In the Mist

"Renji, Kai," I addressed them, and they straightened up, looking nervous. "Ah… This wouldn't do. Today, I want to refresh my knowledge of the Mortal Realm. It seems I have forgotten quite a lot." I said, feigning exasperation and placing a hand on my forehead with a dramatic sigh.

Both knew it was horseshit, I was pulling their legs, but they had to play along and provide a thorough explanation anyway.

Renji began, only to be swiftly cut off by me.

"Wait a second, let's backtrack. Remind me, what exactly is an Eclipse Heart?" I inquired.

"Well," Kai took over this time, "Eclipse Hearts are mysterious energy centers found within cultivators, located near the heart. They serve as conduits for celestial energies."

A perfect book definition, and as always, like everything else in a xianxia world, vague and full of bullshit. I had many questions, like, how did it come to be? What are its origins? How does it work? Why do only a few people have it? Why is it called an Eclipse Heart in the first place? Isn't it usually called Meridians or some shit? I mean, sure, the "Heart" part makes sense, given its proximity to the heart, but what about "Eclipse"?

Unfortunately, even with Ryujin's memories, there were no answers to be found.

"From age 0 to 12, mortals with an Eclipse Heart start cultivating naturally. They gather motes of celestial energies. Motes gathered in this Realm determine everyone's Talent as well as other stuff."

"I see," I rubbed my chin. Typical so far. "Anyways, I will be teaching you a few things today, and that will be it. There exist twelve sacred stages—or realms, whatever your preference is—of cultivation."

As I spoke, I noticed a perplexed look on their faces, prompting me to pause for a moment, wondering. I was curious as to how everyone knew that there are twelve Realms even though no one was above the Eighth Realm. What caught my curiosity was the knowledge, how it seemed to be in everyone's minds automatically, and how no one seemed to question this. What was behind this? Not only were the Realms pre-determined, but every Path to Power and everything else, too, was already written somewhere.

The question is, how?

Shrugging, I moved on, "Yet, our focus lies on the initial three, for they form the foundation of your journey: the attainment of a proper Vitra and the crucial selection of your Path going forth. The first three stages are Foundation, Awakened, and Path Formation. It is in this pivotal phase that your fate is decided, transcending the limits of mere potential forced upon you by the Heavens. Even the most gifted geniuses and those with greater backgrounds than you must face the challenge—the trial—of the First Great Bottleneck that is the Path Formation Realm, where all are humbled and brought to their knees. Even the greatest of martial kings, immortal masters, hermits, and hidden masters. Every single one of us cultivators must face this alone. Heavens force their will upon us, we are not meant to cultivate strength, yet we do. It is this trial, this tribulation, that we prepare to pass. For there lies nothing but death if one fails."

Both of them gulped nervously at my words.

"Fear not, however, for that is not near," I reassured them with a smile. "You will be trained, Vitra strengthened, and you will be at your peak when you face the Heavens. But keep in mind, Heavens are meant to be faced alone."

"Um," Renji spoke up hesitantly, "I… I have a disease." He balled his fists until his knuckles turned white, and his face morphed a bit before he returned to normal. "I cannot cultivate as fast… They said I couldn't do it, but I have managed to come this far. I will breakthrough, I won't let my disease decide my fate for me."

"Hmm," I hummed. "It is not a disease."

His eyes shook, and his mouth hung open. "B-but—"

"There is a cure."

"N-no, they said it was a disease. That I—I can't cultivate, how could all that be a lie?"

Oof, the feeling when you find out something you lived your whole life with isn't true. I shook my head. "You have a rare condition—physique, a constitution. One that I will teach you to conquer. Perhaps, you won't even need me."

"I… see…" he looked down as I looked over at Wang Kai who seemed to be holding back speaking. My mind wandered off to the change I'd brought into this narrative. He was supposed to be the enemy of the protagonist type, and then turned into a friend, but now he hadn't even gotten a chance to become the enemy.

Could I really change everything?

"Master," Kai finally spoke up, having gathered all the courage he needed, voicing the doubt that lingered in their minds. "Master, can we truly break through such a bottleneck?"

I hummed thoughtfully, sifting through Ryujin's memories for the answer. "Most never advance beyond Path Formation."

Their expressions visibly deflated, both Wang Kai and Li Renji looking disheartened. However, they regained their bearing quicker than I'd anticipated.

"Among the rare few who do make it further, most take a serious risk and fail to reach the Fourth Realm." I clapped my hands. "Anyways, enough moping!" I need my meat shields ready! And I need them quick, you little shits!

"First Realm, Foundation. You must breakthrough into this Realm first. You both are Mortals, Renji at 49 percent Purity"—Which was honestly a surprise given his condition, this really spoke for his character; he must be hardworking—"whereas Kai at 48 percent—"

"Percent?" Kai and Renji interrupted.

"Ah…" Shit, I forgot the system determines purity differently than everyone in this world. Let's see. System, what's the Purity conversion between this world and your percentage?

Tainted (0-25%)

Refined (26-50%)

Pure (51-75%)

Primordial (76-100%)

I see.

"It means you both are nearing the most Pure Purity there is. Your Eclipse Hearts' are at Refined for now. Just a little push and you'd be able to breakthrough."

"Ah, you meant that Purity, Master!"

"Yes, precisely—"

Wait, Cultivators require at the very least 51% purity to breakthrough, doesn't that mean one can purify one's Eclipse Heart further than just Pure? There's Primordial as well. I wonder why that has been forgotten when even the twelve realms haven't been.

Truly, this world was strange, and it was making me curious about many things.

I taught them some more things and spent some time teaching Renji how to reign on his physique. Done with that, I left Renji and Kai to their devices, and prepared myself to leave. The outskirts of the Gorge were relatively safe from what I'd gathered. As long as I stayed within the borders, I should be fine. The boundaries were as clear as day to anyone, so I would be safe.

I gave some scratches to Biscuit who was sleeping even now and didn't seem too keen on waking up any time soon. With a sigh, I stepped away and left, bracing myself for whatever was to come. I knew it wouldn't be easy, but… anything for Biscuit—my OP cat.

Not wanting to risk getting fucked up too bad, I made sure that I had the [Trinket Of The Fallen] equipped, just in case something came my way and needed a good scare. After a final check on Biscuit, I stepped outside. The mist had thickened since I'd last seen it when I arrived on the outskirts of the town.

It seemed like the Month Of The Mists was approaching rapidly, and I needed to prepare for it to prevent any harm to the town. As the lord of this place now, I had to take responsibility and do what I could. I plodded through the outskirts and entered the mist. It was too early to exhaust myself, so I refrained from walking too fast or doing anything too strenuous. I had to save my energy in case I needed to run later; exhaustion wouldn't be in my favor then.

I got a whiff of the air—by extension, the mist—and I had to say, there was definitely something suspicious in the air. I had no clue what the crimson mist was; honestly, no one had a clue. Maybe the Sect Leader did but he was dead. However, there had to be something behind all this because it wasn't really natural.

Plodding up a hill, I sat down to catch my breath, peering for the Vipervine. From my memories, it was a vine of sorts, and much to my luck, it was attached to a viper. A strange flora or fauna—whatever it was—native to this world, more specifically, the demonic lands.

Squinting since I couldn't see well in the mist, realization quickly dawned upon me that my eyesight had deteriorated way too much for me to recognize the Vipervine from this much distance. Not to mention the mist…

Somehow, I'd still been thinking and behaving like a Cultivator subconsciously despite not being one anymore. I bristled at the thought.

With a sigh, I got up dusting my clothes. I ventured forth. The mist was ever-encompassing and it coiled around my body as I moved, my eyes peering for any herb I could see. Of course, after checking with [Identify] and making sure they'd not fuck me over. I yanked them off the ground and put them in my Inventory straight up. Careful to not attract the attention of anything dangerous, I continued with a smile. Being careful was most likely the reason why nothing came for my head yet.

Now, normally, your typical xianxia character would see and suddenly get all the knowledge there is to some herb or item and then blabber on about its contents. I, however, had no such magical memory, nor did Ryujin.

The herbs, I had no clue how they'd prove useful, if they would at all, of course, but I'd taken them anyway. I'd observe them later and see what they actually were and what use they'd have.

I was certain Ryujin's memories would have at least some info on them—might even have a lot of information on them as they seemed quite common—but said knowledge didn't pop up in my head like I'd expected it to, which was a shame really as I could use some memory thingy like that. This likely meant I'd have to search through the memories.

It would be so useful if I see something and the corresponding knowledge just pops up. Now, I used [Identify] to make sure it wouldn't harm me at this moment, but I was in no mood to read info dumps of some herb so I refrained from reading about them. Thank you very much. I'd much rather hunt for the herb I'd come all the way to find.

"Man, how long has it been?" Grumbling, I slumped to rest. Oh, how I wished for my cultivation back! I sighed. A few minutes were enough to get me back on my feet and searching.

Finally, I caught sight of what I'd been looking for. A root, pulsating in a revolting way that made me nauseous just looking at it; to top that off it reminded me of some unfortunate… things I'd come across back in the Before.

I smiled as I saw it wriggle about, time to take the thing I'd come for