Agreement for the Future

As Bell closed his eyes, wanting to get a better feel of the qi that he now had access to, he felt that there was something more to the air surrounding him now, something he could absorb and make his own. Allowing his instincts to make its move, his body then beckoned that thing he felt from the air to move closer to his body, only for it to enter through the white dot on his forehead.

With it now absorbed by his body, he could not help but feel like something was off, but at the same time not as it felt like it was a part of him yet not at the same time. In any case, he knew that he could manipulate it as much as he wished, though only within the confines of his body. If he tried to move it outside, he felt like manipulating it would be hundreds of times harder.

"So…this is qi," Bell muttered to himself as he gradually acclimated himself to the feeling of qi existing in the air surrounding him. By the time half a minute had passed by, he felt nothing from the surroundings anymore, as if the qi wasn't there in the first place. But if he actively tried to absorb qi through the white dot on his forehead, he would instantly feel the qi in the surroundings gradually getting closer to the dot.

Then again, Bell knew that none of this would be possible if it wasn't for Sixth Void's timely help, giving him corpses of beasts with rare bloodlines to siphon from. With that in mind, he flew off the Three-tailed Silver Fox's corpse and hovered in front of Sixth Void, who looked at Bell with a mix of surprise, delight, and intrigue.

Of course, Bell couldn't care less what Sixth Void was thinking as he told him with a tone of glee, "I've finally lifted the curse preventing me from absorbing qi."

"That's great news," Sixth Void replied, a light smile plastered on his face. Though, not long after, this smile was soon replaced with a solemn expression as his eyes glistened with curiosity. Soon, he asked him, "Though, I do wonder what type of species you currently are right now. If you don't want to tell me, that's fine."

Bell then pondered over Sixth Void's request, recalling the description the system gave him regarding the Void Erudite Mosquito. Unlike the other bloodlines among his choices, the Void Erudite Mosquito was the only bloodline the system mentioned that only existed in ancient texts. On top of that, the system warned him that this knowledge would work in favor or work against him. With that, he was at a crossroads as to whether or not he should say it.

Fortunately, it did not take long for him to come to a decision as he thought that there would be no harm indirectly telling him his current bloodline since it would take Sixth Void longer to figure out. Then again, that would only be possible if Sixth Void knew of his current bloodline.

And so, he responded with a slightly conflicted tone, "Well, I unfortunately cannot tell you what exact bloodline I have. But what I can tell you that it's a variant of the Night Walker Mosquito that's more sensitive towards qi. How ironic, right? The bloodline I would awaken as I break my curse would make me more sensitive towards qi."

Listening to Bell's response, Sixth Void went silent as he went through his memories, recalling all of the mosquito species he had come across so far. In the end, he lightly shook his head as he found nothing that matched Bell's current bloodline in his memories. With that, he placed the thought at the back of his head as he could not help but let out a light chuckle, saying, "At the very least, you'll have a quicker time cultivating since you can sense qi more easily."

Just as Bell thought that Sixth Void would stop there, his next words could not help but make Bell shudder in fear as he told him, "Anyways, now that you've broken through your curse of not being able to absorb qi, it's time for you to turn into my pet. Well, you wouldn't even be able to resist from it anymore even if I told you that..."

"Or so I would like to say if you did not have the ability to talk with me. Since you have the ability to talk with me, that means you have sentience," he continued, quickly allowing Bell to let out a sigh of relief as a life of captivity was not something he wanted. At this point, Sixth Void went silent, prompting Bell to ask him, "What are you trying to say?"

"Well, I'm giving you the choice of whether to become my pet or not," Sixth Void said succinctly. Of course, Bell instantly knew what answer he was going to give. In fact, even Sixth Void had a feeling that Bell would decline his request, which prompted him to smile bitterly under his mask as he heard those words of refusal come from Bell.

"As expected," Sixth Void said as he shrugged his shoulders, letting out a light sigh. "Well, it was worth a shot."

Fortunately for Sixth Void, Bell was someone who repaid kindness with kindness. And so, just as Sixth Void thought that there was no hope in forming some sort of relationship with Bell, which was the second best result he could get, Bell told him, "Although I vehemently do not like becoming your pet, you still helped me break through the curse that has plagued me all this time. I am someone who repays kindness with kindness, so if there's something I could help you with, then I'll put in every ounce of effort I could into the task you ask of me."

Hearing that, Sixth Void could not help but laugh out loud as he pointed at Bell and said, "You? A mosquito at the 1st Stage of the Qi Sensing Realm? I appreciate the thought, but you would need to be of a higher realm to be of help to m—"

Just as Sixth Void was about to politely decline Bell's help, an idea gradually formed in his mind, recalling that an event where Bell could possibly help out would happen in the future. With that, his laughter was instantly stifled as a solemn expression appeared on his face once more. Naturally, such an abrupt change in expression made others worry, so Bell asked him, "What's wrong?"

"On second thought, I think there's something you could help me out on," Sixth Void looked at Bell and said, prompting Bell to figuratively nod as he said, "I'll do my best in helping you out."

"Well, it's not going to happen any time soon, so don't worry too much about it. Just keep it in mind for when that time comes," Sixth Void said in response as he then told Bell the idea in his mind. "Even though the chances of this succeeding is on the smaller side, it's still worth a shot."

"Hmm?" Of course, Bell did not know what Sixth Void was trying to say.

Fortunately, it did not take long for Sixth Void to voice out his idea as he said, "I'm not sure if it's 500 years from now or a thousand years now, but around that time, I would need your help. By then, head to the Void Dagger Pavilion and find me. Though, if you're not at the Greater Immortal Realm before that time comes, don't bother finding me."

"A thousand years? Greater Immortal Realm?" These phrases were the ones that stuck onto Bell's mind since both seemed to be way out of his reach at the moment. He had just extended his lifespan to the point where he could live for a year without worries. On top of that, he had only been in this world for about 2 days, so a thousand years for him was an incredibly long time.

As for the Greater Immortal Realm, he knew that it would be impossible for him to reach it any time soon. As far as he knew from the cultivation novels he had read in his past life while bedridden, any cultivation realm that involved the word 'Immortal' would definitely be out of reach for normal people, much less someone like him.

Nevertheless, even if he could not achieve the Greater Immortal Realm within the amount of time given to him by Sixth Void, he knew very well that it would be better for him to work towards a goal instead of exploring the world in a haphazard manner. With that, Bell said to Sixth Void, albeit with a hint of reluctance, "I'm not sure if I could reach that realm before that time comes, but I'll try my best to do so."

"You don't have to pressure yourself, Bell," Sixth Void said in response, his tone light as if a weight was taken off his shoulders. "Just think of it as something I said on a whim. You can totally ignore it."

"In fact, I'm sure that you don't even know how high the Greater Immortal Realm is," he said not long after, chuckling. In response, Bell said, "Indeed, I do not. I'm not sure if this information is something all beasts already know, but please enlighten me."

"Not to worry, Bell," Sixth Void replied with a tone of confidence. "I'm not the Sixth Void of the Void Dagger Pavilion for nothing."

"It's time for you to enter a crash course on the basics of cultivation."

As he said that, Sixth Void sat on the ground, making Bell ponder as to whether he should 'sit down' as well to listen to Sixth Void's explanations or move towards the remaining beast corpses he hadn't deprived of blood yet. Thinking that he would be distracted while listening to Sixth Void's explanations, he decided to 'sit down'. Well, to be more exact, he decided to land on Sixth Void's shoulder since it seemed to be the most comfortable spot for him to land on.

Seeing how Bell landed on his shoulder, Sixth Void could not help but lightly smile under his mask as he started his lecture. "Well, before we start tackling the realms of cultivation, let's focus on the energy that allows us to cultivate in the first place. This energy is none other than qi."

Whoosh!

As Sixth Void raised his right hand, he then willed a bit of the energy in the surroundings to condense over his extended palm. Not long after, a small ball of light blue energy appeared on top of his palm.

Telling Bell to focus his attention on the ball of energy, Sixth Void continued with his explanation. "Qi is something that allows us beings, both people and beasts, to unlock greater potential hidden within ourselves and reach levels of power that's normally unimaginable. In any case, that's more or less what you need to know about qi. It allows you to cultivate and reach higher levels of power."

"Speaking of which, can you sense and absorb qi?" he soon asked, to which Bell replied with his actions, beckoning a bit of energy in the surroundings to enter through his forehead. Although the amount of energy he had absorbed wasn't as much as what Sixth Void condensed over his palm, Sixth Void could not help but be impressed with that sight as he said, "I see. Well, let me tell you that the rate at which you absorb qi is definitely above average, so I'm sure you'll have a quicker time moving through the various realms of cultivation."

"With that, let's move onto the main topic," Sixth Void emphasized. "The realms of cultivation."

Whoosh!

Allowing more energy to condense over his palm, the small ball of light blue energy eventually seemed to have gained a bit of its own sentience, floating around as a wisp of energy as Sixth Void explained, "The first realm of cultivation is the Qi Sensing Realm. In this realm, your goal is to create these things called qi wisps. Qi wisps are considered as the most rudimentary form of condensed qi, which is why it is only in this realm that you would form these."

"Nevertheless, they allow you to get a better feel of what qi is, making you more proficient in terms of absorbing qi. I'm certain that by the time you reach the peak of the Qi Sensing Realm, you'd be absorbing much more qi than what you're currently absorbing right now."

At this point, Bell decided to ask his own question. "Before you continue, do you know what a Qi Root is, Sixth Void?"

"Of course I do," Sixth Void replied as a matter-of-factly. "The Qi Root dictates how great you are when it comes to manipulating and absorbing qi. How many small branches does your Qi Root have?"

"Two," Bell responded, recalling what it looked like while he was in the process of evolution, as well as what the system told him through his notifications.

"That's actually quite surprising even in a place like this," Sixth Void said before explaining, "Moving that aside, a Qi Root with two branches is called a Two-Branch Mortal Qi Root. This grade of Qi Root is the second lowest grade out there, with the lowest possible being a One-Branch Mortal Qi Root. Unfortunately, most beings in this world have a One-Branch Mortal Qi Root, with only a select few having a Two-Branch Mortal Qi Root or higher."

"Nevertheless, even beings with One-Branch Mortal Qi Root can become strong individuals with the help of one thing," Sixth Void said, his eyes lighting up from the next thing he would mention.

"What would that be?" Of course, Bell asked in response, having his own ideas as to what that thing was.

Taking in a deep breath, Sixth Void then responded.

"Well, that would be none other than cultivation techniques!"