My eyes fluttered open, causing me to groan.
The light of dawn shone into my room through the windows, and each strand of light amplified my headache.
Sitting up, I groaned again as I felt my dantian squeeze, sending a sharp pain throughout my body.
"What the..."
Panting, I stared down at my chest, my eyes landing on the turquoise pendant that hung around my neck.
Watching as it pulsed slightly, I gasped as my dantian squeezed a moment later, making me clutch at it.
Trying to yank it off my neck, I grit my teeth and groaned in agony as my dantian grew tighter, the pressure only relieving as I released the pendant.
"What the hells?!"
Waiting for the pain to recede, I panted as I stared at the pulsing pendant, before my eyes went wide as strands of wispy blue smoke wafted off its surface.
Floating around, they eventually entered my nose, making me cough at its sharp, strong scent of salt.
However, as the smoke entered my body, I felt it burrow into my meridians and enter my Qi, the Water Qi shimmering slightly.
Blinking, I shook my head before closing my eyes, checking my body for any more changes by filtering the Qi around.
It moved like normal, and when I pushed it into my core, it coalesced into a droplet of Pure Water Qi, adding to the few drops I already cultivated.
Seeing and sensing no changes, I frowned as I continued on, checking again.
When nothing changed, I exited my meditation and stared back down at the pendant, wondering what was happening.
Whenever I touched the turquoise coin, I felt my dantian clench in pain, which made it pulse and release those salty vapors, which entered my body, and eventually Qi.
My frown deepened; was this some Cultivators sick joke of a cultivation method? Constantly hurting oneself to get stronger?
And yet, it didn't even seem like it was able to do that!
Sighing, I muttered "Well, nothing ever happens on the first or second go, not in Cultivation. Maybe by the hundredth?"
Shaking my head, I decided to continue testing it later; it's not like I had anything to lose besides my life, and while death might be scary, if this thing just...
Made me not wake up one day, or it poisoned me, I might welcome that eternal sleep...
Getting up, I stared into my new, silver mirror, the reflection of my tired face and messy hair entering my eyes.
Sighing again, I shuffled over to the seat and started fixing my appearance, combing my black hair and cleaning my face, resulting in a still tired Li Yichen staring back at me.
Chuckling, I got up and moved over to the door, slipping out into the silent halls before approaching my White Willow, smiling softly as I started my daily routine.
Nurturing the monochromatic tree with half of my Qi, I then sat and started cultivating underneath its branches, taking hold of the pendant before inhaling the salty vapors, allowing it to merge with my Qi.
I didn't know exactly what it was doing, but after the hundredth rotation I started to notice some changes to my Water Qi.
It was darker, colder, and the droplets that had recently formed emitted some of that same vapor, which would occasionally create another droplet after enough time.
Frowning, I then stood up and went through the basics of the Flowing Palm Technique, pushing this new Qi through my body as I started at the beginning.
Push out, then gently bring your arms back...
Without stopping, rotate and repeat...
It was a Technique that enhanced ones control over their Qi, and when someone had Water Qi, it strengthened that Qi and made it more of an actual fluid, making it easier in the future to employ complicated Techniques.
It was a high ranking Foundational Technique, something that was given to start a persons journey; it wasn't strong to start, but when one reached the later stages and transitioned to a new Technique, it was like putting wings on a tiger...
Which was a line that Mother Ai loved to say, even though she was a rabbit...
For now, I still found myself at that beginning stage; inside the Moonlit Orchard, the real challenge started once one entered the Soul Transformation Realm, where you would start expanding on the foundation you built and strengthen yourself even more.
Ascendant, Sage, and Void were the Transitional Realms for the truly powerful, since Nirvana Realm Cultivators and above were the true experts of the worlds, and anyone stuck in those lower stages were considered good, but not important.
Inside the Moonlit Orchard alone, there were hundreds of thousands of Ascendants and Sages, with that number drastically lowering to just around a hundred thousand Void Cultivators.
As for Nirvana level, we had a thousand, while the second strongest Sect, the Sainted Sword Pavilion, only had three hundred.
That was the gap between everyone, and I...
Well, I was nothing, with my current Soul Formation strenght; without my parents, I would be little more than a disciple for some third rate Sect...
If I was lucky.
So, when I cast my senses inside again to find my core coated in a layer of moisture, small droplets of this new Qi pooling inside, my eyes widened in surprise at this sudden increase in speed.
I had figured that I would need another half year to advance forwards, but now I would need just two months, maybe three...
My eyes went to the turquoise coin around my neck, knowing that it was the cause of this.
What was it?
How was it able to do this?
Did Li Hui Ling know about this?
Is that why she gave it to me?
But why not say something?
Dozens of questions entered my mind, each one creating a dozen new questions.
However, before I could think on it further, I saw someone step into my courtyard, their piercing orange eyes glowing with lust.
Gao Chen had arrived, and I couldn't even react to her as she lunged forwards, lifting me into her arms and moving me to my bed.