Pillars, grasslands and Clones

Cheng Xiu waddled through the pool of water surrounding the island and reached its grassy Beach.

[Ding!]

[Host Selafia has stepped on the Qi Island of Veridus. Martial Arts practice and Qi Manipulation gets 5% boast.]

Cheng Xiu observed the pillar. Grey, greasy, wide, and tall. The inscriptions on it were bewitching, holding her attention the moment she looked at them.

Cheng Xiu sat in front of the tall pillar and straightened her back. She tried to read the inscriptions that were a fusion of Traditional Chinese and some other ancient languages.

She felt the Qi in her blood spread out and reach towards the pillar. The inscriptions began to glow and in moments turned into a golden pillar of light.

[Host Selafia has started to learn part 1 of True Qi Cultivation Method.]

Her vision went dark and then she found herself standing on grassland with yellow grass blades and a pink sky.

A man in teal robes appeared before her with a kind smile.

Her shoulders tensed.

"Hello," the man said in a cracked voice. "Another young one has come to learn the greatest Cultivation Method on Earth I see."

Greatest? The system called it part 1. She held her tongue. No need to make enemies with NPCs by mocking them. She wasn't strong enough for it.

"I'm Selafia, uncle. May I know who you are?" she asked him.

He smiled and threw something on the ground. A blob of clay.

"Watch closely."

A shadow version of herself materialized before her from the clay. It was an exact copy.

The two NPCs bowed to each other and then took a stance.

Cheng Xiu felt grounded. Present. Stable. She felt a connection to the clone NPC that was beyond it looking like her.

The old man and her shadow self started to exchange blows. It started slow and picked up speed as time passed.

Cheng Xiu felt her limbs become sturdy, her bones become willowy like the branches of a Bodhi tree. Rooted and firm.

[Part 1 of True Qi Cultivation has reached 10% comprehension.]

Cheng Xiu mimicked the old man's movements, feeling stupid and pretentious.

Cheng Xiu tried to imitate what her clone was doing, but it felt wrong. Like there was something she was missing.

She observed the two fighting figures.

The man pushed the clone with an open palm. The clone skidded to a stop.

The two fought again, starting from that same grounding stance as in the beginning.

The match repeated again and again and again. Cheng Xiu stopped counting after the 42nd time her shadow failed to even hit the man. Sometimes she would be kicked, sometimes punched, sometimes she would be thrown away and sometimes she would lose her footing.

She tried to understand the principle behind the fight. Maybe if she understood its underlying principles she would understand what was missing. What was she not considering?

She moved her legs to the initial stance they came to again and again.

Her balance felt wonky. It wasn't stable enough. She moved her foot wider. She started to feel secure.

Cheng Xiu moved her legs until she felt her stance was stable.

Cheng Xiu observed.

The two figures had started from the beginning again.

She saw lightness in their footing. Cheng Xiu sensed that they were grounded but not tense unlike her. She tried to imitate their lightness. It took time but she succeeded.

[Comprehension has reached 20%]

Cheng Xiu felt her Qi Centre stir and the Qi in her veins move around her body.

Her mind cleared of all thoughts as she started to imitate the two figures again and again.

At first, her movements were stiff, rigid, and forceful. Aggressive. As though she was trying to prove to someone that she could do it. Her movements then changed to tensed, and pretentious waves that imitated those having power, while her movements barely agitated her Qi pool to circulate in irregular patterns.

[Comprehension has reached 40%]

Then it changed to lax, powerless, and unsure until she reached a place that wasn't too forceful, too lax, too low, or too high. Her movements smoothed. Her body started to emit a silver glow in ripples and her Qi started to manifest on her fingertips and toes in golden lotus patterns.

[Comprehension has reached 80%. Initiating final stage Shadow Battle mode.]

Cheng Xiu walked towards the two figures in a trance.

Her eyes started to glow gold and her skin turned Grey.

The man and the Clone started to repeat another fight.

Cheng Xiu replaced the clone and started to fight.

She and the old man went bout after bout. Her skin was bruised and healed. She fell to her knees. Had her hand twisted. Had her legs cracked? Had her ribs crushed?

Cheng Xiu returned to her feet again and again.

It became harder for the man to crush her. To crack her. To hurt her. To push her. To touch her.

She started to hurt him. Crack him. Crush him.

He laid on the grass, panting.

He got up and looked at her. Her eyes were still glowing golden and her Qi was still circulating her body.

"Well done," the old man said. "I hope to see you at the second pillar, young one. Train hard and become stronger."

He faded away.

[Ding!]

[World announcement: Selafia Veritas has become the first person to comprehend the 1st part of the True Qi Cultivation Method to 100%

Selafia is awarded: 4000 gold coins.

+2000 to world reputation.

+a World First Title.]

Cheng Xiu came out of the trance and blinked. She defeated an NPC. Wow.

The adrenaline rush subsided and Cheng Xiu felt bone-deep tiredness.

She sat on the ground, panting, aching everywhere. "Wasn't this a dreamscape? Why am I feeling tired?"

[Just because something happens in your head doesn't mean it doesn't take energy. Thinking is also a physical process. Especially during a trance. Trance mode is only achieved by those who have played this game for a year or two. All the expert Players in The Other World have felt it but very few fall into trance in the beginning.]

AI Maya sounded mildly impressed.

Cheng Xiu smiled. "Thanks, Maya. What now?"

[Would Host like to leave the Dreamscape?]

Cheng Xiu tried to etch this grassland into her mind so that she could always remember it. "Yes!"

Her vision turned black and then she was sitting cross-legged in front of the pillar.

Cheng Xiu felt refreshed and clear-headed. Her body was coiled with contained power.

[Would Host like to see her Status widow now?]

Cheng Xiu raised an eyebrow. "Shouldn't this be something you showed me already?"

[Host was going through an important quest moment.]

Cheng Xiu's eyes sparkled. "I had a World announcement, right? Does that mean I completed the Prophecy Quest?"

[No.]

Cheng Xiu was silent for a while. "Aren't you going to substantiate that statement?"

[That World announcement was a personal achievement of the Player against other Players. It has nothing to do with the Vixia Kingdom becoming great.]

Cheng Xiu wilted. "Oh. Then let's just see my stats."

[Ding!]

A virtual window appeared in front of her.

[CHARACTER STATUS

Name: Selafia

Cultivation Method: True Qi Cultivation

Cultivation Level: Qi Sensing I

Title: World's First True Qi Cultivation Master

Intelligent: 2

Dexterity: 1

Speed: 1

Strength: 1

Vitality: 1

Wisdom: 2

Attribute Points: 0

Skill Points :0

Skills: None]

Cheng Xiu read through her status. "So, everyone starts at 1?"

[Of course. Of all your attributes, the Intelligence slot has been fulfilled.]

"And what does that mean?"

[In The Other World, the number of points the Host can give an attribute is limited. For Level 1 and 2, you have a maximum of 2 slots. Level 3 and 4, you have 3 slots and from level 5 onwards you have 5 slots. For each level up the System gives you 1 attribute point to all your stats, as can be seen in yours. You can fill the rest of the slots on your own through Quest completions and learning another aspect of your cultivation.]

Cheng Xiu smiled. "That's makes everyone have the same strength. How do you gain money if don't make your Players feel that they can stand above the rest?"

[If you level up, the previous levels are locked. It means you have to fill the slots of your level before you level up.]

"That...is...it's fair and unfair. These game mechanics are too...complicating. That reminds me! Why does it say Qi Sensing I? I'm pretty sure I reached Root Awakening 10 in the grassland!"

[Your Spirit has reached the epitome of True Qi Cultivation but your body is still that of a beginner. It might be stronger than before but you still have ways to go before you reach the level you did in the dreamscape. Think of it as a taste of what realizing your full potential feels like.]

"Wow. So it's a way for the Devs to make you want to keep playing. This game is more manipulating than any other. I don't know if I should be impressed or feel cheated."

[The Host has 10 minutes in-game time before she will be forcefully ejected from the game.]

"Bu-but...are-are you telling me I spent 12 hours in the pod, 24 hours of in-game time staring at a piece of rock?"

[It was a magical rock?]

Cheng Xiu snorted. "I guess it was."

She looked at the wall of the island room that was the gateway to the outside world.

[Most Players take three in-game times at least to finish reading the pillar's 25 %. Myrdian will return to release you then.]

"Oh...um... let's log out then."

Her vision went black.

Cheng Xiu laid in the gaming pod as the dim blue lights started to brighten up.

Something was missing.