Chapter 1: The Beginning
The Tager Desert days are unforgiving. The ever-present wind blows harshly across the skin and the sun bears down with unforgiving heat, but it doesn't stop mercenaries from coming in and seeking wealth from danger. Zhi Gui still remembers the day he saw his parents for the last time as they entered this desert of death for wealth, for him. He usually avoids the desert like the plague, but his turtle fortune-telling shell, his ancestral heritage, pointed towards the desert being auspicious. However, it had been half a day and nothing has signified the auspiciousness foretold today. The sun was starting to set, and he saw no reason to continue his trek.
Just as he was about to turn around, he felt a weak peeping. Was his fortune about to turn around? Immediately, he used his mental perception to sweep the area to find the source of the peeping. Instead of the expected monster, he perceived a baby lying quietly in a cot while the corpses of presumably his parents and a snakemen lied a few meters away. The sign of auspiciousness was a baby?! "How ridiculous," he felt. He was already 80 years old, and to rise to the level of a 8-star Battle Spirit and 4th-grade peak alchemist, he had experienced countless struggles. Strangely, he felt the weak peeping again, and when he looked in the baby's direction, he vaguely felt that the baby was looking at him.
He picked up the turtle shell again and threw it into the sand; the auspicious sign pointed towards the baby. Once may be an accident, but twice surely meant something. Even though he wasn't a superstitious person, this turtle shell was his only ancestral heritage. "This is truly fate, huh," he sighed. He walked over to the baby and analyzed him. The baby wasn't too cute, but there was an intelligent gleam in its eye as it stretched its arms towards him. As he picked up the baby, he noticed a little necklace around its neck with the name "Fa Ma" imprinted on it. "Fa Ma, I hope you truly live up to your name." He buried the bodies of his parents and ran back to Searing Copper City. Little did Zhi Gui know, the sun and moon were both shining in the sky, and a constellation in the shape of the Rohini Nakshatra was gleaming in the middle of the two celestials. It truly was an auspicious day.
It had been over three years since the Old Turtle, Zhi Gui, picked him up. Zhi Gui was a stubborn old man who knew nothing but cultivation, women, and alchemy. He would often regale the child with tales of his best "exploits" in romance, despite his audience being only three and a half years old. Somehow, the Old Turtle sensed that this child was different. After all, he was a reincarnated person from Earth.
His life on Earth could best be described as average. The day before his reincarnation, he had picked up a tattered old notebook from the floor of his college's library. He tried looking for the owner but became curious and opened it, only to find it glued shut. When he fell asleep that night, he woke up in a desert with sand raging around him.
Now, he found himself in a new world where Battle Qi (Dou Qi) was everywhere. Cultivation was the way of life here, shaping their civilization. The stages of cultivation were Battle Disciple (Dou Zhe Qi), Battle Practitioner (Dou Zhe), Battle Master (Dou Shi), Battle Grandmaster (Da Dou Shi), Battle Spirit (Dou Ling), Battle King (Dou Wang), Battle Emperor (Dou Huang), Battle Ancestor (Dou Zong), Battle Venerate (Dou Zun), Battle Half-Saint (Dou Ban Sheng), Battle Saint (Dou Sheng), and Battle God (Dou Di). This was the world where another time traveler, Xiao Yan, grew up to become the esteemed Battle God, who was last seen 10,000 years ago.
Fortunately, he seemed to be in the era before Xiao Yan, which meant he could use his foresight from "Battle Through the Heavens" to ease his growth. He was named Fa Ma which was the same as the head of the Alchemy Guild in the Jia Ma Empire during Xiao Yan's time. He hoped he was the same person as that could at least give him a chance to become an alchemist. Alchemists were known to need a fire attribute with a trace of wood and extraordinary soul perception. Though confident about his soul perception as a reincarnated person, he worried about the attributes since he was essentially a new soul.
Even if he wasn't an alchemist, Fa Ma was confident he could reach the top of this world due to the tattered old book he had picked up before his death. The book, named Journal Simulation Space, had three main features: scanning items and replicating them in the simulation space for experimentation (consumes battle qi and soul power depending on strength of item), a diary that could only be written with soul power, and an enlightenment function that enhanced his comprehension by making his thinking more flexible. The last function consumed soul power at an incredibly fast pace. Fa Ma tried it when he was around one and a half years old, only to fall asleep within a minute. Fortunately, the journal seems to have a safety limit built in to prevent him from harming himself irrevocably. Over the past two years, he had abused these functions to improve his soul power. Although he didn't know his current level of soul power, it had grown considerably. His soul control was also substantial, as he had to practice writing legibly in the diary for two years, building a foundation of hard work and discipline as it became routine.
Despite the various functions of the Journal, Fa Ma was thankful for it as it helped him come to terms with this new life. Screaming in the simulation space and writing down his thoughts and fears was soothing, allowing him to face this new magical world with undying curiosity.
Even though he didn't know if he could become an alchemist, it would be a shame if he didn't as the profession seemed tailor-made for him. He could experiment freely in the simulation space without wasting materials and wouldn't have to worry about resources as others would provide materials for him to refine pills. To prepare for this glorious future, he begged Old Turtle to teach him pharmacology for the past two years. Relying on his outstanding soul and the enlightenment function of the Journal, he became well-versed in herbology and various natural treasures. He even made an improved healing paste, but it required a higher degree of control compared to the market. He also persuaded Old Turtle to buy different books, learning about the vastness and cultures of the Dou Qi world. He read rare tales of the Barbarians and their Witchcraft in the North, the Intelligent Beasts of the South, the Dark Races in the West, and the Sea Clans of the various oceans. From these tales, he noted various treasures, hoping even one might hold an ounce of truth.
"Little Ma, come down to the training ground," Old Turtle yelled, pulling Fa Ma out of his thoughts. Today was the day Fa Ma would start his training. In the martial arts ground, Old Turtle stroked his beard and looked at Fa Ma, who was bursting with excitement. "Brat, what's got you excited?" he asked mischievously. Fa Ma knew the old man was a jokester, but today was the start of his legendary life, and he wasn't having it. "Old man, just teach me already," he replied. "Fine, brat, here are some tricks for feeling Battle Qi. Battle Qi is inherently violent, so we have to strengthen our bodies first while cultivating a minor seed of Qi called Battle Power for the Disciple stage. Maintain a steady mind and use the Battle Qi to constantly flush your body."
Fa Ma sat for a few seconds before forming the hand seal and entering a meditative state. For the past three and a half years, he had been meditating to set his foundation and would even recite the soul technique Xiao Yan had used (Close the Sky and Guard the Spirit, Absorb the Spirit and Forge the Soul) to start feeling the existence of spiritual energy. While he hadn't felt spiritual energy yet, reciting it at least made him feel refreshed. His years of work allowed him to quickly feel the Battle Qi in the world and start mobilizing it in an orderly fashion.
Zhi Gui quietly waited for Fa Ma to ask for help or give up, but he soon realized that Fa Ma had actually started cultivating within a minute. The speed at which Fa Ma started cultivating was unheard of, as even the empire's monster took a day at least, not a minute. He expected the brat to be fast due to his outstanding soul power, but calming one's mind is not simple for a little child. He knew Fa Ma was a genius from how he learned all his knowledge of pharmacology and herbology in the past two years. Fa Ma had even started reading old classics in the Searing Copper City Alchemy Guild Library. Though they usually got along as brothers due to Fa Ma's unusual maturity, Zhi Gui loved him like a grandson and already treated him as his heir, hoping he would become the President of the Alchemist Guild. However, Zhi Gui now realized he might be witnessing the birth of a seventh-grade alchemist and a future Battle Ancestor.