********** Ghost Residence **********
It's been over a month since then. Student Fen has been expelled from the sect. His family is rich, so he's managed to keep his life, though not his honor. He accuses his former friends of betraying him. They believe he's trying to blame them to save himself. No one suspects me. I'm just a slave.
Shi was very surprised that I was saved. I think she suspects something. She hasn't asked though. However, that day, her eyes seemed to pierce my soul. Since then, everything is the same. Nothing has changed. Except that I was rid of a threat.
Enough time has passed, and a week ago, one of the slaves achieved stage one. I don't think they would suspect anything if I do it too. Besides, I've been near for a while. Master Mu knows this, among others.
I'm in the cultivation room. We can reserve it once a year for a maximum of two days. In theory, only if we think we can advance to the next stage. But we also reserve it when we want a break. We use cultivation as an excuse.
They probably suspect us, but they let it go. It's more important that a slave occasionally improves his cultivation, as it improves our efficiency.
I'm having a hard time suppressing the energy, despite I've only taken a fragment of the fragment. But of course, it's a level six pill. From the bag I left in the room, I cut a piece of one of the pills. It's not the best or most efficient method, as it loses some power.
It's better to sell it, and then buy level one pills if that's what you need. You can get a lot of lower level pills by selling a higher one. That is, of course, if you're not a slave. We can't buy and sell. So, I have to make do with what I have.
Raising your cultivation, at least from what I know, is based on expanding your qi container. To do this, when you cultivate, you force the absorption until it exceeds the limit. Of course, there's not much you can force, and it's slow. You absorb qi to expand the container a little, absorb again, and so on and so forth. It's a very long process, as it expands very slowly.
Pills, on the other hand, contain a high concentration of qi. It's released as it breaks down and pours into the container. Thus, the limit is exceeded much more and constantly.
You have to be very focused to release the excess. If you exceed the limit too much, the container can be damaged. Therefore, you have to be very careful when absorbing a pill.
Another problem with cultivation pills is that you can't take too many in a row. When passing through the digestive system, a lot of qi is concentrated there. So, it's dangerous to take another one until the body finishes absorbing it, or it disperses. At least, that's the information that we slaves have managed to gather by listening here and there. You also can't force the container too hard too often. You have to let it rest.
My problem is that I'm using a piece of a pill that is too high level for me. So, it generates more qi than I can absorb. That's the reason I take very small pieces. It ends up being like small explosions.
It's proving more painful than I thought. I've almost lost consciousness. If it weren't for the fact that I'm so close, I wouldn't do it.
This time, a meridian has almost been opened. It's a circuit for the qi to circulate through the body, reinforcing it, making it stronger.
Each stage of the Genesis realm must open twice as many meridians as the previous one, one in the first. They say it's about five hundred to go from stage nine to the Soul realm. I can't imagine. It's taken me years to open one.
I rest for a while as the container expands slightly, and part of the qi dissipates. I think I'll get it next time or the next. I don't know how many hours I've been stuck here.
----------
It took three more, but I've done it. It's a strange, gratifying sensation. I feel the energy that was previously static circulating through my body. I feel as it's even healing old injuries very slowly.
I don't leave until they open the door, there's no rush. Not only do I need to get used to the feeling, but I avoid having to work. The guard watching looks at me, and I nod. He's not a slave, he's a low-ranking servant. He doesn't get paid much, but at least he's free. Also, they're above us. At least, he's one of those who doesn't treat us badly.
"Congratulations. Go register," he says. His smile is sincere.
I bow and go over there. Today the person in charge is a young and serious-looking woman, but I know she's much older.
She looks annoyed. None of them like being there, but they have to put up with it when it's their turn. That makes them treat us even worse than usual.
"What do you want?" she asks me with disdain. She only looks at me out of the corner of her eye for just a second.
"I've reached stage one."
"Put your hand on the stone and force the qi to circulate," she orders me, without looking at me.
I do what she tells me. The stone shines slightly. The sensation of a bit of my qi being absorbed is strange.
"Come closer."
She takes a metal seal and presses it to my neck. I don't know how she got it to burn, but it burns. It hurts, but pain isn't exactly something we're not used to.
"You can go."
I leave. The qi seems to circulate more strongly through the painful area. Somehow, the pain disappears faster than normal.
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I get to the dormitory and point to my mark.
"Ah, congratulations. Take a room, and tell me which one it is," the person in charge for this week greets me.
Upon reaching stage one, we rise in rank as slaves, and get a room. I don't find many differences between them. So, I choose the one that seems the least bad. They record it, as well as writing my name on the door. It can be easily erased. It's mostly informative.
It's late enough that I don't have to go to work. It's not a coincidence. We all usually do it premeditatedly to work as little as possible. One of our little tricks, our little rebellion. It's all we can do.
I wait in my old space. When Shi sees me, she seems disappointed. She may think I've failed by being there. After seeing the mark on my neck, she realizes she was wrong.
"Congratulations!" she exclaims.
"Thank you. Are you coming with me?"
She looks at me and smiles. She's about to cry but stops herself. Maybe, she was afraid I'd leave her. Well, it's not that weird either. I wouldn't be the first slave to do something like that.
She grabs her few belongings and follows me. The room isn't much different than our previous space, just a bit bigger. Besides, it has walls. There's also an unrefined light stone on the wall. It provides light when applying qi. Ours are cheap and not very efficient, but it's something. She turns to me, strangely shy.
