Chen Ren frowned as he struggled to explain the strange phenomenon that had been happening to him in the last few days. It took a while for him to get everything out as he thought back to how he had been feeling different since he had first started his stall.

“I didn’t notice it at first, but I’ve been feeling something in my dantian these days. It’s faint, like a soft pulse, but it’s there. I can sense qi in the air too, though it’s barely noticeable.”

Yalan’s eyes narrowed, her eyes sparkling lightly. She licked her mouth— was she amused?

"You sure you’re not just filling your head with air?" she asked, a smirk playing on her feline lips.

It was already odd that a cat could speak even better than some humans, but the fact that he could understand her emotions felt like an out-of-the-world experience. Then again, everything here was out of the ordinary.

Chen Ren shook his head firmly and got back to the topic. "No, it’s real. It’s faint, but I can feel it."

The cat studied him for a moment before giving a small flick of her tail. "Close your eyes," she commanded.

Chen Ren hesitated. "Why?"

She hissed at that question, clearly unsatisfied by Chen Ren’s response.

"You don’t need to worry. If I had any intention of harming you, you wouldn’t even take a single step before it was over."

A chill ran down his spine at her words, and with a reluctant nod, he closed his eyes. Silence stretched between them before the cat’s voice broke through again.

"Do you feel anything now?"

Chen Ren focused, but behind his closed eyelids, there was only a vast emptiness. He could hear the faint rustle of the wind, smell the damp earth beneath him, and feel the breeze brush past him, but it was as if he didn’t exist like a ghost in the night. All his concentration was for nothing. No trace of what she wanted him to find— no swirl of qi, not even a slight ripple in the air.

"No," he replied, trying not to sound frustrated.

"How about now?"

Yalan's voice seemed to hum with a strange energy.

Suddenly, he felt a shift.

A wave of qi had gathered and bunched up around him. His senses sharpened, picking up the energy, however weak. "Yes," he breathed. "I can feel it now. It’s like... something pressing in around me. But not physically. It's mystical in nature."

“Okay, open your eyes.”

When he opened his eyes, he found the cat watching him with an intensity that erased her usual demeanour. Her tail stood straight, completely still, as if she were a guard on high alert.

"It seems like you really can sense it," she said, very slowly.

Chen Ren exhaled, a smirk tugging at the corner of his mouth.

"I told you,” he said, before taking a pause, rethinking the words she told him a while ago. "So... if most people can’t do this, does that mean I’m actually special?"

The thought hung in the air, the idea of having some hidden talent gnawing at him. He might not have gotten a system like if this were a video game, but if he could gain some special talent with sensing qi, he might just be able to progress faster than what he had initially assumed.

Yalan’s eyes gleamed for a moment before she meowed softly— it sounded more like a scoff than a noise coming from a cat.

"Special? Don’t get ahead of yourself," she said. But there was a flicker of something else in her gaze— a quiet acknowledgement that maybe, just maybe, there was more to him than she had first believed. "Well, partly, maybe, but I’ve seen geniuses who could sense qi from childhood. I’m not sure if you’re one of them, but I believe it more that being from another plane has made you more sensitive to qi." She moved towards the left gracefully from where she was, pacing in thought before turning to him. "There’s another thing, though."

Chen Ren’s brows furrowed. "What?"

Yalan’s tail flicked as she explained, "Cultivators often feel bursts of qi or sense it swirling when they practise their dao. It also happens when they experience a breakthrough. After all, a dao is the path a cultivator walks on, and as they progress, they gain insights— small or large— depending on their mastery of it."

Chen Ren thought for a moment, his face twisted in confusion. "Even so, it doesn’t add up. I wasn’t practising any martial arts or swinging a sword when it happened. I was distributing rice noodles or running my stall. Why would my qi flare up then?"

The cat gave him a sidelong glance.

"Dao of noodles?” she said in the most serious tone possible.

Chen Ren chuckled lightly. "I doubt that’s it,” he said. "Whatever it is, I just hope I don’t end up with a dao that I have no interest in."

Yalan shook her head, her tone returning to seriousness.

“That won't happen. A dao is a path you walk upon yourself. No one else can choose it for you. After all, it's a long journey and it's yours, not anyone else’s. You should meditate and reflect on your dao. Think about the path you're meant to follow.”

"But I don’t even know what dao I have.”

The cat’s gaze softened slightly, almost as if teaching a child.

"Then consider which dao you want. The Chen Ren before you walked the martial dao, but clearly, that path was lost. You are not him. You need to search for what you desire—what you seek—deep within yourself."

Chen Ren nodded, settling into a cross-legged position as he closed his eyes, focusing inward. The cat’s words echoed in his mind, urging him to think about his dao— the path he wanted to follow. His thoughts drifted naturally toward the martial dao.

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In a world of cultivators, it was the logical choice, wasn’t it? The quickest route to power in a dog-eat-dog world. Yet, the more he considered it, the more he realised how ill-fitting that path was for him.

He adapted well, so given time, he might be able to come around the martial dao, but would winning in fights make him happy? Even if he ignored the fact that he would be risking his life every day, his natural talent of 21 spirit roots was too low for any sect to look at him nicely.

Moreover, he had already strayed far from the martial path, choosing a very different route: business. Earning money, managing his noodle stall, paying off debts— he was more of a merchant than a warrior. If any dao suited him, it had to be that.

As he pondered, he felt a sudden stir in his dantian.

The qi within him began to swirl more intensely as if resonating with his thoughts. He kept at it, focusing on the vision of his products flourishing, the coins piling up, and his success growing as he built a name for himself.

He imagined expanding his business, using the wealth to improve himself, his connections, and his life. He imagined creating more products from Earth, slowly taking over the mortal market before looking at the sects. He imagined creating his own company.

The more his thoughts moved in that direction, the more his qi swirled inside of him.

Then, a chill ran down his spine. His eyes snapped open.

He was no longer in the courtyard. Instead, he floated in a vast, endless space filled with stars, each one twinkling like a distant diamond. He hovered, weightless, in this unfamiliar realm. The silence was profound, and for a moment, he was entranced by the beauty of it all.

"What... is this place?" Chen Ren whispered, his voice swallowed by the void.

As if in response to his question, the stars around him began to move— slowly at first, then faster, shifting in strange patterns.

The energy within him swirled violently, and as he looked up, the stars coalesced into a shape— a massive, serpentine figure. His breath caught in his throat.

A dragon!

Its enormous form twisted through the starry expanse, vibrating with power. Its eyes locked onto him, and Chen Ren felt an overwhelming wave of fear wash over him. This wasn’t just an illusion— this was something else… something greater.

Fear, cold and raw, clawed at his insides. This wasn't a dream; it was a reality more terrifying than anything he'd ever known. The dragon let out a deafening roar, a sound that shook the very fabric of existence. Its celestial form lunged towards him, the stars scattering like startled fireflies.

Chen Ren’s body froze in terror. His blood ran cold. He was trapped, a helpless speck in the dragon's cosmic maw. Panic surged through him, but his body refused to move. As the dragon's shadow loomed over him, he squeezed his eyes shut, a silent scream trapped behind his lips.

And then... he woke up.

Gasping for breath, his eyes flew open, and he found himself back in the courtyard, the faint scent of grass and the cool night air grounding him. His heart pounded in his chest as if he had just escaped death.

What just happened?

Chen Ren blinked, staring up at the night sky.

His breathing was heavy, and sweat beaded on his forehead as he sat up from the bench, holding his head to steady himself. His mind raced, trying to comprehend what had just happened. That dragon, the stars, the overwhelming fear— it all felt so real. He took deep breaths, one after another before the cat’s voice made him turn towards her.

"So," Yalan said casually, perched on the bench. "It seems you actually managed to connect to your dao."

Chen Ren's eyes flickered towards her, still dazed. "What?"

The cat hopped down gracefully and padded closer, her amber eyes gleaming in the moonlight.

"Just an hour ago, when you were meditating, you let out a massive surge of qi. You made a breakthrough," she explained, her tone matter-of-fact. "You're now a fourth-star body forging cultivator."

Chen Ren blinked, processing the information slowly. "A breakthrough? Just like that?" He still couldn't wrap his head around it. That terrifying vision, that dragon... had all of that somehow pushed him to a new level?

The cat nodded, her tail swaying lazily behind her. "Yes. It's rare for a cultivator to skip an entire stage in the body-forging realm, but I guess your connection to your dao must've been strong enough. You finally aligned with it."

For a moment, Chen Ren could only sit there, taking it all in. His heart still raced, but now he noticed something else— a warm energy coursing through his body. It was subtle at first, but then it hit him all at once: his body felt brimming with vitality like he could take on the world. His muscles twitched and flexed with energy, his mind was sharp, and a rush of positivity surged through him, making everything feel… possible.

"So this... this is what it's like to break through." He exhaled, marvelling at the sensation. "No wonder cultivators meditate for hundreds of years. Just to feel this again and again..."

Before he could lose himself in the feeling, the cat interrupted with a curious tilt of her head. "What dao did you connect to, anyway?"

Chen Ren didn’t answer immediately, still replaying the images in his mind: the swirling stars, the dragon, and that strange vastness of space. Then it clicked, and the answer was clear as day. His lips twitched into a small smile as he spoke, almost amused by the absurdity of it all.

"The dao of money."

Yalan stared at him, her eyes narrowing slightly. “Dao of… money?"

***

The morning sun stretched its golden arms across the horizon over Cloud Mist City as Chen Ren and Tang Xiulan set up the noodle stall.

The familiar clatter of pots and wooden stools echoed through the quiet street, and the air was already carrying the faint scent of noodles as Chen Ren arranged his ingredients with practised hands. His energy felt vibrant today, surging through him in waves, a direct result of the breakthrough from last night. He could hardly contain the bounce in his steps.

Tang Xiulan paused, her sharp eyes catching his unusually light movements. "Young Master, you seem to be in a happy mood today," she remarked, tying her apron as she helped set up the stall.

Chen Ren chuckled, shaking his head as he adjusted the display. "It's because I had some cultivation gains yesterday," he said, his voice filled with pride. "And also, our stall is picking up steam. I have a feeling with the amount of noodles we have today, we’ll be working nonstop until night."

Xiulan nodded, a glint of approval in her gaze. "It’ll be good then. More customers, more coins."

Chen Ren nodded and continued setting up the stall and just then, a sudden movement caught his eye.

The white cat— Yalan, sleek and graceful as ever, leapt onto the counter, landing lightly next to him. Her eyes flicked over the setup before she curled up, sitting calmly beside him as if claiming her territory.

Chen Ren leaned down, whispering, "What are you doing here?"

The cat didn’t bother looking at him. Instead, a voice echoed in his mind, startling him.

“I came to observe you.” Her tone was as calm and haughty as ever. “Although I don't think you're some demonic cultivator or a shapeshifter who needs to be eradicated, the pact still binds me to watch over you. And what better place than here?”

Chen Ren blinked, momentarily taken aback by the fact that she could speak directly into his mind. Cultivation shenanigans, he thought to himself. Then, he merely shrugged and said, "You're free to stay. Besides, having a cat around might attract customers who would want to pat you."

The cat shot him a withering glare, her ears twitching in irritation. “I'm a very accommodating and generous creature, but even I have my limits. Certain acts tempt me to burn down an entire city.”

Chen Ren felt his mouth widen in surprise, but he quickly gathered himself and raised an eyebrow, amused.

"What type of acts?"

“Like the act of patting me.” The cat's mental voice was sharp, like a dagger, her eyes narrowing as if daring him to test her words.

Chen Ren stifled a laugh. "Noted."

He gave her a sideways glance, grateful he hadn't given in to his instincts last night and tried to pat her as he would any other street cat.

Well, maybe in the future I might be able to, he thought, smiling.