Cultivation Realms

The sun hung above the sky, bathing the world in its warm rays of light, slowly evaporating the water trapped in countless places throughout the village.

The muddy streets were surprisingly empty in the morning, a rare sight in this overpopulated village that never experienced quietness during the day.

However, if someone took the time to stand in any spot in the village and listen closely, they wouldn't just hear the tweeting of the birds or the forest trees dancing in the breeze.

Instead, they would hear something entirely distinct from what they had initially expected.

***

When someone turned seven, they had the opportunity to take the martial arts talent test by going through three different phases. In the end, they would see which talent grade they had and judge how fast their cultivation process would be later on.

Talent grades are divided into four sections, bottom grade, low grade, intermediate grade, and high grade. Each decided whether someone would be either a commoner or a martial arts master revered by countless people around the continent.

Talent grade is measured by how well someone performs in the three tests which were personally created by the first expert that reached the Holy Realm cultivation level in this continent- Known to all as Garuda the Holy Father of Martial Arts.

A middle-aged man with short black hair wearing black martial arts attire of high quality addressed everyone as he looked at the people in the spacious room that could easily accommodate a thousand people.

For cultivation realms...

Before the middle-aged man could even form his sentence and keep explaining, a young man sitting on the first row of chairs cut in as he raised his hand.

' Oh, someone wasn't well taught by his family how children aren't allowed to cut in in such a rude manner,' He then looked at the number of the chair the kid was sitting in and checked a book that was lying in front of him on top of his desk.

' Chair number 1, Yone Danci, Son of David Danci,' As he kept reading the profile of said kid, sweat began forming on his forehead, but he quickly wiped it off before they were noticed by anyone, his face turning into a smile before he told the kid to ask his question.

However, each word Yone said made the middle-aged man's veins bulge in anger, for a second, he almost lost his mind and punched the kid to death.

" You have said a lot of unnecessary things, yet you still didn't say anything about cultivation realms which are more important to me, is there a reason for that?" Yone asked, his ears perking up in the process.

' I was literally about to go into that subject before you interrupted me you damnable spoiled punk,' Thomas's eyes were bloody red as he did his best to keep his anger in check.

For the first time since this adventurer association branch was created, never had anyone interrupted him during his lecture, much less interrupt him when he didn't even have to.

If Thomas didn't know better and had all of Yone's information in front of him, he would have thought he was here solely to make fun of him.

Thomas quickly glanced at a white-haired man sitting on a sofa at the end of the room, observing the entire event, before he shifted his gaze back and answered in a calm tone.

" Ehm, yes, so about cultivation realms. They are also divided into four, foundation establishment realm, qi condensation realm, bone tempering realm, and holy realm, each divided into nine layers from 1st to 9th."

Yone listened intently to the words Thomas said.

He hadn't received any education about this subject, so he needed someone with experience to elaborate on it. For now, he was satisfied with what he was getting, but he still felt it wasn't enough.

At this moment, he only knew the basics, as he needed to ask more questions if he wanted to learn more. At the same time, he didn't want to provoke his mother's anger by delving deeper into martial arts before he turned twenty, or else things might become quite troublesome at home.

' Well, things can become troublesome if I ask too much so I'll try to make it reasonable as much.' Yone thought with annoyance.

His eyes flashed with a demonic glee as he thought about all these restrictions preventing him from getting stronger.

' I'll have to take care of this situation as soon as possible,' He uttered as he thought about the system, instantly, a blue panel materialized in front of him.

Host: Yone Danci.

Cultivation Realm: None.

Cultivation Method: Devour - Unknown Grade.

Mystical Talents: None.

Inventory Items: None.

Missions Available: Extract an amber out of your first corpse.

After Yone's first interaction with the system, he came to understand everything about it, which honestly wasn't complicated in the slightest.

The only thing he found interesting in this system mechanism was the mission at the end of the panel.

He didn't know whether it was the mention of amber or the devour cultivation method that made him want to test it out directly. However, one thing he knew for sure.

He won't be taking long before trying it out.

'That amber extraction is my sole chance of getting stronger right now, I have to start using it!' His eyes flashed with ruthlessness unprecedented to any of the hundred or so children sitting around him.

Luckily for Yone, none seemed to notice his frightening gaze and kept on listening to the middle-aged man explaining a few things about the tests.

"Your kid looks interesting Sir David," An old man with a long white mustache and long hair flowing around his shoulders commented as he sipped a cup of tea," Or is it more accurate to say that he is rather curious beyond what a normal kid is?"

He lightly laughed after he finished his words.

"Hahaha, you know how kids are Daniel, their bottomless thirst for knowledge is something each one of us has experienced before," David replied with a faint smile.

Daniel, the lord of Stream Village gave him a side look before adding in a calm tone.

" Don't you know about that saying David," He carassed his long mustache seemingly thinking about something before he continued," Oh yes, I remember it now, you should excuse my old memory friend."

" No worries old friend. So what is that example?" David's hands grabbed the cup of tea and he sipped a little.

"It goes like this. A curious cat will always find a way to get itself killed."

Bam!

The empty cup in David's hands broke into dust after the old man finished his words, a trace of red light flashing past his eyes.