The harsh light of his hospital room stung Luka's eyes as his eyelids slowly lifted. After meeting with his parents, they left after an hour. They talked about many things, mostly expressing their worries. Watching them chat brought back memories of his childhood, and after reminiscing, he couldn't help but smile. He had great, loving parents, and the loneliness he felt when he was suddenly transported to the Absolute continent seemed to disappear.
Before they left, they told Luca that they would be back tomorrow. According to them, it's about their job. Luca did not protest and only nodded. At least he now knew that his parents did not abandon him, even though he had been in a vegetative state for years.
He glanced at the clock, seeing that it was already close to midnight. He closed his eyes again, not to sleep, but to cultivate.
His internal energy, before just a speck, is now halfway in filling his dantian. Just like before, he circulated his internal energy all throughout his body; from his dantian to his heart, and into his blood vessels, up until it circulated in tandem with his blood, but faster.
WOOSH
A minuscule amount of breeze suddenly whirlpool towards him as both Mana and Qi were being refined and turned into Internal Energy, as minutes went by, his Internal Energy started to pile up until it reached a threshold wherein no matter how much he took in, it's not increasing anymore.
' Okay, now that it's full, It's time to break through the first stage of Qi Refining! ' He mentally exclaimed as he unconsciously smirked.
With his Dantian full to the brim with Internal Energy, he started to break through.
For someone to break through a certain cultivation realm, they need to perform some very specific things. With Qi Refinement, a cultivator needs to use up all of their stockpiled Internal Energy and awaken their Spiritual Roots. This sets mortals and cultivators apart since almost everyone can refine Qi to Internal energy with enough hard work, but only someone deemed worthy by the heavens can start their journey of immortality.
The internal energy starts to shift as he willed it toward his heart, and after that, he willed it to compress.
' Argg! ' He mentally grunted as his face scrunched up like a piece of paper. Intense heat and pain started to pulsate from his heart to his veins as the Internal Energy compressed and turned into its liquid state, coating all of his veins and blood vessels.
As his breakthrough reached its climactic end, a mysterious and enchanting aura swirled around him, casting an otherworldly glow. A profound transformation began;His complexion bloomed with a renewed pinkish hue, exuding life and vitality. His form filled out as muscle and fat returned, restoring his body to a healthier state. Impurities were expelled, manifesting as a black, sticky mass. His hair once again gleamed with an ebony sheen, reflecting his newfound vitality. This state is known all too well in the cultivation world when someone breaks through a cultivation realm; Heaven's Baptism.
The IV needle that is connected to his pulse was flung away, the small wound caused by the needle closing up immediately.
It took him only 5 hours to break through unassisted. A beginner, backed by a sect assisted by a cultivator, and various pills and talismans would take roughly the same time, but he did so without one!
As he left meditation, the smell of something foul assaulted his nose.
'This is the worst, It has been a while since I smelled this and I can't seem to forget it'
Refining Qi accumulates impurities in the body, in small amounts they do nothing, but if they accumulate in larger quantities, it can cause health problems and in extreme cases, a backlash of internal energy on the body that can lead to death. Fortunately, with his unique physique, he does not have to worry about accumulating impurities at all.
In regards to the impurities that were expelled, it's just the impurities of his body accumulated all throughout the years.
He moved his body and tried to take a seat on the bed, just a few hours ago he could barely muster to talk, now he could move just like a normal person
' Too bad the baptism was wasted on recovering my body to its normal state and expelling the impurities my body has accumulated, It could been used on tempering it instead... '
He was adamant about not dwelling on it any longer and instead chose to focus on the present. He wracked his brains trying to figure out how to explain this puzzling situation to the doctors. A patient had suddenly emerged from a coma, appearing emaciated and frail, and then miraculously, after a few hours, regained the health of a normal adult.
Shortly after, three nurses entered the room to attend to Luca. Their expressions revealed their shock, but they managed to maintain their professional composure as they asked Luca to lie down and rest. It became apparent that they had entered not only to check on him but also to investigate the unpleasant odor permeating the room. This caused Luca to chuckle as he noticed the nurses trying their best not to react to the thin layer of black sludge covering his skin.
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After that, they brought a wash basin and tried to clean Luca's body, he immediately refused and asked if he could clean himself. A few moments of back and forth left the nurses no other choice but to indulge him in what he wanted, they let him clean himself but they stood outside the room while he did so, just in case he needed something.
As he gingerly sheds his clothes and wipes the residue off his skin, he takes a moment to survey his body. His luscious, almost shoulder-length hair gleams with health, capturing and reflecting the soft glow of the room's lightbulb. The smooth, plump light brown skin, characteristic of individuals of Southeast Asian heritage, seems to exude vitality. His subtle musculature, hinting at sporadic exercise, is visible beneath the surface. Just hours ago, he was as feeble as the average comatose patient, yet now he resembles a typical, healthy 18-year-old Filipino.
After washing his body with a washcloth multiple times because of the gunk, he wore the new set of clothes that resembled pajamas, but a tad bit better than the previous flannel or hospital gown.
"Mr. Luka, Good morning." After settling down, The doctor from yesterday paid him a visit.
"Good morning, Doctor Larson." He responded while reclining on the bed with his body in a sitting position, propped up by pillows. Fortunately, he managed to ask the nurses about the name of the doctor currently tending to him. She is Dr. Larson, head of neuro at this hospital.
"I was told about what happened, the last time I saw you, you were not exactly in great shape, no offense."
"None taken." He said calmly, but deep inside, he was panicking.
' I can't just say " I'm actually a cultivator and I refined Qi and Mana to break through and heal myself" she will think of me as nuts!'
"To be honest, I don't know either, I literally woke up like this, with gunk covering my body and me gaining my strength back." ' Shit, I just made the dumbest excuse'
Dr. Larson looked at him, with his smile only a professional can make. "I see, I want to give you more rest even though that's the case, but before anything else, I just want to ask, did you hear anything?" She asked.
"Huh? Like what?" He asked, confusion painting his face.
"Like a robotic voice? Welcoming you or telling you that you "awakened"."
' What is she talking about? Does she think I'm nuts? ' "None, as far as I can remember?"
Larson sighed. "5 years is a long time, many things happened between then and now." She said as she stood up. "I'm not a qualified person to talk about this, expect someone to visit you from the Department of Mysteries."
Before she can even leave the room, she added. "By the way, I also told some nurses to give you cereal or yogurt to eat, just light stuff for now, take rest."
It takes a second for it to sink in on him, making him even more confused.
' She did not treat the baptism as occult or something magical, as if she saw it before... and what's Department of Mysteries? Even though it's been a long time, I don't think the Philippines have that kind of department.'
His train of thought is broken by someone knocking and coming into the room, a nurse carrying a tray. They greeted each other as the nurse set the overbed table and put down the tray on it.
It is just like what Dr Larson said, it's cereal with yogurt and oranges on the side, with apple juice and a small bottle of water.
"Would it be possible if you can turn on the television for me?" He asked the nurse, and the nurse immediately made his request and handed him the remote.
Fortunately, he still remembers how a remote works. He aimed the remote on the television that was hanging in the corner of the room and clicked the red button with the small text "POWER ON/OFF" below it, the television flickered with life as the built-in speakers slowly increased in volume. It seems like it's on a news channel as it shows a man in a suit and only his torso visible; the usual news caster pose.
"In today's..." as the newscaster read his spiel, Luca quietly ate his cereal. Bits of memories are slowly returning as almost every interaction triggers small flashbacks in his mind, most of them are from days when nothing particular happened; he wakes up, eats, goes to school, comes home, and then opens up the television as background noise as he and his parents eat dinner in peace, most of the time telling each other of their day and how it went.
He ate in peace, with no particular thought in his mind aside from the taste of the cereal, especially the sugar, that almost overwhelmed his taste buds.
' Sugar feels so nostalgic, farming for food crops is not that prominent in the Absolute Continent, I kinda get it since you can just kill a monster that is almost everywhere, and cook it then and there. '
He glanced at the television, it was now in a different segment wherein it showed people in leather and metal armor, battling walking skeletons and zombies.
' Is that from a game? Damn, I still vaguely remember playing this kind of game before ' he chuckled, until the words that the reporters were saying sink into him.
"...just last night, an undiscovered B-rank dungeon in Palawan reached critical mana levels, causing another dungeon break to occur, fortunately, the Department of Mysteries managed to detect it immediately and sent various teams of B-Rank Hunters, unfortunately, it was not fast enough, as the monsters, who are classified as Undeads, have now taken control of the whole Cagnipa Island. The federal government has now issued an evacuation order near the island, furthermore..."
He stopped eating, his mouth agape.