Hopelessness invaded my whole being while I desperately tugged at the door handle. It was one of the few moments of my life where I actually felt death looming up to me. The first one was when I slowly turned into a rabid human, of course.
I turned around after hearing Yu Yan crying on my shoulders. She didn't cry that loud. It's a silent cry you do when you're terrified but you can't do something about it. As for Yu Sying, she was trying her best to hold it in while closing her eyes.
The rabid humans were only a few feet away from us.
Ten feet...
Five Feet...
Click!
My momentum almost made me fell forward as the shopping mall door suddenly burst open. Before my face hit the ground, however, I managed to step forward and prevent myself from falling down and embarrassing myself. I should say I did it successfully since I didn't keel over.
As if by some sort of miracle, the door opened on its own and we were saved from the horde of rabid humans outside. I heaved a sigh of relief with Yu Sying and Yu Yan.
We were saved.
How many second chances have I received now?
The first thing that occurred in my mind is to thank whoever saved me. If it was a miracle, then I'd prostrate and thank God myself but what I saw was something else.
"And so, what are you three doing in the middle of the city?" A woman's voice asked me.
Click!
An intense banging sound was heard as all the rabid humans chasing us collided into the door. They probably fell on top of each other as they desperately clawed on themselves and the door while wondering where their meal went to.
Well, not today, my friends. Sorry to burst your bubble, filthy rabid humans.
"Oh, greetings," I greeted the lady who was rational enough to close the door for us. "I was traveling alone when I saw these two being attacked by a rabid human. And then we were chased by the lot of them just because this mom here just had to scream after I accidentally touched her bosom while I shoved her away from the rabid humans' line of sight. And yes, it was an accident, I didn't mean anything by touching her there... wait, did I already say that?"
"Yeah, t-twice." The lady covered her bosom as if guarding it from my harmless hands. "What's your name?"
"Yongrui." I simply mumbled. "Yours?"
"I'm Lin Xian. Nice to meet a fellow human in this zombie-infested city." She greeted me but she didn't take a step near me.
I carefully dropped Yu Sying and Yu Yan on a corner. They still haven't woken up after fainting a moment ago. "In any case, thank you for helping us. We would've been dead if it weren't for you. That aside, what are you doing here all by yourself?" I questioned her with a doubtful expression on my face, keeping my guard up in front of the mysterious girl that willingly saved us, strangers.
"It's none of your business." She simply replied as she grabbed her backpack and bat on the corner of the place. Without speaking another word, she just went deeper into the mall.
What a weird woman.
Whatever, now... let's get back to business.
Since Yu Sying and Yu Yan didn't seem like they're waking up anytime soon, I decided to cultivate and progress in my breakthrough. For a normal person, that wouldn't be the first thing he'd do as soon as he escaped death by the teeth but as for me, I had no choice but to do it. Firstly, because I don't have time to cultivate while traveling and secondly, I'm going to die very soon since I'm helping this mother-daughter duo travel in the apocalypse. The more people I have with me, the riskier it would get so I have to grow stronger as much as I could.
It would've been much easier if I was alone but I need to get to that Tang Shelter and I have no idea which direction it is. After all, much has changed in the cities around the area because of the outbreak.
After rechecking if Yu Sying and Yu Yan were still asleep, I sat down cross-legged a few feet from them and started my cultivation. I didn't know it at first but after feeling rejuvenated while biting Yu Sying's husband, I realized I have a knack for absorbing someone's Qi, just like how a sponge absorbs water when it comes in contact with it. When I sucked the blood out of those I bit, I wasn't really intentionally doing it, I was getting the energy from their blood and making it my own.
Oh well, it's too late to realize that now, I guess.
For a brief explanation, Qi is the energy of every living thing, and just like air is present around living things, Qi is present everywhere. (If you have a television at home or something, just watch the worldwide hit film Kung Fu P*nda and you will know what it is) Now, Qi is necessary for cultivation since that's what determines how you would achieve a breakthrough. For additional information, cultivation is just a way of efficiently gathering and harnessing the Qi. Once you have a certain mastery over your gathered Qi, you will become stronger. That's where the Realms come from. Realms are basically someone's rank when it comes to how powerful someone is. It's basically the level someone has attained. The higher-leveled you are, the stronger you are. And just like in video games, the higher-leveled you are, the more it's hard to level up and reach the next stage.
Think of cultivation as a glass being slowly filled up with water. The glass here represents your cultivation level and the water represents how much Qi you have. Once you reach the maximum capacity of water, which is your qi, you have to use an even bigger glass of water. That's when a breakthrough comes in. A breakthrough occurs when your glass is not big enough so you transfer all your water (Qi) to a bigger glass. If you're successful in the transfer, then you'd have achieved a breakthrough.
Now that I mentioned a breakthrough, it should be fitting to discuss cultivation levels. In total, there are a total of nine known cultivation levels: Mortal, Spirit, Emperor, King, Immortal, Ancient, Dao, Transcendence, Beyond Transcendence.
Each of these cultivation levels is subdivided into eight levels. Since I just achieved a breakthrough into the Spirit Realm while I was unconscious, I unlocked an element and I skipped the first level up to the eighth level of the mortal realm. When I woke up, I was already on the first level of the spirit realm which is also called the Qi Condensation stage. Basically, when you successfully condensed your qi into a stable orb of energy near your navel, you've more or less achieved a breakthrough towards the Spirit realm. Each realm holds a different type of power so the higher your cultivation level is, the more abilities you have.
That's pretty much how it works.
And why am I talking to myself?
Without further ado, I sat down and started cultivating the Qi that I accidentally absorbed from Yu Sying's husband. Although I felt guilty about it, it gave me more Qi so I'm grateful for him.
To think that I probably bit countless rabid humans or humans before Yu Sying's husband is scary... so I would rather not think about it.