Cultivation Makes Ashes

''Now I will tell you why your sister, Fang Xiao, didn't come to visit you. In fact... she is no longer in this world.'' Hao was shocked and horrified, his mouth opened in disbelief.

''How? Who killed her?'' Hao sat up, the six months she stayed with him still fresh in his memory. He had grown fond of her, and now, in this new world, he could only depend on these four people, and one of them was gone?

''Calm down, she is not dead,'' Xiong said, observing his son's panic. He realized he hadn't explained it well. 'Well, my wife always says I'm bad with words. Swords really are the best; I don't have to talk to them,' he muttered inside his head while looking at the blade.

''This brings me back to the first topic, the reason why we are one of the strongest and richest in spiritual qi, is because we plunder from others.'' When Hao heard this, he calmed down, but then he wondered what 'plunder' meant.

''What do you mean by plunder, father?'' Fang Hao knew the answer, but he wanted to make sure it was the right one.

''We basically attack other worlds for resources,'' he said as if it was natural.

''Why? Does this world not have enough?'' Hao was confused, as this sounded like they were essentially being robbers.

''This world does have enough. In fact, it's richer than many others. But how do we stay rich? We use other people's wealth,'' Xiong explained, observing his son's face growing sad. He quickly added, ''In the world of cultivation, strength is everything. The strong prey on the weak and the weak are often exploited. It's a harsh reality, but it's how the cultivation world operates.''

''You should not feel sad. The majority of the time, we offer them manuals and the cultivation paths we have, which is more supreme than theirs. However, they often take advantage of it, their rulers in those places are arrogant, thinking they own the sky,'' he said, letting out a laugh.

''So they attack us, and we then strike back, attacking their world and taking up resources. We try to avoid genocide; it does not benefit anyone to have a full extermination. After all, in a few years, we can harvest again, right?'' Xiong said, expressing it as if it was the course of action.

''Father, are we from the Evil Dao?'' Hao started wondering as novels often portrayed those who plundered others as following the evil path.

''Evil Dao? What's that, some sort of Dao Art? Wait, you think there is a right and wrong?'' Xiong shook his head, as he also had the same impression when he was younger.

''There is no white or black, little Hao. Everything is a shade of grey. Sure, some things are frowned upon, but in the end, it's the final winner that writes history. Remember this...'' Xiong took a breath and said, ''This is the cultivation world.''

Fang Hao started understanding some concepts of this world, clearing his mind. 'Yes, this is a cultivation world. It makes sense that I can't use my Earth rules here,' he sighed and then asked another question.

"Father, is there another benefit to go to other worlds?" He wondered, as his sister did have plenty of resources, and he saw how strong his father was.

Seeing Hao ask the right question, he smiled. "Good question, yes, there is a time difference. In weaker worlds, time goes by faster, as the size and spiritual qi of the world determine the speed. In the world your sister is in, called Astronia, the time dilation is about 3 to 1."

''In that world, the highest realm possible is Vital Core. That's why she went there; she can train some techniques and manuals faster. Of course, she also ages faster, but we use an anchor to tie a part of her soul back to our world, Xenovea, reducing the ageing effects a bit. This is also the reason I know she is alive.'' Taking out a small lamp with a soul fire in it, he showed Hao.

''If she is injured, the soul lamp will show signs of distress, and if she dies, it will extinguish.'' Taking a look, the lamp was perfectly fine, shining with a bright light.

''Normally, the sects have this to avoid betrayals and to trace their members, but heh, as if I will give a soul fragment of my children to anyone. You should have seen their faces when I denied them; it sure was satisfying,'' he smirked, displaying a slight disdain for their way of doing things.

''We, the Fang, stay together. Remember this, if they do anything, we will let the world burn,'' he looked at Hao with a look of trust. Xiong had been betrayed countless times in his life, only trusting a few close ones and the family he had.

''Father, what about a world with no spiritual qi?'' Hao asked about Earth, taking this opportunity to get an answer.

''Oh? You know those exist?'' Xiong looked at him with interest. Not many people thought they existed.

''Well, they do exist, and the time would be 1-10 for us. We call them dead worlds. They are outside the spiritual qi realm, but this is another topic that is for higher cultivation. Even I only know limited information,'' Xiong shook his head, indicating that he didn't want to say much about this.

''1 to 10? Is it possible it's slower than us or the same?'' Hao looked pale and asked, fearing for the answer.

''Impossible, it would be 1 to 10 compared to this medium world, this I am sure.'' Not understanding why Hao felt so saddened as if he lost his soul, he continued.

''Enough about that.The next realms I will tell you once you reach Vital Core. Let's see where you are talented at.'' Standing up, Fang Xiong walked to a large stone in another area of the garden, used for testing talent.

Hao stood there, his emotions in turmoil, not fully registering his father's presence. A single tear welled up in his eye and trailed down his cheek.

He muttered brokenly, ''Father... Mother... Na.. Natasha... I am sorry... I... really am... I wish... you found someone... that loved you after me...'' The weight of Natasha's death hit him hard, his voice quivered, laden with the weight of unbearable guilt and sorrow.

This was indeed not a dream. He, Eric, now known as Fang Hao, had a new family, a new beginning, and a new fate in this magical world, filled with life and ashes.