Chapter 33: Believe in the flow

"Whoa!" I couldn't utter any other noise when I saw the scenery before me. I was in awe. Imagine this. A clear blue sea that spans till the end of what you can see. There's nothing else other than a big rock like structure, but that just adds into the background. It was serene and peaceful. I personally would have liked some trees as well, but this is the spiritual realm, so I don't suppose there are trees here.

"Beautiful, isn't it?" Goldy asked as I took a deep breath in. However, I found out that the air didn't have any sort of unique aroma or smell. Well, it's not like I can breathe in this state anyway.

"Yes, it's really peaceful." I replied.

"Hmm, give it some time…" Goldy spoke ominously. It was as if the peaceful atmosphere that this place currently has will soon turn into chaotic. No… I don't want that to happen.

"I see… I'll give it some time then." I replied.

"Okay, you see a huge rock there in that… blue sapphire… So… In that blue sea?" He asked.

"Wait a minute… I heard the mutter! Blue sapphire and blue sea… Does that mean that the sea is my Qi?" I asked. Although I acted a bit surprised, it made total sense.

"Exactly. And that rock is the Qi core that I spoke of." Goldy replied.

"So, I just gotta get there and start sculpting, huh? Hmm, how am I supposed to get there though?" I asked. I could see the stuff that he spoke of, but I couldn't see any means of getting near the rock or the Qi core, if you gotta be real specific about it.

"Just close your eyes and think about getting across. By the time you open them, your medium of transport will be ready for you." He replied. I had some doubts though… It seemed too simple for some reason. However, I trusted Goldy because at this point he's the one who knows the most about me, so I closed my eyes and thought of crossing the Qi sea… Qi river is a better term now that I think about it. Anyway, I thought of crossing the Qi river and when I opened my eyes, I saw a cute little boat before me. It was like those boats that couples go on with the paddles on both sides and all. As I said before, it was cute.

"Ah, I see a boat." I replied.

"Well, good for you. But I got a dragon battleship back in my spiritual space though." He spoke in a mocking tone.

"We're not competing against each other. You know that, right?" I asked, since he sounded so childish when he compared my puny boat with his ship. "Anyway, how come you get a battleship and I get this boat? Where's the equality?" I asked. It'd be crazy cool riding a battleship, right? Not that I want to do that in real life, because getting in a battleship there means I'm going on some kind of war.

"Ah, that's because I'm a regular in the spiritual realm. The more times you go there, the cooler your mode of transport becomes." He replied.

"Is that so? But what's with the dragon battleship? Isn't it the same as any other ones?" I asked. It seemed as if anything minutely related to him has a dragon in it. Is he a dragon otaku or something?

"It's different. The entire battleship is shaped like a dragon. Not just that, it breathes out fire as well." He replied. I clearly sensed the excitement in his voice while he talked about the battleship. He's a dragon otaku, alright!

So, while this happened, I got into the boat and paddled my way to the rock. For some reason, I felt lonely while I paddled.

"Don't worry, when you're strong enough, the stray souls will come to attack this place. For now, it's kinda useless for them though." Goldy replied.

"Stray souls?" That was a first for me. I've never heard about that before.

"Well, unlike you, some people actually get stuck in the abyss, without being able to go back or get into the spirit realm." He replied.

"Wait, those are literally this close to each other!" I showed the distance between the two doors with my hand, but then I realized that he isn't actually able to see my actions, so I stopped my efforts.

"Well, that was that close for you because I made you aware that it was abyss and there are two doors that'll lead you outside and into the spirit realm. If you didn't have that knowledge and ended up unconscious like you did, they might have got stuck in the abyss." He replied.

"Damn…" At moments like this, I felt thankful that Goldy was there to guide me. Thanks, man!

"Ha… Anyway, some of these people who got stuck there might actually find their way out of the abyss and end up in the spiritual realm. However, by the time they reach there, their body might've died, and they'd get stuck in the spiritual realm. However, they really don't have a place in the spiritual realm as well, since their body is dead and their personal space is destroyed. So, they head to other people's space and invade them." He explained.

"What's the use of doing so?" I asked. Is it just as a form of revenge against the people who actually didn't screw up unlike them?

"Two things. If they fought you and won, your spirit gets destroyed, and they take up the vacant space made by your spirit perishing, which means they take up your space in your body as well. And if they lose, their spirit perishes, and they get into the rebirth cycle." He replied.

"Reincarnation without transmigration, huh? Interesting." I thought.

"They'll all be weaklings though! You'd have been too, but you had the sweet transmigrated knowledge." Goldy replied.

"You're right about that." I sighed. By that time, I had already paddled my way to the big rock. It looks spotless.

"Seems like you've reached your core." He spoke.

"Yup. By the way, how am I supposed to do this? Like, I was all ready and willing when you said I had to sculpt, but you never really said how. I don't even have a sculpting tool. And most importantly, I lack artistic vision. I truly believe that I might screw it up and sculpt an incredibly ugly dragon!" I wasn't kidding when I said that; I was truly worried.

"What do you mean you don't have a sculpting tool? Isn't it with you… around you, to be exact?" He asked.

"What the… Oh, you mean the Qi?" I asked back.

"Why the hell do you think I made you learn Qi control and circulation? The Qi is gonna help you with your sculpting. Do the same thing you did while controlling it before." He replied.

So, I did. I closed my eyes once again and concentrated hard enough that I actually sensed the Qi swirling around both my hands. I opened my eyes and saw my Qi in a scythe like form in both hands. It looked sharp enough to make a cut in the rock before me. I was satisfied with that aspect. However, I was still worried about the other…

"Don't worry. Just guide it the way your heart tells you to. Do you think I have artistic skill? No. I just thought about the kind of dragon I wanted and how strong it should be, and it ended up exactly the way I wanted. So, just believe in the flow and don't mind me or your surroundings. I won't talk for a while now, if that's messing your rhythm up." He replied before leaving it to me.

"Believe in the flow, huh? Thanks, Goldy." I smiled. The concern I previously had was now in a hatchet, buried really deep in the underground.

I decided to believe completely in the flow. But, I knew that if I had my eyes open, I will think of changing something about what I made, and I'll mess it up. I only wanted to see the end product. So, the third time after reaching this place, I closed my eyes. Somehow, closing my eyes really helped me concentrate in this place.

After doing so, I concentrated on the image of the dragon. A dragon so majestic and powerful that no one can rival. When I imagined it, my hand moved almost automatically. I swung my arms not knowing where the rock actually is, not that I cared. I sensed that someone was guiding me in this process. Is it my Qi or the core itself? I don't know.

Occasionally, I could sense that my Qi was depleting after the heavy work. However, I recovered almost instantly as well. Seems like Goldy is working hard out there by supplying me the sacred pills. Anyway, after spending a lot of time, effort and Qi… believe me when I say this, it was truly a lot, I sensed that my sculpture was complete. I just made a dragon out of my Qi core!