This year's December was bitter cold - sheets of snow engulfed the entire of the Chaotic Province. Snowstorms came wave after wave; nature had decided to enter it's coldest state. If one didn't have proper protection against the cold they could easily wind up dead and forever lost.

Within a hollow cave, a sixteen-year-old youth lay on the cavern floor, holding a makeshift stone knife in his hand. This boy was named Wang Li, and he was using the light from the burning campfire to practice his literature and poetry.

First, the hearty boy would take the knife and write the alphabet, a practice he had been doing in the entire of the passing year. Once he finished writing the alphabet three times, he would begin to write sentences, and then paragraphs, all the way until he wrote an entire paper filled with unique thought.

This was the boy's daily routine, and it was how he had learned the language, poetry, and literature. Despite the repetitive and dullness nature of the routine, it fascinated Wang Li as he learned and practiced.

This and his natural ability to suck in knowledge allowed him to catch up to his peers in writing. In fact, some of the thoughts and phrases he would write surpassed his peers!

All of this in a span of one year.

"Done." Wang Li carefully set down the stone knife, reviewing his work with satisfaction. He nodded as he read the topic, the blinding chill of the month.

Hua Taixu had begun teaching Wang Li ever since he found him that day in the forest. He had started with teaching Wang Li to speak the language, as it would be easier to teach him if they could communicate. Then he went onto basics, such as mathematics, reading, writing, and logic.

The teaching was done at an incredibly swift pace - fifteen years worth of knowledge was crammed into a single year. This was due to Hua Taixu not wanting Wang Li to spend too much longer in the Chaotic Province; he wanted to take him to the Sect as soon as possible.

However, there was still a large hurdle that had to be crossed before that was possible.

Today, Hua Taixu wanted to begin explaining cultivation to Wang Li.

BOOM!

A loud and mighty thunderclap crashed just outside the cave, the noise ricocheting along the empty cave walls. Surprisingly, Wang Li seemed to have no reaction except simply glancing at the cave entrance. As he expected, he saw a sparkling golden bird flapping its large wings at the entrance - a man dressed in snow white robes riding it.

"Grandpa Taixu, you're back!" Wang Li smiled cheerfully, strolling towards the large lightning bird. The white-robed elder leaped off the Thunderhawk and smiled at Wang Li.

"Yes, yes. But it's too cold out there! This Chaotic Province's nature truly is too harsh!" Hua Taixu shook his head. Meanwhile, Wang Li reached out to the bird and petted its bright yellow feathers.

During the past year, Wang Li and the Thunderhawk had bonded deeply. The proud hawk even let Wang Li ride it as a mount from time to time.

But then Wang Li looked up to its back, to which there was a huge grey-haired bear, one of the countless fierce beasts of the Chaotic Province.

Despite being dead, the grey-haired bear released a fearsome aura. Wang Li turned towards to Hua Taixu to raise a question, only for Taixu to speak first.

"That bear was protecting this Thumping Heart Fruit. Surprisingly, it even managed to give me a bit of trouble." Hua Taixu took his hand out of his robe, revealing a peculiar fruit within it.

The fruit was glistening red, untouched like winter snow. It was shaped like a beautiful heart and thumped at its own rhythm as if it were a part of its own world. Just revealing it spread off a deep and mysterious aura, just smelling it would make someone's heart beat twice as fast.

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It was an extremely precious fruit! It was famous in the cultivation world for its excellent blood properties! Often times Clan's would struggle with blood for just a single fruit!

Even the Great Sects of the Feng Continent would be moved!

"You want me to eat this one too?" Wang Li's eyes widened looking at the fruit. Even just a glance made the blood within him feel agitated, as if it wanted to thump at the fruit's pace. He couldn't help but realize the fruit's immense worth.

Within this entire year, Hua Taixu had routinely fought Magical Beasts and brought back precious fruits for Wang Li to eat. All of these fruits were precious and contained powerful waves of Qi within them - if used on anyone else their effects would be unmatched!

Even someone with average talent would be well into Qi Foundation by now!

Wang Li's lavishness was a treatment only the peak geniuses of famous sects could enjoy. However, when used on Wang Li, all of the effects of the mysterious fruits would be sucked into his dantian - leaving not even a single trace.

It was this phenomenon that had Hua Taixu stumped. He had never heard of such a situation! So after countless times of brainstorming and probing, he decided that there must be a limit to how much Wang Li's dantian could absorb.

And thus started the cycle of fruit-eating.

"Yes, this is quite a good fruit! It may be wishful thinking, but I think you'll be reaching a breakthrough soon!" Hua Taixu flashed an ambitious grin; he had really enjoyed this cycle of bringing fruits for Wang Li to eat. It kept him occupied and provided him a mystery to try and solve.

Not to mention, his bond with Wang Li had only grown closer and closer over this year. He no longer saw him as a mine of raw talent, but rather his own true and behold grandson. Hua Taixu had never had kids, despite desiring one in his later years, and Wang Li satisfied that desire.

Now, today, he wanted to set Wang Li on the path of cultivation!

"Sit down, Li'er, today I want to explain something very important today!" Hua Taixu carried the strange fruit all the way to the campfire, sitting down cross-legged and looked to Wang Li opposite of him.

"Another lesson on mathematics?" Wang Li's ears perked up, today was another lecture day. He loved these lectures, as it allowed him to hear of all sorts of strange and mysterious things.

"No, something countless times more important! Today we will be talking about cultivation!" Hua Taixu's face became incomparably solemn. He had never had to "describe" cultivation before, and he faced it as his next challenge.

"Li'er, I know you have frequently asked why I am able to control lightning. Today I'll give you the answer - cultivation!" Hua Taixu boldly claimed, his speech drawing Wang Li in.

"So if I do this 'cultivation' I can also control lightning!?" Wang Li's eyes widened, but as he thought about it, it made sense. He had seen humans during his 'wandering' years that had the ability to perform crazy and powerful acts. They must be cultivators too.

"Of course! Cultivation, in summary, is the long path mortals take to become incomparable superhumans! Through cultivation a human can possess the power to split mountains and shake rivers, summoning all the power from the Earth!" Hua Taixu voice was loud and clear, his bold words echoing off the cave walls and landing in Wang Li's ears.

Superhumans!? Splitting mountains and shaking rivers - what kind of a concept was this? The power of this cultivation could only be imagined!

"This cultivation sounds incredible! Does everyone in the world cultivate?" Wang Li asked - Hua Taixu's words were like thunder in his ears. He imagined the world of civilization, with rampant humans with insane powers - what kind of world was that!?

"No! Not every human cultivates, and for a few reasons. Number one - talent! Some people are born to be better at cultivation - possessing high talent! For such geniuses, what a normal person could achieve in ten years they could achieve in one!" This was one of the truths of the world. No matter who you were, there was always someone more gifted than you.

"Next reason is the incomparable danger of cultivation! At any moment or time when cultivating, you can die! To cultivate is to challenge the Heavens themselves!" Hua Taixu's final words were incomparably profound, even Hua Taixu truly didn't understand what he was saying. His understanding was surface level, as like most of the people of this world.

However, he was clearly aware of the countless dangers of cultivation. He himself was a cultivator and had to experience these dangers for himself.

Wang Li was in deep thought, thinking and organizing his thoughts.

"Grandpa Taixu...how do I cultivate?" It was a simple question, with a simple answer, but with a deep meaning, and an even deeper consequence.

"That is for tomorrow, today, I want you to think of what you have learned." Hua Taixu broke out a teasing smile. He got up from his seated position and grabbed the grey-haired bear, preparing to cook him.

"Ah! It's time to eat!" Wang Li broke off all his earlier thoughts, his mouth widening, and his stomach growling. He jumped up from his seated position and began to grab pots and spices located all over the cave.

Wang Li and Hua Taixu were both excellent chefs. After all, they had to make all their food.

And thus, the two laughed and cooked until it reached sundown, spicing up their food and tearing apart the meat until the dead of night.

The two finally finished eating, collapsing onto the ground with wide smiles on their faces.

Neither of the two realized the importance of this day.

But that was good.