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Nicholas, John, Aiyana, Yanisse, Francisco, Seth, and the rest of my family were present right now, surrounding me as I sat down over my throne of gold. My disciples sat cross-legged, looking up to me. I had given them special clothes this time; everyone was wearing the same type of golden and silver garments, ancient Chinese-styled Murim robes.
They aren't just for pleasing my aesthetic choices or something, though; no, these are specifically made to help their cultivation increase rapidly. Even little Hekita had one fit for her smaller body, and she was excited to learn from me. These special robes would enhance their Ki circulation speed, refinement process, and quality.
Ah, right, Jackes is not here yet; he has yet to complete his test, but he's getting there.
Just as I said, they quickly started bombarding me with many questions. I had allowed them the benefit of asking as much as they wanted to know to learn about the world I came from and the cultivation techniques I know.
They learned a bit more about Murim, the method of cultivation, and everything.
"Murim is the world where I was stranded for eleven thousand years. If you want the simplest explanation possible, it was a world very similar to Chinese mythology and fantasy stories," I explained. "It was immense, perhaps thousands of times bigger than Earth. It was divided into five different continents, which were called the Five Regions of the World. The Central Continent, where I landed, the Northern Mountain Range, the Southern Plains, the Western Azure Seas, and the Eastern Golden Dunes. Each region was also divided by strange, supernatural walls known as Heavenly Walls, composed of concentrated elemental and divine Ki. Making it very difficult to move between regions. The stronger you were, the harder it became, as the pressure and weight of the walls would be equal to your cultivation rank."
"T-That seems incredible—that big of a world it was?!" Yanisse wondered. "There is no world in the tower that big... Well, that's what we've known so far!"
"There were walls? How bizarre…" Nicholas muttered.
"Yes, I eventually destroyed the Walls when I managed to learn their connection to the Ki Veins underground, which I refined and then absorbed, making the Walls that had been there for immemorial times collapse," I explained. "It only happened when I was already a Venerable, though, and it was after I had to beat one of the ancient, revived Venerables."
"I-I see…" John gulped saliva. "Um, what were these regions like?"
"Let's see… The Central Continent was around... Perhaps a hundred times the size of Earth? Immense and also the only region that shares so many different types of biomes. It is where the largest organizations are located. The former Heavenly Judgement Pavilion was located there. It was a group of corrupted, orthodox cultivators that used their ancient powers and the backing of three Venerables to dominate the world and its laws. I destroyed them and reformed their entire sect into the Heavenly Court, a truly righteous, non-biased, and lawful sect that brought actual justice to the world."
"Just like this Heavenly Court will do?" John wondered.
"That's the plan, to an extent." I nodded. "Now, let's move on. The Northern Mountain Range was located in the north of the entire world; it was divided into snowy mountains and windy mountains. People here lived by mostly mining for resources and battling the endless waves of martial beasts. It was a region where the Barbarian tribes lived—powerful humans with strong muscles and physiques—that cultivated the elements of earth and ice the most. Admirable fighters; many of their members used to be my enemies."
"Barbarians..." muttered Aiyana. "Were these people like the cavemen?"
"Not that much; the cavemen we've met, aside from the Brutes, are quite kind." I smiled. "The Barbarian Tribes of Murim were nothing like that... Hateful and warmongering, they desired to conquer and grow powerful. They are constantly battling between tribes and clans, overtaking their mountains and territories."
"Sounds harsh," said my mother.
"Well, every single part of that world was harsh," I commented. "Anyways, the Southern Plains were where the largest nomadic tribes were located. Unlike the barbarians, they had to constantly move across vast and near endless grassy plains, often divided by islands made of forests. Slightly similar to the mountain range in some cultural aspects, but also vastly different! People here mostly cultivated the Paths of Wind and Wood."
"Then the Azure Seas of the West, an endless blue ocean with countless islands, This was a place where the mermen also lived—a race of underwater-dwelling people. Which were also cultivators. These beautiful and tropical lands were full of ocean wars, pirates roamed everywhere, sea monsters could snatch you easily, and cultivators always had to learn the water element to get around; it was almost a necessity if you didn't want to get stuck on an island forever. The culture was rather interesting, but just as harsh as anywhere."
"And lastly, the Wester Golden Dunes, probably the harshest of all Regions without a doubt, have endless deserts with dunes of all colors spread through them, although predominantly gold-colored dunes. These deserts all have their own effects. The Miasma Desert was poisonous; the Illusion Desert created illusions to trick you; the Living Desert would swallow you; the Ore Desert would tear you to shreds with its storms carrying hard metal pieces, etcetera. Oases here were like stars in the sky, making people and cultivators gather around them and form large cities. Cultivators here mostly cultivated fire and sand paths."
"So amazing; it feels like a large world!" Ruby said.
"And you visited all of those fantastic regions?" wondered Juan.
"Indeed, they were both exciting adventures and... not so exciting," I sighed. "For the majority of the first one hundred years, I was always running away from place to place, so I ended up traveling through most of the world as a mortal. I invested heavily in my movement techniques, always making sure to be faster than whatever was chasing me. I was a coward, but that helped me survive and ultimately achieve what I did."
"There is no shame in running away," Nicholas said. "As long as you can live, you can fight another day after all."
"Well said," I nodded. "Now, one of you asked the true origins of cultivation. Well, it's very complicated. Although I learned mostly everything from that world, the origins are one of the oldest mysteries. There are many tales, legends, and mythologies inside of Murim. But I've learned to resume most of it with a tale I call "The Tale of the First Man." Murim is not a world moved by laws like those of Earth; there was no such thing as evolution and the creation of life as we know it."
"I suppose that's fair, but who is this first man?" Juan wondered.
"Amongst the tales, he was called The First Father. He was born in the origins of the world of Murim. From what I learned by investigating every nook and cranny and even battling the Heavenly Will, I learned that Murim was created when the cosmic chaos itself distorted to the point of imploding. Heaven was born in that moment; all nine colors surged from the endless collapse and reconstruction of chaos, which is the energy that encompassed the entire world of Murim like a cloud of darkness," I explained. "The Nine Heavens were born; each Heaven once had its own Heavenly Will! All Nine Heavenly Wills gained consciousness the moment they were born, immediately combining themselves into the Nine Heavens and creating a separation between Heaven and Earth, which in those times was chaos."
"Then, the Nine Heavens decided that the world required many things. The Yellow, Orange, and Red Heavens combined their powers to create the Four Radiant Suns that illuminated the entire world. The Green, Yellow, and Purple Heavens created the Earth as we know it, solidifying and purifying the chaos. The Azure and the Blue Heaven created the oceans. The Purple and Black Heavens created the Night. And the White, Purple, and Black Heavens made the three Moons."
"At that moment, all of Murim was fully formed, and the Nine Heavenly Wills felt content with their creations. However, as time went by, they felt empty. There was no life yet, and they started to grow jealous of each other's powers. And then, before even life was born, the Nine Heavenly Wills battled against one another to devour each other. They wanted to have all the power and not distribute it among the nine siblings. They ate and tore apart one another, until the last standing one, the White Heavenly Will, remained. He devoured all his siblings' divine powers and became the Supreme Heavenly Will. The true god of Murim."
"So there was a god in Murim too?" wondered my mother. "But this is confusing; he was born out of chaos, not belief and faith."
"Yeah," I nodded. "Murim is very different, a world that could only be described as a dimension of its own at this point when I compare it to other worlds. Even the only god-like entity there was much different than any other god out there."
"Anyways, moving on, the Heavenly Will created the first human. The First Human Father, a man, is the human template for all human-like beings in the future," I explained. "And also the precursor of cultivation as we know it. And the first-ever Venerable, the one that cultivated the Human Path, and the last foe I fought before trying to escape Murim."
"Wait, the first human ever was alive?!" John muttered.
"Yeah, well, no… It's complicated. His tales are many; he was the one who created every wonder in the world. He was the one who was able to cultivate, as he noticed the particles floating everywhere and harnessed them into his body. Harnessing the Heavenly Dao itself from birth, he battled the Chaotic Beasts that invaded the world through the cracks left behind by the Heavenly Wills battle for supremacy. Slowly becoming more powerful through thousands after thousands of years of endless battle. By harnessing the Essence of Heaven and Earth, Ki was able to grow powerful enough to survive, thrive, and grow."
"But if he was only a man, how did he get children?" asked Urbosa.
"Was he made a wife out of his ribs like Adam and Eve? Haha…" Ruby laughed.
"Not at all; it is said he used the power of the Human Path, the Element of Human, the Dao of Humans, to combine the essences of the world and create the first children," I explained. "Amongst his children, there were also the Barbarians, the Mermen, the Winged Men, the Stone Men, and more. Who was much stronger than the pure humans and had greater affinity for the cultivation of a certain element. But true Humans remained at the top because they reproduced much quicker. He was also, well, the first ever Venerable of the Human Path, using the entire population of the world as his weapon against me."
"T-The entire population of the world? Wait, what?" my sister wondered.
"It is a complicated thing… That was indeed a fight, yeah," I sighed. "Due to the Human Path, he could also revive almost indefinitely. Both his soul and body were the same, and he could also connect his powers with every single human or descendant and gain their power, becoming several times stronger. When I fought against him, even after having stolen the strength of the other Venerables I killed and having refined them into equipment, powers, and more, I was confident I only had roughly a forty percent chance of winning. But because of his overconfidence, mostly because I was a woman, he created several openings for me to abuse. Yes, he was the man responsible for creating a world so discriminatory towards women; even though women could gain as much power as men, they were always restricted. Creating a terrible imbalance between genders."
"That's awful…" Yanisse muttered. "Yet you fought your way through all of that... For eleven thousand years…"
"Yes, and I've come back home now. So, I shall teach you what I learned. We shall begin our Cultivation classes today. I will now teach you basic Meditation and Ki Refinement techniques," I said. "So, pay attention."
After a few hours of explaining and talking about the past, the classes of the day finally began.
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