4 Some exploring.

Cultivating this technique feels really weird. Have you ever felt as if you were able to feel your own blood pumping? Feeling a thick, strong flowing sensation throughout your entire body. Now imagine feeling your blood, and then needing to force it to flow slower. And at the same time, you need to feel some underlying energy inside your body, and infuse it into your blood. Let it in just enough to strengthen the cells, but not so much that they burst.

It hurts. More than anything has any right to.

But you need to keep going. If you want to have any chance at a future, you need to. And in my case, I needed to do something specific. I groaned a bit in pain, directing that energy into the spot just below my navel. I followed the instructions I read in the manual. Forming a dantian was what would make me break into the Body Refinement Realm.

But for some reason... My instincts were screaming that I was wrong. It felt entirely wrong, as if this body knew the answer, but my mind didn't. As I doubted and considered, I felt that thumping, painful feeling meaning my cultivation was starting to go askew. My cells were bursting. I immediately stopped my cultivation, collapsing backward to lay across the floor. It was exhausting, trying to control something so much like my own blood.

I let out a long, slow sigh. It was frustrating, trying to achieve something for once, and still not succeeding.

"I need to clear my head a bit."

And with that, I decided to leave my new room. After all, I've seen almost nothing. This is a brand new world to me! So why am I not taking in the sights?

I left my room, and looked out. I was in the outer disciple residential area, near the fringes of the sect's lands. If I had to say, it was basically a glorified slums. Houses packed too close together, and while they were well made, they were still just plain stone. The main thoroughfare was wide, though. Probably out of necessity, given that there were thousands of outer disciples. I looked toward the north, and could still see the absurdly huge gate. I had done a bit of listening in, and apparently this was one of the better-off sections of the outer sect. Here, you could find the botanical mountain, and you were within an hour's travel from the inner disciple residential area. And by proxy, within an hour from the commercial district.

I sighed again. So I'm basically surrounded by the people who performed the best within the outer sect? And I'm not even a cultivator yet? Sure old man, just plaster that bullseye on the back of my head.

I started to head toward the commercial district. I flipped through the introduction book I got, and double-checked my information. In the commercial area, you could find both the Cultivation Tower, and the Challenge Arena. The Cultivation Tower was my destination this time. Imagine if you will, a tall pagoda, filled to bursting with thousands of cultivation and martial manuals. Absolutely brimming with prized treasures and powerful pills. If you gain enough money, or any time you raise to a new realm, you get to enter and pick out a new technique, a new weapon, or whatever you want. As a new disciple, I was given enough money to afford one Low-Mortal rank Martial Technique. While I wasn't quite ready to start practicing it, I still wanted to grab a decent one quickly.

I arrived at the commercial area, taking in the sights. A wide road, filled to the brim with a couple hundred disciples, street stalls, a few carriages, and quite a number of folk not from the sect. A massive market, full of anything you could believe. Foods I've never seen, weapons being sold in every other stall, and items of all kinds. One store caught my attention, though. Inside, I could see cages and tanks lining the walls, and dozens of strange animals.

My mind was blown, and I walked inside. The animals looked incredible. A small bird, with wings twice the size of its body, and feathers the color of fire. Something that looked like a cat with grey scales instead of fur. A dog that had a beard? Okay, so some of these definitely looked ridiculous. I was looking through all the different animals, when a little kid approached me from my right.

"Hi mister. Are you looking to adopt a support pet?"

I turned, and looked at the kid. He was pretty young, maybe twelve? He looked decently athletic for his age, with short blond hair and green eyes to top it off. He also wore a tan apron, and a nametag that read 'Charlie' on it.

"Oh, sorry. Do you work here? I was just wandering around, and this place caught my eye. I didn't really think about whether I would buy anything." I spoke apologetically, scratching my head as I looked down at the kid. He didn't seem too fazed though, as he pointed to the cage I was standing beside.

"This beast is called a Log Turtle. They are pretty docile little creatures, and they naturally generate Wood-aligned Mortal Energy. I recommend them for people just starting out in medical-type cultivation methods. This one in particular is Gibbon. He's a bit... temperamental, for his species. We actually had an elder check his bloodline, and he's got a shard of Needle Croc in him. That makes him one of the highest-ranking pets in the whole store, since in the future he may even evolve into a Destructive Beast. As a plus, he is actually aligned to Wood and Water."

Everything the kid said was like Greek to me, but I nodded along and tried to remember it anyway. Apparently bloodlines were important? And you can have an elemental alignment with your energy type? This is kinda complicated... Thank the void I've got some good gifts.

I chuckled to myself, before turning back to the kid and asking, "You have anything suited for someone who doesn't know what path they want to pursue?" To my surprise, he nodded and grabbed my hand, pulling me along with way more force than I thought he'd be able to. Guess the kid cultivates.

"This right here is a Null Squirrel. They are considered real low in the Savage Beast range of power, so even a non-cultivator like you should be fine handling one. They aren't too popular, since they don't generate too much energy of any kind. But they have a few good traits, too. They generate all three types of energy, Mortal, Earthly, and Heavenly. They also don't have any alignment, so pretty much anybody can synchronize with them and help their cultivation." The kid showed me a small kennel, toward the back end of the store. Inside, a rather normal looking squirrel was sitting, watching me back. It didn't look too spectacular, but... I dunno, I thought it was pretty neat. After all, if I don't know what I'm going to train in, having an all-around support won't be too bad.

I looked to the price tag, and saw the rather low price. But... I had only enough money for a Martial Technique. I can't afford both. I could get either one, but... What would be the best for me? I looked at the squirrel again, and asked a question.

"What do support pets eat?" And the kid showed me, tossing a small acorn from his pocket and to the squirrel. However, instead of eating it, the squirrel held it, until it turned to ash in its paws.

"The Null Squirrel eats energy. Not enough to hurt anybody though. Mostly plants. I suggest you keep one away from the herb mountains if you don't want the punishment tower breathing down your neck."

And at that, I decided.

"I'll take him."