The fresh outdoor air whips across my face. Before me, is a steep crevasse composed of tan rock. Windswept pines dot my ridge of the canyon, but the other side looks barren. On the horizon, there is a pyramid-shaped guiding mountain and another to the left with a barely visible slit through the middle. I turn around a few times observing the guiding mountains behind as well and I determine my approximate location.
"The country of Wetterbush, huh?" Wetterbush is a country across Alphonso's plain from Shingo.
Dying nearly erased me for good this time. Who knows what's wrong with my head now?
"Hey, Void-Soul Spirit-Housing are you there?"
{Error. Please absorb herb.}
"Err... Are you doing alright spirit?"
{Error. Please absorb herb.}
Did the abomination damage the spirit to the extent that it lost its ego? Or could it be incompatible with this current body?
"Hmm, wasn't a pudgy man here? Where did he go? Was it my imagination?"
I stand and take an unsteady step forward. My legs are longer than I expect.
Excellent, I'm probably older this time.
In the middle of my step forward, there is an ominous black pillar coming out of the canyon reaching the sky, but when my foot lands and I stumble forward it's gone.
"Egads! What was that?"
Curious, I crouch at the edge of the cliff. Far below, a couple of animals appear to be biting and pulling on a lump of cloth.
The pudgy man comes to mind. Is that his body down there? Is that why I thought he fell through the ground earlier?
"I suppose if I don't investigate now, I'll never get the chance." I walk along the top of the canyon looking for a passage down. Luckily, this body isn't hungry or thirsty.
Half an hour later, while I'm surveying a rough goat trail, a glowing aura catches my attention. There, on an outcropping of rock, grows a semi-rare spirit herb. The plant is made of gray-green quills and a couple of thin, brown stalks topped with neon-pink flowers. The flowers are similar to a firework or dandelion seed pod in structure.
It's a Sparking Fire Thistle, but why is there a glow around it?
As I think its name, the glow shrinks to an outline around the plant and glowing blue words appear floating in the air beside it.
[Sparking Fire Thistle, Low quality, Warrior Tier Spirit. Collected: 0.]
"Weird... Hey, Void-Soul Spirit-Housing are you doing that?"
{Error. Absorb spirit herb.}
"Yeah... But if I do, will my body accept it? Do I still have the Void Darkness Spirit-Root and Void Physique?"
{The host has a perfect donor's body.}
Well okay, you're going to have to walk me through this.
I climb up carefully to the spirit herb and try to dig it out with a rock like a caveman.
[Stupid monkey! I've hardened the rocks so you can't take me.]
"Is that so? Maybe I should cut you out of there then."
[Did this monkey just threaten me?]
{Suggesting host absorb herb directly.}
"Okay, transmit the process." I decide talking to the plant's spirit will only waste time.
I grasp the plant close my eyes and start chanting the mnemonics.
[Hey, Hey! What are you doing? Stop that!]
The spirit herb glows brighter and ripples. The plant creates sparks in self-defense a few of which singe my skin. After a few moments, wisps of bright white extend from the plant body through the air to my mouth. The wisps are its spirit in mid extraction.
As a low-grade spirit herb without a cultivation base, it could not resist. When it's absorbed, waves of euphoria run through my body.
{Spirit integration successful. Missing energy and material components. Suggesting for host to eat herb.}
With the spirit of the herb gone, it's much easier to dig the plant out. Unfortunately, my body is weak, so it takes a while. When it's finished, my hands are sore and my legs are cramping.
"So, I simply eat this whole thing raw?"
"..." There's no reply.
Sighing internally, I move to crouch on a slightly more comfortable foothold. It's barely large enough for my foot but it will do for now. How long could it take to eat an herb?
I begin with the flowers. They burn my tongue tasting spicy and a little sweet. My insides feel warm like drinking alcohol on a cold day. My mouth arrives at the stems. They're chewy and bland but the truly tough parts of the plant are the quills. After trying to eat one— spiky part first— and injuring my mouth, I peel the skin off the roots and eat those instead. The roots are bitter. The bulb is likewise bitter but also woody, slimy, gritty, and tough— like the hardest uncooked potato. I spend several incense sticks worth of time trying to work my way through the bulb with my teeth. In a moment of rashness, I try a quill again— bad idea— new wounds dot my cheek. Eventually, my teeth arrive at the soft inner core of the bulb. In alchemy, this part and the flowers have the majority of the medicinal effect. It tastes spicy and nutty and begins to burn my tongue.
Will I be able to taste anything after this?
I pull out the soft inner core and finish it in one gulp. My insides suddenly jolt. I grip the rocky cliff in reflex.
Bump-bump!
{Requirements met. Restructuring...}
"You've got to be kidding. I didn't need to eat the whole plant? There was no need to eat the quills? Could I have cooked it?"
Bump-bump! I feel weakness creeping through my body.
"No, not now! Stop! Pause the process! I'm on the side of a cliff right now!"
Bump-bump!
"Stop now! You incompetent spirit!"
Bump-bump! The most amazing feeling runs through my body.
"Oh, that's good— no wait—I mean please stop!"
Bump-bump! I lose my grip this time and my body begins to tumble. It's painful and disorienting but so good!
Thunk! My side hits an outcropping knocking the wind out of me and I struggle onto the safety of the ledge.
I lie there in a mixture of agony and pleasure. I even pass out for a time.
{Congratulations host. Restructuring complete.}
"Screw you!"
{Suggesting host cultivate Qi gathering techniques.}
"Screw you…" Huff! I breathe in. "That's so obvious!"
Groaning, I force myself into a sitting position to survey my situation. My outcropping continues back to the rock wall which is more than vertical at this point in the canyon. Because I'm not a spider that can climb upside down, there's no way back for me. However, I could always continue downward.
For now, my body is very injured. I close my eye to take the first step of cultivation in the mortal realm, Sensing.
Around me are many particles of firey Qi and also sparse bits of woody Qi. That was fast! Normally, it takes someone weeks or months to sense the energy around them. Could it be my prior experience?
I probe my progress in the next step, Manipulation, by willing the particles to move. They swirl around me effortlessly. Once again, I seem to be at the peak of this step already.
Hmm, to progress I need to pick a cultivation technique suitable to this body. Yet, what sort of spirit-root and physique do I have now?
{Host body is the perfect donor's body. Currently, equipped spirit-root is Warrior Tier Perfect Sparking Fire Thistle.}
"Uh... that's not a normal human spirit-root that I'm aware of. Do I simply adopt a wood fire element technique without modifications?"
I start sifting through techniques in my head. The ones I can remember are all higher-level...
"Wait a minute did you say currently equipped? Does that mean if I was to gain another spirit herb as a spirit-root I could change between them?"
{Correct.}
"Can I cultivate separately for each spirit-root?"
{Correct.}
"Therefore, if I cultivate improperly, it won't have a lasting impact on my foundation or physique?"
{Processing... Correct.}
"..." My mouth hangs open in shock. This is too good! It lets me experiment to gain short-term benefits without sacrificing my long-term potential. I can throw out all the conventional wisdom about cultivating carefully according to established methods to reach the peak. If there are no limits, someday I'd be able to cultivate every technique.
"Let's go big," I recall the most reckless early fire element cultivation technique