The young man clenched his bloody side, each step through the battlefield a painful ordeal. The mud and blood mingled beneath his feet as he stumbled, every movement sending jolts of agony through his wound. He tumbled down a slope, crashing into a cave's entrance. As he lay there on the cold rock, struggling to catch his breath, his gaze fixed on a nearly translucent jade slip across the cavern, its faint glow beckoning him with a promise of warmth.
With a groan, he dragged himself forward, his fingers clawing at the blood-splattered dirt and rock of the cave floor. The pain in his side flared, but he pressed on, inch by inch, driven by the memory of his fallen allies’ sacrifices. He stretched out and grasped the jade slip, desperate to not let his fight end here. The moment his fingers touched it, a wave of darkness engulfed his mind.
When his vision cleared, he found himself staring at a patch of dry green grass. His body felt smaller, and his head throbbed with an overwhelming torrent of information. He couldn't distinguish one thought from another, each memory blending into an indistinguishable mass.
“Huan! Pay attention!” a voice called, breaking through the chaos in his mind.
The name resonated with him. Huan turned toward the voice, recognizing a man going into his 30s with a short beard and kind eyes. The man spoke again, “To what you're doing!”
Huan turned back, just in time to see a ram charging at him. The impact knocked the wind out of him, and he crumpled to the ground. His only coherent thought was, “Fucking ranchers…”
As he lay there, gasping for breath, hearty laughter approached. The older man shooed the ram away and helped Huan to his feet, dusting him off with a crooked smile. “You've got to pay attention to what's in front of you. Getting distracted ain't ever gonna serve you,” he scolded, though his tone was affectionate, his arm wrapped around Huan in a hug.
Despite the pain and confusion, Huan felt a filial bond with this man, recognizing him as the father of his new body. Together, they walked back to the herd, the older man's hand resting on Huan's shoulder.
“You’re still young, but you’ve got to be tough. This ranch won’t run itself, and I need you to start pulling your weight,” his father said.
Huan nodded, his mind still reeling from the influx of memories—both from the jade slip and this body's previous owner. He realized the information he obtained from the jade slip was related to cultivating the Taoist path, but it seemed to be fragmented and incomplete in many places.
Huan was awoken from his introspective stupor by his father’s voice, “Alright now Huan, remember, you can't be scared.” From his new memories, he knew that this was the stable where his father kept horses to move around the ranch. He remembered being shown them before when he was much smaller, though he knew he didn't inhabit this body at that time. His father led him into the building and down to the tall stall at the end of the building.
As the stall door opened, a majestic brown horse, towering three times Huan’s height, was revealed. Its coat shimmered in the setting sun which shone through the windows. His father beamed with pride, “Isn't he wonderful? One day, you'll have one for yourself, y’know?”
Approaching the horse, his father stroked its mane gently. Huan reached out, his fingers brushing the horse's stomach. He could remember seeing the horse before, but the feelings of actually seeing it and just remembering the horse created entirely different sensations in Huan’s mind.
His father handed him a shovel. Huan instinctively took it, while balking at the well-kept horse.
“You have to be careful not to startle him. You can be hurt if you do,” his father advised.
Huan nodded, his curiosity piqued, caught on the thought of riding the mighty beast.
“Now, what I need you to do is go around the horse. You’ll see a pile of brown stuff...”
Huan's heart sank at the realization. Why would he get passed a shovel if he was going to be riding it?
While working on his family's rice farm in his past life, he only had a couple of run-ins with animals, one of which was the tax collector's horse that kicked its excrement onto him when he was in charge of bringing it out to a pasture for grazing. Most others were his neighbors' livestock getting loose and trampling or eating the crops he put his blood and sweat into.
As he began shoveling the horse's excrement, his mind drifted back to the jade slip and the knowledge it carried along with it.
The new information he got detailed the process of cultivation, primarily the qi-gathering and qi-refining realms, but some information about the foundation establishment realm seemed to have made it through the fragmentation into his mind. However, the ownership or name of the cultivation method was not yet known to Huan. The same could be said for the actual meaning of many of the terms used. He’d certainly heard of qi as the chaotic particles that resided in everything and everyone, but he had never experienced it himself. That’s not to mention the dantian and spiritual crucible that he had no concept of, let alone heard their names before.
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Six years had passed, and the sun hung low in the sky, casting long shadows over the ranch. Huan, who had his 12th birthday a couple of months ago, stood at the edge of the pasture, watching the flock of sheep graze lazily. His attempts at cultivation had been fruitless; he hadn't even managed to sense a hint of qi. Each day he followed the routines of the ranch, the weight of his unrealized potential pressing down on him like a stone.
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Today, he was tasked with herding the sheep back to their pen. Huan grabbed his crook staff and called out to the flock, trying to corral them. The sheep, stubborn as ever, scattered in all directions. He let out a sigh, but he continued, remembering how all the effort he put into his crops as a farmer increased the quality of the crops he reaped.
“Come on, you bastards,” he muttered under his breath, setting off after them at a walk-jog pace. He waved his staff, trying to direct them, but they only bleated and trotted further away. His father’s advice echoed in his mind, some of the first words he had heard in this world.
Huan paused, his grip tightening on the staff. He closed his eyes, shutting out the chaos around him. Slowly, he opened his eyes and began to move with more purpose, his steps measured and deliberate. He circled the flock, his movements becoming more fluid. The sheep started to respond, bunching together as he guided them.
His focus on the task deepened as he got closer to success, drawing on the persistence that had been forged through years of toil. The sheep moved as one, heading towards the pen. As they flowed together, something clicked in Huan's mind.
He felt an energy within himself, a current he had never sensed before. It was faint but unmistakable—a thread of qi. His heart raced, but he knew he must finish his commitments first. He guided the sheep into the pen, shutting the gate behind them, and then his mind was immediately elsewhere.
Huan kneeled on a nearby rock, closing his eyes. He focused inward, seeking out the qi he had felt. It was elusive, slipping through his mental grasp.
Slowly, painstakingly, he began to draw the qi towards his core. It was like trying to catch smoke with his bare hands, but he persisted, his will unyielding. The qi trickled in, gathering in his dantian, but the process was agonizingly slow. He felt beads of sweat form on his forehead.
As he struggled, more of the jade slip's knowledge began to clear up. He saw images and symbols, ancient scripts that detailed the basics of qi manipulation, enter his mind but he knew he couldn't let it wander. Reinvigorated, Huan continued to draw in the qi, each labored breath deepening his connection to it.
The sun dipped below the horizon, and the first stars appeared in the sky. Huan sat there, his mind focused inward, feeling the flow of qi within him. It was weak and unsteady, but it was a start. He opened his eyes, covered in sweat.
He rose up on top of the rock with shaky legs, looking out over the flat lands of the ranch. The sheep were safely penned, the work of the day done. But his true journey was just beginning. With the knowledge from the jade slip starting to reveal itself and the first threads of qi flowing through him, Huan knew he had taken the first step on the path of cultivation. The next step towards his home was much harder to take.
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The moon hung high in the night sky, casting a silvery glow over the pasture. Huan sat in a half-lotus position, his eyes closed, breathing deeply. He found it easiest to manipulate qi out here, amongst the noises of the night and the occasional bleat. The cool night air filled his lungs as he focused inward, guiding a thin strain of qi into his dantian with slowly but surely growing proficiency.
Months had passed since his first breakthrough, and Huan's dedication to cultivating had only intensified. Every night, he would sneak out to the pasture, honing his skills under the stars. Tonight was no different. After a couple hours of meditation, he headed back home, more surely than his first time as his body had started to acclimate to the presence of qi.
As he entered his small ranch house, he noticed a light that wasn't usually on in the main room. The light flickered, casting a shadow over his father's stern face.
“What were you doing out at this hour?” his father demanded, his voice soft but it carried a confidence that resonated to Huan's bones.
Huan's mind raced, scrambling for an excuse. He remembered a girl from the neighboring ranch, Mei, who had a crush on him. With a prayer of condolences to the aspiring girl, he mumbled, “I was… meeting Mei.”
His father’s brow furrowed, the stern expression softening slightly into one of concern. “Meeting Mei, huh?”
Huan nodded, trying to look earnest. “She just wanted to talk, that's all.”
His father sighed, before taking on a lecturing tone “Huan, you're of an age where you need to understand some things.” He paused; his face serious but kind. “It’s time we had a talk about how babies come about.”
Huan felt his face flush with embarrassment. He, of course, knew all about the process, but he couldn't help but reel at the thought of another sit-down talk with his parent. His father gestured for Huan to take a seat.
“Listen, son,” he began, his voice gentle. “There’s more to relationships than just meeting someone in the middle of the night. You need to understand the responsibility that comes with it.”
As his father explained, he let his mind wander, so he didn't end up paying attention and accidentally laughing. However, with all the talk of how babies were made, he realized he had never heard much about his mother. This sudden curiosity gnawed at him. When his father finished his explanation, Huan hesitated before asking, “Father, what about my mother? Why don’t we ever talk about her?”
A shadow passed over his father’s face. He looked away, the candle's light casting deep lines on his features. “Your mother... she passed away when you were born,” he said quietly.
The revelation settled over the room like a heavy blanket. He had felt a sense of absence for a while but had never understood its source. Now, knowing that his mother had given her life for his, a fierce determination ignited within him. This second chance at life was something he could not squander.
“I see,” Huan said softly. “I’m sorry, Father.”
His father shook his head, placing a hand on Huan’s shoulder. “It’s not your fault, Huan. But now you understand why it’s important to think about your actions.”
Huan nodded, a newfound resolve hardening in his chest. He would not waste this life he had been given. He would cultivate, grow stronger, and honor the memory of his mother. The path of cultivation lay before him, and he was determined to walk it with unwavering purpose.
As he lay in bed, Huan’s thoughts turned to the jade slip. More pieces of its knowledge had become clear over the past months. He now understood the basics of qi manipulation and had even begun to practice some elementary techniques. With each passing day, his control grew more precise, and his understanding deepened.
He knew the road ahead would be long and fraught with challenges, but he was ready. His mother’s sacrifice would not be in vain. He would make something of this second life, and nothing would stand in his way.
Huan felt a sense of clarity and purpose he had never known before. The journey of a thousand miles had begun, and he was determined to see it through to the end.