"Snow blankets the land, my blood dripping as my fortune stains the ice to become a mystery again. Cause and effect. Heaven and earth. I, Ling Aotian have arrived in the demon snow Domain..! "
Ling Aotian dragged his torn body through the snowy plains. Behind him,a large golden hue dissipated as violet color dominated the huge spatial rift soaring through the heaven
"I need to find shelter as soon as possible. My body condition makes it just right for meridian molding. In this second chance, I Ling Aotian must have a perfect awakening."
In the first realm of cultivation: spiritual Qi awakening, one forms meridians. Meridians in essence, are the spiritual channels within a cultivator's body. Pathways that allow the flow of Qi, essence, or other forms of spiritual energy. Just as blood flows through veins, Qi flows through meridians. They form the internal framework for cultivation, linking the Dantian to the limbs, organs, bones, and soul. In this first realm though, since the dantian had yet to form, meridians link to the spirit body of a cultivator.
Normally, cultivators usually form their meridian pathways slowly as they advanced through the heaven stages of this realm. Ling Aotian however was different. He wanted a perfect awakening and form all meridians at the same time. He wanted to skip through the whole spiritual Qi awakening realm.
A perfect awakening was very dangerous, something even the legendary Venerate didn't dare try. It was a heaven defying act that heaven would not allow. Legends says that all that attempted to try perfect awakening, and survived the process were all killed via tribulation. It was because of this that no cultivator dared to try perfect awakening.
One would ask, " why would heaven bring tribulation to a perfect awakener? Shouldn't that person not be regarded as a genius and be protected instead..?"
When this question was asked, masters of disciples, sect Patriach's or even the heavens themselves would become angry. It even reached a period where it became a Taboo. A sensitive topic that was tacitly forgotten through the river of time. But..
"If Patriach Gui Ying could do it and survive, I Long Aotian too will defy the heavens today!! "
Ling Aotian finally found a cave. He noticed snowy footprints heading south of the cave. He judged them to belong to a snow bear. He hesitated for a moment but he consolidated his determination and entered.
" If I dare to consider perfect awakening, just what is a snow bear to me !!"
Arrogant, truly arrogant.
Inside the cave, Ling Aotian crawled as he found a corner to meditate. It was now or never. He knew that if he failed he would most likely die here. Either by tribulation or worse, he would become food.
He crossed his leg, his hands clasping together as he felt the worlds spiritual Qi. Spiritual Qi entered through his mouth. Strands of them visible as Qi colors separated from one source due to a specific breathing technique Aotian was using. Ling Aotian closed his eyes, his senses entering his body, following the strands of Qi to where his yuan spirit was supposed to be: the middle dantian, an inner dimension where the soul anchors spiritual Qi. It was empty, a vacuum that existed in a different space from body organs.
As spiritual Qi accumulated in this space, a new spirit body began to form. This happened because his yuan spirit was absorbed by the jade runes, making him to form it again. Two hours later, his spirit body, though formed, was still absorbing spiritual Qi.
"This should be enough." Aotian performed hand seals, his thoughts going over the procces while his senses outlined all meridians that could be easily connected due to the jade runes that had already formed traces of it's infant stage.
"Just follow the runes Aotian, no chickening out ... Just start with the twelve primary meridians with the yin meridians of heart, lung and spleen before finishing with kidney and liver meridians. Connect them to the spirit body and follow through with the yang meridians. Only one second buffer time Aotian ! Don't screw this up !! The extraordinary meridians should be formed with an eruption. The eruption should not be damaging, using the yin and yang primary meridians to cushion the shock waves. Alright, one hand seal away from perfect awakening Aotian!! Okay.. I got this ..!! "
Boom !
Ling Aotian spirit body released spiritual Qi inside Aotian's body. The spiritual Qi traced pathways concurrent to his blood vessels, in the same path but different plane. Ethereal traces of meridians formed as spiritual Qi lit runes that aligned with the meridians pathway. These jade runes were like a guide that the Qi followed as meridians formed through through them. The pathways formed like a gushing river. After an incence stick worth of time, Ling Aotian finished forming the last yang meridians.
He took a breath, connecting the meridians to his spirit body in one go. He took another breath, forming hand seals as he sent a mental command for his spirit body to store up Qi. One second,that was how long he had to store up enough Qi for the eruption of the Extraordinary meridians.
Boom ! Spiritual Qi erupted,surging out twice as fast as that of the primary meridians. Ling Aotian's mental energy depleted as he guided the Qi to form Extrodinary meridians at an unimmagible pace. He didnt even follow his mental path anymore. He gambled on the runes, making the Qi to go wherever those rune were. In the end, his gamble worked in his favor, not feeling any backlash that he would have faced if he took a wrong turn.
It was now the moment of truth, the moment where he was supposed to attarch the meridians to his spirit body.
"Fuuuck ! " His spirit body was no more, having dissipated after erupting with all it's power to form the Extrodinary meridians. Sweat strolled down Aotian's spine. He was done for.
" Just how could I forget such an important thing...!! How could I miscalculate the amount of spiritual Qi needed to form all meridians !!! Am I Ling Aotian really going to die while cultivating the first realm? Patriach !! You were wrong..!! That one percent..? Is heaven so unjust ..? "
Ling Aotian's life flashes before him. " Xia Luo..!! Patriach ..!!GUI YING sect, am I really going to die here ? " Moments passed through him in flashes. Those moments became memories and those memories became nightmares, Aotian's heart demon surfacing. A demon of disappointment, a demon of Lust, a demon of self.
Aotian's eyes became green, his consciousness drifting away like the spring breeze. All he could see was black. However..
His body glowed green, the runes inside his meridians becoming real as it formed another set of meridians in a plane that was both real and etherial. Blood flowed through the spiritual Qi meridians, spiritual Qi flowed through veins and arteries. A phenomena that caused heaven to rage and descend in form of Extreme seven colored lightening. The thunder rumbled, clouds spanning throughout the whole of Snow Demon Dormain, making it seem that the apocalypse was just around the corner. The clouds had a rainbow color, but the killing intent of the heaven made every living being cower in fear. It was the inherent fear of all cultivators.. heavenly punishment..!!
Lightening struck with seven colors at the same time, destroying the cave as it pierced through the snow and stone. It struck Ling Aotian with terrifying might. Ling Aotian's body, once tired and in the brink of death was now even worse. His bones protruded out as strands of lightening swirled and danced on his almost dead body.
" Roar....!! " At the destroyed cave entrance, a huge ten metre snow bear roared as it saw the state of its home. It was really dairing, becoming furious at the heavens for destroying it's home. Then it spotted Ling Aotian. His body was floating with green hue covering his body as the second and third lightening struck. It somehow understood the perpetrator as this human.
The tribulation scattered, the snow bear roared as it extended it's paw towards the human. This snow bear was really daring. It did not even wait for the tribulation clouds to fully settle. It was as if heaven had sent it here to make sure Ling Aotian died.
Karma..!!
The snow bear struck ...
Baaang !! It hit the cave walls. It had been repeled by the halo of green light surounding the human. It did not give up, it struck again, and again.. and again, but the outcome was always the same. It was obstructed and struck into the wall of the cave. It's condition now as dire as the human.
***
Three weeks passed in a flash, Ling Aotian opened his eyes with an ugly expression on his face. The pain he was in was unimaginable. It was like his body was being destroyed and molded back together with every second of awareness. Looking towards his body, he found out that it was true... He was floating in the air as seven colored lightening invaded his body. Surrounding him was a green hue.
While the seven colored lightening destroyed his body, the supreme green hue remolded it. This happened for another seven days before Ling Aotian fell to the ground. This entire time, he couldn't move, forced to endure excruciating pain every time that seven colored lightening tore his body apart. It was hell, with all he could do was blink as he saw the snow bear still insisting on breaking the defensive barrier of the green hue.
This snow bear was very determined, as if it was a puppet without a will. But that could not be the case, it's fury was definitely real. Ling Aotian confirmed this after seeing two massive eggs near the corner of the cave. One had been crushed by falling debree, making the snow bear going berserk. In the end though, it was futile. It was lying dead as it's eyes fixed on the little human floating in the air. Tears streaming down slowly, it's unwillingness evident as it breathed it's last.
Ling Aotian stood after sometime. Going to the huge snow bear and did a ceremonial prayer. He apologized.
He glanced at the remaining egg and sighed, promising to take care of the pup as he buried it's mother inside that very cave.
Hours later, he was eating some game he had hunted next to the snow bear egg. He had so many questions about this egg. One being..." Just why the hell would a bear poop out an egg..?? " However his curiousity was taken over by his own body. He felt that he had changed. Yet he did not know how. His mental energy was still in chaos due to the pain he lived through. This made it so that he couldn't check his internal body.
Ling Aotian needed to meditate to restore his mental energy. He had been doing that for hours before becoming hungry. He had not eaten for who knows how long. Now while eating, he felt his mental energy ready to be deployed. He commanded spiritual Qi to circulate. His expression slowly turning into one of excitement as he shouted in ecstasy .....
Supreme Jade physique !!!