(???)
As everybody on planet Earth should know, the world is shit. To some people shittier than some other people may believe. No matter what, your family members will die, you'll eventually lose your source of income, your kids will move away and rarely talk to you, and you will soon be buried alone inside a dark coffin with no one at your funeral. These are the things I learned to accept at an age I shouldn't have, an age far too young for a child.
My name is Yuna Nokigawa, and my existence as a whole was a mistake. I was one of those kids born with no talent in anything, I couldn't walk or read or even write when I was naturally supposed to, which was years. I believe everyone is born with a little talent in everything and a lot of talent in one or 2 things. This can be writing, math, science, etc. I was abandoned by my birth parents and was never adopted by anyone. I was stuck in an orphanage for my whole life until I was forced to leave. While I had no talent in anything whatsoever, I was still able to develop skills that enabled me to fend for myself barely.
This led to the only thing I found joy in my life, books. I loved to read, and while it was hard after reading hundreds of different books, you'll get used to it. I spent most of my time reading when I wasn't stressing at my stressful job, which was barely able to pay for my necessities. I read life-improvement books, novels, webtoons, manga, and a multitude of other things. This led me to force myself to learn 5 new languages, which took me more than 10 years to complete, but I could read more than a handful of books afterward.
One of my favorite types of novels was when a person with heavenly-defying talent rose up from the bottom, too soon able to stand proudly amongst the most powerful of gods and demons. I would dream I were in their place, having the talent and determination to change the world as a whole. So with no talent of my own, I was left with determination, and I used it to my utmost ability.
For hours, days, months, and years I developed every skill I possibly could with the one I'm most proud of, multitasking. I would try and learn multiple skills at the same time and let's just say I was improving myself. I wasn't just sitting down and letting life kick my ass; even if I failed, your better believe I got back up and started swinging.
I was able to learn and master many skills by the time I left this world at the tender and 87 years old. I smiled as I looked at my old wrinkly hands and laid on my hammock, and thought that maybe, just maybe, I did well in life. I could feel myself growing weaker and my eyes getting heavier as I was soon transported to a world of endless darkness.
It felt warm here, unlike anything I had ever felt before, yet, it felt so familiar, as if I had been here before. I let out a sigh of relaxation, not even attempting to notice the fact that I looked like I did when I was 20. I simply lay there when I was disturbed by a man with no head in a white suit.
Image here ->
The man simply sat down next to me as I stared into the endless darkness with a small smile. "Ya, know you're really impressive, mister Nokigawa..." The headless but fashionable man said.
"I don't think so; when it came to life, I simply didn't sit around and do nothing. If a person was slightly more talented than me with the same determination, they could've achieved far greater..." I said softly as I looked at the man.
"Yes, that may be true, but the meaning behind your existence makes me understand why I still have hope for your species." The man said softly before continuing, "Do you know why the concept of talent was created? It was created for the sole purpose of survival and ambition. Talent was an evolutionary trait that we came up with during the 3rd rework of your species. " The man said as the landscape around us changed as we appeared in a flower field.
I didn't feel surprised or anything, and it even felt familiar. "Anyways, I'm revealing too much to you currently. I am here to tell you that you have given us a piece of breakthrough information, and due to this, we will offer you the chance to be reborn with one gift." The man said, extending his white hand towards me.
"I've always read about these things in novels, but I didn't actually think that this could happen," I said, surprised. "Well, this doesn't happen very often; out of the trillions of versions of your race, this has only happened.... 4 times, including you." The mand said, shrugging his shoulders.
"Anyways, choose your gift, and I'll send you to one of those cultivation worlds you like so much, oh and make sure you choose wisely cause unless you do something impressive, your not gonna get another chance." The man said as the sky started to darken.
"I want talent..." I said simply while looking at the man with slight hope in my eyes. The man then folded his arms and looked up, thinking momentarily, "Talent, huh... I guess you would want such a simple thing, but if I may, why not just ask to be the strongest or something equally ambitious" The man said, looking back at me. "I have learned through my life that working for my abilities is more rewarding than being given them simply. I simply want the gift of talent so I may live comfortably in a world where talent means everything," I said with a soft tone.
"Mighty fine answer, but simply giving you some talent won't work for me since you gave me a piece of valuable information about the soul. So...OH! I'll give you the ability to manipulate talent to your whim." The man said proudly as if he had come up with a reality-shattering new idea.
"Wha..." is the only thing I could say in response. "Simple, you will have the ability to manipulate talent; you can steal talent, increase your own talent, generate talent, lower the talent of others, etc." the man said, pointing at me as I began to fade away. "Oh, times up; anyways, you should know you'll be born as a hermaphrodite since you were already a male in your last life and a female before that; is what it is..." he said, shrugging his shoulders before vanishing himself.
I had a deadpanned expression on my face as I finished vanishing, and I immediately felt like I just did a canon ball into a pool of water. I couldn't understand at first until I saw a translucent screen appear in front of me.
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Message from The Inventor: {Hey, you might be confused, so I'll give you the rundown of the situation you are in currently. So first, you are currently inside your mother's womb and around 5 months developed. Second, you have a status window that I gave you to keep track of the talents and skills you may obtain, and it also works as an analyzer for people and objects. This will not help you get stronger, and this is just to make things a bit easier for you in this world. Third, for your talent manipulation, you can use it now if you want to; I recommend you use it now and make any changes you want while in the womb. And Lastly, fourth, talent manipulation can affect more things than you may think, so I recommend you try to change your talent with things you wouldn't expect, like luck, for example. Anyways, you'll never hear from me again, well maybe, anyways, have fun and become overpowered.
P.S. - In order to manipulate talent, just imagine it, I promise just try it once, and it'll come as naturally as breathing; I made it that way. Also, you can only change talent that you've experienced or seen; for example, if you were a person jumping in the air, you'd be able to change your talent at jumping.}
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After receiving the message, I let out a mental sigh as the god's personality. Let's get right to it, I guess, so I have to imagine it, huh? I wonder what talent I should change, I'll try luck like he said.
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[Status Window ]
[Luck Talent - None]
[Growth Talent - None]
[Strength Talent - None]
[Speed Talent - None]
[Intelligence Talent - None]
[Multi-Tasking Talent - None]
[Math Talent - None]
[Charisma Talent - None]
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.
.
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Yea, that explains why my life was so shit, because I actually had no talent whatsoever... well let's see what happens when we max everything out.
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[Status Window ]
[Luck Talent - Embodiment - You are now the physical Embodiment of luck; unexplainable lucky things that can even go against the laws of nature will happen to you.]
[Growth Talent - Embodiment - You are the physical embodiment of growth, you have no limit on your growth, and if you try hard enough, you can even rival the gods]
[Strength Talent - Embodiment - You are the physical embodiment of Strength; with time, you will grow strong enough to lift multiverses with your pinky finger]
[Speed Talent - Embodiment - You are the physical embodiment of Speed; with time, you will be able to outrun the concept of time and death.]
[Intelligence Talent - Embodiment - You are the physical embodiment of intelligence; with time, you will achieve true omnipotence.]
[Multi-Tasking Talent - Embodiment - You are the physical embodiment of multi-tasking; with time, you'll be able to do infinite things at once.]
[Math Talent - Embodiment - You are the physical embodiment of math; with time, you'll be able to see the world in numbers and equations and manipulate them to your will.]
[Charisma Talent - Embodiment - You are the physical embodiment of charisma; simply put, you are no longer a maidenless tarnished, but you get more bitches than that one rich kid at school.]
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.
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I suddenly felt something similar to lighting rage throughout my entire body. It was painful, just shocking; I was confused, and not at the same time; I didn't feel any different, but I knew something had changed. I'll just have to wait.
(Times skip a number of months to the moment she was born)
The moment I was born was strange since it is the most uncomfortable thing you can imagine and then. When I finally made it out of the canal while consciously moving my body to my umbilical cord would wrap around my neck. The air felt different, and it felt cleaner and more... alive. I couldn't put it into words; at the time, I just knew everything seemed weird. I see things I couldn't before, hear things that shouldn't be heard, smell things that shouldn't be smelled. I could only laugh in triumph as I was planning on becoming the strongest in this world while looking elegant.
I physically cringed when I thought that, but it is what it is. Anyway, it didn't take long for me to realize what kind of living situation I was in. One, I had no father, and 2 me, and my mother were poor, like I'm talking off-brand cereal with water poor. That's beside the point, as I'm only a newborn, so the most I can do is observe. Thankfully, I quickly realized that they were speaking Chinese, at least some of them. I was able to vaguely make out what they were saying as the only things I heard were debt and 4 months; the rest was gibberish I couldn't quite understand.
I suddenly felt really sleepy, and I fell unconscious.
(Time Skip 4 years)
I'm now years old, and many things have happened. First, I look really adorable with snow-white hair and eyes. As the years went on, my talents started to take more and more effect with each passing day. I could feel myself growing smarter and stronger simply by existing. For instance, I was able to learn a new language 3 days after my birth completely. Second, even though I'm only 4 years old, I have the physical strength of your average healthy adult male. A 4-year-old should not have the capability to kill a grown with their bare hands.
Anyway, my mother and I are still poor, but by a stroke of luck, my mother found a rare item that was sold for a quite penny. Going from off-brand cereal with water-poor to plain poor is a good step. Anyway, my mother is actually quite the beauty, and she. Her name is Sung-Mei Yong. My mother is the best; even when she would be freezing in the middle of the night, she always ensured I was warm, making her the person I cherish most.
Sung-Mei Yong Appearance(For the love of god, do not comment on these) ->
I found it strange that my mother had red hair and I had white hair, but I didn't question long. Sung-Mei worked and did many things around our village, from cutting wood to transferring things from one side of the village to another. Oh, and don't underestimate the sheer size of the village; if I were to put a reference, I would say it was around 65 percent of New York's Central Park could fit in the village. Yeah, this place is fucking huge, and my dear mother is capable of doing multiple jobs at the same time over this huge area.
It was due to seeing my mother's hard work that I was able to unlock a new talent.
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{New} Hard-Working Talent - Embodiment - You are the physical embodiment of hard work; with time, through sheer effort alone, you'll be able to stand at the top of all things.
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With that talent, my admiration and love for my dearest mother grew by leaps and bounds. I may have to admit I was a little too attached because when a guy tried to hit on her, I never released so much bloodlust in my 2, maybe 3 lifetimes. Today was the usual day when my little kid was lying across my bed without a care in the world until my mother woke me up.
"Sweetie, you need to get up, or else your food will get cold," Sung-Mei said gently as she caressed my silky hair. I lifted my body with too much force and almost flung myself off my bed. Well, I would've if my mom hadn't caught me; she was used to it since this happens a lot. "I'm up, mama..." I say, dazed from the amazing sleep I had. "Get ready, love, and today, you're coming with me to show you how I work," Sung-Mei said with a huge proud smile. I jumped in the air excitedly as I immediately ran to the table and started stuffing my face.
It was early in the morning, and the sun was just rising in the sky. My mother and I left our comfortable house and walked across the village to a small plantation of fruits and vegetables. My mother was greeted with warm smiles from everyone around as she took a basket of fruits and vegetables as well as a small bag for us. We went and visited an old man who we just called Lee. Lee was a happy old man who would take care of me when my mother was off trying to earn more money. Now Lee just so happens to be a merchant in our village who always sells high-quality fish.
We dropped off the basket at Lee's house, and he gave us a small bag filled with fish. We then went to the blacksmith of the town. The blacksmiths of the town made weapons for hunting in the forest nearby as well as most of any metal related in the village. Now what surprised me was that Sung-Mei was also a blacksmith and, according to the people there, one of the best they have. I watched in awe at the amazing technique my mother struck the iron bar with. I also wanted to be helpful, so my mother gave me the job of cleaning the place while she worked.
I grabbed a makeshift broom made from a tree branch and some hay.
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[{New Talent} Agriculture - Embodiment - You will eventually be able to grow a new world tree]
[{New Talent} Cleaning -Embodiment - You are the Embodiment of cleaning; you'll eventually be able to clean realm #3726392, also known as the dimension of trash.]
[{New Talen} Blacksmithing -Embodiment - You will be the Embodiment of blacksmithing; You'll eventually be able to create a weapon that even the gods would fear.]
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I smiled, looking at my talents, and started cleaning; every minute, I would get better at sweeping. The way I held the broom became natural, and the broom was picking more and more things. Everybody was so focused on their blacksmithing that they realized a young child zooming through, cleaning every spec of dust in the shop.
I cleaned the place for 3 hours as that's when my mother would be able to leave. When Everyone breaks out of their trances of focus, they are standing in separate piles of iron dust and trash. I had an adorable proud smile on my face as everyone looked around the workshop and realized that this place was cleaner than it was when they were hired years ago. I was bombarded with compliments as they rubbed my hair, messing it up, and my mother picked me, giving me many kisses on the cheek, which made me blush from embarrassment.
It was a long day, and we still did a few more things after that. So when I lay on my bed, I groaned in exhaustion and felt my muscles aching in pain. My mother sat by my side and caressed my hair gently. "You see, I wanted to show you something I've come to cherish; everybody in this village is one big family; we aid each other through sickness and health. I wanted you to realize that even if you are far away, you'll always have a home to return to." Sung-Mei said gently.
My eyes lit up at these words "Listen, Akane, when you put your all into something, rewards will follow. I just want you to know that you are loved and cared for, and I want you to know that more people love and care for you if you put in the effort; Good night, sweetie," My mother said as she kissed my forehead. My mother didn't see, but I had tears in my eyes at those amazing words from her. I wanted to make Sung-Mei proud of me, and I will work myself to the bone for that.
(Timeskip 4 years)
I woke up in the morning and cooked an amazing meal for me and my mother. I have been helping her in any way I can for the past 4 years, from cleaning and cooking to even doing some small jobs for her. I was adored by the village for my personality, talent, looks, etc. I could hear my mother yawning from her room as she came out of it with messy hair. She still looked as beautiful as ever, and it was as if she hadn't aged a single day.
"Good morning, Akane, Whatever ya making smells amazing," Sung-Mei says as she basically floats to the table. I just make two perfectly fluffy pancakes, and the best part is over the years, I collected maple leaves and made some syrup with them. These pancakes shouldn't actually exist here cause even some of the more wealthy villagers never heard of them. One of them tried to replicate it by simply looking at it, and he almost burned his house down.
Today was ordinary; we would leave and do jobs together after breakfast. Over the years, I have become so efficient at completing the jobs that my mother started giving me a small amount of spending money. Also, not to mention, every time I attempted something, I would instantly get better at it.
If I wanted to, I could complete all the jobs my mother does in a fraction of the time she does them, but I don't want to do that. I like the fact that I can help my mother while she still contributes to the villages in ways I couldn't. I enjoy just being her little helper until she gets too old for the job. The morning was peaceful as Mother, and I would just talk to each other, but little did I know this would be the worst day of my life.
After a harsh day's work, I cooked up a feast with the fish we got from old man Lee. After eating, we were about to go to bed when we heard screaming. We immediately got up and went outside to see the village being pillaged and burned down. I saw the people who help was me into the girl I am and one I could be proud of getting slaughtered. The anger I felt was overwhelming as I looked at my mother, who clenched her fist so hard they started to bleed.
Sung-Mei rand back into the house, lifting her mattress, and took out a sword and a book. Sung-Mei tsked in displeasure, but she knew what she had to do.
"Sweetpea, listen carefully, okay, I love you so much, and it's a shame I won't get to see you grow up..." My mother said as tears started to form in her eyes. I reached out my hand to her, but she pushed it away. "Take this cultivation technique, and master it; become so strong that not even the heavens will be a match for you, now run."
"But Mama..." I said with tears as Sung-Mei kissed my forehead and told me to run even louder. I began running to the tree lines as I saw my mother fighting off many bandits and swiftly killing them all; I then saw a figure appear before her as she looked back at me with a gentle smile; As the flames covered my vision, I couldn't see through. I didn't stop running; every minute, I ran faster and faster; Eventually, I looked back and saw a gigantic blue flower in the sky bloom as I felt the air around me grow denser. I kept running as my mother told me to, and I was running so fast that I eventually started breaking the ground under me. I ran into the depths of the forest where no one could find me as I sat by a tree and cried. My mother was gone, my village was gone, those innocent children were gone, and I was too much of a pussy to do anything. The rage in my soul was something I'd only felt in my last life when I decided to change for the better.
I stopped crying and looked to the moon as I wiped the tears from my face.
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[{New Talent} - Analyzation - Embodiment - You will eventually be able to analyze them so proficiently that even the god of secrets can no longer hide anything from you.]
[{New Talent} - Stealing - Embodiment - You can eventually steal anything from souls to the power of gods to even emotions.]
[{New Talent} - Killing - Embodiment - You will have the talent of killing to such a degree that even killing gods of war and strength will become trivial]
[{New Talent} - Swordsmanship - Embodiment - Your talent at swordsmanship will eventually make it so even a blade of grass can cut through dimensions.]
[{New Talent} - Rage - Embodiment - You are the Embodiment of Rage; eventually, your rage will be so strong that even the gods will fear it.]
[{New Talent} - Fire Resistance - Embodiment - You will eventually be immune to almost all fire attacks. ]
[{New Talent} - Emotion - Embodiment -Your control over your emotions will be unparaelled]
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After I had calmed down, I looked at the book my mother handed me. The title had the words "Divine Rot" written on the covers. The thought of many things passed through my mind. Was it poison, or was it somehow related to the ability of scarlet rot possible? I knew one thing based on the book, and the technique was extremely dangerous.
I breathed in slowly, then exhaled as the weight in my chest slowly disappeared, and I accepted that I no longer had a home to get to.
I opened the book and began reading its contents, and for a moment, I couldn't understand the language until…
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[{New Talent} - Comprehension - Embodiment - You will become the Embodiment of comprehension; eventually, you'll be able to truly comprehend the meaning of existence and even the god's true faces.]
[{New Talent} - Reading - Embodiment - You will become the Embodiment of reading; eventually, you'll be able to read the outer gods' language and anything to the point of pure perfection.]
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I suddenly felt a sharp pain in my head as blood trickled down my nose. I wiped the blood from my nose and sat down under the tree; I was being bathed in the moonlight, filling me with warmth for some strange reason. I reopened the book and began looking through the words. My brain immediately began decoding the words into something I could understand, and as every second passed, the decoding got faster.
Not even 10 minutes of looking at the words of the book, I could completely understand it. I felt pride in my abilities and a sense of show. This technique of the book was similar to the ability of an old game I played where a boss had an ability called scarlet rot. Divine rot seems almost exactly the same, except it's more controlled, and not to mention you needed a certain bloodline even to attempt this, or else your body would rot away from the inside out in mere seconds.
I kept reading and realized that the big blue flower I saw was most likely from my mother. I hoped for a moment that she was alive, but right now wasn't the time to worry about her; I needed to survive. The first step of this technique was to unlock all of my dantian by absorbing the energy around me and passing it through me from the core to my chest, neck, head, shoulders, etc.
From the book, learning any cultivation technique starts with opening all of your data, which could take months or even years. Obviously, that wouldn't be the case for me, but I had to do it once. I slowed my breathing and began concentrating on the air around me, trying to sense something or something of something. I simply sat there for an hour, just concentrating, controlling my breathing, trying not to force an effect but just allowing it to happen. However, I didn't sense anything; well, I guess if cultivation were that easy, everybody would be the main character in those novels.
I was feeling thirsty and hungry, I'd never been this deep inside the forest, so I didn't exactly know where I was or where I came from. Wait a second, I came from that direction, but why does it look different... I continued looking at my sounding, unsure of what was happening. I looked in my peripheral vision and suddenly saw a tree vanish and appear on the other side of my vision.
I understand now this forest is moving around to keep people trapped. That is why my mother always told me never to venture too far into the forest.
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[{New Talent} - Senses - Embodiment - Your talent with senses will eventually allow you to sense an ant from multiple dimensions away.]
[{New Talent} - Eyesight - Embodiment - Embodiment - Due to your talented senses, your eye will eventually be able to see all that is, all that was, and all that will be.
[{New Talent} - Hearing - Embodiment - Due to your talented senses, your sense of hearing will eventually be powerful enough to hear the voices of the eldritch gods.
[{New Talent} - Smelling - Embodiment - Due to your talented senses, your sense of smell will eventually be powerful enough to smell the intentions of others
[{New Talent} - Touching - Embodiment - Due to your talented senses, you will eventually be able to feel the smallest things interacting with your mortal body.
[{New Talent} - Tasteing - Embodiment - Due to your talented senses,
[{New Talent} - Spatial Awareness - Embodiment - Your talent with spatial awareness will eventually allow you to know your exact location even in the void where the direction has no concept.]
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I grasped my head in pain as my brain began to be overloaded with information from my heightened sense. However, the next second, everything died down. I suddenly felt like a small portion of the world was opened up to me as I could hear, see, and feel things I couldn't before.
The moment I got those talents, it felt like my senses were set free from shackles I didn't know they had. In the distance, I could hear a stream and a fast one at that. I walked in the direction of the sounds as I glimpsed the forest changing in the corner of my eye. It took me around 5 minutes of walking through a changing forest to reach the river, and it was a stunning sight. Animals of all kinds were at the river; some were much larger than they were supposed to be. The river was humongous as it looked like a great lake.
I walked to the edge of the water, and just like all the other animals, I drank from the river. I stopped when I felt eyes on me, and when I looked up, I saw all the majestic animals staring at me. However, I didn't sense any killing intent or harm toward me, so I just sat there. Then suddenly, out of nowhere, a gigantic Chinese dragon appeared out of the smoke and looked directly at me; it looked like it was the size of a small mountain. His huge pupil focused on my small frame, and it blew its breath on me all of a sudden. It then backed away and disappeared, and the animals around me stopped staring at me and went back to do whatever they were doing.
Dragon Art Reference ->
I was confused, but I had a feeling the dragon allowed me to stay there. I decided now wasn't a good time to question things and continued to drink from the lake. When my thirst was finally quenched, I felt so invigorated. I sat down on the ground and stared, trying to sense the energy around me, which the book called Nature Energy or Qi. However, unlike before, I almost immediately felt something; I began to focus on it harder, and suddenly I could sense it, and there was soo much of it.
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[{New Talent} - Qi Absorption - Embodiment - Your talent with Qi absorption will eventually allow you to absorb the purest form of nature energy at an unprecedented speed.
[{New Talent} - Qi Sensing - Embodiment - Your talent at sensing Qi will eventually allow you to see the entire world around you, from people to plants to animals. This also comes with the added benefit of being able to sense poison of any kind.
[{New Talenr} - Qi Manipulation - Embodiment - Your talent at Qi manipulation will eventually allow you to objects like swords and daggers, guns and bombs, to even life itself. ________________________________________
Now that I can absorb and manipulate Qi, the next step of this process is to begin unlocking all the dantians in my body. From the book, it said I must overflow the dantain with enough to where it unlocks itself. This should take a normal person a few months to a year or two, depending on talent and how many dantian that person has. Most people in the world have around 9 or 12; I, on the other hand, have up to 50 dantian in my body. This is a double edge sword since it means it will take longer for me to reach the next stages, but it also means I'll be far stronger than somebody in the same stage as me.
I breathed in and began absorbing Qi with ease, and with every passing minute, the amount I would absorb would increase a little. The QI began to enter my core as the dantian began to be filled with Qi. It was a very slow process, but I didn't have anything to do, so I just sat there for 10 hours just absorb Qi into my dantian. The animals around couldn't care less what I was doing since they were doing it, too, and at a scary rate. The don't have to focus, they simply just do it naturally.
Since over the 10 hours, my absorption rate was getting faster, and the Qi I was absorbing was getting pure, I suddenly felt something crack inside me, and then it cracked repeatedly. Finally, it felt like an invisible wall was shattered as I hunched over in pain and began throwing up black liquid; the liquid came out of my skin, nose, eyes, and ears. The immense pain continued for around 30 minutes until I eventually lost consciousness.
When I came to, I smelt like absolute horse shit. The black substance dried on my skin like mud. I could barely stop myself from throwing up at its awful smell. I saw the dragon from before resting on the other of the lake. I began to run to the other side of the huge lake, but I underestimated how fast I was and flew past the dragon and crash-landed into the tree.
I obviously woke up the dragon from its nap, and it looked at me strangely. I got up from the remains of the fallen tree and politely began to speak to the majestic creature.
"Mister Dragon, is there another water source where I can clean myself? I do not wish to contaminate the water other creatures drank from." The dragon looked at me for a moment before the tree I had destroyed immediately repaired itself, and a path began to open, leading to a small river.
"I will leave the path open for you, little one..." the dragon said in a wise and deep voice. I, however, jumped in absolute surprise at the fact the dragon could speak. The dragon, seeing my reaction, chuckled slightly, laid its head back down, and continued to watch the incredibly beautiful lake. I walked along the path and eventually arrived at a beautiful bond with lotus flowers all across the bond, not to mention the many fruit trees around the pond. I immediately stripped and cannonballed straight into the bond, laughing and swimming around. Despite my actual age, I'm acting like a young child. I've never been able to experience a good childhood in my last life, and my amazing childhood here was cut off. For some reason, in this forest around this lake, I feel so at ease, so free.
After getting cleaned and dressed, I grabbed a fruit and sniffed, and I could tell that it wasn't poisonous. I took a bite out of it, and it was so delicious I couldn't jump up and down repeatedly. I grabbed two more and walked back to the dragon lying down. I wanted to talk to the dragon that sounded so wise.
"Mister Dragon, how old are you?" I asked with a curious look on my face. The dragon paused momentarily to think about his age and said, "I'm a couple 100 thousand years old...". I was so stunned by that knowledge, but I guess that is why he was so calm and wise looking. "Being so old, does this mean you possess great knowledge about things?" I asked once more. "I do; while I'm not the oldest or smartest among my species, we have more knowledge than you can possibly imagine."
"Mister, what do you know about this technique called Divine Rot?" The dragon paused for a moment before speaking, "The Divine Rot technique was a cultivation created by a Powerful but unknown Woman from the Heavenly realm. The woman wanted to ascend to true godhood, so she created a technique so deadly it could even kill god by rotting his immortal body and soul to nothing hence the name Divine Rot. However, god caught onto her plan, and she was banished not too long ago to the earthly realm you call home. Afterward, no knowledge existed, but this event happened not too long ago, around 30 years ago. Now to my question, little one, how a mortal child, be it talented, knows of such a deadly technique."
"My mother gave me this book before she perished while fighting a creature I couldn't," I said to the old dragon as he looked at me, shocked. "Little one, no such records of that technique ever existed, and even if they did, they would've been destroyed, hmmm...". The dragon looks at me for a small moment while thinking.
'A child with ever-growing talent in all things survived the space warping of the forest and ended up at the Divine Lake. She also possesses the cultivation technique that was given to her by her mother, but no records of that technique exist. Could it be that this child is..., no, there is no possible way that she, after descending, had a child. But her resemblance to her is so similar to the woman's description. That silky smooth white hair, flawless skin, Unatrual grey eyes, Unnatural amounts of Talent. Yeah, this must definitely be her daughter, and not to mention that she's this young and can cultivate without dying.'
I looked at the dragon and let out a long sigh of frustration before saying, "Listen, little one, you mustn't tell anyone about the technique you have EVER, or else your life will be endangered. You are safe here but cannot stay here; when you turn 15, you must leave this place; until then, grow as strong as possible, or else you will die."
'I still owe that woman for saving my life; I teach her the ways of cultivation and pass down some techniques to her as my ways of payment for my life. I really need a nap....'
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That's it for this chapter; this is just an experiment to see if I can get a story contracted and earn some money. Also, any reference art in these stories does not belong to me, and I found them on Google. If this story gets enough traction, I will do a mass release of 20 chapters, each being a minimum of 3,000 words long. This chapter came out to a staggering 6,431 words anyways, I hope you enjoyed it.
I also created a Patreon and Discord server cause I can, and you won't get chapters early. You'll feed my ice cream addiction and get nothing in return besides more communication with me.
Alright, that's it...:/ Leave.