There are seven levels of cultivation in the Mortal realm. The reason why the realm is called ‘Mortal realm’, is that martial artists in this realm will live up to their normal lifespan. For example, if a person can live up to the average age of eighty, as long as they are in the mortal realm, they cannot defy the heavens and live more than that. Their physical looks will not be affected as well, meaning a person who is seventy years old will still look old, with gray hair and everything. The only difference is in their capabilities. Even a seventy year old person, as long as they have passed the second level of the Mortal realm, can carry ten times their weight. They would be invulnerable to normal weapons as well.

The seven levels are Tempered Body, Dragon Strength, Altering Pulse, Tempered Marrow, Qi Gathering, Core Formation and Blue Soul Formation. Cultivators in the Tempered Body realm are invulnerable to normal weapons, that is weapons that are not enhanced. Those in the second level, Dragon Strength, have strength that rivals dragons! They can carry heavy objects and move mountains!

Currently, Ryan was in the first level of the Mortal realm, Tempered Body. His body is invulnerable to earthly weapons like guns, knives and so on. Even if a grenade explodes in front of him, the force might be able to push him backwards, but overall, it’s not enough to kill him.

After having spent some months, Ryan’s foundation could be considered as having stabilized. This means that he can now try to break through to the second level of the Mortal realm, Dragon Strength. To break through to the first level, one has to use some means to absorb qi and then use the qi to enhance their bodies. Most people use pills and elixirs, which contain a significant amount of qi. When this qi enters the body, the person has to circulate it through their blood vessels, and then enhance their body parts slowly.

This method is arduous, and there is a twenty to thirty percent chance of having a backlash that injures the body. However, on other planets, this is the most commonly used method. The reason is that it is by far the easiest method to break through! There is no shortage of pills and elixirs.

The second method is the method used by Ryan. The martial artist has to absorb qi from the surroundings and then use some special martial techniques to circulate the qi, strengthening the body parts. The amount of pain caused by this method is extreme, and there is a forty percent chance of a backlash. The reason why Ryan ended up using this method is that there were no pills or elixirs that contained qi. Therefore, Rogarth recommended he use the method above. To absorb the qi, he had to sit under a waterfall for a very long time. No wonder it took a year for him to break through.

The advantage of using the second method is that the body will be slightly stronger. The reason is that, compared to the other method, absorbing unrefined qi is much better. Therefore, martial artists that break through using pills are slightly weaker than those who break through using direct qi absorption.

Now, to break through to the second level, Dragon Strength, one has to circulate qi in their bodies and use it to enhance their muscles. Once their muscles are enhanced, the martial artist will be able to use heaven-defying strength, like that of a Dragon!

In the early stage of the Dragon Strength level, one will have strength of one True Dragon! That means that they can lift as much as twice the person’s weight at most, nothing more. There are also those who keep enhancing their muscles, and they end up having the strength of three True Dragons!

In the middle stage of the level, one will have strength that rivals four True Dragons combined! As long as one keeps cultivating, they can destroy large boulders, small hills and so on. The increase in strength is capped at six True dragons.

The late stage of the level makes one even more ridiculously powerful. The person’s strength rivals that of seven True Dragons combined! Once someone reaches this level, a single sneeze can level a small hill! The maximum someone can reach is the strength of nine True Dragons.

In the martial path, strength is everything. The law of the jungle prevails! The strong eat the weak! Currently, Ryan was cultivating, ignoring all these laws, and completely oblivious to his surroundings. He didn’t know any of these things; all he knew was that he could move mountains and whatnot.

He circulated the qi in his body and directed it towards his muscles.

POP! POP!

There was a slight popping sound when the qi reached the muscles. Ryan felt more energetic afterwards. It appeared as if his consciousness was elsewhere.

“See this stone? If you can push it past this point, then I’ll let you leave!” spoke Rogarth, with a serious expression, as he drew a line on the ground.

Ryan looked at the enormous boulder placed in front of him. Currently, his consciousness was stuck in the mini-dimension inside the matrix.

“This is impossible! How can...Oh wait, let me try”, he replied.

He walked over to the boulder and tried giving it a quick shove. It didn’t even budge! He tried again, and he got the same result. Nothing worked. Rogarth looked a bit disappointed but then he smiled.

“It seems like you are going to be here for some time. Goodbye”, he said, before vanishing into thin air.

“Wait, don’t ... And he’s gone! I guess I have to cultivate some more, then once I can push the boulder past that spot, I’ll be able to leave.”

He sat down and began to meditate again. Time passed without anyone keeping track. Since time flows differently in the mini-dimension, there was nothing to worry about.

Meanwhile, outside the mini-dimension, in the real world, it was early in the morning. The sun was not yet up. Back at the cottage at the edge of the woods, Gonin was sitting cross-legged, meditating in the living room. On a couch, was a young man wearing tattered clothes. The young man appeared to be in a coma. Beside the young man, there was a bamboo flute.

Rose yawned as she slowly walked down the stairs. “Any changes?” she asked.

“No. He is still unconscious”, replied Gonin.

“What about Ryan and the robot?”

“Ryan left some hours ago. As for the immortal, he seems to be meditating in Ryan’s room.”

“Its been 3 days already. We need to decide the next way forward. We can’t just keep living here; this is not our cottage after all.”

As she was still speaking, the young man on the couch turned over and then started muttering something. He was also sweating profusely, while twisting and turning on the couch.

“He seems to be having a nightmare”, spoke Rose, as she rushed to attend to the young man.

The young man kept muttering something, and then started screaming. Gonin’s eyes snapped wide open. He sprung up on his feet, and then walked towards the couch.

Rose went upstairs and took a towel, socked it in a bowl of cold water and then rushed downstairs to attend to the poor kid.

“It seems he has a mild fever. We need to make it cool down!” shouted Rose, as she scrambled to put the wet towel on the young man’s forehead.

Time seemed to accelerate, as if someone was in a hurry for something to happen. Rays of light started appearing on the horizon, illuminating the dimly lit cottage.

“The sun’s coming up! Where’s that Ryan when you need him?” complained Rose.

“What do you need him for? Are you still trying to protect him?” asked Gonin, with a calm look.

“Gonin, please shut up!”

“Nooo! Y-you can’t do this!” muttered the young man on the couch, as he continued sweating.

Rose held him down; so that he wouldn’t fall on the couch he was sleeping on. However, that didn’t seem to help him cool down. He kept on sweating, muttering to himself, twisting and turning. After what seemed like an eternity of struggles, he finally calmed down.

Even though his temperature was still high, he had stopped twisting and turning, as well as muttering in his sleep. Myra came down from the room he was meditating, and then stood across the living room, without saying anything.

“Sacred Immortal, can you heal him?” asked Gonin, pointing to the young man sleeping on the couch.

Myra shook his head, but then he stretched his hand. A purple vortex appeared, and Myra put his head into the vortex. When he took out his hand, he had a medicine bottle full of a green liquid, which was glowing slightly.

“What is that?” asked Rose, curiously.

“An elixir. It should help to calm the fever”, replied Myra, coolly.

Rose took the bottle from his hands and then asked, “Does he drink it? It looks like its glowing. Won’t it kill him?”

“It is very safe. Just use a drop of it, so that you will not destroy his body.”

“Wait, what do you mean ‘destroy his body’?”

“The elixir has a 90 percent efficiency. It is useful for curing various illnesses. However, it has a lot of qi, meaning that if used in excess by people who are not cultivators, they will die by bodily explosion!”

“Why would we be using something that dangerous?” she asked, handing back the bottle to Myra.

“I said only a drop is sufficient!” replied Myra, as he took the bottle and went over to where the young man was sleeping. He concentrated, and a drop of a green liquid came out of the bottle. The drop floated above his palm, and then entered the young man’s mouth.

The door to the cottage suddenly opened. Rather than calling it opening, it was more like it came off! Ryan was trying to open the door, but due to his overexcitement, he broke the door!

“Congratulations, you have reached the early stage of Dragon’s strength!” spoke Myra, looking at Ryan, who was holding the door.

He was too embarrassed to pay attention to Myra’s words. He looked sideways, before putting the door down.

“Ummm... I might’ve broken the door by accident...” he spoke shyly.

“Do not concern yourself about it. I am sure we will be able to fix it later on”, replied Gonin, who looked at Myra and then nodded.

As Ryan was approaching the living room, Myra vanished.

“Where’s Myra?” asked Ryan.

“He just left”, replied Gonin.

“Where did he go?”

“We do not know. Maybe you do?”

“Oh. How is that guy doing?” he asked looking at the young man sleeping on the couch.

“His fever has calmed down, thanks to the medicine he got from Myra”, replied Rose.

“It’s been 3 days since he arrived and lapsed into a coma. Any idea how we can wake him up?”

“I do not think that is wise. Let him sleep”, advised Gonin.

“Speaking of which, where have you been?” asked Rose.

“What does that matter?”

“You don’t want to reply? We have been worried about you! What if--”

“We? Who’s we? And what if what?”

“Shut up! We don’t know if--”

As Ryan and Rose were bickering, Gonin was just standing at the side, shaking his head in amusement. No one noticed that the young man who was sleeping on the couch had woken up, and he had taken the flute that was by his side.

He began playing a soothing melody, and everyone stopped what they were doing when they heard the melody. Gonin stared at the young man with wide eyes and jaw that one could fit an egg!