Novel 2-Dawn of the New Age

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…

/Tremble…/

/Sha…/

"... It's really bad…"

'While the first was barely a 3 on the scale, this Earthquake is close to a 4 and a half on the scale. And it affects the whole world.'

'The source of the earthquake is the center of the globe. And while this isn't know to the people, it will be revealed soon.'

'Anyhow…'

"I think I now know the truth."

'These people I'm talking with are the real deal. They're the ones who originally intended to share techniques with the world.'

'This means the person who shared techniques in the future is actually the impostor. But it remains to be seen if he's truly a fake.'

'He could have the same reason but belong to another group hence his technique is different, maybe he had ulterior reasons, but it doesn't mean his technique is fake.'

'Anyhow, it's exactly as I imagined.'

'These people replied to every question I presented them, this ties up to the rumors they were here to help anyone interested.'

'They did vanish in the future, but as long as I can maintain contact, I can get my hands on more information.'

'There is a chance they may suspect me or I may fall for their true schemes as they are still very mysterious, but its a gamble I'm willing to take.'

/Quake…/

"... Another wave… One more and this is over…"

Three in total. Once the last one comes, it'll mark the end of old Earth as everyone knew it.

Each wave lasted only a few seconds, but they were each rather strong, enough to damage a weak house or send some things flying down from their counters.

'I got everything I wanted. This means it's time…'

"Time to Cultivate."

/Walk…/

Joseph left his room and went downstairs to one of the several underground basement floors, opening a door to a small warehouse full of boxes with a grated floor.

/Shaa…/

Faint, cold mist gathered around the ground, it was fragrant and pleasant, but extremely deadly.

"Condensed Qi…"

This room was part of Joseph's "containment plan".

Since he already knew all of his mutated plants had absorbed Spiritual Qi, it also meant he knew they were releasing it.

Qi was toxic to Humans, and albeit they would adapt, not all could survive this process.

He had prepared as much as he could so he could take it, but it didn't mean he was ready to take what this room had to offer.

All of the air of his greenhouses were delivered to this room to be "purified" by condensing them in a similar way an air conditioner would.

This causes the Spiritual Qi to condense in the water droplets and precipitate to a large tank under his feet.

It was a rather rough, but excellent way to purify it.

Several pools worth of enriched water stood below his feet. He used that water to irrigate the plants above, this water would then seep through their roots and eventually drain to his garden where the faint Qi would dissipate and enrich his land as a whole.

It was a little risky, but it was best then dirtying this storage, as despite being full of Qi, this water was pure.

Although right now, he had no intention of drinking any of it, and likely never would, otherwise, he wouldn't have walked inside on his shoes, much less stored things above the grates.

Everywhere, boxes full of dirt could be seen everywhere.

Why dirt? Simple, that dirt was a result of his experiments throughout the city.

As he kept using his powers to find rich places around the state, he collected the dirt from the richest areas as they contained extreme amounts of Qi.

Some soils had so much Qi in them that a 10Kg bag of it could compare to the density of a rock extracted directly from Gul-X21.

Most of the time, this happens around areas where fragments of the meteor fell, they end up absorbing the Qi emitted from the fragments over time.

'Since dirt is often not concise, it cannot change, but certain areas like Mines will be transformed by the Qi, becoming treasures.'

'Iron, Copper, Gold and the like that have been touched by Qi will become great commodities thanks to their anomalous properties.'

'This room is meant to store and isolate Qi from my experiments and also to assist in the transformation of some of those metals and ores.'

'I have no use for them now, but who knows?...'

He walked to a box near the entrance and opened it, revealing several bags full of tiny blue crystals inside of them.

'Spirit Shards, not to be mistaken with Spiritual Stones. These are just small fragments of Quartz that have absorbed Qi.'

'Thanks to my future knowledge, I know that Spirit Shards will become the de facto currency of the new world.'

'Spiritual Stones will become currency, but only for the filthy rich. They'll measure their worth based on their origin, age, purity, and so on.'

'Spirit Shards on the other hand can be made from any type of Quartz with their sole inherent value coming from how much Qi they have stored inside of them.'

'And since they can be recharged and have a tendency to absorb Qi rather than expelling it, they're perfect for currency.'

'I've stored a bunch of Quartz shards in this room inside these dirt boxes to cultivate them into Spirit Shards, and so far, it has worked wonders.'

'It does take Qi out of the System, but if I see that my plants are suffering from it, I can easily gather more Qi outside by collecting dirt and advancing its time.'

'Or if I feel like it's too dangerous, I can just shove one of these on the ground next to a plant's roots. It works fine.'

/Grab…/

He grabbed a small bag and pulled a nail sized shard, nodding to himself before closing the lid and leaving the room.

He left the basement and walked back to his room, grabbing his phone to take a glimpse at the notifications he received.

"As expected, the world's in chaos…"

'My parents are also rather worried, I'm thankful I managed to convince them to prepare a little just in case. They should have no problem living with their supplies for a few weeks.'

'Although my mom will complain about not being able to follow her schedule and my father will get angry at how monotonous everything is… It's better than risking themselves outside.'

"Once this is over, I'll get them inside one of my side bunkers, that should do."

Joseph wasn't ready to lead his family and friends down this path.

He didn't want to stop them from pursuing whatever they desired, but honestly speaking, he merely didn't want to worry about extra things when he was already stretched thin.

If they could remain somewhere and be safe, that would be for the best.

"If only the world could remain like this…"

Joseph did not desire for the world's fall. There was no way he would.

Even if its downfall led to the scenario where his abilities could be used to their maximum efficiency, giving him the chance to rise to the pinnacle of the world. If he could, he would've chosen to let the world remain the way it was.

Alas, the world spun on its own accord and he along with all could do nothing but follow along its orbit.

'The plants and animals have already begun their transformations. It's time for me to take the first step as well.'

/Sit…/

As soon as he finished talking with his family and friends, he sat down in the most comfortable position atop a fluffy mattress he took from the side.

/Inhale… Exhale…/

He took a deep breath, calming his breathing…

/Open… Lodge… Shaa…/

/Crunk crunk!/

He placed the small Quartz inside a custom made Humidifier and let it do its magic, spreading a faint mist throughout the room.

/Inhale… Exhale…/

Another deep breath. He had conditioned his heart and mind.

'The first Realm of Standard Cultivation can be divided into a few stages. Their names vary as people tend to refer to them the way they feel it fits them the most, as such, I also have my own preferences:'

"First Stage, Spiritual Root Awakening."

'The first stage is about growing a completely new organ, or as some scientists say, it's a mutation of the brain. But it's deeply debated… It'll be.'

'The Spiritual Root is a tiny lump at the back end of the brain near its steem that allows Humans to process and feel Spiritual Qi like a sixth sense.'

'99% of all Humans that manifest it will survive the changes in the future, although for them to live in more energy rich areas, they'll need to further develop them or be born with more robust Roots.'

'According to some predictions, all Humans will eventually develop roots, even if highly shriveled and deformed, which usually indicates one's lack of talent to Cultivation..'

'The more robust it is, the more adept one is to the path of "immortality".'

"Awaken the Root and feel Spiritual Energy, it's where everyone begins… Aside from those other Cultivation methods. And for animals and plants as well."

'Animals and Plants follow their own Cultivation paths that are highly dependent on instinct. Even years later, scientists still can't make heads or tails about it, but their Cultivation is a great source of inspiration for Humankind.'

"Spiritual Root Awakening can be defined into two Minor Steps:"

"Spirit Seed and Shell Break."

'Spirit Seed is the name for the phenomenon where you awaken your Spiritual Root. A tiny dot of energy will form on your brain like a small beam.'

'And Shell Break is the term for when your energy grows beyond this tiny beam's limit and cracks it, expanding outward, forming your roots!'

'Once all roots settle and your condition stabilizes, you can enter the Second Stage…'

"Internal Refinement."

'This is where Cultivation really begins… But that's for later.'

"This shouldn't be hard at all. Even a ten-year-old in the future will be able to go through this process within an hour. I shouldn't take any longer than a few minutes."

'Of course, they have their preparations… But so do I!'

'For the first Stage I don't need a Cultivation Method so the Leaf Whistle Art… The true one, will suffice.'

/Inhale…/

/Shaa…/

Joseph exhaled lightly, his breathing like a continuous breeze in the forest.

/Shaa…/

Right now, albeit it may sound little, he had three years of study in both versions of the Leaf Whistle Art, and right before this moment, he also made use of his powers to gain three years of practice on the technique.

Not the fake one as he didn't want to gather any practice on it, not until he fully understood the changes and intent behind it.

He couldn't fully trust this version either, but worse came to worst he could always reset his Cultivation. Although that wasn't possible now given he didn't even grow his organ yet.

Anyhow, this level of practive may not be enough to make him a Grandmaster on its execution, but given its simplicity, he could at least display its original form.

/Shaaa…/

A continuous and smooth breathing that was seemingly uninterrupted, as if he was constantly spewing out air.

This was the simplest Mastery of the Leaf Whistle Art.

Some techniques had layers of complexity and reaching each one could be said to a stage, but the Leaf Whistle Art had no such denominations.

Still, if he were to put it into Levels, he had Mastered the Art, being only a Level beneath reaching Grandmastery and reaching the true estate of breathing as defined by the manual.

Anyhow…

/Shaa…/

One set of breathing takes five minutes to complete and contains twenty five repetitions of inhaling and exhaling air.

Repeating this breathing continually will eventually trap Qi inside one's lungs, and stimulate the superficial Qi in one's body to move in rhythm with the diaphragm.

The combination of both, like twisting a key to start a car, can eventually ignite the basic cycle that'll feed itself inside one's body, awakening their organs and senses.

/Inhale… Exhale…/

/Sparkle…/

It didn't even take half a cycle…

'I can feel it. The energy inside of me… There's a lot of it.'

'This must be the Qi that naturally seeped into my body over the months I exposed myself to it. There's no harm in letting it gather like this as long as it doesn't surpass my body's tolerance limit.'

'But this ends now. I'll move this Superficial Qi to my benefit.'

'My goal is to advance past the First Realm of Cultivation before this day ends! Beyond Root Awakening and Internal Refinement and the other Stages.'

'That alone would put me beyond some of the hidden powers in this world.'

'People aren't stupid, even before the Earthquakes came, there were already signs that something was going to happen, there are many hidden organizations that prove this fact.'

'There are people that have been growing their powers from the sidelines, I have to catch up to them if I wish to protect myself and succeed in this Era.'

'One step at a time…'

Following what he knew, Joseph kept circulating his energy until he felt something awaken at the back of his head…

/SNAP!/

With an audible snap, something seemed to fall in place inside his skull, and with it, an incredibly refreshing feeling.

"This is… ?!"

/BLERG!/

"Urg… Huff… Right… Purification."

'The moment the Spiritual Qi condenses and the basic form of the Spiritual Root manifests, it'll cleanse the Skull and make it more harmonious.'

'There are many channels connecting the senses to the brain, and those are often clogged, not that it affects much, but this is the groundwork for the Meridians.'

'Not anything I need to concern myself with right now.'

"I'm now a Cultivator at the First Realm, Spiritual Root Awakening Stage, Spirit Seed Step… Quite a few names here."

'It would be simpler to just say I'm a Cultivator at the Beginning of the Root Genesis Realm.'

"From here, things are simple. Gather Qi and overflow the Spirit Seed so it may grow into the Spiritual Root."

'It was said that the more Qi your Root can take the better, but some people said that the Root's ability to manipulate and handle Qi was also important.'

'But how to manipulate that isn't known as its believed to be mostly genetic, so I'll just go with what I can.'

/Inhale…/

'Each breath I take causes Qi to fill my lungs and enter my bloodstream, but Qi shouldn't flow through the veins. Not unless you're highly skilled.'

'This much energy won't do much, but once one becomes exceedingly powerful, they'll need to awaken their Meridians.'

'For now, I just need to manipulate the Qi to my mind… But this is hard…'

Joseph was having difficulty focusing on his Qi and manipulating it.

It was like trying to scoop oil from a water bucket… But with a spork.

'I'll need a lot of practice, and that takes time…'

"Thank the heavens I have this power…"

'I want to try going as much as I could relying solely on myself, but my power only advances time, so if I use it right, I can still work on my Cultivation by myself while also "cutting" some of the time.'

"Advance!"

/Styr…/

The sands of time began to flow.

…

/Quake…/

The third earthquake came, but while the world shook, Joseph's focus fell elsewhere…

/Crack…/

/SHAAA…/

"Hupp!"

The tiny beam inside his skull cracked, and roots began taking hold of his brain and nervous system.

/Open!/

His eyes flashed with light as mist escaped his lips, condensing in the air before him.

"Huff… I did it…?!"

/BLERG!/

Joseph crouched on the ground again, vomiting several black shards and musky red liquid on the ground.

"Urg… I feel great, as if I had let go of something heavy after many weeks of suffering."

'But the ground… I just cleaned it.'

"Sigh… But this… Is beautiful."

Having Awakened his Spiritual Root, it was as if Joseph saw the world for the first time.

'The difference is night and day, almost as if I was a blind person being given sight.'

'Spiritual Qi is everywhere. It seems my attempts to hide it were for nothing. It's far too evident already.'

'Either no one with the talent has found my home yet or they're watching me from afar.'

'It seems my goal of advancing past the First Realm is the right one, I'll need any strength I can muster and as quickly as possible just in case they're prowling in the dark.'

'Even if there aren't, once people begin awakening their abilities, they'll naturally flock here. I'll need strength if I want to defend my things.'

"Anyhow, I'm now at the limit of my current Stage. Once I gather enough Qi to overflow my Roots, I can enter the next one by undergoing Resonance, stepping into the second Stage."

'Resonance is just about burning the Qi inside your Roots so they stabilize.'

'From there, I must keep absorbing Qi and inject it into my Roots so they may grow and strengthen. Once they stop growing and reach their limits, I can move on to the next Stage.'

'To inject Qi into my body safely, a method is necessary… A Cultivation Method.'

'For that, I'll use the one from the same organization since it's a neutral Method.'

"The Tranquil Pulse method. It's a Cultivation Art centered around gathering Qi into waves and pulsing them inside your body."

"It has many variations depending on the Realm and Stage you're at, but for this Step, it's simple enough."

'Gather Qi into a wave and have it crash against your body.'

'This would usually take a lot of time given there isn't a lot of Qi in the environment, but I have a solution for that.'

'As long as I have Spirit Shards, I can run through this easily!'

Joseph stuffed his strange humidifier with several Spirit Shards and waited as the entire room was filled with Qi.

/Inhale…/

With a deep breath, he began gathering Qi in droves.

With his enhanced practice, it was rather easy to control the Qi, but he soon found a problem.

"... I'm not proficient enough with this Art in practice… I could easily overcome this within a few days but… This is easy to solve."

/Shaa…/

In his hands, time was but clay for him to play with.

In the blink of an eye, years passed. And once he opened his eyes again, he began strengthening his Roots.

/Shaa!/

One wave after the other, his body was strengthened.

Time passed…

…

/Half an hour later…/

/… Exhale…/

"Huu… Finally."

'I absorbed around twelve shards worth of Qi, and that's not little.'

'Spirit Shards have grades depending on their value, from Grade 1 to Grade 9, mine were all Grade 2, which is ridiculous at this time.'

'There are also Gradeless, Impure, and Grade 0 Spirit Shards, but those are worthless to me.'

'Those twelve shards are now inside my roots.'

'Stabilizing them was easy, it barely took one shard, but the next Step took eleven whole shards...'

'The fourth Step in total, Root Stabilization, gathering Qi to grow and strengthen the Roots. They've now reached their limits.'

'Which means it's time to test something…'

"Although my Roots have grown greatly, you can never truly reach your limits, you can keep pushing yourself a little every day, but I don't have the time for that, so that's why I prepared this."

Joseph looked at a small box with around a hundred tiny Shards inside.

'They're all Grade 1 but they'll be enough. Besides, the Qi inside is almost Grade 2.'

"I'll advance my time expanding my Roots. Given everything I tried before, it should work as intended."

'So… Advance!'

/Shua…/

The Ampule manifested, time flowed…

Another three years passed in the blink of an eye.

…

/… End…/

/Open!/

"Huff!... Huff… I'm back."

'My Roots… To think they could grow so much…'

In three years of continuous development, Joseph tripled the size of his Roots. And that was just one aspect of everything that changed.

'Although the Roots were barely budging in the last few months, the first few had considerable progress.'

'I think what matters most about my ability is the focus it gives me in the time it simulates. Otherwise, I don't think anyone would have the mental fortitude to slowly chip away at something, watching it grow one centimeter per month.'

'Without extreme resilience, even if they try, without the right strength to keep at it, you'll eventually lose progress or halt by being unable to press onward.'

'I think this is where my ability truly shines.'

"My Roots have reached their limits. And even though it pains me to advance now, I don't think I would be able to make a difference in their size even if I were given another three years."

'Maybe I would increase their size by 5% again, but the increase will only diminish even further from here.'

Just to make sure, before he advanced, Joseph made sure to test his powers again. After all, from a certain perspective, his Roots were over 66% bigger than before, so wouldn't that make them completely different from what they were before?

Alas, his powers didn't work. As if it would be that easy…

"Time to break through."

'To enter the next stage, the Meridian Awakening Stage and its first step, Meridian Mapping.'

'Spread the Qi around your body and let it soak on your tissues. As it dissipates, it'll reveal the natural pathways inside.'

'The next is to then move the Qi around and carve away the Meridians.'

'As long as you follow the pathways, there should be no resistance if any.'

"Mapping takes time, but the more you do it, the better your understanding of your body becomes which increases the completion of the mapping."

"I sure am willing to go over this process, but I have a goal."

'Advance!'

Joseph did not waste his ability at all.

/Shuaa…/

Time flew by like jets piercing through the clouds…

/Gasp!/

"Huff… I'll never get used to this."

'I feel like I've been stuck in this room for decades… Wait a moment…'

"Urg… I need to be more careful of how I use this. My head's starting to hurt."

'Anyhow, I now know what to do. My meridians are all mapped and ready to be carved.'

'In fact, if I move my Qi around my body, it'll already naturally gather where my Meridians are meant to be from how much I've mapped them.'

'This would mean I've advanced past the Meridian Mapping Step.'

"Now I only need to open them."

'Once I open a pathway connecting my Spiritual Root with my heart, I'll officially enter into the Meridian Harmonization Step. Opening all of my Meridians will finish this Step and ready me for the next Stage.'

"The fourth stage, Qi tempering."

'But of course, my main goal isn't to advance rapidly but to build a stable foundation.'

'For as long as I try my best, maybe I'll get the chance to advance my Unique Talent again.'

'Some of these initial Stages can be explored again to further strengthen one's foundation, but there's no point in me doing so right now.'

'Even if my power evolves, I may wait for the chance to gather more information before trying again since the more I gather, the better the results would become.'

'Time to push through!'

/Gather…/

/Pierce!/

A faint flash of light gathered on his forehead, descending through his neck and into his chest…

/PIERCE!/

Like water flowing through tubes, the flash of light broke into many pieces, slowly flowing down his body.

From his shoulders to his arms, from his chest to his stomach, from there to his waist, legs, feet, and the many extremes of his body.

Opening the Major channels was easy, opening the Secondary channels was hard work, opening the many ends was a chore.

But he pressed onward, his mentality and patience were far beyond this mere task.

The decades he spent training inside the advanced time of his power had already shaped a new Joseph, one who could persevere through this simple adversities without much complaint.

Although his way of seeing things was still rather distorted…

…

/Two hours later…/

/Shine…/

"The last step… Connect the Main Central Meridians together.'

Joseph's forehead shone, and a strong straight line formed, connecting his forehead with his chest, and from there to his stomach…

/Shuum…/

/Bam!/

The pressure inside his body was suddenly released as his Qi completed a Cycle in his newly formed body.

"Huu… I did it. My body is now…"

/Growl…/

/RISE!/

Joseph ran to the bathroom.

…

"... Haaa… I'm hungry now." Joseph said out loud as he walked back to his room

'I expected this to some degree, but the reaction was… More violent than I expected.'

'The repressed Qi and impurities inside my body were all ejected, including much of the dead tissue I carved.'

"My Meridians have been carved, it's time to proceed."

'The next Stage is pretty self explanatory, it's also the Stage where most of the population will find themselves stuck in the future. Three years from now that is.'

'While most people will take months if not years to advance past the Third Stage, they'll end up stuck in Qi Tempering.'

'This realm is also divided into two Steps, those being Qi Purification and Qi Condensation.'

'Qi Purification is about making your Qi "flow smoothly" by making it all point the same direction and by harmonizing all Qi strands inside your body so they have equal power and length.'

'Qi tends to lump together, so this stage can be seen as passing a hair brush through it and taking out the sticks and stones that get lodged in the brush.'

'But for me, since I gathered my Qi from the same source, it's already flowing smoothly, further refinement isn't necessary.'

'There is also little need to purify anything as the Qi gathered within the Spirit Shards came from the highly enriched soil filled with Gul-X21's Qi and the Spiritual Plants I've grown in my greenhouses, which are also very pure.'

'In short, I barely need to do any work for this step, and the same can be said for the next one.'

'Qi condensation is about gathering your Qi so it becomes usable and stable. Allowing one to step into the Cultivation of Internal and External Arts.'

'If before you were a practitioner of Cultivation, you'd become a fully fledged Cultivator about now… Although that is still up for debate.'

'For me, however, my Qi is already condensed beyond the necessary level someone at my stage should have. All thanks to the enriched Qi in the surroundings.'

'Of course, spending some time to make sure all strands of Qi inside of my body are condensed equally is a must. And once my Qi can be seen as one smooth strand like a river's surface, I would reach the threshold to advance into the last Stage of Root Genesis Realm…'

"A bit unconventional, but I'll simplify the process and fuse both Steps into one. So in short, the only thing I need to do is Harmonize my Qi and make it fully mine and under my absolute control."

'There cannot be even a sliver of imperfection in it as it could become a weakness to be exploited by others.'

Joseph sat down.

'I'm a little hungry but I'll finish this first.'

"Advance the harmonization of my Qi by three years!"

'I'll break through to the next realm before nightfall!'

/FLASH!/

The memories of the future soon crossed his eyes, and within a few minutes, he experienced three years of training and progress.

/Open!/

"Huu… It's done."

'My Qi is now perfect.'

A blue sheen radiated from his skin, he knew this phenomenon, it was a rare sight only seen in Cultivators perfectly in resonance with his Qi. It was often seen in Nature in places untouched by either beast or man.

"To be in harmony with nature… My breathing stirs the Qi, guiding it in and outside my vessel like the tides in the ocean…"

"It's time to advance."

'The Fifth and last Stage before breaking through the Realm, the Fifth Stage: Inner Elixir Manifestation.'

"Form the core, the mythical Dantian and take hold of your fate."

'Forming the Dantian alone is said to extend the life of anyone by fifty years, allowing them to theoretically live to their 130s, possibly even further.'

'Although some people were naturally able to reach close to that, if they had practiced Cultivation, they may have lived even longer.'

'In some sense, it increases the extreme Human life span of 100 years by 50%.'

'The Dantian is the core through which the early Cultivator does everything, without it, he can be or do nothing. But with a strong core, they may challenge the Heavens and steal its fate!'

'The First Stage is called Grafting. It's a brutal process where the Cultivator severs a portion of their Root and plants it in the center of their Meridians somewhere in their stomach around the naval.'

'Once planted, they must feed it with energy so it grows its own circulatory system and connects with the rest of the Meridians, which in my case are extremely developed and hence I shouldn't have much difficulty connecting.'

'If you take too long, the root you cut will die from being severed from its main body, and you'll lose a great portion of your talent.'

'The bigger the piece you take, the stronger your Dantian will be, but there are limits of course, cut too big and your body won't be able to nurture the dantian. Cut too big and you'll cripple yourself…'

'The next step is the Dantian-Root Synchronization. It's a simple process where the only prerequisite is time. You must wait for your Roots to recognize the Dantian as part of the System. Otherwise there'll be problems.'

'Then there's Core Compression and Core Crystallization. The Qi is condensed inside the Dantian to such a degree it eventually turns liquid and eventually solid.'

'To finish these stages, you must compress enough Qi to form an outer shell to form your Dantian, if the shell breaks, as long as the Dantian itself is safe, it can be reformed, although it usually leads to one being crippled regardless since like some fractures, it'll never heal the same.'

'Finally, the Fifth Step of the Fifth Stage, Closed Cycle, Immortal Ascension.'

'A simple cycle must be connected within your Dantian, this creates a 'self sustaining' Cycle inside it whose potency is directly connected to the density of Qi in the surroundings and the strength of your Dantian.'

'This is what allows Cultivators to recover and grow over time as Cultivation takes an ungodly amount of time.'

'If a Cultivator meditates and practices, they can take control of this process through Cultivation Methods and Breathing Arts. The essence of Cultivation.'

"Grafting won't be an issue, my body's condition is so harmonious that part of my Spiritual Root has already begun to detach itself from its main stem."

'It wants me to pull it, so I'll comply.'

Without difficulty, Joseph pulled the dangling piece of his Spiritual Root and guided it to the place where his Meridians met.

As soon as it reached there, it took root almost instantly, growing rapidly by devouring the remaining Qi inside his Meridians, connecting them all together like a cocoon hung by a thousand strings.

"... That was fast. I immediately skipped the first two Stages."

'My dantian is already synchronized, so now… It's time to condense the Qi inside my Dantian even further.'

'This shouldn't be an issue, after all, my Qi is already plenty condensed.'

"... I said before I didn't want to rely on my powers too much, but here I am thinking about using it again…"

'Well, it's not like I'm gaining these for free, I am experiencing time flow normally inside my mind… I'm technically decades old by now. No, centuries…'

'Still, my thinking is different when I'm affected by the Ampule, so I still feel the same old me, just a tad wiser than before.'

'... I'll advance the time, this will likely set me directly on the last Step.'

'And if I advance the time again… I'll reach the very end of the first Realm!'

"To become a true Immortal Cultivator… How exciting."

'Advance!'

/Shua…/

…

Once he came back from the memories, Joseph looked at his robust core with pride.

Three years of extreme practice led him here, and dozens of tiny crystals as well…

'I'm not done yet.'

'Forming the closed loop inside the Dantian may sound easy, but given my Qi is extremely robust and thick, it may be hard for me to solve this issue… Within the remaining hours I have.'

'So although it's an exaggeration, I'll once again advance my practice by three years!'

'To reach the pinnacle of this world!'

/Advance!/

…

/Shine!/

His stomach shone with bright light. The sign of the birth of another Cultivator. Maybe even the first coming from the common folk.

"Hoo…"

Black mist escaped his nostrils as he felt his stomach heat up with power.

His muscles trembled under his skin, rejoicing over the transformation still ongoing inside his body.

"It's done… I'm now at the pinnacle of the Root Genesis realm."

'The next stage is right around the corner… To cast aside my old physical flesh and become a fully fledged Foundation Bloom Cultivator.'

'My lifespan would rise to about 200 years just from breaking through, although that is just an estimate given no one has reached that far.'

"Living long means nothing if you can't enjoy it or resist the many hardships of life. I've lived my 26 years of life with much energy. I would like it if things remained as such for another 200…"

'Although that remains to be seen.'

"To break through to the next Realm, the Foundation Bloom. I must visualize my physical body through my Spiritual Root in a similar way to how I mapped my Meridians."

'Once my entire body has been visualized, the next stage is to expand the Dantian's realm of influence to every cell in my being.'

'This will make it Synchronize with my entire body, giving it control over my physicality, which is what will allow me to ascend as I break through the Stages.'

'The old cells that haven't adapted will be replaced by those that can, and the weak ones will be discarded for stronger cells.'

'The transformation of the vessel as a whole, this is the entry "Stage" between realms.'

'By stepping onto this Stage, a Cultivator can be seen as a Quasi Foundation Bloom Master.'

"First things first, I'll clean my room and eat something. Once that's done, I'll begin my preparations."

'This would also be a good time to continue my conversation with that user, see if they can enlighten me more on other subjects and techniques.'

/Steo…/

Just as he stepped outside the room, his unique window materialized before him.

/Weave…/

Dark golden words were slowed weaved from nothingness before him, spelling out a phrase:

[You've accumulated three hundred years of Mortal knowledge and thirty years of Immortal enlightenment]

[Your body has grown a stable core and is in the precipice of change]

Once those words dissipated, the Ampule manifested before him, and like before, it was a little more intricate than before.

As he thought about those changes, two strings of words appeared on each of its ends, just like when he first saw it:

[Time Dilation: Progress -> Progresses the time of an entity by up to Five years]

[Time Dilation: Regress -> Regresses the time of an entity by up to Five years]

"It's here! I was expecting something to happen once I broke through the second Realm, but given nothing happened when I began Cultivation, it mustn't be fully tied to that."

'It must be tied to Enlightenment as well… It's now differentiating Mortal Knowledge from Immortal Enlightenment… Interesting.'

'To advance further I'll have to use my ability more.'

"Regardless, this is the chance of a lifetime."

'If I breakthrough now, I won't be able to expand my Meridians or grow my Spiritual Root any further, it has to be done now.'

'This is the chance to further my foundation. It won't make me stronger per se, but it'll increase my prospects.'

'If I add five years of knowledge into everything… Yeah, I'm sure I'll reach my absolute peak.'

'A total of eight years will have been spent to improve each and every aspect of my body before my breakthrough, in total, I would have spent almost half a century on this realm alone.'

'A stronger foundation than this… There isn't!'

'Unless someone consumes some legendary treasure… Or has a similar power to mine.'

'Speaking of treasures, I can now advance the Cultivation of my Plants again.'

"But before I do all of that… I need to eat something… And clean this place."

/Step…/

/Clack!/

…

/Meanwhile…/

/Tap tap tap…/

"Yawn… Woah… You're still there? The world is burning by the minute and you're still staring at your computer screen?"

"As if I can do anything better. We're essentially on lockdown until the "Alignment" happens, so stop bothering me and go do nothing elsewhere."

"Meh, you're as unfunny as always… Hm?... You're still in this darned forum? It's only been slightly over five hours man, he won't be replying anytime soon and if we're unlucky, never."

"If the cables have been cut, you can say goodbye to any form of contact until they set up the overland cables, and if we're unlucky… Well…"

"The new world will take him."

"You're not helping. Do you have any idea what this find could signify?"

"If he's as talented and perceptive as these messages imply, we may get our hands on one of the first natural Great Cultivators of this time."

"Pfft, "Natural", is that the term those old fogies are using? Are we any different from them?"

"You're simplifying things too much, we grew up to be like this, our ancestors were like this also, he's not."

"He could be. This could still be a ploy from…"

"Stop with your baseless accusations, if the chance of finding someone like this was small, the chances of it being…"

"You're the naive one here. It's exactly because the chances are so small that this makes no sense, and above all, doesn't the time irk you?"

"The right person we've been hoping to fish bit the bait within a few minutes of us casting the rod? Don't you think this is ridiculous?"

"Aiming to have the tuna bite out of millions of sardines… And it does almost instantly."

"If not for master's orders, I would've tracked him down by now to see if this bastard is truly what you think he is."

"... What if he is?"

"Tche! No one ever agrees with me. I'm always the stupid instigator huh?... But fine, if he is… Then I guess you were both right. Congratulations, you found another genius."

He turned around, leaving the room.

"As if we didn't have enough of them."

/Clack!/

"..."

Despite her words, the girl wasn't very confident in the purpose of her mission.

But she followed her master's words as they were final, it was what she trained for.

/Din!/

"!!"

At that moment, a new message popped up…

…

/At the same time…/

"Will they respond to it this time?"

'Initially, I was planning on breaking through but now that my power has advanced, maybe it's best I leave it for another time.'

/Din!/

"Oh? That was quick…"

'Even if I risk revealing myself, the more information I can take from them, the better.'

'I've prepared thoroughly to hide my location, but nothing's safe in this world.'

'Let's probe something good from them…'

For the next five hours, Joseph and the unknown person exchanged ideas and concepts in this "fake" fantasy scenario.

By the time he was done, the moon was already high in the sky.

…

"Yawn… Even with a strengthened body, I feel so tired…"

'Only when I break through will I lose a portion of my mortal necessities, although it'll take a long time for me to rid myself of them fully, if ever.'

'I like sleeping so I'm not sure if I'd be able to give up on it though… Maybe I should pursue the Dao of Dreams and Sleep…'

He stopped his pondering before his computer screen before scoffing lightly.

"The world is indeed quite vast. I'll stop my breakthrough for today, there's no need to push it any further then this."

'Although there is merit in pushing through while the iron is hot, my body is already at its limit. Even if resistance increases, it will barely be noticeable.'

"For the next few days, I'll communicate with these people and learn more about them… Or until the internet falls."

'I've used a simple IP tracker and it says they're somewhere in the east. This means we'll be losing contact soon as the earthquake has damaged many internet lines.'

'Main cities and high profile individuals will be given priority over the remaining ones, this will begin the "Dark Ages"...'

'Some nations are already working on creating secretive connections in land, but they won't work for long anyway given the Spiritual Corrosion that will be taking place.'

'In fact, some of the items inside my bunker are already showing signs of corrosion.'

"I did design my Bunkers to be simplistic without relying too much on technology, but there's a limit to how much I can simplify things."

'It doesn't really matter much to me since I can turn their time back, but that's merely a temporary solution.'

'I need a way to isolate Qi so I can remain in this bunker for longer…'

"Anyhow… I'll just rest for tonight."

"Tomorrow morning I'll convince my parents to move to one of my Bunkers."

"Tonight, people will go crazy on the streets and things will only get worse over time. I have to get everyone to safety."

'Once they're safe, I'll have some of their friends join in and then mine. I made one of my bunkers extra large for that exact purpose.'

'The bunker only needs to hold them for long enough until the Military sweeps through and rescues them.'

'Around four days from now the North American government will instate Martial Law, leaving each of the states to fend for themselves and solve their pressing issues.'

'No matter how prepared they were for this event, it was still not enough.'

'For now, waiting for the Military to sweep through is the better option. Once they're safe, I can rest easy and focus on my self development.'

"The Dark Ages will soon begin. A time where Martial Law is in place and there's no long methods of communication."

'Anarchy will return for a few weeks before developing into Feudalism and even Monarchy.'

'In a time where people can't trust each other, families will gather to project themselves, Clans, Groups, Sects, and the like will rise to prominence, some coming far too fast to be a coincidence…'

'Obviously, they were ready to take the reins, and to some degree, the government is ready to take the hit.'

"The American government let go of things far too fast… They were likely aware they wouldn't be able to take hold of the country so they gave up the more distance zones for the hyenas to fight over as they protected high value zones that benefit them."

'They definitely don't want to lose power, so they'll adapt. This will give rise to the 17-Star Confederation.'

'This comes from the seventeen families that will take control of the North American government, essentially turning the country into their own little kingdom.'

'It already was to some degree, but now, it'll be officialized, some will even start calling themselves Kings, but not now, only many years later.'

'They aren't stupid, they know the modern American wouldn't accept to be ruled by a King, so they'll have to soften them up somehow.'

'But… None of that matters to me. Not directly anyway, after all, I'm not within the range of influence of the 17-Star Confederation.'

'Arkansas won't be within their rule… The State will be broken down between several groups and I only need to grow strong enough to not be pushed around by them.'

'Still, I'm getting ahead of myself, society won't break so soon. I still have a few months before things descend to that state…'

'But it's something to look out for.'

Joseph closed his eyes and took a deep breath before leaving his room to brush his teeth.

The next day, he convinced his parents to move, and the day after, he kept in touch with his friends while learning more and more from the people in the forums.

And although there were still many cables left, one by one they vanished under the waves and with how chaotic the world was, no one was there to fix it.

Over time, the world slowly lost connection with each other. And around a month after, over half of all cables connecting the Americas to other continents had all but vanished.

To maintain contact with the people from Asia, Joseph used Satellite connection, however, with the fast approach of Gul-X21, he began taking more extreme measures.

Although not at once, he began displaying some suspicions regarding the nature of their posts. Over time, he planned to try and peer even more into their motives.

Thankfully, it didn't seem they minded his probing, in fact, they kept fueling his curiosity.

He kept gathering more and more techniques while paying attention to the world's changes, reading himself for the worst.

He learned about Alchemy, Formations, Refinement, and much more, employing them around his base as he practiced them in his free time.

With a simple guiding formation, he could now control the flow of Qi, impeding the quick degradation of most sensitive materials. This way, he could keep his high end computer working for longer.

Meanwhile, Martial Law passed as he expected, shocking many Americans, and thus began an era of fear where people finally learned, or rather, remembered how it felt to not have anything to rely on.

Modern times together with the internet made people far too comfortable with disrespecting one another, and as soon as people began killing each other for survival or other sickly desires, those who complained all silenced themselves in the blink of an eye.

It was a time of silence and suspicion. Fear, power.

No one wanted to move around, no one wanted to risk being shot for law wasn't going to be executed.

But as their supplies waned… As they grew thirsty… People turned into beasts.

Within a week, the main city he grew up in had turned into a War Zone.

The dangers of every American having access to guns was showing itself right here and now.

For his friends and family, there was little to fear. But Joseph couldn't house all.

He managed to house the families of his friends but what about their friends and families? There was a limit to how much he could do.

Even with his preparations, it was impossible to sustain thousands for months on end.

At some point, his biggest bunker housed over 200 individuals of all ages and sizes, and since they were all somewhat close, no problems arrived even as the weeks passed.

Joseph made sure to build quite the strong and versatile bunker so they wouldn't grow bored or lose exercise.

Even then, this state of stillness, waiting for something to happen didn't last long as soon enough, the Military rallied, sweeping through the area.

Most of those in his bunker left at that time, feeling safer with the Military, which he completely understood.

They all thanked him for giving them a roof and supplies for a few weeks, but he did not gloat over it, saying it was the minimum for the family.

As they left with their families for the areas protected by the Military, a sense of peace returned to the city as law was reinstated in the region.

Under heavy supervision and the "protection" of the soldiers, the citizens of the city were able to return or leave their homes worry free… But at the cost of their freedom.

All citizens were now required to hand in their guns… Or be locked.

Those that refused were punished, nothing heavy as the military understood when the push or pull.

So they gave people incentives, hand in their guns, and gained supplies.

People may call it immoral, but when everyone was at each other's throats, the military, or rather, the soldiers themselves had no need to protect anyone but themselves and their families.

To maintain their structure, the military needed to innovate, those that failed… Had already dispersed.

There was no mercy in these times. You either succeed or fail. Devour or be eaten…

Joseph watched it all unfold from the safety of his bunker. But it wasn't like it was completely peaceful either.

For as well protected his home was, others thought there could be supplies inside…

More than once he was forced to stand his ground and push others away from not only one but all four bunkers.

And in some of those cases, from people he knew…

The workers that once built his bunkers were back for the safety of the walls they raised.

Or so they believed. Ignoring the very notion that their time had been well paid.

In this time, money had lost much of its meaning, or rather, was in the process of.

The government fought to keep the Dollar's value, to give some purpose to those green notes everyone was so used to.

But without laws, what was the point of cash?

In this chaos, there was one thing he was happy for. And that was the fact both he and his family were okay.

He couldn't tell if all of his friends were okay, but he tried his best. Their paths were theirs to take and if he caged them inside the bunker, would they be truly his friends?

It was best he tried to convince them and fail then to force themselves to stay so they may live.

With his ability to predict the future, he managed to avoid the worst multiple times, but eventually, something he can't prevent will happen.

On a night two months after the first earthquake, the skies were lit by a passing comet…

However this time, it did more than pass through Earth's orbit…

It fell right inside.

/Boooom!/

For the people in the South, it was a nightmare, for the people further North, it was barely noticeable.

This was truly the end of the old world…

…

/Rain…/

Fiery blue rain soon struck across the skies as fragments of Gul-X21 began falling from the skies, and while most cowered in extreme fear, Joseph moved with purpose, ready to take as many of them as he could.

Even a single fist sized fragment would be enough to sustain his Cultivation past the Second Realm and into the Third and even beyond.

If he found enough of them, he may truly not need any extra resources until he reached the Fourth Realm.

However, anything past the Second Realm was a ridiculous endeavor five years from now.

He did try to advance the time of his diary so it would add up to eight years, but given it advances time based on his current circumstance, it didn't do much aside from painting the same future again plus two years of development.

Still, five years was plenty.

Joseph was fast, and with his truck, he drove around the region loading the shards inside its back end, and thanks to Formations and other technologies he learned from the mysterious individuals, he managed to protect two of his bunkers from being destroyed by the shards.

He collected as much of it as he could within a single night, opting not to move out in the morning since he knew the military would soon gather after it.

In the first, second, third, and fourth nights after, Joseph did the same, until it became impossible given how eager the military was for those rocks.

But with his haul. Joseph stood happy inside his Manor, ready to progress his Cultivation faster than ever before.

One year, two months, and about a week after he awakened his powers…

/Inhale… Exhale…/

Joseph sat in front of a large crystal-like boulder shimmering in blue light.

It was about as tall as a door and twice as wide, being as deep as a large fridge…

"Phew…"

'About two months ago, I became a Cultivator, and on the same day, I reached the pinnacle of Root Genesis.'

'In the week after, I gathered as much information as I could as I strengthened my foundation, eventually breaking through Foundation Bloom, which I've been slowly tackling over time.'

'This realm is all about enhancing the body. Being Divided into multiple stages that affect the multiple aspects of the physical body, one at a time.'

'Until a few days ago, I slowly progressed through them but now, I think its time to reach this Realm's pinnacle so I can begin practicing true Immortal Arts.'

'Refining Mystical Artifacts, Formations, Seals, and most importantly, Pills.'

'With how much each of my Plants has mutated and grown thanks to my powers, it's just right that I begin making use of their fruits properly.'

'Those that can make use of these Mystical Arts will become extremely valuable in the future, and rich.'

'I'll make myself one of them, but not just any, the best of them all… Or so I plan.'

"According to my calculations, those people will vanish from the internet within a month from now. Well… Three or so weeks by now."

'If I want to have a bright future ahead, I must push them now.'

"I've built enough of a connection with them, its time to start questioning them."

From their perspective, Joseph was an ordinary civilian who slowly noticed some odd things about their projects.

While they tried to pass by as someone passionate about making a fantasy setting, as someone living in such absurd events, he slowly began piecing things together, becoming suspicious, asking stranger questions…

And now it was time to be upfront about it and question their true intentions!

So he sent a message privately to the person he has talked the most in the last few months:

[Username: Jingdindin]

/Click… Click… Send…/

[So… This may come abruptly, or even make me sound crazy. But I'm tired of pretending everything's fine.

The archives you sent me… With how crazy the world is, I began to notice some strange consistencies about them.

At first I thought it was just thanks to your superb writing, but now that I got my hands on this strange blue rock… I've come to another conclusion.

All of these things are rooted on the same system, one that is very real]

[Tell me the truth, what is this all about? Why post these kinds of things online in such confusing times?]

[Who are you all?]

"... Done."

'I'll either be blacklisted or learn a bit more, regardless, I have plans for both.'

'Now I just wait…'

/Din!/

"That was fast."

He read the reply:

[The world is changing, if you can't accept that, I can't tell you the truth]

[Knowing it will put you down a possibly very dangerous path, are sure you want to proceed?]

"..."

'There isn't a need to hesitate.'

'I either become a prominent figure, or I become someone else's lackey.'

'In a society bound by rules maybe that's not a problem, working for a conglomerate and all of that. But this isn't that anymore.'

'I want to come out on top, this is my greed, my ambition.'

[I do]

[In that case… Take these]

[Link]

"... What are these?..."

But the user answered his question for him

[The first one is a folder containing everything I can share with you, it's extremely valuable so take care of it. Avoid sharing it with others for both our sakes. I've warned you]

[The second one is a link to a Social platform used by others like us, you can use it to socialize, learn more about this world, or even trade, but that'll depend on where you are]

[A piece of advice, protect your location and hide your identity, there'll be no lack of profiteers waiting to benefit from these changing tides]

[... Who are you all? How does any of this even help you?] He asked as he pondered on what to do

[We seek to give others the chance to compete in this new world and seek out those fated to improve and go down this turbid path]

[The common folk has no power in these times and we wish to give them some means of competition so the future doesn't look so black and white]

[If you'll trust us or not… That's up to you]

"..."

[You've seen the meteor, right? It's fall has been predestined, and soon, the world will begin to reach their hands in its direction]

[Wars will ignite under the veil of darkness, be careful not to be dragged into it]

[We are no different, we'll move to secure as much of it as we can]

[For the next month, we'll remain active on all forums, but be wary of impostors, they're not us, we have our ways of identifying each other, so you're better of contacting me if you need something]

"!"

[In one month we'll go into isolation for the Great Alignment which will happen three months from now]

"What?..."

[Great Alignment?]

[The reason this world is changing… Why do you think that's the case?]

[The animals and plants, us, everyone is changing… What to say the entire world?]

[... You're saying the world… Is breaking through a Realm?]

[It's not as direct as you may imagine but yes, the world is transforming, for tens of millions of years it has done so]

[Over the last few millennia, Humans have sped up this process, their beliefs and actions shaped its transformation, gave birth to myths and legends which in the current times are nothing but folklore]

[It's now time for them to resurface. A billion years of cultivation will all end today]

[Once the planets align, a mass breakthrough will occur in the entire Solar System]

[The initial stages of this phenomenon have already started, this meteor was just the first of many]

[Spiritual energy attracts each other, and when several planets begin exerting pressure in the Cosmos… Soon enough, fragments from beyond will begin descending]

[Earth will be the starting point, once other Comets fall on the other planets, they'll awaken too, and in no time at all, the entire Solar System will ignite as one]

[This will be the Spiritual Birth of Sol]

"..."

'This is all… It'll coincide with the Great Dark and Cold… I see, it was all connected.'

'They vanished because they were preparing, everyone was!'

[Wait, you're being way too fast…]

[Take it and once you calm down, come to me, we can talk more later]

[Once the Alignment occurs, the limit on Cultivation will be released as energy rebounds to the surface]

[Millions of years of accumulation will rebound onto the surface of the world and beyond in waves, this will be the prime opportunity to advance]

[Right now, most Cultivators are only in the Second Realm, with some Masters being in the Third Realm. But the true Cultivation of some goes well beyond]

[Once the Spiritual Qi floods the earth, they'll all awaken to their true forms]

"!"

'To think they were already so advanced…'

[What should I do then? Can I join you guys?]

'A shot in the dark but…'

[Not now, but soon. We've been in lockdown for ages and we won't open our gates until the Alignment occurs]

[If you wish to join us, then you must surpass the first Major Realm]

"..."

'I already did… But there's no need to tell them that… Still.'

[What if I breakthrough? What's next? If time is so valuable, am I supposed to wait?]

[The archive I gave you already contains everything you'd need even if you were to break through to the third Major Realm, do not be impatient, anymore then this and we'll severely threaten our foundation, we already are by making you an exception]

"?"

'I'm an exception?... Wait! Of course I am! By now, I should be the only one that has advanced this far in their screening!'

'But I'm not going to hide, I need this.'

[Very well then, I'll wait for that time, in the meantime, would it be okay for me to ask some questions?]

[Ask away]

"Good! It seems all is well… And I haven't noticed my Pc fry yet so I guess no one's tracking me…"

'I'll start with slow, simple Questions about this situation. Once they grow comfortable answering me, I'll jump to actual Cultivation Questions.'

'In the meantime… I'll push my Cultivation further and gather more resources.'

'Although the Military has sealed the city, it doesn't mean I can't explore the surroundings.'

'Most forests are already beyond the scope of a normal person's given it's scary out there, but for a Cultivator, I won't fall even if I'm shot.'

'If a Spiritual Creature appears, I can also take care of them.'

'I'll need as many of them as I can get my hands on.'

'The ones I got were mostly the bigger ones. As I'm the sole cultivator in the area, following their Spiritual signatures was easy.'

'Albeit moving them around wasn't…'

'Although gathering stones in the city isn't possible anymore, the comet's trajectory still remains, I can go to the wilderness to search for more.'

'I do remember feeling a massive energy wave coming from the South, and although it could've been from the main piece, I still feel it pressing down at me whenever I go to the surface.'

'There must be a big piece nearby, big enough to make me feel it several kilometers away.'

'I doubt others have moved to pick those big pieces yet, so with my current Super Human strength, I should be able to move it with me if necessary.'

"As for these links… I'll take a look at them later at night. I'll also prepare a safe machine and log in the other. But maybe I'll need to update my Skills on Cybersecurity before moving on."

"Time to get my hands dirty." He said as he got up from his seat

…

/Vroom… Stop…/

"Hum… This is as far as I can get."

Joseph drove deep into the forest with his truck.

By using his download map of the world, Joseph could go anywhere even if GPS were to collapse, which made traversal through the land rather simple.

He stopped at the end of a dirt road, the rest of the way far too narrow for his truck to pass through.

Even here, his truck barely had enough space to turn, were it not for the fact his truck was custom made and modified to have the "crab-walk" feature, allowing its wheels to turn up to 90 degrees and independently from one another.

Anyway…

/Sense…/

"I can feel it, the Qi is spreading throughout the entire forest, it's stronger than the Qi back in my home."

'How ridiculous. This shard must be monstrous, maybe even larger than a small pool, or multiple large shards clumped together.'

/Step/

He crossed into the woods, his feet soon turned into white mist.

/Shaa…/

Like a wisp of wind, he moved through the trees with incredible speed, leaving his truck behind in the blink of an eye.

'The Forest Flow Movement Technique. It's my first time using it outside of my Bunker.'

'I trained a lot inside of my training rooms and in the forest around my Bunker, but this is the first time I'm using it for anything.'

'With my physical strength alone, I would likely be able to outrun a Supercar going around 100 Km/h, but with a movement Art, I can go much faster. Especially in the environment it was made to be used at.'

'In these woods, I can move effortlessly at such high speeds and my mind can easily process where I'm going, it's such a marvelous feeling.'

'I feel as if nothing's changed, but if I take out my watch, barely a few seconds have passed.'

'The perception of time for a Cultivator sure is different if I put some thought into it.'

/Shaa!/

This didn't mean he evaded everything of course. He still ended up smashing face first into some leaves and poor critters, but as he had a biker helmet to cover himself with, no harm came his way.

It was a nice time to say Joseph was clad fully in black clothes, hiding his appearance completely.

"..."

/Chatter…/

'Someone's nearby. But at this time?'

'I see some lights in the distance…'

/Shaa…/

Joseph approached the lights stopping before a small camp with a few individuals chatting as they gathered around a massive blue rock shining at the bottom of a long trench.

The smell of burning wood still lingered in the air with the still red trees in the distance.

'This… Is bigger than a house.'

'There are also some massive shards in the distance.'

'I know that Spirit Stones aren't that dense, but given its size, it should've flattened… everything.'

'Well, given the size of Gul-X21, the fact Earth is still intact is a miracle in itself.'

'Anyhow, given their appearance, they don't look like soldiers… Not Cultivators.'

'These are normal people camping around the shard. Why? For light? Heat? Things aren't going to be easy to solve…'

With Joseph's strength, if the shard is as big as he could see it, given it had been somewhat dug up, he could move it by hand back home by employing several martial arts in quick succession.

But the problem was that he didn't want to attract attention. And by now, he wasn't proficient in mental manipulation, nor would he feel okay in using it in such a manner.

'What a problem. I thought I could come and go without attracting attention, but was I still late?'

'I thought people would be far too fearful to go around after it fell and that most survivors would remain at home, much less leave during the night…'

'They look like a small family or group of survivors, I even see children playing around the rocks… How dangerous.'

'It doesn't look like I will be able to avoid this… But so be it.'

/Jump!/

He jumped down from the tree, landing somewhere near the center of the camp.

""?!""

/Chaos!/

As soon as he fell near a few people, they all jumped back, startled, some reaching for their weapons and pointing it at him as they exclaimed back:

"STOP RIGHT THERE, HANDS WHERE I CAN SEE THEM!" A young man exclaimed as he pointed a hunting rifle at Joseph

/Raise…/

/BANG!/

The shot didn't land anywhere close at all…

"YOU! What are you doing shooting a rifle in the middle of the night?!" A woman

/PUSH!/

An angry looking woman pushed the boy aside, smacking his wrist and forcing him to drop his gun after she made sure to point it down.

"OUCH! That hurt!"

"Yeah, and you almost took the sod's life!"

"But he…"

"Shut it! Leave this to me."

She then turned to Joseph, who was still in the same place as before.

"Sorry about that, you know how the world is nowadays… Now, name and reason for coming, it's the camp's rules."

"... Call me… Loose Head. As for my reason for coming here… I came to fetch the glowing rocks you're sitting on."

""...""

"BUWAHAHAHAHA! What a loser man! You want this shinny thing? Here, take it." The boy said with a laugh as he threw one of the rocks at Joseph as if he was a pitcher

/Grab…/

But he grabbed the rock without even looking at the boy, shocking him and a few others.

"... that was cool…" The boy said in a low tone as he snickered

"If you haven't noticed by my tone, I'm not joking." Joseph reinforced as he looked at the woman

"Now, I've introduced myself, who are you and why are you camped in the middle of nowhere?"

"... Pardon that rude brat… And what I'm about to say. But what we do here is none of yer business."

"But a name I can give ya… Jenny. Jenny Pincher. Pleasure to meet ya, Loose Head… Pfft…"

"..."

Joseph did not make a single sound, he was so ominous that even the others started looking at him warily.

The children were hidden and the elderly looked at him from afar.

"..."

'Around thirty seven individuals, they're cooking a large stew but I don't see much meat or vegetables… Or anything, only a few labeless cans.'

'The children are a little weak, I heard little sounds on the way here… I see, they're hungry.'

Joseph understood their situation right away, especially as he expanded his senses, looking into the houses nearby.

"I'm willing to trade for these rocks. Food, water, medicine. Whatever you need I can get them."

"What?... For these?... Are these even valuable?" The boy asked out loud as he looked at the rocks on the ground, a little regretful he threw one so easily

"Shut it Dave!... How much are we talking about?"

"Enough to make you all eat without worry for the next few months." He said as he looked at the rock

'There's a lot of Qi here, it's truly pure… Maybe… This piece could've come from the very core or the inner layers of Gul-X21.'

'If that's really the case, a shard of this size…'

'Most of the outer layers of the meteor, around 90% of its total mass will melt into the environment in the next few years, turning everything they touch Spiritual. That is how large amounts of Spirit Shards will be made available to the market.'

'Only 10% of it will remain stable even in this heterogeneous environment. Their composition is so stable it would take a lot of effort to break them apart aside from natural degradation or a high Realm Cultivator.'

'This is a Spirit Stone for the powerful, I must get them.'

/Whispers…/

While Joseph was lost in thought, the others discussed deeply about this, and some older people approached the girl to listen to their conversation.

"... Let me get this straight. You want to trade food for these shiny rocks? Why?"

"Because they're valuable."

"But for what?"

"That does not concern you."

"... Excuse my rudeness and my daughter's… I'm Ronald Pincher, the leader of this group." A middle aged man said as he approached Joseph from uphill

Different from the others, he extended a greeting, which he replied.

"..."

'His hand is heavy. Stronger than an ordinary person's? A Cultivator? No… This is natural Body Cultivation.'

'He's growing stronger by absorbing the Qi into his vessel. He has an incredible psyche. By the looks of it, he's a woodcutter.'

'That woman in the distance must be his wife and daughter given the color of their hair, and without a doubt this kid is their son too.'

Even in pure darkness, Joseph still saw everything as if it was morning.

Under the powerful light of the moon and the shards, which was but a weak gleaming to the others was like a stadium light for Joseph.

"A pleasure Ronald."

"I'll be blunt here. We cannot trade something we don't know the value of, can you be a little more direct? Perhaps give us an explanation? Anything would do."

"I can, but it changes nothing. Besides, don't try to play me, just moments before you were ready to just throw those rocks at me as if they were trash. They are of no value to you so don't try to give them any."

The girl looked at her brother with a sharp glare, making the boy look away.

"There is true, but my point stands."

"... Very well then. Don't regret it later."

Joseph was just trying to be Human and kind, fearful to not lose himself in his power.

He was extremely confident in his ability to handle this situation, so he continued:

"These shards contain something within them, something I'm looking for. Something I'm willing to trade for. Their value is thus solely based on whatever I put onto them, that's the end of the story."

"You may think that now that you're aware they have value, you can trade them for things, but think again, the sole group which may use them for anything would be the Military dozens of Kilometers away down the road, and even then, you better not dream of trying to approach them."

"There is no one there to protect your rights, they'll take everything and give you nothing in return, and I can guarantee you it'll be less than what I'm willing to give you."

"Don't be foolish to try and scam them by giving them little portions, these small stones are everywhere, people have already done it in the last few days."

"Then why would ya want these fucker?" The boy asked as he clicked his tongue

"SHUT THE FUCK UP DAVE!!"

"KIDS! I'm speaking." Ronald said as he exhaled

"I want them and much more, I want the bigger pieces and the larger ones as well."

"Sigh… We understand your point. I think we can tra…"

"I'm not done yet." Joseph said deeply as he looked at a small serie of tents up hill

"Those tents, there are exactly twelve people there, laying in their beds, sick."

/Frown/

"What do you mean by that?" Ronald asked as his expression tensed

"It's nothing you imagine. I'm only expanding what I was explaining before."

"You wanted to know the value of these stones? Then I'll tell you its value."

"It's zero, these shards have zero value to any of you because they're killing you. They're a liability instead."

"... Pa…"

"Let me speak."

"... Can you prove it?"

'How did he even know there were twelve people there? We only moved here two days ago. It's too early for anyone to move around us.'

'We don't have much either. I heard about raiders but this seems far-fetched for a reason for them to come after us.'

'This man has a strange aura to him, it's similar to that strange boar I saw in the woods. But while its tusks glew in faint blue light, this man's eyes are the ones that are shining.'

'He knows something, what's truly going on…'

The man wasn't stupid. He knew how to connect the dots.

"I can. Easily at that."

He pointed at the boy who was badmouthing him a moment before, causing him to freeze for a second.

"You just need to have someone approach the rock and leave a small drop of blood upon it."

"A-And why would I do that?"

"I thought you believed the rocks were safe?" Joseph taunted as he put his hands behind his back

"I-I never said that…"

/SMACK!/

"Stop being a pussy and do it!"

"Why don't you do it instead?!"

"Huuuh? Why should I, a lady…"

"You two, stop fighting. I'll go…"

"I don't recommend it, you'll die if you approach it."

"Then why did you tell him to go?!"

"Because he won't die. You're different from him." He said deeply as he looked straight into Ronald's eyes

"..."

'He knows… He's aware…'

Ronald had been hiding his abnormal strength for a while, but the more he tried, the worse it became.

A few days ago, Ronald almost split a tree in half with a single swing of his axe, his abnormal power scarred him.

He didn't want to risk hurting the others, so he spent more and more time in isolation, pondering over what to do.

Because of this, he managed to stay healthy and reach a balance with his body, otherwise, close proximity with the rock would've killed him.

Even now, he felt great discomfort being so close to it.

The Qi was overwhelming him, entering his undeveloped meridians and rampaging across his body as it had nowhere to go, uncontrolled, berserk.

His strong body made him live, using the Qi to temper itself, but it was evident that his lack of control, understanding, care, and nutrition was slowly killing him.

Well… Slow was an understatement.

In two days he became a monster, in seven he would die.

"I'll do it." An elderly man said from the side as he approached them from the campfire

"There should be no problem if it's me, right?" He asked as he relied on his walking stick

"... Do as you will, the small one on the side should work as well."

"..."

/Nod/

They nodded to each other, and the old man approached a large boulder on the side.

With a small knife, he cut his finger with a pained expression, letting a few drops fall atop it…

/SPLASH!/

They immediately burst as they boiled, gurgling before dissipating.

/Gasp!/

"W-What happened?!" The old man asked as he fell back, only for someone to help him up

"..."

Ronald turned to Joseph, waiting.

"The energy within the rock is reacting. Transforming the surroundings. Plants, animals, all life, including you all."

"Just because you can't detect it with a counter, it doesn't mean you aren't all being irradiated."

"Every moment, you're all being hit with fatal amounts of radiation, and even if it's not the usual kind, it'll still lead to death over time."

"But this is what you all get for camping near a glowing space rock, just what were you all thinking?" He said as he shook his head, the first actual movement he did ever since he stepped inside the camp

"T-This makes no sense…" One of the refugees said as they looked at the rock with worry

"W-Was this the reason why Peach died?..."

/Whyspers…/

They began showing concern, distancing themselves from the rocks, but they couldn't, they were everywhere.

"Urg… I understand now…" Ronald said as he touched his forehead with confusion

"That's right. I can wait peacefully and get all of the stones worry free. But I'm not a patient person, so I'll kindly offer my services to take these stones from your land. How about that?" He said smugly as he crossed his arms

"#!!..."

'I was too naive and narrow minded, I gambled but lost…'

'We know far too little and even if he's lying, the others won't be able to sleep soundly anymore. There's something more going on, but I can't push against him now.'

'He won.'

"You're right, we'll have to leave on our own…"

"You don't let me finish."

"There's more?..."

Even Ronald began losing his grit, thinking he was about to be ripped off.

"I said I'm an impatient person, and as you can see, there are a lot of rocks nearby, I can't collect them all. So I'll make a deal with you."

"For every kilogram of these glowing rocks you bring me, I'll trade it for two cans of food, but this is only applicable to rocks smaller than three kilograms and that are not within this camp."

"What?..."

'Could it be…'

"I'm willing to pay more and in other ways such as medicine and even fuel. I'll pay extra for bigger rocks from further away as well."

"As for that bigger rock in the center, I'll pay for it by healing those twelve above. How about it? Or is it too little?"

"... No, we'll take it." Ronald said without much thinking

"Pa?..."

"Go back… I'll take care of things here…"

"We can help!" Dave said as he patted his chest

"You! I…"

"There's little to fear now. Any further exposure to the rocks will do little now to worsen your condition."

"I'll add an extra condition then. For every 250 Kilograms you bring me, I'll fix one of you as well."

"That's ridiculous!" Dave exclaimed as he kicked one of the rocks away

This time, his sister didn't stop him.

"... How can we trust you're able to do such a thing?"

"I can do it now if you want."

"You make it sound simple."

"It is if you have studied medicine for as long as I have and are aware of the medical process and have the necessary tools to treat it."

"You may think I'm exaggerating, but you're free to try the Military. But I wonder how they would treat someone like you."

Essentially, what Joseph was trying to say was that he was their sole option and that they should be grateful he was even considering helping them.

The very fact he approached them was an indication of that.

And for verifying the truth… Ronald couldn't bet on it. Not when it came to his family.

His baby son had a terrible fever and they needed anything they could get their hands on… The nearby towns had already been ransacked and those that hadn't were under heavy protection of Militians and organized civilians protecting their homes.

Approaching was only inviting oneself to be shot on sight.

"I said we would do it… The price is more than enough."

"But if you're expecting to hear words of appreciation… You'll hear none from me until my son is healed."

"This is but a trade." He said as he turned to the side, crouching on the ground to grab a stone

"..."

As everyone began doing the same, Joseph suddenly felt like the villain.

'Damn. Did I go too strongly? I tried to be more authoritative but I guess… Nah, who cares. I did nothing wrong.'

'The only reason why I'm not willing to wait is because I don't want to risk either the Military or Cultivators finding the same, and while I'm unsure if there are any nearby, this isn't a variable I'll add to my equation.'

'I'll take everything and move on. In fact, if I can play this right, I can have these people work for me and scurry the forest for the rocks.'

'I have enough food to last me decades, more than I can ever consume. In fact, I stored extra food for exactly these moments, trading.'

'If I don't trade that food, it'll just spoil, so it's better used now then never.'

'I've traded multiple times before already with others over time to promote the health of the communities around the city but that has barely taken a hit on my reserves as I've tried to maintain anonymity as much as possible.'

'If I don't spend a considerable portion of it within the next few months, it'll all spoil!... Or I would've believed it if I couldn't just rewind its time.'

'I don't really care about their state at all. I just don't like these cans.'

'Why would I eat preserved food when I have literal tons of frozen pizzas and hamburgers back home?'

Joseph scoffed mentally walking toward the large fragment.

/Flash…/

It pulsed faintly in the dark, faint traces of light shone under its surface…

To the common man, it was but a shining rock, but Joseph could see the flow of Qi inside of it.

'How tyrannical. If use all of Qi to execute a technique, I may be able to blow up quite a large boulder with a single strike. But if I were to increase the scale to use this fragment as the energy source… Wouldn't the entire city just vanish?'

'This is like comparing a small grenade to a nuclear bomb… There's too much energy here.'

'Fifth, Sixth, Seventh, maybe even more energy…'

He then looked uphill, noticing how multiple individuals were now collecting the rocks as well.

'I didn't plan on coming back as I don't like to risk myself like this, but I'll do it. If I let them gather rocks for an entire day, I wonder how much they'll bring me.'

'Maybe they'll dig this place clean.'

/Walk…/

As everyone worked hard, he climbed uphill to the tents, only to be stopped by an old lady with a shotgun.

"Stop right there. One more step and I'll shoot."

"I know. But can I look at the patients?"

"No."

"Very well…"

"Granny… Let him inside." The girl from before said as she walked behind him

But Joseph didn't even react to her presence. He knew she had been following him from the start.

He could feel and pinpoint all of the gazes on him at any given moment.

"Dear…"

"Father asked me to let him in."

"... Sigh. Do as you wish. But if you touch…"

"I'll ask for permission." He said with a nod as he walked past the lady and into a large, makeshift tent

/Grunt…/

Inside, he saw an old man struggle to lay still as he moved from one side to the other in bed.

"A-Antony, stay still, you'll only…"

"I-I know love but my…"

"Your back is pinched and your chest is compressing, you can't breathe properly, can you?" Joseph said as he crouched near the old man

"??... This one is?..." He asked as he weakly raised his head

"He is…"

"The doctor." The young girl said as she added onto her granny's words, startling her

"If you don't mind, can I take a look at your chest?"

"Huff… Please… If this continues…"

"I know."

...

.

Notes

Chapter 11: Novel 2-Dawn of the New Age

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Chapter 11: Novel 2-Dawn of the New Age

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