Spirit Stone Mountain
They continued inside after Pel gave himself a water spray and changed his clothes. Along the way, Ito continued to issue quests on any creature that was found and if it was too strong he would deal with the creature with his weapons.
Most time he would just call out his clones and as his level increased, the number increased by one.
"Ito, are you sure we're still in the forest?" Pel asked as they continued walking.
Ito sensed that there were mana stones nearby but he could not understand the reason for the fluctuations he felt. He went through the information he had amassed but before he could figure it out, it was already too late.
They had all walked into the array and the next moment they appeared at the foot of a mountain.
Pel who had used teleportation several times and so wasn't affected but Crista felt the whole world spinning and could not pull herself together until after a while. When she finally discovered where they were she was shocked.
Pel pursed his lips and turned to Ito. "Now, I'm very sure we're not in the forest...What happened"
[It appears we just used a teleportation array]
"Elaborate"
[The mana stones I felt before were actually spirit stones that were fueling the teleportation array]
"So where are we exactly?"
[...I don't know...I can't seem to find our location on the map of this planet]
Pel frowned. "Are you saying we're on another planet?"
[Not possible. I will be able to tell if we had left the planet]
Pel did not respond and just stared at the mountain having a strange feeling within. "Ito scan this place and tell me the report"
The area was not huge and so Ito should have been done after a couple of seconds but even after a minute, he remained silent.
[This...is a spirit stone mine]
Pel could more than just sense Ito's happiness but he seriously didn't understand why this was such a big deal. He was about to ask more questions but Ito shut him up with a quest.
—Quest
—Asorb the surrounding QI for the next three hours
—Reward: Flaming Spectrum
Pel checked the quest over and over again and turned to Ito. Seeing the latter's expression, he knew that arguing would just be wasting time so he asked for instructions instead.
Directed by Ito he entered the lotus position and closed his eyes, freeing his mind of all thoughts. He wasn't expecting much to happen and it was so for about thirty minutes before he felt a different substance entering his body and resting below his abdomen.
Ito then directly uploaded the breathing techniques to his brain and he went through it without disrupting his cultivation.
Pel followed the manual and performed the breathing techniques finding it easier to absorb the surrounding QI.
Not knowing what to do, Crita sat away from him fiddling with her fingers. She wouldn't have minded closing up the distance but as she had read in many novels that there was a burst of energy with every increase in rank, it was better to be safe than sorry.
She did not want to feel useless though and started trying to remember the different stages of cultivation were divided.
Different books have different names for each realm but there was a standard that each realm would not have more than nine stages before going to the next realm and each realm was more difficult than the last.
She glanced at Pel and for a second she felt that her eyes were playing tricks on her but she did not utter a sound and continued watching him.
'So that is what he looks like' she inwardly smiled.
Pel had no idea what the latter was thinking and just continued trying to feel this new energy.
~Three hours later~
BOOM!
Crista had fallen asleep when she heard the loud noise waking her up. "You've advanced?"
Pel slowly opened his eyes and nodded. This planet had given him a surprise he couldn't simply put off as luck. "But what is this energy...it's somewhat different from mana"
[It's QI...according to the natives. Do you want a better name?]
"No need, I'm bad at naming things and you're not any better so let's just leave it at that"
[...]
He then turned to Crista. "Are you able to do what I just did?"
"No..." Crista felt a bit awkward.
"It's no problem" Pel got up and then decided to inspect his stats. He thought it would have been great if Crista could grow powerful like that as well but she was still okay with her current...in fact the one who needed more strength was him but on a powerful hand could if materials and a healthy body meant all parts are working fine.
That was what his brother always said and the meaning was rather clear...its no use holding back on someone you have plans for.
—Name: Pel
—Race: Kerki/Human
—Synchronization with human body: 20%
—Level: 5
—MP(Mana Points): ???
—Strength: 13 (+10) —23
—Agility: 17 (+10) —27
—Defence: 12 (+10) —22
—Stamina: 15 (+10) —25
"The increase is there but why the heck is my level the same?"
[The gains from your cultivation will not be added to your level]
—Quest completed
—You have been rewarded with the skill 'Flaming Spectrum'
Pel clicked on the skill to check its description.
—Flaming Spectrum: This skill enables host to simultaneously send out different kinds of fire attacks with damage X20 of host's original damage. The number of attacks ranges from one to seven, depending on host's understanding of the skill.
'Damn...now this is a skill'
[I presume host is satisfied]
Pel inwardly smiled. How could he not be satisfied? Ito was just fishing for compliments. "Yes Yes, you did great"
[Would host like to learn immediately?]
"Yeah, upload it and Rock Punch while you're at it...even if the name is so cringe" Pel muttered the ending to himself.
Crista was not standing close by so she did not see the screen and did not interfere but then stared at the mountain. "What would you do with this place now?"
Pel also stared at the mountain and raised a brow. "Minning this place will require a complex extractor and not to mention that is not my area of specialization, with just myself it would take forever so the best way now is to partner up with a smart person..."
"Let's just see what we find first"
Crista nodded and then followed him.