I woke early, my senses warning me of a new presence in camp. I sat up quickly and moved out of my tent, pulling my sword halfway as I exited my tent. Sitting next to the cold campfire was an older man. He sat next to the dead fire and hummed softly to himself as he sat with his eyes closed. I approached him and activated my Qi Sense skill. I was surprised to see the Spiritual Qi flowing into his body at a quick rate. The man's eyes opened and the flow of Qi stopped when he sensed my presence.
"Ah, a new Cultivator has joined this world I see." The man spoke with a low, raspy voice. As if he were parched and required water. "I wonder what kind of person you are? Could you be a Cultivator of great destiny? Or perhaps you only cultivate for your own selfish desires?" The man turned to look at me and I was surprised to see his eyes glassy and dead. This man was blind. "Would you amuse an old man? Please tell me, young man, why do you cultivate?"
"I wish to be strong enough to protect those I care about. I do not wish for supreme strength just for the sake of strength. I only wish to protect, save and help others in need." I replied on instinct, knowing that what I said in that moment was the truth. I did seek supreme strength, the peak of cultivation that everyone would seek. But I would never allow my power to overtake me. I wanted to protect others, not cause death and destruction.
[You have gained the admiration of, Eox The Eternal!]
I raised my eyebrow at the notification but pushed it to the back of my mind as Eox began to speak to me again. "Very good, Young man! You are indeed noble and true to your heart! I am an old man, a cultivator for many hundreds of years. But, as you can see, my time is short. So I wish to impart upon you some wisdom and perhaps some information that may be useful to you. I see that you have adopted a Spirit Tree, this will be a great boon to you in the future." I listened to the old man speak, my attention rapt on him as I heard Valeria exiting her tent and coming to stand next to me.
"Who is this Sam?" She asked, looking puzzled by the old blind man in front of us.
"This is Eox," I replied, "He says he has information he wishes to gift to me."
Valeria opened her mouth to say something before shutting it quickly and saying nothing. Eox looked in my direction and motioned me closer. "I shall now impart this information on to you, you Sam." I nodded and sat in front of Eox, closing my eyes as his finger touched my forehead. A stream of Eox's spirit traveled into my mind, forcefully unlocking my knowledge sea and flooding my mind with information.
[You have gained Enlightenment in the Supreme Dao! You have gained the ability to cultivate any cultivation technique! You have gained a rudimentary understanding of the Laws of the Universe!]
I winced in pain as the information flooded my mind, overwhelming my senses and forcing me into a meditation.
"You will need to cultivate for a while to absorb all of the information. It should take you a few days, maybe even a week to complete. I shall stand guard as you cultivate and sort the information I have given you." Eox spoke as I focused my mind and began to cycle the Spiritual Energy in my body and transform it into Qi to store in my Dantian. As I cultivated, Eox began to lecture and teach me.
"The Supreme Dao I have enlightened you with is a Dao I was never able to cultivate in my lifetime and is my Legacy. Should you chose to inherit my legacy there is a Treasury artifact I have left behind in the Spine Mountains. The information of this artifact is within your mind now and after absorbing all of the information you will know its location. Now, the Supreme Dao is the Way of All Laws. I have imparted the basic information of what the Laws are to you and it will be up to you to perfect them. If you can comprehend this information, you will be many times more powerful than any cultivator of your level. Now on the Laws of the Universe, this is what I know..." Eox launched into an in depth lecture of the Laws of the Universe, greatly helping me to understand the basics quickly. I began to circulate my Qi through my Meridians, Muscles and Organs. Tempering my body and Meridians to be able to hold purer Qi.
[You have broken through to Spirit Apprentice 2! No stat increase but your understanding of the Supreme Dao has unlocked access to the Supreme Qi! Also known as the Primordial Qi, the source of all Spiritual energy, life and matter!]
About a week later I opened my eyes to a new system message as I felt a fundamental change in the Qi within my body.