2 Month of Dragons

Year 526 Mu Dynasty

"Master! Your child has been born!"

"W...What! Granny Xu said that the child won't come for another month!"

"Come and see if you don't believe me!"

Xin Mu was a village chief of a remote village in the mountains. He was built strong as an ox from his laborious days as a hunter when he was young. Now he spends his days overlooking all aspects of the village. Although he was strict, he was beloved by many for his strong sense of justice.

Xin Mu hurried back home to welcome a new member into his family. Inside a small wooden hut, cries of a child could now be heard.

"Honey, look isn't he cute?"

Xin Mu stared into the eyes of his beautiful wife and slowly looked down to see his child. The child was significantly smaller than all the other newly born infants he had seen in his life. The complexion of the child was light with a rose tinge. The child giggled a bit before starting to cry again.

"Is it a boy or a girl?"

"Boy."

Xin Mu's eyes lit up. He had long awaited the day when he could have a successor to inherit his responsibilities. As a man in his forties, he is considered a bit old to be a father and had long grown out of his prime. Being a man of the mountains, death could come at any moment and his time was almost up.

"Xin Fan....His name will be Xin Fan"

"That's a wonderful name. Do you want to hold him?"

"Of course my dear wife."

Xin Mu let out a warm smile before cradling the infant in his arms. Little did he know, that infant would grow up greater than he ever imagined.

A few years later

A young 5 year old boy sat on a bench outside a hut eating a piping hot meat bun. Next to him sat an aged man with bulging muscles, a remnant of his younger days.

"Father... When can I be as strong as you?"

"Well... When father was young, he would eat a leg of meat every day while exercising for hours."

"B.But I do that too and I am still weaker than the other kids."

The man patted the boy on his head and let out a big grin.

"Well, I guess you just have to train harder. No amount of talent can defeat pure effort."

"You say that every time."

"I say it because it is true"

Xin Mu stood up from the bench and had a stretch.

"Son, the month of the dragons is coming soon right?"

"It starts the day after tomorrow."

I see...so the time has arrived...oh how time has passed.

"Son go and play with the other children. Remember to be back by dinner!"

"I'll be fine father."

The energetic child ran towards a house in the distance next to some rice fields. There stood a chubby boy around the same age practicing swordplay with a wooden bat.

"Hey Luo Bao, lets have a race."

"No way! You always cry when I win and then aunt Qiu will scold me."

"I won't cry this time."

The boy looked up with eyes of anticipation. Finally Luo Bao gave up and complied with the boy's request.

"As usual around the paddy, I will give you a head start of 10 seconds."

The little boy dashed forwards. For a child, he was surprisingly fast and quickly reached a third around the rice paddy by 10 seconds. Then the chubby boy started to move. The start was slow and it seemed as if he was not moving at all. However soon, the chubby boy was moving at high speeds quickly overtaking his rival at the last second.

"Huff...huff... I almost won today."

"But in the end I still won."

Luo Bao took out his bats again and resumed his practice swings.

"Luo Bao, Why is the month of dragons so important."

"I'm not sure on details however I overheard some adults talking about awakening."

"Awakening?"

"Yes awakening to unlock the ability to cultivate. Your father is the strongest man in the village so he would know more."

"Umm Luo Bao? I have always wondered, where is your father?"

"My father was once a warrior. However one day he was hurt by a demonic beast while hunting. I was too young to know him before he left," Luo Bao swung his bat down while grinning sadly.

The mood instantly turned sour and even Xin Fan knew it was time to go.

"It's getting late. I need to go home to eat dinner."

Xin Fan started to head back home contemplating deeply on what it means to awaken.

Am I really going to become stronger by awakening? What if I do not awaken? What if I never awaken?

As Xin Fan arrived home, he could see his father waiting outside for him. The man stood and watched as his son entered the house.

"Son, tomorrow we are going out of the mountains for a trip."

"Is this about the awakening?"

"I do not know how you found out but yes, you are right. The month of dragons is coming soon and it is time for all the children to attempt awakening."

Xin Mu took out a dusty scroll off the top of the shelf and unrolled it on the table.

"I assume you want to know what awakening is."

The boy silently nodded his head looking at the drawings on the scroll

"All of life starts at the beginning. Everyone is the same, a blank slate. That is until the awakening." Xin Mu pointed at the image of an empty circle which expanded out to three branches.

"Awakening is what many people call 'The second Birth' as it is at that moment they awaken as cultivators. Everyone has different things that they awaken. These are called spirit items. They are items bound to the soul which represent one's future path, their dao. Some may awaken swords. Some may awaken tigers. Some may awaken vines. However they are all divided to three broad categories. Object, Beast or Plant."

Xin Mu indicated the three images on the end of each branch:a sword, a tiger and a vine.

"Object spirits are broad. They may be weapons in which warriors would train to the pinnacle like bows or blades. It may be minerals in which they can train their body to emulate. Or it may be the elements of nature in which cultivators learn to harness as their own."

Xin Mu paused for a moment before his arm started to glisten a metallic sheen.

"This is my spirit item: Steel."

Xin Fan's eyes shined as he imagined himself having an arm of steel.

"What about the other two categories?"

"Beast category refers to anything biological. This could be body parts and animals. A man who possesses the bone spirit can harness enhance their bones to great heights. A boy with a shark spirit can grow tough scales and swim at high speeds."

"Do you know anyone under the beast category?"

"Well...I know a couple of people with animal spirits. Your mother has skin as her spirit and as you can see it is flawless. Luo Kan, Luo Bao's late father had a bear spirit. He was truly as strong man. Able to break stones with a single punch. It was a shame he had to leave so young."

"I...I see."

"Lastly are plant spirit. They are known for tenacity, regeneration and healing. Although rare, there are power based plant spirits. I heard of men with Demon trees as spirits and are able to drain energy from enemies."

Xin Mu let out a sigh seemingly reminiscing the past.

"Father, why do you focus so much on power?"

Xin Mu looked at his son in the eyes and sighed once again.

"Life is not easy. In the mountains, it is simpler, if you are able to eat, you area able to live. However in outside world, it is hard to live. Without ability, one cannot make a living. Those with power can battle on as soldiers fighting for the king. The rest have to make the use of their advantages to make a living."

"Then why do we have to leave tomorrow? Doesn't the month of dragons start later?"

"The nearest shrine is a days walk away from the village. Not everyone can simply awaken so we have to pray for the god's blessing to awaken. That will at least increase some chances of awakening, after all, not everyone awakens at the same time. Some may not even awaken till adulthood. At that point, they had lost the critical part of their life to train in qi. While spirit items are important, the most important aspect of awakening is the ability to sense qi. With qi, you can use magical techniques and you become the strong. Even those with a lily as a spirit item can dominate a tiger with a high enough mastery of qi. I'll talk about qi tomorrow."

"Dinner is ready."

Luo Qiu came out of the kitchen with a plate of vegetables and meat. Xin Fan filled up a bowl of rice and sat down to eat dinner.

"Remember to sleep well tonight. Tomorrow is going to be a long day."

Xin Fan quickly ate dinner and went to sleep.

[Installation of Ultimate Rice System 97%]

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