"Big brother, why are you shouting?" Xinxin, who just walked out of the tent said while rubbing her eyes.
"N-nothing. I was just testing how loud my voice was." Rick hurriedly explained while thinking, 'Xinxin is really adorable!'
Somehow, his anger dissipated when he saw her. Although he did not know what to do next, he was already planning on taking her with him on his journey.
Living peacefully in this place came to his mind, but when he thought through it, he decided not to. This world is dangerous, and being weak is a sin.
"Come here. Sit." He got a log and covered it with his jacket and Xinxin sat on it, enjoying the warm heat from the fire.
"Did you sleep well?" Rick asked. His eyes were kind and pure.
"Mmm." Xinxin nodded. Her expression clearly looked brighter than yesterday.
"Then that's good. Wanna tell me what happened? Here, it help your body stay warm. Be careful, it's still hot." His words were always few, but he still looked kind and doting. He poured a hot water in a cup that he heated earlier and gave it to Xinxin.
"Thank you, big brother." She felt the warm feeling coming from the cup and held on to it. She stayed silent, slowly taking a sip from the cup for a minute before she finally talked.
"Big brother, why are so kind to me?" She asked with a weak voice.
"I wonder. I've always been fond of children when I was little. And I always spoil them when I meet one. Somehow, it always cheers me up." Rick said. A pot appeared on his hands, he filled it with water until it was half and let it boil on the fire. He walked towards the table made tree trunk, a raw meat appeared again and Rick also started chopping.
"We will just eat meat for now, I haven't found a single fruit or vegetable." Rick said. The bears meat was indeed good and healthy, but eating it repeatedly wouldn't be so good.
"In our village, eating meat once in a week would already be considered a luxury. Yet here you are, worrying on eating it repeatedly." A bitter smile appeared on Xinxin's face.
"How old are you now, Xinxin?" Rick asked.
"I am 8 years old. I have always been smart and more mature than children my age and the elders always praised me. They even said that I was a reincarnation of an immortal." Saying that, tears were again beginning to cloud her eyes.
"Ever since I was born, bandits frequently started appearing. They repeatedly made trouble, making our lives harder and harder. When we fought back, an immortal suddenly came and killed everyone in our village, except for the children, everyone was killed. My grandpa, the village chief was strong, he helped me escape. He promised to come and get me after defeating the bandits, but-but..." At this point, her cheecks were already covered with tears. Rick already knew what happened next, it was self explanatory.
Rick was also a little angry. He wasn't the heroic type, but the lawlessness of this world makes even Earth a paradise.
'How could a lawless world like this even exist?! Just Spiritual energy, and a massacre happened!'
Rick already knew that the village was secluded, and they did not know a thing about Cultivation. He suddenly remembered what the system said:
In this endless universe, strength reigns supreme. Currently, you are just an ant. If you don't change your mindset, then you'll never be able to control your own fate.
"Crying is good, but just crying won't help you. You can shed tears, but must be strong. You mustn't let the sacrifice of your grandpa or your village in vain. You have to be strong, you have to get stronger, grow up. And one day, you can come back here, and do what you want to do. Since you found me, I can take you with me. There is only one question... Do you want to come with me?" Rick said seriously. He knew when to spoil and he knew when to be serious.
"Wipe your tears, when you get stronger, you won't be the one to cry." He continued. He finished chopping and put the meat inside the pot and covered it. Although it was only meat, it was still the meat of a spirit beast. The broth and meat would surely taste good. It was a pity that there was no rice.
When she wiped her years and nodded, Rick smiled again. He rubbed her head and kept quite. He did not bother with her past, and digging deeper would only cause her pain.
Hardships, mistakes, achievements and many things can influence growth. With such experience, she was already expected to mature early.
"Big brother, where are you from. You can do magic, dress weirdly, and has many things that I haven't seen before." After a long while of silence, Xinxin asked.
"Ah, I came from a very very far place." Rick's heart soured a little when he remembered Earth. "Haha, magic. Well, if you become powerful, you can also do this. And these clothes are from my hometown, and they are not weird, it is just a different design. The things that I use are all from my hometown." He added.
"Really? I can do magic too?!" Xinxin's eyes began to shine.
"Haha. Of course!" Rick laughed. Kids will be kids.
"Then can you teach me?!" Her eyes were filled with expectation.
"Of course I can! But in order to cultivate, you will need a stronger body. The training will be very painful, difficult and harsh, do you still want to continue?" Smiling, Rick stared at her eyes, relaying to her that he wasn't kidding. Even though he was a beginner himself, teacher her the beginning of Cultivation shouldn't be too hard.
"Of course, when do we start?!" Xinxin asked excitedly. Emotional scars are very difficult to heal, and Rick was shocked to see that she was very good at controlling her emotions.
She hid it behind her heart, but she was also using it as a motivation. Of course, he also noticed the hatred from her eyes, she wanted revenge!
But Rick did not mind it, he isn't a saint. Hatred begets hatred, but since this world was so ruthless, one will have eventually learn how to be ruthless. Hatred is easy to be born and lives longer, but forgiveness could die before it is even born.
Time passed and the sun began to shine. The meat was also cooked. Without further delay, Rick bought 2 large bowls and they began to eat. They ate peacefully.
After they were done, Rick packed up all what they have, also bought a lighter clothes for Xinxin.
The inventory was really useful and Rick couldn't thank the system enough for it.
Since they were sure to be sweaty, Rick bought moisture wicking clothes for both of them. He bought a new set of fatigues, he looked no different from yesterday. While Xinxin wore jeans and a thin jacket. Shoes that were comfortable, light and tough. And also a bucket hut to protect her from the sun and things from above.
Rick also got insect repellent lotion which Xinxin felt uncomfortable using, since it was her first time, but she eventually adopted to it.
...
They walked 3 kilometers an hour. But if Rick was alone, 5-6 kilometers would be easy to achieve.
They already left the bears territory long ago, that was why they needed to be careful. The land was flat, and Rick did not know the end of it. But from Shi Rongs memory, they should be able to reach it in 18 days or so with their current speed if they travel 8 hours a day. And Rick did not mind that. He was confident that he could unblock all of his meridians by then.
Four days passed, Rick and Xinxin sat while enjoying the warm from the fire. They had already covered a long distance. And every beast Rick sighted was dead with a single shot. No one even came close.
From the environment, anyone would be able to tell that it was spring season. So there were already meany spirit beast that they encountered. They already entered territories of other spirit beast a dozen times, but none seem to have a wider territory than the bear that he killed.
He also got three beast cores, fruits became more abundant as they traveled towards the route from Shi Rong's memories. There were also many pecular fruits that Rick found. Of course, they only ate what they knew that was edible.
In these days, Rick already unblocked his left and right Arm Meridians. Thanks to that, he could complete Qi Circulations. But of course, he had to suffer before he could do it.
(The reason why there are 12 meridians connected to his dantian was was because they were each ends of the 6 meridians.)
In a single meridian, there are 12 acupoints, with a total of 72 in a human body. And with every singe complete Qi Circulations, they meridian would get stronger and tougher.
It was then that Rick found out, the faster the Qi will flow, the more painful it is. Since then, he started to seriously study Shi Rong's memories and not be foolish.
He found out that beast cores are used to strenthen the Qi, that was why his Qi was nore potent and painful than normal. It was also the reason why he was able to clean the clog of his meridians faster than normal.
Every spirit beast has an element, and the beast core that they produce has that element. Thankfully, the bear's element was fire, and that helped him a great deal in cleaning his meridians.
Bang! Rick's punch left a 2 inches dent with the shape of his fist on a tree. It was the strongest punch he had ever produced in his whole life.
Because he ised Qi to coat his fist, he did not feel any pain or got bruised. If that was what a Stage 1 Qi Condensation capable of, then what would higher stages amount to?! He did not even unblock his other meridians yet, how powerful would he be if he did so?!
"Big Brother is so powerful!" Xinxin was amazed and she praised.
In these for days, they had gotten much more closer and she started to smile and talk more and more. She seemed to forget what she experienced a week ago.
As they bonded, Rick started to grow fond and doted on her more and more. He was like an over protective big brother.
"Haha. This is just the beginning. There are many more out there who are stronger than me." Rick said while smiling. He really treated her like a treasure.
Since Rick also wanted her to cultivate, they would do exercises every morning. Xinxin didn't complain when she woke up very early with Rick. She even told him to wake her up.
Rick found out to his astonishment that she was stronger and tougher than her looks. If any kids from earth fought here, then she would beat them in seconds.
She had animal like instincts, and a well conditioned body. Xinxin then told him that her grandpa would let her soak in different kinds of herbs since she remembered.
Rick was sure that her grandfather was not simple. Shi Rong, a student of the empire did not even know a single thing about herbs. That could only mean one thing, her grandpa was a cultivator.
And now, Rick doubted whether her grandpa really died or not.