The manic grin on Long Xiaoyao's face was wide enough to split his cheeks. Like a man who had just won the lottery and discovered the prize was immortality.
'Qi Refining before breakfast!' he cackled, pointing a trembling finger at the ceiling. 'Foundation building by lunch! I'll be an Immortal Emperor by next Tuesday! Who needs talent? Who needs pills?!'
[Host, that is indeed a magnificent plan,]
The System's cool, mechanical voice cut through his delirium.
[However... You seem to have forgotten a rather critical detail regarding your existence.]
Long Xiaoyao froze mid-cackle. The euphoria dampened slightly. "Forgotten what? Don't tell me I need to water myself? I can drink water. That's easy."
[No, Host. Well, you're half right. But you need a different kind of water]
The System paused, almost as if savoring the moment
[You have forgotten that you are a Dual Cultivator. 'Primordial Yang Body,' fundamentally restricts how you process spiritual energy. You can absorb all the nature Qi you want, but without the... ahem... 'Harmonious Union' of Yin to catalyse your Yang, that energy will simply sit in your body, stagnant and useless.]
Long Xiaoyao blinked. 'Shit I forgot..'
[You cannot level up by sitting under a tree. You can only increase your cultivation realm with the help of a woman. The forest makes you a battery, Host. But without a partner, you have nothing to power.]
The silence in the room was deafening
[Do not despair so quickly, Host. While your solo farming plan is flawed, I do have a notification pending.]
A sudden, cheerful chime rang out in his mind, accompanied by a splash of golden confetti in his vision.
[Ding! Congratulations, Host!]
[You have successfully broken through the Mortal Shackles!]
[Current Realm: 1st level of Qi Refining]
Long Xiaoyao lifted his head, confused.
"Wait, what?" Long Xiaoyao stammered. "I broke through? When? I haven't even started using the stick yet!"
[This breakthrough is not due to the stick,] the System clarified
[This is the accumulated reward for your... strenuous physical exertions last night with Mo Qingqui. The exchange of Yin and Yang was sufficient to shatter your mortal limits.]
Memories of the chaotic, heated night flood back to Long Xioayao's mind "Oh. That..."
He sat there for a moment, processing this. He was a cultivator now. A real one. Level 1 Qi Refining
But then a frown slowly creased his brow as he recalled the events of the previous day, specifically, while Mo Qingqui was breaking through
"System," Long Xiaoyao asked slowly, getting to his feet. "There's something weird."
[What is it?]
"When Mo Qingqui broke through, the entire courtyard shook. The wind howled, the temperature dropped, and there was this terrifying pressure in the air. It looked like a special effects budget of a blockbuster movie," Long Xiaoyao gestured wildly.
"But me? I just got a 'Ding' and some confetti in my brain. No thunder? No glowing aura? No heaven and earth resonance?"
He looked down at his palms, feeling cheated. "Why is my breakthrough so... cheap?"
[Cheap?]The System sounded almost offended.
[Host, you misunderstand the nature of the phenomenon.]
"Explain then! Is her talent just that much better than mine?"
[Incorrect. The environmental phenomena, the wind, the lightning, and the pressure are the result of the Heavenly Dao of this world acknowledging a cultivator. It is a baptism, a test, and a registration all in one. When a mortal defies the heavens to become a cultivator, the Heavenly Dao reacts. The same thing happens if they break through a minor or major realm]
"Okay. So why didn't the Heavenly Dao react to me?"ī
[Host. It is not that the Heavenly Dao did not see you. It is that it dared not judge you.]
Long Xiaoyao paused. "Dared not?"
[Your physique, the 'Primordial Yang Body,' is an existence that traces its lineage back to the universe before the formation of this world's Heavenly Dao]
The System's voice took on a solemn, heavy tone
[This world's Heavenly Dao is merely a local administrator of a small planetary realm. It came into existence billions of years after the concept of your physique was forged in the Primordial Chaos.]
[The Heavenly Dao of this world is too young, too weak, and too junior to baptize you. It has no authority to test you, and it has no right to bestow power upon you.]
[Mo Qingqui caused a stir because she is a subject of this world submitting to its laws. You caused no stir because you are an existence that predates the laws themselves. The Heavens stayed silent... out of respect.]
Long Xiaoyao stood there, mouth agape, his ego instantly inflating from 'deflated balloon' to 'hot air balloon' in 0.5 seconds.
He looked at his hands again. "So... I have a physic of an Ancient God?"
[You are correct host]
Long Xiaoyao brushed his hair back, a smirk returning to his face. "The Heavens don't dare to grade my paper because they aren't qualified to be my teacher. I can live with that."
Long Xiaoyao made is way towards the door, holding the Branch of the World Tree. Stretching, as he prepares to train his body
But his attention was caught by a bronze half-body mirror leaning against the wooden pillar.
The sickly, skin-and-bones reflection he was used to was gone.
He blinked, leaning closer. The reflection stared back with an intensity that made the air in the room feel heavy. His once fragile frame had been entirely reforged.
His chest and abdomen were defined with sleek, compact muscle, not bulky, but sculpted with the precision of an immortal god
He turned slightly, watching the way the light played off his skin. It was flawless, radiating a faint, healthy luster
Long Xiaoyao rubbed his chin, a smirk tugging at the corner of his lips. He ran a hand through his hair, striking a pose.
"System. "What happened to my body? I feel like I've been remolded"
[As the Host ascends from a mortal to a cultivator, your physical vessel evolves to accommodate the Essence Qi in your body]
"Unbelievable," he muttered to himself, "No Black smelly liquids aswell?"
[You have the Primordial Yang Body host, you have no impurities]
"Crazy. With a face and body like this, who needs to cultivate for immortality? I could just return to the capital and make a killing. I look like a true gigolo. The wife of the nobles will surely pay just for my attention. Just like in my previous life"
Ding!
A semi-transparent blue screen materialized abruptly in front of his face, shattering the moment.
[The System detects critical levels of narcissism. The Host is advised that while his physical vessel has improved, his ego has inflated faster than his cultivation base]
Long Xiaoyao's eye twitched. He swiped the notification away. "Jealousy. Pure jealousy from a bodiless entity."
He turned away from the mirror, his gaze falling upon his weapon, the Branch of the World Tree
"Let's see what this body is capable of" he whispered.
He gripped the stick. It felt surprisingly balanced. He didn't use a fancy technique; he simply assumed a basic stance, breathed in, and swung the Branch of The World Tree as if it were a sword.
Ssssshhhht!
He didn't hit anything, but a high-pitched shriek tore through the room.
Long Xiaoyao froze. About three feet in front of the stick, the air itself seemed to distort, leaving a vacuum trail that rippled like water disturbed by a stone. A distinct line of compressed air shot forward, slicing clean through the flame of a candle five meters away without extinguishing the wick.
He looked at the candle, then back at the ugly, crooked stick in his hand.
"It split the air..." he murmured, his eyes widening.
The stick looked like nothing more than firewood, something a servant would toss into a stove without a second thought. Yet, in his hand, it hummed with a terrifying, latent pressure.
"Truly an item of the gods," Long Xiaoyao said, weighing the stick with newfound reverence. "To think an item that looks like a fallen branch from my courtyard could hold such power"
[Host is mistaken. While the Branch of The World Tree is indeed a supreme conduit, the destructive force did not originate from the item itself.]
Long Xiaoyao blinked "What do you mean? I didn't use any technique. I just swung it."
[The Host has recently stepped into the First Level of the Qi Refining Realm. Although your reserves are currently microscopic comparable to a single drop of water in a dried riverbed, your body has begun to generate Essence Qi.]
[The Branch of The World Tree possesses a unique property: Perfect Conductivity. Ordinary weapons resist the flow of Qi, requiring great effort to channel energy through them. This branch, however, offers zero resistance. When the Host swung the branch, your body's latent Qi was instinctively drawn out and projected outward without any loss.]
Long Xiaoyao looked down at his hands. "So... that air slice? That was my power?"
[Correct. The Branch acted as a magnifying lens, but the light was yours.]
He clenched his fist. He had always heard of Cultivators moving mountains and overturning seas, but he had assumed he was years away from manifesting even a spark of energy. To think he had just released a vacuum blade.
"But I didn't feel anything," Long Xiaoyao admitted, frowning. "If I have Qi, why does it feel like I'm just waving my arm blindly? I can't control it."
[Host lacks sensory awareness of the Dantian. Please sit in the lotus position. Close your eyes. Lower the branch.]
Long Xiaoyao hesitated for a moment, then did as instructed. He placed the crooked stick across his lap and sat on the wooden floor, straightening his back. He took a deep breath, trying to calm the adrenaline still spiking from the destructive swing.
[Do not focus on your hands. Do not focus on the swing. Focus your consciousness on the space three inches below your navel. This is the Dantian. Where your Essence Qi is.]
"It just feels dark," Long Xiaoyao muttered, his eyes squeezed shut. "I see nothing."
[Patience. Do not look with your eyes. Feel for heat. Imagine a small ember buried deep within the cold earth of your body.]
Long Xiaoyao quieted his mind. He pushed away the sound of the wind outside and the hum of the system. He focused entirely on his lower abdomen. At first, there was only the physical sensation of his clothes against his skin and the rhythmic expansion of his lungs.
Minutes passed. He was about to complain to the System when he felt it.
It was faint—incredibly faint. It wasn't a fire, but rather a subtle warmth, like the sensation of swallowing a mouthful of warm tea that settled in his gut.
"I think... I feel something warm," he whispered.
[Hold that sensation. Now, recall the moment you swung the stick. Do not move your body. Recreate the intent of the swing in your mind.]
Long Xiaoyao visualized the swing. He imagined the weight of the Branch of the World Tree. He imagined the desire to cut the air.
Suddenly, the warmth in his gut twitched.
It was a strange, slippery sensation, like a tiny tadpole swimming upward from his stomach, darting through his chest, moving toward his right shoulder.
"It's moving!" Long Xiaoyao gasped, his eyes snapping open.
[Success. That is the flow of Essence Qi. You drew it from your Dantian and directed it through your meridians. Because you are in the Qi Refining Realm, this energy is now yours to command.]
*Knock*
*Knock*
*Knock*
"Your Highness, it's me, Yuan Gui. General Meng has come to visit"