Going Outside
Knowing about his cultivation drop, Mark spent a few years meditating and absorbing QI under the waterfall to increase his cultivation a little bit as he was still feeling slightly bad about his loss. Though he was excited to leave the place where he was essentially trapped for centuries, his mind had long ago stopped being too impulsive and had calmed a lot.
When Mark felt like he had somewhat increased his cultivation, he finally opened his eyes and got up after sitting in the same place for 25 years. During this time period, he had not only focused on absorbing QI but also experimented on what all he could do now. This was because he planned to venture into the outside world and knowing his abilities were essential. Firstly, he tried to manipulate the light, water, air and earth elements. He also knew how to manipulate lightning but there was no lightning there. Later he tried making himself fall into a dream which was also successful.
After checking that all of his combat abilities were still there, he tried doing whatever came to his mind. First, he cut off his finger and tried to regrow it. There he confirmed that he actually had red blood but it didn't hurt much. Using some QI, he was easily able to regrow his finger but it started as green stem and leaves formed the structure of his finger and then changed to a human finger. This gave him another idea, he tried to form a petal of the flower he once was. That also succeeded but was accompanied by a small cultivation drop. The cultivation drop changed with the quantity of QI. A higher amount of QI meant stronger effects of the petal to make others fall under a dream. He also tried producing a Dreaming Flower Fruit which caused his cultivation to drop much more than the petal. This was the fruit produced by the Dreaming Flower and had stronger effects than petals. He tried to do other things but no other experiment worked.
"Huuu. Let's leave this goddamn place and try to meet some humans. I am tired of this place." A naked Mark said while getting up from the water. He covered his body with a thin layer of earth that looked like brown, stiff clothes. Still stumbling slightly, he started walking in a random direction.
Soon, Mark started to run and to his surprise, he was running very fast. Running for a while, he soon reached a misty border that seemed like the end but there was nothing visible beyond it. Mark touched it and realized that it was some sort of barrier. He started running with one hand touching the border to see if it opened somewhere. After running for a few hours and not finding any opening, Mark stopped running and sat down with his legs crossed and both of his palms touching the barrier.
He thought that if he understood the barrier, he might be able to cross it. Just like in the novels.
He closed his eyes and tried to scan and understand the barrier with his QI. He already had enough practice with using his QI due to his experiments after getting a human body. He sat like that for 80 years until one day his palms suddenly went through the barrier. When his palms went through, he felt another barrier of sorts. Being annoyed at all this stuff, Mark punched this second barrier which crumbled easily. This was because this was not another barrier but actually just earth.
Mark started punching and manipulating the earth element to make his way above ground. After digging for 2 hours, he felt his surroundings slowly changing and becoming weird. He immediately made a 180-degree turn and went the opposite way. After digging for another 5 hours, he finally saw light and reached above the ground.
"That was tiring. But finally, I have reached the outside. Although I passed through the barrier, I still don't know what type of barrier it was or what type of place I was trapped in. And what the heck was there when I started digging for the first time. There was a feeling of uneasiness that caused me to change my direction." A tired and confused Mark started talking to himself.
"Well, that all doesn't matter anymore. All that matters is that I am out. Yooohoooo." A smile crept through his face and he started screaming at the top of his lungs.
After calming down, Mark first created a petal with a very small amount of QI inside and Closed the patch of ground from where he came out with his petal in between the earth he used. He didn't destroy the tunnel and just closed its top. The petal was there for him to know where the tunnel was and with a low amount of QI, no expert will try to dig it out.
Mark sat down and recovered his lost QI as he had been manipulating the earth element for 7 hours without any break. After recovering the QI and forming a basic plan as to what to do next, he got up and started running in a random direction. He was in a barren land that was filled with cracks. Even the air had a very small amount of QI.
After a week of running, Mark had started noticing the QI becoming better and better with small plants and grass growing here and there. And after running continuously for approximately 2 weeks, he finally saw a few houses and what looked like a small village. He reached the village that only had around 35 houses with 12 being proper constructs and the rest resembling huts. The land was barely good enough for some vegetation and the QI was still too low to even consider having a good quality herb.
Mark entered a village that looked more like a settlement camp. He made his way to the most crowded area as it looked like a marketplace. The first thing he had planned to do was buy clothes as his earth clothes were too weird. While walking, he caught the eyes of many people. This was because rarely anyone came to their village and he was also dressed funny.
"Aaa." A small and meek voice was heard from one of the crowded groups.
"If you don't have any money to buy or any item to exchange then why do you always come here?" Another voice shouting was heard next.
Wanting to see what was happening and to ask for a clothing shop, Mark started walking towards the crowd that was surrounding a fruits and vegetable shop.