CHAPTER 40: FOUR YEARS

Time did not stop, just like the wind of the Mountains of the End. Carrying snow and the storm across the entire horizon.

And it was in this setting that the years quickly passed.

A whole year had gone by. Kyrian was already seven years old, a year and some months since he had traveled with Wei Feng.

In this last year, his routine was almost always the same. Lifting enormous stones, being beaten by Wei Feng until he could no longer stand it, and training under waterfalls. He trained until he lost consciousness.

The old man never showed mercy, just as Kyrian had asked. He wanted results quickly.

Wei Feng explained more about cultivation while Kyrian endured the torture.

"The first realm, the Body Refinement Realm. It exists to refine the body to the limit, until it can withstand Qi. Bones, blood, skin. The more Qi you can absorb to reinforce the body, the better. The cleaner and more resilient you become."

Kyrian learned quickly. For common cultivators, Qi was absorbed through the meridians and then circulated through the body. Along with the movements of a technique, or training more akin to torture. Just like the technique of the Royal Order. They had similarities.

But for Kyrian it was different, everything was different. His eyes pulled the Qi from the air until he reached his limit. When that happened, the Qi was purified into pure energy, then it was released into every cell of his body.

He didn’t need to follow the path of the book or the one others followed. He didn’t even need to train his body like the others. His eyes would do the work. But Kyrian trained his body for another reason.

At the end of the first year, Kyrian broke through to the third stage of the Body Refinement Realm. His body became twice as strong as before. Unlike others, where each stage improved something specific, Kyrian’s entire body was strengthened equally.

Kyrian grew a little and changed slightly. But the one who changed the most was, in fact, Wei Feng. If before he appeared to be a man of forty with renewed vigor, now, after a year, he seemed to have aged five.

The whiteness of his hair and beard is slightly more intense.

Soon, the second year came.

Kyrian dedicated this year to learning and studying, as well as physical training.

Wei Feng gave him new books. He dove into the pages about spiritual herbs and rare metals. He discovered that in the northern territory there were hidden treasures from forgotten eras and even inheritances of ancient powers.

That year, Wei Feng also revealed the next realms of cultivation.

"After the Body Refinement Realm comes the Qi Accumulation Realm. It is in this realm that the dantian is opened, and Qi begins to be stored within it. From this realm on, it is possible to reinforce the body or your weapon using the Qi present in your dantian."

"Increasing strength, resistance, and speed."

"The third realm is the Qi Release Realm. Where Qi becomes dense enough to be launched at a distance, using different battle techniques."

"The fourth is the Core Formation Realm. Where the condensed Qi transforms into a spiritual core, increasing absorption capacity and the amount of Qi the cultivator can release."

"And the fifth and last that you need to know, for now, is the Spiritual Awakening Realm. When the soul awakens and the spiritual sense awakens, the cultivator takes his first true step to being beyond a human."

Kyrian listened to the words patiently, recording them in his mind. But he didn’t care much, for that was for the future. What mattered was that he was now in the third stage of the first realm.

In practice, in self-torture, Kyrian broke through to the second level of the Royal Order technique given to him by Elyria. His strength increased a little, but it was nothing grand, yet Kyrian was happy with the result.

Wei Feng, on the other hand, now seemed fifty years old. Wrinkles began to mark his forehead. The vitality he had recovered was slowly slipping away.

...

The third year brought disappointments. For Wei Feng. Because for Kyrian, it was getting better and better.

They explored deep caves and climbed peaks sometimes covered by lightning and snow. They followed hidden natural trails but always, in the end, could not advance. Finding rocks, winds, and inevitable death if they continued.

Wei Feng carved paths with his blood. Sometimes he cut the peak of a small mountain in anger. But it was all useless. Each failure increased his silent irritation.

Kyrian noticed. Wei Feng didn’t say it, but his patience and hope were slowly wearing thin.

Meanwhile, Kyrian continued absorbing the Qi in his eyes whenever possible. One day, his body shone from within when completely pure energy came out of his eyes, bathing every corner of his body.

Kyrian broke through to the fourth stage of the Body Refinement Realm. In truth, Wei Feng had underestimated him; Kyrian could have advanced earlier.

What limited him was the scarce Qi, and second, his small body. Wei Feng forbade him from cultivating too much; he needed to go little by little, since his body was not yet fully grown and matured.

He also began to fight more with Wei Feng. Who again was surprised and grumbled to the heavens.

Kyrian in battle was a freak, always dodging at the last second with precision and using any slightest opening to attack. He was a born combat genius, his eyes capturing every movement.

Obviously, Wei Feng did not use much of his strength, only his combat experience. Kyrian had less experience, but his eyes compensated for that.

Kyrian turned nine, while Wei Feng now appeared to be fifty-five. Kyrian could perceive the changes in his skin. He was really aging far too quickly.

Although he was still strong and without commenting on it.

...

The fourth year was marked by stability. Kyrian did the same as always, unhurried. He wanted to see the world out there, but he had time. He felt improvements in something every day, and that was good enough.

But, unlike him, Wei Feng was growing increasingly impatient. He knew he would not find an easy way out. But he would not give up, driven by the despair of dying in these lands.

Kyrian dove deeper into cultivation. His eyes absorbed Qi at a much faster rate. Purified in his eyes, the energy spread again like invisible rivers. Strengthening everything. Harder bones, firmer muscles, tougher skin. Better internal organs.

He broke through to the fifth stage of the Body Refinement Realm.

His body was reaching the limit of what it could strengthen.

That year, Wei Feng made him memorize everything he knew about the outside world.

"Remember brat. Here, you are surrounded by fourteen useless and weak mortal countries. But beyond the mountains, there are great empires. Huge sects that dictate the destiny of a region. Ancient clans, powerful families. Organizations of all kinds."

"Fierce beasts that can crush cities alone. Different races in small forbidden domains that cultivate in a path similar to ours as humans. Some as powerful, or even more than ours."

Kyrian listened, expanding his understanding of the new world he would one day enter. Before, the boy from a small, isolated village now knew that there was a world far too vast to even imagine.

At the end of that year, Kyrian turned ten. His appearance changed a little each year.

Which was normal. But Wei Feng, on the other hand, now seemed sixty years old. His body slightly hunched, deeper wrinkles appeared on his skin. The white strands swayed in the wind.

Kyrian watched the old man with an expression of doubt, strangeness, and a feeling he could not explain.

The two then set out again, trying to find a way to leave the mortal lands.