Reborn as a baby, Tsubasa led a simple and boring life. Every day, he did nothing but eat and sleep, but he had the soul of an adult and needed nowhere near that much sleep. Three hours a day left him full of energy. Still, he really didn't want adults holding him in their arms and soothing him like a little baby. That was far too embarrassing. With no other choice, he pretended to be sleepy all the time. But lying there awake was terribly dull, so he had to find something to pass the time.
He remembered reading a Daoist article in his previous life that said babies could see a world adults couldn't. Following a method he had read about in his previous life, Tsubasa cleared his thoughts and entered a state of clarity, thinking of nothing. Then he carefully sensed his surroundings. What he sensed gave him a shock! Around him was a world of dazzling, brilliant colors. Could this be the legendary energy of heaven and earth?
When he emerged from the state of clarity, the colorful world vanished in an instant. After repeating the experiment more than a dozen times, Tsubasa finally confirmed that this world of energy really existed. No wonder the ancients said babies could see things adults couldn't. They had been telling the truth.
Tsubasa entered the state of clarity again and began studying this mysterious world with utmost care. He saw that the faint glimmers were tiny specks of light in a rich variety of colors: gold, yellow, black, white, cyan, green, and many more, over a hundred in all. These specks moved freely through the void, sometimes interfering with one another and sometimes merging together, much like stars scattered across the vast universe. His own soul was like a giant standing in the void, quietly observing this tiny yet ever-changing world.
Tsubasa strained with all his might and found that he could only sense the area within three meters of himself. Beyond that was a pitch-black void where he could see nothing. He reached out to touch the specks of light, only to find that they passed straight through his body. It was as though they existed in different dimensions: he could sense their presence but couldn't actually touch them or affect their paths at all. Even so, Tsubasa was deeply drawn to this gorgeous world of energy. In his previous life, he had been nothing more than an ordinary IT guy, working himself to exhaustion with overtime every day. Who didn't dream of Immortal Cultivation? Now that he had transmigrated to this world and stumbled into this mysterious realm, how could he give up so easily?
Tsubasa began trying every way he could think of to communicate with this world. First, he called upon the Three Pure Ones, Tathagata Buddha, the Jade Emperor, Guanyin Bodhisattva, Ksitigarbha, and every other god and Buddha he could think of in his mind. It did no good at all and left his head in such a muddle that he ended up leaving the mysterious world altogether.
When Tsubasa returned to reality, he realized that more than ten hours had passed without his noticing, and he was lying in the arms of his mother, Senju Ga. Seeing him wake up, she held him to her breast to feed him. Tsubasa was a little embarrassed, but his stomach was already empty, so he didn't stand on ceremony. After feeding, he spent another hour laughing and playing with his parents, then pretended to be sleepy and ready for bed.
Senju Ga looked at the baby in her arms and said to her husband, Senju Tenpuku, with a hint of helplessness, "Husband, have you noticed how much the baby sleeps? Could there be something wrong with him?"
Senju Tenpuku hurried to reassure her. "The doctor already examined him. He's perfectly healthy, so don't worry yourself over nothing. He'll be fine when he's a little older."
Senju Ga still looked worried. "But I love playing with the baby. Husband, have you noticed? When I smile at him, he smiles back; when I talk to him, he even babbles a reply. He's so much fun. I really wish he'd grow up quickly."
Thinking back on Tsubasa's behavior, Senju Tenpuku said, "He really is a clever little fellow, and he hardly ever cries or fusses. When he needs to eat or go to the bathroom, he even babbles to let us know. He'll definitely become a formidable ninja someday."
Senju Ga frowned. "Didn't Lord Hashirama say our family could recuperate for fifty years without going to the battlefield? I don't want our baby going to the battlefield, and I don't want him becoming a ninja either. He should live comfortably as a nobleman, marry several wives, and give our family lots of children, so our home can be lively and full of people again."
Senju Tenpuku quickly agreed. "All right, whatever you say. Our baby won't become a ninja or go to the battlefield. He'll be a noble lord with a house full of descendants."
As soon as he finished speaking, Tsubasa entered the state of clarity again and returned to the dazzling world of energy. Looking at the tiny points of energy, he still had no idea what to do. He tried a breathing technique, but the points of energy were completely unaffected by his breathing. Even when they passed through his body, they had nothing to do with him at all, as if they belonged to two entirely different worlds.
Seeing that the breathing technique didn't work, Tsubasa switched to mental communication, concentrating his thoughts on the points of energy. He tried one point of each color at a time, moving on to another whenever one failed to respond. After trying for a long while, he still received no response. Just as he was about to give up, the last black point of energy he communicated with seemed to move a tiny bit toward him.
Tsubasa was beside himself with joy, though he wondered if his eyes were playing tricks on him. He concentrated again and communicated with the black point of energy. It really was moving slowly toward him, at an extremely sluggish pace and with evident hesitation. If Tsubasa hadn't been watching it with all his concentration, he wouldn't have noticed it moving at all. The point of energy was like a shy young girl experiencing her first romance, while Tsubasa was like an older man courting her, coaxing her with all sorts of sweet words. After some effort, the black point of energy finally came to rest on his palm.
Tsubasa continued communicating with it mentally and coaxing it. The black point grew more and more obedient, flying wherever he told it to. They were like extremely close friends, or lovers who adored each other. Finally, Tsubasa wanted it to enter his body, but the black point seemed hesitant. He hurriedly urged it on. "I want us to become one, with me in you and you in me, never to be separated again." The black point seemed persuaded and finally slipped into Tsubasa's palm. But immediately afterward, a piercing pain struck from deep within his soul and body.
Tsubasa instantly emerged from the state of clarity. When he looked at his palm, it was badly swollen. He had never expected the black energy entering his body to hurt so much, or for the excruciating pain to come from his soul. His hand was swollen like a risen steamed bun. Fortunately, it had entered his palm. The thought of it entering anywhere else made him shudder.
Senju Ga suddenly heard her son cry out in pain and hurriedly looked over, only to find her precious son's right palm swollen like a steamed bun. Her heart ached for him. Had some poisonous insect bitten him? She carefully examined his palm but found no wound, so she could only send the maid Mei'er to fetch a doctor from the Senju Clan.
Before long, the Senju Clan's doctor arrived. After a careful examination, he said, "Young madam, the young master has edema in his hand. I'll apply some medicine, and he'll be fine."
Senju Ga asked in confusion, "The baby was lying perfectly fine on the bed. How could his hand suddenly develop edema?"
The doctor looked just as baffled. "I'm not sure what caused the edema. It might be an allergic reaction to something, but I can say for certain that the swelling on the young master's hand is edema."
The doctor applied an ointment to Tsubasa's hand, and soon the swelling in his right hand went down. The doctor left the ointment behind and departed.
Although it wasn't a major incident, word quickly reached the Second Elder's entire extended family, and everyone rushed over to see Tsubasa. His first and second aunts even wanted to stay and help care for him. Senju Ga repeatedly assured them that she would look after him carefully, and since everyone was indeed busy with the move these past few days, they reluctantly left. Even so, two more maids were assigned to look after Tsubasa.
Tsubasa hadn't expected the black energy to be so powerful. The swelling pain in his soul and body would have been difficult for an ordinary person to bear. Fortunately, he had an adult's willpower. But once the wound healed, he forgot the pain and entered the state of clarity again, returning to the mysterious world of energy. He didn't dare touch the black points of light again so casually; the piercing pain in his soul still frightened him. So he began earnestly communicating with points of other colors. With his previous experience communicating with the black point of energy, Tsubasa quickly tried every color and found that one kind of yellow point responded to his mental communication. He hurriedly drew it over and let it enter his left palm. Once again, pain struck his soul and body, and a hard lump appeared in his palm.
This time, it happened right before Senju Ga's eyes. She sensed an energy fluctuation in her son's palm, and immediately afterward, it began swelling visibly. She hurriedly summoned the doctor again and told him what she had seen. The doctor said he had never encountered anything like it. He could only prescribe another ointment to help reduce the swelling. He had no idea what had caused it, though he thought it was a rare skin condition. Without knowing the cause, he had no way to cure it completely, so he could only reduce the swelling for now.
With no other choice, Senju Ga gathered the whole family and told them exactly what had happened. Even with everyone together, they were at a loss. The Second Elder, Senju Yasuhei, was widely experienced, but even he had never heard of anything so strange. He told Senju Ga to continue looking after little Tsubasa while he asked around among the other clans to see if anyone knew what the illness was.
Senju Ga sobbed uncontrollably. She would rather suffer herself than see her baby come to any harm. Yet little Tsubasa barely cried or fussed and even amused Senju Ga to make her laugh, hoping the adults wouldn't worry. Seeing that the little fellow could still smile, everyone felt a little more reassured and less anxious, though a trace of worry still hung over the family.
Little Tsubasa paid no mind to any of this and continued guiding the black and yellow elemental energies into his body. Though it hurt terribly, he gritted his teeth and persevered. He had finally managed to come into contact with this mysterious energy; how could he give up because he feared pain? As long as it didn't endanger his life, he would keep going. Compared to Immortal Cultivation and gaining eternal life, what was a little pain?
Soon, little Tsubasa discovered that fusing another point of energy into a place where he had already fused one didn't hurt as much. It seemed that the harm caused by fusing the points of energy was gradually decreasing. The discovery thrilled him. What was more, after fusing with the points, he found it easier to communicate mentally with the others. It was as though he bore their mark and had gained their full acceptance. So Tsubasa began communicating with more points of energy and letting them enter his skin.
Little Tsubasa endured the pain while rejoicing inwardly. He had finally found the key to unlocking this treasure. He remembered reading Immortal Cultivation novels in his previous life that said the path to Immortal Cultivation began with body tempering, followed by refining essence into qi, refining qi into Soul Formation, refining spirit back into the void, and merging the void with Dao Integration, and so on. He should currently be at the body-tempering stage, making his body better suited to the energy of heaven and earth and laying the foundation for refining essence into qi afterward.