"Big Joe and his gang are too cruel. I will not forgive them. They deserve to rot in jail. If I get the chance, I will plot their demise."
Ann had thousands of bad things to say about Big Joe and his friends as if they were lifelong enemies, and Sal listened to her speak silently
He had no idea of who the people Ann spoke of were.
But he was able to tell from her tone and her bitterness that they were behind the cause of their current situation or at least related to it.
Or else why would Ann speak so vehemently about them?
"Little Sparrow, who are they? Why are you talking about them in such a way?" he asked. His voice sounded hoarse due to the injuries he had suffered.
"You even forgot that? Looks like your memory loss is quite severe. Big Joe and his followers are the ones who beat you nearly to death. They have been troubling us since we took shelter at this refugee camp," Ann replied.
"We aren't originally from here?" Sal uttered in an inquiring tone.
"Yes, we aren't," Ann nodded.
Sal wondered where they were originally from and how they had ended up here.
Just then, Anna said, "Big Brother, you must be confused about a lot of things. Listen carefully to what I am about to tell you. It will help clear up a lot of things."
Ann began to explain who they were and where they came from. Sal listened to her attentively.
According to Ann, they were a pair of siblings who used to live very blessed lives, one free of hardship and pain.
During that time period, they had never faced food or water shortages. They also had people whom they could depend on, which was a rarity in these unforgiving times.
These dependable people were their parents and relatives, and they taught them many things.
Their mother taught Ann first aid skills. She also gave her proper sexual education so that she wouldn't let her curiosity lead to her being taken advantage of by a playboy.
Their Aunt Marge taught Ann how to sew and cook.
The father of the siblings loved his children equally but spent more time with his son. He taught him to be responsible. In the 15 years they have spent together, he taught him how to work the fields and run the machines which were useful for many things, one of them being purifying water.
Aunt Marge was a young woman in her mid-twenties, but she was married to a man who was in his late forties. He was kind and caring, so people who lived in the same community as them overlooked their age difference.
This man was called James.
He was a good uncle to the twins.
He taught Sal martial arts and a set of body-strengthening exercises. As Sal had practiced them regularly, his body was stronger than the average man, but nothing compared to the monsters that roamed these lands.
Hearing the words she had spoken so far, Sal realized that the body he had possessed bore the same name as him.
He felt a strange sense of relief.
It should be noted that their full names weren't exactly the same.
Their surnames differed slightly. One's surname was simply Douglas, while the other's surname was D. Douglas.
Sal continued hearing more of Ann's story.
"Our lives were so perfect and peaceful that anyone would be envious. I thought we would always be surrounded by love and support, protected from the harsh realities outside. But then everything came crashing down. We were separated from our parents and the rest of our community under disastrous circumstances. Ever since then, we have depended on each other to survive."
"Not long after the disastrous event that led to our separation, we came across a caravan. After talking with the leaders, we joined it in exchange for our services. It is always better to be in a group in the outside world than to be alone. The two of us wouldn't have survived for long if we had stuck to ourselves and hadn't joined a large group. I cooked and cleaned for them while you provided them with manual labor. They didn't trouble us as they were satisfied with our service.
"Journeying with the caravan, we came to the gates of the Banu Fortress.
"We were hoping to get inside, but as we didn't have an entry permit nor an identification token, we weren't allowed inside."
"Sticking with the caravan didn't seem like a viable option. Traveling in this world is very dangerous for people like us."
Sal's eyebrows raised at her words.
"People like us? What do you mean by that?" he questioned with a curious expression on his face.
"There are spiritual combatants who can perform supernatural feats like flying across the sky or picking up large boulders and tossing them across huge distances effortlessly as if they were tossing a chicken's egg. Then there are mortals like us, who can't even hope to contend against the might of the weakest spiritual combatant," Ann replied honestly. "We are looked down upon wherever we go. The combatants treat us like trash."
"Tell me more about these spiritual combatants," Sal said, wanting to confirm his suspicions.
"There's not a lot I know about them," Ann said.
"Tell me whatever you know. I am a man who can barely remember his past. Any bit of knowledge will be helpful to me," Sal replied.
Not denying his request, Ann explained,
"According to what I know, spiritual combatants are humans with the talent to cultivate.
"You can be considered to have that talent if you have a spiritual vessel.
"A spiritual vessel is a place inside the body where spiritual energy can be stored.
"When a person with the talent to cultivate is born, their spiritual vessel is very fragile, not suitable for cultivation. So no one starts cultivating at a young age.
"Instead, they wait until their spiritual vessel has reached maturation before cultivating.
"The spiritual vessel grows sturdier as a person ages by extracting nutrients from the body, maturing day by day. When a person's spiritual vessel reaches maturation, they can start cultivating. Usually, it happens when a person reaches adulthood, which is 16 years of age. But diet can greatly affect the time it takes for the spiritual vessel to reach maturation.
"We were both tested to have a spiritual vessel when we were young. We were promised that we would be taught cultivation once we became adults. You would have been learning it if things hadn't gone south."
By the end, Ann felt so emotional that tears filled her eyes.
Don't mull over the past and feel sad, Little Sparrow. At least we still have each other," Sal consoled her, gently wiping the tears from her eyes.
"I know what a blessing it is, Big Brother. But I can't help it."
"What about now?" Sal twisted his features into a deliberately ridiculous face, his lips puckered up to one side, and one eyelid drooping while the other widened comically. He flared his nostrils and cocked his head, looking utterly absurd. This was a goofy, exaggerated grimace intended to amuse. At this sight, Ann couldn't help but giggle. Her laughter was light and infectious, clearly delighted by Sal's comical attempt to lighten the mood.
"I feel much better now. Thank you, Big Brother."
Ann thanked him.
Then, she shared the rest of what she knew.
According to her, the progression of a spiritual combatant in their practice was divided into three steps. She only had a general idea about the first step, so she only talked about it.
The first step was divided into three realms.
The first of these three realms was called the introductory phase.
In this realm, cultivators would refine and draw the energy of heaven and earth into their spiritual vessels using cultivation methods, they would also temper their vessels so they could hold more of the spiritual energy.
It was divided into 9 levels.
Once the maximum level has been reached, one can attempt to open their floodgates.
If they were successful, they would ascend to the ranks of spiritualists.
Opening all the Flood Gates would allow one to attack their Heaven's Gate. If they are successful in opening it, they will advance to the third realm of cultivation and undergo a qualitative change.
This change was nothing to scoff at. After all, it's because of this change that enlightened spiritual combatants always never face a disadvantage against introductory phase combatants and spiritualists.
As per the words of the sages, "Being an enlightened is like being born with a trump card that can turn the tides of battle, break through barriers, or escape from seemingly hopeless situations."
'This confirms it. The spiritual path exists in this world. Self-cultivation is possible.'
The first step of cultivation Ann had explained was similar to that of the 3000 worlds. Thus, Sal's conclusion about this world being a part of the 3000 Worlds was more or less true
'Moreover, even the terms are the same. It's more likely that I have gone back in time,' Sal thought to himself. 'After all, if it is the future, there is a chance of the terms, which defines spiritual combatants and cultivation realms, being different from the ones I remember, but there is no such chance if it is past.'
This type of sharp thinking is what led Sal to believe that the chance of him having time traveled to the past was greater than the chance of him having time traveled into the future. He wasn't sure but he had taken a step closer to the truth!
Ann only knew about the first step, but Sal knew about the other two steps too. After all, at his peak, he was at the cusp of ascending to the third step of his practice.
People like the Saintess and the Grand Elder were at that stage and were thus known as Lords. They could manifest entire worlds to squash others like ants.
The many mountain ranges and the ocean the Saintess had summoned back then were precisely the manifestation of her inner realm. Sal was able to survive that and turn the tides only because he had the notorious world-rendering mirror in his plans and he knew their characters so well he was able to bait them into a trap he had meticulously prepared!
"It's said that the strongest spiritual combatant of our world is at the peak of the first step," Ann said.
'This world is more or less like a lesser realm of the 3000 Worlds,' Sal concluded.
Since the strongest spiritual combatant was at the peak of the first step, it meant that the world was still in its nascent phase. It hadn't been long before the energy of heaven and earth, which was aptly termed spiritual energy, was introduced to it.