Chapter 1 - Awakening

What's this?

Wait, who said that?

Me?

Oh my God! It 𝑖𝑠 me!

I'm thinking!

I'm 𝑎𝑐𝑡𝑢𝑎𝑙𝑙𝑦 thinking!

Did I become self-aware all of a sudden?

What caused this?

But first.. where am I?

How do I know any of these words and their meanings?

I guess I learned all this when I gained the ability of rational thought.

Hmm… let me try and see where I am.

I searched for a power within me, a power which I simply 𝑘𝑛𝑒𝑤 I had.

After several seconds, I saw it.

An unimaginably bright orb, floating in the endless ocean of my soul.

This orb was not big, about the size of a human head, but I could already feel its power.

𝑀𝑦 𝑝𝑜𝑤𝑒𝑟.

I extended one of my small ethereal branches towards this orb and touched it.

Instantly, as a reaction to my touch, the orb glowed brighter for a few seconds and returned to how it was before.

But that's not all.

Retracting my consciousness from my soul and returning to the physical, I began feeling a new power coursing through my roots, climbing up my trunk and flowing through my several branches and leaves.

𝐴ℎℎℎℎ. This is what life's about!

This feeling is… beyond words.

I feel refreshed. As if I was born anew. But most of all…

𝐈 𝐟𝐞𝐞𝐥 𝐩𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐟𝐮𝐥.

As if before I was paraplegic but now could walk.

After a long while of getting used to this foreign power coursing through my entire being, I finally did what I was intending to do at the start.

Find out where I am.

Now with the means to accomplish this, I extended this power to my surroundings.

At first, it was quite hard…

I couldn't find a way to release my power outside of my body, but after a few hundred tries I did it!

I managed to 𝑝𝑢𝑠ℎ this power beyond my body and see the world around me.

For the first time since my cognitive revolution, I saw things outside of my body!

I sensed the beautiful soil upon which my roots were planted.

The intricate design of the ceramic pot which contained my body.

And… yeah, that's basically it.

For now, the limit of my sight reached only to the edges of my pot.

Hey! Don't laugh at me! I just awoke this power mere minutes ago, okay?!

But I believed this was just the beginning of my journey.

I had to lay down some objectives for now, since there was nothing better to do.

First, I should discover where I am and if staying here is beneficial for me or not.

Second, in the case it isn't beneficial, I'll pull a Houdini and escape!

I know who Houdini is, but I can't quite place where I know him from…

Oh well, that's for later.

Second v2, in the case it 𝑖𝑠 beneficial, I'll stay here for as long as I can and reap the benefits.

Third and last, I need to get more power.

What I have now is not even a fraction of what I can have.

I know my potential and I know it's limitless.

If I already feel this good after that small surge of power, just imagine how I will feel when I have all the power in the world.

Nay, the universe!

I'm getting sidetracked.

For now, I'll stay take a small nap. That whole discovering my power and releasing it outside my body ordeal tired me quite a lot.

Then, good night!

***

Gan was a man who had reached the apex.

He had everything he could've ever asked for and more.

Born as a weak mortal, he climbed his way through the ranks and attained power through sheer hard-work, dedication and a tad bit of luck.

After uncountable years of life, he looked back and noticed that he had become nigh-invincible.

Unfortunately, not only had he gained incredible power, he also acquired the feeling of endless boredom.

To cure him of this, he turned to some other activities.

He had already mastered the art of painting, calligraphy, woodwork, blacksmithing, alchemy, pottery, music, cooking and a lot more.

Now, he was on his way to master agriculture!

Walking to his large courtyard, Gan saw the several rows of plants, fruit trees, and herbs he had planted ever since acquiring a taste for agriculture.

The courtyard was open so as to let the sun inside and bathe the plant life in its shiny light.

In the middle of the courtyard, was a small bonsai sitting atop a small podium.

The bonsai was beautiful and exotic, having white trunks and branches along with red leaves.

He had gotten this bonsai on a small planet on the corners of his galaxy.

It was being protected by a small Sect called the Red Leaves Sect, which had several powerhouses who worshipped the exotic bonsai as their lord for whatever reason.

None of them were a match to Gan's power, though, as he simply entered the Sect and stole the bonsai from right under their noses.

He didn't kill anyone because he believed that killing without proper reason was nothing different from being a dumb wild animal.

Having lived for countless years, he naturally had racked up an unimaginable kill count, but now that he had reached the apex, why kill more?

After returning to his home planet, Gan masterfully removed the bonsai from its pot and planted it on a pot of his own design and making.

A black ceramic pot with drawings of dragons and phoenixes all over it.

If a mortal were here to see this pot, he'd find nothing unusual, but the more powerful the observant, the more shocked he would be.

This pot was nothing more than a Superior Primordial Treasure!

It should be known that at the treasure hierarchy, a Superior Primordial Treasure stood atop, looking down at the others from above!

And it was being used to plant a bonsai!

Unimaginable.

But to Gan, this was nothing special.

This pot had been made on one of his boredom strikes, and after completion he simply threw it aside, not having any use for it.

Until now, that is.

However, that was not the end.

Even the soil used to plant the bonsai was just as unbelievable.

If one were to acquire even a speck of this soil, one could say they had used the luck accumulated through tens of lifetimes!

After planting the bonsai, Gan smiled at his work and left the courtyard, intending to play some music on his guitar before heading outside to walk around the world for a few days or however long he wants.

Upon his exit, the whole courtyard seemed to have become alive as herbs danced to his majestic singing, plants rapidly went through evolution and reached their apex from the sound of his guitar and fruit trees produced fruits non stop!

That's when the little bonsai rustled his leaves for the first time.

Its cognitive revolution had began, just as it had happened to all plants that had the incredible luck of being planted on Gan's courtyard.