Amongst the Darkness, Six Stars blazed.

Cyan, Dawn, Emerald, Crimson, Gold, and the farthest one out Violet.

Tethered to them my body felt their tugging pull, all vying for control over my free-floating self.

The Violet Star’s connection weaker and further than the other five fought to keep its influence over me despite the strenuous task.

I looked at what connected us all together.

Thicker than tree trunks the closest fives chains looked solid and unbreakable.

As for the poor Star in the distance, we were kept together but with a small string, flimsy and ready to tear at the slightest strain.

It made me anxious, I knew neither why nor how, but it tore at me.

So I held the string tenderly between my hands, sending my support to the star hoping that it might understand me.

Then the darkness collapsed around me.

Lucas- Location New Athens Upper Pennsylvania. Rivan Estate. Second of July. 4:30 am

I woke up with a start, my breathing laborious and harsh like I had just gone for a long run. The dampness around notifying me of the disgusting amount of sweating I had done as I slept.

Calming down as the minutes ticked by I turned to look at the clock on my bedstand. The time 4:34 flickered back at me allowing me to sigh in relief that I hadn't overslept, and been late to Xue’s first lesson. She was already somewhat annoyed at me, so I was happy that I still had around 50 minutes to shower and get ready for whatever it was she was going to make me do.

I recalled the events of last night, my plans of having everyone met up ended up being scrapped as I couldn’t find Alice and since I didn’t feel like exhausting the small amount of mana I had just regenerated I decided to call it quits for the day.

Winstone had also warned me that running out of mana could lead to me being knocked unconscious, so that was an additional reason not to risk it.

So, in the end, I had checked on Reol who I found snoring lightly on top of a bunch of junk, something tiny held tightly between her fingers.

Feeling a bit of guilt from the fact that the jammer she made for me came from her own device I felt the need to at least make sure she didn't catch a cold sleeping on the floor, despite the heat. So I picked her up lightly so she wouldn't wake and put her on the bed in her room, which was also covered in discarded pieces of scraps.

If only she was this peacefully cute while awake, I thought as I looked at her sleeping self. I regretted not having my phone on me.

After that, I had grabbed a ton of food from the fridge and returned to my room to find Lucia waiting for me, her complexion a lot healthier than before.

From then on I witness hunger that made even Reol look tamed. Like this girl, Lucia didn’t even use her mouth to eat. She just straight up tossed all the food, plastic wraps included into her body where it had disappeared with a small ripple.

When I looked at her in shock, she just smiled shyly as she ate the remaining apple she had missed the normal way.

I decided not to question it and instead went straight to bed, the exhaustion from the longest day in my life helping me pass out quickly.

My room was still dark, the glow from my clock being the only source of light.

Getting out of bed I noticed how most of the pillows were now on the floor, where I could make out the soft breathing that was hopefully Lucia. Despite sleeping for hours the day before she must have still been drained from her fight with Alsha. Which made Alsha recovery all that more terrifying when remembering how quickly she had been back up on her feet.

Making sure to be as silent as possible I grabbed a fresh pair of workout clothes and made my way to the bathroom to shower.

Only to find someone had already beaten me there.

“Ah, this bath is so nice…...…Hmm though I don’t remember getting into the bed… Shit falling asleep again…blop...blop.”

Good thing I wasn’t the type of idiot to charge into a room, despite it being my home. I doubt I would have gotten out unscathed if the girl in there was who I thought it was.

Treading lightly I made it to the second bathroom on my floor and thankfully found it empty.

Half an hour later feeling refreshed I exited mansion, using the door that led into the backyards patio.

The sweet scent of morning dew swept over me, the breeze delicious in a way that only those who enjoyed the outdoors could appreciate.

Gazing towards the east I saw the barest hints of purple and pink streaking out, the clouds tinted with the predawn rays of light.

“Beautiful is it not disciple?” Startled from the unexpected voice, I caught sight of Xue sitting both knees forward facing with her heels pressing on her rear. I think that position was called a seiza if my weeb memories were recalling things right.

Today she wore pastel yellow garments that gave her a softer presence compared to immaculate yet harsh white from the day before. Her delicate porcelain skin glowing despite the minimal amount of light on the patio.

“I’ve never been much of a morning person but watching this every day might not be too bad.”

I was the type of guy to go to bed early and still wake up later than anyone else. If it weren't for Eva coming to get me every morning for school after my parent's deaths I likely would have been tardy every day. I just slept through all alarms regardless of the situation. I was lucky enough that whatever nightmare I had, had woken me up with plenty of time to spare.

“That will change once you begin cultivating, the essence of dawn is multitudes times more dense and effective than ordinary essence. I also expect your company every morning from this moment forwards when greeting the new day. Now sit, we will begin once the dawn has risen over the horizon, for now, we will test your patience.” Closing her golden eyes, Xue laid her hands over her lap, a serene expression on her face, as her breathing came forth like a steady rhythm.

With nothing else to do, I chose to sit down cross-legged, my body somewhat restless. I had expected some sort of workout, not a peaceful morning of sitting still.

“Relax Lucas, a calm heart must be nurtured, and of the myriad of techniques, I know of this the most practical for novices. Fill your lungs with morningtide wind and release it within the same time span. More complicated breathing exercises can’t be mastered if you're unable to perform the most basic of them.”

She addressed me tenderly, yet firm, her words worming into my brain and finding the right connections to make everything she said click, despite how my initial bewilderment.

My lungs took in the sweet air, my bloodstream filling with the fresh oxygen, followed by exhaling the toxic carbon dioxide, leaving it to return to the world where the plants might once again convert it. A cycle on several levels, the world and me, and me and my inner world.

A sense of harmony settled over me, with the barest hints of an electric tingle spreading throughout my entire body as I felt the mana/essence slowly push a viscous fluid out my pores.

I couldn’t tear my eyes away, the sun rose to bring new life and warmth to the world, its appearance causing a fiery pit of flames to rise within me, heating my bones further and expelling even more of the strange sticky liquid coming from all over my body.

Then the sun escaped the horizons pull, free to rise till it reached its noon perch.

I fell backward, the strength in my limbs leaving me helpless as gravity reached to bring me down, but just as I was about to hit the ground a small hand grab hold of my back.

“That was quite the display Lucas, to use your own Yang to boil a portion of your impurities out. You likely saved us upwards of a week heavy physical training.” I found Xue looking down at me the sun behind her head creating heavenly nimbus around her night black hair.

“I feel like all the mana in my body was pulled out.” I groaned softly as she help me sit up. I noticed black glistening oil flowing with my sweat down my entire body. Recognizing what I was looking at Xue performed a series of motions with her fingers and tapped me lightly on the chest. The filth on my body was dragged away as she extended her hand outwards, a baseball size orb of what had just been covering me floating above her palm. Then with a squeeze, it was compressed into a marble which she put away before responding to me.

“It was a dangerous gamble, one wrong move and you could have self-combusted, and been reduced to little more than ash. I’m truly surprised you managed to do so considering the dilapidated condition of your body.”

Well shit, I thought, realizing how close I had actually come to death. There was no serious indication either of what she had told me since I had felt nothing but warmth and peace while in the meditative trance.

“Can you make sure next time I don’t do something stupid like that. We haven't even started the real lessons and I already almost killed myself.” If this was any indication of the future, I’d be lucky to survive till the end of the summer if she was going to let me just do things without warnings.

“I could never have expected you would have control over your Yang, and by the time I realized what you were doing it was too late to stop you. You weren't supposed to be able to use the dawns essence to purify yourself.” Her golden rings examined me closely, seeing past my flesh into whatever these essence veins and Zhang Fu where.

“I do not understand how you did it but, you were successful, which is what matters right now.”

“So what now. Do I do some situps or run a shit ton of laps?” She thought deeply for a few seconds before answering back.

“No..., because of this breakthrough of yours we can actually begin the process of strengthening your Zhang Fu, which in turn will also improve your essence veins.”

“Care to explain to me what Zhang Fu means? I’m pretty much in the dark about most of the things you speak off when talking about cultivation.”

“Mhhh your world is backward when it comes to the gifts of the heavens so do forgive my forgetfulness. The Zhang Fu are the five primary organs of cultivation. Brain, Heart, Lungs, Stomach, and Liver, they all serve their purpose, and developing them leads to the overall improvement of your body as a whole. Before cultivating, they must all reach the pinnacle of regular mortals capacities, though they can even further be improved.”

“So how exactly does one train an organ?” I hope it didn't involve a lot a physical abuse, I doubt my organs would take kindly to a beating.

“The same way one trains themselves, a lot of effort and pain.” Fuck, so it was going to include pain.

“What's first on the list then?”

“Before you can sense the rest of your body, you must first be able to understand the world around you with your senses, so we begin with your Brain.” Aiming at my forehead, she made her point with a light tap.

My vision grew dark as the darkness encapsulated me.

She made me go blind, the realization dawning on me!

“Now without your sight, your other senses will be forced to develop; otherwise our lessons will be filled with nothing but pain.”

"You still mad from yesterday aren't you...?"

"A lady never forgets Lucas, now let's see exactly how sharp your other senses are."

With a light chuckle, the pain began.