3 - First Steps
The morning mist clung to the ravine like a veil, cool and silver in the dawn light. A pair of spirit birds scattered into the trees with startled cries as the trunk of a felled pine slammed into the earth, sending a tremor through the ground.
Lin Feng stepped back, breathing steadily, muscles barely tense despite having just hefted a tree longer than a wagon and thicker than a man's chest. The severed end still steamed from where his qi-hardened palm had split it with a single blow.
With a flick of his fingers, strands of pale gold energy rippled down his arm. He drove one end of the trunk deep into the soil with a short thrust - no tools, no ropes, just raw, refined power. The earth groaned around the impact. A crude palisade wall took shape around the ravine, each post planted by hand, each one a show of strength no mortal could match.
This was what Foundation Establishment meant: not just endurance or mystical spells, but presence - the ability to shape the world through will and cultivation alone.
High above, the forest canopy swayed. Somewhere distant, a spirit beast growled low and then turned away, unwilling to cross the boundary laid by the Sect Keystone, whose subtle aura rippled out like invisible silk.
The ravine had been wild, overgrown, and unwelcoming. Now it was a camp. No - a foothold.
And Lin Feng was building it with his own two hands.
"Adrien," he called over his shoulder, "bring the next brace. And keep it level this time."
A groan echoed from the half-finished lean-to nearby. "In another world and I'm still doing manual labor…" Adrien muttered, trudging forward with a crooked timber in his arms. "I didn't sign up for medieval Minecraft."
"Qi training begins once the wall is done," Lin Feng replied dryly, not even turning around. "If you want shelter from rain, work faster."
Adrien grumbled something that sounded suspiciously like a curse in Japanese.
Across the clearing, Mizuki crouched low by the riverbank, using the Slaughter Demon knife to strip bark and cut clean planks from thinner saplings. Though it had been forged for exorcising spirits, the blade cleaved through wood like it had found its true calling. She worked without complaint, movements precise and fluid, as if this were just another training drill.
"I've got breakfast!" Ning Xu's voice came in a sing-song chirp from behind a nearby boulder.
With a sparkle and a puff of flour-scented wind, a tray of food thunked into existence on a conjured table. Savory minced meat and mashed potato "cupcakes" steamed gently, their crusty tops brushed with a glistening sheen of magical glaze. A tiered plate of vegetable tarts followed, along with something that looked suspiciously like a muffin-shaped omelet.
Adrien dropped the branch he was halfheartedly dragging and practically sprinted.
"Oh thank the gods," he muttered. "Actual food. I was about five minutes away from chewing bark."
Mizuki sheathed the Demon Slaughter Knife, its faint crimson aura vanishing as she approached. She offered Ning a small bow before taking one of the meat cakes, biting into it without hesitation. "Delicious," she said, her expression unchanged but eyes warm.
Lin Feng watched as the disciples gathered around the conjured feast. His stomach growled quietly, and he allowed himself a rare smile before joining them. He reached for one of the meat cakes, its warmth seeping into his fingers.
"You can summon these at will?" he asked Ning.
She blushed and nodded. "Um… yes. I've figured out how to make savory ones, not just sweets. It's... still cake-shaped, but it works." After the first few attempts that had drained Ning Xu's strength, requiring time to recover, her magical reserves had expanded significantly, allowing her to summon forth platters of food, along a table that would disappear once most of the food was eaten.
Adrien was already two cakes in, talking with his mouth full. "You're a genius. A literal cake goddess. Who needs firewood when we have summoning magic and mashed potatoes?"
"You still need to haul firewood," Lin Feng said without looking up. "You burn more spiritual energy than you generate. You're still mortal."
Adrien groaned and flopped back dramatically on the nearest log. "I'm telling you, man. I got scammed. 'Analysis' perk, they said. 'Unique ability,' they said. You know what it tells me? That this wall you're building is slightly off-center."
He pointed vaguely toward one section of the half-finished barrier.
"It is off-center," Lin Feng said calmly. "That's why I'm reinforcing it."
Adrien sat up a little. "Wait. For real? I was just being annoying."
"Yes," Lin Feng said, standing. "And now you can be annoying while holding a hammer. Let's go."
Mizuki stifled a laugh behind a gloved hand. Even Ning giggled.
Despite his protests, Adrien got up and joined the others. He wasn't strong, and his swing with the mallet was pitiful, but he followed instructions - and more importantly, kept complaining just enough to entertain rather than frustrate.
By noon, the shelter frames were up, basic walls reinforced with earth-packed logs and interwoven brush. Lin Feng had carved a qi array into the stones around the firepit - a crude, protective ward that kept flame from spreading if the wind picked up.
As they gathered around the fire with full stomachs and sore arms, the forest around them breathed in sync with the quiet protection of the keystone. The ravine no longer felt like a prison. It felt like the beginning of something real.
Lin Feng sat down with his back against a tree and finally allowed his mind to wander.
The System had issued its demands barely a day ago, and its cold, mechanical voice still echoed in his thoughts:
[System Mission: First Step to Ascension]
Objective: Have one disciple reach the 1st stage of Qi Condensation.
Reward: Unlock [Disciples Panel] feature. 200CP
[System Mission: Trial by Survival]
Objective: Ensure all disciples survive one week in the Thousand Vein Wastes.
Reward: Freebie Token x 1. 100CP
[System Mission: Establish a Proper Base]
Objective: Establish a functional base with shelter, food, and basic defenses.
Reward: Unlock [Celestial Domain Interface] feature. 100CP
The base was nearly done. Ning's magic made food trivial. With the keystone's protection and the perimeter wall in place, it just might count.
He leaned his head back against the tree trunk, letting the cool bark anchor him as his mind sifted through the day's efforts. One mission nearly complete. Two more hanging over them like the edge of a falling sword.
The survival mission - three days in this forest - seemed simple enough. With the keystone's protection and Ning's magic sustaining them, it felt manageable. But the Thousand Vein Wastes weren't merciful, and the beasts the keystone had repelled might return in stronger, stranger forms. It would only take one misstep, one moment of carelessness, to shatter that illusion of safety.
Then there was the mission that mattered most - Qi Condensation. One disciple needed to reach the first stage. That was the threshold to true cultivation, the first spark on the path to becoming something greater.
Lin Feng's fingers drifted to the edge of his spatial pouch. Inside, tucked neatly between his worn robe and a few remaining spirit stones, were several basic manuals - entry-level cultivation techniques. One was his own, used during his early years: steady, dependable, not flashy but safe for beginners.
'Mizuki… she's the most likely to break through first.'
She was young, with a body still flexible and responsive. Her meridians had not yet hardened. Her discipline, even in this strange world, reminded him of outer sect disciples with martial roots. Focused. Methodical. Quiet strength.
'Ning Xu,' he thought, glancing toward her. She was humming to herself as she conjured a smaller plate of sweets, eyes bright and cheeks puffed with pride. She was only a few years older - just twenty - but even that made a difference. A woman's body at that age was already settling. Her dantian would be harder to open, her meridians beginning to stiffen.
Still, it wasn't impossible
And then there was Adrien, who had flopped face-first onto a makeshift bench and was making exaggerated groaning sounds about his back.
Lin Feng sighed quietly.
Adrien was nearing thirty. His qi channels would be far less malleable. The dantian would be weak, his physical body already dulled by years of mundane living. To cultivate at that stage was a steep climb, especially without any natural aptitude.
But he wasn't giving up on any of them.
The system had bound them together. And if he wanted to survive in this world and they with him, then they all needed strength. Cultivation wasn't just power. It was stability. It was purpose. It was hope.
I'll guide them. One by one, if I must.
But for now, Mizuki would be the key. She would reach Qi Condensation first. Not just because the system demanded it - but because she could.
And once she did, new features of the system would unlock. Tools he could use to help the others, too. He had to think ahead. Build upward.
He opened his eyes and looked around the camp. The fire was low. The ravine quiet. Birds were roosting. His disciples - tired, full, and warm - were starting to drift toward sleep.
For the first time since arriving in the Thousand Vein Wastes, Lin Feng let himself breathe easy.
Tomorrow, they would begin cultivation training in earnest.
But tonight, under the glow of the keystone and the soft hush of the forest, they rested - not as strangers from different worlds, but as the first sparks of a sect not yet born.
A quiet resolve settled into his bones.
Let the heavens bear witness.
The Celestial Master Sect has taken root.
...Probably.
Lin Feng scratched his head.
"Celestial Master Sect" had just sort of slipped out.
Was it too arrogant? Too on-the-nose?
Maybe something humbler. Like Azure Something Sect. Or Great Thousand Cloud Dragon Heaven Sect?
...No, that sounded like three sects stapled together.
He sighed.
He'd sleep on it.
= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
A gentle breeze stirred the leaves along the ravine's edge as Lin Feng surveyed the camp they had built from the wild.
The base was simple, but solid. A ring of sharpened stakes marked the outer boundary. Within, four sturdy shelters - simple wooden frameworks covered with waterproofed bark and vines - formed a rough square around the Sect Keystone, which pulsed faintly with protective energy. A cooking fire pit sat to one side, ringed with river stones. The soil had been cleared of thorns and weeds, pathways trodden flat over the past two days.
He breathed in deeply, letting the cool, qi-rich air of the Wastes fill his lungs.
A few meters away, Mizuki tightened the last knot on the shelter's support line. She straightened, dusted her hands, and turned toward him just as a soft chime echoed in Lin Feng's ears.
[Mission Completed: Establish a Proper Base]
Reward: [Celestial Domain Interface: Unlocked, 100CP Gained]
Golden lines etched themselves into the air before him, unfurling like an ancient scroll. A translucent map expanded in midair, centered on the Sect Keystone. The terrain around them - ravine, forest, river - appeared in detail. Everything beyond a certain radius was hidden beneath a soft gray fog.
He watched as glowing outlines highlighted their buildings - each shelter surrounded by a soft pulse of light. The System's voice echoed again, calm and mechanical:
[Celestial Domain Interface: Active]
- Structures may now be freely repositioned within claimed territory.
- Structures may be stored in Dimensional Inventory for later redeployment.
- Current Claimed Area: 0.9 km radius.
- Next Expansion: Unavailable. Prerequisites not met.
A second interface flickered into view - one that glowed a dull grey.
[Domain Functionality: LOCKED]
Requirement: At least one Disciple must acquire a Domain-related Perk.
Lin Feng studied it in silence, filing the information away.
Not yet.
But soon.
He dismissed the map with a thought and turned back to his disciples. Adrien sat sprawled under a tree with a sour expression, nibbling on a chunk of savory mashed potato cake. Ning Xu was quietly organizing her supplies near the cooking pit, while Mizuki wiped sweat from her brow, Slaughter Demon sheathed at her hip.
Lin Feng clapped his hands once, sharp and commanding.
"All three of you - gather in front of the keystone. It's time."
They moved quickly, if unevenly. Mizuki knelt neatly, her back straight and focused. Ning Xu settled cross-legged, brushing a stray hair behind her ear, a flicker of curiosity in her eyes. Adrien groaned, muttered something about fantasy boot camps, and collapsed into a sitting position last, arms resting on his knees.
Lin Feng placed a thin, leather-bound manual on the ground in front of them. Its cover was worn, the title written in crisp, old calligraphy:
Foundations of Qi: A Primer
"This is where it begins," he said, voice low but steady. "You've been pulled from different worlds, yes. But here in the Thousand Vein Wastes, strength means survival - and strength comes from cultivation."
He knelt beside the book and drew a simple diagram in the dirt - a human silhouette crisscrossed with fine lines.
"Qi flows through these pathways," he explained, pointing to the lines. "We call them meridians. Think of them as rivers inside your body, carrying energy like water to every part." He tapped the center of the abdomen. "The goal is to collect that qi here, in the dantian - the energy reservoir. Like filling a cup, it needs to be steady and balanced. If the cup leaks or spills, the qi can't build."
Ning Xu frowned slightly, raising a tentative hand. "So... how do you know when you're filling the cup right? What does qi feel like?"
Lin Feng smiled faintly. "That's a good question. Not everyone senses qi the same way. For some, it's like a gentle warmth flowing through the limbs. For others, it might feel like a soft pressure or even a faint buzzing. Some may feel nothing at first but see changes in their strength or spirit over time."
Adrien snorted. "Great. So it's a vague feeling that's different for everyone. Just what I needed."
Mizuki chuckled softly. "It's like learning a new language - you have to tune in to the subtle cues."
Lin Feng nodded. "Exactly. Qi is invisible, but it shapes everything. When cultivated properly, it strengthens your body and mind. When misused, it can harm you."
He looked at Adrien. "Your body is older, and the channels may be stiff - like pipes clogged with rust. You need to temper your body first, clear the way. That means physical conditioning: stretching, jogging, and steady exercise."
Adrien groaned again. "Fantastic, medieval boot camp. Just what I expected."
Mizuki's eyes met Lin Feng's, calm and determined. "And for me?"
"You're young, flexible. Your meridians will open more easily than most. You'll start with meditation - focus on your breathing, your awareness. Imagine your mind as a still pond. Disturb it too much, and the qi won't settle."
Ning Xu looked thoughtful. "And me? My body's different."
"Your channels have begun to harden, yes," Lin Feng said gently. "That means you must be even gentler with yourself. No forcing, no rushing. Let the qi come to you like a quiet stream, not a rushing river."
Ning Xu nodded slowly, lips pressed together. "Quiet stream, not rushing river."
Lin Feng gave a final glance around. "This is the first step. If you fail to sense or control qi, you will waste your efforts - or worse. But if you endure, if you master even this faint pulse, your body and soul will grow stronger than you ever imagined."
Adrien raised an eyebrow. "And if I don't?"
Lin Feng's eyes sharpened. "Then you won't survive long in this world."
A long silence followed before Adrien muttered, "Fine. I'm in."
Lin Feng stood, stepping back. "Begin."
Mizuki settled facing the keystone, Slaughter Demon resting by her side like a silent guardian. Ning Xu closed her eyes beneath a tree, matching her breath to the rustling leaves. Adrien started a slow, reluctant jog around the camp, grumbling under his breath.
Lin Feng watched quietly as the morning sun cast long shadows and the keystone's silver glow bathed the ground.
'The first step is always the hardest, he thought. But if they endure… they will change everything.'
…
The morning sun peeked over the jagged cliffs, casting a warm golden haze over the Thousand Vein Wastes. Amid the crumbling stone and flickering spirit light, Lin Feng stood with arms crossed, silently observing his three disciples.
They sat spaced apart on the worn plateau - three mismatched figures from a different world. And yet, here they were. Trying.
Mizuki was the most likely to succeed today. That much was obvious. She was young - body pliable, qi channels unscarred. Her aura, though dim, held potential. Lin Feng had seen the way she moved during sparring: her instincts were sharp, her breathing already halfway to a meditative rhythm.
She sat cross-legged, spine straight, eyes closed. Not forced - focused.
Her chest rose and fell. Then, it slowed.
A shift. A subtle flicker. A ripple in the still air.
Lin Feng's eyes narrowed. There.
A spark of qi stirred in her dantian, faint but distinct - the first true stirring of internal awareness.
"I think… I felt it," Mizuki said, opening her eyes. "Like something brushing against me. Light, but real."
Lin Feng gave a small nod. "Good. Don't chase it. Qi isn't fire - it won't ignite under pressure. It's fog. You let it gather."
She nodded, lips pressed in determination. He made a mental note: she might break through to Qi Condensation within the month. Perhaps sooner.
As expected.
…
Ning Xu leaned against a twisted pine stump, legs curled beneath her, fingers twitching nervously in her lap. Her brows were furrowed, and her lips moved faintly - as if murmuring to herself.
Lin Feng's expectations here were tempered.
She wasn't too old - barely twenty - but age still mattered. A few more years, and her meridians would stiffen entirely. She was already on the cusp. He had expected her to trail behind Mizuki by a week. Two, at most.
But something shifted in the air.
Her breath evened out. Her nervous fidgeting stopped.
Then, like a pebble dropped in still water, Lin Feng felt it.
Not a pulse. Not a surge. A shimmer. The quietest resonance of internal qi. It was... gentle. Hesitant. But it was there.
Ning Xu opened her eyes slowly, blinking behind her glasses. "It felt like… a breeze through paper," she said. "No. Softer. Like… like someone exhaling right next to my chest."
Lin Feng paused.
He hadn't expected her to sense qi this early. It should've taken days of stillness, of constant correction. But somehow, she'd found a way in.
"You're attuned to subtleties," he said, voice calm. "Let that guide you. Don't force clarity. Trust your senses."
Ning nodded mutely, visibly trying to keep her breathing steady. Her cheeks were flushed.
Unexpected. She's in tune with her own rhythms. Quiet, but real. A thread of wind in still air.
…
Then there was Adrien.
Lin Feng had placed him last for a reason. Almost thirty, physically healthy but spiritually dull - his dantian was rigid, his qi channels blocked from years of mundane life. Worse, his temperament was… volatile.
Right now, Adrien paced, muttering to himself, occasionally shooting the others jealous glances.
He kicked a rock.
Grumbled.
Sat down.
Got up again.
Lin Feng said nothing.
He waited.
Eventually, Adrien froze mid-step.
He blinked. Clutched his gut.
"What the hell was that?" he muttered.
Lin Feng's ears perked. He stepped closer.
Adrien frowned, pressing a hand over his navel. "Felt like… heat? Pressure? I don't know - it was like someone lit a match in my stomach and then blew it out."
"And now?" Lin Feng asked.
"Gone. As soon as I noticed it, it vanished."
He hadn't expected this. Not today. Not this week. Adrien's qi should've been inert - unresponsive until a longer regimen of breathing and body refinement. But somehow…
"You disturbed it," Lin Feng said after a beat. "But the fact you noticed anything at all means your sense is awakening."
Adrien blinked. "So that's good?"
Lin Feng gave him a sharp look. "It means you're not hopeless."
Adrien cracked a grin. "I'll take that."
He's crude. Undisciplined. But… perhaps too stubborn for even blocked meridians to stop.
…
Lin Feng stepped back, arms crossed, his eyes quietly taking in the three before him.
Mizuki… just as expected. Ning Xu… a little sooner than anticipated. Adrien? Far too soon.
He let out a slow breath, the weight of responsibility settling heavier.
"Qi doesn't manifest the same way for everyone," he said softly. "For some, it feels like warmth. For others, cold. Pressure, a sound - even pain."
Their gazes lifted to meet his, attentive and searching.
"Each of you experienced something different. That's natural. Your own perceptions will shape your unique path. Don't try to imitate each other - listen to what your body tells you."
His eyes swept over them again, thoughtful.
Perhaps their training needs to be rearranged… or even divided. Their speeds are already diverging.
A quiet determination settled in him.
No matter how different their paths, they will all walk forward together.
Lin Feng's gaze swept across the plateau once more, the faint surprise in his heart now buried beneath calm resolve. He stepped forward, boots crunching against gravel.
"Now that you've each sensed qi," he said, "you're ready for the first stage of actual cultivation: guiding it."
Mizuki sat upright immediately, eyes sharp.
Ning Xu glanced down, then back up, nodding.
Adrien scratched his neck. "Define 'guiding.' Like… I point and it flows?"
Lin Feng shot him a look. "If only it were so easy."
He knelt and traced a rough circle in the dust with his finger. Then three lines - top, bottom, and center - forming a crude diagram of the human torso.
"You each have a dantian," he said, tapping the center of the circle. "Here. Below the navel, nestled between the meridians. It's the reservoir that stores your qi. But right now, yours are empty."
He looked up.
"You felt sparks, impressions. But that is qi in the body, not yet gathered."
Adrien raised a hand. "So we're supposed to suck it in and store it?"
Lin Feng nodded. "Yes. But not with force. You don't pull qi. You lead it. Think of it like coaxing mist into a jar. Use your breath and focus to draw the surrounding qi into your lungs - and from there, guide it with intent toward your center."
Ning Xu frowned slightly. "That… sounds impossible."
"It is, at first," Lin Feng said. "Which is why you'll start small."
He rose and paced in front of them, speaking evenly.
"There are three phases in this stage. First: breath control. Not simple breathing, but cyclical cultivation breath. Inhale with the nose, let it linger, and exhale slowly through the mouth, in rhythm with your heartbeat."
He demonstrated, slow and steady - his diaphragm expanding, his exhale long and smooth, as if sighing away tension.
"Do this until your breath no longer feels like breathing, but like… moving the tide."
Mizuki mirrored him immediately. Her shoulders rose and fell in a calm rhythm.
Ning tried too, more cautiously. Adrien still looked skeptical.
"I don't feel anything," he muttered after a minute.
"You won't," Lin Feng said flatly. "You're training awareness, not results. If you want explosions, go mine spirit stones."
Adrien muttered something that might've been "lame," but resumed anyway.
Lin Feng knelt before Ning Xu, watching her breath stutter slightly.
"You're too shallow in your inhale," he said. "Don't fill the chest. Fill the abdomen. Imagine you're inflating a lantern below your ribs."
She nodded, adjusting.
He moved to Mizuki. Hers was smooth - instinctive. That same martial training adapted easily to qi.
"You'll progress quickly here," he murmured. "Be patient. The qi will come."
Then, finally, Adrien.
He was trying, to his credit. But he was rigid - muscles tight, spine crooked.
Lin Feng tapped his back with two fingers. "You're trying to dominate the air. That's not control. That's panic."
Adrien flinched, but relaxed. "So… what, I breathe like I'm sleeping?"
Lin Feng nodded. "Exactly. Let the breath flow without ownership. Then your body will remember what you've forgotten."
He stood again, voice rising.
"This will be your task for the next several days. Morning and evening. Breath control and posture refinement. As your qi begins to gather again, we'll move to circulation techniques - leading the qi through the meridians and storing it in the dantian."
He paused.
"And no shortcuts. You force the qi before you're ready, and it won't temper your body. It'll destroy it."
That sobered even Adrien.
Mizuki bowed slightly. "Understood."
Ning Xu nodded quietly.
Adrien gave a short salute.
Satisfied, Lin Feng turned, the faint wind pulling at his sleeves. He faced the Wastes again, letting the silence settle in.
Three disciples. Three different paths. And all already a step ahead.
Maybe - just maybe - this little sect wouldn't be so hopeless after all.