After that bit of talk where Hiro didn't have any choice, the first thing Bob wanted to teach him was what was mana and qi.

"You might think that mana is a natural resource of heaven and earth, but it is actually not." The old man had the expression just like that of a sage as he explained everything with his arms behind his back. "What you need to know is that the only true energy born from heaven and earth is Qi. When one cultivates to a higher realm, it is possible to create a myriad of things. Mana was made by one such cultivator."

Hearing all of that, Hiro couldn't help but be shocked. How strong would a person who made mana be? He could only imagine it and think that one day, he will be even stronger than that.

"While cultivation has a lot of stages, we don't know a lot of realms. This world we live is what we call the mortal world. After one reaches the second realm, immortality is achieved and the cultivator must make a choice to remain in the mortal world, or advance to the immortal world. Furthermore, the third and last known realm, is the deity realm!" Talking to this point, his eyes had a trace of madness and longing. "And mana was something created by one deity! It is an unnatural resource, made to serve as way to entice others to take a shortcut in cultivation. And every person that uses mana, strenghtens this deity."

After saying all this he looked right at the youth's eyes.

"And that's where the impossibility starts. How could you be able to fuse Qi and Mana together? Your blood gives you an important opportunity, and i want you to take it and see the consequences." Hiro had a really bad feeling about this. "I'll leave you to your cultivation. But now you know the path you need to take. Hahaha, this old man is really too magnanimous, too kind." Bob went out of the hut to do whatever, leaving Hiro's thoughts stirring.

It took a while for Hiro to come to terms with all that was said. Mana was just a tool of a deity. But if he understood it correctly, mana should be able to be used to cultivate as well. Then, if that was the case, wouldn't he get a huge power up if he mixed up both of them? That was good enough for him, even though he was being forced to it, he didn't mind it.

So for the next days, he stayed in the hut meditating. He found out that he wasn't able to fuse it together no matter what he tried. So first, he thought he should be able to keep all of his mana under control. If he could control 100% of his mana, it would be easier. And that was something else he wanted to try as well.

Unfortunately, he once tried to leave the hut, only to discover that he was unable, he was really stuck here. The old man Bob would sometimes appear to check his progress and bring some food to last him a few days and disappear again. Helpless, he kept at this routine.

After a few weeks, he had the idea to try to manipulate his blood, that was because he thought it should be harder than simple mana, and that it help him have a breakthrough. Since it was rich in mana, it should be able to be controlled as well, right? So with that in mind, he focused on it and tried to control the mana in his blood. But what he found in his blood was not mana, nor was it Qi, like the old man said, it was something else.

Hiro decided to call this new energy "King Chimera Energy". He had a very satisfied smile as he named it, as if he thought that only him was worthy of such a thing. Taking a feel of this King Chimera Energy, he suddenly felt enlightened as he studied it, making him actually make a breakthrough when he managed to move a bit of it. His mana could 100% be controlled now!

Not taking any time to bask in it, he immediately went for another breakthrough, gathering all his mana in his chest and compressing it in a crown's image. He knew that the higher the details, the better, so he focused on it for hours before he was finally satisfied with the crown and made one last compression, sealing it together in that form. No longer was his mana separated in six different sources, it was now a mana core.

Suddenly, just after the breakthrough, he felt as if a world opened up in his mind. He could see two rivers running through it, one was a bright blue, while the other was shiny golden. The blue was flowing fast and was big while the golden was a bit slower and smaller. That should be his mana and qi. Floating above the blue river was a shining blue crown, it emitted a strange aura and it simply majestic to watch.

"This phenomenon should be the so called sea of consciousness This King read in so many cultivation novels. To think my mental energy became so powerful after making this mana core, This King is indeed a genius!"

Hiro was very happy.

Except when it came to Bob.

Bob was a jerk.