Chapter 2; World of Cultivators

----------------------------------------

‘Dark again…why does this situation seem familiar?’ The soul groaned to itself. He felt something warm

and comfortable embracing him, that’s when he noticed the sensation of possessing a flesh and

he realized he was a soul no more.

He waited for what seemed like few months before something occurred. The comfortable walls around

him begun to gently push him down and for the first time since he died, he felt air. His immature brain

was bombarded with dozens of sensations and his head ached as a result. But it quickly faded away and

his eyes adjusted to the light. He also heard voices, but they were nothing but noises to him until one

particular voice, for some reason, made him pay attention.

“Yuhan…His name is Shui Yuhan.” The soft voice spoke in an unfamiliar language, yet he was

strangely able to understand most of it. ‘My name I guess? It sounds like I’m Chinese in this lifetime.’

He thought, then he froze ‘Why in the world do I still remember my past life!?’ Unfortunately, his trusty

humanoid soul friend which was still nameless at this time, was not around to explain.

There were three people in the room as he could see, all watching him flail his limbs intently. ‘What, first

time seeing baby?’ His eyes seem to say. He turned his attention to the room, the designs looked

archaic and was mostly made from logs. He was saddened by the current condition of what he assumes

to be his family in this lifetime. Two of the people, a man and a woman both looked young. The young

woman was currently carrying him and the last was an old woman. The pair of young couple was

probably his parents and the old woman was either his grandmother or a hired midwife.

The three of them were talking to themselves as they watched him.

“He have this comfortable feeling around him” The man muttered.

“You noticed it too? I thought it was natural for a baby to be like that.” The woman said.

“They do have it.” Said the old woman “But the gentle aura coming from your son is even stronger. He

The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

must be a saint in his previous life.” They laughed at the old woman’s joke.

 The subject himself also wanted to join, unfortunately, he barely understood anything.

Two weeks have passed since the soul rebirthed as Shui Yuhan and he had already learned the language,

a feat impossible for an ordinary infant. ‘What the heck is this obscene learning capability!?’ even he,

was forced to acknowledge it’s absurdness. During that two weeks he learned many things and had

started to get used seeing strange species of plants and animals. After watching two people

having a fighting match in their village, he was completely convinced that he reincarnated into another

world.

They were known as cultivators since they cultivate qi in their bodies. The first time Shui Yuhan saw

them, he thought they were beasts in human forms because they were too strong!

He learned later that virtually everyone in his town was a cultivator including his family. Naturally, he

too had to learn how to cultivate someday but as a two weeks old infant, it wasn’t yet time. The only

 thing he could do was to prepare as much as he can for the future.

On one peaceful day, his mother Yan Xinyi carried him to visit his grandfather who owns a library in the

village. He was excited when he heard this, books was just the thing he needed most right now.

“Oh is that Yan Xinyi, it sure is nice to have a cute child”

“Hello grandma Meng, this is Shui Yuhan.”

“Hey, don’t forget to introduce him to Qin Yu when he grows up!” Another woman said

“…I’ll keep that in mind.”

They were greeted by other villagers along the way. Shui Yuhan looked at the wooden buildings in the

village and realized that his family wasn’t so poor as he thought. After a few minutes, they reached a

slightly larger and stylish wooden structure which had a sign hanging over it. He can’t read but he

guessed it should mean “Library” or “Bookstore”.

“We’re here.” They both entered after announcing their presence. Shui Yuhan saw shelves upon shelves

filled with ancient books, there were even some bamboo slips among them. He looked at the side and

saw a counter filled with yellow papers. Sounds of clattering came from it and a messy old man

appeared. The old man looked at him for a bit before a smile appeared on his ragged face. He turned

towards his mother “Xinyi, is he my grandson?”

Yan Xinyi nodded with a smile.

“Good, good, He looks really handsome. He must have inherited it from me.” The old man said

shamelessly.

“You talk nonsense father, he obviously got it from my husband” Yan Xinyi proudly said.

“Uhn un…” As they were both talking, Shui Yuhan interrupted them with his unclear utterings. His finger

was pointing towards a book while wearing curious expression.

“Oh my, looks like my grandson likes books too.” The old man said.

“Father, I will leave him here with you. I will go out to collect herbs and will take him when I’m done.”

“Don’t worry, Ill be taking care of him here.”

“Alright, then I will go then”

“Be careful okay.”

Yan Xinyi strode out of the library while waving goodbye. “Be good to grandpa, Yuhan.”

After Yan Xinyi left, the old man picked up Shui Yuhan and put him in a chair. He pulled out a book from

a shelf and said “Child, let me tell you an awesome story about this man…” Shui Yuhan listened carefully

as the old man narrates. Occasionally, he would look at the book to decipher the text.

By the time the old man reached the fifth story, he realized he underestimated the importance of

cultivation to this world. The stories told were either about cultivators or about cultivation. It really

plays an important role to the way of life of the people belonging to this world. Here, strength matters

most. With strength alone a single man could conquer the world.

He also heard descriptions of cultivators splitting the oceans and soaring outside the sky. Although it

was unknown whether they were exaggerated or not, just hearing this made his blood boil. It’s just that

cultivators faced more trials and stress from other cultivators or from nature itself. If he want to live

peacefully while helping his family, he should probably try to avoid conflict as much as possible.

By the time the sun was about to set, his mother returned and took him home. But not after coaxing his

grandfather to lend him some books.

He sat alone in his room and contemplated on the stories he heard from his grandfather. He sighed as

he came into a decision.

“I’ll just learn how to cultivate while helping my mother pick up herbs in the mountain.”