Chen Ren frowned as he struggled to explain the strange phenomenon that had been happening to him in the last few days. It took a while for him to get everything out as he thought back to how he had been feeling different since he had first started his stall.
"I didn't notice it at first, but I've been feeling something in my dantian these days. It's faint, like a soft pulse, but it's there. I can sense qi in the air too, though it's barely noticeable."
Yalan's eyes narrowed, her eyes sparkling lightly. She licked her mouth— was she amused?
"You sure you're not just filling your head with air?" she asked, a smirk playing on her feline lips.
It was already odd that a cat could speak even better than some humans, but the fact that he could understand her emotions felt like an out-of-the-world experience. Then again, everything here was out of the ordinary.
Chen Ren shook his head firmly and got back to the topic. "No, it's real. It's faint, but I can feel it."
The cat studied him for a moment before giving a small flick of her tail. "Close your eyes," she commanded.
Chen Ren hesitated. "Why?"
She hissed at that question, clearly unsatisfied by Chen Ren's response.
"You don't need to worry. If I had any intention of harming you, you wouldn't even take a single step before it was over."
A chill ran down his spine at her words, and with a reluctant nod, he closed his eyes. Silence stretched between them before the cat's voice broke through again.
"Do you feel anything now?"
Chen Ren focused, but behind his closed eyelids, there was only a vast emptiness. He could hear the faint rustle of the wind, smell the damp earth beneath him, and feel the breeze brush past him, but it was as if he didn't exist like a ghost in the night. All his concentration was for nothing. No trace of what she wanted him to find— no swirl of qi, not even a slight ripple in the air.
"No," he replied, trying not to sound frustrated.
"How about now?"
Yalan's voice seemed to hum with a strange energy.
Suddenly, he felt a shift.
A wave of qi had gathered and bunched up around him. His senses sharpened, picking up the energy, however weak. "Yes," he breathed. "I can feel it now. It's like... something pressing in around me. But not physically. It's mystical in nature."
"Okay, open your eyes."
When he opened his eyes, he found the cat watching him with an intensity that erased her usual demeanour. Her tail stood straight, completely still, as if she were a guard on high alert.
"It seems like you really can sense it," she said, very slowly.
Chen Ren exhaled, a smirk tugging at the corner of his mouth.
"I told you," he said, before taking a pause, rethinking the words she told him a while ago. "So... if most people can't do this, does that mean I'm actually special?"
The thought hung in the air, the idea of having some hidden talent gnawing at him. He might not have gotten a system like if this were a video game, but if he could gain some special talent with sensing qi, he might just be able to progress faster than what he had initially assumed.
Yalan's eyes gleamed for a moment before she meowed softly— it sounded more like a scoff than a noise coming from a cat.
"Special? Don't get ahead of yourself," she said. But there was a flicker of something else in her gaze— a quiet acknowledgement that maybe, just maybe, there was more to him than she had first believed. "Well, partly, maybe, but I've seen geniuses who could sense qi from childhood. I'm not sure if you're one of them, but I believe it more that being from another plane has made you more sensitive to qi." She moved towards the left gracefully from where she was, pacing in thought before turning to him. "There's another thing, though."
Chen Ren's brows furrowed. "What?"
Yalan's tail flicked as she explained, "Cultivators often feel bursts of qi or sense it swirling when they practise their dao. It also happens when they experience a breakthrough. After all, a dao is the path a cultivator walks on, and as they progress, they gain insights— small or large— depending on their mastery of it."
Chen Ren thought for a moment, his face twisted in confusion. "Even so, it doesn't add up. I wasn't practising any martial arts or swinging a sword when it happened. I was distributing rice noodles or running my stall. Why would my qi flare up then?"
The cat gave him a sidelong glance.
"Dao of noodles?" she said in the most serious tone possible.
Chen Ren chuckled lightly. "I doubt that's it," he said. "Whatever it is, I just hope I don't end up with a dao that I have no interest in."
Yalan shook her head, her tone returning to seriousness.
"That won't happen. A dao is a path you walk upon yourself. No one else can choose it for you. After all, it's a long journey and it's yours, not anyone else's. You should meditate and reflect on your dao. Think about the path you're meant to follow."
"But I don't even know what dao I have."
The cat's gaze softened slightly, almost as if teaching a child.
"Then consider which dao you want. The Chen Ren before you walked the martial dao, but clearly, that path was lost. You are not him. You need to search for what you desire—what you seek—deep within yourself."
Chen Ren nodded, settling into a cross-legged position as he closed his eyes, focusing inward. The cat's words echoed in his mind, urging him to think about his dao— the path he wanted to follow. His thoughts drifted naturally toward the martial dao.
In a world of cultivators, it was the logical choice, wasn't it? The quickest route to power in a dog-eat-dog world. Yet, the more he considered it, the more he realised how ill-fitting that path was for him.
He adapted well, so given time, he might be able to come around the martial dao, but would winning in fights make him happy? Even if he ignored the fact that he would be risking his life every day, his natural talent of 21 spirit roots was too low for any sect to look at him nicely.
Moreover, he had already strayed far from the martial path, choosing a very different route: business. Earning money, managing his noodle stall, paying off debts— he was more of a merchant than a warrior. If any dao suited him, it had to be that.
As he pondered, he felt a sudden stir in his dantian.
The qi within him began to swirl more intensely as if resonating with his thoughts. He kept at it, focusing on the vision of his products flourishing, the coins piling up, and his success growing as he built a name for himself.
He imagined expanding his business, using the wealth to improve himself, his connections, and his life. He imagined creating more products from Earth, slowly taking over the mortal market before looking at the sects. He imagined creating his own company.