Several hours have passed.
"I was right after all. You really are a commoner."
Bai Li spoke up. He, along with Tao Fuyuan, sat in the same cave the young human sought shelter in during the storm. The cave's fire was still burning and showed no signs of weakening.
During the past few hours, Tao Fuyuan, under Bai Li's pressure, had no choice but to tell the latter about his current situation.
He was 'poisoned' and died before waking up in this unknown world, in an unknown body.
Needless to say, the words "pufferfish" and "nap" were purposely left out. So embarrassing!
Bai Li heaved a deep sigh before speaking up once more.
"I have never heard of the planet 'earth', so I'm assuming it's a lower plane. A commoner from a lower plane with no experience in cultivation; the only thing left for you to do is pray that your aptitude is at least average." He continued, "I, myself, am quite curious about your aptitude, so I will lend you the needed materials in order to perform a soul discovery ritual."
"Soul discovery ritual?"
"Every human being's soul is capable of processing spiritual energy, but the soul quality plays a huge roll in that regard. The deciding factors are the soul type, color and grade. The better your soul's aptitude is, the better your cultivation results will be. Understood?"
The man made an arm gesture as he was talking. A breath later, two different kinds of stones laid in front of him. One of these stones was immediately handed over to Tao Fuyuan.
He, however, was visibly confused.
"A stone? What should I do with it?"
"It's an alignment gem. These gems are used to determine whether your soul is that of a mage or a practioner. Just hold it firmly and concentrate, empty your mind of all thoughts."
"...Alright."
Although the terms "mage" and "practioner" left him slightly puzzled, Tao Fuyuan did as he was told. Sitting cross legged on the ground with the fist-sized stone laying on his palms, he closed his eyes and tried to concentrate to the best of his abilities.
Half a minute has passed when Bai Li's voice reached his ears.
"Open your eyes."
The youth acted accordingly. His peach colored eyes opened and soon after landed on the stone in his hands. The previously dull looking stone was now brightly lit and resembled a piece of milky, white jade.
He was impressed.
Sure enough, even gems aren't there just for show in this world!
"You're a mage."
Bai Li's words brought the youth back to reality.
"A mage?"
"Mages possess clouded souls and specialize in refining magic pills and medicines. Their spiritual power is very dense and, therefore, perfectly suited for the long process on concocting a pill, amongst other things. Mages are quite rare, as opposed to practitioners." Bai Li paused before continuing, "Practitioners, also known as the masters of blades and spears, have relatively thin spiritual power so they're only capable of practicing martial arts. Nonetheless, they can become quite powerful so you mustn't look down on them."
…
"Isn't that kinda lame? I want to fight too!"
The fox snatched the stone back from the bickering youth before making it 'disappear' again, and placing the second stone on his palm.
While he was at it, he gave him a good flick on the forehead. Tao Fuyuan let out a hissing sound before shooting the fox a disdainful look.
Bai Li, this venerable one can't stand you at all! "Stop complaining, will you? So ungrateful! Only high level mages are capable of performing martial arts. Now, close your eyes and concentrate again. This will be the second and last step of the procedure."
Tao Fuyuan, although dissatisfied, did as he was told.
The type of soul I possess has been discovered already. Next must be my soul color?
His anger quickly dissipated and, instead, was replaced with anticipation.