The next morning, Leon woke to a body full of aches and pains. He found that his injuries hadn’t worsened or miraculously healed overnight, but they did feel a little less severe than they should’ve been. The cuts on his right shoulder, for example, were already scabbed over. That was a great result considering he had been stabbed down the bone.

Sadly, it seemed that igniting his life essence hadn't done anything about his left arm. It was still limply hanging by his side, a mere twig of grey skin. Leon rolled over in his sleeping bag and felt how sticky he was. The med students had wiped most of the blood off his body, but that didn't mean he wasn't covered in sweat. He decided that having a hot shower would be quite therapeutic after the events of last night.

Checking his stolen watch, Leon calculated that he had only slept for around five hours. Which made no sense. He felt well-rested and full of energy despite being injured, meaning that something else was at play. Either he was too stressed to feel exhausted or it was a side effect of becoming saturated with aura.

Was Qi really so potent, or was it a benefit of igniting his life essence? Sleeping was a way to recover and better regulate hormones. If his body had been enhanced by the life he stole from the demon, it made sense that he needed less sleep now. Why would your body spend more time resting when it didn’t need to?

Seeing that everyone was still fast asleep and would likely remain that way for the next few hours, Leon decided to play around with his Qi. He didn't want to wake anyone in case something happened so he sneaked out and made his way to the bathroom at the other end of the office.

Dominic was fast asleep and so was everyone else, it seemed. Someone whom Leon didn't catch the name of had volunteered to stay up and keep watch in case a demon wandered in, but he had also fallen asleep. The door up to the office was a massive block of solid timber that would automatically close. If something tried to get in, they’d find out minutes before it could even get halfway through.

Leaving the guy alone since everything was okay, Leon made his way to the disabled bathroom and sat down in the shower. He silently wondered why shower chairs weren't more common, then shook his head and got to work. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. While he couldn't perceive his dantian through his eyes, he could picture it in his mind.

Leon began by poking the misty substance that pooled there. His Qi reacted to his will, and while that sounded odd, he quickly realised that every other part of his body did the same thing. If he wasn't moving his arms and legs with his mind, how else could he be doing it? Still, manipulating Qi didn't seem any easier than learning to ride a bike for the first time.

Leon tried to pull a finger-sized tendril out of his dantian to experiment with, but nearly half of the entire ball flowed out with it. The misty substance moved along a set of pathways as it moved almost halfway up his chest before he let go, allowing the wave to recede like the ebb of the tides.

Was it an issue of control or was it fundamentally impossible to manipulate a single strand of Qi? Leon didn't have an answer to that, so he simply tried and failed a few more times until he gave up after making no progress. He was obviously missing something, he just didn't know what.

Next, Leon pushed every drop of Qi out of his navel and held it in place, creating a hazy region in his torso. His Qi resisted, of course. The mist wanted to coil back in on itself, so after a few painful seconds of holding his breath, he let it do just that. Moving his Qi was much easier compared to holding it in place. It appeared that the substance liked to behave in certain ways, resisting harder and harder if pushed to do something unnatural.

Leon's Qi spun on its own within his dantian. It was constantly moving, but not in any way that was ordered. His Qi flowed, twisted and straightened out, and even sped up and slowed down. There was no order within his dantian, only chaos. It seemed that the movements would never stop, which made him wonder why he couldn’t manipulate Qi forever. There was obviously some kind of mental strain involved since controlling the stuff required a substantial amount of focus, but that was as far as he got on that front.

After a handful of experiments, Leon concluded that the amount of Qi, the complexity of his actions, and the duration he seized control all impacted the strain on his mind. Also, trying to hold all of his Qi in place was far more difficult than pushing it around his body. Pushing only a third of his Qi around his spirit was also much easier than using it all at once, not to mention that the pressure and fatigue after his Qi flowed back to his navel was much lower.

These experiments also helped to improve his control. It felt much easier now to portion out smaller clumps than when he first started, not that he could do anything with it other than push a wave into a specific limb or organ. And even then, pushing his Qi into a certain region of his spirit only made the area feel slightly stronger. He had no method to concretely test how great the enhancement was, but he could guess it was relatively minimal. Enough to make him run a little faster or lift another five kilograms, if that.

Pondering on what to test next, Leon finally noticed that the ball of Qi in his stomach seemed different. More lethargic. Pushing some Qi around, he almost swore that the ball spread out less. Had it shrunk? After a bit more scrutinising, Leon's heart rate spiked when he all but confirmed that his Qi supply had shrunk.

Was it going to regenerate on its own or did he have to do something to recover his supply? Or God forbid, had his stores permanently decreased in size? Leon hadn't expelled Qi with any of his practice, so where had it gone? Did some of it leak out of his body without him noticing, or had it been used up somehow from being moved around?

Without any way to find an answer, Leon realised that his only option was to investigate it himself. He began by pushing his Qi around. It flowed out of his stomach like blood being pumped out of his heart, only instead of following his veins, it seemed to follow a set of spiritual pathways.

Quickly checking his notification from last night, Leon realised that those pathways must be his 'channels'.

Leon couldn't perceive his channels in any meaningful way. Just like a person's veins, he could only feel a vague pressure moving around when he directed his Qi. Still, after cycling his Qi around his body once, he managed to notice a few things he hadn't before.

The first was that breathing had an effect on the circulation of his Qi. If he spread the stuff out in his chest and then took a deep breath, exhaling seemed to push his Qi away from his navel while inhaling helped to draw it back to his navel, the centre of his body. Second was that his Qi wasn't leaking out of him, but was actually disappearing into his flesh.

Leon hadn't noticed until now, but by standing up and moving around, he could feel that his torso was different to the rest of his body. Almost like it was stronger? He had done nearly all his experiments in his abdomen so it made sense that there would be a change. Feeling around with his eyes still closed, Leon's hand brushed against a layer of grainy paste on his skin. A thin sheet of some kind of black substance clung to his stomach, refusing to be washed away.

It was grainy to the touch, made his fingers stick together despite also being oily, and smelled like-. Leon gagged, almost throwing up. He hadn't ever smelled something like that before, but it was infinitely close to rotten eggs. Thankfully, soap and hot water seemed to wash the vile concoction off without any issues. People were already scared of him. Destroying the bathroom before anyone else could use it was a surefire way to make everyone hate him as well.

After confirming that everything was clean, Leon decided to quickly test out the relationship between breathing and Qi. If he could somehow manipulate Qi with just his breathing, he would be able to easily use it to save his life in the future. And if he was lucky, it could be the key to regenerating his lost Qi. Being able to move and subconsciously restore his reserves would be incredibly useful, maybe even saving his life if he used it between fights.

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Taking a deep breath, Leon began to cycle his Qi the moment he exhaled. A wave spread out from his dantian. His Qi was bundled into an orb beneath his navel, and as it flowed around his body, he couldn’t help noticing how gentle and fast it was. It moved without hindrance, filling up every corner of his flesh before pushing against his skin. But instead of the pressure building like it had before, he could feel the Qi being sucked away. It sank into every cell, drained away as if a whirlpool had appeared on each one.

Leon attempted to exhale as slowly as possible to extend the moment. He didn’t know what his Qi was doing exactly, but any idiot could tell that it was a good thing. If it was harmful, his body would’ve sensed that and made him feel some pain or discomfort. Instead, he felt nothing but pleasure. His every cell was being nourished and scrubbed clean, massaging him from the inside.

But in the end, he could only stop breathing for so long before he fainted. Leon was forced to inhale, drawing the lingering Qi out of his flesh and bones so that it could gather back in his navel. His Qi slowly withdrew itself as he breathed in. Leon almost wept as the pleasure faded, but when it began to recede - the pressure building inside his channels - he actually did shed a tear from the growing pain.

He silently wished that he hadn’t breathed as deeply as possible, but it was too late to regret now. He was buckled in for the ride. All of the Qi he had pushed into his flesh was now being dragged back all at once, the excess power pressing against his channels as it stretched them wider.

Once his Qi receded back to his stomach, Leon sighed in relief and held off for a moment to check up on his condition. The ball was smaller this time. It had shrunk by a minuscule amount, his Qi somehow missing. It wasn’t any amount he could quantify, but it was still a relatively noticeable loss.

Leon decided to keep going, only this time he kept a much closer watch on the process. He took a deep breath and, as the air left his lungs, resisted the pleasure of being scrubbed clean. The only way to improve now was to learn things first-hand. And while he didn't learn much, it did allow Leon to notice that only some of his power was being absorbed by his body.

While Leon's flesh was being nourished by the Qi flowing through it, that wasn't the only thing happening. The misty substance was also working to expunge the little black flakes lodged inside him. Once removed, his surging Qi would sweep away the residue in his blood and force it out of his skin. That was also where a small amount of Qi was lost due to the pressure of his spirit. By pushing Qi out, it almost dragged the black substance along with it, sacrificing itself to purge the filth that so desperately clung to him.

That was also why it strained his channels. Pushing his Qi against his skin and then pulling it back all at once was very painful, but as he cycled his Qi again and again, Leon quickly figured out a few tricks to reduce the pressure and ease the process. Still, the constant effort was straining his channels and leaving them raw.

After hundreds of breaths, Leon noticed that his Qi had reduced by a third. It was worrying but he couldn’t find any strength to care. His body was wrung out, and as he came out of his trance, he almost threw up from the scent of rot and filth that punched him in the nose. Looking down, he found that his entire body was covered in a thick layer of the oily black substance.

Leon instantly blasted himself with hot water. He furiously scrubbed the filth away, giving him a chance to recall what had just happened. Cycling Qi in tune with his breathing had pushed out a layer of vile muck from his body. It had cleansed him; washed away the waste that had somehow lingered inside his very cells without his knowledge.

Imagining that filth gumming up his insides made him want to cycle his Qi again, but as he prodded the thumb-sized ball and pulled out a strand of Qi, he involuntarily winced at the pain radiating from his gut. It was like his insides were raw, reminding him of the time he was sick last year with the flu. He’d blown his nose so many times that his skin ached with the slightest touch.

He only hoped that his channels would recover soon.

Still, he pushed on and cycled his Qi once more, but no more filth was extracted. Sighing, Leon finished and made to leave the bathroom when he saw something flash in the corner of his eye. He had seen it earlier and subconsciously ignored it, not wanting to lose his deep focus while meditating.

[The foundation of success can only be built upon a lifetime of hard work. While this applies to any endeavour, it is far more pertinent to those who pursue the peak of cultivation. Whether it be talent or dedication, one can never be lacking. Cultivation is an endless battle to climb higher. A fight waged not only against the Heavens but also against the self. For to be remade into something greater, one must first destroy that which is imperfect.]

[Today, you have eradicated only a small portion of what makes you a mortal. The oily black substance that you have expunged from your pores is what chains you to the cycle of reincarnation. To shed one’s mortality, a cultivator must correct the parts of themselves that are imperfect. These lingering impurities have slowly accumulated since the very day of your conception, and now you have expunged a great proportion of what has been holding you back.]

[Not only have you made impressive progress in gaining control over your Qi, but you have also figured out how to step into the Early stage of the Foundation Forging realm. Every stage of this realm is another step towards becoming a true cultivator. Now that you have largely cleansed the impurities within, you can begin to work on forging the foundation that will carry you to the peak. Work hard, and remember that cultivation is not a hobby or a job, but a way of life.]

Leon blinked, taking in the wealth of information. Or the lack thereof. None of his big questions had been answered, and of the little ones that had, they were all useless. He knew that the black impurities he'd expunged were a type of waste product, he was keenly aware of his growing skill in manipulating Qi, and learning the name of the black paste was useless.

Still, it was better than nothing. He shouldn’t be upset, especially since he was information-starved to begin with. He just wished he could understand what he'd done with his Qi. It had refined his body in some way, but how? What was this strange interface? What was the point of cultivating? Improving yourself was all well and good, but why?

At least he’d been given a few names, such as impurities and the Foundation Forging realm.

With no other answers in sight, Leon sighed and closed the notification only for another to appear. He received two new titles, making him excited to see what rewards it would give him. Magical powers? Weapons? But it was neither of those, and yet he was still very pleased with his reward.

[Prodigy: Your Qi control has improved rapidly without guidance, allowing you to gain rudimentary control over your spirit. Remember, a cultivator that cannot control their Qi is no cultivator at all. +1% Mind.]

[First Step: First in the world to step onto the road of cultivation. +5% all stats.]

Despite there being no magical items, the ramifications of his last title were huge. Of nearly eight billion people in the world, he was the very first of them all to take that step. Even if others were more talented than him, the advantage of a few days could snowball into him becoming incredibly powerful over the next few years. After having his decade of hard work stripped away, Leon felt like he had been given a chance to become useful.

If he could leverage his early advancement, he might just never be a burden again-

“Hello, is someone in there?” A woman knocked, her voice echoing through the door, “Can you hurry up? I’ve been waiting for like ten minutes.”