After waking up, Roku looked outside the window. The winds were howling with coldness, the trees sang the glory of nature, and a myriad of colorful flowers were dancing on the ground. So many things were happening at the same time. If one looked at the coldness of the wind, they would miss the singing of the trees; if one looked at the singing of the trees, they would miss the dance of the flowers.
If one looked a little deeper, they would see different shapes of animals running around, some hiding, some swimming, flying, eating, or dying. They were not able to appreciate this beautiful scenario around them, and they never will.
They have to keep on moving forward, keep on hiding, and keep on surviving in this hellish world. A world that looked beautiful from the outside but rotten on the inside
Only one type of being could appreciate both the inside and outside of Mother Nature without having to worry about their lives.
They were Astral wanderer's.
The ruler of the world, they could control, change, and fix nature itself, beings above nature. Every move they made could bring new lives to this world or destroy everything in it's path.
It was one of the goals of everyone in this world, and Mother Nature was benevolent on this part; she did not pick one species and give them this benefit while not thinking of other species she birthed. It was for everyone; even a worm would be able to an astral wanderer given enough time and the right environment for it to grow, possibly even be the mightiest in the world? Who knows.The only thing stopping everyone from pursuing cultivation was the way to become one.
Some tried to jump off into the star, some tried to eat other hearts, While some ate everything they could see and store it inside them without pooping it out, thinking if they stored enough energy inside them, they would be able to be an astral wanderer.
While these people were barbaric in learning the way of truth, some intellectual people tried to understand the world itself, its function, and how it operated, trying to harness the might of the cosmos itself.
In the end no one could find the way, when a certain man came forth, he had the body of a celestial, the heart of a blazing demon, the height of a giant, and the hand of a qatu with the wings of an angel, giving off an aura of an elf.
He was known as Heavenly Ancestor.
The legends told that he flew to the wall that separated the mortal world and the astral world, trying to break the wall and help the world find the way.
He tried everything he could, but the wall did not budge even a little. Having no choice, the heavenly ancestor destroyed his body and soul itself to give the mortal world the way to cultivate their body and break free from the nature rules.
His body was used to connect the two worlds, making it possible for everyone to cultivate without fighting each other; his soul was used to impart the way of truth to everyone. Anyone that was born or will be born will get the help of the Heavenly Ancestor to cultivate their body with ease.
He broke the shackle that kept the organism of the mortal world from going out of hand.
He give everyone a new heart, one everyone was born with, used for living, experiencing the life they have; the other one, given by the heavenly ancestor, is used to strive more than they could have and have the courage to look at the star have try grasp it in their palm.
He didn't force anyone to believe that this is the only way to live a life; he gave a choice, a choice to be what you want.
Some worshiped him for giving them a chance, some hated him, calling him a hypocrite for going against the play of nature, the one's in power cried while the lost soul's rejoiced,
The one that had everything felt sad and angry that they couldn't keep it to themselves, while the one that had no one with nothing left saw a new light, a new way that hopefully would help them move forward.
It has already been 24,860 years since the death of the heavenly ancestor, the creator of astral wanderer's.
But the power from the astral world is slowly fading away; the knowledge the soul of the heavenly ancestor imparted on every new creature's started lowering, and the number of new cultivators started to lower each 100 years. Many powerful figures tried to recreate the same thing as done by the heavenly ancestor to help revive this wonderful way, but no one has ever succeeded. The only thing they could do was slightly stop the hole from fixing itself that separated the mortal and astral world.
This has been a popular way of dying a glorious death for any powerful figures that were at the end of their life.
Roku went to the mound near the hamlet after eating his breakfast; this was the place his friends were going to meet today.
Surprisingly Roku was the first one to arrive here; he waited patiently while sitting on a tree branch, looking at the helmet he lived on or far beyond, sometimes gently touching his forehead.
Not long after, he saw three figures walking towards this hill; it was Sophia, Dekon, and Swin.
Roku smiled brightly after seeing them: "What took you guys so long?"
All three of them had a gloomy expression; they didn't know how to answer him. Both of them subconsciously looked at Swin.
Swin got near the tree: "our Hamlet is disbanding, Roku."
"WHAT?" Roku was shocked. "What do you mean, swim?"
Swin explained, "I don't know either, but I heard my father talk with others about this matter, you might be able to know of it if you ask your father."
Ruko couldn't control himself; he was just about to leave and meet his father when Swin stopped him.
Swin said worriedly, "Don't go, Ruko! , if you ask your father right now, my father will definitely know that I eavesdropped and get scolded."
Ruko had no choice; he had to wait now.
"But I did hear them say 'stone region and air region,'" Swin said while scratching his head.
"Stone and air region?" Everyone was shocked.
***
"Dear, have you seen Roku's face when I talk about the story of the ancient destiny king?" Rosy had a grim expression; she tucked her head in Ronald's chest.
Ronald had a still face; no one could guess what he was thinking right now. The only thing that was moving was his eyes;looking at the golden forest. "As his father, I will build a road for whichever path he wants to walk on."
***
Roku walked towards his house; this small house he went in looked like a normal house that was made by an inexperienced person, giving the feeling that it could fall any moment.
He went to the kitchen; there were two figures. One was 10 ft tall with a silk body; he wore tattered clothes, he had deep dark eye's with big eye bags and white hair that reached his shoulders. He was Roku's father, Ronald.
The other one was also 10 ft tall with an elegant body; she was still beautiful even though she also wore tattered clothes and had white hair that reached down to her waist. She was Roku's mother, Rosy.
They both had their wings tucked behind their backs.
Ronald looked at Roku: "Roku, come here."
"Yes, Father?" Roku quickly went and sat next to his father.
"We will be leaving the Hamlet tomorrow." Ronald folded the newspaper and placed it in the table, "and everyone will as well."
Roku didn't know what to say now; he was shocked. What did this mean? He didn't know; he was just 9 years old.
Ronald consoled Roku: "Don't worry, most of your friends will come with us too. The air region will reach our mount region in a month, so we have to set off a lot quicker."
"Most of my friends?"
"Yes, Dekon and Swin's family could go to the capital rather than go to the air region with us; those 2 are pretty close to the capital lord."
Roku started to get confused; he didn't understand a thing: "But why...?"
Ronald explained, "It's because of the path their parents went on."
"Dekon parents are from the space path, and it goes the same for Swin parents as well, while Sophia's parents walk on the time path. The region we are in, the mountain region, has more space path stones, which makes it better to walk on the space path in this region, while the air region has more time path stones, making it more favorable to be a time path wanderer in that region."
Roku finally understood some of what his Father was trying to say "So, where are we going?":Roku asked curiously
Ronald smiled a little. "it depends on you Roku, mount region has more space path stone, time path in the middle with life path stone being the lowest while air region has more time path stone,life path in the middle with space path being the lowest"
"Me?, but..." Roku looked at his father's forehead.
There was a big wing that was half-close to covering his whole face; it reached from the forehead to his nose bridge before curving outward and reaching his lower jaw.
Being an Astral wanderer was not just about getting stronger and being a barbaric creature; it was about training one's mind as well, using the way of their respective path to understand the principle of the universe. A mortal that wanted to be an astral wanderer would need to cultivate both their body and mind, balancing both of them along the way. If the body was cultivated too hard, they would start to lose their mind, turning into a corrupted beast; if the mind was cultivated too much, they would start getting eaten by the universe itself.
The heavenly ancestor body gave a new heart to every mortal for body modification, while his soul gave them a way to expand their mind; its form was the respective body part of the heavenly ancestor of the respective species engraved in their forehead.
Roku tried to feel a heart inside his body; there was only one. He tried to feel a mark on his forehead; there was none. It was empty.
Ronald patted his son's head: "Roku, don't feel disheartened; there have been a lot of people just like you who didn't get a new heart or a marking, even though there hasn't been a lot of cases like this in our hamlet. It has existed since a longtime ago; it was even present at the first cosmic war."
"Say, Roku, do you want to be an astral wanderer or stay as a mortal?"
Roku didn't think much: "I want to be an astral wanderer! "
To this little kid, Astral wanderer's was like a hero, someone who was omnipotent and omniscient, the one who could do anything,travel anywhere they wanted, the one who could eat sweets whenever they wanted. The hero of all, admired by everyone.
Ronald smiled sofly: "Your father has a way to fix this issue for you, Roku."
Roku couldn't think for a moment; the "disease" that has always been making him feel bad and worthless—he always thought he had a dark future with no roads that would lead to his wish, but his father already had a solution!
"But this method was used way back and has lots of side effects that will hurt you, Roku." Ronald rested his hand on Roku's shoulder: "You have to work extra hard compared to others; you also have to change the way you think from now on, my child. I know it might be difficult for you to do that at such a young age; we can also wait for a little more time until you have matured enough"
Roku quickly replied, "No, Father! I want to do it right now. My friends are already going to start; I don't want to be left out."
Ronald lightly patted Roku's head before Roku started talking about what he did with his friend throughout the day while Ronald silently listened to his son, sometimes glancing at the newspaper beside him.