I opened my eyes to a white expanse stretching onwards until a blur of fog and mist covered it from all directions. Thick gargantuan roots spread through the ground beneath my feet, originating from what I could only describe as a lotus tree, that bloomed brightly at the very center of this world.

A thick trunk had twisting and curving branches extending upwards and to the sky, as tiny white lotus blossoms covered it like leaves. At the base of the tree, grew a singular massive lotus flower, large enough for me to sit in and I stared at the strange and wonderful plant.

I sensed a familiar presence from behind me and turned to see Zhang standing with his eyes wide and confusion evident in them.

“What did you do?” he asked, looking around in surprise and I smiled.

“You can’t tell?” I asked curiously and Zhang looked down at his limbs once more, as if to check they were real, before looking up at me once more. “This is… my core?”

I nodded at his words as Zhang looked around in wonder at the area. I couldn’t blame him, even with all the media I’d consumed at home, nothing could truly convey what standing here in a white endless expanse with glowing magical lotus trees and an endless flow of Qi felt like.

My eyes drifted upwards, to what would be the sky of this world. In it, I saw two disks. The inner disk, the first circle of cultivation, held cracks spread through it all, but it still glowed with a pale color resembling the moon, tied together.

The same couldn’t be said about the second circle, which floated in shambles around the first, pieces and part of it missing. If I wanted to truly fix Zhang’s core, then I would need to find a way to piece together, and regenerate his core from the inside.

“Was this how you’d fixed my core?” Zhang asked, turning towards me.

“Something like that, yeah. Really couldn’t have done it without Sheldon, so it wasn’t completely my own abilities,” I said as Zhang frowned.

“The turtle…?” he asked and I smiled.

My gaze shifted over to the blooming beautiful tree of lotus, and I began to make my way towards it. Thick roots jutted out from the lunar blossom and I walked up to the tree, touching it’s branch.

This was not the same plant I’d left behind here. Being in here had changed it far more than I could’ve ever anticipated as it now grew into a beautiful and expansive tree.

I walked around and towards the large lotus sitting in front of the trunk and connected to it at the roots and I looked at the plant before my curiosity got the best of me and I stepped at its center.

The little pollen tickled my feet as I tried not to crush anything or step on any of the massive petals but the plant held sturdy and firm. I suppose here, I did not have any weight either.

An idea came to me as I stood at the center of the lotus flower and I turned towards Zhang. “Hey Zhang. Why don’t you try cultivating?”

Zhang’s gaze shifted back at me, as he stared silently at me for a moment. “Do you truly want me to… cultivate?” he asked, his voice dripping with hesitation.

“I have something that I want to try. Follow alongside me, and try to cultivate. Do not force it if nothing happens, but I think it’s worth trying,” I said, as I sat down on the lotus flower and crossed my legs.

Zhang nodded, sitting at the base of the tree outside the flower and I closed my eyes.

Remembering the sensation from back home, I reached out to the spirit anchor, to the world around me, and to the Sky and the Earth. I was here in spirit, in the form closer to my soul, and here, I called out to the two forces that governed this world, as my cores began to spin in tandem.

The cycle flowed, like a little creek merging into a river as the pure Qi around me began to swirl. I felt a voice whisper in my ears, a familiar boy wishing to be let out, and I obliged as Lu Jie’s spirit began to surface, mixing with my own.

Qi and Gu flowed into me, both at once, mingling within my core as the lotus beneath me began to react to the cycling energies within me.

Lunar Qi spread all over, as the essence of the world washed all around me. I cultivated, reaching out to the spirit anchor and I felt it reaching back to me.

A third presence soon began to join the mix, a little halting cycle of Qi that moved hesitantly, and slowly, as if moving an injured limb for the first time in months.

The Heavens rustled, and the Earth rumbled. The duality unified together through humanity, flowed through me. Pure essence filled my spirit, unadulterated energy brimming within my body as if I’d inhaled a bolt of lightning and my spirit was unable to digest any of it without my body around.

Yet there was a body that could. The body whose core I was in.

I took hold of the essence, as the lunar blossom and I directed the flow of energy toward Zhang. A roaring tide of essence flowed forth as my concentration began to fray, my will struggling to control essence so pure.

I felt the world brimming with life around me, as the roaring flow of essence spread all around through the core, and I opened my eyes, sweat beading my forehead, even in here, as I took a deep breath.

Zhang sat in absolute silence as white wisps of energy crackled all around him, slowly beginning to settle down. My gaze shifted to the lotus tree and I saw the flowers had their petals closed as the tree sat still, almost as if it had fallen asleep.

My smile began to fade a bit, as I looked up. The circles still remained cracked, even if the spirit cultivation had worked. It would need more, and I had a feeling that I knew how I could get something like that.

I felt the world around me spin, and my spirit began to pull itself apart again, Lu Jie’s half fading. I stood up and pulsed my Qi, and with a jerk I was back in my own body.

“Phew, that went well,” I said, wiping the sweat off my forehead. I looked around to see Su Lin and Cao Chen sitting in silent concentration, as they too cultivated.

I got up, and walked out as quietly as I could closing the door behind me.

“Heading out already are we?” Granny Lang said, almost making me jump and I turned around.

“Ah yeah. I just didn’t want to disturb them,” I said, looking at the Granny awkwardly who snorted at me.

“Try to keep the lies for those children boy, I can see the look on your face. What did you find out?” she asked me and I shook my head in surprise and amusement.

“My anchors have a limit, I can’t make an endless amount. What I did was… unconventional, and if I want to cure any others who have had their cultivation crippled. I can at best do one more. Two, if I dissolve the anchor in my room. Not to mention… I think I know a way to heal Zhang now.”

The granny raised a wrinkled eyebrow as she walked closer and stared at me. “You’ve already done more than those boys ever could’ve hoped for Lu Jie. And I know what you might be thinking about. The prize from the spirit herb hunt, no?”

I nodded at her words. “I need a potent herb, with enough essence that I can distill and use to cure Zhang’s core. While I’d been talking about winning at the tournament, the only real goal I had was to beat the twins and gather as many spirit herbs as I could for myself. But if I can truly heal Zhang, then I guess I just have to win now,” I said, turning towards Granny as I smiled in what I assumed was the most uncertain smile she’d ever seen.

“Those children truly are blessed. Remember, even if it is not a spar, there will be fights. You cannot avoid as much, even if you wish to. Think once more Lu Jie, if you truly wish to put yourself in danger like that.”

I walked ahead and turned around. “Don’t worry Granny. I have absolutely no confidence in my own skills at all, and every bit of confidence in humanity’s ingenuity to create weapons. All I have to do now, is blow them away with my science-bomb,” I grinned as the old woman shook her head, snorting.

“If you’re that confident then scurry off. I’ve got work to do,” she snorted and I laughed.

“Love you too granny,” I shouted back, as Qi whirled around me, and I shot off through the village using a wind step, leaving a trail of dust behind me as the children ran around waving and screamed at me who I waved back at with a smile.

It was time to get back home, and proceed into drugnade development stage 2.