Cultivation

Qi Fei was twelve years old and a transmigrator.

His parents had died while serving as guards for the Xiao Clan, so the clan had taken him in.

He had once been known, alongside Xiao Yan, the third son of the Xiao Clan's head, as one of Wutan City's two great geniuses.

A year ago, Xiao Yan had suffered some unknown calamity. The Dou Qi vortex in his dantian had dispersed, and his cultivation had fallen to the third stage of Dou Qi.

The Xiao Clan had summoned physicians from far and wide and spent a fortune buying medicinal pills for him, but nothing had worked.

In the end, the clan had no choice but to accept reality and focus on nurturing others.

After Xiao Yan fell from genius to trash, he gradually closed himself off and stopped interacting with other people.

Qi Fei, however, hadn't distanced himself from Xiao Yan.

Although his memories as a transmigrator hadn't fully awakened, he knew this was only a small setback on Xiao Yan's path through life.

Three years later, Xiao Yan would return like a bolt of lightning.

Then, in less than a hundred years, he would cultivate all the way to Dou Di.

He would save the Dou Qi Continent from Hun Tiandi, open a passage to the Great Thousand World, and make it possible for those who came after him to reach Dou Di and even higher realms.

It was best to become friends with Xiao Yan now, so that once he made it big, Qi Fei could tag along and enjoy the good life.

That was the wisest course of action.

Of course, he couldn't let his own cultivation fall too far behind in the process.

Xiao Yan would face plenty of hardships later on. What if Qi Fei wasn't strong enough and didn't live to see the ending?

With that in mind, Qi Fei had always worked hard at his cultivation.

Today, he had finally condensed a Dou Qi vortex and become a Dou Zhe.

Then his memories from his past life fully awakened, and he entered a strange space.

"By the way, what did you do to the newbie?"

Coiling Dragon Qi Fei watched with curiosity as Heavenly Jewel Change Qi Fei carried the unconscious newcomer back.

So people could actually pass out in this space?

That was something new.

"I just suddenly appeared in front of him and startled him when he turned to look at you guys."

Heavenly Jewel Change Qi Fei said innocently.

All he'd done was log out, then log back in at the newcomer's location so he could grab him.

Who could've guessed the newbie would just collapse on the ground?

"I was just processing the things he shared with me."

The newcomer staggered to his feet, still groggy, and stubbornly insisted.

"Uh-huh, we all believe you."

Shen San Qi Fei nodded.

"By the way, which world did you transmigrate to?"

The newcomer was just about to answer when Heavenly Jewel Change Qi Fei cut him off.

"Lust Power, third stage."

At those words, the other two Qi Feis' eyes lit up at once, and they reached out to feel him.

Then they both let go, looking disappointed.

The newcomer had clearly transmigrated into the proper Battle Through the Heavens, not that famous fanfic version.

What a shame.

"I'm kidding."

Heavenly Jewel Change Qi Fei grinned mischievously.

"You know how awful it feels when your hopes get crushed, right?"

Coiling Dragon Qi Fei reproached Heavenly Jewel Change Qi Fei.

"Exactly."

Shen San Qi Fei chimed in.

"That's why I said it. I knew how you two would react."

Heavenly Jewel Change Qi Fei's grin grew brighter.

Come on, if he didn't know what those two would think, why would he say something like that?

"If I'd really transmigrated over there, I'd have to think about how to make a run for it."

Dou Po Qi Fei rubbed his temples.

"How's your cultivation? What level have you reached?"

Heavenly Jewel Change Qi Fei asked.

"Half-step Dou Emperor. I should be able to break through properly before long."

Dou Po Qi Fei estimated.

Honestly, he was probably the weakest Dou Emperor in history.

He had no cultivation method, his Dou Techniques were only at the level of a newbie Dou Zhe, and he lacked combat experience against opponents at his level.

"Not bad. You're pretty much invincible in the early stages. You can let loose now."

Heavenly Jewel Change Qi Fei patted Dou Po Qi Fei on the shoulder.

"Remember to set up a Shuraba for our future Flame Emperor."

Shen San Qi Fei reminded him.

"Nalan Yanran, Ya Fei, Yun Yun... don't let any of them get away."

Back when he was younger, he'd loved reading about broken engagements and face-slapping.

But now that Qi Fei was older, he preferred a happy ending for everyone.

"I'd like to see that too."

Dou Po Qi Fei chuckled.

When he'd reached the end of the novel back then, his only regret had been that Old Xiao hadn't gotten together with every girl he'd met along the way.

This time, as Xiao Yan's good buddy, Qi Fei swore he'd help him out.

The Qi Feis gathered together and chatted about a few other things, like Flat Ground Trips, accidentally taking aphrodisiacs, and having lots of children. The topics were hard to make sense of.

It seemed the future Flame Emperor had plenty of fun ahead of him.

After that, the Qi Feis each went back to their own worlds to digest what they'd shared.

Coiling Dragon World.

The day after the Overgod had descended, Qi Fei began the lessons Beirut had arranged for him.

Early that morning,

Qi Fei was still half-asleep when Beirut yanked him out of bed and told him to cultivate Dou Qi while the Heaven and Earth Elements were active.

Beirut also tossed Qi Fei a new Dou Qi manual.

The manual itself seemed to be based on the Red Dragon Secret Sword, but with Destruction and Life Attribute Dou Qi added in.

Clearly, Beirut had created a cultivation method specifically for Qi Fei.

After Beirut gave him a simple, easy-to-understand explanation, Qi Fei began cultivating, feeling quite grateful.

Beirut watched him the whole time and corrected him as soon as anything went wrong.

After they'd cultivated for a while, Beirut told Qi Fei to stop and sent him to eat breakfast.

Breakfast was a stew made with some kind of magical beast meat.

The pot also contained a whole pile of medicinal herbs, giving it a rather strange color.

It tasted pretty good, though.

After eating, Qi Fei felt a warm current flow from his stomach through the rest of his body, nourishing him.

If he could eat like this long-term, he figured he could become a Level 9 Warrior just by eating.

No wonder Beirut had brought along such a good cook.

After breakfast, while Qi Fei digested his meal, Beirut took him outside the castle to practice magic.

First, he asked Qi Fei to demonstrate his current level of magic.

After Qi Fei clumsily demonstrated a few first-level spells, Beirut sighed.

He'd taken into account that Qi Fei had barely cultivated over the years so he could keep his abilities hidden, but even so, the sight was appalling enough to shock him.

Beirut had no choice but to increase the time spent on magic theory and start teaching Qi Fei from the beginning.

"Remember, the essence of all magic is to manipulate the elements and make them imitate the laws of nature."

With a wave of his hand, Beirut enlarged the fireball several times. Its inner structure and the traces of the elements' movement were clearly visible.

"Take this Fireball Technique, for example. It operates by drawing on the Fire Element and Explosive aspects of the Fire Profound Mystery."

As he spoke, he formed two more fireballs.

One looked fairly ordinary, while the other was like a bomb about to explode.

Yet both gave off an immensely powerful aura, as if they could destroy everything around them if they fell.

"But this involves cultivation after reaching the Saint Realm. For now, just get a general idea."

Beirut dismissed the two fireballs.

"What you need to do now is memorize every way the Heaven and Earth Elements can be combined."

He tossed Qi Fei a stack of books.

They contained detailed explanations of magic models for every element.

"Understood."

Qi Fei nodded.

After all, this was laying the groundwork for studying Laws and Profound Mysteries. There was no harm in learning them.

After that, Beirut explained the theory while guiding Qi Fei through practical exercises.

This way, Qi Fei could memorize the various magic models and the paths the elements followed.

The training continued until Qi Fei's spiritual power was exhausted and he could no longer refine Magic Power to recover.

But Beirut still didn't let him off the hook.

He cast Gravity Magic on Qi Fei, adjusted to his physical limits, and had him temper his body under its effects.

Until noon,

lunch was still prepared by the chef Beirut had brought.

There was a little more variety than at breakfast, but it was still stew with all kinds of medicinal herbs added.

Too exhausted to taste anything, Qi Fei ate his meal and then fell asleep as soon as he lay down for his nap.

"Wake up. Time to get up and train."

A voice sounded in Qi Fei's ear, reaching straight into his soul.

Qi Fei opened his eyes and saw a large purple-gold rat floating in front of him.

It was Harvey, one of Beirut's three children.

That morning at breakfast, Beirut had brought his three children over to meet Qi Fei and had also explained some basic facts about Divine Beasts and Deities.

The three brothers were, from oldest to youngest, Harry, Hart, and Harvey.

All three had come in their Saint Domain True Bodies. In other words, they were all purple-gold rats, and ordinary people could barely tell them apart.

Qi Fei could only distinguish them by their auras, but even that was easy to get wrong.

Still, it didn't matter if he got them mixed up. He could just call them all Senior Brother.

"What happened, Senior Brother?"

Qi Fei climbed out of bed.

"Your nap is over. It's time for a practical lesson."

Harvey said.

"You have five minutes. Get dressed and come to the training ground outside the castle."

Then he vanished from the room in a flash of light.

"Master, is that one of the Saint Realm magical beasts?"

Elena, who Qi Fei had used as a pillow earlier, asked timidly.

"Yes, all three of them are."

Qi Fei answered as he got dressed.

In reality, all three of his Senior Brothers were Deities, and they were probably Highgods of either the Dark or Wind style.

After becoming a Deity in the Coiling Dragon World, one could choose between Internal Godhood and External Godhood.

With Internal Godhood, one's body was directly transformed into a body made of Divine Power.

With External Godhood, the Heaven and Earth Rules helped construct another divine body.

The original body remained at the Saint Realm limit, just like those of his three Senior Brothers.

But the original body could also use Laws and Profound Mysteries, as well as the Divine Power of the Divine Clone, so its actual combat strength wasn't much different from that of the divine body.

Of course, Qi Fei didn't explain any of this to the maids. It would've been a hassle.

His Senior Brother was waiting outside, and he didn't have much time to waste.

Qi Fei quickly got dressed, grabbed his greatsword, and jumped out the window.

With his Level 8 Warrior body, he landed like a superhero, smashing a huge crater into the ground.

Then Qi Fei sprinted toward the training ground outside the castle.

Beirut had created the training ground on the spot while explaining Earth-style Magic to him.

It was made entirely of Black Jade Stone and could easily withstand attacks from at least a Low-God.

If Qi Fei hadn't found it too hard to chip, he would've wanted to knock off a piece and put it up for auction.

It wasn't that he needed the money or anything. He just wanted to know what it felt like to sell a floor tile from his own house for a fortune.

Meanwhile, by the time Qi Fei arrived at the training ground, the three brothers' countdown had just ended.

"Great, I won! I'm going first."

Harvey clapped his paws and cheered.

"Were you senior brothers betting on when I'd arrive?"

Qi Fei came over to the Three Rats, carrying his sword.

"Right. Big Brother bet eight minutes, Second Brother bet six, and I bet five."

Harvey answered while winking at Qi Fei.

Qi Fei could only curse the crooked bookmaker in his heart.

But judging by Harry and Hart's expressions, they seemed to be playing along with their younger brother and didn't really care about the bet themselves.

Since they didn't care, Qi Fei certainly wasn't going to say anything.

"Shall we start now?"

Qi Fei asked.

"Sure, but wait a moment."

Harvey paused, as if searching for something.

"The sword you're holding would break if you tapped it twice. Here, use this."

He tossed out a gigantic Greatsword, taller than a person.

The greatsword was entirely blue, its surface gleaming as though veiled in mist. It looked deep and mysterious.

"This is a trophy I picked up in the past. It's pretty good quality. Remember to bind it to yourself with a drop of blood."

Harvey patted the Greatsword as he spoke.

"Thank you for the precious gift, Senior Brother."

Qi Fei bowed to thank Harvey.

Just then, Harry, who had been watching from the side, suddenly spoke.

"Since my little brother prepared a welcome gift for you, I can't let your eldest brother be outdone."

A black suit of armor suddenly appeared and landed beside Harry.

The helmet and shoulders of the armor were decorated with horns, and the breastplate was covered in intricate patterns that might or might not have been decorative.

A row of backward-pointing blades ran along the arm guards, with the same design repeated on the greaves.

The blades were all black, but on closer inspection, a faint red glow seemed to shine from within them.

Looking at them, Qi Fei could almost feel a murderous aura rushing straight at his face.

Of course, what Qi Fei liked most was the armor's skirt, which ran from the waist all the way down to the knees.

If this skirt had appeared in a Kamen Rider show, it would have been a symbol of a powerful fighter.

"The armor is called Purgatory. It's a Highgod Material Defense Artifact. I got it after defeating a powerful fighter in Hell, one of the Four Supreme Planes."

Harvey explained the armor's origins to Qi Fei.

"Its defensive capabilities are excellent even among Highgods, and its weight makes it suitable for strength training, too. It's just right for you."

Clearly, Harvey had picked it out of his collection in advance.

He hadn't only thought of giving it away after seeing his younger brother make a move.

Beirut had probably told them that he'd given Qi Fei a Soul Defense Artifact, which was why Harvey had chosen this one.

Two of the three brothers had given gifts, leaving Hart as the only one under pressure.

"I've also prepared a gift for you, Junior Brother."

Hart came up with an idea in a hurry and rummaged through his collection for a Ring.

"This is a Space Ring. There are some resources I've gathered inside."

In truth, these were spoils from killing a fairly powerful Highgod.

The fellow must have been sentimental, because the Ring was packed with all sorts of odds and ends.

God Sparks, artifacts, Hell's currency, various cultivation resources—even a large pile of gold coins from his mortal days.

After that, Hart had simply used the Ring as a storeroom, keeping all the loot he had no use for.

He hadn't expected it to come in handy now.

"You might not have any use for them yourself, but they'll be good for raising your subordinates."

"Thank you, Senior Brothers, for these precious gifts. If there's ever anything you need me for, just say the word. I'll do everything I can to help."

Qi Fei said gratefully.