Is this the Realm of the Underworld?

It was Hao’s first thought when he shook from his unconscious state. His eyes were yet to open.

He wanted to sleep but also feel rested, hesitating to get up; As the world above reminded him of every word he had heard in his life, making him more tired.

He woke to sirens, his own heart beating making his ears bounce.

The ear on the left side of his face touching the ground could hear bugs digging through the stone.

His nose was burning under the assault of smells. Each stench competing to be the worst. Alcohol, ash, salt, mold, decay, the world itself.

Hao’s face was stuck to something warm and sticky; it gripped him and his hair stuck to his left eyelid and eyelashes.

It even managed to grip onto his clothes. His observations up until now said they were immune to dirt, but not to this.

He peeled himself from it. The material squeaked as he pushed from the ground, finding his way to his feet; some of it was still gripping onto his face.

Hao could open one eye.

Amber light shone in from the cracks in the wall from the top of the tunnel.

He stumbled around in the dirt. His hands sliding on the ground. He thought there was something important there, his mind in a haze. Hao leaned over on the pedestal, seeing two things on the ground: the golden droplet and the shattered clay-gray stones.

He placed the droplet in his bag, just remembering the bag existed. His connection with the bag feeling much deeper than before.

He didn’t care for the broken stones.

His nose went under further assault as the material on the ground began to sizzle. A smoke filled the room.

It burned the one eye Hao had opened.

Hao made haste in his escape. The smaller, new tunnel was closer, so he crawled through, bent to the original tunnel, and then out of the cave.

The sun seemed further off than it should have. It looked more like it even during late winter.

He made a quick dash from the mine’s entrance as his stomach roared.

Making a hurried stomp to the Mining Hall; no one saw him leave the cave, but a few saw him march down the path.

He pulled off the stuff that held tight to his face, he was surprised to see it.

He knew the inky material well; I should have guessed from the smell, but that would mean I reached the Third of Reclamation. Shouldn’t I feel stronger, not weaker?

Hao peeled the last of it off, people turning their heads as the material smoked away.

His walk stopped for a second. Hao noticed he was taking World Energy in a different way from before. He took a deep breath, the World Energy flowing into and through his body on command.

It was slower, and a little tedious, before it was just going in and out naturally. Now he had a new skill to master.

Hao tried to remember what it was like the feeling of World Energy flowing when he practiced ‘Water Break Fist’.

He started taking in that small amount now while he was moving.

A new thing he could do simply because he wanted to; he had a feeling if tried to take in more, with a little focus he could.

How much could I take in while doing the movements?

More people were starting to stare at Hao, his blue robe already a unique sight. A first for some, the disciples didn’t freely wander around the mining area. He didn’t have a pleasant smell to him either.

Hao stood there breathing while he held his growling stomach.

An idea that seemed brilliant came to Hao, as he stomped into the Mining Hall instead of passing it.

He started to check the bag every few minutes. Not that he could look inside, but he had a sort of sensory feeling that was getting stronger with each use of it. There were a few things inside he had trouble recognizing.

His memory of everything after pouring water over the Drinking-Stone was slightly hazy. They were blurry, like the memories were shaken around.

He stomped his way into the Mining Hall. The person at the front desk was a person Hao had seen there before.

The person at the desk looked up and nodded his head at Hao.

Hao turned, going to the cafeteria. There was a fire in the room, there always was.

He stood in front of the flame. Then he tapped his chest, and large chunks of meat hit the fire, to a roaring ‘Sssss’.

People began to gather at the spectacle. An awful-smelling sect disciple eating meat in the servant’s Mining Hall.

As he ate more and more, slab after slab, the effects of reaching the Third of Reclamation began to set in. He still ate more.

His body made quick work of the meat, his teeth blades, then down to his stomach where the flesh dissipated, turning into something like World Energy in his belly, flowing directly into his blood.

The new World Energy flowed around his veins, different from how it flowed when he was practicing ‘Water Breaking Fist’.

It felt light and fluffy but stable in a constant flow.

My body is making World Energy and running on it. If I breathed enough World Energy, would I still need to eat?

Hao’s mouth was occupied. He tried using the palm of his hand to pull World Energy from the air.

It was a similar sensation to the beast's meat, but not the same; It flowed along channels more narrow, eventually reaching his center of gravity.

He did both, eating and breathing world energy with every part of his body. He got a feeling of both more acutely.

His mind felt clearer. Like a single drop of water from a rain cloud.

Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

But one drop is insignificant.

His senses were starting to clear up, his ears picking up every whisper in the room.

“Do you think he is the one from the rumor, the servant that rang some special bell?”

“Don’t get your hopes up. We still have work tomorrow and the day after.”

Most of the words he heard were something similar.

Hao found it off the servants would be discussing such a thing. The lower peak disciples thought it was fake. Are they just being hopeful, clinging to a rumor?

They seemed confident in their words, like they were speaking common sense or well-known news.

The situation was getting out of hand in the Mining Hall. Whenever one person left, three more came in; Hao could see the people staring at him. He could feel five times as many eyes on his back when he lowered his head to eat.

They were all speaking about the same thing: Hao. He even heard the voice of the person at the front desk talking, confirming Hao’s identity as someone who had turned in a quota.

Hao thought it was wise to leave soon.

He left a couple of slabs of meat on the fire, then picked up a burning piece of wood from the fire. There was something he wanted to try.

The stick was still on fire; Hao tried to put it into his bag, curious if the flame would remain.

He was discreet about it; no one could see the action directly, but he was surprised to hear so many gasps.

Hao ignored them, focusing on the inside of the bag. The stick was still burning inside. He tried his best to keep the stick from anything else inside, but it was exhausting, and mentally taxing, luckily after a few minutes inside the bag, the flame went out.

The crowd doubled in size and a delicious smoke from fat touching the fire filled the room.

Hao took the three pieces in front of him back into the bag—they were out of direct line of sight of anyone else.

He left three pieces behind, large chunks of demon beast meat.

“Share it amongst yourselves,” Hao said, as he walked backward, his head lowered, his face covered by his hair.

Many ran towards the fire, a big cheer, as Hao disappeared.

The meat would not taste as good as food they could get from the real chefs, but it was better than the nothing most of the miners got.

Not all of them forgot about Hao, watching him as he started his journey to the forest. The place he would stay for the night, wanting to finish his food and take a chance to bathe.

He walked past the main Servant’s hall, seeing the forest of trees in the distance. It was not the dark of night he saw when he entered the cave, but late afternoon, another night around the corner. It made him think he slept a whole night and day.

The stick in the bag stayed as ember as he passed the trees, the meat in the holding bag still warm, both cooling fast.

He kept them isolated in the spirit-holding bag. He used the last bit of light to collect berries that had fallen off their bushes.

Summer was a season of hot and cold, stormy winds. The forest floor was littered with sheddings from trees and bushes.

He enjoyed the feeling of the Third Stage of Reclamation before he was fully used to the second.

He didn’t know which treasure to thank more, the Bone-Shaking Bell or the treasure in his bag which he decided to call the Drinking-Stone; a treasure he held trepidation towards.

Did this thing want me to take it? Hao thought, not daring to take it out of the bag.

The fuzzy memories were slowly growing back as he used the spirit-holding bag to hold berries.

Were those feelings toward the drinking-stone mine? He remembered the sensation of desire, a must, he had reasons to want it. To use it, hide it, or attempt to destroy it.

Nonsense, destroy it, it broke those spirit stones…

He had it now—he would not give up the chance to use it; The World Energy it provided was like an ocean compared to the puddle that was natural in the air.

Hao didn’t have an answer for the mysteries around the stone he uncovered. The white mist was World Energy, the same as everywhere else, but denser and cleaner. The blue and gold were still floating questions.

The gold he had only a feeling. The crudest and smallest of the gold attracted moss in a completely dark cave.

The second in size and luster from the beast's blood had disappeared.

The third, the greatest, was his blood essence solidified. The only thing he knew about it was it was extremely sharp and brittle.

Hao put his thoughts aside; The meat in his bag was growing colder. He had plenty of berries and was growing bored with running around in the forest.

Hao found his way back to his favorite pond before it was completely dark.

At the pond, he threw the last of his shiny spirit stones into the water. Placing a few on the ground around the pond’s edge to provide some light for the coming of night.

He kept one spirit stone in his hand, willing his body to stop absorbing the energy inside. He was getting more control over it.

Looking down at the glow water brought Hao back. A place filled with odd memories, where he took the mortal mending pill and got bullied by the Second Elder.

He felt like a different person living inside his own body, but the only soul inside of him was himself.

Hao’s mind went deeper into the encounter with the Second Elder; he remembered everything about it, but now even her fragrance was close by. It was only a few nights ago. It made his heart beat. The encounter was real, unlike the visions during the trial Hao tried to shove them aside. They were not real.

Hao had to chase the Second Elder’s face and blue dress from his head.

The summer night came and the great winds roared. The forest was an instrument for the wind to play.

Hao listened as he tried to eat.

Trees creaked as they bent like great bows. Hollow groans like they were feeling the pain of sore bones. Twigs snapping, ten every second.

The meat in Hao’s hand had its heat stolen as the wind ripped away its juice.

It was steamy in his bag, cold and dry by the time it reached his mouth.

The soft skin of the berries was shredded when he took one out. The only proof the berry ever existed was the purple stain on his fingertips.

Hao let out a laugh; Summer night was as scary as he remembered, but now it had no effect on him. The World Energy was slightly colder, but the cold in the air was little to him.

Hao was raised to be scared of summer both day and night and all his life he did. The generation younger than Hao on the Island was raised to be scared of Hao because he was born during summer, the season of storms.

I should have never chased the Second Elder out of my head…

The world was kind enough to leave the spirit stones on the ground be; they were not carried off by the wind.

The cold of summer night was yet to fully set in, only getting deeper until the sun came.

He hoped like the night before that the Wu women were fine; I need to see them in the morning.

Hao picked up most of his spirit stones lying around on the ground, and all of them went into the water with him. Leaving only the bag on his chest on his person, strapped around his shoulder and ribs.

He did a few things in the pond, meditating, Water Breaking First movements, and other things to absorb World Energy.

As the night grew colder, the World Energy got colder as well. Hao did not mind, he came to enjoy the cold World Energy; I felt right to him. A cold cloud gathered at his center of gravity.

Hao didn’t have to, but tried to melt the icy cloud every time it formed. A thinner, fluffier cloud would replace it.

A thin layer of ice started to form around the edges of the pond as night continued. Hao tried dozens of meditation postures until he found one he liked.

When he sat in that posture, his body seemed to float. Half of his body split at his unformed core. His torso was above the water, his waist was below.

The ice never reached him. He was pulling in the icy air and then melting it, getting easier each time he did it. More World Energy on every breath.

Another round of wind broke Hao’s concentration.

The wind shouldn’t come till morning.

The morning had come, and a burst of warmth defrosted the air. Rays of gold, white and red. Hao tried practicing a little longer. The World Energy was already warm, with just a tiny bit of the sun in the sky.

He liked this feeling too, this warmth, more even, but he had to get up and move. He had to see the two Wu women, the mother and daughter, to see how they were doing.

Senior Tuzai won’t mind. Hao thought.

The Sect’s task was only half required, no work, no points, no food, a rule Hao knew well. Most of the points were made by taking missions written on the wooden badges of the mission hall walls.

Hao was letting the sun dry him, water dripping on the grass and ice cracked. He was storing away the spirit stones, still pants-less when he heard a voice.

“Oh! It took three days to find you but the search should be worth it!” Axe’s voice, a voice Hao knew, it had been a long time since he heard it.