9 Waking Up
Jun finally opened his eyes and saw that he was laying on the ground. The room around him was unfamiliar with the walls and ceiling out of place from the usual mess of poorly fitted wooden planks. The ceiling and walls were made out of a neat wood panelling colored with a dark, mahogany finish.
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As he roused his body, he looked around him and noticed not only the cleanliness but the craftsmanship compared to the wooden shacks and huts. He was absolutely confused at the switch of environment and noticed his poor woven clothing was replace with a cleaner, softer tunic made out of gray woven linen. As he slowly pulled himself off the ground, George entered the room in a similar tunic and quickly approached him.
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"Don't be surprised, this is the private area of my home. I'm sure you have a lot of questions so I'll answer some for you."
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George turned to one of the cabinets right next to Jun, opening it to reveal a broken sword nestled among pieces of shattered armor. Looking back at Jun, he explained slowly.
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"Many years ago, I was the young master of one of the most powerful families in the Greater Aether Dynasty. I was betrayed by my grandfather, who plotted my demise with the help of my to-be-wedded fiance. I was poisoned with the toxin of the Shimmering Mamba, crippling my dantian and meridians and reducing my state to a mortal.
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I escaped to the Fallen Star Empire, where I was picked up by Baron Greyhound and joined his army. As my cultivation was destroyed, I was unable to practice my sword techniques and forced to restart by training my body extensively."
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Turning his head toward the east with a melancholic and longing look, he sighed and paused for a few moments as he was lost in his thoughts. As these few seconds passed, Jun's mind was rapidly thinking of the possible outcomes and validity of George's statement. He currently could grab the sword and stab George with unknown outcomes and possible immediate gains, continue to listen to George and show outward agreement to being tutored by him for a long-term investment, or just reject and move on.
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Turning toward the blade, Jun closely inspected it and hoped the System would give partial enlightenment but the System responded with only silence. As he looked back at George, the System updated his character sheet and displayed the following:
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Name: George ???
Class: Footsoldier, Fallen Cultivator
Level: 19???
Race: Human
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Skills:
Iron Body (Passive, Master)
Channeled Iron Body (Active)
Spear Proficiency (Passive)
Recovery (Active)
??? Cultivation (Destroyed, Passive)
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As Jun deduced the validity of his statements were true, he was completely unaware of the context. What were the hidden plots that led to his downfall? Will his mentorship come with some form of karmic debt he had to repay? Could George be trusted even though be betrayed his country and lost everything?
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The biggest question was what was George's purpose for living? He had to be living for some reason, and the biggest Jun could think of was revenge. If he had any close kin or his master, he would not be in the state of his enemy so they were either all dead, similarly betrayed him, or suffered a worse fate of being imprisoned, crippled, enslaved, tortured, or a mix of these fates. If George's purpose was revenge--even holding onto his memories and relics of this broken armor and sword as well as bitterly training and serving in the army--, what opportunity was he looking for?
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As Jun considered his own situation, what could George gain from Jun that could possibly be worth pausing his path for revenge, or worse, what was Jun worth to George's ultimate plan for revenge? Did he need a new body to occupy to replace his dying self, or was he to be trained and turned into a puppet of his will. The world of cultivation was even more of an enigma compared to Jun's current feudal and RPG-esque situation: he had little to no independent and outside information other than what George informed him.
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As they both exited their own moments in thought, George closed the cabinet and assented.
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"Now, I am aware of how abrupt this is but I offer you the chance to becoming one of the sons of heaven and eventually, the strongest individual in this world. This, I swear on my master's name."
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Although Jun wanted to refuse and move on, he knew that if George had malicious intentions, he would be able to instantly overpower him and force him in a unfavorable situation with little chance to escape. And so, Jun decided to agree for now and escape when the opportunity arises. His gut feeling, however, was just to kill George to get rid of future troubles but he questioned whether he had the will to kill: maybe his so-called Gamer mentality would prevent him from feeling remorse or guilt as it did prior when he killed the hedgehog in the forest. But he did not want to take any chances with his own life, and he knew that if he hesitated or made even the slightest of wrong moves, George could immediately counter-attack and kill or subdue him.
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"Well, what exactly can you offer me? All I see is some broken armor and a broken sword, and you are just a Village Elder."
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He cast some doubt and suspicion in his reluctance as agreeing immediately would cause George to be suspicious and Jun wanted to fish for some immediate benefits. He had the outward appearance of a 6-year old child and George seemed to have dropped his guard in front him; instead, George adopted the stereotypical wise master cliche that any other 6-year old would have fallen for. With his vast experience with novels and anime, if he fell for the same naive trick, all forty six generations of his ancestors would be shamed.
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George grinned, however, with seemingly no indication of suspecting Jun's own doubt, and opened another cabinet, which was filled with a few dusty porcelain bottles. Collecting them in his hand, he split them into four different groups in front of him.
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"There is a hierarchy of medicines that goes from powders, pellets, to pills for the Greater Aether Dynasty and other Higher Powers and then, salves, potions, and elixirs for the Fallen Star Empire and other Lower Powers. I have four different pills that will greatly enhance your ability and training. They cover the four cornerstones of body cultivation: blood purification, marrow cleansing, organ refinement and skin reinforcement.
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First, these Cleansing Pills will rid your body of its impurities and maximize your body's physical potential. Second, these Harmonification Pills will prevent any negative backlashes caused by cultivation and mitigate any lingering and hidden dangers within your body. Third, the Clear Shaping Pill will help properly guide your body cultivation to perfection, preventing any errors or mistakes in the raising of your body cultivation; thus, most importantly, preventing any misdirected or misconstructed meridians and deformities in your dantian. Finally this is the most important pill that directly raises your body cultivation: the Golden Impermanence Pill. After training to your limits, this last pill will complete the transformation and form the true cultivator body.
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"Now in order for any of these pills to be utilized to their full potential and allow you to form the true cultivator body, you need the right training methods and the guidance of a mentor."
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George placed the pill bottles in separate marked wooden boxes before putting them all in a small rucksack. Placing the rucksack in front of you, he further explained:
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"You can hold onto the pills for now. Everyday, take a Cleansing Pill in the morning. To be honest, you won't be able to do anything for probably the entire day due to the agonizing pain accompanying it. You will continue this regiment for 100 days until you are ready to start your training."
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He then took out a worn-out manual from his inner pocket of his robe and passed it to Jun.
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"This is the Only Breath Technique that will allow you to gather and refine worldly energy into your body. This technique advantages lie in allowing for deep meditation, utilizing worldly energy to indefinitely sustain its practitioners, enhancing the capacity of their dantian, and most of all, nourishing their soul. The technique is more arduous and straining compared to other cultivation methods, requiring continued meditation and cultivation."
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As Jun picked up the pills and the manual, the System finally gave him a few information boxes about the items:
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"Cleansing Pill
- Quantity: 100
- Effect: +0.1 Vitality. Remove bodily impurities.
- Stack Effect: After 100 are used, no more effects and fully unlock mortal body cultivation.
Harmonification Pill
- Quantity: 10
- Effect: Harmonize the body
- Stack Effect: After 10 are used, create a fully harmonized body.
Clear Shaping Pill
- Quantity: 10
- Effect: Partially eliminate any meridian or dantian deformities
- Stack Effect: After 10 are used, fully unlock mortal qi cultivation.
Golden Impermanence Pill
- Quantity: 1
- Effect: Gain passive skill, Wisdom of Buddha Only.
- Restriction: Have Only Breath Technique skill, fully unlocked mortal body cultivation, fully unlocked mortal qi cultivation
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As Jun stared at the last item, he realized that the Harmonification Pill did not help him fulfill any of the restrictions for the Golden Impermanence Pill or have any positive benefits for himself. While a fully harmonized body sounded beneficial, what exactly did it entail? The other pills gave Jun a passive skill or effects needed to practice body cultivation and qi cultivation, but why did he need to take this Harmonification Pill. As he looked at George and his ambiguous intentions, he could only conclude that there was some hidden motive, most likely having something to do with the Harmonification Pill.
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His mind lingered to the stories where old wizened masters would attempt to steal the bodies of the MC, only to be thwarted by their strengthened souls due to transmigration or some other similar plot armor. Jun couldn't help but wonder if this was the same cliche--although his doubts were unfound other than a few circumstantial pieces of suspicion and uncertainty, George's selfless humanitarianism toward Jun was frankly humanly impossible. Humans acted with their own benefits in mind, being viciously economically in their decisions, especially for those who endured hardships and loss.
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As he slowly gathered the manual and the rucksack containing the pill bottles, George got up and began leaving.
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"Wait here, I'll get you some food. You will start meditation and taking the cleansing pills by tomorrow after I familiarize you with the Only Breath Technique."
