Chapter 2- Qi establishment stage!?
As Alaec swallowed the mystical fruit of Tao, my body went through the process of metamorphosis in which the body was remodelled into a suitable vessel for the worlds energies, the fruit that seemingly appeared out of nowhere was likely around 3000 years old however not discovered, I found this fruit after falling into a deep pond in which I had found a small crack upon the water bed, the heat of the flower and cold permeated through my skin and was drawn to me, this was the start to the change of my life. I ate this fruit and as my body changed to meet the specific layout for this root. My soul however was already at the grand accomplishment peak stage of body nourishment a whole major realm above what those who start should be, at the current time those who have just started practicing martial arts, their soul level wouldn't budge until they became nascent soul realm cultivators, this was the fourth major realm in the long line of power.
As the process finished I had officially began my path once again, however my shrewdness compared to past my naïve self is like night and day, I had just stepped into the realm so what I needed to do now was circulate the residual energies of the fruit, this was so I could consolidate my current realm faster than the natural order, with the current pace I would soon catch up to the martial artist who have been in this realm for one or two years at least. As time passed, I went from the introduction phase of the Qi establishment stage to the peak of the third step. By the time I had come to my senses the sun had already closed on the west, "It took longer than expected to consolidate my realm, although I guess skipping straight to the third step would cause this, but it seems I must return to my family". It had been years since I saw my family, the lives of the mortals I had to leave behind as I embarked on the lonely journey of immortality, the lives that passed before I left after the tragedy had befallen my home. Going home I had remembered that I was on the lazier side of things despite having a rather decent physique for a mortal at the time, my parents were too lax with me never forcing me to work or marry early I suppose this was their way of making amends for not being able to provide me with all the wants and wishes I constantly had as a child, this was something worthy of praise. My family was poor but was rich in love and closeness, the death of such a family left a scar deep in my heart such an event was like a curse that constantly impeded my practice. Upon arriving at the family compound, I was met by too familiar faces, with looks of both worry and exasperation, this was of course due to me being gone for more than just a few hours as previously promised. The two pairs of eyes with their piecing gazes struck me like needles, theses eyes belonged to my sisters Popo and Soso. For as long as I can remember these two despite not being officially my siblings treated me as if I was always their brother, they were abandoned at our doorstep as babies and have grown up to be family closer than blood ties. As I got closer, the two sisters began to show signs of
anger and a slight instance of sadness could be seen upon their jade like complexions, it was neither an overstatement or understatement to call these sister gems of the family they both had their fair share of fans and admirers. "Brother why have you been gone for so long? Mother has been stressing ever since you went missing a fort night ago". After saying this Soso gave a look of worry over her mother's decline in health from the worry. When hearing this I felt a sea of guilt well up inside of my stomach as of it was beavers dam weakening from the on slaughter of heavy streams constantly attacking the crude wood barrier. "I apologise sister I was lost in thought and wondered too far out causing me to lose my way, I shall go see our parents and uncles". Apart from the fact our family can't cultivate Taoism we happen to be a branch family of a community of martial artists, these uncles I mentioned are from the main family they however don't care about how thin the blood ties are and still see us as close relatives. The two sisters much like me are practitioners although they are both practicing the duo twin arts. As I went in the compound my senses were attacked by a dense smell of iron, this being the case as we hung our prey out to drain the blood often near the entrance of the estate. This could ward off the lower-level beast thus protecting the younger children of the family. As I entered my parent's courtyard the smell of fresh honey flower wine was permeating the pores of my skin, this was a relatively common wine for the mortals as it was easily consumed and eased the common pains they would have. "Mother father I'm home!". As these words left my mouth, I heard a distinct 'thunk' as if something had been dropped, this was my mother dropping what looked to be a wooden carving with the words 'Xian' or 'immortal' in English this was our family, as the founder, an immortal that had detached from the mortal realm almost eons ago. My mother had stepped out from her room, she was wearing a simple silk yukata with lotus flowers embroidered onto the sleeves as if she was a painting setting a haze around her radiant her mature aura, her eyes didn't have a naïve light to them but what flowed out from them was like a snowfall of 'knowing', my mother although reaching her late thirties had the look of a woman in her late twenties, she wore a simple yet profound smile her skin slightly wrinkled but still youthfully tight and her jade cheeks flushed with a peach glow truly a top beauty. Tears began to form under sorrow ridden creases, she bit her lips trembling, the mere sight of this would even cause a war veteran to lose composure not wanting this maiden to cry. "Where…where have you been my dear son? I've been worried sick!". My mother wasn't the type to worry but when it came to her children she would turn the nine hells upside down, the feeling you would get from her was a bottomless pit of pure unbridled love. Neither me nor my sisters would dare betray our mothers trust, seeing my mother again after the centuries alone with my trusted blades that came from many battles brough tears to my eyes. I trembled, knees shaking on the verge of buckling. "I-I'm sorry mother I didn't mean to worry you, I had gotten lost along the path and couldn't find my way back along the rough trails". This was what genuinely happened to me in the previous life of mine however I came back two days before now, this was due to the time it took for establishing my foundation. The look my mother gave me was that of utter astonishment, I could feel her gaze judging me as though I was an idiot, but it was something I couldn't refute as I was one such idiot at the time.
"Go your father and uncle will be glad to know your home safe, times are rough and there are many problems with the rivalling families". As she said this my mother ushed me away to the pavilion despite being frail my mother had a stubborn nature, stepping into the pavilion I was greeted with a prominent and rogue like voice. "Son! where have you been? Your mother and I have been worried sick. Don't tell me you got lost". I could only pitifully smile unable to place a word between my father's constant rants and lectures on how I need to be more careful given how weak I was born. Before my father could go on another voice seemingly out of nowhere boomed just as outstandingly as my own father. "Brother why be so hard on the little lad, he's at the age of adventuring and exploring the world, I mean just look at him he's getting bigger as the years go on…wait spiritual power?!". I could see my uncles gaze widen as he seen the fluctuations around my body, this was a sign of Taoism and only those of higher or on the same level could see your realm. Therefore, the two sisters despite cultivating could not see my realm. My uncle was of the body nourishment stage although he was only around the second step realm, for a lower power family this was considered good. As for the reason I can see his realm this was only possible for as I had countless years of experience when it came to seeing through the ordinary, you could usually know what the realm was from the way one would hold themselves or how they talked or walked. This was an advantage of many and a disadvantage of the naïve, only looking from this prospective could lead to one easily losing their life. For me caution is one of the most important aspects of life, for instance one could be at the end phase of qi-establishment stage but have the power to face early body nourishment stages of low to mid realm basis. Not to mention whether they have secret arts or weapon masteries, for me a solid foundation is the key to beat all those 'geniuses' whose talent was all they relied on.
Upon hearing his brothers huffed sentence he looked at his son in a bewildered manner, bear in mind that my father was always composed even when facing beast in the wild and had a posture of elegance for him to lose this composure meant this was incredibly daunting. "My son learnt Taoism. How? When?". My father couldn't help but to ask a multitude of questions right from the get-go. All I could do was play it off as a mysterious encounter, which could explain how I reached my current stage without training for all that long.
After leaving the adults to their own devises I returned to my room, however since I wanted a strong foundation, I need to increase the vessel power meaning I needed to strengthen my body. I decided to practice the martial art of the rhino-beetle for this art I need to break down the muscles and remodel the bones, for this to fully work I need to endure pain akin to having my skin peeled of off every inch of my body and being poked by flaming sticks of poison. This was something I found in the ancient tombs when I had broken through the first layer of martial lord, at the time I had already set my foundation, so this had no use but was something I set aside and studied for a dozen years and had memorized each chapter fully. Chapter one was to attack the skin making it akin to the strongest of diamond jade, reversing the qi I had It travel along the four hundred major acupoints, splicing the skin cells and restructuring them. This process when on for a complete four hours before the pain had resided, my white robe was haggard and soaked in blood and sweat, a thick layer of musky black soot was laying stagnant on my skin the pungent smell entering my nostrils and left a burning sensation. This was the impurities in my skin after breaking it down for a few thousand times, after feeling the power my body had gained from this, I called for a servant to draw me a hot bath. After my bath I had looked upon my own reflection and was pleasantly surprised my hair had grown long, so much so that I needed to tie it back another refreshing sight was my skin looked smoother with a shine of jade like lustre a clear sign of entry stage for this old art. As the servant came to deliver my clothing, they dropped the robes in shock seeing that my change was akin to a start dropping from the sky, with her face flushed a bright harmonising pink she began to speak. "Young master, the family head and mistress has called for you". She said this without looking me in the eyes, "Yes thank you, junior sister". I could see her face perk up upon hearing me.
After getting dressed I went to the main building, from what I remember around this time the family's community business had been attacked by a rival family, the Pu family. We've been against this family since before I was born, knowing only a little these scum lot took part in my family's destruction. Soon enough I will wash away this regret and humiliation, when I entered the main building the family's elders all glared at me as if I was a rival family that invaded the compound. "do many elders have a problem with this junior? If I have offended, you all I apologise". Saying this I wasn't apologetic in the slightest as they always treated me as the trash young master this didn't bother me however it would affect my parents if I continued to take all the insults.
The look my elders gave me only lasted no longer than a minor moment, they soon returned their look to the head of the branch, I was only allowed to join this meeting because of my minor success in my realm. "as you all know the Pu family has been more active as of late and are becoming a nuisance, we need to nip them in the bud and destroy them ones and for all. "son although your realm is better than us your still young and need not be a part of this fight". My father saying this was a way for me to avoid conflict with our main family household, as they would prefer us not to step up and become the centre of attention. This battle meant a lot to my family this was the meaning between the thief and the king, the winner, and the loser.