Chapter 9: A fiery meeting

Year 10, Day 32

[Daily Prize Given]

[+1 Copper Ticket]

[Would you like to fuse 7 Copper Tickets into 1 Silver Ticket?]

'Yep.'

[+1 Silver Ticket]

[Would you like to fuse 4 Silver Tickets into 1 Gold Ticket?]

'Also yep.'

[+1 Gold Ticket]

[Would you like to use it?]

'And another yep.'

[You've received the A Rank Recipe <Return Pill>]

[Return Pill: 

Rank: A

Description: Tired of having built a cultivation in a weak foundation? Easy! Taking one of these pills will return you to the Qi Gathering stage of cultivation. Can only affect those of Pale Star Core stage and below.

Recipe: 

1 Very Good Source of Spirit Qi

1 Excellent Qi Cleansing Root

1 Average Body Cleansing Root

5 Good Qi Pearls - Fire, Water, Earth, Wood, Metal.

…]

"So I waited a whole month for a single pill recipe?" Root felt a little… disappointed. I mean, not that he wasted this whole time doing nothing: The previously barren land around him was now completely green and full of life! The winds blew as these small semi-translucent silver birds flew around, there were small salamanders made out of flames resting on rocks and absorbing the Fire Qi from the heat of the sun- Courtesy of their special [Fire Spirit Cultivation] technique that had them absorb only the Fire Qi and cleanse it of any imprint of the Yin Qi. There were green small animals absorbing the Sun Qi and transforming it into Nature Qi to spread around, and most importantly, there was happiness here. Hia children were safe, they were happy, and they were growing! 

As a father, he felt accomplished- just a little bit. 

'Well, it could've been worse?' He's not sure, but it could've been. He twiddled with his leaves as his roots sank deeper into the soil, they were getting through the Death Qi further and further as he moved it deeper. He gathered all of the Death Qi he could to cleanse the earth as he spread Nature Qi on the underground mixed with a healthy dose of the Earth Qi already there made it much better- But as he reached further and further down, he did not expect to hit… stone? What is this? 'Wait…' As his roots breached through the rock and stone, he was able to feel and see a type of Qi he was yet to see in abundance around here: Water Qi. "Did I just find an aquifer?" An aquifer is a body of rock and/or sediment that holds groundwater. Groundwater is the word used to describe precipitation that has infiltrated the soil beyond the surface and collected in empty spaces underground. And underground water means Water Qi, which means a new child can be born! 

"But under this sun…" What can he do for his children if not impossible and unimaginable?

He thought about it for a while… What does Nature Qi do, essentially? It feeds nature, keeps it alive, it heals, it hurts, and can even be turned into nutrients for trees. So why can't it be turned into other Qis? He tried really hard, and after a few hours of attempting to understand what he was doing, he was able to transform his Qi!

[New Technique Created!]

[Nature Qi Conversion

Rank: B

Description: Convert Nature Qi into other forms of Qi found in nature! (Meaning, what is natural) With this technique you can turn Nature Qi into Fire Qi, Water Qi, Earth Qi, Wind Qi, Ice Qi, Lightning Qi, Poison Qi, Death Qi, Life Qi, Sun Qi, Moon Qi, Light Qi, and Dark Qi. The conversion rate is not ideal, but it can be used- Purer Qi creates greater Impure Qi.]

[You've received a glimpse in the Dao of Nature]

[You've received a glimpse in the Dao of Spirit]

[You've received a glimpse in the Dao of Transformation]

"Wait, what?" What did he just do? He certainly created a technique that was really useful and overpowered for him, but to receive a glimpse into three Daos- Isn't that, like, stupidly hard to do? But he did feel like he understood Nature a little bit better, after all, if he didn't understand Nature, what kind of tree would he be? He kept exploring the aquifer, his roots dipped into the water and he found it weirdly murky… Impure. "Ew." The water was contaminated by Dark Qi and Death Qi, making it a poison to most average living beings- Thankfully, Root is not an average living being, is he now? Although feeling a little bit grossed out by the murky waters, he still kept on going, his roots growing at a much faster rate as he sent his Qi deeper into the roots to increase their growing speed. Many would think that due to his size, his Qi would take longer to flow, which is not true.

His body is still his body, no matter what shape. 

"Let me make a list…" Root suddenly looked further deeper into the abyss that was his soul as he observed his progeny- Stars twinkled in different lights. "Nature Qi, check. Fire Qi, check. Earth Qi, check. Death Qi, check. Wind Qi, check. Now for the next few… Water, Light, Dark, Life, Ice and Poison?" Poison Qi was apparently a mixture of Water, Dark, and Death Qi into one Qi, which made a complex yet simple Qi that was deadly by nature but could be a good healer's qi! Healing. All Qis could do something akin to healing, even Death Qi! With enough control over Death Qi and the Death Dao, one could control death itself, which could control one's healing. "Well, time for another child!" Like a suburban white mother, or an unhealthy alcoholic wine addicted mother with a failing marriage grasping at straws to keep her marriage alive, he decided to have a child. But contrary to that type of person, he wouldn't abuse his children. 

"Gather Water Qi, sugar, spice, and everything nice and-" With a little pop, a blue seed appeared. Root called out to his children, mostly because this was a tradition at this point, for them to witness the birth of their siblings. Leaf, Lily, Ahteus, Zylph, and Fiero all stood still as the small seed grew and bloomed into a beautiful pale blue flower, from which a small- Smaller than them all -humanoid with pale blue skin with bright blue eyes and the traditional pointy ears. "Come forth, my child… Your name is Namis." 

She lazily lifted her head, acknowledging her father with a thumbs up, before falling asleep. Her siblings just stood there, awkwardly watching. "Uhm… Namis?" She jumped up a little at her father's voice, her face showed how tired and sleepy she felt: "Yeah?" Her voice was laced with sleep: "-'M here, wha?" She blinked before her eyes found her siblings, who were all closer now: "Oh, hi! 'M Namis, I guess? Anyway, nice to meet you. Imma go back to sleep." 

[Status]

Name: Namis

Species: Water Spirit

Cultivation Root: Water, Yang, Nature [Good Quality]

Age: 0 Years

Qi Realm: Qi Gathering (1st Stage)

Techniques -

F RANK: [Water Spirit Cultivation]

F RANK: [Water Spirit Floating]

C RANK: [Spirit Sight] 

"Okay…" So he has a lazy daughter now? What's next? A glutton son? That sounds a little weird… "Good rest, I guess?" If Root had eyes to roll, he would be rolling them. There was nothing wrong with being lazy, well, if it brings you something! Like those novels and fics where you get more than rest and wet dreams by sleeping. "Anyway… Children, I have also decided that I'll be asleep for a little while." He was a little bit tired of spreading his qi, and even though that was cool, he wanted to rest for a while- Nothing much, just a week was enough. "I'll be asleep for a week, do wake me up if anything happens… While I'm asleep, you all should listen to your older brother Leaf, and if I hear that any of you caused any trouble, I will ground you." His children all nodded, a week was enough time to grant him some rest while also not being enough time for something drastic to happen! 

And as a bonus, he'll get an extra [Silver Ticket] too. To recap! 

[Tickets can be fused creating greater tickets that grant greater rewards.

7 Copper Tickets = 1 Silver Ticket

1 Copper Ticket = Reward between F to D

4 Silver Ticket = 1 Gold Ticket

1 Silver Ticket = Rewards between C and B

12 Gold Tickets = 1 Diamond Ticket

1 Gold Ticket = Rewards between A and S

10 Diamond Tickets = 1 Platinum Ticket

1 Diamond Ticket = Rewards between S and SSS

1 Platinum Ticket = Guaranteed S Reward + Rewards between S and EX]

Capricorn? Cappuccino? Capricious? Capuchin? 'Wait, how did that thing go again?' He activated his [Hibernate] skill while thinking about the word that sounded Italian- 

Year 10, Day 39

'Capiche!' Was the first word that came to mind as he woke up. Immediately he started to look around himself to see that nothing really happened, and everything was okay. 

[+1 Silver Ticket]

[Would you like to use it?]

"Ah, the silver ticket." Root groaned a little, feeling the need to stretch while he used the ticket- and to his surprise, he did stretch. "What?" 

[Congratulations, you've received the B Rank Book <Alchemy for Dummies>] 

Looking down at himself, he saw a humanoid translucent form. Not that different from his children, in fact, he was also naked! "Oh fuck." He quickly put on some clothes made by Nature Qi himself as he tried to take a few steps forward. His body floated out and he marveled at the fact that he could leave his body for a moment before something tugged on his back and he saw this thin line connecting his spirit and his body. "Oh… I can't go too far." He could, at max, go only about a single meter outwards. 

[Alchemy for Dummies 

Rank: B

Description: A book giving an overview of what Alchemy is and can become! Contains 200 pages of information and 10 pages of simple pills that one can learn to increase their ability in alchemy. Nature, Water, Poison, and Fire Cultivators are recommended to do basic alchemy, for advanced forms of alchemy, have the alchemist develop it themselves.]

"My soul can manifest because of my understanding of the Spirit Dao." He realized easily why he could manifest himself now! To quickly make himself a little bit more like his children, he changed his spiritual form to look like an older Leaf with pointy ears, black hair like Lily, his skin was a bit rocky like Ahteus, he had silver eyes like Zylph, he woke a red sun necklace to represent Fiero, and had a blue ring of water that floated behind his back to represent Namis. He sat floated in a lotus position by his roots, looking out: "Children." He called them- Immediately he received an answer, he felt it through the bonds he shared with his progeny. 

Relief.

"Fathe-" Leaf stopped immediately in his tracks, as did Lily, Ahteus, Zylph, and Fiero who looked at him with wide eyes. "F-father?" Root just opened his arms to his children and as they hugged his spiritual form, he comforted them- They were clearly distressed. Did something happen? "What happened to my little ones?" His voice was calm and gentle, he lifted his head to look ahead and saw that a great distance away was a cloud- This cloud looked like flames dancing in the air, and he felt the Fire Qi from it even in such a distance! It was passing by his territory, and he knew what to do. "Gather the mortals and make sure they are okay-" He looked around, but seeing his lazy daughter nowhere, he shouted: "NAMIS!" He did not expect for his voice to echo so loudly that the ground shook a little, waking up the lazy Water Spirit that fell from one of his branches. "Yeah, yeah- here!" She did a military saluting (o7 🫡) before really looking at her father.

"...wow." Was all she could say- He was the personification of the word otherworldly beauty! "I want you to make as much Water Qi as possible, we'll be using it to protect our home, do you understand me? I don't want you to be lazy right now." She just nodded while Root called out to Leaf: "Come here, son." He floated out to him, at which point Root touched his forehead and used [Root of Knowledge] to share his [Nature Qi] conversation technique to his son. His spirit felt weak for a moment, so he just sent himself back into his body, for he didn't know what it could do to him if he stayed for too long outside his body! Did manifesting his spirit consume spirit qi? "Call the three cultivators we have… It's time for a lesson." 

Meanwhile, beneath a Fire Cloud 

"Elder, we approach the Demonic Plains once again." Hearing this, Elder Flareburn had this old face of nostalgia- he has passed through this valley, through these plains ever since he was a child, and it's been more than 500 years. The Cycle of Chaos made the Fire Cloud used by his family to cultivate for the last thousand years follow a certain pattern in the sky! It passed by the Demonic Valley, through the Misty Forest of the Lost Veils, into the Canyons of Many Voices, through the Line above the Abyss, and into the Endless Mountains where they passed close by the Ice Rose Family's Fhenzi Region, although a few hundred miles away the Fire Qi always perturbed their cultivation, so a bunch of them would come and watch them pass by. "I see it…" Elder Flareburn has been stuck at the Core Exaltation stage of his cultivation for the last four hundred years, and that is a pain in his soul and pride as a cultivator. 

He just hopes one day he'll see hope.

[Status]

Name: Root

Species: Spirit Tree

Cultivation Root: Nature [Heavenly Pure Quality]

Age: 110 years

Qi Realm: Core Formation (2nd Stage)

Special Achievements: 

[Crafter]

[Death Conqueror]

[Contract? Deal!]

Daos - 

[Spirit] - 1%

[Transformation] - 1%

[Nature] - 1%

Skills - 

F RANK: [Flower Make]

F RANK: [Silk Make]

E RANK: [Hibernation]

D RANK: [Wood Make]

A RANK: [Seed Make]

S RANK: [Purification]

S RANK: [Pain Resistance]

Techniques - 

F RANK: [Tree Breathing Technique]

C RANK: [Natural Healing]

B RANK: [Mycorrhizal Network]

B RANK: [Root of Knowledge]

B Rank: [Nature Qi Conversion]

A RANK: [Twilight Qi Conversion Technique]

A RANK: [Cosmic Connection]

Sect - Heavenly Spirit Forest Sect

Great Ancestor: Root [Core Formation (2nd Stage)]

Sect Master (Nature Branch Master): Leaf [Qi Gathering (5th Stage)]

Unnamed Lesser Nature Spirit (×12,876,870)

Members: 

Death Branch Master: Lily [Qi Gathering (4th Stage)]

Unnamed Lesser Death Spirits (×522)

Earth Branch Master: Ahteus [Qi Gathering (3rd Stage)]

Unnamed Lesser Earth Spirits (×330)

Wind Branch Master: Zylph [Qi Gathering (2nd Stage)]

Unnamed Lesser Wind Spirits (×234)

Fire Branch Master: Fiero [Qi Gathering (1st Stage)]

Unnamed Lesser Fire Spirits (×98)

Sister [Qi Gathering (N/A)]

Inventory - 

SSS Rank: Tea of Heaven (Recipe)

A Rank: Return Pill

B Rank: Alchemy for Dummies

Trash: Worthless Stone Blade