10 - Beginning of a New Life

Inhaling through his nose and exhaling through his mouth, calmly and carefully absorbing, refining, and circulating as much as he could through his partially opened spiritual veins, moving both his energies harmoniously and independently throughout his body.

His calm spiritual energy and his violent demonic energy, like yin and yang, now split his spiritual core in half, no longer conflicting with each other and simply coexisting in total peace and stability.

Less than a year had passed since he had fallen into that deep cave, but that young man, who could hardly still be considered a mere adolescent, had transformed, evolved, and found himself as someone completely superior to his former self, in body, spirit, and mind.

Cultivating his internal energy, his mind was in total tranquility, he could even be mistaken for some kind of Buddhist monk given how peaceful his face appeared, something that was entirely at odds with the destruction around him.

Deep holes, craters cracking everything around them, places that seemed to have been hit by multiple shots and numerous cuts that, at just a glance, revealed how sharp and wild they were, these were the marks of destruction that littered his surroundings.

"Sigh… Alright, it's finally ending…" He said, slowly opening his relaxed eyes.

To anyone looking from the outside, unaware of what exactly was going on in his mind, upon seeing the man leaving his position and standing up, one might think he was solely referring to his cultivation, which had come to an end, but in reality, those words held reference to something even greater that was about to happen on that day.

Removing all his clothes and necklace, folding them and placing them next to the blood lake, the young man's extremely defined and athletic body was revealed.

He was practically a new person; in less than a year, could someone really change this much? Going from an almost malnourished and short physique to someone tall whose body seemed to have been sculpted by a renowned sculptor worldwide, lacking exaggerated muscles but nearly perfect for a martial artist.

His long white hair was wilder and more disheveled than ever, mainly because he no longer had anything to tie it with nor cared to do so. His face was still young but mature, with his calm, cold, relaxed eyes completely contrasting with the irritated and immature gaze he had back when he had fallen there.

Anyone who looked at him would most likely think he was some sort of cultivator in search of enlightenment, caring little about his appearance and appearing wild, but with a temperament completely opposed to that wild style.

Splash!

Water splashed everywhere as the young man plunged into the lake, swimming to its bottom to perform his usual practice of analyzing the demonic energy concentration in the area, coming to a conclusion he had expected would happen one day but, now that it was happening, he could hardly believe his own senses.

So... Is it really over?

With his eyes closed as he sat at the lake's bottom, Long Shen confirmed what he already suspected: he had finally finished absorbing all the demonic energy not only outside the lake but also throughout the blood lake, which made a mixture of emotions rise within him.

Joy, insecurity, uncertainties, hope, satisfaction, and countless other sensations surged within him as he swam up to the surface and out of the lake. What he had longed for so much had happened; he had no reason to be there any longer, and finally, the time had come for his exit. However, a few but loud thoughts of insecurity still echoed in his mind.

Those damned thoughts were, essentially, remnants of his former self, which he had failed to purge entirely.

There's no reason to worry about an uncertain future, Long Shen. Your role in the present and the past is done; now, the consequences of all your hard work are just waiting to be harvested in the future. Worrying is just a waste of time because, unfortunately, it not only doesn't increase the chances of your plans succeeding but also reduces them. He thought, seeking and somewhat succeeding in controlling his emotions.

Thus, dressing again, the young man prepared for his only way to escape from the bottom of that pit: climbing hundreds of meters using only his body until he reached the pit's entrance, the surface.

"This is it…" He took one last quick look at the entire pit he had been in, memories of the past few months flowing through his mind.

Moments of fear, anger, insecurity, hope, hatred, happiness, satisfaction, and countless other emotions and experiences he never imagined he would encounter were found in that dark place abandoned by everyone and everything.

There, in that pit, where he thought it would be his end, it was actually his new beginning, where he discovered those mysterious corridors and came across the System; where doubts about his parents and origin were rekindled in his heart; where the hope of becoming someone again returned to dominate his spirit; where he battled against his other self and won for the first time a battle where his fate was at stake; and finally, where, after so long, he achieved something he valued more than the System or anything else he had: a dream.

A person without dreams is nothing more than a walking corpse; this was what Long Shen realized after so long reflecting on his past and his desired future. Throughout his life, he never had a real dream; he only wanted to survive but never truly sought to live. But now, with all these opportunities in his hands, for the first time in a long time, he could say he was truly alive.

"... Farewell, Blood Lake Pit."

With a powerful leap, using a small part of his internal energy in his legs, Long Shen jumped more than 5 meters into the air and threw himself toward one of the walls of the large hole he had fallen into; a hole that more closely resembled a large vertical tunnel given how circular and regular it was from beginning to end.

Alright! Now begins my climb!

Gripping the rocks with great care, the young man slowly began climbing toward the pit's top, a journey that would be quite long, and he was well aware of it, using very little of his internal energy from the start to avoid tiring quickly.

His lack of climbing experience was evident, moving so carefully out of fear of falling due to any slip that it made his ascent rather slow, to the point of making him wonder if he shouldn't have trained climbing as well, but quickly dismissing the idea upon realizing that if he had done so, he would have had to reduce his time training and studying other activities as well.

More than an hour had already passed, but there was no sign of any light from outside being reached. Gradually, his breathing also became more irregular, not because he was tired, after all, his training was much heavier and longer than that, but because of how tense the whole situation was.

What exactly was the size of the pit? How much farther did he still have to reach the end? Was he already halfway or still at the beginning? And many other questions of that sort occasionally passed through his mind, but he set them aside and tried to regain his calm since nothing good would come from continuously questioning such things.

More than two hours seemed to have passed. Even Long Shen's calloused and strong hands turned red with scratches and the little blood that appeared after gripping so many uneven and sharp stones, which bore a good part of his body weight.

Huh? Is that what I think it is?

The young man, who had previously focused solely on what was directly in front of him, completely concentrating on his hands and the stones he would use to continue his climb, suddenly had his focus shifted as his attention was completely caught by the warmth rising on his back and seeing his form reflected in a dark shadow on the wall beside him.

"Sunlight?!?" he shouted to himself, looking around and noticing the sunlight, albeit weak, beginning to appear in the place where he was.

His slowness and insecurity were gradually left behind as he found himself filled with excitement and anxiety to see the top of the pit as quickly as possible.

Faster than ever, Long Shen began climbing the stones, performing the movements quickly and agilely yet still precisely and rhythmically, like a robot on autopilot, having already etched into his body, to a certain extent, the necessary movements to continue his ascent to the end after so many hours of climbing in the safest and slowest manner possible.

At this pace, it might not take even another hour until I can get out of this pit! he thought as a small smile, which hadn't appeared on his face for a long time, emerged.

1, 2, 3, 4... 1, 2, 3, 4... 1, 2, 3, 4... he recited to himself to concentrate as he placed each of his hands and each of his feet on a new, higher rock. Until the obvious happened...

Crack!

For his misfortune, however, climbing so quickly led him to unwittingly grab an unstable rock, which broke in half right in his hand, causing him to start falling still close to the wall.

Shit, I need to think fast! He looked desperately around as the sunlight ahead began to seem farther and farther away. ... I know!

Using just one of his fingers, even though he could use more, a spectral purple blade over 20 centimeters long appeared, and without wasting any time, Long Shen plunged it in while also using his other hand to grab onto a rock, slowing his fall until finally, the panic subsided.

Sigh... All the way back... I still have a long way to truly tame my urges.

...

After even more hours passed, with Long Shen climbing more carelessly than at first but still much more cautiously than he had earlier when he got excited, he finally extended one of his arms outward and encountered the moment he had dreamed of for all those months.

Finally... Here it is!

The young man was extremely worn out, more than he thought he would be, given that he was now a cultivator already in the midst of the Spiritual Awakening Realm, lying on the grassy ground less than a meter away from the pit, using his demonic energy to heal the wounds he had, especially on his hands and nails.

An indescribable feeling of satisfaction flowed through his mind; he was so happy that if it had been his former self, he surely wouldn't have been able to hold back and would have started crying right there at the beautiful view of the orange sky at dusk.

His lungs filled with the pure air of the surface, his body rested and felt the gentle sensation of the grass being crushed beneath him, the woody and soft smell of the wood mixed with grass and slightly damp leaves calming his mind. Finally, aiming to make the most of the peace that was starting to grow within him, the young man closed both of his eyes, placing his right arm over his face and feeling the gentle breeze of the wind swaying his hair and his worn-out, old clothes.

This would probably be his last time for a good while that he would be able to rest his body and mind so peacefully, as from then on, nothing but his hard path to achieving his goals would begin.

"Hahaha... It's good to be back, surface."