‘’Passive cultivating?’’

‘’Yes, senior master,’’ Ubel replied, fribbling with the book in his hands in the meantime. ‘’I don’t have much patience for meditation. I can only go on for at most three or four hours without getting bored.’’

‘’Hmm,’’ Quan stood straight on his chair, his tidied beard gave off a silver shine under the setting sun. ‘’But it will take a long long time for you to progress if you don’t put in more effort. At this rate, it will take you weeks to breakthrough into Peak-Qi Destruction.’’

‘’Peak? Isn’t there any early, mid, and late stages like Qi Creation?’’ Ubel asked, putting down the book on the table.

‘’Of course not, there are only two stages in Qi destruction. First destruction and peak destruction. As the baptism you received from...Tulpar had quite an effect, you still have abundant reserves left. Or else it would have taken months to get to this point.’’

‘’I’m a genius of myself then-’’

Quan only grinned and closed the notebook. ‘’Lock tight the cupboard, I don’t want to see any medicine missing tomorrow.’’ He ordered and proceeded to gather his belongings. After a few minutes, they left the building and reached their house in an hour on foot. Lights still shone even though the merciful moon mother put the sun to sleep a long time ago. Senior brother wasn’t a late nighter, was he?

Getting inside, Ubel confirmed his thoughts. Gaobun laid on the small couch in the living room, his mouth open, snoring. ‘’They must have exhausted him.’’ Quan said and lifted Gaobun with his Qi, who muttered something then stood still. ‘’Get back to sleep, it’s us.’’ Quan’s voice soothed the man it seemed, or it could be some deliberate spell Ubel didn’t know about, as he fell back and slumped, or would have if Quan didn’t envelope his body with energy.

With a flick of his finger, accompanied by the sound of a creaking door, Gaobun’s body floated towards the upper floor and fell on his bed. With some rustling and another creaking, noises ceased. How cool, but why he put on a blanket? Immortals wouldn’t, or couldn’t, catch any disease or cold. That was what he thought as no rash or any kind of sore throat appeared since the time he became a cultivator. Their bodies were more resilient and immune to diseases. But who knew better than Quan? Definitely not himself.

‘’I’m thirsty,’’ Ubel looked around, complaining, and spotted the undrank cup of water beside the couch. Gaobun must have forgotten to drink it. Ubel reached out but after seeing the small bubbles gathered above the water, with a strong feeling of shame, felt that his thirst died. They made the water much...unattractive.

‘’Here you go,’’ Quan gave him another glass of water, fresh from the tap. Although satisfied, being gluttonous about water wouldn’t do any harm indeed. He gulped down it in a swing and, fearing Quan’s anger about how important it was to wash a dish after using, showered the glass with water. He put the cup back to its place and sat down on the same couch Gaobun slept. Looking at the scenery outside the window, he thought, the unliving streets of the Yadratafos had another air than the sect.

No harmony between nature and Qi, man and earth existed here. This did not mean it was a barren wasteland nor a place ridden of Qi. The attachment and attraction of this place lacked in comparison with the sect. Trees could be lusher or grasses more abundant, flowers could bloom greater or herbs livelier. Yet, the unspoken, unable to describe the mood of the sect made him realize how different world could be. Dim lights of the inner-district and the bright glow stones of the outer-district had both impressed any and every. But the desolate loneliness and dark alleys of Yadratafos had the dangerous air, the smell of blood, and an invisible spark that could flame the curious nature of an adventurer’s soul. Not knowing what was in, what could be, and what could happen to one in a place meant no knowledge, no harmony.

Hence, when one knew what it was all about land, like the one in the sect, could there be the accompany of Qi and Nature with man and earth.

‘’Are you not going to sleep?’’ Quan inquired, already hung his white collar and awaited Ubel’s response.

‘’No, senior master. You go on. I feel like staying up late tonight.’’ Ubel replied, ‘’ I might have some enlightenment about cultivation tonight.’’

‘’Oh? Good then, I will be upstairs.’’

‘’Good night,’’ Ubel nodded, then turned to look at the outside from the windows again. After a while, he took out the Death River Qi manual as well as Mind Expansion Technique. He kept former in front and opened the latter. This time, all knowledge, contrary to his first and painful experience, flowed into his mind like a surge of breeze. After confirming the facts and the purpose, the technique scroll burned into ashes by itself. This, in turn, also proved the thing told in the information’s last sequence.

To temper mind, increase perception and observation, and most important aspect of all for Ubel, strengthening willpower. It was a crucial point for Ubel, and many more impatient students all around the globe, that had to end as soon as possible. He hadn’t said them, though, these were the words of Alim. Impatience led mistakes, fatal ones, and regrets. As a person who had no regrets till this point, Ubel wanted to keep it that way.

Ubel took a breath and circulated his Qi according to the manual. After ten minutes, a small smile appeared on his lips. Opening his eyes, he found a strange change in the surroundings. The air turned into...foul. Dust on the couch, miniscule specks of dirt on the walls and even the undetected brownish color of the puddles on the street. It wasn’t a pleasant sight. Is this good or bad? Ubel couldn’t answer. The world he saw now was uglier. This earth didn’t appeal to him at all.

Continue...1-2-3 do it.

Ubel once more circulated his Qi, this time longer than an hour. Moon reached to its peak, signified midnight when Ubel woke from the trance. Is this all there is to the manual? Once he could detect only particles, now he could feel them. Some kind of invisible sheet covered his body. Only ten centimeters out, but still he could feel it. When focused on a point, it could go as long as two meters. But no more than that. This wasn’t about cultivation level or manual’s incompetence. Rather, from what he understood, Mind Expansion Technique, or its design, enabled one to lay the foundation for the Third Eye.

As for the Third Eye, he had a long way to the Path Opening.

Looking up and down, touching with his aura, inspecting every corner of the house Ubel felt a small sorrow, as well as longing to his old world. He wondered, was this how all experts saw the world? A place filled with filth, dirt, foul air? Brown smokes rising from the street, blood red color mixed among the clusters of them, showed something Ubel heard before.

‘’Yadratafos isn’t only famed for its...’’ He stood silent. ‘’Why did I not see these?’’ But Ubel had the answer from the start. He looked down at his robe, on his left chest, at the emblem of Cindersnow. The cinders from a god weapon and a blizzard from northern wyrm’s breath merged together. Just a waste.

Ubel shook his head. Every one of these little details mattered, but not now. Only after he had grown up, uncovered the truth of this grim sensation he felt after expanding his mind would he think something about it.

Now, he had to cultivate.

Ubel held the Death River Qi Manual in his hands, opened it like a verdict of the supreme emperor, with fluster and hurry, yet the result didn’t change. There were no texts to read. No power to restrict his Qi, nor any response from it. Only a small sentence.

‘’You know the truth.’’

Flipping the scroll, the instructions, levels, or even the divine abilities of the later stages still stood there; but now available to inspect with no difficulty. Yet, the words disappeared. He thought, or knew, this had something to do with his encounter. It was all because of the beast god. The dream he saw, he didn’t remember. What he learned, he didn’t know. But one thing he realized was that his aura changed. Death River’s Despondent aura of decay turned into a brighter one. With that, his disposition also altered. To progress, as Quan said, he had no other way than cultivate. He had to meditate more, but he felt that the real purpose of the manual still existed. He had to understand what death meant, what its shape looked like, as his bright past self perceived it as a river from the start, what it brought about to human and mind, and lastly, what it represented in the great scheme of all things.

This great scheme, he heard, comprised of the culmination of all natural and self-created laws of the world. So what kind of a responsibility death shouldered in this system?

These things he had to find, this was his pursuit of knowledge. But knowledge came with power, and his strength had no way of shouldering such power. He had to bid his time, progress as the time passed, learn about all the things he wanted to learn, grow up, mature and responsible like his father, then look into the secrets he now wanted to reach with fervent fanaticism.

For the first time, other than the aim of archaea immortal that seemed to drill its roots in his heart, he now had anothe aim. He had another purpose to continue cultivation, to be an immortal. And this cause, originated from Tulpar, gave him something precious. He knew nothing about karma and all, but what he knew was debts were there to repay.

Ubel would compensate for it according to its worth as well.