Yun Tian learned things so quickly and he was also very inquisitive. When he was almost six years old he was already much smarter than others his age and displayed so much maturity that his parents had decided he was ready for something that others would only do when they were much older.
He and Shen Yu were playing together in the garden in the middle of their courtyard. It was early in the morning, the weather was great with flowers blooming around them, and the large peach tree in the center in full bloom.
One little boy with short black hair and black eyes in a black tunic and white pants was being chased by a cute little girl who was a little older.
Her hair was also black but unlike the boy’s short hair, hers nearly reached her waist. She also didn’t have black eyes but bright and shining blue eyes that stood out on her round face instead. The boy’s skin was a ruddy and almost tan color whereas her pale skin almost made her look sickly and added another factor of cuteness to her. She was wearing a blue and white hanfu robe but still easily moved around in it as they ran around.
They giggled from time to time as they chased each other around the garden playing some kind of game.
The little girl called out, “Haha, I got you Tian,” as she tagged him.
Yun Tian laughed too and said teasingly, “I am slower than you! How about we go play a game of checkers instead and we will see who wins that?”
At the next moment though, their parents Yun Peng and Liu Qing suddenly walked into the garden before Shen Yu could respond.
Despite nearly six years passing their appearances did not have much change at all with his father still looking middle aged and his mother still looking relatively young.
His mother Liu Qing called out, “Alright, that’s enough playtime for today!”
Yun Tian looked to his mother and his face became filled with a questioning gaze as he looked at her, while Shen Yu outright whined out, “But we haven’t played for very long!”
Seeing this, the two parents didn’t respond right away and instead only looked at each other as they shook their heads with a smile. Yun Peng said, “You were indeed right honey.”
The two kids were confused and Yun Tian spoke up, “Is there something special happening today?”
His father nodded his head and said, “Yes. Tian, we are going to teach you something very special today.”
‘Special!?’ Yun Tian thought with his eyes brightening. He loved learning things but he also knew his parents rarely described anything as special.
His mother quickly added, “However only you will be learning this today Tian. Shen Yu has to wait a while longer before she can learn it too.”
Hearing this Shen Yu whined, “What!? Why can’t I learn it with Tian?”
Liu Qing walked over and rubbed her head before saying, “You simply aren’t ready yet, there’s nothing we can do about it. We just have to wait until you get older.”
Hearing this, Yun Tian tilted his head and wondered, ‘But isn’t Yu’er older than me?’
Shen Yu also realized this and said, “But I’m older than Tian.”
Yun Peng stepped up this time and said, “Yu’er it's not your fault. It's just that Tian is a special case.”
With that, Yun Tian let go of his questioning thoughts. His parents had always praised him for being especially intelligent and he knew that his parents always did what was best for them so after all they said he could only believe they were doing what was best.
Shen Yu still pouted a little more even after what they said but she had mostly calmed down after what they said. Their parents consoled her for a while longer before they took Yun Tian into their bedroom and left Shen Yu out in the garden.
Once they entered, they had Yun Tian sit on the bed as the two of them sat on the ground in front of it.
Then, under Yun Tian’s inquisitive gaze they began explaining many things to him.
Yun Peng started off, “Son, we have taught you many things already right?”
To which Yun Tian nodded.
Yun Peng continued, “But you should know, what we have taught you is not even a fraction of all there is in the world. The world we live in is an amazing place with all kinds of fantastical things. But the thing you need to focus on for now is cultivation. Almost everyone in this world is capable of cultivation.”
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Yun Tian asked with shining eyes, “What’s cultivation? I can do it?”
His mother, Liu Qing, smiled and continued on, “Yes, you can. Cultivating is the great process of absorbing the qi of the world into our bodies for our own use. By doing this you can not only grow more powerful but you can also live much longer. I’ve even heard stories of great cultivators flying in the sky or destroying an entire region of a forest with a single swing of their sword. I’ve also heard stories of people living hundreds of years and this is probably true.”
As Yun Tian imagined these scenes he exclaimed, “Woah! How do I cultivate! Are Mommy and Daddy super powerful cultivators!? Please teach me how to cultivate!”
Yun Peng and Liu Qing exchanged glances and then both put a hand forward with their palms face up. Moments later something that could be described as wisps of some mist like light blue gas or even cyan flame like thing was emitted from their palms and swayed or whirled within their palms. It wasn’t very big but it looked absolutely magical, especially to Yun Tian’s eyes.
At the same time, Liu Qing said, “Yes, your father and I are cultivators. You are able to see the qi emitted from our palms as we have both reached the Dantian Building Realm. In this realm you are able to store qi in your dantian along with refining and condensing it. The qi we showed you was much more condensed than the qi normally in the world and was refined by us which is why you could see it.”
While Yun Tian didn’t completely understand this, he still exclaimed, “So mommy and daddy are very strong!”
Yun Peng laughed and said, “Yes, your mom is even stronger than me.”
Liu Qing’s bright smile somehow grew even brighter as Yun Tian yelled, “Woah!”
Yun Tian's eyes brightened even more after hearing that his very own parents were strong cultivators, he wished more than anything to cultivate right away. So, he called out, “Teach me how to do that! Teach me!”
Yun Peng smiled and said, “We are going to, don’t worry. But calm down for now. What we are going to teach you is serious business. Can you be serious for me?”
Yun Tian stilled from his previous jumpy attitude. He still had a smile as he was too excited but he sat there patiently awaiting their instructions and made no more outbursts.
Liu Qing shook her head with a smile seeing how well he listened and then explained, “Everyone in the world goes through the same basic methods of cultivation. They start in the Meridian Opening Realm and then advance to the Dantian Building Realm after that. As for what is beyond that, you don’t need to know for now.”
Yun Tian nodded his head in understanding and continued listening patiently.
Liu Qing continued, “We will now teach you how to absorb the qi of the world that is all around you.”
Yun Peng and Liu Qing both had high expectations for Yun Tian with how intelligent he was at such a young age. They both thought, ‘With his great intelligence there’s no way he’s not extremely talented.’
Their only worry was that he was too young and wouldn’t be able to focus enough or fail in some other regard due to his young age. At the same time they weren’t too worried in this regard as he had always listened obediently to them and did well in learning things even if they took a while or were boring. These features were exactly why they thought he was ready to cultivate despite his young age.
His mom started him off saying: “Cross your legs first.”
Yun Tian obediently followed his mom’s instructions as excitement was plastered all over his face. He swapped from his position with his legs hanging off the bed to sitting cross legged and looked at his parents with shining and eager eyes.
His parents were also wearing happy smiles as they saw his enthusiasm. Liu Qing said next, “Close your eyes.”
Yun Tian immediately did as she said without question.
Liu Qing once felt satisfied that he was so good at listening to instructions as she said, “First, you have to clear your mind and focus on nothing but the world around you. The goal is to have no distracting thoughts. This is the first step. If you can’t do it, we will try again when you are older. If you are able to do it, just nod your head.”
They both knew how intelligent their son was and they were sure he was capable of acting serious and could produce great focus. Still, they were ready to wait for a while and were even ready for him to fail since he was just so young. Everyone had distracting thoughts and not many could easily completely clear their mind, especially the young.
They sat down in front of the bed and patiently waited.
Yun Tian did as his parents said and he found that this actually seemed to be pretty easy. His face became calm as his thoughts slowly left his mind. A feeling of emptiness overcame him as he nodded.
It was at most a minute since they told him to clear his mind. They were stunned, but they didn’t think Yun Tian would lie to them.
So, after Liu Qing and Yun Peng exchanged a happy and surprised glance, Liu Qing started to explain what he should do next, “Next, try to feel the qi in the world around you.”
She elaborated, "Try and feel for the qi of the world in the space around you. It can feel like a warmth around you or a stream of wind brushing past you. These are just some of the ways you may perceive it though. In the end it's up to you and it's not something we can really teach. Just use your empty mind to focus on everything around you. It will probably take a while so don't worry if you don’t get it at first and don’t give up. We will be right here the entire time."
After this his parents said nothing more and just stayed on the floor beside the bed. They were prepared to wait for hours if not longer to watch over him when 5 minutes later he opened his eyes with an excited expression and said, "I can feel the qi. It feels like something warm floating around and past me!"
With his empty mind he had tried to focus and feel if there was anything around him. At first he thought, ‘There’s nothing around me right now right? What is mom talking about? Wait, Mom wouldn’t lie to me and she just showed me her qi earlier.’
‘Hmmm.’
He put his entire focus on trying to see if he could feel anything flowing past or around him. At first he felt nothing. They were in an enclosed room with no airflow so there was no breeze to distract him. He thought he wouldn’t be able to feel anything, but after a few minutes of his utmost concentration he could suddenly feel several motes of something warm flowing around him, which he described the best he could.