I had initially planned to do it in my room. I doubt I would destroy it and most the damage in it would be repairable. However with the insistence of my friends a new method was in order. I had sister Xiaojie get me some straps that would be effective against qi experts. She gave me an odd look but I told her it was important. 30,000 gillards! I had the money to spare after selling off an entire thunderhoof. However that process alone ate up nearly an entire day! Regardless. There was little time to waste. We all went to my room, and my friends were shocked with what I had. It was a mostly empty rectangle. Shelves with a few clothes on them, a cheap mattress (no bed), and in the middle a sturdy table with straps attached all around it.

I'll have my allies bind me with those and make sure I don't unnecessarily hurt myself in the ritual. However first I had to take the poisons in. I began the preparations for the first poison. The corruption of flesh. I began with the acid rot elixer, a concoction distilled from sewage waste barrels. I rubbed it all over me, my skin bubbling and contorting upon contact. Had it not been for my Kireina Kami mixture the smell alone would make me pass out. Without wasting a moment I lather my hair with the venom spoil extract, harvested from the bile of venomous toads and snakes. It was like they were writhing within my skull.

With the corruption of flesh complete I mix the rancid garbage punch with the dumpster fire cocktail. I drink as fast as I can, my insides burning as it courses through my digestive system. With the corruption of flesh complete, the mix instantly metabolizes, burning everywhere it flows. I can feel my organs straining against their purpose, my meridians shaking as my qi fluctuates incoherently. I had warned my allies to wear nose guards to protect themselves from the stench, however they chose not to. Now I can't tell if they're crying for me or because of the unholy stench. I'm crying too, as I wipe my tears I realize it's blood. I yell with fright, coughing blood. My leg shakes but I force it still with qi, an agonizing and pointless resistance. Still I must endure until I clear the rest of the poisons. If my shaking leg knocks them off I will not be able to finish the ritual, and the poisons will kill me. I don't have time to worry about it. I have no time to focus on it, my heart is beating so fast I fear it will fail. It rings in my ears, louder than the screams of my friends. My brain is slithering, I can't hold on for long. I haven't initiated the second stage yet.

The fracturing of wills is a delicate process. The poison demon's mental assault is truly devastating. To fail this step is to become a mindless thrall of the demon, hungry for destruction until death. My brain is slithering, I can't hold on for long. I need to initiate the second stage.

Wait didn't I already think that?

Cheeseburgers taste amazing. I bet people taste like cheese burgers. I feel like they taste like cheeseburgers. Only one way to find out.

Shit.

I slap myself, grabbing the last poison on the table, and drinking it as fast as possible. There is no time left to waste.

"Tighten the straps now!" I yell. Noana and Baro were both already in position on my right and left side. I had already instructed them beforehand to do as such. They each use their hands, reinforced with qi, to pull on the strap and lock down all four of my limbs at once. I stop resisting and begin to convulse uncontrollably, each shake stinging a part of my body. I'm still not done though. Now unable to move, it's up to Baro to finish the ritual. He grabs the rat blood-shit mix and throws it at my head. As it breaks, the fracturing of will is complete. My senses and memories warp, and reality slips away.

I lay on a razor's edge in a world of green smoke. It stirs as a shadow claws it's way towards me, gripping upon the razor from the side furthest away. I can't take it, my heart won't stop beating.

"You dare summon me!" it yells as it pulls itself from the haze, a twisted hairy beast with green eyes and rotted teeth. It's snout pouring tons of green smoke as it's droll melts the razor. I feel my body slipping more with each force, inches away from a plummet into a green abyss. I try to yell but I can't move, I'm completely paralyzed, can't breathe... can't think.

Reality slips away, and on the stone ground I'm surrounded by flames, unable to move. My master with a knife to his back holds me tight, crying.

"Why Ash," he cries, "why were you so weak willed!" he says as his wrinkled face and grey beard contort and stretch.

No...

"I died because of you!" he yells, his features becoming black and wolf-like. All around disciples fall from spears, arrows and swords. Master bares his fangs, rows and rows of sharp rotten teeth.

Please.

"The Khal Sect is gone, because of you!" he yells, lunging at me.

Stop!

I open my eyes and I'm back on the razor's edge, in that world of green haze.

"Disease rotten rat blood, mixed with feces, I like it," the poison demon says. "Survive this storm and my blessings are yours," he adds before disappearing into a cloud of smoke.

Now the final trial begins. The clouds stir as though amidst a mighty typhoon.

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The stars are bright in the Junk Mountains of Trash Valley. He laid there with his classmates. This was after a harsh day of cleaning, where Ash accidentally started an avalanche by trying to pick up a gold coin. His classmates with black eyes look over him, their malicious smiles saying more than their words ever could. Yet those words said plenty.

"You arrogant greedy selfish twat."

"This is just the beginning of the havoc you'll cause."

"We should all side against the sect master now, that way we won't die when Ash fucks up."

"You're right, he will fuck up, and I will die for it."

The convulsions won't stop, my very essence torn apart as they dig into me with their hands. From within me the abominable stench of the combined poisons pour out, an abhorrent coagulated mass of filth with a scent so foul it defies descriptions. The disciples gag as their faces melt to bones. I scream, trying to claw them away. Those necrotic skeletons still clawing at me, unrelenting. I can't let them do this, it's kill or be killed, I have to move!

In the corner the demon is watching, it wants me to break free... to fight.

It wants me enthralled!

NO!

I'm bound in the real world, not locked by this imaginary creature. I will not be fooled by illusions again, I will not go berserk and harm my friends.

I focus what little qi I could, and forced myself to breathe. Junk fu foundational technique, garbage breathing.

6 hours. I just need 6 hours and the adaptations begin. The accumulating stress within the joints and meridians would cease as the poisons become cleansed. Antibodies will evolve, and the latent potential of the body unleashes. The liklihood of candidates succeeding dramatically rises after 6 hours, it's only worst at first.

I focus on my breath as scenes shift over and over, they hurl their insults and attacks. My mind would slip in and out of consciousness but I'd hold firm one idea above all. Where no matter how much it hurts or where my mind goes that this truth will always hold.

The pain, the suffering, it comes from within.

The poison demon looks on in displeasure, his torment immediate. The poisons fuse into a thick tar and spread, painting my veins and meridians black. It crawls through my mind, reaching for my soul. But it's too late, the offering made him go easy for long enough. This beast can give it all it's got at this point and the outcome won't change. I've held my will, and I've started adapting.

Back in that world of smoke it shakes in rage, but it doesn't matter what it thinks anymore. I no longer have to worry about this filthy being.

My qi unable to flow now has been building up. It yearns to course through my body, but these last few days it's been forced to slow. Now with this ritual it's been dammed in for quite a while. With my body cultivated to the right level, my natural ability to generate qi has been in effect throughout the entire process. By focusing on my garbage breathing, I was able to generate qi despite the pain. When there is more qi in the body than it is capable of holding, all that excess qi demands to move.

If a river is suddenly doubled in volume, the excess water will just overflow. In light excess cases it would just be a surge of energy and power for the user exuding all that extra qi. In more extreme cases, that violent force could rip a person apart from within.

However, with my meridians completely stagnant because of the ritual, the excess qi in my reservoir cannot go anywhere.

The pressure has stretched it as far as I can tolerate, now the pressure within me is pushing against my meridians. If I had to compare, currently there is more qi in my body than there is in a Qi master like sister xiaojie. Despite the pain, I could laugh. The dam within my soul is breaking, and the qi is pouring out. The violent rush rips the toxins off my veins as though peeling off a face mask. Qi pours out every pore of my body, cleansing me from within and ejecting the layer of poison off my entire body. All the tar like stains beneath my skin fade, and I glow with a silky luminescence, my sight clear and sharp.

At some point I broke the straps I was contained in. My room has never looked more beautiful. My friends are relieved, and unharmed.

I'm glad.

The trial is over, and I've won.

I told them not to get too close to me until after I shower. Of course their first reaction was to run and hug me, but with a hand motion that says stop and a smile I let them know it was all alright. They could feel it from the excess energy still pouring out my body. Despite my exhaustion, this is the strongest I've felt since reincarnating into this new world.

This violent yet controlled eruption of qi is the true goal of the poison demon ritual. By forcing qi to build up from within, we force it to seek every possible means of escape. This rush inadvertently saturates every fiber of the body with Qi. For the last few hours my qi reservoir has been forced to expand to the absolute limit of my tolerance, and now I've also created many new paths for qi to flow through in my body. I can feel it, the energy pool within me. My reservoirs new "full" state is 50% larger than before.

On top of that, there is 50% more qi flowing throughout my body. This isn't necessarily a two times increase to my qi. In fact the debate on how much qi courses through the body compared to how much stays in the reservoir is an unending debate. The current theory however is that the reservoir holds more qi than the body, but how much more is unique for every person. There may even be cases where some people can hold more in their body than their reservoir.

With my meridians cleansed I can cultivate properly once more. With all these new qi paths in my body, I can easily force poisons and venoms out of my body. I could survive toxins which would even threaten qi dragons. More importantly, with these new qi paths I can reinforce the parts of my body which I could not before.

The foundational technique of junk-fu, the toxi-grip is finally under my command, along with the elementary form of kaimen garbage vision, the poison clear sight.

There are fifty levels of Qi cultivation. One becomes a practitioner upon awakening qi, level 1, at level 10 they become a qi expert. At level 20 a qi master. 30 marks a Qi dragon, and 40 marks a qi phoenix. My innate understanding of qi pushed me to level 10 from the moment I awakened my qi. I used a spirit detector orb to measure my level, and it said 11. In my old world the amount of qi I had was sufficient in initiating the ritual, but not ideal. If I didn't damage my meridians however I would have rather waited until I was level 19. At that point the ritual is significantly easier, however it's rewards would be far less substantial. Since I knew I would no longer be able to grow beyond what I am now, I decided to take the all of nothing gamble.

Baro regards himself a one of a kind genius, and he is at level 23. Noana, 5 days ago was level 10, she is currently 18.

I place my hand on the orb, it's glow envelops the room in gold as two numbers form at the epicenter of it's light. They look on in awe.

I am Ash Khal; A six year old who's a level 26 Qi Master.