Stepping into the forest, Evan gripped his dagger tighter, his senses on high alert. He took slow, cautious steps, his eyes darting towards every noise he heard. The luminescent flora swayed as he walked through it, and water droplets slipped through the cracks of the dense leaves above. Talking to himself, he searched for some kind of fruit or sustenance.
"There has to be something somewhere, but I don't want to go too deep. I have no idea what could be in there," he muttered, staring deeper into the forest where the luminescent flora grew sparse, replaced by an impenetrable darkness.
After thirty minutes of finding nothing but giant leaves and sticks on the ground, his wariness was betrayed by his rumbling stomach. Deciding to throw caution to the wind, he ventured deeper into the forest.
"Come on, kid, you had to have read some books about vegetation or something. I know nothing about foraging in this world," he said, searching through Kai's memories. But no memory surfaced, forcing Evan to rely on his own knowledge of foraging.
He closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and said, "The key to successful foraging is to embrace and respect the natural world, and it will reward you with its riches."
At that moment, something hit him on the head. Startled, he held the dagger in a reverse grip, looking up. "God, is that you?" he asked, but saw nothing. Rubbing the sore spot, he muttered, "What the hell was that?"
As he rubbed his head, he looked down and saw a semi-transparent, oval-shaped object on the ground that gave off an ethereal glow, with something flowing inside it. Backing up, he observed it.
"What the hell is that? Is that the thing that hit me? Is it alive?" he asked, knowing the forest couldn't answer.
Cautiously, he walked closer and nudged it with his foot, then ran behind a couple of large leaves nearby. After about twenty seconds of hearing nothing, he peeked out from behind the leaves. The object was still in the same position. Not sensing any danger, he walked up to the object and picked it up. For some reason, the first thing he did was smell it. The sweet aroma made his starving stomach rumble once again.
Unable to fight his hunger any longer, Evan rubbed the dirt off, shrugged, and said, "What's the worst that can happen? Bone apple tea," he joked, then took a bite.
To his surprise, the object was a fruit—the most delicious fruit he had ever tasted. It was sweet, juicy, and made him feel warm inside. "Mmm, so good," he mumbled, savoring the taste.
As he chewed and swallowed, his eyes snapped open as something began happening inside him. The warmth turned hot, flowing through his body. Unbeknownst to him, the fruit contained dense spiritual essence, which was now coursing through his spiritual channels, forcing open two clogged channels and pushing him into the world of cultivation.
The surge of spiritual essence also slightly awakened his bloodline. If someone had been there, they would have seen Evan's veins glowing with a golden light. His pupils shifted into the shape of the infinity symbol, and he was thrust into a vision.
In the vision, he saw a cave with a glowing skeleton inside, surrounded by various items. Most notably, a beautifully designed transparent vial of golden liquid stood out, giving off an almost familiar presence. Though the vision lasted only about three seconds, it felt like an eternity.
As the vision ended and Evan returned to reality, he struggled to make sense of what had happened. Overwhelmed, he slumped to the ground and lost consciousness.
Some time later, Evan woke up, groaning. "Kid, how'd you make it through life passing out 10 times a day?" he muttered, brushing the dirt off his body.
He looked down at the half-eaten fruit, picking it up and examining it again. "I'm still alive, so obviously this isn't poisonous. But what the hell happened a few minutes ago with the hot feeling and the vision? Who or what the hell was that skeleton? Ugh... too many questions and zero answers."
He looked at the fruit again and said, "Screw it, I might as well finish this. Come on, kid, don't pass out this time." Then he wiped it off and popped it into his mouth. The same hot feeling started rushing throughout his body, but no vision this time, and he managed to stay conscious.
He decided to sit down and try the breathing exercise that he swore he'd never do again. With two of his spiritual channels now open, the breathing exercise actually worked. As he took slow, deep breaths and focused on what was happening inside his body, the spiritual essence around him began to swirl. Evan became a vacuum, drawing in the surrounding essence at a rapid pace. He felt the essence flow through his newly opened channels, spreading warmth and strength throughout his body, fortifying his organs and toughening his skin.
This strange occurrence scared some of the creatures of the forest nearby. The more timid ones ran, but the curious ones came to investigate. One such creature was a monkey-like beast that stood about three feet tall, with yellow fur, six eyes, four arms, and two tails. There were four of them, three looking similar, but the fourth had a shade of orange like a highlight in its fur. They observed Evan from a distance, quietly.
The monkey-like creatures weren't the only ones to notice the phenomenon and investigate. A few miles away, in a massive tree, lay a seven-foot-long white tiger with purplish stripes and electricity occasionally sparking around its body. It slowly opened its eyes, which were pitch black except for pupils shaped like lightning bolts. The tiger lifted its head and looked in the direction of the disturbance, speaking in a deep voice, "New prey." It then bared its teeth that looked like a vicious grin and licked its sharp fangs.
The tiger got up and roared into the air, causing a thundercloud to manifest, with lightning sparking within it but no bolts falling. This roar scared the surrounding creatures into cowering in fear. Though they were allowed to live in the tiger's territory, they knew they could be slaughtered at any moment, as evidenced by the massive pile of bones under the branch where the tiger lay. The tiger then leapt off the branch and headed towards Evan at a slow, deliberate pace.
Unwittingly, Evan had attracted unwanted attention. As his absorption of the surrounding spiritual essence slowed to a halt, the essence around him calmed down. During this process, his body changed greatly. With three channels open, he was halfway into the second level of cultivation. This caused his organs to become stronger and his skin tougher. He could also tell that he was stronger. He clenched his fists and felt the power coursing through him.
That wasn't the only change; all his senses had improved as well. He was like a new person, and his cheeks were no longer sunken, making him look less malnourished. The only downside was that he had some sort of black goo stuck to his body. Remembering Kai's memory of the manual, he knew these were impurities released due to becoming a cultivator. He looked at the goo on his arm and tried to wipe it off with his other hand, but it just stuck there. His first instinct was to smell it, and with his heightened sense of smell, the stench of the impurities assaulted his nostrils, causing him to gag and throw up.
After he finished, he said, "Holy crap, that smells like week-old baby shit!" He shuddered slightly, thinking of the smell. He went over to a nearby tree and started wiping the goo off his body onto the tree as best he could. "I need a shower ASAP. There has to be water around here somewhere," he said, looking around in silence for a moment.
Observing the jungle with his enhanced vision, he said, "So this is what its like to be a cultivator, huh? This is awesome!" He clenched his fist and felt the power, then threw a punch at the tree. Small chunks of bark flew off and stuck to his body, covered in the goo he had just wiped off. One piece, in particular, stuck to his upper lip, making it look like he had a bark mustache.
To Evan, this was horrible because the stench of the goo assaulted his nostrils again, causing him to puke once more. Between bouts of throwing up, he screamed, "Oh God, why me?! What have I done to you?!" Angrily he peeled off the goo-covered bark, and stomped on it then started throwing sticks like a child throwing a tantrum.
Evan's tantrum of stomping and throwing sticks caused the four silently watching monkey-like creatures in the distance to screech and click as if they were laughing. This sudden screeching startled Evan, and he looked toward them, taking the dagger back out of the satchel. He took up a defensive stance and stared in their direction. He couldn't quite see them clearly—just four small silhouettes—and muttered to himself, "Great, now I finally meet some beasts, but there are four of them. I have to be careful. There could be more around."
But with his newfound strength, he decided to step closer and prepared for battle. As he got closer and his eyes adjusted to the darkness, he was dumbfounded by what he saw, causing his mouth to drop open. It wasn't the four arms, six eyes, or two tails that left him speechless. It was the fact that three of the monkeys were surrounding one in the middle, who was reenacting Evan's earlier tantrum from start to end. The sniffing of an imaginary goo, the puking, the punch—it even picked up a stick and held it with its upper lip to imitate the bark mustache. Then it continued the performance, ending with stomping and throwing things. The whole time, the other monkeys were on the ground screeching with laughter.
After it was done, the middle one fell to the ground, laughing as well. Evan, watching this, had long ago dropped his defensive stance and turned slightly red from embarrassment. He muttered, "Are... are these little bastards mocking me?"
This time, it was the monkeys' turn to be scared. They had been too enthralled by the performance and laughing to hear Evan walk up behind them. After he spoke, they stopped laughing and shot up to group together. The group of four and Evan just stared at each other for a few seconds. Then one of the monkeys happened to look at Evan's upper lip and saw the smudge of goo where the bark once was, and it couldn't hold back its laughter. This outburst caused Evan to get slightly angry, and he went after the monkey, shouting, "You think it's funny, you bastard? I'll show you what's funny!"
But they were too agile. They split up, and Evan chose a random one to chase after. They ran for twenty minutes straight, surprising Evan because he'd never run this long before, but he didn't have time to dwell on that. After another twenty minutes and teasing from the other monkeys, they came into a clearing where Evan saw the largest tree he had ever seen. He was mesmerized by the sight. It was ten times larger than the trees he had initially seen from the beach. The top wasn't visible, disappearing into the clouds.
In the clearing, a multitude of creatures coexisted harmoniously. There were Emerald Stags, deer-like creatures with shimmering, emerald-green fur and antlers that glowed faintly, Gemwing Birds, giant birds with plumage that sparkled like gemstones, and Flufftail Squirrels, rodent-like creatures with fluffy tails and bright, curious eyes. There were even Luminous Elephants, their skin adorned with intricate, natural patterns that glowed with bioluminescence.
Adding to the magical atmosphere were Sylvan Lynxes, sleek, silver-furred cats whose eyes shimmered with a multitude of colors, prowling gracefully around the Heartwood Tree. Crystal Beetles with iridescent shells sparkled like diamonds as they fed on the nectar of luminescent flowers. Aurora Serpents slithered through the foliage, their scales reflecting the colors of the aurora, while Mist Moths fluttered by, leaving trails of sparkling particles in their wake. Near a water source, Glowfrogs with bioluminescent skin croaked softly, adding a gentle soundtrack to the enchanting scene.
The scene was breathtaking. The massive tree at the center, known as the Heartwood Tree, seemed to be the heart of this miniature ecosystem, its roots sprawling out and intertwining with the flora. Luminescent flowers bloomed along the roots, casting a gentle, ethereal light that bathed the clearing in a soothing glow. The air was filled with the sounds of chirping, rustling, and the occasional call of the majestic creatures that inhabited this wondrous place.
Evan stood there, mesmerized by the harmonious scene, his anger forgotten in the face of such beauty. He watched as the monkey-like creatures, now dubbed Gogglemonks, dashed up the massive tree, their laughter echoing in the air. He couldn't help but smile, feeling a sense of awe and peace wash over him.
"This world of cultivation keeps getting more mystical" he said to himself, clenching his fist and feeling the power within him. Despite the lingering embarrassment and the stench of the impurities, he knew he was on the brink of an incredible journey.