Jason stands in front of his house as the cart drives away. He had planned to go right back into NeoRealm but a quick check of the time shows that there are still a few days left to the trip. With a sigh, he sets an alarm to tell him when he has half an hour irl left then sets up a trip to one of the secondary parks. With a beep that almost seems irritated the cart he had been riding turns around and comes back.
Another peaceful ride later and Jason is dropped off at a small indoor park. Not as big as some of the outer parks and not open to the sky like the central park but more peaceful than either. They designed this one to be more like a forest and once inside the trees covered up the roof with their canopies leaving the illusion of a natural landscape. Not needed for what he wanted but the forest setting was less likely to have kids in it. You can’t play any of the popular sports without an open area.
Jason had actually been here himself a few times in the past. Then again, he had visited all the parks in the arcology at some point. He had even convinced his mom to take him to the rooftop gardens. An impressive if almost pointless show of power to keep the air up there thick enough to breathe while still having it open to the outside. Even then it required a special shield of sorts. Not like you see in sci-fi which can block weapons’ fire but rather more like hardened air which restricted air flow and blocked the harmful sun rays.
As he reminisced about the various other parks Jason had made his way towards the back of the forest. A small artificial brook flows to his left and a well-shaped stone sits next to it. The perfect place to meditate by yourself and a big reason he came to this specific park. There are others like it but he had checked but the arcology’s system had informed him they were already occupied. No skin off his nose as any of them would work just fine.
Jason takes a moment to do a few stretches before he sits down on the stone. A thin layer of moss covers the inner part as he knew it would, providing enough cushion to not hurt. Situated Jason sinks into his cultivation for the third time today. It comes quicker this time for him to sense the energy in the surroundings. This isn’t his first time and so instead of trying to do something he lets the energy flow around him.
After observing the energy, he notices something off. From his memories while the world’s energy would flow it would follow a pattern. Here it is chaos. Sure during a storm it might have gotten stirred up like this but he had checked. The weather outside was clear. Instead, this felt more like multiple flows of energy were competing against one another. This would make the next step both harder and easier for Jason.
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Unlike his first thought back when he was young the energy wasn’t sparse. There were too many types of energy. He was attuned to one type so it felt like a desert at first. Now he realized instead of sand, the grains where actually rice. Though without his connection to the hero in his last life and the gods in between then and now he would still be stuck.
It was an honest mistake when he was younger that you couldn’t cultivate in this world. His time in NeoRealm had reminded him to look for other energies. Now with the insights of the hero and the random comments he picked up from the heavens Jason started to draw in the surrounding chaos. Not to keep, just to let it pass through his body. In the game he could start collecting right away because it sped everything up.
His real body however is a different story. Sparks of pain pop up all around his body as things are healed and hurt almost at random. Some energy types even seem counter to his body. Others like a balm for the body and soul. Most however just are and pass by almost without notice. However time passes and over the last couple hours before he has to head back his body starts to alter. Almost below a physical level things are correcting themselves in his body. His skin isn’t smoother, his life isn’t longer, however even if he never tried again he would stay healthier for longer than he would have before.
Still not what he would consider a cultivator but at least now he has a chance. If only he could figure out where all these energy types came from because they can’t be natural here. It reaffirms to him that something happened here to change things.
But that can wait because his alarm has gone off and he needs to get back to NeoRealm. While sharpening an axe doesn’t delay the work. Not having the strength to use the axe in the first place because you can’t afford food is also a problem. A cart-ride later and Jason is back home. He has gotten a bit hungry but he doesn’t have the time for that. It is his own fault anyway. Even with the 1 to 5 time difference between irl and NeoRealm he had been meditating in the park for almost ten hours. Next time he will have to give himself a little more time at the end.
As Jason gets into the capsule, his body complains. He adds exercise to the list of things to do next time he is out. As he goes under Jason can’t help but shake his head. Even with five times the time there still isn’t enough of it to go around.
Then he is in his buffer room. With thoughts of exercise in mind Jason heads over to a panel on the wall and brings up some options for his capsule. His account is now connected and he has a little money so he decides to splurge. Under the body maintenance options he turns on a more intense care package for a day at a cost of ten silver. Still not as good as an hour of real exercise but sometimes you can only do so much. With one last look to double check the settings he heads right through the portal to NeoRealm.