8 Qi Condensation

A bright sunny day with clear blue skies. About one hundred or so people knelt in front of a large violet sphere. They did not dare move or make a sound as the sphere quietly glowed in front of them. A small shadow could be seen in the core of the light sphere.

Inside the sphere Philip was frozen from panic. Strangely though, he was not harmed in the least from being swallowed by the light orb. In fact, it gave him a comfortable feeling, like a garden of roses on a sunset. There was a dense fog in the sphere and visibility was poor. A shadow appeared in front of Philip and slowly walked over. From a small shadow in the distance it turned into the figure of a middle aged man with striking features. He carried a large book under his armpit and was smiling.

"You're in luck kid. Any last requests?" the man said as he held up the book and opened the middle page of his book. Opening the book stirred the fog and a might descended on Philip such that he couldn't move and felt a strong need to kneel. This was the same thing that happened to the clan! Was this man the cause of everything? Thoughts galloped rapidly through Philip's mind as he knelt down to relieve the pressure. "I wished for strength, but instead I'm going to perish. You cant trust shooting stars at all." he said and shook his head in defeat.

"Oh? Kid if it's strength you want, cooperate with This God." the man said, with a deep glance to Philip. He then began to recite from the large book and make rapid hand symbols toward Philip. " I guess this is fate." Philip lowered his head. He could tell the man before him was immensely powerful. He did not dare resist at all. Quietly Philips eyes went shut and as the man continued chanting, a small round orb of white light came out of his forehead.

"Hmm? A chaos soul as well?" the man showed a surprised face when he saw the light orb. "Kid your luck is really too good" the man snickered and directed the light orb into the large book with his hand gestures. Once this was accomplished and the book absorbed the light, the man took a serious expression and looked at Philip. He shut the book and then shrunk in size into a miniature version of himself. The mini-man then flew up and shot into Philip's forehead. The boy trembled for a bit and then settled back into his previous state. A long while passed and then Philip opened his eyes wide. His brown pupils slowly became tinged with blue until his brown eyes became striking blue eyes.

"Haha I'm back" said Philip, but the tone of voice was exactly like the middle aged man's. He had taken over Philip's body! He stood up in the fog and stretched a bit. He then sat down again in the lotus position with the large book on his lap. "A mortal target was expected, lets begin." he mumbled to himself. He then looked around at the fog, before opening his mouth and sucking in a deep breath. All the fog gathered toward him and was sucked into his mouth like a vacuum. Black veins appeared on Philip's face and slowly spread down his neck and all over his body as more and more fog was swallowed. A focused expression was on his face as his stomach began to swell and dimly glow.

"Its been a long time since i was in [Qi Condensation]" he muttered. The nine stages of the cultivation level flashed through his eyes. "Begin" an obese Philip said. The blood in Philip's body boiled and absorbed energies from the fog he swallowed. It became viscous and thick and turned from red into a deep purple. The bone marrow solidified and also turned a deep shade. This was the first stage, refining the blood and marrow, [Purple Blood Stage]. Immediately after, crackling sounds started coming from Philips bones as the fog rushed into them. The bones hardened and gained a metallic sheen, becoming a smooth shiny white. A short while later all the bones were in an identical state. This was the second stage, [Steel Bones Stage], where the bones were strengthened. Following that, Philips skin started glowing as the fog rushed out of the body and back in through every pore. Several circulations later, Philips skin was red hot and glowing a deep brown. This was the third stage [Bronze Skin Stage] and made the skin tough as metal, invulnerable to arrows and swords. Without pause Philip continued, and more fog gushed out of his pores. The rate it gushed out increased and then peaked. It then started cycling round his body in a unique pattern before being absorbed back. This was the fourth stage [Fetal Breath Stage] where one connects with nature and breaths through the pores. Having reached here, Philip was in full focus as all the remaining fog in his body condensed in his abdomen. It gathered together until it formed a single clear drop of greenish blue liquid. Qi! This drop was directed by his consciousness and tore through his flesh to create new passages that looked like veins. Philip winced through the pain as more and more paths were made by the drop. After a full cycle the drop returned to the abdomen and he breathed out in relief. Fifth stage [Meridian Stage] complete. This stage was difficult since the body was unique and had more meridians to open than usual. The amount of fog was reducing and he was no longer bloated but he did not stop. More fog was condensed and the droplet increased in size until there was a small pool of the liquid.[Condensation Stage] complete! The condensed pool started moving through the new meridians while gathering more fog along the way. Soon every meridian had the liquid flowing through it and as more of it condensed, the meridians widened. [Expansion Stage] finished. The remaining fog then gathered in the head behind the forehead and exerted a pressure. A sound like breaking glass echoed and suddenly the surroundings became much sharper and clearer to Philip. [Third Eye Stage] opened! The third eye linked with the meridians and after a circulation of the liquid it gathered in the abdomen again. It spun and spread out creating a dark pocket space. The meridians connected to this space, and the small pool of liquid was inside it in the middle floating quietly. [Spirit Sea Stage] formed! All the fog in the sphere had been used up and it cracked rapidly from losing its support. The sphere shattered and a seated Philip was exposed to the clan. He waved his hand and the large book on his lap shot into this upper right arm and turned into a small tattoo. He stood up slowly and gazed sharply at the clansmen. "I am Mithamo. Bow to This God."