Chapter 7: Chapter 7
Within a few minutes the rest of the children had returned and taken their seats. Ash, Evan, and Emily were all sitting together. Currently, Emily had a somewhat pale expression on her face. "Are you alright?" Ash asked her. Emily slightly nodded her head. "Without power, women in larger families like ours do not get a say in their marriage. We just get traded for more resources and power... That is why I ran away. In order to be able to decide my own fate, I need power." Ash, having heard what she said, frowned slightly. Having come to this new world, he had expected things to be different, but he had not expected to have run into a situation like this immediately.
"Evan! What makes you want to become a cultivator?" Ash suddenly asked. "Hmmm... I do not have a strong desire to change my fate like Emily. I wanted to become a cultivator in order to have my own kingdom some day! I suppose that sounds a bit like wanting to change my fate. Every cultivator already has their fate changed from the moment they start cultivating though." The previous frown on Ash's face had switched to a contemplating expression. "How about you brother?! What made you hop on this long and winding road?!" Evan let out a hearty laugh. At this point, either because the mood had lightened or for some other reason, Emily was looking less pale and there was a small tight lipped smile on her face.
Before Ash could answer, there was the sound of a door opening. The group of three plus the other children all looked over to the door. Miss Glaze walked in with her eyes as intense as ever. "Sorry for keeping you all waiting." She then walked to the opposite end of the table from the mayor and took her seat. "No problem, no problem!" The mayor quickly said. "It was not a long wait and the dinner would have been ruined without you here anyways. Thanks to you we can all enjoy a festive mood." Miss Glaze did not say anything else, only nodding in response. As if on cue, the door opened again and multiple servants came into the room carrying an identical course as the one already on the table. The servants swapped out the food that was left on the table for the hot and fresh dishes.
Ash almost could not believe his eyes. Ever since he had come to this world he had been eating simple and plain meals with meat only rarely. He almost could not stand to see such wastefulness. He had a poor family that could only afford the most basic necessities. That they had managed to gain hold of a breathing technique was already because they had saved up since his body's previous owner was born. Upon looking around the room, he noticed that many of the other children had a similar dismayed expression. Only a few of the children like Emily and Evan were not fazed. One thing that he noticed though was that the dish glowing with a faint light, that Emily had previously explained to be made from a spiritual beast, was not exchanged for a new dish. Apparently this type of dish was expensive for even someone like the mayor.
"Everyone, feel free to help yourselves to anything but the Black Shelled Turtle soup. You will all be given a small portion each since there is not much." After the mayor finished speaking, an older man walked in and grabbed the large bowl. He then walked to Miss Glaze and carefully ladled out a small portion in a smaller bowl. Afterward he performed the same feat for the mayor then proceeded to do the same for the children. When it finally came time for Ash to receive his portion, he could not help but take a large gulp. Even though many of the creature in this world were different, they were not very exotic. The only thing that really stood out was this Black Shelled Turtle soup. He could not help but be nervous since there was nothing else like it on Earth.
Even though the other food looked good, he almost completely ignored it in favor of the soup. He gently held the small bowl in his hand. After gulping down his saliva one more time, he held the bowl up to his mouth and took a sip. It was the most amazing thing he had ever tasted. He quickly finished the small bowl with ease. The soup was hot and slid down his throat like fire. Once it hit his stomach though he suddenly felt a cold feeling. The feeling spread throughout his body until it felt like he had ice in his veins. The feeling did not go away. Just as he was starting to get a little worried, he felt a sharp pain in both of his eyes. Suddenly, all of the ice cold feeling in his body started to move upwards. At this point there was an expression of pain on his face. He bent over and covered his eyes with his hands. The ice cold feeling finally all gathered in his head.
Once the ice cold reached his head it immediately contracted and disappeared. Following that was a sound like glass breaking and the pain in his eyes was gone. "Congratulations brother! You just unlocked your eyes' potential!" Evan reached over and wrapped his big arm around Ash. "Unlocked my eyes potential? What does that mean?" Before Evan had a chance to talk, Miss Glaze spoke out. "Allow me to explain. In cultivation, besides training the body and the mind to ascend to immortality, there is another way to cultivate. This path is called is called Transcendence."
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone