Four days after he lost his cultivation Jack’s parents finally left the hospital he had been born in and took Jack home. When he first saw the small house that would be his home for the next few years he wasn’t impressed. It was a simple three story house with a small garden in front of it and a slightly bigger one behind. Compared to the mansions he had seen in his past life this was simply poor looking. But for now it had to be enough.

His father carried Jack’s bag while his mother opened the door. The inside of the house had a homely atmosphere. Flowers were gathered in front of the windows and enrichened the air with their scent. Jack looked at them with interest. They looked quite similar some medicinal plants he knew from his past life. But without any Qi those plants should be nothing more than decoration.

His parents continued walking a stairway to the upper floor and then into a small room. Based on the crib that was placed inside and the colourful paintings on the walls Jack concluded that this was his new room. His farther lifted him up and placed him gently inside the crib.

“Welcome home, little Jack”, he gently said. Then he stood up and turned around.

“Ah, right on time. It’s time to meet the rest of the family”

Confused Jack looked up to his father. The rest of the family? Did he have a sibling?

*Purr~*

Suddenly a loud purring sound could be heard right next to the crib. Slowly Jack turned his head around and looked right in the face of his biggest nightmare. All he could ask himself was:

‘Why does it have to be a cat?’

---

The one thing Jack was ashamed of was his fear of cats. That said it wasn’t a groundless fear, like some people have against spiders, no, he knew exactly why he feared them.

It all began when he was still an ordinary student of the heavenly arts school. Back then he was 10 years old and had already completed the Qi gathering realm and was now at the beginning of the Foundation realm. For someone so young it was a remarkable achievement, though in hindsight it was solely because he only focused on speed and built an unstable foundation which was the reason for all the problems he later had to advance. Anyway, as a result of his early success Jack had grown to be arrogant and prideful. But then, one day it changed.

Every year the students of the Heavenly Arts School would go to a nearby forest that was inhabited by monsters. By fighting them the students were able to get valuable combat experience and sometimes even monster cores that they could sell for money or cultivation resources.

To make these trips safe, the forest was divided within several sections that corresponded to the cultivation of the students. Also there were teachers patrolling through the area, so it was quite safe compared to the normal. That is if you followed the orders.

But in his arrogance Jack started to travel deeper and deeper within the forest, far beyond any area he had a qualification for. All the while he was hoping to find treasures or having a fortuitous encounter, just like in the stories he heard as a child. But, like so often, stories are stories and after a while he noticed that he was not only in an area with strong monsters, but he had also completely lost the way and had no idea how to get out of it.

Unable to find his way back he did his best to evade the strong monsters, but after a while the sky darkened and it became night. He needed a place to stay, as it would be too dangerous to stay in the open. There were simply too many nocturnal predators, he wouldn’t be able to evade all of them. Soon he found a small cave and thought himself lucky, but he was quickly proved wrong.

Unbeknownst to him this cave was the lair of a pair of devil cats, strong monsters of the third realm, far beyond what he could fight. As soon as he entered they smelled the fresh prey that had entered their home and began to stir.

As soon as Jack noticed them he was terrified. Devil Cats were giant cats with a distant demonic heritage, best seen in the horns that covered their heads and the 3 scaled tails as well as their ability to spit fire. Immediately he tried to escape, but he was far too slower than his feline pursuers.

It would have been the end for him normally, but the cats decided to play with him for a while, chasing him around through the forest. Occasionally they would attack him, leaving him with small but very painful bruises. Sadistically they found delight in Jack’s pain and panic while they played with him like a normal cat would do with a mouse.

But luckily, just as he was nearing the end of his endurance, a teacher found him and rescued him. He was heavily wounded, but he had survived. Still, the memory of the cats chasing after him remained and since this day he had a deep fear towards any cat.

---

And now Jack was lying on the ground unable to move while a brown stripped cat was looking down at him. Its green eyes were shining in curiosity, as if it had just found a new toy to play with, an intent that Jack definitely didn’t share. He remained vigilant, but the cat simply sat still and purred.

*Purr~*

“Looks like she likes him”, Jack’s father injected from the side, oblivious to the plight of his son.

‘It likes me? I bet it just thinks I look tasty. I heard cats eat old people who can’t move. Maybe it thinks I’m the same as… Wait a second, it’s coming closer! No, shush, go away!’

Helpless Jack flailed his arms, but the cat ignored him and with a small jump landed inside his crib, right on top of him. Fear coursed through Jack’s body and he froze. But the cat simply sat down and rolled itself into a ball, obviously deciding that it had found the perfect spot for a nap.

‘Get off me!’

Seeing that he wasn’t in danger Jack gathered a bit of courage and tried to shake off the cat. But being a baby he didn’t have any strength and all his efforts were in vain. All it did was that the cat opened its eyes shortly and looked over to him before it went back to sleep. Still, Jack could have sworn that there had been an amused glint in its eyes.

“Aww, so cute”, his mother commented causing Jack to grumble. Just why were his parents so useless? Didn’t they see that he was having an emergency right now? All they did was standing around and making approving noises. And what was that strange apparatus inside his father’s-

*Flash*

‘Gyaaah! My eyes! I’m blind!’

“This picture comes at the fridge, so we will never forget this moment”

‘*Sigh* I was a mighty saint realm cultivator. What have I done to deserve this’

---

After what felt like hours Jack’s parents finally freed him. They spent some time in the room, playing a bit with him. But soon Jack began yawning and they decided that he was tired and would need some time to sleep. Quickly they said goodnight and left the room.

Now lying alone in the dark Jack could finally take his time to look around in the room. It certainly was a room made for a child. Colourful walls which still smelled slightly like paint, new furniture that was littered with countless pictures of small animals (mostly cats), and an army of stuffed animals that filled the empty corners of the crib, all signs that it had been purchased recently. Still, Jack wasn’t that happy about it. In his opinion the whole room was much too colourful, any more and it would start glowing. That thought was proved a bit later when he noticed small glowing stars that were glued to the ceiling.

‘Urgh, the damned room is already glowing!’

Sighing Jack looked to the still open door. It was the first time in this new life that he was without supervision. Apart from the first night he had slept through each of them and during the days either his mother or father was always there to watch over him. That caused them to notice whenever he tried to meditate and for some reason they tended to get in panic when he stopped moving and breathing strange. But now was the perfect opportunity.

Jack closed his eyes and after a few seconds his consciousness was back inside his Dantian. He sighed when he saw the destruction in front of him. Somehow he had hoped that it had been nothing more than a bad dream, even though all his senses were telling him otherwise. Hopeless he shook his head. Without the possibility to cultivate he was doomed to stay a mortal. Somehow it was ironic, he had tried to gain a treasure to live longer and had actually been reborn, only to be able to live for what? 100 years? Maybe 200? It had been so long since he had been a mortal, he had completely forgotten how long they lived normally. Anyway, to a several thousand years old Saint it was nothing more than the blink of an eye.

And what should he even do with this bit of time? His entire life until now was in pursuit of power and immortality. If anything, all the abilities he managed to learn like alchemy or runecrafting, they all worked with and for cultivation. Without it, he had nothing. Neither skills nor a goal to work for in this life.

‘Hah, guess I have to use that bit of time as good as I can’, with a dispirited thought Jack turned his consciousness away from his Dantian, ready to give up on the past. It would be better to forget about the cultivation world and accept a mundane life, otherwise it would certainly haunt him forever.

But when he turned his perception away from the Dantian he suddenly frowned. Now that he wasn’t focusing on one point anymore he could feel small rivers of energy flowing through his entire body. His Spiritual Veins had been formed.

Confused Jack looked closer. How was that possible? He knew that they weren’t there when he looked last time. But a short bit of thinking later he had finally an idea.

He had been born in an area without any Qi, which made the formation of Spiritual veins impossible. But when he had lost his cultivation his surroundings had become filled with Qi. Not as dense as the Qi would be even in the lowest mortal world in his past life and would get further dissipated as time went on, but it was more than enough to create his Spiritual Veins.

Carefully Jack looked at his Veins, trying to figure out their size. And the result left him surprised. His veins were much thicker than in his past life, enough to be called a monstrous talent. Sadly that wouldn’t really be of use as this world had no Qi, but at least he would be stronger and healthier than normal people of this world. Even right now he could feel the small amounts of Qi that were trapped inside of them flowing around and strengthening him from within.

Jack chuckled a bit. He was more of a hypocrite than he had realised before. One second he decided to give up on cultivation and his past, but as soon as there was even a slight improvement he ignored his decision and started to hope again. He looked back towards his Dantian.

But there was still only the emptiness with the floating debris of the Core. Even if he had regained his Spiritual Veins it wouldn’t change anything, he would stay a mortal. Dejected Jack turned his perception away from his Dantian.

Just as his consciousness left his Dantian Jack noticed something strange. Immediately he turned back. Hidden inside the shards of his core was a strange shape. With a mental command the shards flew to the side, giving sight to a small figurine made from stone. Dumbfounded Jack stared at it. It was exactly the artefact he had found within the old ruin, the reason why his disciple had betrayed him.

‘Why is that thing here? Wait a second…’

After a bit of searching Jack found other shapes hidden within the debris. Pill furnaces, equipment, talismans and even medicinal pills, albeit the last two had lost their Qi together with him and had turned into worthless rubbish. Quickly he figured out what had happened.

After he had reached the Saint realm Jack had gained the ability to create something called a ‘soul storage’. It was a separate space in which he could store objects, quite similar to the spacial rings lower ranked cultivators would use. It was a mysterious ability and even after countless tests to locate it Jack had never actually been able to figure out where this space had been located. But now he knew it. The separate space had been actually the interior of his core all along! As such it had been travelled together with his cultivation to his new life. Countless treasures, weapons, tools, everything… useless.

Without any cultivation he had no way to actually take out the stored objects, and even if he could, what use would it have? Without Qi a pill furnace would be nothing but an oversized decoration. At best he would be able to sell it somewhere.

Suddenly a thought crossed Jack’s mind and he turned back towards the artefact. Quickly he floated right next to it and began to examine it. Now that he looked closer there was still Qi stored inside of it. The enchantment on it proved much more resistant towards the pull of the void than the Qi inside of him. It wasn’t much, at least compared to the amount it had before, but it would certainly be enough for a single activation.

With a frown on his face Jack thought about his options. This last bit of Qi could maybe become his saving grace. If he could activate the weapon it might be possible to create a hole inside the Sphere that would allow Qi to enter. Should he succeed he would be able to cultivate again. It would be a new beginning and this time he would definitely become immortal! He was more talented and he knew a lot of cultivation methods that would allow him to build a stable foundation to proceed further than he had before.

There were only two problems. One, the weapon itself. He knew only a few legends about it, but its might was unimaginable. Back when it was used it had gained the nickname ‘World Cracker’, because it was able to destroy not only a single planet, but the whole world it was in. That let him hesitate. What if he couldn’t control its power? He doubted that the bit of Qi left would be enough to destroy this world, but it would be bad enough to incinerate the planet he was on. And he doubted that he would be able to survive that.

The other problem was to actually activate it. Being inside his Dantian he should be able to do that effortlessly. But without any Qi of his own he wouldn’t be able to initiate the control function. He had a way to get some Qi, but to use it would probably harm his Dantian.

But in the end Jack ground his teeth and decided to try it anyway. Even if it was dangerous, he didn’t want to end as a normal mortal, no matter the cost. If there was even a single opportunity to get back on the road of cultivation he would grasp it.

Jack concentrated at a few shards of his former core. Formed from solid Qi they didn’t dissolve immediately but stayed inside of him. But now, the first shard began to melt, a glowing liquid Qi forming on its surface. Drop after drop gathered, but simultaneously Jack began to feel the consequences.

It began with a slight discomfort. His stomach grumbled. Then begun the pain. He felt as if his intestines were set aflame, a blazing fire just where his Dantian was. Jack let out a pained growl, but he didn’t stop.

Inside his Dantian shard after shard turned into liquid Qi. Finally, after his entire Core had been dissolved Jack started moving his Qi. A large stream of liquid Qi formed and flowed towards the artefact.

On its way large amounts of Qi evaporated, turned into mist and shook of Jack’s control over it as it got sucked to the outside, just like the rest of his cultivation before. But the small part, maybe one hundredth, still managed to reach the artefact. The stream twisted and turned as it coiled around the artefact like a snake. Slowly a bright glow to cover the artefact and Jack could feel it connecting to his mind, as if it suddenly became like one of his arms.

A slight grin crossed Jack’s face, but in the next second it flickered as a new wave of pain hit him. His entire body was covered in sweat and his breath laborious. He didn’t have much time anymore.

With a humming noise the statue inside his Dantian began to activate. Suddenly Jack could feel the space around him. The whole room was laid bare before his senses, as if he was standing right in front of it. But what he could feel right now went beyond what he could see. Under the material plane was another layer, a very fine mist that filled everything. That was the barrier that formed the Sphere. Instinctively Jack knew what he had to do.

The statues eyes began glowing in a bright blue as Jack inserted his will into it. And then, in the next moment, a small dot of light suddenly appeared in the air above him. Where it was, the fog vanished, as if it was melting. But that was only for a few seconds, then the dot paled and dissolved, leaving behind a small hole inside of the fog.

Exhausted Jack let out a sigh as he looked at the small hole above him. It was small, a sphere barely a millimetre size where the barrier had completely vanished. He could already feel a slight amount of Qi coming from it. And albeit it wasn’t much it carried within it the hope that one day he would be able to cultivate again.

Quickly Jack focused back inside and searched his body for damages. What he found let him grimace. Just like he had expected the release of the dense mass of Qi inside of his untrained Dantian had caused great damages. Last time the small thread of Qi had acted like a lightning rod, causing the Qi to move out without doing any harm. But this time it was different and his Dantian had been damaged. Not only that, there were also signs that the Spiritual veins themselves had been hit by the backlash. While it wasn’t too severe and would heal given enough time it would still take several years to heal properly. And until then the damage would cause him to get sick easily. But for Jack that was just the blink of an eye and definitely well invested. Slowly he closed his eyes and let himself falling asleep. Soon, he would become a cultivator again.