Cultivation is not at all intuitive.

This makes sense, after all, it allowed one to operate at levels that they would never have previously dreamed of.

That in combination with the fact that our new bodies despite their excellence in multiple regards weren't built to handle qi made the journey of cultivation an arduous one.

To cultivate for us was to build up a new set of muscles from scratch.

Then it was required the brain be appeased so that it refrained from expelling the energy. And as if that wasn't enough the brain had to be acclimated to using that qi. Despite all that qi by its nature qi was easy to use, using it well and without stupendous amounts of waste was the real challenge.

There were moments when my body and mind would start to reject the qi if it absorbed in too quickly.

Cultivating was a delicate dance that could and had gone wrong many times.

According to Alexis, qi was supposed to be located with the meridians. She had studied other mythologies and religions when she was younger. Apparently, so that she could better convince others to convert.

We quickly discovered that we didn't have these so-called meridians in our bodies. No matter how hard we looked and no matter how many attempts we made we could not find the fabled meridians.

We had gone through possibly a thousand different methods, ranging from outrageous to absolutely ridiculous to find them, but they simply weren't there.

Perhaps we were just underestimating the difficulty of finding meridians. Maybe they did actually exist but for now, it wasn't a tool we could use to aid our cultivation.

That was why we had to come up with our own method of cultivation. That method being the constant refinement and gradual strengthening of our base bodies.

Nothing innovative but it worked.

For almost five decades our only method of cultivation had been to constantly refine our bodies. It would have stayed that way for longer had we not realized that it was beginning to lose its effectiveness.

Every complete refinement cycle gave diminishing returns until the point that the pain from refinement was no longer worth the minuscule amount of power gained.

It was frustrating, to say the least.

Despite knowing that most of this power would be gone when I finally returned it did not lessen the blow to my pride. Even Alexis with her eerie prophetic abilities could not figure out a method to advance.

Even the mighty the North wind was useless in this situation.

It was only now after nearly five decades that I finally figured a possible pathway to further our cultivation. It had come to me while I had been meditating on my understanding of my title.

The key to further strengthening our bodies was to somehow acquire meridians or at the very least an organ dedicated to qi.

This could allow for more qi to be absorbed and used at any one time. It wasn't an increase in strength for our base bodies, but it should allow for us to do more with qi.

That method that I had come up with required that I go through the refinement cycle but at a much higher level. Refinement was basically a very gradual process of reconstruction.

What I would be attempting to do was compress as much qi as I possibly could into my body and when they were fully saturated with, I would use the refinement process to forcefully reforge my body in an instant but this time with meridians.

It was risky, no doubt, and would hurt like a bitch, but I was rather confident in my ability to pull it off. The abilities gained from [The Numerator] had made significant progress. They would aid me in the reforging process.

I had made sure that the odds were in my favor when I finally attempted to rebuild myself. This is why I currently found myself meditating and at the edge of success.

I was constantly trying to add more qi to my body, but it would push back and be repelled. It was a fierce battle of push and pull, I knew that I could put a bit more qi, but my body was adamantly refusing to take in any more.

My attempts were not helped at all by the excruciating pain that I felt. The pressure on my body was immense and every single inch of my body felt it, but I had to keep pushing through.

I was patient and bided my time.

I allowed a little more qi to be repelled than usual and just as everything was about to come flooding out, I wrenched at the qi in the surroundings and pulled it inside. Simultaneously I started the process of reforging.

My body couldn't expel the qi lest it risks destroying itself so instead it turned its attention to the refinement process.

My body was reforged from the inside out. My organs were the first to go before the bones and muscles followed. Lastly, my skin was reforged.

All that had happened in a couple seconds, a couple seconds of pain so great I nearly passed out.

I was thankful that I'd decided to do it all in one sitting.

I could not imagine enduring that pain for multiple sessions in a row.

Despite having been confident in succeeding I still breathed a sigh of relief.

I didn't know at a fundamental level what my organs were made off nor did I know exactly how the meridians functioned. I had taken a gamble on those two aspects. I could tell you which blood cells did what but speaking from memory isn't the same as understanding.

Yet, I had gambled on my body knowing how to rebuild my body better from all the times it had refined itself. I had also gambled on my body creating a workable set of meridians despite it not existing beforehand.

Of course, that was an oversimplification of what actually happened but that was the general gist of it.

It seemed that the body had an archive on how the body looked and when given the opportunity and resources it could rebuild itself perfectly.

Using this method, I could probably advance two to three more times before it stopped being effective. It was a temporary solution but one that I could work with.

The difference in quality that this body had in comparison to just a few minutes ago was mind-numbing.

The difference couldn't be fully put into words. I hadn't expected an increase in raw power but that had happened anyway. With my newfound strength beating the old me would be child's play. What was astounding was the newfound control.

I could do much more with much less than before.

The newfound clear rushing through my blood made it clear that the meridians that were created weren't just for show. This newfound control could likely be attributed to their existence.

Previously storage o qi had been possible, but it had been stagnant. The movement of the qi through the meridians reminded me of blood.

Not only due to its appearance but also because of its role in cycling the qi through my body.

My body wasn't creating its own qi, but I was happy with the results regardless.

Getting up from my meditative position, I stretched before starting to walk out of the temple.

This life had not been too difficult apart from the loss of my arm. I wish I could say that it was because we'd grown strong enough to not be pressured by all the other beasts that called this planet home.

That however would be a delusion.

We were only alive because 'that' being wanted us alive. The truly massive herds of water deer never passed by the temples. Insects didn't seem to exist in the surrounding areas and predators were nowhere to be found.

I hadn't bested them in combat or tricked them, they simply just didn't come here. Which made no sense given the abundance of prey.

Even now that my power had increased so much, I still wasn't a match for that blasted beast. It had covered hundreds of meters in an instant something I wouldn't be able to do even now.

My calculations told me it hadn't even been trying all that hard.

It was humiliating to think about, but the only thing I could do is be angry at myself.

This world had changed me more than I would like to. I had once believed that I would be a great father, but the years made me question otherwise.

Even if they were born out of unwanted circumstances was it right to be had in such a cold and distant manner?

I gave up on my children and myself all so that I could go home. And when I have finally seen my actions, I'd been in too deep to turn around.

As a soldier I expected better of myself, but you know everybody expects great things of themselves until they are challenged.

It brought me shame to realize that I had cracked. I knew damn well that many of those who'd died for me wouldn't have. I had been a coward even back then; I was just a lucky coward.

As I walked out of the temple my eyes roved over the scene that greeted me.

The children there were so many of them.

We'd started with three and then we just kept going.

Why?

So that the human race would have a higher chance of surviving in this world. It wasn't because we wanted more kids it was simply to reduce the odds of us failing the mission.

That mentality had stuck with me too long, I felt no love for these children only pity.

Finally, my eyes locked on hers Despite knowing that she knew already I spoke regardless.

"I have succeeded."

The smile that lit her face was a genuine one. A rare sight to sight to behold.

Precognitive powers tend to take the joy of surprise out of life. Yet she was happy regardless.

It looked like they were celebrating something, so I decided to retreat once I said my piece. I would talk to Alexis later.

Even if I felt no love for these kids, I wouldn't ruin their celebrations by inserting my presence.

................

I knew he had started to follow me the moment that he got up. It was annoying but not surprising, he was a stubborn one, that William.

He was the 3rd oldest of the kids and probably the brightest one. Even with his slow growth rate, he managed to somehow remain the most competent and powerful of them all. His work ethic was admirable, his stubbornness was not.

"Why are you following me?" I said never once slowing my stride.

He kept following "I wished to congratulate you personally on your achievement."

I did not reply but he continued to speak regardless. "I brought you the heart of the water deer that I hunted. I know that you often collect the cores within them so I thought it would be a fitting gift for your breakthrough." he tried to keep the hope out of his voice, but to me, it was all too obvious.

"Your gift is not needed, boy."

I kept on walking.

He didn't follow.

I wanted to look back and apologize but I couldn't.

I didn't love these children, I kind of hated them actually.

The next couple of weeks were filled with me trying to stabilize the meridians and making sure that qi they flowed smoothly through them.

An objective that was both time-consuming and hunger-inducing. The existence of my meridians had boosted my appetite greatly.

I was forced to hunt more but my newfound power made that easier than before. No longer did I have to run at the sight of more than 4 water deer.

Since that day William had stopped his efforts of gaining my recognition. Which was good as it would save us both time and unnecessary awkward conversations.

The continuous hunting did make me realize that we couldn't keep on going this way. We needed to domesticate some of these animals and use them.

Something to begin working on in the future.

It took me nearly 4 weeks or 12 going by earth time before I fully stabilized my meridians. It hadn't been perfect work as they now interfered with a couple nerves, but they were stable now.

That day had been a normal day and honestly, I probably should have known but the glances that Alexis was giving me that something was about to happen.

Yet I was still caught off guard when William walked up to me and looked in the face before saying...

"I'm leaving."