What the hell is cultivation?

The young man sat by a small pond in an unknown forest, in an unknown world, completely naked. He studied his reflection in the still water and pondered his current situation. First off, he was young again. He wasn't quite sure how old this new body was. His features were very similar to his youth of old. He had brownish tan skin, black eyes, and hair that was raven black instead of his old dirt brown hair and muddy eye color. He could be any number of nationality's in his old world, and in fact had been mistaken for natives of several countries due to his looks. At least until he opened his mouth and spoke. He had a feeling that could be true here as well though with no idea about the other inhabitants of this place, it would remain to be seen.

He guessed he was a bit over 6 feet in height, possibly as much as 6'3" or 6'4". His new body felt strong. The muscle was well defined but not bulky. More like a worker and athlete, instead of a bodybuilder or weight trainer. He wasn't to lean or to think, but some somewhere between the two. For the most part he was happy with his new body, he grinned to himself as he noticed he had grown a few inches in other places as well. He had noticed when he had first seen himself and laughed, his voice sounded almost like he remembered, though there seems a bit more base and timber to it. All in all, he figured he was anywhere between 16 to 24 or so years of age. He was leaning more to the lower side at 16 or 17 due to his pervious life's experience of having to grow a beard to actually look his age. Still in the end he guessed it didn't really matter as he was young again, and not the eighty or near eighty person from before.

He had been sitting at the ponds edge for a few hours now. After the bird had left him before talking a bit when he had first woken up. He had to figure out a few things before he set out on his next journey… A new life. The bird had explained a few things to him and given him a few options. First this was real and he could do whatever he wanted, as long as he could do it with his own two hands and power. Apparently, the Heavens gave the fucking bird one last duty before it could go on its merry way. That was to fill him in on the way of the world it had brought him to, since he was literally reforged and rebuilt. He didn't have memories from some poor shmuck whose body the original and intended person to come here would have inhabited. He also would not be given some hack SYSTEM, to plot hole fix bad writing or something. He had no idea what that was and when he asked the bird it just laughed and said, "don't worry about it, this is real life, not some book." Then it had explained that due to his unique nature he would be given 3 skill sets or abilities to offset his crappy start. Though he stressed this was not a videogame and he would not get a screen like some RPG or phone game. It had then laughed and said there is no inventory system here either, though the young man had no idea what that would have been.

The Bird had then explained that due to his new body being created by the crossover and Tribulation. He had no impurities and his body would be resistant to any being added to it. He had shrugged and said in his new voice, "I didn't use drugs in my old life so won't be using them in this new one." This statement had set the bird to laughing its raucous laugh for several minutes before it just shook its head stated he had much to learn.

Finally, the bird and given him three tail feathers. It stated in its high but almost New York accented birdy voice. " So look kid, you're in a safe-ish, area at the moment. Go east and you will find people and civilization of sorts. Not anything like your used to mind you, but it will be people like you. This is not like the old world, there are no modern conveniences like your used to. People here are hard and only respect those they perceive as strong. They will not think twice to hurt or kill you if you are weak in their eyes or cannot be used for something to benefit themselves. Currently you are weak, physically if not spiritually and mentally. You're going to have to fix that if you want to survive here. That's why the Heavens will give you those 3 skills sets I was talking about. Don't use them right away, if you want my opinion. You have a wealth of knowledge and proven facts in that head of yours from our old world. Leverage that into something when you can. It just might make a difference."

The bird stopped speaking for a moment and quickly looked around the sky for a bit. Then it turned back to the man and winked its milky eye at him. "I've taken the liberty to play one last trick on your behalf. Usually Transmigrators, have their old memories sort of pushed into the background as they learn and adapt to their new world and life. While this isn't bad per say, it does start to limit thinking to what is predominant in the world they come to. It does start to limit their thinking and actions to what was believed to be, or presented fact in the old world no longer being valid. I don't believe this, as you will learn, the path of cultivation is fed not only by what is true, but what your personal beliefs are."

The bird stops speaking for a minute as a far-off rumble could be heard. "Anyway, use the 3 skill sets wisely, there all the help your gunna get. Well from the Heavens at least. So take your time and when you decide, speak what you want while holding a feather. Then Bing, Bow, POW! You get some skills or abilities appropriate for this world at a fairly high level as well." The bird flaps its wings and a black stone falls next the man. "That's a cultivation method, its gunna kick start your life journey so to speak. Thing is… well…" the bird shrugs and hops around for a bit. Then sighs and looks at the man again. "Somethings survive no matter what is done to them. For you, well… your need to have Family. That couldn't be hammered out so to speak. That was integral to all the sorry pieces you were before. So when the Tribulation couldn't remove it, well instead of letting you keep it like it was, a flaw that could break you again. It made it part of your cultivation… Your DAO so to speak. So now, if you want to get Stronger, and believe me you do, your gunna need to find DAO companions."

The bird fluffs its wings and sighs. "Look its all in there." The bird points its beak at the stone. "That's a jade slip. I've already activated it for you. It has all the info on cultivation, YOUR cultivation to be precise. Also info on companions and DAO Companions. Just place it to your head and the slip will do the rest." The bird then jumps and flies to a low branch. "OK kid this is where we part ways. You got the feathers and the jade slip. I've given you the info and advise you needed. So now we part ways. I've got my old path to blaze and all debts between us are paid. Good luck." Then with another laugh, the bird flies away. The young man watches the bird for a minute, until its gone from the horizon. He then looks at the jade slip and wonders outload. "What the hell is Cultivation?"