Natal Realm

Ray, Bryan and Ash stood before a 3-floor mansion. The number '0' was engraved on the sign in front of the mansion. This meant that this mansion would be their new home in this world.

The mansion looked big enough to accommodate the three of them. There was a big garden at the back of the mansion and with a decent sized clear pool accompanying it.

"Fuck yes!" Ash was excited at the fact that he would be living here.

The white badge in Bryan's hand suddenly shot out from his hand and hovered in front of the mansion. The white badge started to glow and the three felt a wave of energy scan them.

After the scan, the white badge shook slightly before it split into a total of three exact replicas. Each badge for the three residents. The badges then slowly hovered before them, hinting for the three to take it.

"I guess, that weird scan was some kind of contract?" Ray uttered.

"Yeah, it probably just gave us the ownership considering there's three of those badges now." Bryan agreed with Ray.

They grabbed the badges and pocketed it. With nothing else interrupting them, they entered the mansion.

At first glance, the entire interior of the mansion resembled the classical era; fancy and elegant. There was a spiral staircase leading to the next floor. On the each side of the wall, an intricate ancient rune was imprinted with the sole purpose regulating the inner environment.

"Lit as fuck! Dibs on the second floor." Ash shouted and quickly went up the stairs.

"This guy and his randomness." Ray smiled and asked Bryan, "What floor do you want?"

"I don't care."

"Okay, then I'll choose the third floor."

"Alright." Bryan said casually.

"Is this what being a rich kid feels like?" Ray looked around and climbed the stairs up to the third floor.

Bryan didn't say much and he too went to his 'assigned' floor. It was safe to say that there was only one room which occupied almost entirety of the floor. A single door to enter the room and four walls enclosing the room.

Bryan entered his room and observed the room was semi-furnished. It had a couch, a bed, a meditation mat at the center of the room, and just like in the ground floor, there were similar runes etched onto the walls.

Letting out a loose breath, Bryan sat down on the couch and relaxed for a few minutes.

*Sigh*

"What a fucking crazy turn of events…"

After the three spent some time acclimating in their new house, they gathered in Bryan's room to ask the system a few questions.

"System, what are natural gems?"

[Ding]

[Natural gems are mined from ores that have been formed due to the congregation of densely packed natural energies. Each natural gem contains a certain amount of natural energy and are categorized based on their colour.

Earth Grade – Brown

Sky Grade – Blue

Crown Grade – Yellow

Supreme Grade – Red

Exalted Grade – Green

Astral Grade – Orange

Mystic Grade – Pink

Transcendental Grade – Cyan

Divine Grade – Purple

Each rank determines how much natural energy a cultivator can harness to improve his/her cultivation stage/realm. The higher the rank, greater the quality and quantity of natural energy contained in the natural gem.]

"The Crown grade natural gems we'll be getting is actually ranked so low." Ash said.

"Well if you think about it, I'm sure it is harder to mine higher grade gems and the sect has to be careful about allocating them." Ray commented.

"Besides, with our low cultivation, they should probably be more than enough." Bryan mused.

"Who created you, System?" Ray asked out of the blue.

[Inquiry denied due to insufficient strength.]

"Expected as much." Ray shrugged.

"Will you assign us quests and such?" Bryan asked.

[Quests will be given when certain conditions and circumstances are met.]

"Straightforward, I see."

Ash's eyes lit up and questioned the system, "Oh right! What does the Top-Grade energy pill in our inventory do to us if we consume it?"

[Upon consumption, the Top-Grade energy pill will increase the amount of natural energy in your body, helping you to break through further stages and realms.]

"We have to pop it as soon as possible." Bryan necessitated.

"It's a Top-Grade pill, right? System, what are the different pill grades?"

[The different grades for a pill are determined by the Alchemist and the items used to make one.

Low-Grade Pill

Middle-Grade Pill

Top-Grade Pill

Elite-Grade Pill

Crest-Grade Pill

Sacred-Grade Pill

Further ranks will be displayed when the hosts are strong enough.]

"Again, with that 'when hosts are strong enough' bullshit…" Bryan scoffed.

"Ah well, what can we do?" Ray shrugged,

"Relax, Bryan. We just have to increase our strength. It's only inevitable that we'll be at the top." Ash smiled.

Ray chuckled, "You have that much confidence in us huh?"

"It's not only my confidence in us, it's the fact that we have the system with us and coupled with our close bond, don't you think we're bound to do something great?"

Bryan let go of his irritation and said with a twinkle in his eyes, "Such ambition! I like it."

"We also have to practice how to use our skills lest we get fucked." Ash spoke up.

"Yeah, that's important too." Ray nodded

Bryan pondered for a bit and asked the system, "System, is it possible to have a bloodline and a physique at the same time?"

[To answer your question, it is completely possible for a cultivator to have both a physique and a bloodline.]

Ray narrowed his eyes and said, "That changes stuff."

Bryan nodded and said, "If we can fill the empty ones, then our potential and strength should massively escalate."

"But I bet it isn't that easy. After all, there's no such thing as a free lunch." Ash shook his head.

Ray clapped, "Alright, let's go and cultivate."

'About time…' Bryan was excited.

Shortly after, they were in their rooms, getting ready to pop the Top-Grade energy pill and increase their cultivation base.

Bryan sat down, cross-legged on the meditation mat in his room. He took out the pill from his inventory and looked at it. It was bright white in colour with a shiny luster on it. Without waiting any further, he popped the pill in his mouth, closed his eyes and waited for it to dissolve.

Immediately, he could feel an immense amount of dense natural energy surging through from the pill. The natural energy filled his body and Bryan could feel that his body was getting full.

'Oh fuck, it's not stopping!'

Bryan could feel there was a limit to how much natural energy his body could store. If the limit was exceeded, he instinctively knew that he would be in danger.

Without waiting any further, he willed the system to consume the natural energy in his body and increase his cultivation base.

He could slowly feel the overflowing natural energy dissipating bit by bit. At the same time, he felt a powerful surge of strength coursing through his body. His aura grew increasingly powerful and there was a tinge of red masking in his aura.

Using his sense, he could observe that each and every single cell in his body were being baptized and polished under the torrentuous flow of natural energy.

On the outside, his body became tough and his muscles became sturdier, hiding the explosive strength beneath them.

"Show my status, system!" Bryan uttered. He could feel his body was currently tempered to the limit. Any further and he would not see any results.

[Name: Bryan

Age: 17

Race: Human

Title: None

Cultivation Realm: Mortal Cleansing Realm (Peak)

Energy Points: 4810/300

Bloodline: None

Physique: Divine Infernal Physique

Element Affinities: None

Passive Skills: All-Fire Resistance (1st Level), All-Fire Boost (1st Level), Divine Infernal Veins, All-Fire Laws (Locked)]

"I'm already at the peak?"

"System, can you tell me about the next realm?"

[Natal Realm – The decisive point where a cultivator's potential separates the geniuses from the rest. To achieve the Natal Realm, you need to forcefully unlock the apex points in your body. Unlocking an Apex Point will increase your energy pool and help you draw in natural energy faster. Achieving the Natal Realm will help you utilize your natural energy outside of your body.]

[There are a total of 24 apex points in the body. To find them, simply circulate the natural energy in your body and the system will guide you to where they are. In the universe' standards, unlocking between 1 to 10 apex points is common amongst the cultivators. Between 11 to 15 are considered to be your above-average cultivators. Between 16 to 20 are labelled as monstrous geniuses that appear once in multiple generations. Between 21 to 22 are extremities that appear once in a blue moon since they represent an era.]

Bryan nodded his head but asked, "What about the 23rd and the 24th apex points?"

[As of date, no one has ever broken through the 23-24 apex points margin.]

"Interesting." Bryan smiled as he understood something. Recalling the system's previous reminder of them not encountering any bottlenecks, he wondered if it applied in this stage.

"We'll see. System, let's breakthrough to the Natal Realm." Bryan requested with focused eyes.

Following the system's instruction, he circulated the abundant natural energy in his body. He felt an invisible force guiding his natural energy to a specific path to which he assumed to be the system helping him.

Soon enough, he naturally felt an extreme point in his body that weirdly felt out of touch. He assumed that this was the apex point the system was talking about. With the help of the system, he forcefully broke through the point and his body experienced a deafening snap.

Immediately, he felt an increase to how much energy his body could store. He could feel a connecting path to his first apex point that helped him to circulate the natural energy in his body more efficiently.

Just like that, Bryan has officially entered the Natal Realm, a true start to a cultivator's journey. Undoubtedly, it was easier for him because of the system. If it were for any other cultivators, they'd have to rely on instinct and luck just to find the apex point. Including that, they'd have to prepare to forcefully break through the apex point in which the level of difficulty is different for everyone.

[Congratulations, Bryan! You have successfully broken through to the Natal Realm.]

[For achieving the Natal Realm, you have received a skill.

Gaze of Bane (1st Stage): Gaze upon the unworthy and momentarily daze the target(s) for 2 seconds. Ignores one major realm above you but reduces the period by 1 second.]

'Fuck, isn't that amazing? Also, I can use it on stronger opponents and that's only the 1st stage? Amazing indeed!'

Bryan opened his eyes happily but was instantly dumbstruck and disgusted at what he saw. There was a mix of black and brown paste all over the walls of his room as if someone exploded a big balloon.

To his surprise and mostly relief, the runes on the wall glowed and the disgusting paste slowly disappeared, leaving the walls to be pure and untainted.

"System, what was that disgusting stuff?" Bryan was irked.

[To answer your question, it came from you.]

"What the fuck!!" Bryan shivered in disgust.

[Tempering your body with natural energy has accumulated all the impure waste in your body to the base of your skin. Breaking through to the Natal Realm has expunged all the accumulated waste in your body.]

"…"

"Must be all the coke and pizza." Bryan shook his head and muttered, "Well, at least I'm clean now!"

Bryan willed the system to show his status.

[Name: Bryan

Age: 17

Race: Human

Title: None

Cultivation Realm: Natal Realm (Apex Points - 1)

Energy Points: 4510/400

Bloodline: None

Physique: Divine Infernal Physique

Element Affinities: None

Passive Skills: All-Fire Resistance (1st Level), All-Fire Boost (1st Level), Divine Infernal Veins, All-Fire Laws (Locked)

Skills: Gaze of Bane (1st Stage)]

Bryan smiled and said, "We have more apex points to break through. So, let's get on with it!"