Chapter 5: First Encounter with the World of Cultivation

"You want to adopt me?" Eric asked incredulously. Although he now looked like a little boy, his soul was that of a hundred-year-old ghost. When a girl young enough to be his great-great...great-granddaughter said she wanted to adopt him, Eric truly felt a sense of absurdity.

"Why, don't you want to?" The strange expression on little Eric's face made Tan Ailing slightly anxious.

Tan Ailing's disappointment made Eric feel a little uncomfortable, so he suppressed his discomfort and said, "Why would I not want to? I am alone and helpless now. Being able to live with you is more than I could ask for!"

"Really? That's great!" Tan Ailing, inexplicably happy, pulled Eric into her arms again.

Leaning against Tan Ailing's warm and soft embrace, listening to her genuinely joyful voice, the discomfort in Eric's heart suddenly disappeared, and a hint of happiness quietly rose.

"Little Eric, come on, call me 'sister' and see!" After confirming the adoption, the usually indifferent Tan Ailing unexpectedly teased the cute boy, giving herself a feeling of warmth she had never experienced before.

Naturally, Eric couldn't call this girl, who was more than ten generations younger than him, "sister," but Tan Ailing kept pestering him.

Forget it, it's just a name after all. Why bother with a little girl?

After consoling himself, Eric, with a somewhat embarrassed smile, reluctantly called out, "Sister!"

In fact, in a large family like the Tan family, many people called Tan Ailing "sister," but due to her personality, her relationship with her cousins was average at best. It could even be said that her attitude towards them was only slightly better than towards strangers. However, when Eric called her "sister," it made her feel special, and her maternal instincts were suddenly aroused.

Sitting on a nearby large rock, hugging Eric, Tan Ailing asked about his living conditions. Eric naturally said what he could and made up what he couldn't, eliciting quite a few tears from Tan Ailing.

"Little Eric, don't worry. Sister will take good care of you and will never let you live the kind of life where you're chased everywhere and have to scavenge for food!"

Aileen, your little Eric didn't lie at all, it's just that this Tan Ailing "sister" has a misunderstanding! The reason I am "being chased everywhere" is because I stole someone's secret magic crystal, and the reason I "eat one meal a day" is because I am so engrossed in studying magic that I forget about eating and sleeping. And the reason my life is so tumultuous is because I am searching everywhere for the legendary relics, hoping to see the magic notes left by my predecessors...

Eric silently expressed to the spirit of Aileen that he did not violate her teachings, while showing a somewhat embarrassed smile to Tan Ailing.

Seeing the smile full of "expectation" on Eric's face, Tan Ailing became more determined to make Eric "smile forever in happiness."

Holding Eric even tighter, Tan Ailing suddenly remembered something and immediately asked, "Eric, what martial arts do you practice that allowed you to subdue those thugs without me noticing?"

Eric smiled awkwardly and said, "It's not martial arts, it's a way of using energy called 'magic.'"

"So you're using magic!" Tan Ailing said suddenly enlightened, "It seems that your teacher is a Western magician, that's why she gave you that name!"

Can the world, with its sparse magical elements, still give birth to the profession of "magician"?

"Sister," Eric has already accepted his fate, and these two words roll off his tongue effortlessly. He asked with curiosity, "Are there really magicians in this world?" In the memories of Old Seven, magicians only appeared in games and movies, and in reality, there seemed to be only magicians.

"Of course there are." Tan Ailing patted Eric's head indulgently and smiled, "If there weren't, what would you be?"

"Good sister, can you tell me about magicians?" Eric begged.

Tan Ailing naturally couldn't refuse: "Magicians can manipulate various natural energies in the world through spells and handprints..."

Eric, who has a "PhD" level of understanding of magic, naturally cannot accept Tan Ailing's teaching at the elementary school level. He interrupted, "Sister, I know all that. Can you tell me how powerful the most powerful magician can be?"

"Yes, I forgot that my little Eric is also a magician. You must know much more about magic than I do. I won't embarrass myself!" Tan Ailing did not feel any dissatisfaction at being interrupted but continued, "Although magicians were already well known during the Roman Empire, the profession of magician became famous during the reign of King Arthur in England. Merlin, the great magician of that era, was the first human in Earth's history to fly freely in the sky without relying on any external objects."

Tan Ailing's words made Eric slightly stunned. Was someone who mastered intermediate wind magic the most powerful magician?

Eric somewhat incredulously asked Tan Ailing for confirmation, "Is he the most powerful among magicians?"

Tan Ailing hesitated for a moment before saying, "Although Mage Melan is the most famous magician in the West, he may not be the most powerful. I've heard that there is a great magician in the West who can unleash a fireball as powerful as a shoulder-launched missile..."

Eric had some understanding of weapons like shoulder-launched missiles from Seventh's memories; their power was only equivalent to intermediate fire magic like "Flame Burst." It seemed that the top magicians in this world were not as impressive as they were made out to be. What "great magician"? If they were to travel to Celestia, they would at most be considered intermediate magicians!

"Sister, why do you always talk about Western magicians? Are Chinese magicians inferior?" Due to Seventh's memories and his relationship with Tan Ailing, Eric now considers himself Chinese.

Tan Ailing smiled slightly and explained, "I don't know if it's because of our race, but we Chinese, including the entire yellow race, have hardly anyone who can practice magic. At least, I've never heard of it."

Eric didn't know how to respond. He couldn't tell Tan Ailing that she was right, that he wasn't Chinese, but an alien traveling through space!

Tan Ailing laughed at Eric's awkwardness. "But there are always exceptions, right? Like you, little Eric?"

Eric forced a laugh and complained, "The Creator is so biased. Why does he only give advantages to Westerners?"

"It's not like that," Tan Ailing explained. "Although we Chinese cannot practice Western magic, Westerners also cannot practice our Chinese internal martial arts."

Eric nodded, his face showing a sense of relief. After thinking for a moment, he asked, "Does every race have its unique cultivation method?"

Tan Ailing looked at him admiringly and affectionately, saying, "My clever little Eric, you've guessed it! Yes, almost every major race has its unique cultivation method.

It can be roughly divided into three branches: our Chinese internal martial arts and Taoism, the magic and divine power of the white race, and the divine descent and witchcraft of the dark race. In addition, there are some ethnic groups with their distinctive cultivation methods. We generally call the circles where these powerful people interact the 'world of cultivation'!"