14 Windholt Mountain

I heaved a sigh of relief as I walked along a path in the mountain.

"100 pushups, 100 situps, 100 squats and run 10 kilometers every single day! I need to work out to get stronger! And start cultivating soon!"

Today was dangerous. The city lord had a cultivation base that neither I nor Fiona could see, and I would guess that he couldn't hurt us, as instructed on the wanted person notice. He's probably still monitoring us, from the wisp of spiritual essence that I left. Good. It's not Fiona's.

That's also why I went there privately, instead of just leaving the city. If we ran then, he could have sent a message to cultivators of the city and claimed that Fiona's the princess of the kingdom, to capture us.

It also looks like the kingdom highly values Fiona. The Queen sent such a hefty reward that even a city lord, who usually is the top of the social standing in his sphere of influence, got roped into capturing us.

But why would she leave Fiona out for an adventure, but then send wanted notices or bounties on her head? And why is Fiona so hesitant to tell me about her origins, as a princess of one of the four great kingdoms?

Sigh. There's nothing I can do now, except try to get stronger. When I do, I can take Fiona on an adventure with nobody questioning or disturbing us.

I grit my teeth and stared at the peak of the mountain, buried under the clouds. Forests lay on top of it, showing green patches if one were to look on the ground. A massive, grey, green and white mountain. I glanced around at the scenery. It was beautiful, as I'd expected. The air was fresher than the countryside, and vigor filled even the grass and trees. This is the place where I can get stronger!

"Daddy, there." Fiona pointed to something behind a bunch of trees. "There's a cave behind. They usually have treasures, but are very dangerous."

High risk, high reward, huh?

"Okay, how about daddy finish stabilizing my foundation first, then we can explore the cave?"

"Mmm. Fiona will look for something to eat."

"Be careful. Don't get injured. If you're in trouble, remember to use the sound transmission talismans we bought."

"Yes, yes." Fiona waved her hands and disappeared into the forest.

Damn. I truly don't want Fiona to go alone. Who knows what beasts and dangers she can encounter. But I need to finish condensing my foundation. The spiritual energy from the poppy looking flower finally depleted from when I ate it. I just need to circulate the energy within my dantian to step into the first realm of cultivation!

Hew. I drew a deep breath. This is an important moment. I can't get distracted, not even by Fiona. This will strengthen me, so I can protect Fiona even more so!

I sat crisscrossed under a tree and closed my eyes. The shade and the wind were cool yet comfortable. Placing my arms on my leg, I searched for my dantian in my mind, as instructed by Fiona.

"Close your eyes and imagine your body. The muscles, the bones, nerves, meridians, and the dantian are all important in cultivation. The dantian is located under the heart meridian and near the stomach. Gather the spiritual energy from the Scarpia Formation Flower and circulate around your dantian. There should be a warm, soothing sensation if things are going right. The energy should swirl before exploding and then settle into a 'spiritual sea' in your dantian."

Okay, that's my body. Geez, it's scrawny. Dantian, dantian, is this it? It's like the core of my body... so circulate the spiritual energy that's spread throughout my body into it...

I think I'm doing this right! It's warm... and comfortable, like Fiona...

Ah, as much as it hurts to ignore her, I can't let myself get distracted...

Swirling motion, swirling motion... like a hurricane? I'll direct two streams of spiritual energy then and use a thin barrier to contain it... mmm! This is it! It's much more efficient! I can feel something... ah! The barrier is about to burst!

What should I do? Just let it be? Or keep guiding the energy in? Should... should I try injecting a stream of energy in?

I forced a thin thread of spiritual energy into the barrier slowly and carefully.

SPLAIFJ. I guzzled blood from my mouth.

God, the pain almost sent my concentration spiraling.I looked downwards into my dantian. It looked firmer and thicker. Could it be a high risk, high reward situation? If I were to continue to direct spiritual energy when it's forming my spiritual sea?

Screw it! Getting stronger is my top priority. There's no way a bit of pain will bring me down! I've felt worse before.

Each strand of energy felt like a full-force punch to the guy couple with a sharp, stabbing pain.

I cried in pain as it got unbearable. I could feel my dantian grow purer, but the pain... I convulsed and spat another bout of blood as I felt my vision blur...

I'm already weak as is... won't be able to protect Fiona... I need to get stronger, fast... URGH...

"Daddy?"

I caught Fiona out of the corner of my eye, just as the world was turning black. She was there, like an angel, brightening my entire world.

Good, you're safe, my little angel...

and... and... that means I have to be as well!

I garnered all the remaining energy left in my body and shoved it to my dantian. Suicide? No, taking it little by little whilst the pain grew stronger and stronger was suicide. It's better to take it all at once!

A bomb exploded in my stomach, and I blacked out.

___________

Fiona handed me a chicken leg.

"Mhm, thanks, Fiona." I took a bite and gulped, forcefully swallowing it.

'Blech. How bland. I should teach her how to cook someday.'

"How was it, daddy? I cooked it myself!"

"It was, uh, good, Fiona. Superb job!" She beamed, happiness drawn on her face.

"Eheh. Let me check your dantian, daddy. You terrified me when you lost consciousness."

"Ahaha, sorry about that, Fiona. Daddy just overused his energy."

Fiona nodded and put her hand on my stomach.

What's this? It's like the spiritual essence is asking for permission to enter... therefore cultivators have to be wary, even in their sleep. If they're asleep or knocked out even, one can just enter and damage their dantian easily.

Permission granted. This is Fiona. Hmm. Her spiritual essence is cold though... eh, probably something trivial.

"Wow! Daddy, your spiritual sea is so large and pure! I thought since you haven't since cultivating as a child, it would be weaker and smaller... but it's even better than an average Qi Scouring cultivator!" Fiona exclaimed.

It looks like the pain I went through paid off.

"Of course. Didn't you know that daddy is a genius?"

"Humph. Fiona is in the Nascent Realm, you know." She folded her arms.

I patted her pouting head. "Yes, yes. Fiona is the actual genius here."

She forced my arm off and glanced at the cave. "Is it time to explore the cave?"

"Yes. Are you scared?"

"No! Of course not. Fiona wants treasures..."

"You greedy little thing."

"Hmph!"

We walked into the cave.

Water dripped from the ceiling as small stones scattered across the floor. The darkness engulfed the light that was coming from the entrance of the cave.

Fiona reached into her spiritual ring and pulled out a flame-spitting talisman.

"No, don't use that, Fiona. We can train our senses by using our spiritual sense to navigate the darkness."

This is good practice for me. Let's see if the time I spent as an assassin/mercenary pays off here.

Cold and humid air... rocks... this pathway is getting narrower and splits off into three. There's nothing here. Maybe there are some chunks of precious metals or minerals we can take? I can't distinguish anything from the rocky surface, let's try this spiritual sense.

Concentrating, I sent waves of spiritual essence around my surroundings.

OHO! It's not echolocation. It's more like a thermographic color, except the colors are showing spiritual energy. I can also make out quite a lot of detail. I would expect, by breaking through, the range and intensity would grow stronger? That way, we can navigate the caves better... as of now, we don't know what dangers lie ahead.

I pointed to the paths that lead to nowhere. "Fiona, which pathway should we take?"

"Daddy can choose."

"No, you can choose."

"No, you choose."

"No!"

"Fine!"

"Fine!"

"..."

We broke out in laughter, and the echo brought a creepy silence onto us.

"Left!" "

"Right!" We said it in unison.

Fiona glared at me, her arms raised for a slap.

I made a push away gesture. "Okay, okay. Calm down. We'll take the middle pathway."

"Stupid daddy, tells me to choose, then doesn't follow it..." She mumbled, her head turned.

I pretended not to hear that.

My injured heart, be still... Focus on the unknown ahead... you will reconcile with her later...

Only the sounds of footsteps against the floor resonated around the cavern, and we trekked onwards.