Two dantian were at the Nascent Soul realm. The last was at the peak of the Foundation Establishment realm. There was something that prevented Ben from absorbing more water Qi into his brain core. It would flow in and just flow back out through the body. While this was useful for his overall vitality and health, it wouldn’t breakthrough the bottleneck.

There was more than enough Qi in the area right now, Brother He had begun his slow move from the Sacred Ground. A massive waterfall poured down the mountain into the excavated riverbed and flowed out into the distance.

He had reached a bottleneck and needed something special to push through. The key to his other two breakthroughs required a sword spirit and a new blood refining technique that enabled him to refine the blood from three Heavenly Connection cultivators.

What kind of treasure would he need to assimilate to break through with his brain core? He suspected that refining the river spirit wouldn’t work, it would probably make his head explode.

‘Things have been coming thick and fast. That bloodlust felt amazing, but now that I’m calm again, that reminded me of the time I tried cocaine and amphetamine. I wanted more and at the time I was willing to change my lifestyle to accommodate that. Better put the Devil's Path in the same category as drugs, useful for a short boosts, but the cost is too high.’

(Pun intended.)

‘A few drugs would be great to have at hand, I could use some weed right now. I need to calm down.’ He sighed.

Ben let his mind wander while he made his way over to the cherry tree. He ignored the crowds around him, sat down and closed his eyes at the base of the tree.

He didn’t like the effect of the Devil’s Path that had opened up before him. He calmed his mind and focused on his Dao, the Dao of Creation. His thoughts flowed upward slowly. Bring together cells and reproduce, build and live, understand and fight entropy.

Using a old familiar technique taught to him when he was five years old on Earth. Using a Buddhist meditation method, he stilled his mind. He imagined his mind as a river, to see the depths one must see through still waters.

Ben’s thinking slowed. One by one he identified his mental processes and stopped them. His connection with the A.I. chip was severed, his heartbeat slowed to 12 BPM, his breathing slowed to a single breath a minute. Stimuli from his five senses were ignored.

Only his new sense of Qi and its related abilities remained. He kept his internal sense of feeling, but largely ignored it.

Thought processes came to an end, desires were laid bare. There were three thoughts that resurfaced time and time again during his meditation.

The first thought was a familiar one, greed. It was something that drove him to do better and improve himself. He wanted more money, power, ability and status. Ben used this negative emotion to drive himself to do better. Now he pushed this emotion down and cut it off.

The second thought was fear. There was little fear for his own life, but he did feel fear for Alice’s safety and curiously enough, a fear for his new allies in the Devil’s Sects. He worried that they would be attacked again, he worried for Lilith, Juliana and the others who had worked closely with him for these past few months.

The last thought came from the worst and darkest corner of his mind. There was a good reason for Ben to never fall in love or have an active sex life. He hated this part of himself, he always regretted his actions when driven by lust and perversion. When he allowed himself to indulge in such pleasures, he left sorrow and ruin in his wake.

The three emotions of greed, lust and fear were tamped down and suppressed.

Time passed while Ben slowly calmed himself. The disciples and elders around him left him alone, assuming him to be cultivating.

The factories were maintained while they produced weapons and devices. Huoyun kept cultivating. Brother He’s river kept pouring out. The fusion reactor turned the water into Qi heavy steam and pumped it to the tree. A slow revolution was taking place with the spread of cell phones among the populace.

A day passed, two days passed, a week passed. During this time the only thought in Ben’s head was a sense the growing Qi around him. He felt it gathering at a point above his head.

He felt something bite him. He opened his eyes and looked down at nubbins, who was looking up at something in the misty branches of the tree. There was a point there where the illusion mist Qi was condensing into a single cherry.

At times the fruit looked like the cloudy sky, and at times it seemed to disappear. There was a hint of profundity and impossibility there in the small cherry.

As the man and rabbit watched, the cherry fell from the branch. Ben held his hand out to catch it and the rabbit jumped to intercept. The cherry passed straight through the open mouth of the rabbit and continued in its downward trajectory. It fell onto Ben’s hand with a soft thud.

Ben’s mental processes at this point had not recovered back to normal. His mind was muddled from focusing on Qi and not thinking for so long, he only saw the mass of Qi in his palm and wanted too eat it.

Without thinking too much about what he was doing, he swallowed the cherry whole.

The fruit turned into a mist in his stomach that passed through his internal organs, circulatory system and bones. It avoided his heart and lower dantian, settling in his brain core.

-Brain Core Upgrading to Nascent Soul Realm. modifying body type to pseudo Three Elemental Star Physique.

-Brain Core, Illusion Mist Qi, traces of Tribulation Lightning Qi and Wood Dragon Qi

-Heart Core, Fire Qi, Blood Qi

-Lower Dantian, Sword Qi, Metal Qi

-Beginning transformation.

---

There was talk among the elders. Clearly they needed to reforge their identity in light of their new position in the world. They had come from one among hundreds to be the true overlord of this whole realm.

Their influence was felt by every clan and every city. None dared to lay a hand on their lowliest slave, much less rise up in open rebellion. Their products were exported across the land.

Powerhouses across the sea didn’t dare to act against them after hearing the tale of loss from Ancient Dragon Sect. A new power had thrust itself into the heavens like a rising star.

They needed a new name and structure. A few names thrown around were Church of the Holy Tree, the Machine Ascension Sect, and others. They would have consulted Ben, but he had been asleep at the base of the tree for a month now.

There were many rumors about his cultivation method. There were three separate energies he refined, Water, Fire and Sword Qi. The aura he subconsciously let out grew on a daily basis. Sometimes he was surrounded by mist, sometimes steam.

Time wore on for the busy sect. There was no further development of technology, but they became more familiar with the machines and weapons they did have.

Ancestors and Grandmasters came from other sects to establish good relations with the new power and all of them saw the figure under the tree. Many people thought he was sleeping, but the bursts of Qi proved that he was cultivating. Stories made their way to the outside world about the grandmaster sitting beneath the tree.

There were plans for assassinations, he had made no lack of enemies. But every plot failed mysteriously just before they could disturb Ben.

Recollections of the battles and the sleeping expert spread far and wide. Lies became rumors, rumors became stories, stories became legends. Mystery veiled his past.

The new subject of global interest focused on one sect and one individual in particular. There was a massive outcry on the new social network for more information.

When someone suggested that a video was set up with a live feed of his cultivation, massive pressure was forced on the new sect to do just this. A camera was set up with a livestream for public view.

There he sat underneath the tree in a lotus position. There were massive debates regarding all aspects of his elderly features and fan clubs that adored Nubbins.

They didn’t know that Ben really was sleeping and dreaming of his homeland.

---

“How are you, Alice? Is something wrong?” Ben looked at the girl in front of him and smiled. She looked a little older than the last time he had seen her. She was smiling at him, but he could tell that her mind was elsewhere and she was somewhat sad.

“You set something off, I think. You left Earth through a kind a spatial tear, something like a wormhole. We have all the data, so we tried opening up our own.” She told him.

“Naturally.”

“We didn’t send anything through before they started pouring out. At first I thought it was just a few genetic deformations, but after dissecting one we found additional organs. Sickness started to spread and we realized it was an invasion. You know I hate bugs, Ben.” Alice shivered.

“Fuck. Here’s some data, this should be useful for the fight.” Ben relayed all the information he had on turning electricity to Qi using basic materials.

“I can’t hold on for much longer Ben. I’ve got to spend too much attention elsewhere.” She told him.

“Two final things then.” Ben transmitted two other pieces of data. The first was basic formation theory he knew Alice didn’t have, the second was a blueprint for a planet wide formation.

“I know you’re having a good time. Just try to wander in my direction will you?” Alice came close and hugged Ben. He knew that this was the most desperate way she knew to ask for help, any teary eyed pleading or sincere words would only be lost on him.

“Do well, sweetheart.” Ben hugged her growing frame tight to his chest as she faded away once again.

-User upgraded to Nascect Soul Realm. Pseudo Three Elemental Star Physique: 10%

-Form additional pairs of cores to upgrade to Lesser Five Elemental Star Physique, Greater Seven Elemental Star Physique and Heavenly Nine Celestial Body

---

On a day three weeks after he had fallen asleep, Ben woke up. The spiritual ripple sent out was felt by every living thing in the world. Grasses swayed in a unfelt breeze, children awoke from their slumber, grandmasters stirred from their meditations. Most mortals and cultivators ignored the subtle feeling that didn’t disturb their daily work.

The local barometric pressure dropped suddenly. Clouds gathered overhead and a vortex formed above the tree. Ambient Qi concentrated around the sitting form, condensing into a mist of its own. Phantom images of trees and swords formed in the eddies and currents.

He opened his eyes. On the outside he hadn’t changed at all, but underneath his skin were muscles harder than steel. His vision peered far away and he faintly swayed in the gentle breeze, as though weightless.

When seen at first, he looked like the most ordinary of men. Blending into the background of the scene, even if there was no one there. As one looked closer they would see hints of the vitality that lurked under his wrinkled skin and the sharp aura that he kept tightly contained.

The area calmed and phenomena disappeared. Ben slowly closed his eyes as he interfaced with the A.I. chip, it connected with the mainframe he had built under the mountain. Information regarding the last month streamed into his consciousness. He looked at the river project, the marketplace and infrastructure of the mountain.

Ben had a long list of prioritized projects along with detailed instructions. While he was meditating and sleeping the tasks were carried out. The mountain was slowly being hollowed out to allow for workspaces and infrastructure. Arrays were made, connected and strengthened. The surrounding countryside had earthwork projects and buildings being built to better match the areas new status.

A city had sprouted up overnight to act as the physical marketplace for the Sect and house the thousands of immigrants. Millions of cultivators came to buy the advanced weaponry and other devices made here. There needed to be shops that represented the new sect outside their sacred grounds.

Thanks to the device to raise ambient Qi, the summit was perpetually covered in cloud and mist. There were rumors of what it looked like, but only core disciples and elders with special permissions were allowed to set foot on the mountain.

Ben approved of the progress made. The last two pieces of news were the urgency for a new name and the information about the camera watching him.

He manipulated a cloud of mist to pass between him and the camera, then walked away. He didn’t really care about the name of the sect, he sent out a message to all administrators of the mountain.

There was a collective outcry heard all over the mountain. Some complaining about the new name, some excited that the founder of the new sect was finally awake.

-Welcome to Horned Rabbit Sect.