3 days later.

It was in the early morning, and Ryan was in the wooden cabin trying to meditate but failing miserably due to his thoughts choosing to be elsewhere.

Three days ago, Ryan had brought Wung Dao the beast parts he had demanded to be hunted.

The cultivator had then glanced at him and observed him silently, before muttering - "You've grown stronger" then followed by saying "You're ready"

And then the cultivator had turned and left the cabin, and Ryan hadn't seen him since. He hadn't had the guts to trail him.

'I am ready? Ready for what!'

Ryan was half panicky and half aggravated, what the hell was he ready for really? He had been pacing around the place after Wung Dao had fled, he instinctively felt that something horrible would come out of the 'readiness' the cultivator was talking about!

And then the wooden door creaked.

Ryan's heart leaped.

His neck twisted comically like a cartoon character as he glanced at the door. Wung Dao was standing there, staring back at Ryan without a notable expression.

"Come with me. It is about time you became initiated."

The cultivator said in that monotone voice of his.

'Initiated?! He is joking right? I didn't know I joined an evil secret organization!'

Ryan suddenly had the images of people being forced to drink buckets of blood and performing strange rituals.

'Perhaps being his disciple wasn't such a good idea!'

Ryan thought.

But then again, back then he hadn't had much of a choice.

He remembered disciples in some manhua he read being initiated in the most gruesome and heart wrenching ways possible.

Wung Dao so far hadn't done much training with Ryan, none in fact except occasionally instructing him to go hunt food.

'Is it because he has been waiting for this moment - this initiation?'

"Disciple, come now."

Wung Dao said, his voice sounding slightly impatient.

Ryan untangled from his lotus position and walked towards the cultivator, who turned to take both of them to some place.

Ryan didn't have much of a choice even now, he could only follow obediently!

And then they left the cabin and walked into the deeper forest in hushed and slow steps - like taking a stroll in the park.

Ryan's eyes darted around the place in paranoia. Just a moment of carelessness would seal your fate in Doom Forest.

But to his relief, there seemed to be nothing hiding in the shadows waiting to strike at them.

'Are we...going where I think we are?'

The strange turns they had been taking started to become familiar to Ryan, it was up until they stopped in the middle of a strange cave that he recognized the place.

'Ah, this cave where it all began!'

Ryan reminisced, almost nostalgic. He had transmigrated to this world to find himself in this old cave - having become a naked model back then!

And he had also almost gotten digested by a large viper which popped mages like balloons with its gazes. He was back to the cave once more, after having used it as a camp during his hunting.

Ryan followed Wung Dao into the cave and immediately Ryan noticed how livelier the cave seemed to be, it had something he exactly couldn't wrap his finger around, but whatever it was, the cave felt less like a predator's home where people and beasts had likely been preyed on.

They walked further into the cave, stopping up until they couldn't go further - stopping at a dead end.

Ryan didn't fail to notice the small rectangular pot set up just a few steps ahead of him. The pot had some strange markings he failed to read or recognize, and it also had an engraving of a lotus flower at its center.

If Ryan wasn't mistaken, the pot was actually a 'cauldron'. An artifact used in Alchemy in the cultivation world.

He turned to look at Wung Dao, who stood closer towards the way back to the exit.

"I am sure you are wondering why I have brought you to this place, let me explain my disciple. Inside that cauldron is something I have prepared for you, my first gift to you. After accepting the gift, you shall wait in this place until I come to fetch you, then you shall no longer be you but a new creation. That will be the first part of the initiation."

Wung Dao said solemnly and with tranquility in his voice. He continued -

Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel.

"My gift to you is the Body Fortification Pill, you shall eat it."

Wung Dao finished.

Ryan blankly stared at the cultivator.

'The Body Fortification Pill?! Aren't pills supposed to be for cultivators though?'

Pills could be equated to medicine and drugs back on earth. What made them different was that they were a different kind of drug which could have specific effects depending on how each pill was brewed, by who and using which ingredients.

These effects weren't minor and could result in astronomical improvements in either a cultivator's strength, mind or spirit depending on the kind of pill brewed by the alchemist - a cultivator who specialized in the synthesis of pills. But of course, it could go both ways, with there being a 50/50 chance that the pill would make you far stronger, or ultimately wreck your entire body and permanently cripple you, if not kill you.

A bead of sweat rolled down Ryan's forehead, he imagined his body exploding into bits after swallowing whatever Wung Dao had in store for him, which could potentially be a bomb just waiting to happen.

His worry must have shown in his face, because Wung Dao walked over and removed a yellow and red bead inside the cauldron, he held it where Ryan could see.

"Do not worry my disciple, this pill is suited for cultivator and mortal alike, so there won't be any backlash due to your mana. I have also adjusted it to match your exact level and your body's constitution. if there are any backlashes, they will barely cause a scratch. Now, here, eat."

Wung Dao Insistently handed the red-yellow bead over to Ryan, who took a moment to glance at it.

The pill felt very smooth in his hands like a marble, and if Wung Dao hadn't told him it was in fact a pill, he would have assumed it to be smooth and spherical granite.

'Fuck it.'

He tossed the thing into his mouth.

"Do not swallow, wait for it to simmer "

Wung Dao cautioned. Ryan did as he was told, however he couldn't help but roll the pill inside his mouth - it was too smooth.

"I shall leave you to give you some privacy, which you shall need. I shall be back when you are ready. "

And then the cultivator turned, leaving Ryan alone once again. When Wung Dao had become a dot in Ryan's vision, he swallowed the pill.

He felt the bead slide down his throat like a rock, the feeling was strangely satisfying. It then stopped in the middle of his chest.

'Is that supposed to happen?'

Ryan thought.

Everything then became silent, there was no one but him in the cave, there was not even the sound of the passing wind that could be heard and he could no longer feel the pill inside him. Ryan strangely felt alienated.

'How long am I supposed to wait befo-'

And then it all went BAAM!

Ryan felt the pill pop inside his chest like a miniature grenade. There was only some small pain in his chest, which was immediately replaced by the intoxicating feeling of the pill spreading all over his body using his blood stream. If felt as if millions of tiny creatures were marching through every tunnel of his blood vessels.

But the feeling only lasted for a few seconds, and then he felt all his muscles involuntarily contract as they absorbed the energy from the pill.

What followed was a thousand pains, like needles poking through every fiber of Rya n's every nerve.

Ryan screamed. He sounded like a beast being slaughtered.

The pain was excruciating and maddening. His muscles twitched as he lost all feeling in his lower limbs and fell to the floor.

"Ahhhh!!!"

The feeling of a thousand needles persisted, intent on driving Ryan to the brink of insanity.

He scratched at his chest like a lunatic, with a fool's hope that his efforts would be rewarded, and the pill would stop its advances on his body.

Blood trickled down his chest.

Krrr , CRACK!

All of his limbs bended in awkward angles and snapped on their own, and before he could scream - his chest followed suite, his rib cage snapping and making his chest cave in on itself.

A dry sound came out of his throat which should have been a scream, and blood-tears rolled down his cheeks. The pain was all too much that he couldn't even make sense of the surroundings. He immediately passed out, having held on for too long.

After some unknown time had passed. he woke up to a new sensation of refreshment and restoration. A strange strength coursed through his vessels and broken bones, which slowly started to fix themselves, falling back into their places like pieces of a puzzle. The self-inflicted scratches on his chest were no longer visible but only dried blood remained.

Fifteen minutes later, Ryan's body had restored itself. It was now better and stronger than before.

It took an additional twenty minutes of being paralyzed on the floor being half-awake before Ryan managed to move a finger, and it took another twenty before he could move the rest of his body.

He was exhausted, the pain and everything else had taken a large toll on him. Ryan didn't even bother standing up and fell asleep right there and then.

When he finally woke up for the second time, the sun had already set, and it was night-time.

He stood up, trying to get a feel of his body. It was somewhat lighter than before, Ryan's legs and arms felt far stronger than before and his skin...it felt as tight as tight and thick as leather!

Ryan now had no doubt that the Body Fortification Pill had done a number of magics on his body, it now made sense why it was named that way - but then again, cultivators weren't known to be creative and sly with naming their pills.

'That hurt like hell, I am never going through that again. Barely cause a scratch he said!'

Ryan swore to never eat another cultivator pill ever again, even if it had astronomical enhancements. If this one had made him feel as if he been pierced with a thousand needles then crushed under a bolder, what would another do?

Nevertheless, he heaved a sigh and stretched his body.

And then he instinctively felt the presence of someone coming a metre away.

When he turned, he was met with Wung Dao's face which wasn't as expressionless as usual, a strange light colored his eyes.

The expression quickly disappeared though before Ryan could make sense of it.

"You have become a new creation with the help of the Body Fortification Pill. It is time to cast away the old and welcome in the new, I never asked of your name before as I knew it would have no meaning to me, nor would it have any to you.

Therefore, my disciple, you must forget it even exists, the life you have lived till now is nothing but an old shell where your new one has metamorphized, you must forget any negative past experiences and focus on what you have now on the present. I shall now give you the honor of choosing your new name, this shall be the last part of your initiation. "

Wung Dao said, his voice proud.

'The life I have lived in the past is nothing but an old shell....'

Ryan recited the phrase in his head and found that it resonated with his heart. It was true. Ryan now was no longer an orphan and was in charge of his own fate, the corruption and schemes of the past world no longer influenced him - he was his own person in charge of his own life.

He accepted the idea of a metamorphosis, of a change.

He thought of a name for a moment then decided, taking a step forward and bowing before his master.

"Seth. I would like to be called Seth."

Ryan decided on his new name, the past world would no longer have any hold on him, though the experiences and knowledge he had gained from it would become an asset.

The world he now inhabited would become his new home, he would rise from the rubble to become a man amongst men, a king amongst kings, a god amongst gods.

Everyone would come to know his name.

His allies would sing it with joy, and his enemies would scream it in pain,

The Era Of Seth Had Come.

.