Absorbing the Fragment of Qi (1/2)

Soon after the Primordial Devil split his soul into five fragments - which was also 1,800 years before the Yaan of today was born from the fusion of the Primordial Devil's heart demon with a six year old human child named Yaan - a white-haired child was born on Planet Yushu, in the Southern Continent's Hukon Clan. At that time, the Hukon Clan was one of the five superpower cultivation groups on Planet Yushu's Southern hemisphere.

The Hukon Clan was one of the largest and strongest Clans in the Southern Continent, second only to the Xuqi Dynasty which loosely ruled the entirety of these lands by imposing their few laws across the Southern Continent using their self-created sect - the Xuqi Sect.

Of course, since the Southern Continent was a righteous land, and the Xuqi Dynasty tried to uphold the righteous ideals of the Divine Court using the Xuqi Sect, they weren't too overbearing - despite being far stronger than any other group across the entire Southern Continent, the Xuqi Dynasty never tried to expand their lands by an unreasonable degree, and thus, the Hukon Clan had never had any trouble with keeping its lands, not losing a single inch of territory for thousands of years, despite bordering with the Xuqi Dynasty's territory.

Well, it helped that the Hukon Clan was backed by an Immortal, just like two other groups outside of the Xuqi Dynasty's influence; the Blade Justice School, and the Beast Domination School.

If they wanted to, the Xuqi Dynasty's immortals would be able to wipe out those three immortal-led superpower groups with relative ease. However, the Xuqi Dynasty had put too much work into building up their reputation over the past few tens of thousands of years, eventually even attracting the Divine Court's attention and becoming their subsidiary force!

Because of this, the Xuqi Dynasty and Xuqi Sect, although seemingly so powerful that one might think they could act wantonly and do whatever they so desired, were actually rather restrained, both by their own self-proclaimed principles, and by the Divine Court's expectations for the Xuqi Dynasty to uphold the Divine Court's laws of righteousness.

As such, despite being so much weaker than the neighbouring Xuqi Dynasty, the Hukon Clan was actually quite safe. And with the Xuqi Dynasty acting as the Southern Continent's role model, the other groups also followed their example - they did not attack each other, either as groups or in individual skirmishes, making the Southern Continent one of the safest places to live for righteous path cultivators.

The cultivators in the Demonic North found the way if life in the South laughable; their life experiences told them that a cultivator who never experienced danger and adversity would never amount to anything. Their cultivation progress would eventually stagnate if they never explored the world alone and embraced a life of independence. The inevitable dangers which accompanied this sort of self-reliant way of life, would loosen their cultivation's bottlenecks and temper their combat prowess.

The Southern Continent's advantage was their unity, their comradely and teamwork, and the fact that they actually looked after their younger generations, allowing their promising rising stars to actually survive until adulthood, rather than dying young due to embracing the dangerous lifestyle that was all too common in the North.

The North, although completely un-united, and with lower numbers of powerful cultivators due to the extremely high death rate within their cultivation world as a whole, did have their own advantages however - those who managed to survive through the harsh conditions of the Northern world, overcoming the beasts which regularly ran rampant, and the demonic cultivators who would hunt prodigious talents for sport, would inevitably become highly competent individuals in every single regard.

Those who survived and reached maturity would be intelligent, scheming individuals, with a disposition towards high-risk and even-higher-reward gambles. They were fearless, they were sly, they knew how to survive and deceive their naive Southern counterparts…and most importantly, their battle prowess was always superior compared to almost any other cultivator at their realm in the Southern Continent.

The two continents had warred in the past, but right now, the two sides were at relative peace. There were occasional skirmishes between the two sides, but these were mostly limited to battles between individuals or small groups, usually when cultivators from one side decided to adventure across the treacherous seas, visiting the other side due to their unquenchable curiosity.

Generally speaking, when those from the North visited the South, they were typically able to adapt and blend in, at least for a short period of time…but when those from the South visited the North, they usually got themselves killed.

The Southern Elders had come to understand the importance of tempering their young through adversity and danger, but due to their firm beliefs, they didn't want to put their young through too much danger - just enough that they would be able to get a taste of the real world, whilst helping them to overcome any bottlenecks in their cultivation.

It was well known that cultivators who constantly sort out adventure and new experiences, encountered far fewer difficulties and bottlenecks in their cultivation compared to others.

In the Hukon Clan, they had a very structured way of handling their younger generation of aspiring clansmen.

Of course, the first step was to measure their talent - this helped them to keep a closer watch over the more talented clansmen, providing the youths with assistance whenever they noticed their struggles.

The Hukon Clansmen started cultivating whenever they felt like starting. The Hukon Clan possessed an extremely gentle cultivation technique designed for their clan's unique bloodline. This technique could even be used by toddlers without any detriment to their health, which was quite uncommon in the cultivation world…really, the gentle technique aside, it was the clan's bloodline that permitted the clansmen to start cultivating from such a young age.

It was most common to start cultivating between the ages of 5 and 15, with 10 years of age being the common norm.

The clan elders would even allow the children to cultivate from the age of three if the child came to an elder and asked politely for a technique and some guidance. This was quite rare, though it did happen every now and then…but it was obviously the child's parents who urged the child to take this initiative.

Cultivating at three years of age was uncommon, and any child who achieved any success in their cultivation before reaching the age of 5 would immediately become slightly famous within their region of the clan…

So naturally, when a child was born and reached the Initial Qi Gathering Realm at the age of 23 minutes and 14 seconds, it caused quite the storm to sweep through the clan.

Firstly, the clan elders did every test imaginable to try to determine if the child was a reincarnated immortal. In the end, they concluded that he was not…he just possessed a talent for Qi refining so absurd, that it had never been seen before in the history of the clan!

No, this sort of talent probably hadn't been seen before in the history of this planet!

After all, that child obviously couldn't read, he was unable to study a technique…he had actually reached the Initial Qi Gathering Realm without using any sort of technique!

The midwife recalled to the elders that this child was quite strange; he didn't cry a single time, but just stretched out his small arms as far as he was able to lift them, ignoring the people around him, as if he could see something that others could not. Just 20 minutes later, the highly concentrated Spiritual Energy which permeated the entire clan, but particular this area which was inhabited by the Origin Soul Realm Elders and their families, started to move, turning into a small vortex and travelling towards the child's arms…

The boy's father could only watch in shock as his newborn child absorbed and refined the atmospheric spiritual energy using his instincts alone, immediately breaking through into the first cultivation realm.

As the elders, including the boy's father who was an Initial Origin Soul Realm Elder and extremely excited whenever he thought about his son, continued to run tests on this child as they tried to understand how this could have possibly happened, they finally found their answer.

The child possessed a talent so high that there was no word in the Southern Continent suitable for describing it, but on top of that, the boy also possessed the Qi Eyes Progressive Constitution! He was born with the ability to actually see the Spiritual Energy around him, even as a mortal baby, and due to his childish curiosity, he ended up playing with the energy which encompassed his vision, before somehow breaking through to the Qi Gathering Realm!

Most excitingly of all, this was a progressive constitution, meaning that it could even grow stronger - all the boy needed to do was manipulate the surrounding Spiritual Energy directly into his eyes, which would absorb the energy directly and enhance his constitution over time!

As the elders and the boy's father came to this understanding 12 days after the baby's birth…the child broke through to the Early Qi Gathering Realm.

At this point, his talent in Qi refining was so obviously absurd, and there was only one name suitable for such a child - Qi.

And that was the dramatic beginning of Hukon Qi's life.

He was born with fair hair, but as he grew older, his fair hair did not darken, but only grew even lighter. By the age of five, his hair was pure white in colour and hung down straight, almost reaching his waist.

Hukon Qi wore a simple white robe as he walked through the clan. He ignored the chatter around him, as well as the various stares directed his way.

He could hear the people talking about him…some spoke of their admiration towards his talent and diligence, even saying that he was the hope of their clan…but other expressed their envy and jealousy, by speaking ill of the young boy, saying that he had only achieved his current cultivation because he was lucky to be born with such an amazing constitution and talent.

Hukon Qi ignored them all and continued walking through the sparsely populated streets. He had already finished running his father's errand to purchase his cultivation resources, and he was now heading home to hand them over.

His father had always rewarded him generously with the most useful resources for his current realm whenever he ran these errands, but recently, his generosity was getting to be a bit extreme. Hukon Qi was young, but he had overheard some elders talking about his father, and how he had been stuck at the Initial Origin Soul Realm for the past 30 years…

It seemed that his father had only managed to reach his current realm by forcefully boosting his cultivation using valuable resources, By now, his 'moderate-high' talent was no longer sufficient for him to make any further progress.

Hukon Qi was able to guess that his father had already given up on making further progress himself, and now, he just wanted to support his son.

After returning home and handing over the leather spatial ring filled with resources, his father, a large man with a firm yet warm face, put his hand out and prevented him from passing over the spatial ring.

"Little Qi…keep these things for yourself. I have already long since exhausted my potential, these ordinary resources can no longer assist me. It would be best if you could use these resources to enhance your own cultivation speed, because that way, you might even be able to attract the attention of the Clan Ancestor."

Hukon Qi just nodded, then bowed to his father before silently leaving the room. The large man watched him go, before showing a happy, yet also troubled expression.

"This child…hah. His talent is incredible, and his constitution allows his cultivation speed to improve even further…but because of his unbelievable rate of progress, he has never been able to make a true friend…cultivators are often solitary, lonely beings, but to realise this truth at such a young age…perhaps his incredible talents aren't actually a blessing, but a curse…"

Hukon Qi sat down alone in his room and cultivated. He went through the assortment of resources rapidly, consuming one as soon as the effect from the last wore off.

After two days of non-stop training, he finally reached the Innate Qi Realm at just five years old.

Still, the Hukon Clan Ancestor showed no signs of taking any interest in him. Then again, their immortal ancestor was too illusive; hardly anybody ever saw him, and it was entirely possible that the ancestor was currently in secluded cultivation right now.

But then, ten years later, on the very same day that Hukon Qi turned 15, the ancestor finally made his appearance, meeting face to face with the child that he had been observing in secret for some time now.

Hukon Qi was now at the Qi Temple Realm…the 9th Layer Qi Temple Realm. He had already established the most perfect foundation, and he was only a single step away from reaching the Spirit Core Realm!

On the day of his 15th birthday, Hukon Qi met the Hukon Clan Ancestor,

The teenage boy, who still wore a white robe and had his long hair draping down his back, was eating dinner with his father, just as they did every Sunday evening. At their level, eating food was unnecessary, but it was still enjoyable, and it was a regular, organised time, that the two of them could spend together.

Frankly, Hukon Qi's father wished that he could spend longer than just this with his son. Ever since his wife died whilst giving birth to this incredible boy, he had felt so lonely that he almost broke down on many occasions. His son, his incredibly talented son, was the only remaining light in his life - but he knew that he could not hinder his son's progress in cultivation, or else he would simply be a bad father.

However, he still wanted to at least indulge in this one meal each week…

But life was cruel, and people rarely got what they wanted from their life.

Midway through their dinner, a third person suddenly appeared, standing at the end of the table. The old man who wore a grey robe that was the exact same colour as his long beard and hair, stood there calmly, wearing a carefree smile, as if he hadn't suddenly intruded into someone's home. His appearance was aged, but his eyes contained a feeling of youthful playfulness and mischief, as if he was forever carefree and without any worries in this world.

Hukon Qi's father immediately leapt to his feet and prepared to battle, his heart pounding in fear as he sensed an great threat from this person, despite his aura being completely concealed…

Hukon Qi stretched out one hand between the two adult men, preventing his father from doing anything rash.

"Father, look at his clothing - he is wearing the emblem of our clan. And look at his clothes - even the Clan Head's robes are inferior to these."

After finishing his mouthful of food, Hukon Qi wiped his mouth, then turned to look up at the man before him.

"Junior greets Clan Ancestor. It is my honour to finally meet you."

When the Hukon Clan Ancestor, known as Harmony Immortal to the other Immortals in the South, looked down at this child who clasped his hands together as a sign of respect, he couldn't help but smile.

Hukon Qi's father was frozen in place, struggling to process that he was actually in the presence of their clan's revered immortal ancestor!

"Hukon Qi, your talent aside, it is clear that you are unordinary. You immediately recognised me from such simple clues, and yet…you feel no fear, nor even a trace of nervousness, to be meeting your clan's immortal ancestor for the first time in your life. Hukon Qi…I have never before met someone more suited to the path of Qi refining cultivation. I have no doubt that so long as you accept me as your teacher, you will become the next immortal of our Hukon Clan. So tell me, child…will you accept me as your teacher?"

Hukon Qi was silent for a moment. He didn't immediately reply to the old immortals but first stood up and bowed towards his stunned father.

He knew that after accepting the Clan Ancestor as his teacher, he would not be able to continue having these weekly dinners with his father.

"Father, thank you for everything…I know that you gave up on your own cultivation so that you could better support my own…I know how much you did for me in secret, without ever saying a word…I know how lonely you have felt, ever since your wife passed away…I am truly grateful towards you, father, but I apologise…I must go now."

After saying these words which left the middle aged man feeling dazed, staring at his child who had unknowingly seen through all of his difficulties and struggles since long ago, Hukon Qi turned away from the man who had always supported him…and towards the man who would support him from now on.

"Disciple greets Teacher Hukon Clan Head. I hope that I am able to live up to your expectations, and become the second key pillar of our clan."

The old immortal looked at Hukon Qi deeply. He could see that whilst this boy wasn't very expressive at all, and nor was he the type to get overly emotional or fall victim to turbulent feelings…he was truly grateful towards his father, and from the bottom of his heart, he appreciated all that this man had done for him.

And yet, he turned away from that man, knowing that this choice would cause his lonely heart to sink deeper…Hukon Qi turned away from his father, away from the one person in his life who had always been there for him, providing him with love, affection, and endless support…because he knew that making this sort of choice, was what it meant to truly pursue cultivation.

'As expected, this boy…is the living embodiment of everything that a Qi refining cultivator should be…'

With that thought, the Hukon Clan Ancestor swept his hand, and with a light gust of wind, both he and Hukon Qi vanished from this house.

For a long time, Hukon Qi's father stared blankly at where his son had been sitting just moments ago. It had all happened so fast that he still didn't know what to feel about this.

In the end, the middle-aged man, who had aged another few years in the past few minutes, sat back down in his chair. He continued to slowly eat through his meal, whilst his vacant gaze lingered on the half-empty plate across the table.

For some reason, he suddenly realised that this was the first time in his life that his son had left his Sunday dinner unfinished.