I shuffled over across the burrow towards the only source of light within the small space
The spiritual core of the female White Mantis
I admit I couldn't help but think
"Am I about to cultivate"
Not gonna lie the very thought was almost enough to make smash the spiritual orb but I rejected the idea.
The very concept of cultivating went against my insect side like oil to water, as not only was it pretty much physical impossible due to my nonhuman spiritual core being unable to slowly integrate energy and instead would consume it instantly but it appears that my hate towards cultivating had amplified by quite a bit
The very idea of cultivating made me want to SLOWLY AND PAINFUL RIP OUT AND EAT MY OWN SPIRITUAL CORE!!!
Ahem
Anyway, even if my human side wanted to cultivate which believe me it did not as even before being reborn, I had only seen cultivation as the biggest problem in societies where it exists!
Think about it, in cultivation novels society is always and only decided by strength, this means that people are not only unequal due to talent but also that the become petty and arrogant. I mean how many times have you read where a character is willing to kill just for an insult or even that their family member lost in a fair challenge.
I mean sure humanity was never perfect, but the idea of cultivation was like giving certain people a gun and giving others a nuclear submarine
All you get is a bunch of arrogant people who constantly harm those who don't deserve it for bullshit reasons
Sigh…
Okay that's enough ranting, let's get to work
Picking up the orb the size of a bowling ball between my front legs I slowly raised it to my head and began to chow down
It took about five minutes to eat the whole thing (hey! you try eating without hands!)
It kind of felt like eating a light bulb, warm and extremely crunchy
And then came the pain
If a cultivator tried to integrate an orb of that size at rank 2 it would have taken him months and felt like he had ants under his skin
But for me who just ate the whole thing I just five minutes it felt like I was being flayed alive.
I couldn't scream due to the pain
I thrashed on the ground
Al I could do was claw the walls of the burrow until my legs and blades were covered in my own blood.
I knew that if I lost conciseness I wouldn't wake up
All I could do was wait out the pain for what felt like an eternity
After what I swear was days the pian seemed to recede
And I was able to think coherently
"Whew that wasn't fun kekeke"
Looking around I could see the sheer state of the burrow, the roots that once surrounded the space were practically eviscerated, the space was actually nearly a meter bigger due to the amount of times I had slashed the walls
As much I wanted something to eat, I instead turned my focus inward and began to assess my body
Concerning that, as far as the information given to me tells any living being can have a form of internal spiritual sense as long as they had a spiritual core as even without cultivation it provided minute amounts of Chi which allowed for said inward searching
Anyway, as I began to peak within my body, I noticed three major changes
For on I had been fully healed of any injuries that were caused by my scuffle with the female mantis as well as the fall and any damage I had caused myself during my "anti-cultivation" (what else could I going to call the process?)
Secondly, I appeared to now have at least the spiritual strength equivalent to a Stage 5 Apprentice Cultivator meaning I hopefully was actually at least physically stronger than that.
And finally, and possibly the most important I was able to feel a strange energy within my body
Chi
If I had Chi this meant that I should be able to manipulate it
So, I tried to make it move within my body…
[6 minutes later]
This is really hard!
How do those Basterds make it seem so easy?
Every time I tried to shift the flow of Chi or tried to gather it in a certain part of my body I failed, I couldn't keep hold of the chi long enough for it to have any form of effect. It was like trying to hold a live fish with rubber gloves
Theoretically I should be able to use chi the second I enter Class 2, as it is during the transition between 1st and 2nd class where the spiritual core goes through it's first big growth allowing for the use of chi
Now that I think about it why didn't the female White Mantis use chi during our scuffle?
She must have just left a fight! That would explain here injuries as well as why I was able to win so "easily"
I couldn't help but shiver at the thought of what would have happened to me had I met her at full strength.
Still now that I have gotten a little stronger, I should face less risk if I face another mantis, after all it's every thing else in the forest that is stronger that I should be afraid of not my own kind
Realistically the only reason I can think of why I'm struggling to manipulate chi is because I as a new occupant of this body aren't used to it and as such struggle to control it
This means I have to do something no sane mantis should ever have to do…
Meditate (Shudder)
But before I even try that I first need some food and to get a good look at myself, I don't even know if I'm an ugly or handsome Black Mantis
I need to hunt!