Logan pushed the [Meet an immortal who uses pure qi] button.
With a flash, a man who looked like he could lift boulders without qi appeared in front of Logan. He had pure white hair, which was flowing to all sides, like the rivers of qi that Logan had seen when replenishing and collecting qi. The immortal didn’t wear a shirt, but he had baggy pants the color of pearls wrapped around his legs. He wore a loose jacket which was split down the middle to reveal the man’s perfect muscles.
The immortal looked down at Logan and raised an eyebrow.
“Go on, kid. I don’t have all day, ask your questions and I'll try to answer them,” said the immortal cultivator.
“Hello senior brother, this one calls himself Logan,” Logan said.
“I know. I am an illusion created by this system, as you call it, to answer your questions. You are protected while I am here, and nothing in this forest can or will attack you. You have ten minutes to ask me questions, starting now.”
A timer appeared in the top right corner of Logan’s vision.
[9:59]
[9:58]
[9:57]
I get it, I get it! I can see you! No need to make a beep every second you tick down, I’m trying to think here, system!
“You do know I can hear your thoughts, right?” Asked the immortal man.
“Oops,” replied Logan. “Okay, first question: What is the best way for me to get stronger right now? I can’t condense my core like I did in the liquid qi and semi-solid core stages.”
“To form a quivering core, You will need to imbue your qi with your will. Simply condensing your core won’t do anything besides make your qi more dense. Quivering Cores allow cultivators to disrupt qi by sending tiny movements called vibrations. After forming a quivering core however, the next few stages are eliminating impurities in your qi. For example, the Steel Core stage will reforge your body to be the ideal body your soul desires, which is done by manually using your qi to expel any impurities in your body. The Gold Core stage is similar, except it expels impurities in your qi instead, which allows you to intrude upon other’s domains.”
[7:43]
Logan pulled the collar of his shirt forward to let the air cool his chest. That was a lot to take in at once, but he needed to get the most out of his meeting with the immortal now, and process information later. “What do stats do, and how do I increase them? While we’re on the topic, what does the ‘approximate level’ part of my status mean, and what is the average level for the current stage in the tutorial, assuming everyone takes it?” It was unreasonable to assume that there weren’t any people in this world, or to assume there wasn’t a world after the tutorial. After all, that's all it was, an introduction to the system.
Logan checked the timer.
[6:39] His question had taken over a minute to think of and ask, and he was now getting close to the middle of his conversation, having only asked two things.
“Okay. The answer to your first question is relatively simple. You already figured it out, in fact. Stats represent you and your ability to do things within certain domains of actions. For example, strength represents your ability to do things related to physical labor, such as punching something. Dexterity represents how agile you are, Intelligence your ability to think critically, Wisdom your core and qi, Charisma your ability to interact with people, and Vitality represents your ability to survive and your overall maximum health, which is why it’s called vitality,” said the immortal illusion.
“To increase stats,” He continued, “all you have to do is train. Your two year training routine, along with your difficulty increases, allow you to increase your stats much faster than those in the outside world and lower difficulties. Don’t get used to the fast pace.”
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[5:00]
“The answer to your second question regarding levels, your approximate level displays what level you would be if you were to gain xp through cultivating. The xp messages earlier all went to your approximate level. The density of qi in the tutorial is much higher than most places in the outside world, so again, don’t get used to the explosive growth you’re experiencing now. The average level for people in the standard difficulty, third stage of the tutorial is level 20. Their experience is far safer than yours though, and you would either have to be a power-addicted maniac or a hidden genius to get to the third difficulty tier. I’m starting to think you may be a little on the former side.”
[2:47]
The immortal looked up and frowned. “I have to go, kid. Sorry we couldn’t finish talking, something important came up for the real me, and I have to go alert them. One last thing I will teach you though: If you ever wish to know more about someone, send a thread of pure qi at them, try to make it as hard to notice as possible, and simply wish to Inspect them. On success, it should at least tell you their name and level. Investigating someone like this may return question marks, as they might be too powerful for your current power level.”
Error… Immortal [Error] has decided to end the conversation early… The system apologizes for any inconveniences caused by this glitch.
[0:00]
Are you serious? What kind of broken system did I get given? Who lets their own ILLUSION cause errors, and at this point I’ve probably seen the word ‘Error’ from this piece of shit than any other!
Frustrated, Logan lay down on his back as he usually did when he needed to reflect or think about something, and he closed his eyes.
So… first things first: I need to start imbuing my qi with my will, since I will need to advance to the quivering core stage sooner or later. However, I will also need to train against these monsters, one of them probably holds the secret to moving on to the final stage of the tutorial.
For now, Logan decided to just sleep for a while. Qi could replace the need to eat, drink, and sleep, but after all, nothing was a perfect substitute for sleep. Qi would erase the fatigue that comes with lack of sleep, but it will do nothing about your current mental state. With that final thought, Logan’s eyes shut for the night.
***
Logan woke up feeling much better than the night before, in a brand new state of mind. He began the morning by willing his qi to change into something that reflected him as a person. With the immortal’s advice in mind, Logan began cycling his qi through his entire body. He moved it from his dantian, in the center of his stomach, down his left inner thigh to the sole of his foot, back up the other side, along his hips, through his chest, up and down his left arm, through his head, and repeated for the other side of his body. Right thigh, sole of his foot, back up the leg, to the shoulder, through the right arm, through his head, and back to his dantian.
While cycling, Logan kept only a single thought in his mind. He thought about himself, who he was as a person. All of his past experiences, and soon enough he forgot about cycling and sunk deep into his dreams.
***
Lioness 1 enjoyed being the queen of her group. The lions and lionesses followed her lead without questioning her, since she was the most powerful out of all of them. Among the lions, she was known as Steelclaw. Her claws could cut through anything, even steel. Yet when one of her stronger minions, a personal bodyguard, went on a mission to investigate a commotion that had occurred in the western side of the jungle and didn’t come back, she started to worry. What if he had died? His claws and teeth were approaching a strength similar to her’s and she didn't want to be anywhere near the danger that was capable of killing someone of his strength.
Even after those thoughts, she simply couldn’t resist when she saw a column of powerful and pure mana erupting from the west of the forest. Although the source would most likely be dangerous for her, it would almost certainly be worth the rewards.
***
Logan opened his eyes and looked around, finding himself back in the River Flowing Sky Wind Lightning Tribulation Fighting Sect. Nearby, there was a stall that sold bread. He looked down and saw that his chest was little more than bones. He was faced with a choice: steal some bread from the stall keeper again, or resist the urge to satiate his stomach and use his little legs, more bone than muscle, to get to the cultivation room and form his core through that grueling process again.
For the young Lo Guan, a full stomach sounded like heaven at that moment. Yet he trudged forward, focusing on nothing but putting one shriveled foot before the other. He saw an elder’s child stepping up to be in his way, but Lo Guan was too tired to do anything about it. The only thing he could do was run towards the cultivation room and hope he had enough life in him to create a core.
***
Logan’s eyes opened, back in the jungle, and he smiled. He looked inside his dantian, to find his core had reduced in size, but was now much more solid than before, and slightly shaking. His spiritual body reached out to touch it, and he found that his imaginary spirit had begun shaking once his hand came into contact with the core. He had reached the Quivering Core stage.