Cyrus quietly followed great-grandpa Gu along a well-kept marble-like stairway leading up the mountainside in a serpentine pattern. Small temple-like structures made from a similar marble-like stone to the stairway stood at seemingly random intervals along the way. Incense burners crackled with small flames of different shades of green. The further up they went, the darker shade of green the small flames became. Small cave entrances barely large enough for a person to walk into without bending over could be seen off the beaten path beyond each of the small structures.
After several minutes of walking, they arrived at a regal-looking pavilion constructed in a surprisingly natural mixture of Oriental and Romanesque styles. The pavilion seemed to have been carved and built straight into the mountainside.
The older man led Cyrus through the front gate of the pavilion, revealing a large single room of simple design. Only ornate doors at the back of the large room had any semblance of architectural creativity, with the largest one being straight ahead and furthest into the mountainside. Even from within this room, Cyrus could feel the increased density of ambient Qi emanating from beyond the doors.
'I don't see any array formation nearby, but this area has the same effects as a basic spirit gathering array. Must be a natural occurrence, then. Lunala always liked cultivating in places like these…'
Cyrus' lips curved into a small nostalgic grin upon recalling his little vixen wife. Then, he frowned and thought, 'It's already been months since I last saw most of them because of how the main story played out. If I hadn't ended up dying in-game, I probably wouldn't have died irl, either. Really hope I can meet them again in this new life.'
"These are our direct family's seclusion rooms. Considering your current position in the family, you can use this one," The older man said, changing course to a smaller door on the left side of the room. The statement pulled Cyrus out from his reminiscing.
Beyond the door, they followed a short cave pathway that led into a naturally circular cavern, though some of it looked like it had been chipped away by human intervention to perfect its circular shape.
Not wasting any time, Cyrus sat down cross-legged in the center of the room. The older man pulled a chair and a book from his spatial ring before sitting in the pathway near the cultivation cave's entrance. Ignoring the older man's cautious gaze, Cyrus closed his eyes and focused his attention inward.
Before anything else, he studied the pathways of the Qi already gathered within his body by the previous Gu Yangde. Once again, he sighed in disappointment. Then, without further ado, he slowly pushed the energy out from his pores. Each of the Qi pathways had seven layers of energy to release and erase.
'These Qi layers would have formed the most unstable foundation I've ever seen. Glad I am in a state where starting over is still easy.'
In Cyrus' mind, erasing the Qi paths to make room for his own method of cultivating Qi was just a simple and tedious process that would take several hours, but the older man nearby couldn't help raising a brow. To the old man, the level of Qi control needed to erase one's own cultivation without damage exceeded his current comprehension, but not to the point of blowing his mind. It merely garnered his curiosity and cemented his notion that the 'memory inheritance' was real.
As the sun set and the moon rose, Cyrus moved on to the final step. He finally erased the final strands of Qi within his body aside from the natural flow of his life essence and blood. Upon finally experiencing the natural mortal state of his new body, Cyrus couldn't help sighing again.
'This is why I always bash these big cultivators' sense of talent. This body really isn't that bad overall, considering it doesn't have diseases, major hidden injuries, or anything else to overcome, so the original Gu Yangde must have been very lacking in his mental faculties to end up as trashy as he did…'
Since there were some mild internal problems caused by careless usage of Qi, especially within his lower gut, he spent some time reabsorbing Qi from the world around him to gently heal those spots. He particularly focused on an area of his groin with damaged nerves caused by careless, perhaps even demonic, dual cultivation practice. Luckily, the damage was still minor, which Cyrus concluded came from perhaps less than five occurrences of such foolishness.
From there, he steadily focused on gathering Qi again, though this time, he gathered it freely without any trouble, almost like water splitting off from a river into an empty basin.
Almost as soon as he started, he felt a strange but vaguely familiar gaze fall on him, which made him raise a brow. Out of curiosity, he opened his eyes. The Gu great-grandfather was looking at him, but that wasn't the kind of gaze he felt upon him. What he felt was more illusory in nature.
"Do you recognize me?" Cyrus mumbled almost inaudibly. The response he received wasn't one that could be described in words. Rather, he simply felt the affirmation thanks to his past experiences. Instantly, Cyrus couldn't help smiling as though he had just returned home after a long trip.
'Mind if I have some Qi?' He thought, knowing the entity would recognize his thoughts.
Once again, he felt a similar tingling within his mind representing affirmation, causing him to nod.
'Thanks.'
Due to the prying eyes of a certain spectator, he only absorbed the Qi at a rate that might be attributed to a somewhat talented cultivator in the eyes of the people from the First Heaven. Over the next few hours, he steadily absorbed Qi until his body contained as much as a seventh layer Qi Gathering realm cultivator. He figured he could reach the peak of the Golden Core realm, the limit of 'spirit' cultivation within the First Heaven because of the ambient Qi here, without any issues if he just sat around for a few months. However, he wanted to form a foundation of body cultivation before advancing his spirit cultivation, not to mention sitting around meditating to strengthen his spirit for extended periods of time didn't suit his mentality at all. Although most cultivators hated the idea of shedding blood, sweat, and tears to grow stronger, body cultivators who happily engaged in such a thing always held an advantage in head-on combat after doing so even if it took them far longer to reach an equivalent level as a cultivator who solely focused on their spirit. On top of that, body cultivators had more attractive muscular structures, which helped him get more than one Dual Cultivation partner in the past. He took such a path once before, and he could do it again.
To the older man's surprise, Cyrus stood up and stretched less than twelve hours after starting the process of resetting his cultivation base. Upon closer inspection with his Divine Sense, the man observed his great-grandson with understandable curiosity. The amount of Qi he sensed within 'Gu Yangde's' body matched that of his previous self, but for some reason that the man could not fully understand from an outside perspective, it felt far more stable and threatening than before. Well, it wouldn't intimidate him in the slightest due to the gap in their strength, but he could tell that, at the very least, his descendant might not be called the black sheep of the family anymore in the near future.
"You're done already? Don't you want to keep going until reaching Foundation Establishment? At that rate of cultivation, it might only take a week."
"This is enough for now. It only went that fast since I already reached this level before. Adjusting to higher density Qi takes time, much like any other form of self-improvement."
"...I suppose you're right. This old man is just hasty for his descendant to remember him again. Let's head back down to the moun-"
A sudden wave of turbulent air cut the old man off. His eyes narrowed and focused toward the direction of the Gu Estate even with thick rock walls obstructing his gaze. Even Cyrus felt the change in the air.
'Feels like two cultivators clashing with their aura rather than a full-on fight. Probably a minor dispute with an equally powerful family or something,' Cyrus calmly noted, having experienced similar things countless times over the years.
"Seems like somebody came to cause trouble with your father. Stay here while I go take care of it."
"I'll go, too. Seems like fun."
The older man raised a brow, but then shook his head and said, "Do as you please."