Whis' stomach growled, a reminder of the hunger gnawing at him. His eyes scanned the deck, searching for anything that could be of use, but he knew that as a mortal, he would be nothing more than a servant in this new world. He couldn't even begin to imagine what dangers lay ahead, but he had no choice but to move forward. With each step, he felt a growing sense of dread. But there was no turning back now.

He arrived at the door, beside it where two giant tubes which had some runes engraved on them. Whis stared deeply a them. He knew, only humiliation or even death was waiting for him if he took the door. But the tubes – he paused, contemplating.

‘They might lead to a cabin with some food”, he thought

Whis took a deep breath and grabbed onto the rim of the air tube. His hands shook as he pulled himself up, his feet dangling over the edge. He could feel the cold metal against his skin, the icy air seeping into his bones. Taking another deep breath, he wasn't going to be a sitting duck, he swung his legs into the tube and began to crawl.

The space was tight, and Whis had to contort his body to fit. The metal felt rough against his skin, and his limbs began to ache as he crawled forward. He could feel the air rushing past him, carrying with it the scent of oil and metal.

He tried to block out the sensation of claustrophobia that was threatening to overwhelm him, focusing instead on the goal of reaching the other end of the tube. With each step, he felt a bit more hopeful, a bit more determined.

The further Whis crawled, the narrower the tube became. He had to squeeze his body through the tight space, unaware that the tube was not for oxygen, but for collecting heaven and earth energy, refining it into QI. This was clearly the work of an expert and the end of the tube would lead to an expert’s cabin - or worse, an old monster.

The dense Qi flowed into his body through his pores, causing sharp pains to shoot through him. He tried to ignore the discomfort, chalking it up to the cramped space and his claustrophobia. But there was something else at play.

The dense Qi was surprisingly flowing into his body through his pores, whis felt sharp pains all over his body, but just scorned as he thought it was just the cramped space and he was just claustrophobic.

As he crawled his way, some memories merged with his mind. Unlike earth this world had four continents, each on at each cardinal point and ruled by a different dynasty. The four continents were the Shang, Qin, Han, and Ming.

Each continent had its own unique culture, traditions, and focus on the path of cultivation. The Shang Dynasty, for example, was renowned for its calligraphy and scholarship with countless rune and inscription masters, but its citizens were no less skilled in martial arts and had some cultivation techniques.

Whis suddenly realized he had been crawling for hours now, and estimated he had travelled all the way to the other end of the ship. The thought of having to go all the way back to find another tube made his breaths come in short gasps. But then, he saw a light ahead. The air tube opened up into a room, and he crawled out into a sea of lights, panting.

It was the bath chamber; the water had a delightful fragrant, it bubbled as if it was plugged to some heat supply. Seeing what was before him, whis smiled, that was what he just needed, a relaxing bath and later on some good food. For a moment he had just forgotten where he was and straight away dived in, but he wasn’t alone.

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As the warm water enveloped him, Whis sighed with relief. He felt like he was floating on a cloud, the tension and stress of the day slipping away. As he closed his eyes and let himself relax, he began to drift off into a light sleep. The dense QI he had accumulated flowed through his veins and circled around his body.

The qi flowed into his blood, it stimulated a crimson qi, the blood Qi. This was a special kind of qi which flowed only in the blood and would enhance the body parts durability and ability. His clothes were instantly torn apart by the fluctuating aura around him, leaving him the same way he came to the world.

To whis, he only felt an inexplicable warmth, had he known the harsh conditions warriors went to cultivate this kind qi – he’d be privileged. His body began releasing a dark sheath of skin, the same way a snake sheds its skin. The qi continued to move into his bones and cleansed his marrow, the benefits he got could only be felt and not explained.

Whis opened his eyes, he felt rejuvenate, it was as if a weight had been lifted from his shoulders, and he felt light and free. He noticed that the water was no longer warm, but cold. As he looked around, he noticed that the water was no longer glowing, life had been sucked out of it.

He proceeded to stand up, unaware of his nudity, and was met by a pair of hostile eyes blazing with anger. In front of him was a young woman, dressed in a white linen, her eyes were like amber, and her hair was the color of night. Her figure was lithe, with the hourglass shape of a goddess, her ample bosom stretching the cloth of her robe, her body was dripping with water, it was clear that she had abruptly put on the thin silk to cover herself.

The aura surrounding her was of immense spiritual force, making it obvious that she was an excellent cultivator. Her voice was soft, yet carried a tone of command, as she said, "Who are you, and what do you think you're doing here?”

She looked indignant, the thought that she, the saintess of the Buddha Tempe had just shared the bath with an unknown man on her coronation day, further fueled her rage. She quietly chanted some mantras, stopping herself from murdering the boy in front of her.

As Whis turned to face her, he was immediately stupefied, the beauty in front him was failing to cover her body, the droplets had made her thin silk towel stick closely to her body, revealing all there was to see. He a nerd had never had a girlfriend in his earthly life and even the previous whis was as stern as a monk and focused sorely only calligraphy. His giant pillar couldn’t help raise its head in acknowledgement.

The saintess eyes widened as she saw the change in Whis's body. Her cheeks flushed with a sudden blush, and she quickly covered her eyes with her hand, but left a tiny gap to peek – curiosity getting the better of her.

"I... I'm so sorry, I didn't mean for this to happen!" Whis exclaimed, his face beet red as he scrambled to cover himself. His hands splashing the water but only ended up with some rags.

His broad shoulders where deeply stared by the saintess who had just dropped her hands. She, herself realized the profanity she had just did and immediately gushed with tears.

“I have sinned”, she sobbed.

Whis realizing that his clothes where gone turned around and saw the crying maiden, he instinctively pulled her into his embrace and innocently caressed her back, but one part of him was dishonest and immediately pried into the forbidden land. Sensing the intrusion, the saintess jolted, her hand grabbing a flying sword.

“You rogue...”, she stammered with anger, she got warm in a man’s embrace, all the teachings of abstinence, she had disregarded right now she was fuming.

“Please calm down, miss”, whis grabbed a flower vessel and pulled the flower away and covered himself. Seeing his actions, the saintess couldn’t help pass out in anger. The vessel was a relic from the Temple and it now sheltered a rogue stick.

Whis was frozen in shock. He had no idea what to do. He had only meant to comfort her, to help her feel better. But now that she had passed out and he felt terrible.

He looked at her sleeping form, he felt a strange pang of guilt and sadness. He knew he had done nothing wrong, but he couldn't help but feel like he had somehow harmed her.

His heart stabilized, he knew he had to get away from here, just as he was heading or the door, his gaze was fixed at the mirror, up till now he hadn’t noticed but something seemed to come out of his face. He messaged his cheeks and suddenly a human face came off his visage, he was dumbfounded.

And he wasn’t the only one, in the void, an old woman leaning unto her stuff suddenly snapped, her eyes stupefied. She was the guardian of the saintess and was had witnessed the whole event. But right now, her body was trembling. She was in awe as she looked at whis visage and his back, she glued the pieces, she didn’t want to believe it.

*Definitions*

Claustrophobia– the fear of confined spaces

Rune Master – experts in the art of carving magical runes. They use these runes to inscribe powerful spells on objects, weapons, and even living beings

Inscription Master – masters of the art of inscribing mystical symbols onto objects to imbue them with magical properties, i.e., make talisman