12 Years Later
"Yuzhi, make sure to come back before dinner. Tomorrow will be your important day". An elderly woman said waving at a young man goodbye.
The young man was handsome, very handsome even so. His hair was pink as if it represented love, his eyes a kind of golden seemingly only the sun is supposed to have. He radiated this feeling of kindness and warmth.
He was Xiang Yuzhi, the man that 12 years ago had died, but fortunately, his journey didn't end and he found himself in this strange but beautiful world.
Although the conditions weren't as good as in his previous life, he had a beautiful family that loved him. Besides, he had always had food on his plate, he could sleep under a roof at night, and his clothes always kept him warm.
And soon, he would maybe be able to start his cultivation journey. He would be able to transcend mortality and maybe even become immortal.
But he didn't wish for that, while he did hope he could maybe become a cultivator, he only wanted that so that he could provide for his parents and brother.
But before that, to calm his mind, he would go to this place he enjoyed going to.
It was this beautiful place, hidden deep within Liora Forest. There was this incredible beautiful waterfall with water so blue the sky might as well have been its reflection.
A grand rock in the middle, making it easy to jump from several meters high into the water that seemed to be warm on cold days and cold on warm days.
He loved going there. He was there when he was happy, and also when he was sad. When he was calm, he was there, and when stressed, the water would be his companion.
And today, he went there because he felt... lost. He didn't know what to do, his future feeling so uncontrollable.
If tomorrow, he was awakened with a spiritual vein, his entire life would change. He would first be trained by the village for 2 months, before having the choice to either remain in the village or go on to study in an academy in a nearby city.
But if he didn't awaken, he would be an ordinary farmer, just like his parents. And while he didn't hate this fate, he just felt that it was so... little.
He felt like he could do more. Not because he was fated for it, but because he wanted it.
He wanted to explore the beauties of this world, enjoy the riches it could provide, and share them with his family.
'How could I have such a stupid thought? Tomorrow, even if I awaken, I will just remain in the village, how else could I provide for my family?'. Going to the academy, while providing a better future, also cost quite a bit and was generally only done by those very talented or those who had a good background.
Yuzhi was lying in the water already, fully naked, not afraid of anyone coming here. In his entire life, ever since he had come here, he had never seen anyone else here.
His body was almost entirely surrounded by water, and he felt like he was drowning but also at the same time like there was this power holding up. Similar to how he felt in life.
He closed his eyes, letting darkness prevail over his consciousness. Soon, all the dark thoughts within his mind had cleared, and calmness prevailed.
After remaining in the lake for a while, he left and put on his clothes, using a towel to dry himself before putting his simple clothes on and leaving for his house.
He had left at the perfect moment, because just when he arrived at his house, the sun had shone for the last time today, making the world on this side dark.
"Hello, Yuzhi". His mother said seeing him enter. "There is still some warm soup on the table".
His mother was already quite old, over 50. It was a miracle he was even born because his parents couldn't buy fancy medical support, there was a high chance either he, his mother or both would die when she gave birth. But they still stood in the present, not dying in the past.
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His father and brother soon also arrived, having several rabbits hanging from their waists. Both are hunters.
They had also taught him some of their skills, but he was never very interested in hunting, and his body was also quite weak. Which wasn't the best combination for a good hunter. So for his safety, there was a mutual understanding between his family that he wouldn't become a hunter.
Soon, he went to sleep, nervous about what tomorrow would entail for him.
"Yuzhi, wake up, it's your big day". His mom woke him up, the sun already entering through the window in his room.
"Hhhmmm". Yuzhi sat up on his bed, stretching his back. Sadly enough, the beds in this world weren't as good as those of his previous life. One couldn't really call them beds.
"Your dad and brother are already waiting for you". She stroked Yuzhi's head before leaving the room. Making all the worries his heart had resolved.
'No matter what happens, I still have my loving family.' With these thoughts, I spent the entire morning with my family before leaving with them to the village center.
In this world, our village could be considered a large village, but not something that could be considered a city.
But despite having the name of a village, it was quite large. Having over 15 thousand citizens, and more than 60 cultivators. Which Yuzhi had learned was quite a lot.
The general consensus was that for around 1000 mortals, there would be 1 person having the talent to cultivate.
So having 60-plus cultivators for 15 thousand mortals was a lot. The reason was that almost everyone in the village had the blood of a cultivator, making the chance they had the talent of a cultivator higher than someone who didn't have the blood of a cultivator inside them.
Soon, Yuzhi and his family arrived at the village square, their house being on the outskirts of the village.
There, at the square, there were countless people. Families whose child had turned 12 this year, villagers who were interested in who would become a cultivator in the future, and cultivators ready to accept new talents in their ranks.
Soon, an old man went up the podium, he was the village chief, also the only cultivator in the village who had reached the Medium Foundation Strengthening Realm.
"Welcome everyone, today, we have gathered again to see who will become a pillar of our village in the future". The elderly man, despite his age, spoke with strength and wisdom, making his voice reach everyone in the square.
"All the young men and women that have reached the age of 12 this year, please line up in front of the podium for the village chief to test your talent". A middle-aged man said, overseeing the entire square.
Everyone knew him, he was Lu Bei, the commander of the cultivation corps, holding a large amount of influence within the entire village.
Besides that, his cultivation had also recently reached the Early Foundation Strengthening Realm and everyone expected him to be the future Village Chief.
Soon, all the young men and women who had reached age 12 this year created a line in front of the podium. Yuzhi guessed there were around 300 people in this line, showing how many people this village had.
This made him think of something he had asked his dad once.
He was young and knew very little then about the cultivation world. Now, the only thing that had changed was that he was less young. (Mentally he is old)
Since cultivators awakened their Spiritual Vein at age 12, why wasn't every child tested when they were 12?
Since they only tested once a year, which happened on June 20. This was useful since it gave the village 2 months to train young talents before they could choose to either enter a nearby academy or remain in the village.
Because similar to his previous world, schools started in September the first.
While this was easier to organize than testing every child alone, this also meant children born on June 21 would need to wait an entire year before getting tested.
The answer he got was that testing if someone had a Spiritual Vein could cost quite a lot, and only large organizations could allow themself to do something like testing children whenever they wanted.
And while this did affect Yuzhi quite a lot, being born December 8, it wasn't something he would make a fuss over.
After waiting for a while, it was Yuzhi's turn, he got a pill and his hands started trembeling, painfully aware of the fact that this tiny marble resting on his small palm would be the one to determine his life. It would determine what his future would entail.
Would he continue to live a boring life, consisting of planting and growing seeds all day, together with his poor and simple, but caring and loving family?
Or would it be one full of battle and danger paired with the adventure that would come with it? Exploring the kinds of mysteries someone from his previous world could only fantasize about
Yuzhi kept thinking about such questions as if doing so would increase his chances of actually having a Spiritual Vein. The current him felt like a frog, deep inside a well. I was presented with an opportunity that only came once in a lifetime. The opportunity to leave this well and explore the beyond.
But little did Yuzhi know that the beyond that he was talking about was but another well, one even more difficult to escape.
Realizing he was only making things worse for himself, he quickly straightened his posture to at least look even the slightest less nervous on the outside and gulped down the pill without a second thought.