Two Realms of Energy

A third-grade student who was patrolling outside the Dusk Lotus Sect compound came across a cultivator in a black hanfu lying weakly on the ground.

His sleeve was torn, and his arm was injured. He was holding a red slip with a lotus flower emblem, indicating he was one of the sect's disciples.

The two third-grade disciples who saw this immediately jumped down from the hill. They arrived near the riverbank and stepped over to Wang Yuan.

"Looks like he's a new disciple," explained one of the two men.

"How's his condition?" his partner asked.

The man checked Wang Yuan's condition, especially checking the pulse on his wrist. To his shock, Wang Yuan was still alive though he was injured.

"You should go and call Senior Xie. He should be able to restore his condition."

"Okay."

The partner of the man stepped away from the place to quickly arrive at the Dusk Lotus Sect, while one man was still by Wang Yuan, guarding the young man from anything.

From the clothes he wore, he could guess Wang Yuan was a fourth-grade disciple or an unregistered disciple. 

If he was lying unconscious and injured here, it was confirmed that he was on a red slip mission.

The man turned his head to the side, looking at the calm flow of the river in the valley. 

The place could be said to be dangerous for a fourth-grade disciple like Wang Yuan, especially since he didn't have a decent cultivation base.

The Dragon Tail River was the native habitat of the Black-tailed Crocodile, a type of 1-star Mortal Beast realm monster, equivalent to a 3rd Qi Condensation cultivator for its strength.

"The average fourth-grade disciple's cultivation level is 1st Qi Condensation. None of them are at a higher stage," revealed the man.

"Poor new boy, the people in that place must not have informed him earlier about the truth of the red slip mission."

It wasn't long before Xie Cai arrived at the river valley and saw the young man who had saved her and Fang Lan earlier, now with severe injuries to his upper arm and shoulder. 

Xie Cai sat cross-legged, formed a hand formation, and directed his blue-colored qi energy forward, wrapping Wang Yuan's body in a chrysalis of energy.

"What happened to him?" asked Xie Cai to two third-grade disciples.

The two bowed and explained the situation to Xie Cai, considering that the woman was at the status of a second-grade disciple -higher than them.

'The people at the fourth-grade disciple house! They really gave the new boy a difficult mission. Don't they have hearts?!' Xie Cai complained.

"I'll handle him. You guys can go on patrol," Xie Cai stated.

"Alright, Senior Xie."

The two men left the place and allowed Xie Cai to restore Wang Yuan's condition by herself.

In Wang Yuan's subconscious, he saw a visualized projection of his body floating between two seas of energy crystals with significant differences.

The first energy crystal sea had a blue energy sphere center, with 15 energy crystals surrounding it.

The second energy crystal sea had a black energy sphere center, with not a single energy crystal surrounding it.

Wang Yuan's two eyes witnessed five pieces of infected energy crystals transferring to the second energy sea, making the difference between the two 10:5 energy crystals.

'What exactly happened? What are the meanings of those energy crystals?!" lamented Wang Yuan.

"The path of cultivation is a lifelong choice! The choice of heaven to be the wisest, master soul enlightenment, and cultivate the glorious potential of the way of heaven," explained someone, his voice echoing in Wang Yuan's subconscious.

"Strength is everything; morality will be destroyed using strength. The Dark Arts Cultivation Path requires cultivators to give up all human aspects and live in the hatred and sin of the world. The progress of strength becomes limitless!" the man emphasized again.

Wang Yuan shouted, trying to figure out who that person was.

Shocking! The sky split with two different lights, bright blue and black. 

From both sides of the sky, Wang Yuan saw giant, well-built men wearing armor and holding different weapons, their eyes lit up according to the color of their cultivation path.

Wang Yuan guessed the man on the bright blue side was the one guarding the heaven cultivation path, while the other man ruled the dark arts cultivation path.

"The principle of cultivation paths should not be mixed. It will attract great disasters and calamities!" declared the man with blue light eyes.

"Deciding on a cultivation path is like choosing the best way to die," revealed the man with purple eyes.

"The principle of cultivation paths not being mixed? What does it mean? What is the cultivation path of heaven? What is the cultivation path of the dark arts?" asked Wang Yuan.

"Make your choice immediately!"

The figures of the two giants disappeared in a burst of light, pushing Wang Yuan's soul body out of the subconscious into his consciousness realm. 

His eyes opened, and his hand reflexively pierced the energy chrysalis that had been wrapped around his body.

Xie Cai gasped. The energy explosion occurred due to the failure of healing from Wang Yuan. 

Wang Yuan landed on the ground with the wounds on his upper arms and his back recovering as if regenerating with a blend of black light.

"Wh-What happened?" asked Xie Cai in shock.

Wang Yuan felt his body refreshed, the aches and pains in every joint of his bones disappeared, and the wounds on his shoulders and arms healed to nothing.

"I don't know. But it seems like the talk helped me recover my body faster," Wang Yuan said.

"Talk?"

'She won't know about my talk with the two giants. Maybe I can ask her a lot of questions,' Wang Yuan said.

Wang Yuan smiled, then shook his head. He thanked Senior Xie Cai for helping him recover. Xie Cai nodded, not feeling any objection.

"Think of it as my return since you saved our lives earlier," she said.

"Senior Xie. I have something to ask you," Wang Yuan expressed.

Xie Cai nodded, letting Wang Yuan ask anything that might be bothering his mind. The woman said that she would protect Wang Yuan while he was still in the Dragon's Tail River valley.

"It's about the sea filled with spinning energy crystals. What is that place exactly?" asked Wang Yuan.

"It's called the Energy Realm, or as people call it, dantian. It is filled with energy crystals condensed from qi energy absorbed by the body," Xie Cai replied.

"The higher your cultivation level, the greater the number of energy crystals for breakthroughs," Xie Cai stated.

'So it is. The qi energy absorbed by the body is condensed into energy crystals that float like foam in the ocean,' Wang Yuan said.

'However, I don't know exactly how much qi energy is needed to condense an energy crystal,' Wang Yuan explained.

"Is it possible that it works the same way as the Dark Arts cultivation path?" Wang Yuan asked.

Xie Cai explained that if it was a common occurrence in cultivators' minds, it indicated that their cultivation path was wide open for breakthroughs.

However, she explained that a person occasionally encounters a bottleneck in their cultivation. Those bottlenecks were usually related to their cultivation or their physique.

"Why? Did you see that energy realm?" asked Xie Cai.

"Yes," Wang Yuan replied.

"That indicates you can cultivate. Do you know how to do it?" asked Xie Cai, Wang Yuan responded by shaking his head.

'Seriously. He easily defeated a two-star Mortal Beast realm monster, but he can't cultivate? Who exactly is he?' asked Xie Cai in shock.

"It's alright, Senior Xie. I'll collect as many mission points as possible to cultivate soon!"

Not wanting to ask anyone for help, that was Wang Yuan. He didn't want to feel indebted to anyone and hinder his cultivation progress in the future. What he wanted to do was to accomplish everything on his own.

Wang Yuan said goodbye as he carried a bucket filled with the one fish he had caught. There were six more days until the duration of the mission; Wang Yuan was confident he could complete this mission and get the points.

Xie Cai watched Wang Yuan's leaving from that place. Both of her eyes squinted, there was something suspicious about him, but the woman didn't know what Wang Yuan was hiding yet.

"I have to keep an eye on him. He's not a typical random person."