Chapter 2

Chao had awoken early and gone into the nearby bushes to relieve himself, then he went to the stream and washed. Glancing around and seeing that he was alone Chao began to practice his martial forms, in his old life Chao was a black belt in both Judo and Karate. As Chao began to stretch and then go through the forms he was not aware that he was being watched by two different pairs of eyes. Being in the body of a rather lazy and self-indulgent 10-year-old made it difficult for Chao to complete his morning routine.

The guardsman who had saved Chao was watching the young boy with a surprised expression on his face as he watched the boy go through several martial exercises, and while he did not recognize the forms he did know that they were similar to what the warrior monks of Oxia practiced. He wondered briefly how the boy had learned some of the moves then promptly decided it was not important. By observing Chao, he could deduce that the boy had not awakened his core yet and was not using the power of his dantian to help him. Thinking for a moment the guard made a fateful choice, he would help Chao awaken his core and teach him the basic form of inner meditation.

In the world of Oxia, there were two types of beings, those who had awakened their dantian and who had begun the journey of power and those that would never do so. The risk and the reward of pursuing the martial life were both great. An individual could achieve greatness, indeed could become immortal but the risk was that someone with more skill could come and challenge you. If you lost the battle they would take your core and feast on it adding to their power. Those of higher levels would not bother those of lower levels as there was no honor in defeating a weaker opponent and the weaker core would not help.

Having made his mind up the guard left to continue his circle of the camp, he would discuss his plans with Chao and his father later that day. The second pair of eyes that were watching Chao belonged to a magical beast, a young beast that had just been born and was alone. His mother had not returned to the den and after several days the beast was lonely and hungry. Seeing the boy, the beast felt his loneliness increase and suddenly the hunger it felt was overpowering and it let out a cry and then began to yowl as sadness and hunger wracked it.

Hearing the sound Chao stopped and listened until he felt he could hear where the sad cries were coming from. Walking over to the spot Chao was surprised to see a small wolf-like creature crying, judging by the visible bones under the skin the poor animal was on the verge of starvation. Without thinking Chao grabbed the small creature and cuddled it while heading back to camp. There were some leftovers from supper and Chao decided to feed the pup. Once Chao arrived back at the camp he quickly grabbed some water and the leftovers and made a meal for the pup.

The pup looked at the food with astonishment and then began to eat with delight. After gorging on the leftovers and having a drink the pup waddled back over to were Chao was sitting and then climbed onto his lap and began to fall asleep. He know longer felt alone and hungry, in fact without thinking about it he had begun to farm the soul bound with the boy.

As Chao sat there he felt a warmth within him and then suddenly knew that the puppy sleeping on his lap had somehow in some way merged with him. He could feel the puppy and knew that it was happy tired and full. Chao smiled as he had never thought to be able to make a bond with a magic animal like this.

Once his dad and Uncle awoke Chao put the puppy down and went to the wagon to grab some things to cook. Frying up some bacon, Chao sliced some potatoes and onions and added them to the mix and then with the occasional stir let them cook. Once Chao added the salt and pepper the food was ready and by then his dad and Uncle had returned. Handing out the food Chao pointed to the puppy sleeping on his blanket and explained how he had found the little animal and then somehow bonded with it.

Chao felt that his father would want him to get rid of the puppy and he was right, but seeing his son talk with maturity and logic caused his dad to reconsider. Looking at his brother then turning back to Chao his dad said, “You may keep the magic beast, but you will be responsible for it, you must train it and not allow it to get into any trouble.”

Nodding his head Chao responded, “Yes father, thank you I will train my puppy and make sure that no problems occur.” With that, all three finished the breakfast Chao had prepared and then the two men watched as Chao hurried to the stream and cleaned the dishes. Once back at the cart Chao quickly put everything away and then went and harnessed the cow. By the time all this was done his uncle and father had returned from the morning meeting with the trainmaster.

Seeing the camp cleaned up and everything put away properly along with the cow hitched to the wagon surprised the returning men. Chao watched his Uncle check the harness on the cow and how it attached to the wagon and was happy when his Uncle said, “Good job Chao, you have surprised me, everything was done perfectly.” Chao smiled at his Uncle and said, “Thank you Uncle, I have observed you and while you did not explain what you did your actions provided teaching, as you would hitch the cow and cart together.”

His uncle smiled at Chao while wondering if the near death that Chao had suffered had changed the young boy. He had discussed that with his brother and they both had the same opinion, that something had happened when Chao had almost died. The trainmaster soon whistled and the carts began to roll, they were leaving the hills and entering the rolling prairie lands. It was a land of open fields and valleys full of streams and trees, a place where a person could easily get lost if they did not stay on the road.

The nearest town was four days away, but within two days the caravan would pass smaller villages and acreages where families farmed the land and woodcutters harvested the trees. To the south lay the civilized lands, places of great cities and kingdoms, to the north the trees gathered together and formed the great forest, a place of hidden treasures and dangers. The ruins of several ancient kingdoms were there but the forest was not the abode of magical beasts. Only those that practiced the path of power could enter there and even then, it was a place of challenge and growth or death which could be swift in its finality. To the west, the land turned to the great prairies with ended at the mountains, going past the mountains led to the vast inner sea and area of mystery about which not much was known.

Chao knew all this having seen his father map, but he was more excited at arriving at the town in four days. He had been on the trip a total of two months now and that was a long time for a ten-year-old. Swinging into a nearby wooded valley the caravan made camp next to a stream. Chao once again went to the river and fetched water and then chopped wood, this time he traveled with the little wolf-like puppy who never left his side. He had been working with the puppy all day and was amazed at how much the puppy had learned. It was clear that having a mental bond with the animal was enough to make sure that it understood exactly what Chao wanted and the little puppy disparately wanted to please the person that he now considered his momma. After asking his father for some fishing line and a couple of hooks Chao cut himself a thins branch and tied the line to the end. Fastening the hook Chao fastened a small strand of salted pork he had sliced out of the family’s meat supply. Then sitting down on the bank f the stream Chao began to fish. In his other life fishing had been one of his hobbies and Chao had become quite good at it. As the rest of the caravan set up the camp Chao quickly managed to catch 4 fish, finding a large flat rock Chao pulled out his pant knife and began to fillet the fish.

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Returning to the camp Chao proudly showed off the four fish and then asked, “Do you want these fish fried or put into a fish stew?” Chao watched his father look at the filleted fish with surprise and then smile at Chao as he said, “Why don’t you fry them, I love the taste of fish fried fish.” Smiling back at his dad Chao pulled out the wok and then added a little fat. Then grabbing the bag of spices Chao spiced up the fish and then placed them in the wok. The little wolf puppy was growling as his whole body shook from his tail wagon rapidly.

“You want some fish little guy?” Chao asked with a smile. “I will share mine with you, there is to much fish for me to eat by myself.” Turning back to the wok Chao flipped the fish showing off the golden color of perfectly cooked fish as he did so. After spending so many years cooking in his old life Chao had an uncanny ability to tell what to do with food, when it was done and when it needed to be flipped or plated.

Soon the food was ready and Chao and his dad and uncle began to eat the fried fish. Chao cut half of his fish and put it down on a rock for the puppy to eat but warned the pup to let it cool off first. His uncle and father watched this with a smile knowing the wolf would grab the food as soon as Chao was not looking. Much to their surprise, the wolf waited for several minutes before daintily eating the fish with great enjoyment. Once the supper was done Chao once again cleaned up the dishes and made some tea. As he was serving the tea the guardsman who had observed Chao practicing that morning walked over to the fire. Stopping and sniffing he asked, “Is that fresh caught fried fish, that smell great.”

Glancing around hopefully he sighed as he realized that the supper was done. Smiling a little sadly the guard introduced himself, “I am Watchman Lee, as you know I had been hired as one of the guards for this caravan. This morning when I made my rounds I observed Chao here exercising by the river. Observing him showed me that he had talent but it was clear that his dantian has not been awakened and that he was not using the power of his pathways. I would like to awaken his dantian and offer some training, I know it is unusual but I feel like the boy has some talent, and not having a son of my own I would not mind offering your son a chance at a better life than what most people could have.”

The surprised silence was broken by Chao as he stood and bowed before the guard and thanked him. Then turning to his father Chao asked, “What are your thoughts father, should I take this opportunity and the challenges that it will bring?

Looking at his son smiling at him the choice was already made in his mind, he could not deny his son this chance to make a difference in his life. “My son if it is your desire then you have my blessing, but I know that once you become a cultivator the speed of your development will slow down, the cost of beast cores and herbal pills are above our means. But if you still want to pursue the martial path then do so.”

Chao bowed to his father and then turned to Watchman Lee and asked, “Will I still be able to help my father both on this trip and once we arrive at the town?”

Smiling at the boy Watchman Lee nodded and said, “I will help you awaken your dantian tonight and teach you the basics of meditation which is what you will use to cultivate. How fast you grow in your abilities is up to you, it is based on how much you cultivate through meditation. Some people are an undiscovered genius who can easily grow much faster than others. Know this, by awakening you dantian your lifespan will be increased by at least 200 years. If you manage to proceed to the next level you will gain at least 100 years. There are ten levels until you reach what we call the lesser sainthood. Then at the fifth level of sainthood you will reach an area that is hard to break through but once you manage then you may grow to the tenth level called the mastery of sainthood.”

“Once you break through this level you are at the minor transcendence level, again there are 10 levels if you manage to make it to the tenth level of transcendence you will have achieved the highest level that I know of. At this point, you are immortal and so far above the mere mortal plane that the lives of us humans would seem to be below you. Now there are schools and monasteries that help those that cultivate achieve higher levels but as your father said the things that they use are far beyond what we can pay. What I am offering you is the chance to be part of a different world, but I am honest I am a level 3 cultivator and I will probably not move beyond that level. Do you still want to proceed?”

Seeing Chaos excited smile Watchman Lee smiled back and then said, “Alright then sit down, I want you to close your eyes and breath in and out then in your mind's eye look inside yourself and try to see a candle. Once you can actually feel that candle, it will have a feeling of warmth then I want you to try to feel an energy on your skin, it is all around us all the time everywhere. This energy is called Qi or sometimes Chi, it is known as the vital breath. Breath it in and pull it into your dantian to feed the flame, once you have started this it will happen on its own with a little training. After you have accomplished this we will learn to refine this then use the energy to open up your pathways. Enough, for now, are you ready boy?”

Glancing at the boy Watchman Lee said, “One last thing the path of cultivation is one of pain so be prepared. Now focus on the candle in your dantian.” Putting his hand on the boys head Watchman Lee pushed his Qi down into the boy and through one of the major eight meridians, the governing channel. Feeling his Qi enter into Chaos dantian he sent a wave of energy into the space hoping to ignite the candle. Chao meanwhile was trying his best to visualize what was happening but the pain of having a meridian ripped open was overwhelming, gritting his teeth he continued to try to visualize the candle. Suddenly he felt a connection and could feel the warmth of the candle as it began to use the energy of Watchman Lee.

With a whimper the wolf puppy awoke having felt the pain of his master, being a magical beast, he could instantly see what was happening and without a thought added his Qi to that of Watchman Lee. The Qi of the magic beast wolf puppy mixed with the candle of Chao and then suddenly the golden color changed to that of a silvery grey color, the color of beast QI. The candle changed and was now a fire, and as Chao practiced absorbing Qi from his skin and breath another meridian opened, the meridian of a magical beast. The pain was overwhelming but the fire within Chao’s Dantian suddenly surged and the pain decreased.

Watchman Lee backed away and after watching Chao cultivate for a few minutes he smiled at the boy’s dad and uncle. “It worked.” He quietly said, “Chao is now beginning to cultivate. He will continue to do this for a while. He will probably be sleepy tomorrow. I will be back in a few days to see how he is doing. Goodnight.”

Chao’s dad and uncle watched him for a while as they sipped their tea, then not wanting to disturb him the made their way to their bedding and soon fell asleep. Meanwhile, Chao was within himself watching with wonder as a steady stream of white wisps of QI entered his dantian and flew over to the fire that was burning brightly in the center of a large space. It was slowly spinning and changing from a golden color to a silver grey. Chao felt that the combination was somehow unstable and decided to see if he could somehow separate the two Qi energy streams into two fires.

By focusing is attention and willpower Chao began to separate the fire into two smaller fires, it would have been an impossible task if the Qi fire was not inherently unstable, to begin with. After what seemed like several hours there were two small fires burning in Chao’s dantian. One was a silver-grey fire and the other was a golden color. They both were slowly spinning around each other as they slowly absorbed the Qi that was entering Chao’s body. Finally seeing it was stable and not about to merge again or stop absorbing Qi Chao ended his cultivation and crawled into his bedding and immediately fell asleep.