate the elements the cultivators has an affinity towards. The most common elements are the five elements in Asian culture: fire, wood, metal, water and wind. Other elements such as lightning, space, darkness, light and so forth are rare. A [Rainbow Stone] test the strength of the spirit vein. It is measured by the color of the rainbow, red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo and purple, with red being the weakest and purple being the strongest.

Referring to the power of the spirit vein by color seems blasphemous. Therefore the cultivators of the Heavenly Mountains assigned a name for each color, red is mortal, orange is battle general, yellow is king, green is earth, blue sky, indigo is ascending and purple is heavenly.

Physiques are tested with a Blood Qi Stone. Cultivators drip blood onto the Blood Qi Stone. The blood is circulated through the stones, and an image is formed. There are thousand of bloodlines cataloged, yet very few cultivators have bloodlines.

The Magus Alliance focus on the heart.

Spirit exists on a different plane within the same realm. They are lovable, sweet entity that enjoys the comfort of humans. The stronger the affection the spirits towards a human, the more the human can absorb the spiritual energy radiating from them. As such, mages from the Magus Alliance are thought to cultivate the heart of the spirits.

Getting an accurate reading for spiritual affinities requires complex arrays and materials only the major guilds of the Magus Alliance can afford.

Each region focuses on a different aspect of the Immortal Potential, yet the distribution of Immortal potential, except bloodlines, is random.

Bloodlines affect the potential of an individual to attain immortality, yet it is not considered part of the Immortal Potential, though there are groups who strive for immortality with their bloodline as a basis.

Ages ago, all the immortals from the four regions agreed to exclude bloodlines from the Immortal Potential because bloodlines are inherited, where as the other aspect is not.

Excluded or not, all cultivators will perform a bloodline test when they test for Immortal Potential.

Testing for Immortal Potential occurs at three different ages, when the child is born, at 10 years old and at 15 years old.

A child is born with a soul and their affinities with the spirits exist at birth. The people of the Ethereal Depth and the Magus Alliance test their children right away, although some aristocratic family in the Heavenly Mountains also test their children at birth for spirit vein, it isn’t accurate nor cheap. Mental acuity is believed to be developed at the age of 10, so the people of the Mysterious Wasteland test their children at 10 years old. The body is believed to be the last to develop. The average lifespan of the people of Point Star Continent is 200 years old. The bodies of the people of the Point Star Continent vary significantly from Earth. At 13 to 15 years old, the children on Earth enter puberty and is considered an adult at age 18. In the Point Star Continent, children enter puberty at age 15 to 16 then becomes an adult at age 40. That is to say a 40-year-old man looks like a 20 year old by Earth standards.

This world contains a large amount of energy. The energy nourishes the bodies of mortals and immortals, allowing for humans to retain their youthful vitality much longer than the people back on Earth.

Cultivators looks very different than the expected age of old Earth. Since cultivators directly or indirectly take in the energy of this world, they retain their youthful vitality longer. A cultivator can be 600 years old and still look like a 20 year old.

The root cause of Athena’s derision is this practice of testing.

Asalia lived with her mother, Lisa Turant, her fiancée, Dugu Shi Xiao and his mother. Dugu Shi Xiao hailed from the Heavenly Mountains, hence his Chinese style of naming, while Asalia’s family came from the Magus Alliance, hence her more European name.

Her mother-in-law’s name was never mentioned in any of Asalia diaries. She was either referred to as mother-in-law or the scary dragon.

Unknown circumstances forced Dugu Shi Xiao’s family to the small town of Orinet. According to Lisa, the family had only the clothes on their backs and a few days worth of food. Although Lisa was a widow, her husband had left her and her daughter some savings, enough for Lisa to live well. What money they did have went to daily necessities and the occasional sweet Asalia begged for. They did not have enough money to buy personal testing stones to test for Immortal Potential.

At age 15, Dugu Shi Xiao went to nearest second grade town to test his Immortal Potential and caught the eye of a high-level cultivator hailed from the Heavenly Mountains.

His master wanted to whisk his young disciple away, but Dugu Shi Xiao insist on waiting for his future bride to grow up.

From what Athena could put together, Dugu Shi Xiao did not want to leave with his master. He wanted to stay in Orinet for five years. After five years, Asalia will be 15 years old and can be tested for her immortal potential.

If Asalia has no immortal potential, then Dugu Shi Xiao was determined to live a mortal life with his fiancée.

Everyone pushed for Dugu Shi Xiao to start on his immortal path, berate him for being foolish, and the scary dragon gave him a beating to change his mind, but he wouldn’t listen to the persuasion of anyone. Anyone that is, except for little Asalia.

According to Asalia’s diaries and did she bragged about her abilities to wrapped Dugu Shi Xiao around her prettying little fingers, Asalia demand her fiancée start on his immortal path immediately. Mortal or immortal, little Asalia wanted a powerful husband who can love, cherish, pamper and PROTECT her. Dugu Shi Xiao could do the first three. Protecting Asalia … was questionable.

Little Asalia got into trouble. A lot. It seems her mouth lands her in one argument or another. Even her mother could barely tolerate her sweet but blunt daughter. It became a joke within the household how many times Dugu Shi Xiao had to rescue her. As they grow up, the strength required to save the naughty little brat will extend beyond her fiancée’s abilities to handle, until one day, he will end up dead protecting her.

Resigned, Dugu Shi Xiao agreed to follow his master, but not after he insists on a designatory wedding. A designatory wedding is a wedding held between two minors or an adult and a minor signify the couple will share their lives together when they grow up. Designatory weddings are more binding than an engagement, but not as comprehensive as a real wedding.

The other three regions of the Point Star Continent does not recognized an engagement as binding, and frown on underage marriages, though they do accept the validity of a designatory wedding with many stipulations imposed on the couple, namely consent and a second ceremony when the couple comes of age.

Since the Dugu and the Tourant family live on a major trading route between Heavenly Mountains and the Magus Alliances, Dugu Shi Xiao wanted Asalia bound to him in all ways possible.

Asalia agreed. They were married the next day and Dugu Shi Xiao left with his master three days later.

Slowly, the scary dragon became the arrogant tyrant dragon. There was nothing Lisa or Asalia could do to satisfy that woman. Their house was too small and dirty, their clothes were cheap and worn, not worthy of their current status.

The tyrant dragon demand more and more extravagant offerings. Asalia tolerated her mother in law’s action because she trusted Dugu Shi Xiao very much.

When Asalia was 13, Lisa went missing. No one knew what happened to her. There was no eye witness, nothing. Not a trace of her could be found. Asalia begged the city’s magistrate to look for her mother, but their abilities were limited and they dare not dig too deeply into the case because it seems as if Lisa vanished into thin air.

Only a powerful cultivator or a high level being can kidnap someone without anyone leaving a single clue behind. The city magistrate didn’t want to aggravate the powerful force behind Lisa’s disappearance.

Athena could understand the motives of the city magistrate. Lisa was a widow, Asalia an orphan. They have no power or backing. Lisa was the only one missing. Perhaps, if there were other missing people in the vicinity, something might be done, but aside from a poor weak widow, no one else was missing in their city.

After a day of hard searching, Asalia returned home to strangers moving into her home. She fought them, demanding an explanation. This was her home. The city still had laws.

The strangers told her everything, as well as presenting the deed to the house as proof. The arrogant tyrant dragon became a scheming, backstabbing snake.

Three days after Lisa went missing, the snake sold the house and all the valuables in it, absconding with the money.

Asalia didn’t want to believe complete strangers, but they had undeniable proof. Furthermore, they allowed the little girl three days to clarify the matter with the snake.

Like all smart con artist, once the goods have been stolen, the thief don’t return to the scene of the crime.

Asalia waited anxiously for three days, sitting on the stairs of her home staring at the gate. After the third day, she resigned herself to the truth. The mother-in-law became a wicked witch.

Even after this incident, Asalia still had faith in her husband. He wouldn’t send her a precious storage ring otherwise.

The naive girl decided to travel to the Heavenly Mountains to search for her husband.

Lisa is a kindhearted woman with an unusual ability to heal. Those that came to her, she helped to the best of her abilities. Lisa garnered much gratitude and favors. To those who couldn’t pay her, she asked them to either look after little Asalia or pay her whenever they can.

Among those who Lisa saved was Aegis Durant, the boss of a merchant caravan traveling from the Magus Alliance to the Heavenly Mountains. Aegis Durant was a cunning but righteous man. He remembers the help Lisa extended towards him and his caravan after they were attacked by a swarm of Three Stings Bees.

Honey bees back on Earth dies after stinging someone one. Three Stings Bees do not die after three stings. Instead, most humans die after being stung three times. However, Three Stings Bees rarely attack humans unless provoked. A greedy member of the caravan Aegis was leading wanted the honey produced by the Three Stings Bees and he did not care he had to sacrifice the whole caravan for his greed. Aegis somehow made it to Orinet with few casualties, but most were poisoned during the attack.

Lisa worked for three days and three nights with very little rest healing everyone. This debt of gratitude, Aegis swore he would repay. Everytime Aegis lead his caravan to the Heavenly Mountains, he would stop by their home, bringing smalls gift for little Asalia. Their family grew quite close. Aegis lamented many times in front of the scary dragon that if Asalia wasn’t engaged to Dugu Shi Xiao, then he would happily betrothed his son to Asalia.

Depending on their past relationship, Asalia begged Aegis to escort her to the Heavenly Mountains. Aegis didn’t want to assist Asalia in her mad capped idea, but he was helpless to her pleading. He also knew if it wasn’t him who escorted the little girl up north, then another caravan would, with less than honourable intentions and since he had to go the Heavenly Mountains anyways, she might as well go with him. During the trip, he tried to persuade Asalia to give up her idea and that she’d be welcome in his home either as an adopted daughter or a daughter-in-law.

Asalia’s determination wavered as they continued on their journey. She was just a little girl. She didn’t know how dangerous the outside world was until she embarked on her search. She didn’t have money or power to search for Dugu Shi Xiao nor did she have confidence in her welcome once she met him. For that matter, she didn’t even have the ability to protect herself. As she slowly realized the dangers her plan entailed, she lost all confidence in her abilities to find Dugu Shi Xiao.

Although her determination floundered, she stilled accompanied Aegis since Aegis was going to trade in the Heavenly Mountains anyways.

They traveled for three weeks before they chance upon another caravan attacked by magical beasts. Aegis decided to help the survivors of the caravan. His generosity was perhaps the cause of Athena’s current situation because the last entry in Asalia’s diary, she mentions seeing a woman who looked like the tyrant dragon among the survivors, though she couldn’t be 100% sure because in her memories the tyrant dragons like to be neat and clean always. The survivors could barely maintain their lives, much less their appearance.