บท 3: The Reborn Alpha Stage
บรรณาธิการ: EndlessFantasy Translation
A cave could be found at the back of the mountain. Its entrance was not large, just big enough for a person to pass through, while its interior was dim. The soil was fresh and wet because the cave had apparently been hewn out not long ago.
There was a pit at one of the corners, ten feet into the cave. It was filled with spring water, and the pond was crystal clear. Facing the pit was a stone bed, on which sat a teenager. He was bare-chested and rosy-faced, with beads of sweat popping out on his forehead. The teenager was sitting with his legs crossed and rapidly moving his fingers.
He was none other than Wutian.
Ten days had passed since the time he fell off the cliff. Wutian had been staying in the cave without attempting to return to his village. It was not that he did not want to, but Longhe was still searching for him in the mountain and guarding the village entrance at night. Wutian could not do anything else.
"What's going on? I can't even divine Grandpa's fate."
Blood spilled out of his mouth, and he opened his eyes with slightly knitted brows. Wutian had wanted to ascertain if his grandfather was fine, but an invisible force interrupted him at the critical moment. He had never divined his grandfather's fortune before. Now that he finally tried it, he received the same result as the time he did it for himself: he could not foresee or calculate anything.
"Longhe probably thinks I'm dead, and he won't harm Grandpa as long as I don't return to the village."
He took out the emblem from his waist and carefully examined it. Nothing stood out. Why was Longhe so excited when he saw this emblem, so much so that he had to kill me? If it hadn't been for Little Tian, I would have fallen to my death, and my body would have never been found.
He might have survived the fall, but Longhe's attack had inflicted severe internal injury on him. His internal organs were misaligned, and he fell into a coma for five days before he regained consciousness. Wutian fully recovered only after he consumed the Essence that Little Tian had given to him.
All of that happened because of the emblem.
"This emblem must hold some secrets. I've just been living in the village since I was little, so I know nothing about it," Wutian mumbled to himself as he tucked the emblem away.
He had learned something important over the past ten days. Only part of the Essence he consumed during the recovery process had been used for his treatment; part of it had disappeared. After some searching, he finally found the reason.
It turned out that part of the Essence had converged on his forehead. After it accumulated for two or three days, his forehead swelled and felt sore. The pain was unbearable now as if his skin was about to burst open.
"Caw, Caw!"
Right then, Little Tian scurried back into the cave, carrying a one-meter-long donkey on its back. There was a puncture wound in the donkey's neck, but it was dry. Apparently, the animal had been dead for a long time.
It was food that Little Tian had found for Wutian.
Little Tian put the dead donkey down and jumped onto Wutian's shoulder. Using its wet, long tongue, it licked his cheek. The Gobbler's eyes reeked of eagerness to please, appearing extremely spirited.
"You rascal. What did you get today?"
Wutian got to his feet and drew out a black dagger to cut off the donkey's leg. He skinned it, rinsed it in the spring water, and ate it raw.
Since Longhe was still looking for him, he dared not make a fire to cook the meat. Hence, the only way was to eat it raw. That was how he survived for the past several days. Luckily for him, there was a mountain spring inside the cave, so he did not have to eat raw meat covered in blood and fur.
Despite its gross taste, Wutian was too hungry to complain. He finished the entire leg in just a few moments. Throwing the bone aside, he went up to drink from the mountain spring before he sat back on the stone bed, waiting for Little Tian to offer its gift today.
"Caw!" Without waiting for any instructions, Little Tian opened its mouth and spat out beads of blood elixirs, which looked like blood-red ambers. They were highly translucent and brilliant. These blood elixirs, full of vim and vigor, filled the space in the cave.
"The Essences of the Blood Lion, Mountain Ape, and Tri-colored Snake… Aah! That's the Essence of the Anthropophagous Scorpion! Wow, there's fifteen of them in total. What good hunts you've got here." Wutian was elated as much as he was stunned.
Each of the Essences belonged to a terrifying being that lived in the mountains. They were savage and hegemonic overlords, yet Little Tian had incredibly swallowed them all. Previously, Wutian would run for his life whenever he spotted these monster beasts, unlike now, where he was consuming their Essences and converting them into his strength.
"Caw, caw!"
Little Tian squawked as it stood upright and kicked its front feet, as though showing off its achievement.
Wutian patted it on the head. "Well done. Now, go and eat the donkey. After that, you'll have to help me refine the emblem's cold energy. It won't take long for me to unlock my physique to become a cultivator. The Water Elemental Essence could be useful to me."
Wutian had discovered a strange phenomenon during the past few days. Whenever he held the Water Elemental Essence in his hand, a draft of energy would rush up his arm and spread throughout his body. There was no rejection from his body. It simply meant that he could absorb the Essence. The absorption might have been slow and minimal, but it was still visible.
Little Tian shook its head. Once it shifted its legs to the back, it stood up straight and walked, appearing agile yet funny.
Having spent ten days with it, Wutian found the little creature adorable, albeit dirty. But it all depended on the person. A woman might not have been willing to touch it, no matter how intelligent it was. But to Wutian, the Gobbler was like family.
Wutian burst into laughter and shook his head. He picked up an Essence and popped it into his mouth. The Essence instantly melted and was absorbed, nourishing every inch of his body like rain to the earth after a long drought. It was refreshing.
Closing his eyes, Wutian calmed his breathing and regulated the Essence to impinge on his Sea of Qi. Once the barrier was breached and the Sea of Qi's door was opened, he would unlock his physique, as well as potential, and become a cultivator.
He had a hunch that if he consumed all fifteen Essences, he would achieve a breakthrough, entering the Reborn Alpha stage.
The first step of cultivation was the Reborn Alpha stage.
During that stage, a person would break through the embryonic limitation and unlock their physical potential, getting the Essence under control. During the Reborn Beta stage, a person would accumulate his Essence and cleanse his body of imperfections, so that the body would attain purity.
At the Reborn Gamma stage, the Essence could leave the body, enhance physical robustness, and increase the effectiveness of the five senses. Once at the Reborn Omega stage, the Essence could materialize, mimic objects, and fight enemies.
The Reborn period primarily consisted of cleansing the body and forming the Essence. Upon completing the second phase, the Meridian's Growth period, a person could start stimulating his potential and develop physical strength. Only then could that person open the door to cultivation.
...
A sixty-year-old man was standing at the entrance of Dragon Village. His hair was tied into a pair of twist braids, and he was holding a staff. While making some calculations with his fingers, he set his sights on the mountain's rear.
The man was Wutian's grandfather, Longshan.
"Why bother, Longshan? Since Wutian disappeared ten days ago, you have been standing here and calculating with your fingers without eating, drinking, or sleeping. Be careful not to fall ill yourself before Wutian comes home," said a concerned villager.
Longshan seemed unconcerned and said nothing, increasing the speed of his finger movements as he calculated.
"Listen to us, old man. This is not the right way. You should go back and get some rest!" said another villager.
"This is all Wutian's fault. Why did he sleep on the mountain peak at night? Didn't he know that those powerful monster beasts exist there? Now, those beasts have attacked, and he's fallen down the cliff. No one knows if he's still alive, but one thing is certain: he has caused Longhe so much trouble and worried everyone."
"I couldn't agree more. Longhe lost an arm while he tried to save him. Without an arm, how will Longhe gather enough food for the villagers? Wutian should have died far away and not caused problems to us villagers. He is such a baneful person!"
"Sigh! If we hadn't allowed him to stay in our village last time, this wouldn't have come to pass!"
Right then, Longshan's body jolted as he spat out a mouthful of blood. He looked extremely weak like he was about to die. Yet, there was a smile on his wrinkled face.
After ten days of exhaustive calculations, he finally saw a glimmer of hope, assured that his grandson was safe.
Longshan pulled back his attention and looked at the villagers. "Wutian can't cultivate, but he has always been very smart and loving. He's treated all of you like family since he was little. It's fine if all of you want to be cynical toward him on normal days, but now, he's missing, and his fate is unknown. Instead of turning a cold shoulder and spewing mocking words, shouldn't you show some concern? Is this how elders such as yourselves are supposed to behave? Is this how humans are supposed to behave?"
"Do not talk like that, old man. If it hadn't been for your insistence on bringing that piece of trash to the village in the first place, this would have never happened. He only has himself to blame." The person who spoke was Longhe's father, Longquan.
"It is unbecoming of you to talk like that, Longquan. Longshan has no children, so it is only normal for him to adopt a child. Even though the child can't practice cultivation, he has lived among us for so long and become one of us. Not to mention, he is smart and respectful toward us, which is much better than other kids in many aspects," the first villager said with a sullen face.
However, Longquan was offended. "My son lost his hand trying to save that rascal. How can all of you still defend him? Now that no one can go hunting, bring food to the table, and protect the village, how will you survive? If he really knew what to do, he would have died quietly without allowing my son and all of us to pay for his mistake."
"Father!"
Right then, Longhe strode back from afar. "Don't say that, Father. I'm responsible for Wutian's death. Had I been strong enough, he wouldn't have fallen down the cliff in front of my eyes."
"Sigh! That is Wutian's fate. Don't blame yourself, Longhe."
"Right! It was Wutian's fault for staying overnight on the mountain. It was not your fault."
"Wutian's body hasn't been found yet. We can't let his body lie exposed out there. He is one of us no matter what."
Wutian was part of the village community, thus most of them could not bring themselves to leave Wutian's body in the wild.
Longhe pulled a sad face. "I have been searching every corner at the back of the mountain for the past ten days but found no sign of his body. I'm afraid…"
"Really?" Longshan demanded.
Longhe nodded with concern. "Not to worry, Uncle Longshan. I won't give up searching until Wutian's body is found. But you shouldn't keep standing here like this either. Wutian would feel sad if he sees you this way when he comes home one day."
Longshan wore a faint smile as he looked at everyone. "Let me repeat, whether Wutian practices cultivation or not, he is still my grandson. From now on, no one should mention his background or call him an orphan in front of him."
After he spoke, Longshan held his staff and walked toward a wooden house. He did not look worried.
"Stubborn old man!" Longquan cursed. "You still haven't recovered from your injury. Go and get some rest now, Son. Don't bother looking for the person who's responsible for the loss of your arm. It just isn't worth it!"
"Father, Wutian is part of the community. It's my duty to look after him. Please stop saying that it isn't worth it."
Longhe looked at the villagers. "Ladies and gentlemen, I might have lost an arm, which has affected my ability considerably, but please rest assured that, no matter what, I will still protect the village. I will take care of all of you and put food on the table like before. You are my family."
"We are glad to hear you say that." A smile spread across the villagers' faces, and they could breathe a sigh of relief with Longhe's promise.
...
Wutian was sitting on the stone bed in the cave, and his body was shrouded in a bloody mist. It looked ghastly in the dim space of the cave.
After consuming five Essences, pain had started to develop in his forehead as if something was going to erupt from it.
Surprisingly, after he took the tenth Essence, the pain disappeared, and his forehead seemed to enter a state of saturation as it stopped absorbing any more Essence. Maybe he needed more energy so that his skin would open and let whatever it was come out of his forehead.
Wutian had a hard time understanding the situation, but he had a vague idea: this could be the reason why he had failed to unlock his physique for the past sixteen years.
Since the mysterious glow on his forehead had reached a saturation point, did that mean he could now unlock his physique?
Thinking of that, Wutian quickly popped all remaining five Essences into his mouth. The Essences instantly spread and traveled to every inch of his body before they gathered at one point. Following that, the Essences shot toward his Sea of Qi with great force.
He shuddered suddenly as he started to bleed. Waves of pain hit him, overwhelming his every nerve, but Wutian gritted his teeth and endured it without even creasing his brows.
A series of crackling sounds came from within his body. It felt as if the heavens were crumbling down and the earth was cracking open. Not only that, but it also sounded as if a barrier had been breached and some shackles had been released. As the sound grew louder and louder, sudden tremors violently shook the cave in response.
Fhwoop!
The surface of Wutian's skin abruptly produced a powerful force of suction. Outside the cave, the qi in the Essences from plants within a three-hundred-feet radius flowed in a sea of green and rushed into his body inside the cave.
That was the Reborn Alpha stage. That was the definition of a cultivator. It was powerful. When Wutian opened his eyes, two beams of light shot out from them like lightning and illuminated the entire cave.
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