5 Zhang Baichi, Regular Mortal
"I'll never do this again.", Zhang Baichi muttered, while laying sprawled out on the bed. He wasn't injured but was mentally exhausted and had a mean headache after having a huge amount of information injected into his mind for the second time in a row.
He closed his eyes to catch some rest, trying his best to ignore the weird feelings his body was giving him at the moment. A few minutes later, he couldn't take it anymore and had to sit up.
It felt like worms were crawling through his body, though he himself knew, that this was his own blood coursing through his veins. The anatomical records of Doctor Zhou Yubai were different from what Zhang Baichi expected.
Instead of Doctor-level medicinal knowledge, he got something that could more accurately be explained as 'memories'. Memories of someone, who understood their own body in and out and was even able to feel all their muscles separately, their own bones and joints moving, their own blood flowing through them and their own heart contracting and expanding with each beat.
"This is so d*mn weird…", Zhang Baichi muttered, then raised his hand and formed a fist again and again. He could clearly tell how each muscle in his forearm and hand tightened and loosened, how the tendons moved to form a fist and how his hand restructured when he stretched his fingers wide.
Thankfully, the headache was nearly gone already - which also meant that he could focus that much better… He looked down at his own body and poked his abdomen. This was where his Dantian is. Where the Spiritual Qi that he absorbed during cultivation would be stored.
A completely unscientific 'organ' that any person in this world would have and something that Zhang Baichi could wrap his head around, despite 'knowing' exactly how and why it worked. He was an author before and wrote about the Dantian and cultivation himself, but writing about it and experiencing it for himself were two completely different matters. He could clearly feel it and even see it right before his eyes once his focused on it.
"Crippling someone's Dantian is actually possible.", Zhang Baichi muttered, as he 'knew' what he was saying. "It's not just the strike or whatever physical attack… it's the Qi. Foreign Qi invading another person's body and Dantian and ravaging around, destroying the latter… It's like an EMP…"
It worked that way, he knew that. But that didn't mean that it made any sense to him. Thus far, Zhang Baichi was a normal human from Earth and never a religious or spiritualistic person. He always believed cultivation, Qi, reincarnation and the likes to be nothing but fantasy, yet that fantasy became real and he was living in it…
"Whatever. I need to survive, so I should start cultivating…"
The sun still stood high in the sky, though a few hours had passed since his reincarnation. "System, what time is it? And how much longer until the sun sets?", Zhang Baichi spoke in a low voice, so that no one would hear him.
[Ding! It is currently 5 PM. The sun will set in approximately 2 hours and 16 minutes, at 07:16 PM as is it nearing summer.]
"…That was a lot more accurate than expected.", Zhang Baichi said, raising an eyebrow. 'It seems this 'investigating autonomous' is actually a thing…'
[Ding! The system is investigating the Hosts surroundings at all times.]
[Ding! Reminder to Host: To make the most the Black Heaven Scripture, it is recommended for Host to start cultivating during nighttime.]
'Why did that first one sound so offended, hah.', he once again smirked, then turned serious and pulled a small glass vial out of his Inventory. Inside was a small, light green pill that looked perfectly smooth and circular. This was the Body Reconstruction Pill.
'In order to start cultivating the Black Heaven Scripture, I have to abolish my current cultivation first. That is because every cultivation technique would employ different methods during each realm of cultivation, and only by cultivating one technique from start to finish could one make the most of it.', Zhang Baichi silently mused.
The old Zhang Baichi's cultivation technique, the Howling Winds Qi Circulation Method, was the fundamental cultivation technique of the Fleeting Storm Sword Sect. It was the foundation upon which the sect nurtured it experts – even Elders, young geniuses and the Sect Master studied this fundamental technique.
However, compared to the Black Heaven Scripture, this great sect's technique was absolutely crude - Utter and complete garbage, that could not compare in any way!
With this in mind, Zhang Baichi sat down on the bed and crossed his legs, then took a few deep breaths to calm his breathing and heartbeat. He raised his hand and flexed a finger, then started rapidly poking at six different points across his upper body – acupuncture points – causing his face to change as immense amounts of pain flashed through his body.
Moments later, he gagged, spitting out a mouthful of blood and started violently coughing. His whole body shook and a white vapor of Spiritual Qi seeped out from his pores. Then, his cultivation started to drop.
His cultivation at the 4th Layer of the Body Forging Realm destabilized, then dropped to the 3rd Layer of the Body Forging Realm.
Moments later, it dropped to the 2nd Layer of the Body Forging Realm and the drop to the 1st Layer followed closely behind.
Zhang Baichi grit his teeth and grabbed the Body Reconstruction Pill from the nightstand, threw the glass vial to the side and waited for the right moment.
His cultivation dropped again, dissipating the rest of the Spiritual Qi from his body as white vapor. If he didn't stop it now, his Dantian would continue to spew out Spiritual Qi, exhausting itself and leading to its own destruction.
Quickly, Zhang Baichi once again poked the same six acupuncture points in a different order to stop this from happening, then swallowed the Body Reconstruction Pill relaxed his body, letting the Pill's medicinal powers take effect to mend the Qi pathways throughout his body and the Dantian.
With that, the most dangerous part was already over, but the pain was still as intense as before and after relaxing his body, Zhang Baichi promptly lost consciousness. After taking in the knowledge of two different Spiritual Jades and focusing and concentrating to resist the pain while abolishing his cultivation, his mental strength was thoroughly exhausted.
.
.
.
Zhang Baichi opened his eyes again after an unknown amount of time has passed. He was still on the bed inside the small cottage, but he felt weak. With the knowledge of Doctor Zhou Yubai, he quickly figured that it was normal, since his cultivation dropped so much, or rather, since it dissipated, and he was a regular mortal again.
"Huh… System, what happened while I was passed out? And how much time passed.", Zhang Baichi sat upright on the bed. He didn't particularly feel bad, just weaker, and lethargic.
[Ding! While Host was passed out, the Body Reconstruction Pill took effect and repaired Host's Meridians and Dantian. All injuries healed completely and there are no negative effects remaining.]
[Ding! The current time is 08:35 PM of the same day. Host was unconscious for 3 hours and 28 minutes.]
He muttered his thanks, then checked his own body and confirmed that everything was alright. Zhang Baichi used the old Doctor's memories and evaluated himself again. 'My current state is like a blank canvas again… Like this, I can easily start cultivating. But still, why is my Dantian so large? According to the Doc's memories, it should only be around the size of a peanut, but mine's bigger than a fist.'
[Ding! Host need not worry. While it is uncommon for a Dantian to be bigger than usual, it has happened many times before naturally. There are also various Natural Treasures that can be used to strengthen and enlarge the Dantian recording within the Shop. A larger Dantian only leads to greater Qi reserves, which is a great advantage over regular cultivators.]
"….Why does it feel like you're coaxing me into something here.", Zhang Baichi muttered again, though still acknowledging the systems input. He ruffled his hair in annoyance as he himself didn't quite understand this, then shook his head. "Whatever! Time to start cultivating."
He once again slid back on the bed and crossed his legs, then took another deep breath and started to absorb Qi according to the Black Heaven Scripture's methods. However, even after a few minutes, he was still unable to do so.
A frown built up on his face again and Zhang Baichi opened his eyes and breathed out. 'Okay, so it's not as easy as it sounds… According to the Black Heaven Scripture, Spiritual Qi should not be cultivated under any circumstances. The Spiritual Qi created between Heaven and Earth is something that can never surpass the Heavens, nor suppress the Earth, so the cultivator has to draw in Qi from beyond the Heavens to cultivate.'
The Black Heaven Scripture's description reminded Zhang Baichi of a certain trope that he often saw in novels; Stories of the Heavens, Beyond the Heavens, the Great Void, and many more. Especially so, since the Black Heaven Scripture calls this Qi from beyond the Heavens 'Black Heaven Qi' and the obvious connection that the Void outside the world is without light, quasi 'black'.
Annoyance painted Zhang Baichi's face, 'The instructions are clear and there's even a method on how it works, but how is a mortal supposed to do that? This whole Black Heaven Scripture is a supreme technique, sure, but it's also supremely difficult… Moreover, with the 'surpassing the Heavens' and 'Qi from beyond the Heavens', it seems to be some kind of Heavenly Dao and Grand Dao kind of thing, where the Heavenly Dao, or Spiritual Qi, is easy to cultivate, but innately supresses one's potential.'
"System, is there a shortcut? An easy way for me to get my hands on this Black Heaven Qi?", an idea formed in his head and Zhang Baichi simply blurted it out, not actually expecting a positive answer, yet the system surprised him again.
[Ding! The Blood Pills provided by the System are supreme in effect and quality, reaching the peak of their rank, because they are created using Qi from beyond the Heavens instead of Spiritual Qi.]
Zhang Baichi stared at the screen, dumbstruck. A crazy image taking shape in his head. 'Don't tell me the old man, this Black Heaven Sage or whatever, is stalking me? And he's the once providing all the stuff the 'system' is giving me? A Great Sage personally refining the lowest level, trash-tier pills for me?'
[Ding! Host is incorrect. The system has been created by the Back Heaven Great Sage, but is not directly linked to him. Cultivation is plunder and the same is true for the Heavens and everything beyond the Heavens. It is not rare to see Qi, objects, or even living creatures from beyond the Heavens.]
