There was no sky. No earth. No beginning. No end.
Only darkness.
A distant light flickered within the endless blackness. It was impossibly far away. Or perhaps it was impossibly close.
Something moved beyond it. A silhouette. Tall. Still. Watching.
The darkness shifted. For an instant, two strange points of light appeared within it.
Then they vanished. A sensation followed. Something that felt almost like recognition. The figure took a step closer. The world around it distorted.
Colors appeared where there should have been none. Crimson. Black. A flash of ivory. Then the figure was gone.
The darkness returned. But the feeling remained.
Find me.
The words weren't spoken. They simply appeared.
Then—
"Ah!"
Han Jianyu's eyes snapped open and he bolted upright. His chest rose and fell rapidly as he stared around the unfamiliar bedroom.
Morning sunlight streamed through the window.
For several seconds, he said nothing. His hand slowly rose to his face. He was sweating.
Han Jianyu frowned. "What... was that?"
He sat there in silence, the dream already fading from his memory.
The figure, the darkness and those strange eyes. That voice that he was almost certain he heard somewhere before. He could remember the feeling, but not the details.
Suddenly, he shook his head. " It was just a dream. It had to be."
Han Jianyu leaned back against the bed, then his expression changed. Something was wrong. His body felt... different.
He closed his eyes and looked inward, but before he could properly inspect, a familiar sensation answered him. Mana.
A faint smile appeared on his face as he momentarily postponed his investigation into himself, "Looks like I'm healed."
He paused, and almost immediately, the memory of the dream returned.
Those crimson eyes. That strange presence. That inexplicable feeling of recognition.
Han Jianyu's smile disappeared, and he stared toward the window. His eyes settled on the not-so-distant mountains behind the Xiao Clan. Somewhere in the east. He was certain of it now.
He had, for less than a moment's time, felt something there. Just as he was beginning to be lost in his mind again, two swift knocks came from the door before it slid open. Xiao Lingxi walked in and cleared her throat.
When Han Jianyu turned around, he saw her strolling into the room. At the same time, he realized that the only thing covering him was a loincloth.
"Don't start blushing, Han Jianyu," Xiao Lingxi smirked before tossing him a pouch.
Catching it, he realized it was the same pouch she had once given him. The one that had contained a mana core. He hurriedly looked inside and found that it contained more than a dozen mana cores, and he immediately felt a sliver of excitement rise from within.
Before he subdued his excitement, Xiao Lingxi turned around, "Don't overdo it." With that, she left the room, the door sliding shut behind her.
Han Jianyu sat where he was, with the sun to his back, and shut his eyes. A mana core was already in hand as he started to cultivate as per the magic cultivation script he had already memorized.
Immediately, in his mind's eyes, the hidden channels reappeared as his mana surged through them. Soon enough, the mana in those channels was racing toward a singular location. The very same dantian that he had once cultivated using the energy cultivation method of Heaven.
Pressure built, and the walls of his dantian slowly began to give way. At the same time, the mana core cracked. Wasting no time, he brought forth another one, then another and another. It took five mana cores before Han Jianyu suddenly felt like his body was on the verge of bursting open.
Then and there, he attacked the barrier between the Body Strengthening Realm and the Energy Gathering Realm.
However, even as his mana surged explosively and slammed into the walls of his dantian, he was yet to break through. The frustration of feeling filled with tremendous energy, and wanting to be rid of it, caused Han Jianyu to almost forcibly release the mana into the world around him.
Hurriedly suppressing that instinct, he then hastily called upon his sword will to aid his mana. Together, the mana and sword will combined, causing his mana to attain a blue-jade color.
At the same time, he uttered a roaring cry as he forced the mana through his channels once again, his sword will arriving at its peak state in an instant. "Break!"
From within, a shattering sound filled his ears and he felt an almost overwhelming comfort overcome him. He fell backward in bliss, breathing heavily as beads of sweat ran down his face and across his body.
Early Energy Gathering Realm... reached!
Catching his breath, Han Jianyu watched as his channels, like tributaries, flowed into his dantian. Slowly, small amounts of mana began to appear in his dantian, looking like premature springs of fresh, blue-jade water.
Rising into a sitting position again, Han Jianyu consulted his memories of the magic cultivation script in order to then consolidate his foundation. Then, after a few hours, he took out yet another mana core and started cultivating again.
This time, it took him far more mana cores to progress.
Starting off, it took him five mana cores to break through. Now, it took him six mana cores before he felt himself approach the Middle Energy Gathering Realm. With the remaining seven mana cores, he finally approached the Late Energy Gathering Realm.
By now, his dantian saw the appearance of a large gathering of mana. It looked like a massive puddle of water that was constantly bubbling, slowly preparing to gush into the air like a geyser.
Once it did that, it would officially become a Spirit Spring, and he would enter the Spirit Spring Realm. However, he had once again run out of mana cores.
Taking a few more hours to stabilize his cultivation base, Han Jianyu rose and found the bath, taking a lengthy soak before finding some clothes. As he was about to leave the room, a pang of something struck him.
That feeling that something was wrong came over him once again, and he realized that he had forgotten to properly inspect what was going on.
Now, though, yet another change had occurred. The next time he cast his gaze inwards, he could visibly see the jade colored sword will moving through his channels and veins, and also entering his dantian.
In a matter of moments, the illusory jade sword appeared at the very center of his premature spirit spring, basking in the waters of his mana.
"How can this be..."
Han Jianyu projected himself as best as he could into his dantian, managing a blurry figure of himself that was barely discernible. He walked over to the water and tried to grab the illusory jade sword, but his hand went right through.
"Peculiar. Could this be a result of magic cultivation and sword cultivation being so perfectly suited to one another?"
At that time, he heard the sound of two swift knocks on his door. He quickly withdrew his consciousness from his dantian, and saw Xiao Lingxi standing in the doorway.
"What is it, Xiao Lingxi?" He asked, slightly irritated by both his cluelessness regarding his situation, and her interruption.
"Hm. That outfit will do. Come on. The Patriarch is inviting you to dinner." Turning, Xiao Lingxi walked off.
Groaning, Han Jianyu sat up and followed her out of her abode, and toward the Patriarch's mansion.