3 A New Earth (1)
Day 31 December 2043.
It was New Year's Eve.
All over the world people were getting ready to celebrate the start of a new year, at least most of them.
Suddenly, the whole Earth trembled!
Out of nowhere, earthquakes reached countries that weren't normally affected by it, destroying the poorly constructed and unprepared houses. As a result, huge waves flipped boats in the ocean and invaded the beaches causing even more destruction.
As if to not be left behind, the sky turned dark. Covered in dark clouds, the once bright sky was now illuminated only by the huge and endless thunderbolts that flashed on the horizon. In a minute, chaos spread like wildfire.
However, before people could imagine what was happening or even react, it was gone.
Minutes later, everything was back to normal. Although, as a way of showing that the catastrophe really happened, thousands had died and buildings were destroyed, people could only resume their daily lives in confusion.
In fact these unexpected phenomena would intrigue scientists for a long time to come.
Now everything was normal again, or so they thought.
Unnoticed by the humans, a colorless form of energy spread through the air. As if it came from the center of the Earth, it was able to traverse any barrier be it human-made or not and it quickly filled the whole world.
Fortunately or not, there were living beings more sensitive to this energy: The animals, they felt it! At first, they were paralyzed from the new sensation. People who saw that weird reaction thought that the animals were just afraid because of the strange weather phenomenon. Minutes later, however, they became energetic and some even jumped up and down in excitement. The kind of reaction a dog would have when they find a long lost friend.
Unfortunately, nobody was paying enough attention. Or else they would have noticed that the plants were also growing a bit faster!
Hours passed and as the day drew to a close, another anomaly occurred: Hundreds of thousands of people reported finding a book. Yes, books with a strange language, which no one could identify the origin of.
There were even books available online!
However, as if that wasn't weird enough, the language symbols were understandable by everyone! Even an illiterate child could easily grasp the meaning behind the book!
*************
Alaska.
Between the woods, a simple timber cottage stood near the mountains. Snowflakes fell, accumulating on the roof and branches, reflecting off the white horizon.
On the ground full of snow, a small girl was currently building a snowman - If you assume a pile of snow and clay was something similar to a snowman - Well, she wasn't that skilled for a twelve year old girl. Yet, she wore a simple jacket and jeans that highlighted her beautiful silver hair and blue eyes.
Even though he was not appropriately dressed, she felt no cold. But because of that, her delicate and small figure resembled a beautiful snow princess - or at least that's what her father always said.
Suddenly, the earth shook, the sky darkened and sparks of thunder engulfed the forest. The girl panicked and fell on her butts.
The cottage's door opened and a man dashed towards her.
"Don't be nervous my dear, father will protect you." He said while embracing her and looking at the sky.
The man was as big as a bear, his short black hair matched his large black beard perfectly. He wore the classic woodcutter style: red jacket and black jeans - and that was indeed his job.
[What the hell is happening here?] He gazed at the sky, perplexed.
He quickly got the girl inside the house and put her under the bed for precaution.
Minutes later, the thunders stopped and a shy ray of sunlight shone through the window. Outside, it bathed the recently fallen snow, blessing the place with its radiance.
The man watched the nature outside mesmerized. He had lived here for years, but never felt like that, something was off.
"Weird." He murmured, perplexed.
"Stay here honey. I'll look around to understand the situation, don't open the door unless it's Aunt Andressa, okay?"
"Okay father!" She nodded under the bed's protection.
After that, the man took his old friend axe from the wall and walked out.
The girl stayed under the bed with her eyes closed for a while.
Suddenly she heard a "pluck" nearby.
Mustering courage to open her eyes, the first thing she saw was an ice blue book.
[Where did this thing come from? Is this one of my dad's books?]
Looking at the cover, she noticed weird symbols written in a greenish color. Unexpectedly, the meaning behind it came directly into her mind.
[Snow-Ice Body Cultivation Technique].
"Weird, how can I understand it?" She had never seen those symbols.
Amazed, the girl easily forgot her fears and flipped the book open. The pages were as blue as the cover, giving a majestic cold feeling on touch. The meanings behind the strange writing came to her mind once again.
[A low-grade manuscript commonly seen in any cultivation family. It ensures the practitioner to reach the peak of the Body Tempering stage and maybe even break through the Foundation Establishment stage. Those who can withstand the coldness of snow are fit to practice this technique. Gathering the natural energy through the cold temperatures, the practitioner will be able to improve his yin energy to the maximum. The steps that should be taken are…]
"What?"
Even though she understood what was written, some of the words had no meaning to her.
What was the 'Cultivation' the book mentioned? Was it about growing plants or something? She had no idea what the yin energy was either, but she really loved to play on the snow and always enjoyed the cold temperature. So why not give it a try?
With that thought in mind, the girl came out from under the bed and went outside. Seeing that everything was normal, she sat in the newly formed snow and closed her eyes.
Following the steps in the book, she tried to meditate for the first time in her life. Little did she know that this would be her first of many.
***************
China.
In an old temple in the province of Hennan, a young man around 20 years old was running excitedly.
He was wearing a tattered red robe that could barely protect him. The same thing was true for the old stone walls around him. The boy ran through huge corridors filled with cracks that were highlighted by the passing sunlight.
As it was still dawn, the sunlight was not enough to illuminate the place. And as he passed through the dark corridors, the young man was reminded of the shame his family was suffering, but today his mood was not affected by it.
After some more twists and turns the boy stopped in front of a wooden door and knocked twice.
"Grandfather, grandfather! I have good news!" Without waiting for an answer he barged in.
"Why are you so euphoric, Wei Tian? Just when I was relieved that the temple did not crumble to the earthquakes, you come and almost destroy the old door!"
An elderly man stared at the boy. He was sitting at a small desk with an even older parchment in his hands. Even though he complained, a small smile formed on his lips. He wore a shabby blue robe, and his bald head and round brown eyes made him look like an old monk.
"Earthquake? Well, never mind" the boy looked weirdly at his grandfather and shrugged, it really seemed that he didn't know what the old man was talking about. "I'm sorry to interrupt grandpa, but I have amazing news!"
The old man couldn't help but to sigh at his grandson, he was always like that: Even though he was an adult, when it came down to training the boy would forget about the world outside. Still, he waved his hand signaling him to continue.
"I was in my chamber training our family techniques as normal. But then, I suddenly felt it! The Qi in the air has increased a hundredfold and it's still growing denser!" said a euphoric Wei Tian gesticulating with his hands to mimic the intensity of the situation. "Try to feel it, grandpa!"
Knowing that his grandson wouldn't stop to importunate him until he tried, the old man closed his eyes. Easily entering the meditation state, the man activated the family technique passed down through eras. The grandfather inspired slowly and tried to touch upon the natural energy as he always did.
All of sudden, the man felt like thousands of little particles entered his nostrils and reached his lungs. As if a thirsty man found water for the first time, an immense amount of particles went uncontrollably to his heart and were absorbed in his meridians! He couldn't help but to absorb more and more!
Stopping abruptly, he coughed a mouth of black blood!
He had broken through!
Cleaning his mouth the man looked at his grandchild and laughed out loud!
"Hahaha! Finally, finally my family is being blessed by the Gods once again!" The man raised his hands up and cheered up to the sky. "Soon, no one will be able to look down upon us!"
The boy was stunned, he had never seen his grandfather acting so excited.
Noticing that the boy was looking at him weirdly the old man cleared his throat and spoke:
"Call everyone here, we'll have an emergency meeting. Don't let any of them get away. Go, boy!" He shooed him with his hands.
