Chapter 6: Shadows of Fate (1)
Aerich and his family returned to their estate. Nothing happened on the way, but the occasional glances of sympathy and joy from the servants and guards were a little burdensome.
"Huu... Finally, after today, my respect in people's hearts will diminish," Aerich exhaled softly and said to himself.
"Receive rewards," Aerich excitedly said in his heart.
Ding!
[Congratulations to Host for receiving 'Heavenly Fate' from Hua Lian.]
Instantly, Aerich felt his talent increasing, and his clogged meridians started unlocking, evolving from 'Earth Fate' to 'Sky Fate' and finally to 'Heavenly Fate.' He sat down cross-legged in a lotus position and tried to absorb the spiritual energy in the surroundings.
He felt spiritual energy entering his meridians but had no idea how to channel it, and after he stopped, the spiritual energy slowly dispersed, leaving his meridians empty once again.
"Looks like I have to wait until I get a proper cultivation and Qi gathering manual from the family."
He was also planning to refine the impurities in the spiritual energy because he currently had no skill to conceal his cultivation level. Based on the image he had portrayed to the outside world, he was an Earth Fate, and on average, it took around five to ten years to break through to the Qi Gathering stage.
He didn't want to stand out.
From the information he received from the system, there were a total of one hundred and eight meridians that needed to be unlocked once he reached 'Heavenly Fate.' Heavenly Fate individuals are blessed with both quantity and quality. Their meridians are wide, sturdy, and allow for faster and more profound cultivation. Hidden meridians enable them to access advanced techniques and channel greater amounts of Qi.
Moreover, the time it takes for a Heavenly Fate individual to break through to the Qi Gathering stage is drastically shorter—on average, around three to six months.
It was already evening, and the sun was about to set. An unnamed servant entered his room after knocking to bring him dinner. As a mortal, he still felt hunger. After eating, he went out of his room to take a walk. Nothing happened on his way back, as many people were busy with their own work.
The next day, one of the family elders left him the cultivation manual, along with guidance on how to cultivate it, as it was a low-rank manual and almost anyone could use it after being guided once. There was no need for the elder to stay with him for long.
Time went by in a blink of an eye, and news came that the Hua family's daughter had reached the Qi Gathering stage. This news shocked everyone, as it took only two and a half months for Hua Lian to reach the Qi Gathering stage. Everyone was now certain that the Hua family would soon rise up the ranks once this news got out of the village. Surely, a top-tier sect would make their move and take Hua Lian as a disciple.
What did this mean? Hua Lian would have an abundance of cultivation resources, and with her monstrous talent, she would soon surpass her family head's cultivation level before she even reached adulthood.
Aerich quietly cultivated in his room. He also heard about Hua Lian's breakthrough from the system before anyone else, which urged him to receive cultivation rewards from Hua Lian, but he did not click 'Yes.'
He decided to stockpile his cultivation rewards and receive them all at once when he obtained a Qi concealment skill.
After getting bored, he started reading some books in his study. These books were sent by his father to keep him motivated when he heard that Aerich was alone in his room most of the time. He was a little surprised to find novels in this world, which recorded the experiences of people who defied their fate and reached new heights. But these were widely considered fiction, as no one had actually seen anyone with Earth Fate reach the Core Formation Realm. The limit of Earth Fate was the Foundation Building Realm.
He was happy to have such a kind father, who did not get disappointed in him when he awakened with an Earth Fate. It was also thanks to his father that no one dared to badmouth Aerich within the Yu family estate.
He attributed this to his change of 'fate,' no longer being the protagonist.
Soon, Aerich turned seven years old. He had grown a little taller, but there was no change beyond that. His father came to visit him often, but as the family head, he was not free. He gave Aerich some simple pills that were used as Qi supplements in this world, like Vitamin C tablets in his previous life.
Aerich dared not speak much in Yu Zhong's presence, lest he say something wrong and make Yu Zhong suspect that his son had been possessed.
Over the course of a year, his interactions with Yu Zhong proved to him that Yu Zhong was a sharp and honest man. As a sword cultivator, he was resolute in whatever decision he made, which made him more dangerous for Aerich.
A rumor had been circulating in the village for six months that the "Azure Sky Sect" was coming to recruit Hua Lian as an inner disciple.
People believed the first part, but the latter was hard to accept, as Hua Lian's talent far exceeded the status of an inner disciple. However, there was no way to know for sure. It was possible that there were many like Hua Lian in the Azure Sky Sect, or it could be true that her talent exceeded that of an inner disciple.
Aerich did not care much, but when he heard the name "Azure Sky Sect," it sounded like thunder in his ears, as the villain who was after his life was a disciple of this sect. He was not sure if the villain was still the same person.
...
In the Hua family estate.
Inside a room surrounded by low-rank spiritual crystals was a little girl sitting cross-legged in the center of the space, with the spiritual crystals arranged in a donut shape.
"Eight Layer of Qi Gathering Realm," she said.
Hua Lian had an extremely high-grade Qi Concealment Technique. To the outside world, she appeared to be in the fifth layer of the Qi Gathering Realm, but she was already close to reaching the peak of the Qi Gathering Realm. Not even her father knew her true cultivation level.
It was all thanks to her experiences accumulated before her rebirth.