Good Habits

"Can't you just explain this to me in a way that is more familiar to me?"

Why does he have to go through this chakra stuff? Granted it's quite cool to listen to and lore about the world he is going to be living in is quite appreciated, however now is the time for him to be going through a training montage, they can discuss the theory part later can't they?

[ Player.. If you stand out in a crowd, if you are strong you will be worshiped, if you stand out the same way in the same crowd when you are weak, you will be dead. ]

"Yeah but-"

[ believe me player, this is not the world you are used to. You need power to support everything. Wealth, looks, a smart brain? Those will get you nowhere if you don't have enough power to protect them. Until you are powerful enough to protect yourself and your loved ones it's better to be ordinary ]

Shen Mingze didn't completely agree with the system's way of thinking. Can't you hire all the guards to protect you if you are wealthy? And who doesn't want a beautiful and smart person on their side, but for now he just agreed and let the system continue on with his explanation.

[ The first chakra in our body is situated under our belly button, to be priced on the base of our spine. You felt something gather in that place when you meditated, that something was Qi, you already know what that is, don't you ]

"Of course I know what Qi is, spiritual energy, right?"

[ You got it, anyway, the first step to cultivate is to gather enough Qi so that you can activate the first layer of your, first chakra, the 'muladhar chakra' it is called. Once you have unlocked the first layer you can start to use Qi to some extent. ]

After that the system continued to recite the first few pages in his cultivation book, though a single page only had 4 sentences each, the system took the time to explain each character in detail.

Giving examples through stories and metaphors to explain what the book was trying to say, surprisingly enough while teaching the system seems to change completely, he did not waste a single minute and Shen Mingze tried his best to gather all the information that he could.

Before he knew an hour had passed, he honestly wanted the system to continue on but decided against it. He knew that no matter how his memory had improved during his time in the black space he should take his time comprehending what he learned today first.

He mentally made a note to buy some books later so he can take notes after each session he was going to have with the system. His dad always said that after writing something down it will be easier to understand it.

With that thought in mind he sat in the same position as tomorrow and this time actively made attempts to gather Qi into the Muladhar chakra.

Closing his eyes he could feel the Qi that entered his body join with the Qi he had gathered before and the ball became more and more solid as time passed, he was wondering if the size of the ball would increase over time but it didn't instead after sometime it shrank instead.

This did surprise him but he didn't stop the process of accumulating Qi. It shrank more and more in size over time and Shen Mingze felt a sense of warmth in gulf him everytime it did.

When morning arrived Shen Mingze felt even more refreshed than he did yesterday, he realized when he woke up that he was covered in sweat so the first thing he did was take a bath and change into clean clothes.

He hadn't managed to break-through and unlock the first layer of Muladhar but he had a feeling that he would be able to do so by the end of the week. Though he should probably talk to the system about it first.

That being said the system seems awfully quiet for some reason, it hadn't spoken a word since Shen Mingze woke up.

"Hey you okay?"

[ yeah.. I just wasn't expecting you to be so talented.. ]

"Hmm?"

Shen Mingze didn't mind being praised but he would much appreciate it if the system would elaborate. He's talented with many things, what is the system talking about?

[ I would like it if you would tone down the narcissism a bit, I was talking about your affinity with this cultivation method. Usually it takes at least a month to get to the late stage of Muladhar activation. With how you are going you would probably be able to activate the first layer by tomorrow… ]

"Is that a bad thing?"

Could it be that he has to accumulate a certain amount of Qi before proceeding further? Could proceeding too quickly lead to lasting effects on his cultivation?

[ It's not anything bad, I was just surprised ]

"Oh"

Shen Mingze let out a sigh of relief and then exited the inn, this time he paid the inn staff for his stay for today as well before leaving.

His feet automatically began to walk in the direction of his usual meet up spot with little Ten, it seemed to have already become a habit, it wasn't necessarily a bad thing. It was not like he was helping little Ten for free, he was also getting Karma points out of it, he was doing this for himself.

[ We might as well just take the kid ]

Shen Mingze let out a sigh as he bought two bowls of congee and a few side dishes with him, it wasn't good if the kid only ate meat buns for each meal.

"I am not kidnapping a child"

[ surprise adoption ]

"Changing the wording, does not make it any less wrong."

Little Ten was, as alway waiting for him, though not curled up in a ball today. Shen Mingze sat next to him and said "hello"

Seeing him wave his hand Little Ten also returned his gesture, though it seemed like he didn't really understand what it meant.

"When you wave to someone, it means you are either greeting them or saying goodbye," he said.

"Oh"

After that, Shen Mingze laid out the blanket that he brought with him and then placed all the dishes on the blanket one by one. He then gestured to Little Ten who came running and sat down next to Shen Mingze.

Little Ten was about to dig in but Shen Mingze noticed that his hands were dirty.

Now that he thinks about it, he hasn't ever checked if Little Ten's hands were clean before giving him food, had Little Ten been eating with dirty hands until now?

Shen Mingze mentally gave himself a scolding for not being a responsible adult before stopping Little Ten from starting to eat, Little Ten seemed a bit confused by his sudden actions but did as he was told.

"Wait here" Shen Mingze instructed him before going to the stall he usually bought food from, he asked the vendor for some water and seeing that he was a regular customer the middle aged man gave him a glass of water without further question.

After coming back he saw Little Ten sitting in front of the food, he was staring at it but did not eat anything as Shen Mingze had told him not to, a smile crept across his face as he called to the kid.

"Come here"

Little Ten rushed to him and almost slipped. Shen Mingze caught him and then helped him wash his hand. His hands were so small that it didn't even take the whole glass to wash them. With no other option Shen Mingze used his outer garment to wipe Little Ten's hands dry.

After that they ate the food, Little Ten didn't really know how to use chopsticks so he had to feed the little kid for the most part. The kid seemed reluctant at first but gave up quite easily when Shen Mingze started using his famous 'sad puppy eye'.

After finishing eating Shen Mingze helped Little Ten wash his hands and wipe them once again before letting him leave.

[ You have done a good deed. Little Ten had a good meal. You have received 4 Karma points ]

[ You have done a good deed. Little Ten now understands a bit about hygiene. You have received 10 Karma points ]

Shen Mingze raised an eyebrow, feeding the kid gives him 4 Karma points but helping him wash his hands gives 10?

But then again feeding a kid once won't change his life, teaching him new things however can be of much use to his future.

A smile on his face Shen Mingze began to walk in the direction of the restaurant that he visited yesterday.

( A.n. 'Qi condensation, stage one' in chapter 9 has been changed to 'lower stage 1-10, Muladhar'. My original plan was to introduce the main character to the terminology of this world slowly but I realised that following two different type of term systems will be inconvenient for some readers. Hence I am going to make the main character suffer a bit. He'll have to adapt to this world sooner or later anyway.

even though I love him some things are necessary.

the chakra system is inspired from old Hindu texts, I really like studying different cultures and my next book will be based of the Greek myth of Narcissus)