When I cease to exist in my last breath, a mysterious force rewind time back to the start. The age of 4. It was as if I was in a game that I couldn’t escape, forced to restart and relive once more.

Is it a curse or a blessing? It doesn’t matter anymore. For whatever path it is, I’ll dive in without hesitation. There it was, those soft angelic hands came to me once again, but I could never get tired of it. Those were the hands of a caring mother, full of love and full of life. This time I will remember to return the smile.

She was a person whom I could trust, relied upon, no matter the pain and suffering, someone whom I will protect. Her name was Yu Yuan, and she is my friend, no, more like an elder sister to me. Yu Yuan, who was 2 years older than me, was the one that always looks after me, even negating herself for my own needs at times.

We grew up with nothing but emotions, no parents, and no wealth. She always reminds me that both my parents were kind souls that should never be forgotten; maybe because they were the one who brought her in from her orphanage. Fate, I suppose.

I could not inquirer any memory about my parents as every reincarnation cycle starts me off at the age of 4. The point where my parents were long gone. I had always insisted on the whereabouts of my mysterious parents; she, however, would never give a direct answer, simply replied with a smile: "I'm here to take care of you, don't worry."

It was also apparent that they had left me with a fresh, clean, crisp letter on my table. It was for me to read once I become literate; the contents wrote:

"Behind the woods on the south, lies a polluted river. On the hour you turned 6, under the silky moonlight, the elemental essence of the sea would rise and sweep the river crystal clear. You must be brave, my child, dive deep in the lake where your soul would guide you. The unknown is fearful but have trust in us. There you would find the treasure of our inheritance. May faith be with you."

A big part of the culture of this world is faith and destiny. They did not care whenever you would succeed in your task, they only cared if they had faith in you; the rest is up to fate.

Unlike the world from my past, this dimension focuses highly on cultivation through long agonizing hours, at least I hated it. The only thing great about this world is the fact that it is technologically advanced and has a high density of element energy and the so-called Qi(life force) energy. The average life of a human is about 100 years without cultivation and the insanely long 400 years with cultivation. Some had even lived up to 1,000 years if you are at the top of the apex.

Although cultivation has been prevalent in this culture for hundreds and thousands of years, I warn you, it is about time it falls like an angel, elegant yet striking. The age of VR was about to rise up and take over the world in one fell swoop, and only one game has that power to succeed that. The rest? They would roll and splatter to millions of fragmented droplets of expandable memory, but that is in the future; what i have to focus now is to cultivate.

One thing that many people wouldn't expect, even me at first, was the fact that cultivation plays a massive part in virtually every VR device. The deeper flow state you are in would determine your reaction time and breakthroughs in or out of the game. Yes, a breakthrough. I am talking about the lifeline of every living thing in this world. Those are the rings that materialize from thin air at our backs when we are cultivating. If you are not a cultivator, the circle would never emerge or activate, and in return, you would never reap the benefits.

When cultivating 2 key factors comes into play, the efficiency of absorption and the usage of Qi. People usually start cultivating at the age of 7, but the special ones can start at 5-6 like Yu Yuan, for example. Efficiency depends on the method of your cultivation and your spirit grade. Way of cultivation is pretty simple; it's usually written on a manuscript along with a spirit that would choose the barer. Spirits are not inborn and have to be gained by agreeing upon a life contract of the spirit's terms. Only after death would the spirit be released from a life contract.

Humans are too weak to cultivate without a spirit. Although I do not have a spirit currently, I can harness the elemental power in the air for magic spells, everyone can do magic to a certain extent. The only downsides of magic are memorization of chants and mana fatigue, a condition where the user's mental capacity has reached a point where they are unable to control a particular spell.

This downside is why magic never took off in the first place, but to me, it opened up a whole new dimension of fiddle with. Magic is decided by the mind and chants, both of which I can bring over to another reincarnation and exploit.

Now all I have to do is find a spirit to cultivate with.

My sister, Yu Yuan, cultivates in the evening till morning. This pattern is similar to many other cultivators as cultivation would replenish the same way as sleep while having the benefits of long term cultivation; that would also be the most ideal time to leave and start my search.

"Li Bai, staring into the wall again? What do you want for lunch?" Yu Yuan spoke sweetly as she hugged me from behind.

"Yu Yuan, I want meat bun for lunch!" I replied as I played along innocently.

"Call me big sister or I won't make it for you, hmph!" She bounced back with that attitude of hers.

"Yes, Yes, Big sister," I replied with a slightly teasing voice and a big fat smile, it's fun sometimes to mess around with her.

"You-" Her face turned brick red and stormed out of my room. It makes me giggle every time. After all, innocents don't last forever, might as well enjoy it while I can.

After dinner, I sat around doing nothing, she wouldn't even let me help her with the dishes; acting like the strong woman she is.

"Li Bai, I'm going to cultivate now, don't leave the house, alright?" Yu Yuan shouted before she heads to her room and shut off.

Of course, as the loving brother I am, I'm definitely going to be disobedience and leave the house. A watch on my hand and a hand out the window, I quietly sneaked into the forest of the west. There I would be able to find my first targeted spirit.