Mist hovered low over the moss and shattered bamboo trunks when Seraphina woke again. The first rays of the sun sliced between violet trunks, illuminating her clearing. Morning light danced across her curves, now more refined and defined than ever. Her breath eased out like steam from a forge. The feeling of strength in her body was deeper than mere muscles; it was structural, a resonance that vibrated through bone and Qi alike.
Her status screen blinked in mid‑air as she sat up, revealing the familiar lines:
> Cultivation: Foundation Establishment — Layer 4
EXP: 110 / 240
Stat Points: 24 (Unassigned)
Her eyes lingered on the thin EXP bar. Three more layers to reach the peak of Foundation Establishment. But something had changed overnight — she felt it in every fiber of her being.
And then she remembered.
She had awakened with a strange drawing in her mind — an intuitive understanding of Qi flow, like a river suddenly finding a new channel. Instead of needing to fight for every bit of energy, she now seemed to absorb Qi from the environment almost unconsciously.
She exhaled, and that warmth in her spine pulsed.
She opened her menu again.
> New Technique Acquired
• Qi Absorption (Passive) —
Seraphina absorbs natural Qi from the environment at a rate of 1 EXP per minute.
It wasn't something she consciously activated; it simply happened. Just being alive under the sky, breathing the forest's air, was giving her power.
She blinked. Then blinked again.
Her breath caught. Her heart thudded once — then she laughed.
"Absorbing Qi as if it's air?" she murmured, amusement coloring her voice. "Well… that's absurd."
A technique to absorb Qi from nature wasn't unheard of in cultivation novels — many characters trained for years doing it — but Seraphina's rate was unprecedented. In most stories, cultivators struggled for months or years to accumulate a little bit of Qi from the environment, often meditating for hours or weeks to feel a tiny uptick in their cultivation base. Here, the system had literally given her 1 EXP per minute just for existing in a Qi‑rich place like the forest.
That meant, in twenty‑four hours, she gained 1440 EXP all on its own — far more than she needed for multiple breakthroughs.
Her gaze narrowed thoughtfully, and then she smiled.
"Looks like cultivation just got… convenient."
She stood and stretched, and the subtle looseness in her frame told of her newly stabilized cultivation base. Her muscles no longer trembled after strenuous effort; they held tension easily, like forged steel housed in silk.
Her posture was easy, graceful… powerful.
---
Seraphina took her first steps of the day into the clearing, her barefoot contacting cool earth. The soil beneath whispered with Qi — whispering secrets she had once struggled to hear. She closed her eyes, lifted her head slightly, and simply breathed in.
With each breath, it felt as though tiny sparks of Qi threaded themselves into her spirit, weaving into her meridian network.
Her cultivation was improving even now.
She opened her status again.
> EXP: 155 / 240
Forty‑five passive EXP already just from a few minutes of breathing.
Her cheeks lifted in a private smile. Most humans breathed air. Seraphina was breathing spiritual energy now.
One minute later:
> EXP: 156 / 240
Another:
> EXP: 157 / 240
This was happening even as she walked, talked, and thought. Passive Qi absorption was real — and absurdly generous.
She glanced at her limbs, flexing her fingers and toes. The golden warmth of Qi seemed to circulate through her limbs like a river gaining current. Foundation Establishment wasn't something one took lightly — but Seraphina felt its foundation embedded in her bones, thicker and firmer than bedrock.
She thought of how in other cultivation novels, disciples often entered secluded valleys or ancient Daoist caves, enduring cold, hunger, or pain just to absorb Qi slowly day after day. Here, she merely opened her lungs.
Even her muscles seemed to hum with the stolen rhythm of the forest's energy.
Absorbing Qi wasn't just a technique now. It was part of her body.
And it continued to drip EXP into her cultivation bar like water filling a bucket.
---
She began with a few light movements, testing the limits of her physical control. Her Fire Qi flickered at her command, forming:
Phoenix Fireball
Flame Spear
Inferno Slash
Crimson Flame Aegis
Despite her casual amusement about passive cultivation, Seraphina didn't trust raw power without refinement. If she was going to break through to Core Formation — which was already beginning to feel closer than ever — she needed to refine her techniques.
She approached a young bamboo grove where small beasts often prowled. A rustling sound indicated the presence of wild prey.
A forest boar emerged first, not noticing her in compressed form. It was a timid beast of moderate strength, but Seraphina didn't need it to test technique. Still, she moved smoothly, pulling her Flame Spear into a gentle arc and igniting its tip with Qi that welled up effortlessly.
The spear glowed a warm orange, then a bright flame, and when she pierced through the boar's hide, its strength dissolved into Qi.
The system chimed:
> Beast Defeated — Wild Forest Boar (Strength 15)
Base EXP: 150 × 10 (Foundation×10) = 1500 EXP
Her EXP rose dramatically:
> EXP: 1658 / 240
She blinked in mild surprise.
Leveling up at this speed was almost silly.
The boar's contribution alone jump‑started her over the needed EXP for the next breakthrough.
Less than two hours into the day, Seraphina felt the first tremor of change inside her flesh.
---
A rush of Qi burst up her spine as her body began to reorganize itself at a deeper level. Her muscles contracted and relaxed with a newfound depth, like expanding and solidifying simultaneously.
A brilliant amber light flared — not fierce, but profound — and myriads of bubbles of Qi swirled around her, each one absorbing and fusing into her core.
Her breaths came in long, slow waves as she let her body adapt.
Fire Qi in her palms flared on its own momentarily, bathing her hands in a soft glow.
Another system notification appeared:
> Level Up!
Foundation Establishment — Layer 5
Unassigned Stat Points: +5
EXP Reset: 0 / 1000
No longer was she stuck at Layer 4. Now her cultivation was even more stable, and she could feel the difference on a visceral level.
Foundation Establishment Layer 5 meant deeper Qi circulation, more powerful control of her techniques, and a body that responded like steel caged in silk.
She felt robust and alive.
With each allocation of stat points, she enhanced her Qi reserves, vitality, and agility. Her body responded like a finely tuned instrument — durable, flexible, and ready.
She distributed the five stat points quickly:
Qi Capacity +3
Strength +2
The artificial weight of her enhanced power settled into her bones like a second skin — no longer alien, but her default state.
---
By the time the sun was fully above the forest canopy, Seraphina had absorbed hundreds of points of passive Qi and slain a handful of beasts — foxes, boars, small tigers. Each kill gave her a burst of multiplied EXP. She noticed something interesting:
The stronger the beast, the more her fire techniques responded. Techniques she used often leveled up faster — Phoenix Fireball was now Level 4, and Flame Spear had hit Level 3.
Her Fire Qi felt smoother and cleaner, no longer jagged and impatient like before. It flowed like molten gold instead of rushing like a waterfall.
Her body, meanwhile, continued to improve. With each breakthrough and each technique leveling, she felt physical changes:
Her limbs became defined without looking bulky — graceful, taut, and strong.
Her core felt rock‑solid.
Even her posture looked dangerous to behold.
And yes — she noticed how her chest and hips seemed to grow more dramatic with each breakthrough. It made her wince and smirk.
"If I hit Goddess Tier someday," she muttered, "my assets will need their own cultivation realm."
She laughed at her own joke, shaking her head at the absurdity of it all.
---
While resting on a boulder by the brook, Seraphina began to experiment with Qi flow at a deeper level. She shifted internal energies, imagining Qi sculpting her body from the inside out — smoothing muscles, reinforcing bone density, and stabilizing meridian networks.
Qi Absorption — her new passive technique — wasn't passive in effect alone. It provided the foundation for active refinement whenever she transitioned Qi into her meridians.
Concentrating, she closed her eyes and let the forest's Qi wash through her again. The technique channeled Qi into her limbs, her torso, her back.
Her breathing synchronized with the natural rhythm of the forest. Leaves swayed, grass trembled, and even the earth seemed to pulse in concordance with her Qi flow.
With every breath, she gained EXP — real numbers ticked up in her mind like the steady ticking of a clock.
> EXP: 2000 / 1000 (passive + beast kills)
She had already surpassed the Layer 5 requirement. Her body tingled as another breakthrough loomed on the horizon.
---
Her next breakthrough came without the fanfare of dazzling light — just a ripple through her entire body.
Muscles softened then hardened in perfect union. Qi surged through every sinew, deeper than ever before. Her aura expanded significantly, small pulses of power flickering around her like fireflies in the dusk.
Another notification appeared:
> Level Up!
Foundation Establishment — Layer 6
Unassigned Stat Points: +5
EXP Reset: 0 / 1500
The difference from Layer 5 to Layer 6 was pronounced. She felt stronger than ever — her Qi reservoirs deeper, her stamina tighter, her reflexes slick and fluid.
She smiled coolly.
"You know," she said to the still morning air, "if combining fire and Qi absorption were a sport, I'd be undefeated."
She allocated her five stat points quickly and efficiently — increasing Qi Capacity and Strength once more.
---
Around noon, Seraphina pursued larger prey — beasts tough enough to challenge her but still under her current cultivation threshold. A flock of Thunderbeasts (large wolf‑like creatures crackling with storm Qi) stood in her path.
The fight was rougher than a simple forest boar, but not world‑shaking. She shifted effortlessly between fire techniques and Qi‑infused strikes, slowly chipping away at their defenses.
Each kill rewarded significant EXP with the Foundation ×10 multiplier.
A Thunderbeast might grant 500 base EXP, so with ×10, that's 5000 EXP each. The passive intake continued in the background.
Her EXP soared rapidly:
> EXP: 3500 / 1500
(Layer 6 → Layer 7 break)
And soon after:
> EXP: 1000 / 2000
(Layer 7 → toward Layer 8)
Her body kept refining, responding to every spark of Qi refinement.
Seraphina couldn't help but grin with each level‑up. She felt her power being chiseled like jade — refined, hardened, and sharpened.
With every gain, the world felt smaller.
---
By late afternoon, her EXP had swelled beyond the thresholds of Foundation Establishment Layer 8 — and the next breakthrough beckoned.
Her strength was not simply raw anymore. It was refined, focused like a blade forged in flame. She struck, and the earth shivered. She leapt, and the air parted. Qi flowed through her so fluidly that standing still was itself cultivation.
By now, the passive Qi absorption had become automatic — breathing, walking, standing, meditating — all garnered EXP like interest accumulating in an endless bank.
> EXP: 4100 / 2000
(multiple breakthroughs now possible)
And then it happened.
---
A surge unlike any before wrapped around her, like a thread of cosmic fire tightening around every cell. Her breath hitched, Qi compressed into every meridian, bone and muscle and spirit all shaking with the force of transformation.
Her aura flared outward, bathing the forest in golden light as air tremored under her newfound power.
The system blessed her:
> Level Up!
Foundation Establishment — Layer 9
Unassigned Stat Points: +5
> Level Up!
Breakthrough Achieved → Core Formation (Level I)
Unassigned Stat Points: +5
Her body cracked open its limits, and she felt it — the glorious, tremendous sensation of entering a realm that lay above the known peak of mortal cultivation. Her Qi was no longer merely a reservoir; it was an ocean, deep and fathomless.
Her status now displayed:
> Cultivation Path: Core Formation — Level I
EXP: 110 / 3000
Stat Points: 34 unassigned
Her Strength, Vitality, Qi Pool, Reflexes, and Balance all skyrocketed beyond what she had ever known.
Her body, already refined and beautiful, now radiated the aesthetic of power itself. Golden streams of Qi wove beneath her skin, visible only when the light struck just right, like living embroidery.
---
Seraphina stood atop a boulder, looking out at the forest she had culled, cultivated, and reshaped with her own effort. Her breath was calm — powerful, anchored, and laced with potential.
For the first time since stepping into the forest that morning, she didn't feel like a novice.
She felt unstoppable.
And yet… she was still only at the beginning of Core Formation.