As the light of the rising sun began to penetrate the window glass, it entered the room, shining on the sleeping young man's face, and waking him up from his dream.

It looks like I overslept a bit. Mo Shatian looked out the window, still yawning.

He got up from his bed, walked towards the bathroom, and started washing his face. The morning water felt cold and refreshing, waking him up completely.

He started to grab breakfast to start his day with white rice and dried meat. He used to be satisfied with his life so far, but everything had changed since yesterday's incident. Although it was hard for him, but he had no choice but to accept it.

The village he lived in, as well as the people he knew, felt a little different now. He had been arguing with himself all night, and realized that Xiao Ling and the others had no ill intentions towards him, and finally began to accept his new life.

Mo Shatian already knew what he had to do today, so after he finished his breakfast, he immediately went to Xiao Ling's house. There were still some things he didn't know, and he planned to get answers to all his questions.

He saw a girl in beautiful light blue clothes near his destination. Remembering what happened yesterday, Mo Shatian decided to greet her first.

"Xiao Lin, how are you?"

The girl—Xiao Lin—turned around when a familiar voice entered her ears, turning her head in the direction the voice came from.

"Shatian, I'm fine. More importantly, what about you?" Xiao Lin asked, her face filled with concern.

Mo Shatian smiled, trying to make Xiao Lin feel at ease after seeing that expression. "Don't worry, I'm fine. By the way, is your father here?"

I'll might come again if he is busy, Mo Shatian thought. Since he had already met his daughter, he might as well ask first.

As the village head, Xiao Ling is quite busy taking care of things, and thanks to yesterday's incident, there's a chance he might not be home.

A smile broke out on her face, and she said in a cheerful tone, "Good to hear. Father is at home, it seems like he's waiting for you. Don't worry, I've already given him some reprimands!"

Mo Shatian could only smile awkwardly at this.

I guess her expression and mood have returned to normal.

"Alright, I'll go see him." Mo Shatian said, starting to walk.

"Then, I'll accompany you," Xiao Ling said, following closely behind.

Mo Shatian stopped and looked back, and there was Xiao Lin with her head tilted to the side and her face full of smiles. He looked at her for a while before sighing.

".... Alright."

Mo Shatian did not try to stop her; learning from his experience, he knew very well that he could not stop her when she smiled like that.

The two of them finally walked together.

***

Inside the same room as before, Mo Shatian found Xiao Ling together with Elder, as if trying to tell him that they had learned of his arrival.

"Ah, coincidentally, I was discussing with Elder about some things, and perhaps with him here, maybe he can shed some light on the questions I can't answer." Xiao Ling said.

Mo Shatian decided to be straightforward without further ado, and chose to ask directly. "I have a question... What is a cultivator?"

"My son, what makes you curious about cultivator?"

Instead of Xiao Ling, it was Elder who asked back.

That question, which unexpectedly came, made Mo Shatian a little surprised. He could clearly feel that Elder was looking directly at him, behind that gaze, there was a seriousness and earnestness in it, which would not let deception and lies pass him by.

Mo Shatian strengthened his resolve and said it clearly and loudly.

"That's because... It's because I want to become a cultivator!" Mo Shatian exclaimed with a serious expression on his face.

I have made my decision. I will become a cultivator, no matter what.

Since yesterday's incident, Mo Shatian has thought about this many times before finally coming to his own answers and conclusions. Hence, he had come with a strong determination.

He had made up his mind!

Silence filled the room, all eyes were on him. He could no longer retreat after going this far.

"Being a cultivator isn't easy, it might even be more difficult and dangerous than you think, but even so, do you still want to be a cultivator?" Elder asked, giving his final warning.

"Even so... Even so, I still want to be a cultivator." Mo Shatian replied, there was no hesitation in his voice.

The few people present in the room gave their respective reactions after hearing Mo Shatian's statement. Xiao Ling raised the corners of his lips, while his daughter, smiled widely from ear to ear.

Mo Shatian saw both reactions and furrowed his brows, "Did I say something strange?"

"No no no. I'm just surprised to hear that you want to become a cultivator like me." Xiao Lin said it in a joking tone.

"Hey, I didn't become a cultivator just because I wanted to be like you, you know."

"I know... I was just joking earlier, hehe." Xiao Lin said, a big smile on her lips.

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"Huh? Ah...whatever..."

"Hmph. You're no fun," Xiao Lin retorted, pouting slightly.

Mo Shatian just sighed inwardly. He knew that if Xiao Lin was in a good mood, she would start joking around like that, and it would not end if he followed suit. Although he knew that Xiao Lin was just trying to lighten the mood, but there was currently something much more important at the moment.

Meanwhile, Xiao Ling just smiled and looked at the two of them with a warm gaze.

"Then, do you want to hear it from me or from Elder?" Xiao Ling asked.

Mo Shatian, who heard that, could only look at Elder with a quizzical expression on his face.

"Of course. You can find out about cultivators from me, but... My knowledge and experience are extremely valuable, perhaps far beyond what you can imagine. The only way is that you have no other choice, but to become my disciple, but..." Elder added, "The choice is yours, and you alone must make the decision."

Mo Shatian was shocked, not expecting that. Hearing about cultivator from Elder, and even being able to become his disciple, he had never imagined this before. He could feel that Elder was not a random person, he had heard it directly from Xiao Ling himself that Elder was the strongest person in the village.

Just imagining that he could become his disciple already made him very excited, he could learn a lot of things from the understanding and experience that Elder had, especially about things related to what was outside the village.

Mo Shatian didn't take long for him to make his choice, and he said clearly, "I want to become Elder disciple."

"Are you sure? Don't you need to think about it more carefully? It might not only be much more valuable, but it might also be much more dangerous. Once you become my disciple, you will become my successor." Elder stated, with a serious look on his face.

Mo Shatian resolutely stared back, clenching his hands into fists. "Yes, I'm ready for everything."

Mo Shatian felt that he couldn't miss this opportunity, an opportunity that would probably only happen once in his lifetime.

If I want to become a cultivator, why not learn from an expert instead!

Elder nodded a few times, satisfied with the answer he heard. "A man should never take back his words. That's why I don't want you to have any regrets or anything like that later on." He laughed, "From now on you'll live like a cultivator and I hope you can enjoy it."

"I... I also want to become Elder disciple!" Xiao Lin declared it out of the blue.

"Unfortunately for you, you are already a cultivator, and your talents are much better suited to your father." Elder replied.

"That's right." Xiao Ling nodded, agreeing with Elder.

"In that case, let's start from tomorrow. You better start preparing yourself from now on." Elder suggested.

"Yes." Mo Shatian replied obediently.

***

"Alright, since it's been decided, could you give us some time? There's something I want to discuss with Elder" Xiao Ling said, looking at Mo Shatian and Xiao Lin.

Mo Shatian didn't seem too stubborn to not understand what Xiao Ling meant, so he quickly pulled Xiao Lin —who still looked doubtful—out of the room together.

After no longer sensing anyone's presence but hearing nothing but their breathing, he turned to face Elder.

"Elder, with this, I hope your only wish comes true. So I will start informing the other villagers about what to do next."

"Have you already decided what to do?"

"Yes, I have already decided what to do."

"Good! I feel relieved now that you've made your decision. You don't have to tell me, I have no intention of finding out." Elder breathed in a calm voice.

Xiao Ling could only look on silently after hearing Elder's words. But right now, he also had something important to do.

Xiao Ling had made up his mind on what to do, he already had two future plans and would let the villagers decide which one was best and let them choose. In the meantime, he would announce his plan in advance to everyone in the village safe from children to avoid unnecessary worries and confusion.

At the very least, this was something he had to do as the village head.

***

After walking out of Xiao Ling's house, Mo Shatian realized that it was still daytime when he saw the sun at the top of the sky.

I wonder what I should prepare...

Not knowing what Elder meant by preparation, he looked at Xiao Lin, who was walking beside him.

Xiao Lin, what exactly are you preparing to become a cultivator?"

"Hmm... I guess you just need to prepare your body, mind, and mentality? I think that's the point." Xiao Lin replied, turning her head away.

Was it really just that? Mo Shatian was not convinced by the advice given by Xiao Lin.

"You must have thought I was just talking nonsense, right?" Xiao Lin seemed dissatisfied with the reaction she got.

"And what if it's true?" Mo Shatian replied, with a smile on his face.

"What! And here I've already given you some thoughts." Xiao Lin replied, looking annoyed.

Mo Shatian chuckled at the reaction, "I was just joking. I was just pondering a bit about what you said earlier."

"Hmph. You don't have to think about it too deeply if you don't believe it," Xiao Lin retorted, still slightly annoyed. "It's just that, that's what my father taught me."

"Is that so? I guess I should be grateful," Mo Shatian replied with a smile.

I guess I don't have to worry, then. Mo Shatian was relieved after hearing from Xiao Lin that it was what her father had instructed.

"Tell me, Shatian, what are you going to do now?" Xiao Lin said, curiosity on her face.

"Nothing special, maybe I just want to go around the village."

This is a good opportunity to see this village from a new perspective, he said to himself.

"Okay! Then I'll accompany you." Xiao Lin said it in an excited tone.

I must say, this girl can always change her mood quickly. Mo Shatian wondered inwardly.

***

Orange began to color the sky, and the sun began to set in the west. Mo Shatian had already parted ways with Xiao Lin as it was getting late.

As he started walking back, he began to think back to the scene he saw when he walked with Xiao Lin earlier. Although he had learned about the other side of the people and the village, there were no significant changes from before, everything looked the same as before. Everyone was still doing the same activities as before, except now he knew that almost everyone was a cultivator.

In the end, nothing changed, all that was different from before was his point of view—or perhaps a perception that he did not know before.

After seeing everything, he wondered if anything would change for him after he became like them—but no matter how much he thought about it, he wouldn't know what would happen in the future, and that only made him more curious.

I guess I'll find out tomorrow.

He sighed and quickened his pace, looking forward to tomorrow.

"Hey, Shatian. By any chance, what are you doing today?"

Suddenly, someone called out to him from behind.

When he turned around, what he saw was a man wearing black clothes made of leather and fur, carrying a sword at his waist and a smile on his face. That man was Su Han.

"Ah. I just came back from traveling around the village for a while. Is there anything I can help you with?"

Su Han was from the hunting group and the most experienced among them, he even served as the captain, before his position was finally replaced by Yan Nansu.

"I heard that you want to become a cultivator, right?"

"Eh, has the news gotten out?"

"I just heard it from Xiao Ling, I'm glad you've decided on your own path in life. I'm sure you'll become a great cultivator."

Thinking back, Su Han was one of the people who had always helped me all this time; he had even come to check on me a few times before, and he must have known about my problem.

"I'm not sure... I still don't even know anything about cultivator." Mo Shatian replied.

"Well, about that, I'm sorry. I feel like I've hidden something important from you, but it's what your mother wanted and Xiao Ling decided to carry it out. So we have no choice but to follow it."

"No problem, I've heard it all. I just want to know what happens when I become a cultivator."

"You don't have to worry about that, I'm sure you'll be fine. After all, aren't you going to be Elder's disciple? And you look a lot like your father." Su Han said, trying to encourage him.

Mo Shatian smiled at these words, somehow becoming much calmer than before. Perhaps, in addition to feeling excited and curious, he also felt a little anxious.

"You're looking much better than I thought, so I guess I don't have to worry. In that case, I'll see you again," Su Han said, both corners of her lips raised.

"Huh? Don't you have anything to say?" Mo Shatian asked, looking surprised.

"I've already said it. If there is anything you need, don't hesitate to come to me." Su Han said, starting to walk away in the opposite direction.

It was unusual for him to come just to say hello, Mo Shatian thought as he watched Su Han leave before continuing on his way.

Mo Shatian had returned home, he quickly went to the bathroom and had dinner, before going to bed to end the day earlier than usual.

For the first time in his life, Mo Shatian couldn't wait to welcome a new day.