"...5 years?" Luka said weakly, with his labored breath and weak constitution, it's a miracle he can even speak.
The doctor hesitated for a second but regained her composure. "Yes, due to the extreme brain trauma caused by the accident, it rendered you comatose and on the death's door, even though we managed to stabilize your vitals, life support is basically the only thing that is keeping you alive at that point." She stated while looking at him with pity.
A painful silence followed. "I'm surprised, everyone is, that a miracle happened and you've managed to gain consciousness again..." The doctor continued to express her shock, but it did not even register to Luka.
He still barely remembered the accident that caused this situation, he was going back from running an errand when he saw a little girl crossing the street in the zebra crossing, nothing was amiss until the blaring horn of a truck sounded, the kid stumbled, her face full of fear. When he saw that, he felt something churn in his stomach, extremely energized, and immediately rushed towards the kid. He managed to push the kid out of harm's way, putting himself on it instead. Before the truck even hit him, everything turned black, and after that, he found himself in the middle of a city in the Absolute Continent.
"...we already alerted your parents, they should be on their way. I'll be back to check on you and run a few more tests, take care." The doctor finished his ramblings and bid him farewell. Luka thanked the doctor as she left the room.
"Parents?" The word echoed in his head. As decades flew by on the Absolute Continent, all the familiar faces from his old life started to disappear – his friends, acquaintances, and then his parents. A swirl of emotions – sadness, anger, loneliness, and guilt – overwhelmed him with confusion. What should he say when he saw his parents? Should he smile? Should he cry? Should he ignore them, or should he embrace them?
He is stupefied about what should he do.
Almost one and a half century of 'living' in the Absolute continent, ripe with hardships, violence, and all sorts of various emotions that he can't even determine, now doubts are sprouting on his mind.
'Is all of that just a dream?' He mentally uttered. Comatose for 5 years? it's not hard to think that his brain might be playing tricks on him, making him dream all of those things.
Frustrated with his deduced logic, his mind scrambled to think of a way to disprove the conclusion that he came to.
Laying on the hospital bed, he suddenly closed his eyes to meditate.
' Where are you... ' As he meditate, he tried to close off all of the outside interference and tried to concentrate on his body.
The beeping of the machine slowly quieted down, and the footsteps of people in the hallway plunged into silence. Luka could only hear his labored breath from being bedridden for years and the thump of his heart as it supplied his body with much-needed nutrients. As he reached full concentration, even the sounds of his breath and heart were diminished and successfully silenced. He tried to redirect his concentration to the area of his stomach, slightly above his navel.
As seconds went by, he grew concerned. Just slightly above the navel, everyone would find their dantian, wherein internal energy is stored.
Internal energy is a mystical force that exists in every single living being; in the Absolute Continent, that is. Using their internal energy to siphon and refine the heavenly energy; Qi, they can increase their internal energy and start their path of cultivation.
His concerns died down when he felt something warm on his stomach, a speck of energy that he almost missed because of how little it is; internal energy
If his body permits, he would jump for joy, alas, 5 years of being bedridden has taken its toll on his mortal body.
' It's so little, it's the equivalent of a livestock! ' A normal human being has at least 1 year's worth of internal energy; the time that it takes for a standard spirit stone to accumulate internal energy on its own. Based on his calculation, he must have only 20% of that! He kinda of anticipated it tho since because of his current medical situation
' Okay, now that we confirmed that my century-worth of memories are not just dreams churned by my brain, what's next? ' He asked himself. Why was he transported in the Absolute Continent? Why, after spending almost 150 years in that world, back here all of a sudden? Why was he killed by Upper Heaven cultivators without any warning?
Questions like these swarmed his brain akin to mosquitos on a bare skin. He decided not to pressure himself to think about things that he knew he might not be able to answer soon.
' Less overthinking, More planning' He mentally slapped himself. His master hammered down to him the importance of planning ahead. He had plans laid right before he was murdered, he's planning to:
1.) Break through Nascent Soul realm and meet his master on the Upper Heavens
2.) Create a Sect to increase his influence and lay ground work for his next cultivation realm
3.) Work hard...and work hard more??
Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.
4.) Go back home (Earth) and... (to be decided)
Thanks to the murder hobo cultivators, he skipped the first 3 steps and was sent home immediately, throwing a wrench in his plans.
' I rather not dwell too much on it, Let's try cultivating, is there even Qi on Earth to cultivate? ' Earth, aside from its numerous mythos, is void of mystical energy. As far as he can remember, there are no monsters as big as a castle or fish that can swim in the air as if it's water.
With that said, he started cultivating,
The speck of internal energy starts to permeate and go along his blood vessels, as it reaches his heart, it circulates throughout his body. His body is enveloped by his almost non-existent internal energy.
This is a technique called Internal Aura, the most basic and the first technique that all cultivators learn in their first years of cultivating. It enhances the senses and allows Qi to be refined into Internal Energy.
Stating that he was shocked was an understatement. He expected to not detect any Qi at all, but instead, he did, and not only that...
'It's so thick! ' The Qi that he can detect is at least hundreds of folds more than the Qi present in the Absolute Continent. Aside from that, he can feel another kind of energy in the atmosphere. Unlike Qi, which is vibrant and warm, this energy is cold and serene like the flow of a river. He knows it all too well.
' There's also Mana here? and it's in the same amount as Qi! ' It's also the case in the Absolute Continent, however, the use of Mana was forbidden because it was related to demons of the Endless Chasm, a realm below the heavens.
After looking at the energy with his enhanced senses, he started cultivating. He increased the pace of the circulation of internal energy in his body
A normal beginner cultivator can absorb Qi and achieve the first realm of cultivation in a year, even with the current density of Qi in the atmosphere, that is because cultivation is a slow and laborious process, and most of the time expensive if one wants to buy elixirs or hire an array expert for absorbing qi using arrays. However, when it comes to Luka...
WOOSH
A gust of wind, strong enough just to nudge the hospital blinds, suddenly swept throughout the room, seemingly being sucked on Luka's body like a whirlpool. From a small spark, his internal energy starts to grow slowly, if someone can see the impressive refinement of Qi to internal energy, they will accuse him as a demon.
' Nice, it seems my Physique is still working fine. ' There are various types of physiques: some enhance a person's physical attributes, such as tougher skin and enhanced eyesight, while others have mystical properties. For example, the Yin Blossoming Physique is a rare type that provides an advantage in Frost-related attacks and arrays. Another example is the Herculian Mountain Physique, which greatly increases a cultivator's physical strength relative to their cultivation realm. There are also unique physiques to consider.
Luka possesses a physique so unique that it doesn't have a formal name, and it greatly aids in cultivation. While a typical cultivator can only refine 10% of the Qi that comes into contact with their body when circulating internal energy, Luka's physique enables him to refine almost all of the energy in the vicinity. When I say "all," I truly mean it, as he is currently not only refining Qi into Internal Energy but also Mana!
Apart from that, since his Physique are mostly unknown, he doesn't know the full extent of them. However, he has managed to uncover some of them: enhancement of refinement, perfect internal energy control, being able to refine qi without thinking of accumulating impurities, and the ability to share the first ability with anyone he touches. The ability to share these benefits is one of the reasons why his master took him as his one and only disciple. It is also the reason why his master, who was nearly at the end of his lifespan as a Nascent Soul cultivator, was able to form a Divine Body and undergo body renewal.
He continued to cultivate and without him knowing, thirty minutes had passed.
His dantian, the well of his internal energy, is 50% full, if he continues for another 30 more minutes, he will be able to break through and reach 1st stage of Qi Refinement!
While he is fully immersed and focused on his cultivation, he is not able to hear the footsteps approaching him.
"Doctor, you said Luka is already awake, but why is he still the same as yesterday?" said a man, laced with concern with a bit of annoyance.
"Mr. Vistan, I'm sure that he's just resting, one of our nurses even saw him almost stand up, and I was even able to talk to him." assured the doctor. "He is probably just sleeping." She added.
"You better not be joking!" said a woman, with an obvious sarcasm but also with a hint of anger. "We've been waiting for this moment, for 5 years, every twitch, every brain activity that you told us, we come rushing..."
"Mrs. Vistan, you don't have to worry anymore..." they continued on their talks, meanwhile Luka is still focused on cultivating.
However, even with his intense concentration, he can't help but notice the noise and the speaking
Luka slowly retracts and settles his internal energy on his dantian, and then he opens his eyes.
He glanced at the digital clock that was hanging above the door
[3:42 PM]
' Before I started cultivating, it was 3:08. Damn, cultivating does make your perception of time go bonkers.' he thought to himself.
Then, he laid eyes on what was the cause of the noise, the doctor had earlier been talking to a man and a woman, a couple he assumed. They both have raven black hair, just like him and probably they are in their late 20s or early 30s based on their appearance.
One of them, the man, looked at him, and in just a split second, his scorn turned to shock, and then tears started flowing in his eyes.
"LUKA!" He shouted as he barreled towards him, Luka felt the air escape out of his lungs as the man hugged him tight.
"Y-You scoundrel!" followed by the woman, and then she slapped the man in his back.
"Oww! Honey!" The man retorted, as he let go of Luka and wiped his tears.
Luka found himself in an unfamiliar situation and asked a question that most of us would ask too.
"W-Who are you?" Luka said, the weakness in his voice still lingers, but not as pronounced as earlier. His mind juggled to try to find any memories of them. He tried but it's all blurry, he knows that he knows them somewhere, but he can't seem to put his mind on it.
"...What?" The woman mumbled as she and the man were stunned by Luka's question.
"Luka is clearly disoriented, Mr and Mrs Vistan, let's leave him for now to rest." The doctor immediately interjected to avoid any more confusion for the patient.
' Mr and Mr's Vistan? isn't Vistan my last name? Does that mean they are my...' "Mom and Dad?" his thoughts spilled out of his mouth loud enough for her parents to hear. His parents suddenly rushed in and approached him with tears in their eyes.
"Son, you're back!" exclaimed his father as he grabbed his frail hands, tears swelling up. His mother caressed his forehead, her eyes were red from trying to hold back tears. "You came back..." said his mother with a tone only a mother can mimic.
All of the memories of his parents suddenly came rushing in, they are still fragmented, but all of them are full of happiness and joy. Luka got so overwhelmed that he was not able to notice that tears started gushing.
"Yeah... I'm back."