The journey of cultivation was long and trying. Defying the heavens brought with it tribulation, rivalries, bounties and many other perils. Yet for most cultivators, the rewards were more than worth it. It was merely the price to pay for extended life, power beyond mortal ken, and respect. Cultivators were envied, feared and respected everywhere they went. It was why many braved the dangers and dared to risk walking the path. Many more wished for the opportunity yet were denied.

It was on this perilous path that Xiao Ji was about to start walking. Awakened beasts, unlike spirit beasts, practised cultivation that was similar to humans. The writer of the previous scroll had speculated that it had something to do with being intelligent as a mortal. Which was why the same did not apply to the children of intelligent spirit beasts, who were generally born with some level of cultivation.

The Qi Condensation Realm was barely considered worthy of being the first step of the long and perilous journey that was cultivators. As such, people in that realm could barely be called cultivators. At least according to the authors of the scroll Ji was currently reading.

For him though, it was a true beginning to a new chapter of his life. Previously, he was just a village fowl that managed to escape the pot. Most likely, he would have died to one ambush or another in the forest if he continued as he was.

Now, he had a chance to not have to worry about being made food for any number of predators. His dreams of finally becoming a resplendent cock could become more than just dreams. Most importantly though, the Qi Condensation Realm was the start of a journey that could possibly help him find his uncle.

So he read the scroll with excitement, eager to start cultivating. The method described on the scroll was fairly simple. It detailed the different steps and ways to draw in qi and cycle it through the dantian. Cycling enough qi to hit a threshold would mean he had broken into the Qi Condensation Realm and could call himself a cultivator.

The scroll also mentioned a very foul smelling substance that would be secreted from the skin after the breakthrough, something he was certainly not looking forward to. Even more so as the recommended method of removing it was a very thorough wash. Something he was looking forward to even less.

That was not enough to dissuade him though, and soon, he was already attempting to locate his dantian. It was a little more confusing as the scroll was meant for humans, not chickens, but enough tries he was able to find something buried in his body just above his legs. What brought his attention to it was the fact that he was not usually capable of sensing his organs. The strange circular dantain that seemed a little ethereal was different.

Focusing on the dantian, he breathed in and out, trying to copy the breathing technique laid out in the scroll. He failed the first time, but that was to be expected. He continued, shifting different parts of his breathing each time to better follow the instructions, till he eventually lost count of time.

All to no avail.

His continued failure was getting to the point of frustration, so he took a step back and decided to think about what went wrong instead of trying to adjust on the fly. The answer he concluded on was such an obvious thing that he felt like kicking himself.

For whatever reason, perhaps because he could already sense his dantian, Ji had ignored the fact that he could not feel the qi around him. He closed his eyes, trying to focus on the energy that he knew should be everywhere.

Nothing.

Switching tactics, he instead focused once more on his dantian, this time trying to find any kind of connection the organ had to the outside world. The idea came from a section of the first scroll that mentioned the way the dantian passively absorbed a minute amount of qi. A few minutes of searching later, he found something. It was only visible due to his inability to sense his regular organs, but there was a very thin strand of something that ran from his dantian to his nostrils.

Further inspection revealed more details. What he first thought was a single strand was actually a steady stream of miniscule particles flowing from the outside into his dantian. Though the particles, which could only be qi, entered his dantian, there was no reaction. Which meant the amount he was looking at was simply too small to do anything. This was further confirmed when he attempted to cycle what little qi there was round his dantian.

Still, he had accomplished and important goal: he finally knew what qi felt like. Keeping that feeling in his mind, he focused his mind on his surroundings; and this time, a fog seemed to be lifted from his senses. The sheer volume of qi that bombarded his mind was enough to nearly overwhelm him. Yet that inability to process it all lasted for merely a few seconds. His brain suddenly seemed to expand, comfortably carrying the burden of processing so much qi where it previously struggled.

Though he could not prove it, Xiao Ji had a suspicion the sudden change had something to do with his trait. If true, it would mean his trait was already paying off. And if it could help him sense qi better, perhaps it could do even more for his cultivation. His current qi senses were new, and not tied to any organ he knew of except his brain. Though he could feel the qi around him, It was blurry and differentiating it seemed impossible. Yet the first scroll had said qi came in various types.

He temporarily dropped that line of thought, mentally storing it for a later time. Though it was interesting, it was not what he was currently there to do. He could already feel his hunger start to get serious, which meant time was precious.

Focusing on a small part of the qi before him made it easier to sense the individual qi particles, though any other kind of separation remained beyond him. The first thing he noticed was how densely packed the qi was. The tiny stream of qi flowing into his dantian would likely take hours to exhaust a claw sized patch of qi at that pace.

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The next time he breathed in, he tried to keep both the qi and his dantian in his mind simultaneously, something that proved harder than he expected. Still, he achieved it without too much trouble. After that, he pulled the qi in, drawing it through his nostrils and directing it to follow the same path the tiny stream used,

Or at least he tried to.

The qi slipped from his mental grasp, and nothing remained when it was time to enter his nostrils. He was not too disappointed, the fact that he could grab the qi was progress, even if it was only for a brief moment. The scroll had said it could take days to be able to even interact with the qi at all.

Attempting to relax his manual control and let the power of his breathing give little result. Which left him with little to do other than train his control until it was good enough to grasp the qi for more than a second. Something that happened a lot quicker than it seemed. Once again, Ji suspected his trait was carrying a lot of the burden there. The rate at which he learned and improved his control was certainly abnormal. While he was never a slow learner, this was a few orders of magnitude different.

It was one thing to see the scroll mention the advantages an awakened had, seeing it in action was a different matter. He had no idea how effective other traits were in relation to his [Force of Mind], but he doubted they were weak either. Perhaps with enough time, only other awakened could be threats to him.

The next breath he took brought in a rush of qi into his lungs. It was far more than the thin stream that was previously coming in and for a brief moment, he felt like his body was filled with boundless energy. It only lasted for that moment though. In the next breath, most of the qi flowed out of his lungs. A relatively small amount, however, passed through the invisible channels in his body and entered his dantian.

It was hard to keep his excitement down after that. For the first time, he had actually managed to cultivate qi on purpose. He tried it again, this time making sure to direct as much qi to his lungs as possible. This time he managed to increase the amount he took in by a noticeable amount, though most of it was still wasted. He also made sure to cycle the qi round his dantian when it entered. Apparently it was necessary to ensure it could hold as much qi as possible before advancing.

Both the amount of qi he took in and what he retained continued to increase the more he cultivated. His efficiency was still abysmal even compared to most below-average breathing techniques, but that was fine. He only needed to break into Qi Condensation to get a perfect technique.

He quickly got lost in his cultivation, his rate of qi retention continuing to improve with each cycle. One of the things he noticed the more he cultivated was that there was a strange resistance in the channels that took qi to his dantian.

Meridians, they were called.

It made sense, when he thought about it. The scroll mentioned impurities that clogged the pathways and made cultivation slower. They would slowly be cleared out until the peak of the Foundation Building Realm, where the meridians would finally become pure. With correct cultivation practices at least. There were other ways to clear them before then, like some things called pills and elixirs. Or Awakened-only methods like Titles.

Xiao Ji was so focused on the process of extracting the most qi out of every breath that he nearly jumped in surprise when he broke through. It happened suddenly, at least from his perspective. One moment he was taking in qi, the next, his dantian expanded by a small yet notable amount and let out a wave of qi that expanded outwards till it left his body. Any excitement he might have felt at that moment was postponed shortly after that.

Breaking through to the First Stage of the Qi Condensation Realm was not particularly pleasant.

The wave of qi that left his body seemed to have started up chaos in its wake. He could feel small bits and pieces of things move around his body before slowly being pushed out. It was not particularly painful, yet it was so uncomfortable he soon found himself writhing on the floor. Even worse was the smell. The scroll had definitely understated how bad it was.

A system notification came into view the instant his body and dantian calmed down.

[Congratulations for breaking into the Qi Condensation Realm. Prepare for your Breathing Technique]

[Compatible Trait found. Syncing Force of Mind with Breathing Technique]

[Breathing Technique - The Rooster Breathes(Beyond)]

[The Rooster Breathes(Beyond) - The Rooster takes in the world with each breath. Your entire body absorbs qi when you cultivate.]

Ji blinked after staring at the notification. He was not sure what beyond meant, but the implied ability to take in qi from more than just his nostrils was incredible. He took a breath. A regular one, not one filled with qi.

Or so he thought.

Qi rushed into his body, first through his nostrils, then through every part of his body. The sheer amount of qi would likely have been enough to take him into the Qi Condensation Realm if he was still mortal. Even more miraculous was the fact that every single drop of qi went into his dantian with no waste. Just like the scroll had said.

A perfect breathing technique.

Panic nearly seized him when his next breath also brought in a flood of qi. It took him a few more tries before he managed to breathe without cultivating. Already he could feel himself on the cusp of hitting the next stage. Seeing no harm, he took another breath, smashing through the limits of the first stage of Qi Condensation.

More impurities left his body, which made the already pungent smell bad enough to nearly knock him out. He quickly checked the last notification he knew was waiting for him, all while hoping his Master would have a way to deal with the stench that did not involve a large amount of water.

[Titles have been unlocked. You have gained the Title - Against All Odds (I).]

[Against All Odds (I) - For fighting and defeating a Shadow Panther one realm above you. This Title strengthens your meridians to better handle powerful techniques capable of punching up many stages.]

He did not have the time to think deeply about the Title. By the time he finished reading it, the combination of the bad stench and hunger was too much for him to bear. So he ran out of the room, eager to get rid of the stench and snack on some tasty worms.

[Status]

[Name: Xiao Ji]

[Race: Chicken]

[Cultivation Realm: Qi Condensation - 2nd Stage]

[Trait: Force of Mind]

[Techniques: The Rooster Breathes(Beyond)]

[Cultivation Path: None]

[Titles: Against All Odds(I)]

[Spiritual Root: Locked]