There was nothing. Nothing. Really.

Ye Tian had followed the procedures of breathing by the Elite Soldier Qi Cultivation Technique while sitting on the mat, but he didn’t feel anything.

Odd… Is it because the first stage is about sensing the qi around, and I will reach the first stage upon sensing qi?

Ye Tian opened his eyes to find that it was almost sunrise before yawning and heading to bed.

… I guess the only thing that happens, for now, is time being sped up while cultivating. It’s nothing like those novels. I don’t feel refreshed and energetic at all.

***

*Knock! Knock!*

hUh?

At the sound of a visitor, Ye Tian groggily woke up and dragged his body over to open the doors. There was a white-robed, male youth with short hair and a square-face that fit his well-built body. His skin was that of bronze color which was a commonly seen characteristic in poorer classes who spent more time out in the sun. Beside him stood a white-robed, female youth with shoulder-length hair and bronze skin, her oval-face and slender body, albeit slightly malnourished, gave off a sense of athletic beauty which was further highlighted by her icy expression.

“Hello,” the male youth beamed.

These two have similar statures to the ones who received earth inferior grade spiritual roots. Why are they here though?

Feeling the confusion, the male youth straightforwardly explained, “We’re the two that scored earth inferior on the test, and we wish to invite you to our combat squad.”

“Come in,” Ye Tian motioned.

Once the trio had settled themselves around the table, the male youth introduced himself, “I’m Nan Feng, and the girl beside me is Yu Ling.”

Ye Tian nodded in acknowledgment before asking, “What’s the squad for?”

“Your guide didn’t tell you?” Nan Feng asked in confusion.

“No...” Ye Tian grumbled with dissatisfaction.

“Oh, well, I guess you could ask us anything you have in mind. We might not have all the answers though, sorry. Anyways, a squad is a combat group formed to take on missions. The monthly resources are simply not enough for a person to pass the exam with thus these missions offer contribution points or currency. There is a medicinal pavilion, beside the huge square filled with sparring cultivators, where you can trade for pills or ointment which can further your cultivation.”

I should be able to complete missions faster with these guys as long as they don’t drag me down.

“Sounds good, I’ll join you guys. When do we head out for a mission?”

“For now, there’s not much we can do since we are too weak. We will have to cultivate to the muscle stage of the rebirth realm and train with our guides before looking for a suitable mission.”

“I see... By the way, have you guys felt anything from the Elite Soldier Qi Cultivation technique?”

“No, I’m going to ask my guide about this later."

Guess I’ll ask Lu Yin later too.

“Wanna go grab breakfast?” asked Nan Feng.

“Yeah, I’m starving,” replied Ye Tian.

“I’ll go get breakfast,” Yu Ling abruptly spoke for the first time before heading out.

“Sorry, Yu Ling has always been abrupt like this. She doesn’t exactly enjoy the company of others, but she does try to be helpful,” Nan Feng apologized with a sorry look to Ye Tian.

“That’s fine. I notice that you two are quite close.”

“I was her caretaker back in the slums,” explained Nan Feng before pausing for a moment. “I think there are some things you should about her since we’ll be covering each others’ backs.”

Nan Feng wore a sad expression before recounting his past with Yu Ling.

***

I met Yu Ling a long time ago in the alleyway of a street when we were just eight years old. I had been foraging around the town and outskirts for food when the sun began to set. I began to walk back to the broken-down home that my deceased parents left behind. While walking down the same alleyways I usually took, I saw a little girl who had been screaming and thrashing.

A burly man had taken a hold of her hands and was dragging her away to lock her up in a cage. People watched and no one did anything since it was a common sight. Some of the people watching probably even knew the human trafficker, but no one messes with the crime syndicates that are usually involved in this since they are backed by nobles. The town guards also weren’t going to help since they were usually paid off or just didn’t care at this common sight.

I feel that this was around the time I really broke. It just really hurts to see another kid around my age being unable to control her own fate, just like me. I knew I couldn’t do anything, but I still wanted to try to save her. It felt more like I was saving myself from that hell-hole, which I was slowly losing myself in, rather than me saving her. It could hardly be called saving since she will just live longer in the terrible environment she was already in.

I must’ve lost my mind that day, but it was a good thing that I did. I picked up a rock by the side of the road, and I walked up to give the man a nice blow to the back of his head before grabbing the girl to escape. Ever since that day, I’ve taken care of that little girl who didn’t have anybody or anything in the world.

***

Ye Tian sighed and the room went silent as the two went deep into their own thoughts.

This feeling of pity… it seems to be true that the closer a person is then the more you feel for that person. If it was me from 8 years ago then maybe I would’ve had teared up, but, alas, this world has a far crueler norm than my old one. Or… perhaps it wasn’t that different. The crime in this world seems to be more prevalent and visible, but they likely still existed in my old world.

I’ve seen her situation in the streets before but didn’t do anything since it was far too frequent. Save one, but you can’t save them all. I have to say, though, Nan Feng does have quite the balls to have gone up against organized crime though.

Eventually, Yu Ling arrived with the food and soon the environment grew lighter with chatting in-between Ye Tian and Nan Feng during lunch. It was crucial to get a better understanding of the squad that Ye Tian was soon to be in. Yu Ling silently sat by the side for a while before letting Nan Feng know that they should get going for training. Once the two left, Ye Tian too went to find Lu Yin for training.

***

“Ohhh...” groaned Ye Tian in pain whilst holding his stomach.

“Get up,” Lu Yin ordered.

“It hurts..."

“Die then, if you don’t want to fight.”

Lu Yin, who had enough of Ye Tian groaning, lunged in to punch the still lying Ye Tian. However, this strike would not land as Ye Tian quickly rolled away from the impending doom.

“Can you at least show some mercy? I’m a beginner!” shouted Ye Tian.

“There’s no mercy on the field, and pain is the greatest teacher,” Lu Yin bluntly stated before rushing to beat up Ye Tian again.

After a while of repeatedly beating Ye Tian like a dog, Lu Yin then ordered Ye Tian to heal up by using the Elite Soldier Qi Cultivation Technique to absorb Qi into the body. Taking the moment to rest and heal, Ye Tian asked why he didn’t feel anything from the cultivation technique.

“You ARE cultivating. However, you are so weak that you can’t even feel or control qi right now. Once you reach the qi stage, you will begin to feel the qi while it’s even clearer at the soul stage,” answered Lu Yin.

“Oh.”

“Since you have the energy to talk, you must be ready to spar again.”

“Hold o-.”

Towards Ye Tian’s dismay, Lu Yin lunged in again to beat him up. The training had composed of daily close combat fist fighting along with archery and sword fighting. It was something that Ye Tian was never prepared for. After all, didn’t all those characters in the novels become suddenly amazing at fighting? The pain had never been felt by readers and training arcs went quick, but Ye Tian had finally begun to see the slow, gruesome, and hard work behind power.

This was definitely enough to make the former me quit if I hadn’t spent some time in the lows. However, while this sparring hurts, it does feel somewhat fun to let loose and punch out with all my power. Am I actually secretly masochistic or a battle junkie?

While Ye Tian was lost in thought, Lu Yin took the opportunity to knock him down in this lapse of concentration.

“Is thinking more important than your life?”

Suddenly, Lu Yin turned to look at the gate of Ye Tian’s courtyard.

“Looks like you have a visitor,” announced Lu Yin before he sat down to cultivate.

Ye Tian turned to see a green-robed, young lad with an awkward smile standing by the gates. He was one of the youths that had followed Lu Fan when he barged into the root testing.

“Hello, may I speak to you?” asked the young lad.

“Sure,” replied Ye Tian as the two walked out of the courtyard to have a moment.

“My name is Lu Ning of the Lu Clan, and I’m sorry about what happened last night. My cousin, Lu Fan, is rather hostile towards Hao Nan and the lower class,” the young lad apologized.

What? Isn’t this guy supposed to be part of the arrogant, rich young master group? This isn’t adding up!

“Why would a person of your ‘noble’ stature be apologizing?” Ye Tian confusedly asked.

“Haha, I get that stereotype often. Not all nobles feel the same way. There are different factions, which have different thoughts regarding the lower classes, in the nobilities. While most urban nobles regard lower classes as slaves, the nobles in the rural areas live closer to the less fortunate, and, as a result, we have more unique views from seeing the hardships that the poor have to go through,” explained Lu Ning.

I see… doesn’t seem like all the things from the books are true in this world. And this is a rural area!? This massive size of a city-state is actually rural?! I can’t even imagine how the capital would look like.

“Uncle Lu Fan is part of the radical conservatives who want to restore an old system, that died out a few thousand years ago, where the lower classes are bound by life to different noble clans, but most of Ashurias’s nobles don’t feel that is necessary.”

“But more importantly, I can’t believe I can see cousin Lu Yin! He was the shining star of the older generation. My idol!” sighed Lu Ning in bliss. Lu Ning’s expression, however, quickly shifted to a melancholy expression, “It’s unfortunate that he fell due to injuries from fighting with beasts.”

Sounds like a conspiracy.

“Still, he is my idol for being so awesome. It’s said that he once cultivated to the elemental realm in 3 years by using his heaven spiritual root, and Lu Yin could fight elemental stages even before he wa-”

“Okay, I get it, but what’s Lu Yin’s relationship with Lu Fan,” asked Ye Tian.

“They’re brothers.”

Interesting.