‘Herman Roy’ stood there gaping at the interface. He planned to input a strong, imposing alias, and instead, it was randomized by mistake. Was all his luck left in his previous life and was used to feed the dogs!?

Closing the interface with a wave of his hand, while displeased, he tried to focus on the matter at hand.

“I guess I should come up with a plan at least. That way I can put an order in the things I know and maybe if I can ascend to the Immortal World in the first trial, I could create a gap big enough between myself and those freaking whales, that they won’t necessarily catch up even after they sell the underwear on their bodies to exchange it for Spirit Jades.”

The 'whale' was a derogatory term someone came up with for those cultivators that threw money at the incomprehensibly greedy system, in exchange for benefits. Others, like himself in his past life, for example, would have to save and keep track of their receipts for thousands of years before being able to buy something worth its value in Spirit Jades. The whales though... well, they threw their money at everything available in the shops and cleaned away even items that wouldn't necessarily benefit them. That way, they pulled ahead the rest of the heard, climbing higher than even heavenly talents could and more importantly, faster.

“And then, there were the killer whales. That’s pretty much a genius whose daddy owns at least ten to twenty oil fields somewhere in the middle-east. Those bastards could just spit your way and drown you with it because of their absurdly high attributes. Ugh... I remembered something unpleasant.”

Putting some order in his thoughts, he stood up from the chair lazily and began cleaning the rooms while cursing at his previous self. It was a small apartment, but it would have to do for now. He had already figured out of at least two ways of making good amounts of money and moving out to a bigger place was decided soon after. For now, though this will have to make do for the first couple of months.

After taking out the trash and climbing back up on the stairs instead of using the elevator, he realized just how severely underworked his body was. To think it would be to the point where only eight flights of stairs were sufficient to make him gasp for air...

After a quick shower and a change of clothes, he stood in front of the computer. Ignoring the 23 missed calls that he was planning to return... well, later, he checked his bank account first.

“This... is insufficient, but should last me for a couple of weeks. As for making more...”

Taking out the phone and texting his current boss the words “I quit”, he placed the phone back down and contemplated his previous life experiences on Earth. The job he had a nice paycheck and the work was something he rather enjoyed since it wasn't anything too tiring. However, cultivation takes priority over anything else this time around. There was no room to mess around and waste time with inconsequential stuff,

Searching online for the next point in his agenda, he quickly located a spa that offered a pretty decent customer pack, including what he was most interested in.

“Sauna, massage, and acupuncture. Hehe! Perfect! Let’s give them a call.”

The receptionist thought of him to be insane by trying to book an appointment for a spa treatment, given that the world almost ended today. However, he was nice enough to take some time and explain to her that she would still be needing her salary to pay rent in the future. Therefore, if her boss didn’t close the place down and announce that to its employees, as a client, he would be available to get the premium packet starting tomorrow.

After getting her verbal promise to call him back within an hour, he hung up and dived into the deep web, searching for a certain someone.

“Since I require a way to make money fast and easy, I know just the person to help broker the deals.”

....

[Hello? Who’s this?](?)

“Hello, Chase! The name is not relevant, but I have a job for you. I’m willing to offer 15% of the profits for the night-deals and 5% for the day-deals. Are you interested?”

[Sorry man, but in case you didn’t notice, the world went to shit today! I’ll be cooling off for a bit, trying to catch the meaning of this cultivation thing. If there’s nothing else...](Chase)

“What if I told you that the business I have in mind is related to it. Also, it could help you and everyone else buying it to complete what the cultivator asked of us faster and much more efficiently.”

[Oh!? I see... I like your confidence! Do you know where to send me the details?](Chase)

“Yup. Expect them within the next couple of days.”

Chase was... well, Chase. He was a good businessman in both the underground world and on the outside market, who built quite a reputation for himself and had access to a huge number of channels. The plan Herman had was to write some notes about how to easily open acupoints based on his experience and share them with everyone willing to buy them, for a reasonable price. He would create two versions: one simplified and one more complex. The first one would cost $50 while the second $100. That would create a bigger customer pool.

One might argue that the prices are abysmal compared with their actual worth, but there were certain reasons for setting them that low.

“When I remember how badly our world got trashed by the cultivators of the other 360 worlds until our geniuses grew... let's just say that it wouldn’t be much of a loss in giving out this helping hand. Just like the old fart, Jing said, sowing some good karma seeds, which might give something back in the future.”

Of course, even the complex version didn’t contain more than 25% of his knowledge about the casting of Spiritual Roots, given that he didn’t know that much himself, to begin with. However, some pointers of the simple version would help those that would barely make it during the 6th trial just like him, advance to the Immortal World only during the 4th, while the complex version should allow them to do the same even during the 2nd if they are talented and hardworking enough.

As for why waiting a couple of days... He needed to imbue some Spiritual Qi in the materials he would write and create a spiritual contract. That way only the person that spends the money on it can see its content, without being able to share it with someone else. While giving a helping hand was good and all, he wasn't looking forward to being scammed. Also, if there was suddenly a book about how to open acupoints on the first day after the event, people will overlook it as a sham themselves.

Stretching out for a couple of minutes, he grabbed a backpack, stuffed a t-shirt and pair of shorts, as well as a pair of sneakers and socks, took a clean towel, and bolted towards the closest gym. The mind was important, but he needed to get his body up in shape in the following six months. Otherwise... he was shuddering only at the thought of the beatings that would expect him once ascended.

Can you even imagine how painful it is to be stabbed by a sword and have it poke through your back? It’s an even more mentally scaring image given that you won't die, but still suffer through the whole experience...

“Let's see... With my body’s current condition, I should be able to persist through some jogging and light exercises. Let’s say... about one hour and a half should be sufficient for the first time.”

Little did he knew that not even one hour after he stepped foot inside, he already had to leave before his legs and hands would fall off. Following the plan, the next stop was the nearby market where he bought about three bags worth of fruits and vegetables, followed by the closest butchery. After a couple more stops and an angry cab driver, he made it home with so many bags, that it would make one wonder if his Strength increased unknowingly in the process. He took the elevator though...

It was already 5 PM by the time that everything was sorted out and after some extra stretching that made his already weak muscle ache, another shower, and a change of clothes, he climbed on the bed.

It was only about 7 PM and it was still early, but sleep was not yet on the menu. It was time to meditate and get his consciousness accustomed to the feeling of nothingness.

“I am pretty sure that there are some Buddhist monks out there that already got the first achievement in this, so I don’t have any high expectations...”

Sitting in a comfortable position with the legs crossed, he placed both his hands on his lap and followed by closing his eyes. The blob of Qi insight that old man Jing gave everyone on Earth included a chant that would help induce a self-hypnosis type of trance, similar to meditation. Its purpose was to show newbies what to expect and to make it easier for them to later on the transition to this state by themselves. In Herman's case though, as a thousand years old grandpa, it would be as easy as breathing. Or at least that's what he thought.

What he forgot was that he was back in a body that lacked experience with Spiritual Qi and was subjected to the seven emotions and six desires. As result it was really hard to focus on... well, the nothingness state he needed to reach.

After one entire hour of calming his mind, he finally drifted away, while still maintaining a portion of his consciousness.

“I am finally back here, huh? Ugh... does it have to look so damn shitty!?”

Opening his eyes... well, sort of since it was more of a state of super-consciousness, he found himself in a dark space, similar to a sphere. Inside it, one could see a very vague, almost invisible shape of a person sitting in the same meditation pose as the real body on the bed. This vague shape was situated in the dead center of this sphere of darkness, calm and seemingly unperturbed of the passage of time.

This reminded him of one of the perks of meditation, which was the time flow difference: one hour outside was equal to six hours inside one’s spiritual world. Earth’s scientists explained it as the brain’s capacity for information transfer being much faster inside one’s consciousness than in the real world where the brain would have to cope with much more than the inside view of one's mind. Therefore, while time seemed fast, it was instead rather slow.

“Just like a dream... But, damn! Why can’t I see my acupoints? They should be visible with my 32 Absorption points, right? That’s already 16 in Qi Absorption, implying that my innate understanding of the Qi passages all over my body had increased, allowing me a clear vision of the acupoints...”

Opening the user interface, the problem was quickly located. He still had only two points in the specific stat, while the remaining 30 were in brackets, waiting for him to assign them. This might seem like a stupid thing and maybe a waste of one's time by not having them automatically assigned after being awarded them, but it would be very relevant later on and many would keep spare points without touching them.

“Those events are quite far away though... Anyway, yes, assign the damn points already please!”

Almost like a slap in the face, the system added the points all at once, making his mind buzz and almost knocking him unconscious. For someone with only 2 Absorption, to suddenly increase their bodies' compatibility with Spiritual Qi 15 times over, without a slow process or actual understanding granted by body and mind synchronization, it would be quite close to suicide.

Luckily, for someone who's Absorption had reached thousands in his past life, it didn't take long for his body to accommodate. His vision gradually focused on the new changes and dots began appearing all over the black sphere’s walls. Each passing minute a new one showed, making this entire process last for about six hours.

“Phew... Finally done! Ugh!”

Pain similar to having your bones break out through the skin and exposing the nerves underneath assaulted his senses. He was very familiar with this experience which meant that he almost reached his limit in meditation. Maybe even for a Tibetan monk, to remain in such a state for one hour in the real world would be a stretch.

With limited time, he quickly scanned over the acupoints and found the ones belonging to the main meridian of the stomach.

“There you are. The 13th point, named Qihu. Also known as the Qi Door. System, I chose to open this acupoint in exchange for the achievement earned.”

Exchange acknowledged!

Be advised that the system will now start infusing Spiritual Qi from outside the body.

“Here it comes!”

In his past life, Herman suffered greatly in his attempts to cast his Spiritual Roots. Only finding all of his acupoints took him about eight months, much less opening one which took him another four. Not to mention that it was just a minor one from the bladder meridian that took others merely days to open.

A slight pressure could be felt on his physical body in the abdominal area, making time feel even slower inside meditation. A stronger pain similar to the tearing through of one’s skin suffused and combined with the mental aches since he was already overstaying his welcome.

At best he would have another thirty minutes before mentally collapsing and passing out, but he would need at least four hours to properly open, clean, and widen his acupoint.

“Well, I knew that this would happen, but it’s unavoidable. My passive intake of Spiritual Qi is currently much larger than my active one... heck, my active one is non-existent at the moment, without an acupoint opened.”

The reason why he was so hurried in opening the first point, was to allow his body to passively absorb Qi. With his Qi Door open, coupled with the fact that it was a medium-size acupoint, his gains would be pretty decent, making it obvious why he wouldn’t want to waste even a second. As for why would the body take in Qi by itself, it was basic physics. A sealed container inside the ocean suddenly cracks a little. Wouldn’t water trickle inside?

Furthermore, if there was a force on the inside pulling at the water outside, wouldn’t it flow in even faster?

“My current passive absorption should be about 16 Spiritual Qi points / every 5 minutes. That would mean around 192 points per hour. Even the smallest acupoint requires about 1000 Spiritual Qi points to open fully and I have another 360 of them left. Not to mention that I don’t plan to open them one by one either... Urgh! Why does it feel that I’m intentionally making things difficult for myself?”

Why open them one by one, when achievements give more rewards the higher the difficulty? With some extra work, he should be able to rob the system blind and give himself quite the head start. That's why, during the half an hour he had left all his concentration was focusing on was pulling the broken rocks that were blocking his Qi Door, while the system was infusing Qi and pushing from the outside. It took about 15 minutes in the real world to break through the blockage and allow Spiritual Qi to drip inside his spiritual world. The feeling of receiving the first drop was so addictive that not even having ten orgasms at once was comparable. It was like an addict that did his best to stop using, resisted for about six months, and then relapsed.

The feeling was ludicrous!

“Oh, damn! I forgot about this mental boner... Focus, focus! I need to expel as many impurities as I can before passing out. There are barely 15 minutes left.”

Upon collapsing the blockage that stopped Qi from flowing in, many impurities were brought inside Herman’s spiritual world. Now, all that was left was to create a type of circulation, where Qi would enter upon inhaling and impurities would be expelled upon exhaling. For the first five minutes, he was unsuccessful, and only about five minutes later managed to throw out some of the impurities.

By the point where his time was up and managed to ‘disconnect’ his mind right at the brink of collapse.

“Damn it! This hurts so damn bad!!! Shit! I think I'm gonna throw up... And to think I didn’t even throw out 15% of the impurities washed inside...”

Barely managing to move his right hand, he pulled on his t-shirt and noticed a black patch of smelly substance sticking to the fabric, next to the right collarbone. He dragged his tired body under the shower again, put on another t-shirt, and heavily fell on the bed.

Probably, for the first time in his mortal life since infancy, he slept undisturbed and unaware of anything else happening in the world.