Chapter 1: A new life as a bear
My name was Max, Max Paw, your typical white-collar worker, pushing through the week until it's the weekend. I was what in Japan could be called an otaku with a fashion for game hunting in the woods. Well, that wasn't a very "otaku" thing, but, at the very least, I wasn't some hikikomori, someone who never leaves his room, of which my grandfather would be ashamed.
There were a few things I accepted as facts in life. My father ran away before I was born and my mother died giving birth to me. Yes, it was rather sad for me as a child, but some people had it far worse. That's why I was thankful every day for having with me my awesome grandfather and my loving grandmother.
The first form of love I became familiar with came through my grandfather, who taught me how to hunt in the springtime; the second was when my grandmother spent the afternoon baking an apple pie that sang sweet songs to my nostrils. She was truly like a mother to me: always there when I needed advice or the simplest of hugs.
During Middle School I became fixated on animes, I loved that shit. But their release was always too slow-paced for my liking so, in the natural order of things, I passed to manga and then to light novels. My grandfather always looked down on my hobby; but since grandma supported me as long as I didn't become too obsessed, he was just a little grumpy and always brought up the argument every chance he'd get.
I now should address the obvious past tense, I guess.
The fateful day started like every usual day of summer: I was off hunting, this time, in the forests of Montana, USA's bear country.
I had a quick breakfast, checked all the traps, and went trailblazing through the woods. I brought with me my composite bow and my favorite hunting knife, a beauty made of serrated steel with a length of 40 cm and a width of a sweet 6 cm. Luckily, I found some raspberries, but, as I went to collect them, the sound of crushed leaves behind me startled me. My eyes caught up with my swiftly turned body, capturing a grizzly I can only describe as enormous.
'Fuck! Where'd this fucker come from?', I thought and just that was enough for the beast to begin its charge.
With no time to pick up the bow, I unsheathed my hunting knife just as the bear ripped into my throat, with its claws gouged into my back. The last thing I saw was my knife piercing through its eye. Then all went black.
[Beginning Reincarnation Process]
"What is happening? Am I dead?"
*Roar*
[Starting Memories Wipeout]
"No no no no nonono noo-"
*Roar*
My panicked screams were cut short by another notice.
[Error: 2 souls detected]
My mind stopped racing as I questioned: "Why is the bear here with me? And where is here?"
[Calculating solutions…]
[Attempting fusion…Attempt 1.]
[Error. Max Paw's soul and unnamed soul conflict.]
[Troubleshooting…Establishing main and support soul method; Attempt 2.]
[Max Paw soul is considered of higher grade.]
"Hell yeah!"
*Roar*
"Shut up! You rabid fuck, you got us in this mess!"
[Erasing unnamed soul memories…]
*Whimper*
"Well, I guess that's it for you bud…damn."
[Commencing fusion…]
*Moan*
"Why the hell do I feel so, what's the word, euphoric?"
[Calibrating…Fusion complete.]
[Searching for a reincarnation destination...]
"Ok, now all I need is a good start and with my previous memories there is no way I will become a white-collared worker again, I will aim to be a manager, no, a CEO, or maybe I will run for presidency? Well, that's if I'm even-"
[Destination found.]
[Good luck. You'll need it.]
And it all went black, again.
This brings us to the present moment as I'm coming back to my senses. I am inside a big cave surrounded by leaves and fur. Just as I am trying to understand what horrible luck had got me here, and in what backwater family I was born into, a growling sound makes me look up.
I almost die of a heart attack. Above me, larger than anything I have ever seen, is a bear looking down at me with big watery eyes. I try to escape but my body feels off so I fall. I look at my hands, no, not hands, paws. Then it hit me: I am now a bear.
Chapter 2: System and cultivation methods
It took an hour for me to calm down, another two passed in self-denial and only after that did my brain accept my situation and decided that since I was already a bear he may as well do the best of it.
'Since I am already a bear there is no way that I will live in mediocrity, I will be the best near there ever was!'
At that moment a refreshing feeling spread through my mind and with it, a new sense was added to the existing five. Just as I started marveling at his new capability a blue box appeared in front of me and, with it, a set of information flowed into my mind.
[Race changed to Prodigious Ursus Arctos]
Name:
—
Race:
Prodigious Ursus Arctos
CULTIVATION
Qi
none
Mental
Early 1st stage Spirit Sense realm
Physical
none
SKILLS
Language understanding (Lv max) Spirit Sense (Lv 1)
TITLES
Genius
[Select three cultivation methods]
I dismissed the panel in front of me and started going through the information in my head:
Firstly: because of my calmed state of mind my recently fused soul has been able to stabilize and I achieved a breakthrough of the mind from the Understanding realm to the Spirit Sense realm. Since usually, a normal beast is in the self-discovery realm, the lowest realm possible for a living being, I was three realms higher than my species' normal mental cultivation realm.
Secondly: this happening before I started cultivating and without the influence of external heavenly treasures has given me the chance to connect to something called 'the System'. That allows me to get cultivation methods, the ability to check his progress, and even the possibility of evolution.
Exiting from my reverie I started laughing maniacally realizing that thanks to the soul of the bear that killed me I am now born with the advantages of a bona fide cheat protagonist. Once I calmed down I began to realize where I was.
I was in an underground cave made of dirt and a bed of grass and leaves. On it were my mother together with my siblings: a male and a female. Like myself, they were without fur and were breastfeeding from their mother. This one was looking at me worriedly. I realized my recent strange behavior and the fact that I had not eaten since I woke up was certainly the cause of that gaze. And since my stomach was growling and I was starving I decided to accept the situation and start drinking.
After eating my fill I restarted to think.
'First: I'm now a bear. Second: this probably isn't planet Earth but a word of cultivation. Third: there was a third? 'Whatever. Since I am here I will do the best with what I have. Let's look at those cultivation methods.'
[CULTIVATION METHODS:]
Tiger fist
Seven lotuses Cultivation art
Way of the Buddha
Super invincible tornado of heavenly destruction
…
'Ok, this is a mess. And what the heck is: 'super invincible tornado whatever'?'
'Let's see if I can restrict the list. First of all, I need a cultivation method for bears of the highest grade that cultivates qi '
[CULTIVATION METHODS:]
Fire Bear cultivation technique
Water Bear cultivation technique
Earth Bear cultivation technique
Wood Bear cultivation technique
Metal Bear cultivation technique
Wind Bear cultivation technique
Thunder Bear cultivation technique
Demonic Bear swallowing technique
Gluttony technique
Dragon transformation art
Bear Sutra
'Ok, that works. First of all let's eliminate the elemental ones since I don't wanna be shackled to a single element, as for the other so let's see the description.'
[Demonic Bear swallowing technique]
An overbearing cultivation method that allows the bear that uses it to quickly assimilate and integrate into its body the characteristics of the defeated foes. It helps the user to rapidly grow and obtain different elements.
[Gluttony technique]
It allows the user to completely digest spiritual herbs and other natural treasures, and to completely transform them quickly into qi assimilating them and their relative attributes.
[Dragon transformation art]
It allows the user to cultivate by assimilating the dragon bloodline in the beast's body and cultivating it to transform in the end into a true dragon
[Bear Sutra]
Slow but steady cultivation art that allows the bear to realize his true potential.
'So... Let's exclude dragon transformation art and the gluttony technique. They are not tailormade for bears and they need external resources. Resources that I don't have while I am in this cave and since I will not leave in the foreseeable future it's better to pick something else. Even if I want to become a dragon and soar into the skies.'
'For the same reason I will not choose the Demonic Bear swallowing technique. So in the end the winner is the Bear Sutra. Besides, it is known that slow and steady wins the race.'
As I chose his first cultivation technique the information about it instantly flows into my mind, however only the cultivation of the first realm is clear the rest is obscured by a mist. The first stage is called the meridian cleansing stage. As the name suggests it consists in utilizing the qi around to unplug the meridians and reshape the meridian pathways in the bear body, allowing them to withstand the energy necessary for the higher realms
'One done, two to go. Now search the cultivation methods of the mind usable by bears and of the highest grade'
[CULTIVATION METHODS:]
Demon god visualization technique
True Dragon God visualization technique
Grand Buddha visualization technique
Tyrant Bear King visualization technique
Mountain climbing visualization technique
Grand mind forging technique
Crystal Lake Palace Mind technique
'Ok… Let's see. What's the difference between a visualization, a mind technique, and a mind forging one?'
[A visualization technique allows the user to see a figure and it slowly refines the mind making it stronger, if it represents an entity it will bring the user closer to what it represents while using it to defend the mind. A mind technique is a generic but still rare method that allows the user to build his mind as he sees fit, in the restrictions of the technique. The mind forging is a painful technique that allows the user to hit his mind to extract the impurities and make it stronger.]
'That explains it. Now while a figure that protects my mind is tempting, changing my mind to resemble someone else is a big NO for me. I'm not good with pain so on par with benefits the mind-forging technique is also out. Let's see the details of the other two'
Mountain climbing visualization technique
It allows the user to visualize a mountain and climb it once it is done another peak will appear. Every time the user will conquer a peak the mind will be greatly cleansed and strengthened.
Crystal Lake Palace Mind technique
It allows the user to transform his mind into a lake allowing him to slowly cleanse it. Once done the user will be able to build upon it a palace that will protect and store the user's memories for him to use them as he sees fit.
'Crystal Lake Palace all the way. While the 'greatly' of the Mountain climbing technique sounds good the process sounds too time-consuming and I still have to cultivate my qi and my body, the Crystal Lake Palace on the other hand sounds easier and versatile. I am particularly intrigued by the last part that says that I can use my memories as I see fit.'
'Now, before going to sleep, let's see the body cultivation suited for bears of the highest grade'
[CULTIVATION METHODS:]
Demon beast body cultivation method
'Well, that's underwhelming.'
'I expected a bit more than something so generic. Description, go'
Demon beast body cultivation method
Long lost method created by the most eminent Demon god to allow his descendant to reach the peak by strengthening every aspect of the body as optimally and uniformly as possible. It was the spark of the first human, devil, and demon war that ended with the destruction of the manual and the death of the Demon god alongside some of the powerhouses of the humans and the devil's factions. The System has saved the technique in his archives though.
'JACKPOT. The system has never given out the background of any of the techniques. who knew there was such a pearl behind its unassuming name.'
I clicked on the Crystal Lake Palace and the DBBC and as the relative memories were instilled in my brain, I curled up near his siblings and his mother and went to sleep.
Soon my life entered a repeated routine. In the morning breakfast and use the qi in the air to try clearing my meridians. In reality, the meridians were already mostly cleared because he was just born and the impurities didn't have time to deposit. But because of that the meridians were closed and thin so I had to carefully open them and strengthen them.
The absence of impurities was a blessing, in fact usually when clearing the meridians the body starts to emit a foul odor that in a closed space with a beast's nose would have been pretty bad.
After lunch, in the afternoon I started trying to go through the motions of attack and defense depicted in the DBBC to strengthen the body and to learn the proper way for a bear to fight. Finally, after dinner, I dedicated myself to the Crystal Lake Palace mind technique.
Unfortunately, part of the body cultivation method I had chosen can't be practiced without being with a cultivation at the qi gathering stage, the 3rd stage of qi cultivation, or with the help of someone at the core formation stage, the 5th stage of qi cultivation. In the first level, the skin refinement stage, a storage of qi is needed, to strengthen the skin to supernatural levels.
Chapter 3: 3-4 months later
Many things have changed in 3 months and finally, it was time to exit the cave to explore with my mother.
Name:
Kuma Zhao
Race:
Prodigious Ursus Arctos
CULTIVATION
Qi
Middle stage Dantian Forming realm
Mental
Early 1st stage Spirit Sense realm
Physical
Awakened
SKILLS
Spirit Sense (Lv 1) - Murky Mind Lake (Lv 2) - Bear Cub's combat style(Lv 4)
TITLES
Genius
First of all, I decided that since I changed life and body I might as well change my name: so I picked up the family name Kuma, which means bear in Japanese, and the personal name Zhao, which means claw in the common language of this world.
I knew the local language thanks to the 'Language Understanding (Lv max)'. As I was studying the status panel I concentrated on it to understand what it does and in response, an influx of knowledge about the local language entered my mind, then the skill disappeared.
My mind cultivation art also went through a breakthrough: it took me a month to form a muddy lake inside my consciousness and a month and a half to transform it into a murky lake.
The last change is the body cultivation label that from none went to Awakened, this has happened when I completed the Meridian cleansing stage and now my body is stronger and healthier than a normal bear cub.
Speaking of cubs: I bonded with my siblings, that I named Star and Bob, I prefer my sister sue me. They started joining me a month and a half ago during my attacking and defending bear practices. This not only helped me in combining the actual stances but also provided some fun and bonding experiences.
My qi cultivation is the fastest: In these 3 months I have not only unlocked the 12 normal meridians and the 8 secret ones, but I have also almost finished combining the latter 8 in a ball that will become my dantian.
I also inspected my title:
Genius
A title was given to those with a much higher spiritual base in confrontation with his specie's peers. It gives a slight boost in mental cultivation and gives access to the System.
'Finally, I can come out of this little cave. While staying put and cultivating, with the feeling of constantly improving, is not bad, there is so much time that a person can bear without going out at all.'
'So we live in a coniferous forest. By the ease of mother and the marks of bear claws on the trees, I can assume that we still are one the top predators of the area despite the presence of demonic beasts and cultivators in this world. Otherwise, mother would have been more stealthy and there would have been no marks on the trees because they would just draw in some predators.'
We spent the day outside, learning what to eat and happily messing around, just spending the day in total relaxation.
The days passed, they became weeks and almost another month has passed. Mother has shown us around our territory and it's enormous. Apart from the north where the forest becomes mountains and it is the territory of a pack of gray wolves we have traveled pretty much all of it: a month of travels!
Today is the day. I have almost finished condensing the 8 secret meridians in one big ball now it only needs the final push. I started to concentrate and, while making a constipated expression, I started to compress the meridians in an attempt to make them merge into one dantian.
'push. push. PUSH!'
And with a *PoP* the meridians joined together forming a cavity in my abdomen seamlessly connected to the other 12 meridians, my dantian.
While feeling exhausted I knew my task wasn't completed and by taking control of a strand of raw qi from the air I started moving it through the meridian channels and by doing so I continued to refine it until it arrived at the dantian where it was deposited.
Done this and thus having stabilized my cultivation, I began happily hopping around. Thus I startled my mother and my siblings who were still thinking that I had eaten something I shouldn't have due to my prior expression.
Chapter 4: The gray wolves attack
Everything was going as planned, I grew stronger by the day and, while I was still learning how to hunt, I was starting to like the peaceful life of a bear.
As I was saying all was going well until the wind suddenly changed. It started blowing south bringing with it a new smell: gray wolves. Immediately I and mother started to run towards the den bringing with us my still unsuspecting siblings.
We just made it. Eight young wolves surrounded us in front of the den.
Mother charged one of them, who due to his inexperience was caught off guard, and with a hit he flew against a tree and finished on the ground barely breathing.
*Roar*(mother)
The wolves started backing away but a snarl from the biggest one, probably the alpha, put them in line. The alpha signaled the others with some movement of the tail and they separated.
Of the remaining seven, five went against my mother while two went after me and my siblings. I charged them while my siblings took shelter inside the den. But they, provided with the experience of its wounded companion, sidestepped me, and one bit my leg while the other went for my siblings.
The wound wasn't deep, thanks to the quick bite and my reinforced skin, but I was new to the pain and that slowed me down. I started attacking the wolf, at the beginning a little clumsily but as I started to remember my training I began taking confidence in myself. I and the wolf started circling one another searching for a weakness to exploit: I feigned a distraction and the wolf fell for it. When he tried to bite my front paw I erected on myself and did a Bear Smash slamming both my front paws on his head with all my weight. And so, wounded and bleeding, I felled my first opponent.
Just in time to see the other one biting the neck of Star who was protecting Bob, who had entered the den. I saw red and I charged the remaining wolf with all my fury, unconsciously I started circulating qi into my legs and with a Bang, I flew against my opponent. I headbutted him and, while it was dazed I bit his neck, breaking it with a twist.
[Skill 'qi infusion Lv 1' learned]
I looked around and I saw the face of a frightened Bob peeking out of the den while the other wolves were still circling mother. It took a few moments for me to understand what I had to do. I charged into the encirclement and took place behind mother to avoid being further hurt by their bite-and-run tactics.
This was the wolves' tactic against a strong opponent: they encircle the prey and constantly attack their back if the prey attacks they run while the ones behind follow and attack the unprotected behind. By doing so they wear down the opponent and they make effective use of their numbers.
But this is only useful if there is only one prey while now there are two. Only then do the five wolves notice that two of their companions are now out of combat.
At this point, the young alpha decided to bet it all with one more attack. He howled and they all charged: three against mother and two against me. I decided to put into practice one of the moves of the demon beast body cultivation technique and injecting qi in my body, with it ticker in my paws, I executed a Revolving Bear. I flexed my upper body 180° horizontally and I rotated my upper body while doing a full swing of my paws.
Each of my paws hit a wolf and they crashed 2 meters away, their life or death unknown.
I looked back and mother had been able to deal with the three wolves. The alpha's neck was just being snapped by mother's powerful jaws.
'But still, there were too few wolves, and were all young, either their numbers have increased so much to split themselves or something big and strong has descended the mountains and pushed them to move.'
In the first case, it's all and well but in the second we might have to move.
Chapter 5: Problem cultivating
A year has passed since the gray wolves attack and nothing serious happened. It was probably a problem of overpopulation or the scary beast stopped after taking the gray wolves' territory.
Mother has brought me and Bob hunt for boars and young elks and also showed us where to find food in the wild. Not that I needed it as a seasoned hunter but I still discovered new sources of nutrition.
Many things have changed during this year:
Name:
Kuma Zhao
Race:
Prodigious Ursus Arctos
CULTIVATION
Qi
1st layer Qi gathering realm
Mental
Early 1st stage Spirit Sense realm
Physical
4th layer Skin refinement realm
SKILLS
Spirit Sense (Lv 1) - Murky mind lake (Lv 9) - Bear combat style(Lv 1) - Qi infusion(Lv 6)
Half a year ago I reached the 4th layer of skin refinement and Lv 9 of the murky mind lake skill but after that, they simply stopped improving
I reached a plateau in my cultivation. Not only qi but also physical and mental.
The problem with the qi was easy enough: there was not enough raw qi in the air, probably also the reason why I hadn't met any demonic beast or any cultivator so far. That could only be solved with patience or by changing location and since I was constantly traveling south I could only wait.
My mental and physical ones were instead a mystery. I followed the instructions of the manuals to the letter but my skin after the 4th stage started improving at an abysmal rate and no matter how I cleaned my mental lake when I return for the next session is polluted the same as before.
So, since improving my cultivation seemed difficult, I decided to improve my fighting prowess instead. In particular, I started practicing my qi infusion skill and I discovered various things. I couldn't use my qi externally: so no energy beams or Rasengan for me. I could instead improve pretty much everything about my body. By injecting qi into my muscles I make them more explosive and durable, by infusing it in my paws I can make my hits heavier and by infusing it in my teeth and claws I can make them sharper.
[Bear's cub combat style Lv 10 → Bear combat style Lv 1]
Soon, though, it will be time for me and Bob to leave mother, I'm sure that before that I will be able to break through what is keeping me back.
3 months later
'I wasn't able to do it. Fuck!'
It's time for me and my brother to leave the mother bear's den. Bob started trekking east while I went south. I would have gone north to challenge the gray wolf and avenge Star, but with the stop in my cultivation, I feel that I'm not strong enough yet.
The plan contemplated also finding a place to settle in and to go out only when I was strong enough but now I decided to go explore various locations in search of enlightenment.
I was traveling for about a month when I found out something peculiar, a smell that pervaded the air and guided me somewhere. Wary, but also somewhat expectant to find something useful for my condition, I followed.
I ended up at the edge of a clearing, in the center of the clearing was a big tree and at the base of the tree, a violet and pink flower emitted a qi-infused smell.
I was sure that if I ate the flower my qi cultivation would progress by leaps and bounds.
But I was weary, I knew from the novels that I read that usually qi-infused herbs are protected by ferocious beasts. So I squinted my eyes and looking carefully I noticed that between the branches of the tree was laid an enormous python.
'How to proceed?'
'Well the only solution seems a head-on fight, besides I also need someone to practice my moves with'
I went ahead and released a qi-infused roar that startled the python and made it fall down the tree. I waited for it to recover from the dizziness and then I attacked.
The first paw strike was easily avoided and so was the second, the snake seemed to read me like an open book. Then it struck, it was fast and powerful, and without my powerful skin, the match would have ended there. But my skin was tough and once the python teeth pieced it, they had lost much of their momentum so they only left a superficial wound on the neck.
Still, the situation wasn't in my favor, the snake had a lot more battle experience in comparison to me and soon I was on the back leg of the confrontation. I could run away but, at the thought of the flower, I decided to press on. In a moment I found myself enveloped between the serpent's coils, and then it started squeezing.
I could hardly breathe, the pressure was immense and I started to see all red. Then amid the desperation and the auto condemnation for my stupidity, I saw a black figure exiting from my mind lake.
'You are alone, you are stronger alone you need nobody'
'Let yourself go, surrender to the fury'
[Skin tempering reached lv 8]
No, I won't succumb
I freed myself from the snake and ran away as far as I could then all went black
Chapter 6: Heart demons
I woke up in the darkness, around me there was nothing but emptiness. I was human again but I didn't have time to marvel at it.
Two figures appeared, at the beginning, they were quite blurry but they slowly gained definition. The first becomes a man and a woman in their half twenties and the second becomes a bear.
The man said: "I never wanted you. You are the reason I left".
The woman: "I never loved you, you are the reason for my death."
In the end, the bear said: "Free yourself from your human shackles, become the beast you are outside. You will gain unimaginable strength."
(I) "Father, mother? No, I didn't want it. I didn't want you to go away, I didn't want you to die!"
(Man and woman) "and what do you want?"
(I) "I wanted for us to be a family"
(Bear) " Then come and be one with us and let me take care of the situation."
I started walking towards them.
(Man and woman) "Be with your true family"
(I) "Yes."
I reached for them.
(I) "Wait…"
I stepped back
(I) " I already had a true family. Grandma and grandpa raised me. And I will never be one with someone that proves disgust for me or someone that hates me."
"Besides now that I can think it through, father, you should be far older than this. And I know from grandma that mother had the opportunity to stop the operation but chose instead to go through even knowing that she would die. There is no way she would hate me."
(Bear) "You are too weak, the fight with the python demonstrates it. Join us and we will give you the power that you seek."
(I) "Who doesn't start weak? And I will attain my power by myself, without losing my humanity in the process."
The figures cracked.
"So be gone whatever you are. Because I am no longer Max Paw but Kuma Zhao and I will forge my path without losing myself."
The figures shattered like broken glass and with them gone the darkness also disappeared.
I found myself in front of my mind lake. But unlike before the water was clear and I could see the bottom.
It was the presence of the two heart demons that kept the lake polluted not be found. Now that the lake is clear they will be immediately spotted.
[User with access to the system has defeated more than one heart demon: title clear heart achieved]
I decided to look at my status panel.
Name:
Kuma Zhao
Race:
Prodigious Ursus Arctos
CULTIVATION
Qi
1st layer Qi gathering realm
Mental
Early 1st stage Spirit Sense realm
Physical
8th layer Skin refinement realm
SKILLS
Spirit Sense (Lv 1) - Clear mind lake (Lv 8) - Bear combat style(Lv 1) - Qi infusion(Lv 6)
Titles
Genius - Clear Heart
I finally noticed that my physical cultivation has somehow increased quite a lot.
My Mind Lake has also ranked up to Clear Mind Lake and leveled up directly to Lv 8.
Finally, I looked up my title clear heart:
Clear Heart
Given to those connected to the system that defeated more than one heart demon at the same time. Gives access to the inventory: a storage space linked directly to your soul ( it's your soul, pay attention to what you put inside)
I couldn't help but dance a little.
'An inventory fuck yeah. With it, I won't have problems taking stuff around as a bear'
After collecting myself it was time to rethink my next course of action. The battle with the python has revealed one critical point: my lack of combat experience.
And now that I think of it I have the perfect solution to that. Now, with the increase of the skin's endurance, I no longer fear the python attacks as long as I don't let myself be entangled again.
So I will battle the python every day and then meditate on my errors until I can overpower him without the use of qi.
And so I did.
2 months later
I agilely dodge the attacks from the head and the tail of the python while keeping my movements to the minimum and craftily hitting lightly the serpent's weak points.
"Finally is time to end it"
With a quick attack, I bit the neck of the snake just under its head with qi-enhanced teeth, decapitating it.
It took me less time than I expected to go from totally unmatched against it, to overwhelming the python. It is because of the clear mind lake that I now have a clear mind at all times and I can think further and faster.
In these 2 months, I haven't been neglecting my cultivation.
Name:
Kuma Zhao
Race:
Prodigious Ursus Arctos
CULTIVATION
Qi
2nd layer Qi gathering realm
Mental
Early 1st stage Spirit Sense realm
Physical
Peak 9th layer Skin refinement realm
My qi level has finally reached the 2nd level, but, most importantly, my physical cultivation has reached the peak of the skin refinement realm.
It was thanks to the hits of the python that helped to refine my skin: add the fact that there weren't the heart demons to steal my progress and you have my situation.
Chapter 7: First evolution
It is time to reap my prize: the pink and violet flower.
I accosted the herb and I sniffed it, a powerful qi-infused odor invested me. I understood why the python didn't eat the flower: it probably didn't have the assurance to be able to withstand its powerful qi. So it simply passively absorbed the qi emitted from it while eating every animal that came near it.
I didn't have this problem: my body was sturdy and my meridians and dantian clear.
I ate the flower.
Immediately a potent energy entered my dantian, but, with the power of my will, I redirected it circulating it inside my meridians following the way of the Bear's Sutra. By doing so the energy was refined inside my body and was then deposited inside my dantian.
[2nd layer Qi refining → 4th layer Qi refining]
"Hooray. Two whole layers in one go. It means months of arduous cultivation saved in this qi depraved land"
Now it's time to breakthrough through my physical cultivation.
I sat down and used my newly upgraded qi reserve to capture and guide raw qi from outside to inside my skin, following the method of the demonic beast body cultivation. With every circle, my qi washed and purified my skin and the raw qi was infused into it, the result was a purer and stronger skin.
At the 15th circle, I sensed some resistance, but I persisted and at the 30th I broke through.
I didn't have time to celebrate when I heard a familiar voice and found myself in a white space.
[User has broken through the body limitation. Initiating assisted evolution. Displaying options]
In the white room compared five images depicting different types of bears.
Name
Description
Armored Bear
It's coated by plates of armor as tough as steel rendering extremely difficult to deal with at low levels.
Elemental Bear
This evolution sums up five possible evolutions: metal, wood, fire, water, and earth bears. Each is capable of freely using the respective element.
Bear Erectus
A humanoid bear containing the power of a bear with the maneuverability and the capacity to use weapons like a human.
Solar Bear
It represents the concept of YANG. With a tough body, incredible regeneration, and fire abilities this rare bear is one to be feared
Lunar Bear
It represents the concept of YIN. With fierce attacks, incredible stealth abilities, and control over ice this rare bear is one to be feared
Big Panda
In black and white this cute bear looks a bit silly (very high potential)
'Well if my heart demons taught me that I desire a family, that to defend it I need power, and that I am not to give away my future for short-term power. So…'
[Big Panda selected. Commencing evolution]
When I woke up I was notably smaller and my paws were black. My spirit sense detected that I was indeed a panda.
Name:
Kuma Zhao
Race:
Prodigious Ailuropoda melanoleuca (panda gigante)
CULTIVATION
Qi
4th layer Qi gathering realm
Mental
Early 1st stage Spirit Sense realm
Physical
1st layer muscles refinement realm
SKILLS
Spirit Sense (Lv 1) - Clear mind lake (Lv 8) - Bear combat style(Lv 1) - Qi infusion(Lv 6) - Stealth(Lv 1) -Regeneration(Lv 1) - YinYang mind koi fishes (Lv -)
Titles
Genius - Clear Heart
I analyzed the differences in my body. My skin is now less durable as if I still was at the 5th stage of skin refining. But now I have 3 more skills: Stealth, regeneration, and YinYang mind koi fishes.
Just as I started focusing on the last one the skill disappeared and a surge of information flowed inside my head. Two koi fish appeared inside my mind lake, one white and one black.
They were the result of the synergy of my evolution with my Crystal Mind Lake palace technique. The two koi fish would keep the lake clean, avoid the formation of other heart demons, and boost my affinity for yin and yang techniques.
The regeneration skill allowed me to use my qi to heal my wounds. I will probably need to experience various battles to level it up.
And lastly, the stealth skill allowed me to blend myself with shadows and darkness and allowed me to avoid being detected. For now, because of his low level, it only worked on people below the qi gathering stage, any higher and they could easily see through my skill.
Chapter 8: Human civilization
Two other months passed.
My physical and qi cultivation didn't progress much during this time because of the lack of natural raw qi. But my mental cultivation has reached a turning point: finally, I have finished setting up a crystal mind lake.
[Clear Mind Lake Lv 10 → Crystal Mind Lake Lv1]
Now it's time to expand it in largeness and width. By doing that I will be expanding the range of my Spirit Sense. Speaking of my spirit sense, thanks to the clearing of my mind lake it has become far more perceptive: if before it could only register vague forms I can now see even the color of what it's inside its range. Speaking of Spirit sense the reason I didn't particularly use it is because its range is now only 40 cm, hardly usable. But it will slowly become one of my trump cards.
The only other skill that improved is stealth, that's because I'm trying to use it as much as possible by tailing and ambushing unsuspecting animals. Thanks to that it's now at Lv 4 and I can now use it more comfortably.
And this is the situation because of which I trained so hard: I found a hunting team navigating the woods in search of prey. I have no intention to antagonize them, not because I am afraid, they would hardly be my match, but for two reasons. One: as a former human I don't want to needlessly kill sentient creatures. And two: I need them to guide me to their village enter the human territory and search for information about lands rich in qi.
I followed from a distance, moving from shade to shade not be seen. After they killed a deer, and hung it upside down to drain the blood, I heard them talking.
(1st man) "Hey Li, when will your brat join us in one of our hunts?"
(Li) "You know the brat, Wong, he is still hell-bent on trying to find the hidden meridian in his body. Until he is 12 and loses the hope to enter the sect I don't think we will see him coming out to help us."
(3rd man) "How to blame him, that is an opportunity to form a dantian and to start working towards immortality elevating your whole family with it."
(Wong) "You're right, Zen. But searching for the hidden meridian is always the hardest thing to do, well after trying to sense qi."
(Li) "Yeah, the big clans in the city have it easy. With their resources and their hidden methods, they can always send at least a couple of people to the sect when the envoys descend every 5 years."
(Zen) "At least unless you are that Huang trash. Hahahaha!"
(Wong) "Yeah with broken meridians no matter how good he is at sensing qi he will never be able to join the sect."
(Li) "I heard that the Huang patriarch has purchased at a hefty price a precious herb to heal him but all for naught"
(Wong) "We know, hell, all the region knows, with how big the backlash from his clan was. You are always the last to hear things Li, please don't pretend to know some incredible secret because it's quite pitiful to look at."
(Zen)"Hahahaha"
Then they started to talk about other stuff"
'Hmm, very interesting. It seems that I coincidentally heard some very interesting stuff.
'First is that sensing qi is not so easy for others but that can be explained by my high mental cultivation.'
'Secondly is that people don't usually create their dantian using eight secret meridians, maybe it is a problem of rural areas but still given the level of the manual given by the system eight meridians should be a pretty decent number.'
'Thirdly, I'm quite interested in this young master Huang that has crippled meridians. Maybe it's like in those novels and he will find some lucky chance to cure his problems. It sounds far-fetched but so is reincarnating as a bear in a cultivator's world.'
I continued to follow the trio until they arrived outside the forest and onto a road that led straight to a little village. It didn't have walls or palisades around it and the houses were made of wood and mud.
Well now I am in human territory but I don't think that I will find what I am searching for in a rural village such as this. Let's take another road and see if it brings me to a bigger city.
And so I traveled for a couple of days on the road. The few people who saw me stayed at large or ran away, and then I saw it. A long, 5-meter-high, stone wall with impressive wooden gates. Few people were exiting and entering through this gate.
I decided to circle the wall searching for a more crowded gate, possibly one with carts going through it. And I found it. On the eastern part of the city, there was a gate with a lot of people entering and exiting and with a few carts in line to enter.
I waited a little further along the road and when a cart passed I swiftly entered its shadow and activated stealth. Moving slowly like this I moved along the line and an hour later I was inside.
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