《Strike The Heavens: Lowest Caste》 World Guide Strike The Heavens This is a guide to the world of ¡®Strike the Heavens¡¯, it can be used as reference to the story or for just more an understanding of the world. Table of Contents The World of ¡®Strike the Heavens¡¯ Cultivation and Martial Arts Game System Magic The War
The World of ¡®Strike the Heavens¡¯ The Republic of Sixthar, is a kingdom founded at 234 BM, it was originally wild lands involving millions of factions and clans battling each other. The brilliant warlock, Sir Sixthar and his clan used the power of Azure Dragons core and blood to enhance their magic abilities and unlock dragon type magic. It is currently in a stable state. The kingdom of Sixthar is managed using the caste system. This is the range of the lowest to the highest caste. Peasant ¨C Commoner ¨C craftsmen ¨C warrior ¨C nobles ¨C mages ¨C saint level warriors ¨C religious leaders ¨C royal blood The Sastrana rebellion believes that the caste system keeps the higher-class castes living a life of riches, while overworking the lower castes. The Kingdom of Sixthar glorifies serving its military power, thus not may of the commoners who aspire to become warriors, rarely join the rebellion. The only real danger to the kingdom¡¯s stability is the rumors of the once all powerful Sastrana clan, which were secluded to the slums, uniting the lower castes into an entire rebellion to overthrow Sixthar. The other three kingdoms usually have trade routes, these kingdoms aren¡¯t yet relevant to the story. (More information will come soon)
Cultivation Cultivation is a dying art brought somewhere past the fallen kingdoms and from the uncharted lands. It is said to once be a thriving art, but the lack of information and masters claimed is declination from popularity. It was once said that many kingdoms banned cultivation as it allowed even commoners to attain levels of power that could compare with mages. (Source: Pre chapter author note) Cultivation (ÐÞÁ¶ xi¨±li¨¤n) (ÐÞÕæ xi¨±zh¨¥n) (ÐÞÐÐ xi¨±x¨ªng) (ÐÞÏÉ xi¨±xi¨¡n) ¨C the process of improving health, increasing longevity, and growing powerful. This is accomplished by cultivating Qi and training in martial & mystical arts. In many of these novels, the ultimate goal of cultivation is to become an Immortal or attain godhood. Cultivation Method (¹¦·¨ g¨­ngf¨£) (ÐÄ·¨ x¨©nf¨£) ¨C a mystical art or collection of techniques which cultivators practice in order to cultivate. Related: Qigong (Æø¹¦) Cultivation Base (ÐÞΪ xi¨±w¨¦i) ¨C the amount or capacity of refined Qi possessed by a cultivator. Manual (ÃØóÅ m¨¬j¨ª) ¨C a book containing detailed instructions on training in a cultivation method or martial arts style. Usually regarded as extremely valuable and thus kept secret (or at least, not made publicly available). Spiritual Roots (Áé¸ù l¨ªngg¨¥n) ¨C figuratively, the very foundation (roots) of one¡¯s body and soul. Associated with a person¡¯s innate talent and elemental affinities. Dantian (µ¤Ìï d¨¡nti¨¢n) ¨C literally translates as ¡°Cinnabar Field¡± or ¡°Elixir Field¡±. Refers to the region in the body where a person¡¯s Qi is concentrated. There are technically three dantians, but these novels simplify the concept and only use the lower dantian (located three finger widths below and two finger widths behind the navel). Meridians (¾­Âö j¨©ngm¨¤i) ¨C the network of vessels/channels in the body through which Qi flows. Like blood vessels, but for Qi instead of blood. Qi Circulation (ÐÐÆø x¨ªngq¨¬) ¨C the act of controlling Qi to flow from the dantian, through the meridians, and back into the dantian in a cycle. The purpose of this varies between novels, but usually it helps replenish stamina, purify the Qi, or strengthen the meridians. Breathing Exercises (ÍÂÄÉ t¨´n¨¤) ¨C also known as Tu Na Breathing. A special way of breathing which expels the turbid Qi within the body and draws in the Qi of the natural world. An essential part of cultivation. Meditation (Ú¤Ïë m¨ªngxi¨£ng) ¨C a practice for training or calming the mind and spirit. Cultivators spend a great deal of time in meditation, as both the cultivation of Qi and contemplation of Insights generally require it.Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel. Insight (²ÎÎò c¨¡nw¨´) (¶ÙÎò d¨´nw¨´) ¨C related to enlightenment. Cultivators usually gain insights by meditating, engaging in life-or-death battles, or going out into the world to experience new things. These insights are often needed in order to master techniques or advance to higher stages of cultivation. Internal Demons (ÐÄħ x¨©nm¨®) ¨C literally translates as ¡°Heart Devils¡±. Rather than standard demons or devils, these are a practitioner¡¯s negative emotions and other mental barriers which hinder their training/cultivation. Internal Demons, in some cases, can even attack the practitioner from the inside, and failure to adequately resist them may result in Qi Deviation. Ranks / Levels / Layers (¼¶ j¨ª) (²ã c¨¦ng) ¨C a common way to quantify martial power or the progress made in cultivation. In many cases (although not all) where these are used, there are 9 ranks/levels/layers to each stage of cultivation, with rank 1 being the start and rank 9 being the peak. After breaking through to the next stage, the practitioner starts at rank 1 of that new stage. The number 9 has a great deal of symbolism. Houtian & Xiantian (ºóÌì h¨°uti¨¡n / ÏÈÌì xi¨¡nti¨¡n) ¨C the names of two cultivation stages which appear in several novels, with the Houtian stage preceding the Xiantian stage. Houtian can mean Posterior Heaven / Postcelestial / Acquired. Xiantian can mean Anterior Heaven / Precelestial / Innate. Very roughly, the idea is that something ¡°Xiantian¡± is primordial and thus close to the Dao, while something ¡°Houtian¡± is degraded or further away from the Dao. Qi Condensation (ÄýÆø n¨ªngq¨¬) ¨C also known as Qi Refining (Á¶Æø li¨¤nq¨¬) or Qi Gathering (¾ÛÆø j¨´q¨¬). An initial stage of cultivation which involves absorbing Qi from the natural world and refining it inside the body. Foundation Establishment (Öþ»ù zh¨´j¨©) ¨C also translated as Foundation Building. The stage after Qi Condensation. Once a cultivator¡¯s Qi crosses a certain threshold (in the volume and/or density of the Qi), they¡¯ll be able to breakthrough to this stage. Core Formation (½áµ¤ ji¨¥d¨¡n) ¨C sometimes left untranslated as ¡°Jiedan¡±. The stage after Foundation Establishment. It involves forming a Golden Core (½ðµ¤ j¨©nd¨¡n) by using the Dantian as a crucible and the Cultivation Base as raw material. Nascent Soul (ÔªÓ¤ yu¨¢ny¨©ng) ¨C sometimes left untranslated as ¡°Yuanying¡±. Literally translates as ¡°Origin Infant¡±. The stage after Core Formation (in some novels). The Nascent Soul resembles an infant or miniature person and resides in the Dantian, typically sitting in a meditative position. In some novels, the Nascent Soul can travel outside the body and is like a second life for cultivators ¨C if their main body dies, their consciousness can continue to exist in the Nascent Soul. Immortal Ascension (³ÉÏÉ ch¨¦ngxi¨¡n) ¨C also known as Apotheosis. The stage wherein the cultivator becomes a Daoist Immortal. There are many differences between novels, but usually the cultivation/maturation of the Golden Core or Nascent Soul plays a key role in ascending to Immortality. Alchemy Terms Alchemy (µ¤µÀ d¨¡nd¨¤o) (Íⵤ w¨¤id¨¡n) ¨C the refining of plants, minerals, and other substances into medicinal pills & elixirs. In these novels, Alchemists (µ¤Ê¦) are essentially pharmacists who work with magical materials and make miracle drugs. Cauldrons & Pill Furnaces (¶¦ d¨«ng) (µ¤Â¯ d¨¡nl¨²) ¨C the tools alchemists use to produce medicinal pills & elixirs. Medicinal Pills & Elixirs (µ¤Ò© d¨¡ny¨¤o) ¨C miracle drugs which can have all sorts of effects. Often taken to boost cultivation, heal wounds, cure poisons, purify or strengthen the body, and much much more. Medicinal Plants / Herbs (Ò©²Ý y¨¤oc¨£o) ¨C a generic term for any kind of plant which can be used by alchemists to make poisons or medicinal pills & elixirs. Older medicinal plants (100-year, 1000-year, etc¡­) are generally considered to be more potent. Spiritual Plants / Herbs (Áé²Ý l¨ªngc¨£o) ¨C also called Spirit Grass. A magic plant which has absorbed spiritual energy from the natural world and is highly sought after by both cultivators and alchemists alike. Usually either eaten to absorb the spiritual energy it contains or refined into spirit medicines. Qi Deviation (×ß»ðÈëħ z¨¯uhu¨¯ r¨´m¨®) ¨C also known as Qigong Deviation. Literally translates as ¡°to catch fire and be entered [possessed] by devils¡±. A state wherein the cultivation base becomes dangerously unstable, causing internal damage to the body and symptoms of psychosis. People who succumb to their Internal Demons, who practice cultivation/martial arts incorrectly, or who rashly use forbidden arts are all at risk of falling into this state. Bottleneck (Æ¿¾± p¨ªngj¨«ng) ¨C the term for when cultivators figuratively hit a wall in their training and it suddenly becomes incredibly difficult to proceed. When they reach a bottleneck, cultivators may require new Insights, the aid of medicinal pills, or even harsher training in order to make a Breakthrough (Í»ÆÆ t¨±p¨°) and successfully bypass the bottleneck. Impurities (ÔÓÖÊ z¨¢zh¨¬) ¨C usually described as a smelly, black substance which is secreted from a cultivator¡¯s skin when they reach new cultivation stages or consume special medicinal pills. The result of the body purifying itself and expelling the waste. Martial Arts (Î书 w¨³g¨­ng) ¨C fighting styles & techniques. Also includes physical exercises, methods of mental discipline, and more. Chinese martial arts are commonly referred to as Kung Fu (¹¦·ò) or Wushu (ÎäÊõ). Internal Energy (ÄÚÁ¦ n¨¨il¨¬) (ƒÈ¾¢ n¨¨ij¨¬n) ¨C also called Inner Energy, Internal Strength, Internal Power, or Internal Force. The cultivated energy within a martial artist¡¯s body. Utilizing it, a martial artist can accomplish superhuman feats of speed, agility, strength, endurance, etc¡­ It can even be used to heal wounds and nullify poisons. Lightness Skill (ÇṦ q¨©ngg¨­ng) ¨C often left untranslated as ¡°Qinggong¡±. The ability to lighten the body and move with great agility & swiftness. At high proficiency, practitioners of this skill can run across water, leap to the top of trees, or even glide through the air. Striking the Meridians / Acupoints (µãÂö di¨£nm¨¤i) (µãѨ di¨£nxu¨¦) ¨C often left untranslated as ¡°Dianmai¡± and ¡°Dianxue¡±. Also known as ¡°Hitting / Sealing Pressure Points¡°. Fighting techniques which target the opponent¡¯s meridians and acupoints in order to kill, cripple, immobilize, or control the opponent. Chapter 1: Part 1 Chapter 1 Part 1 In the early 2000¡¯s Virtual Reality was a concept revered by avid gamers, geeks, pop culture enthusiast all over the world. The essential idea of video games was regarded as a way to delve into a completely different realm, and spend your time having fun. The gaming industry contributed largely into the economy, it was a great way to invest your money and buy stocks, at 2025, Chronexial Games Co. invested millions of money into science and research into a new technology called, ¡®FIVR¡¯ or Fully Immersive Virtual Reality, a concept sparked by many fictional stories, it wasn¡¯t only the story that intrigued viewers it was the concept of delving into such a game.This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it. Economist saw this as a way to make money, but the Communist Party of China saw this as a way to capitalize millions of yen, by having four of the biggest nations invested into the game industry as playable factions, not only was it a way to bring the world closer, the United Nations saw it¡¯s other purposes. Anyway, this is where I come in, ahem, I should probably introduce myself. I am Pei Rong Sun, I¡¯m hail from Australia I¡¯m a 3rd generation Malaysian immigrant. Why do I organize my thinking like this? Maybe because I have severe social anxiety, my psychologist advised me to think like this, strangely it actually helps. Anyway, I¡¯m currently holding the Chrono/LiFE bundle, including the ¡®FIVR¡¯ hardware. Chapter 1: Part 2 Chapter 1 ¡¶GREED/GAME¡· Part 2 I had entered the game, I was greeted by the sight of the bustling crowd of players, the area I was in was commonly referred to as the hub, a place where players can interact and actively trade with other players. A cute girl, had approached me, she looked at me with stern eyes, but with a happy expression. ¡°Hello, I¡¯m Kyra, one of the moderators around here, it¡¯s my job to take you and all the other players on the tutorial, so I shall make myself clear on the rules ¨C there aren¡¯t any.¡± As I looked around I realized each player was seeing the same image projected. ¡°Don¡¯t act surprised, this game was disguised as your average fantasy game wasn¡¯t it, well no it isn¡¯t, it¡¯s a survival game, the last man standing wins a prize, a prize so big that it would make everyone here feint ¨C I won¡¯t reveal it. Now, hurting players is illegal, until the contingency orders are given, when that happens beware, anything goes. So you must prepare, also ¨C each and every one of you has been taken under the custody of my ruler, so if you die in the game, my shooters will kill you ¨C so take this seriously¡­¡± The silent hum of the bewildered crowd of players was now taken by loud shouting and absolute crazy behavior. God damn it, now what the hell am I supposed to do, all those fictional stories, I should¡¯ve known, some crazy bastard would use the whole ¡®stuck in a game¡¯ trope in real life.Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon. Keep Calm. Keep Calm. Keep Calm. I need to get out of here, find a village to camp, no I need to recruit guildmates, what should I do? Yes, I know what I need to do, that is to camp up somewhere, establish a base and watch this cool over, yes¡­ yes, and that is exactly what I need to do. So I won¡¯t die, because I don¡¯t want to die, dying scares me. I quickly run past the players, and into the open grasslands. I open my game bar, and look at my map: ¡¾Nearest Town: 10 miles to the west ¡¿ I guess I¡¯ll buy some materials, I quickly approach an NPC blacksmith. ¡°Give me some basic supplies, any health potion, weapon, and food. Nothing fancy¡­¡± ¡°Coming right up sir, let¡¯s see, you have 500 credits, how about this, ¡®Blade of Retribution¡¯, one of the last remnants of the imperial knights the ATK Lvl is about -10, pretty good seemingly because most Lvl 1¡¯s are ¡®bout 200% health, it¡¯s about 100 credits, a low quality Elixir, restores 30% health, and some raw Runic Pig Leg restores hunger to 100%. All in all that¡¯s about 300 credits, you have 200 credits to buy some supplies along the way, oh here, take this guide on how to level up your weapons and your level.¡± I quickly headed out of town, while running I quickly scanned through the guide, the systems fairly simple, each time you kill a high-level monster or player you get XP, you designate this XP to your level or your weapon, the higher your level, is basically your health and speed star, to earn credits you need to complete quests from guilds or from killing players. __ I had finally headed near the outskirts of the town, I spotted a wild pig humanoid beast. ¡¼Spotted Wild Gostorian Beastmen ¡½ As I approached its great claws struck upon me, its sharp claws pierced my skin, I felt every bit of the pain, blood, and sweat-stained my eyes, I quickly charged to it, and struck my sword into its torso, my sword sliced through it. Chapter 2: The Army of Peasants Written by Enkai_64 Edited by Grammarly Looking for an editor, we can exchange editing services Illustrations: The Republic of Sixthar Chapter 2 The Army of Peasants Pei stood gazing at the Gostorian Beast-men below him, it was a mess of flesh, blood and gore. Among the other various edible things in the game, the only sufficient ¡®food¡¯ was the ill-smelling Gostorian Beast-men hide. Pei simply had no choice but to bite down into the raw meat, his hunger bar was rapidly decreasing. He quickly put the thing into his mouth, and slowly chewed it, the taste was sickening but Pei was desperate. As he kept on chewing the food, he heard a petrified scream, he looked behind it was a noobie player being chased by gargantuan Gostorian Beast-men, ¡°Holy shit, help me!!¡± The Gostorian Beastmen was about to strike down onto the player, who couldn¡¯t move because he that scared, but a sudden blur of motion, which was the now heroic Pei, struck his blade into the stomach of the beast and pulled up and down. The health bar of the Beastmen lowered till it was dead. Suddenly there was a sudden jolt of pain, Pei felt his own hot blood pour out of his body, and drop down to the floor. The agony was too much the bear, Pei felt himself losing his consciousness. Shit¡­This bastard¡­ ¡°Hehe, No hard feelings buddy ¨C he pressed the blade further into Pei ¨C but I could really use that armour¡­¡± And just like that, our Protagonist had died and un-meaningful life. __ Pei felt the softness of the grass below him, and the gentle winds stroke his face. He was awakened to the sight of the pristine landscapes and the endless expanse of swaying grasses and natures. Slowly the traumatic experiences came back, the agonising pain, his hot blood pouring down his back. Tears rolled down his young pale face. He quickly wiped them off. Thud, heave, pant! He heard the sound of at least twenty men but was only greeted by one gargantuan man. He was wearing a worn out leather tunic, pants and a much worn out cape, nothing else, blood poured down his clothes. His face was handsome and human, but there was a sense of coldness and inhuman-NESS, to add to this strange stigma was his freakishly white hair and eyes. There was a strange insignia, tattooed on his forehead. Pei was reluctant to approach the man but finally, he forced himself. He went behind him and touched his shoulder. The man as quickly as lighting, took Pei¡¯s hand and threw him onto the hard surface of the ground, and held him in some strange joint lock. ¡°Hey, stop, I just need some help¡­¡± The man looked at the desperate Pei, and¡­ saw himself. This angered him greatly, was it the fact that his previous self-was weak compared to his current self, or was it the fact that it reminded him of the life he had left. ¡°Whaddya want a boy!!¡± Pei was startled, to say the least. ¡°Where am I?¡± The man started to recount where he thought he was, he was nothing but hungry traveller looking for a new life. ¡°I¡¯m unsure too, anyway, you better start moving the Beastmen start to lurk in the night¡­ Well, see you.¡± Beastmen, so it wasn¡¯t a dream after all Pei thought. This was Pei¡¯s only grasp at hope, his only choice was to beg, and he clung on to the clothing of the man. ¡°Please don¡¯t leave me here all alone.¡± ¡°Piss off brat!¡± ¡°Come on I¡¯ll do anything!¡± The man sighed, this guy reminded of his old stupid self, the memories made him cringe of embarrassment. But¡­ the guy looked awfully lost and looked like he had experienced the trauma of death, just from the look of his eye the man could tell. I guess this could be the exception he thought to himself. ¡°All right, don¡¯t blame me if anything unexpected happens¡­¡± ¡°Anyway what¡¯s your name¡­? I¡¯m Pei¡± The man looked surprised. ¡°I¡¯m, uh, Scabbard. Yes, uh, Scabbard the 4th¡­¡± ¡°Scabbards your name?¡± ¡°Why yes.¡± Pei broke into laughter, what a ridiculous name. The two walked together before the pair finally arrived at the gate of a grand city. At this moment the man had put a hood on top of him. It looked as if he was trying to hide his face¡­ Pei was finding this guy more and more stranger. After the gate was a massive expanse of wall. Protecting the kingdom from invaders. As they entered the gate, the knights searched them both. ¡°All right sirs be on your way. The Great Republic of Sixth awaits you.¡± ¡¾Pei perspective ¡¿ I heard Scabbard, mumble something under his breath. ¡°Phh¡­ Great Republic¡­¡± He clenched his fist in anger. As the massive gates of the wall let the refugees in we were greeted by the beautiful kingdom of Sixthar, and the bustling crowds of citizens, merchants, knights and other people. But as I entered in I heard two of the knights say something to each other. ¡°It couldn¡¯t be¡­ Is it really him¡­¡± ¡°Oh, crap¡­¡± As we were walking, the stare became ominous ¨C and they creeped me out a lot as if I was a petite teenager being stared at a bunch of old guys. Suddenly Scabbard pushed me away, and a hundred arrows rained upon us. We were in close proximity to a nearby table, which now was being used as a shield against the thundering arrows. Scabbard, grabbed my palm and jumped on top of a roof while holding my weight. We sprinted among the many roofs hoping to get away, we were going at such a high speed that the winds literally could not keep up.The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. But the arrows were faster. One by one they struck down scabbard''s thighs and legs. The blood poured right out of the gaping wounds. As Scabbard tried as hard as he could to get as far away as possible he collapsed onto from one of the taller buildings into a dark and stinky slum far below, when we hit the ground there was a hard ''crunch!'' . It was impossible to push ourselves upwards, it was as if we had no control over our body, and the sharp pain in our bodies was too much to bear. Scabbard mumbled something under his breath, and suddenly a dark mystical white magic sprung out of his fist. The mystical energy transferred into our bodies, and soon I felt that I was getting healed. Healing Magic. Despite this predicament, the idea of magic excites me, actually excites me is not the right word to describe this feeling. Yes, the idea of magic springs the old 12-year-old fanboy back into life. But the big question is.... Who the hell is this scabbard guys, those knights weren''t being scared sh*tless for no reason, he must be some war god or something to attract the majority of the kingdoms military power to come attack us? This is definitely not what I should be thinking about in this situation. Slowly Scabbord moves his monster of body upwards, ¡°I knew I shouldn''t have come here, I guess the legacy of the rebellion lives on. Damn, this is some star wars type of stuff right here, if I didn''t know any better my eyes are probably glowing right now. As I move up, I''m greeted by even more pain. AHHHH IT HURTS!!! Okay, now that I am back to reality, which is that I am stuck with public enemy number god-damn one, and I am practically half dead. I AM SCREWED, I''M GOING TO DIE a ****** !!! ¡°What on earth is occurring here. No let me rephrase that ¨C WHAT THE *** *** *** *** IS **** GOING ON HERE [Other un- decipherable gibberish].¡± ¡°Deep breaths, deep breaths...¡± I mumble to myself. Look on the bright side, there god-damn magic here, and I could possibly become some master Warlock or something ¨C actually I''m going to end up dead most likely... WHYYYYY!!! Okay, this has turned from ¡°¡±¡±Decent¡±¡±¡± literature to some poorly written rrl trash real quickly, be composed Pei, be composed.... Alright, I''m composed, I collect my thoughts. ¡°All right Sir Scabbord, I deeply reconcile for the previous outbreak that was let out by simply the great sorrow, misery and agonising pain I am going through. I beg of you from the bottom of my heart to forgive my atrocious actions.¡± I bow in a very posh way, indeed, also I spoke in a very posh and sophisticated way. Scabbard looks at me as if was though abnormal being, but of coarse, there is no way in all the heavens If I was such. ¡°Alright? Um, your apology is accepted, now get over here, we''re going to have hidden here for a while. __ At least a millennium had passed before my eye, staying here was awfully boring. ¡°Um excuse me Scarrbord, sorry to bother you but how long have we been standing next to this old slum dwellers hut.¡± ¡°About five minutes...¡± Five minutes, I''m going to break down. F.I.V.E M.I.N.U.T.E.S That 60 multiplied by five broken down into the ratio of a minute, that is converted into 5 min. An incredibly foul odour dispersed across the dark alley we were in. A loud secretion of gas and human excretion was squeezed out. Goddamn it. Heavy footsteps approached the pitch black area, and distinct and familiar ''cling'' of a regiment of knights resounded across the alley. ¡°Where the hell is this guy...¡± ¡°Why did the goddamn king himself order his elite regiments to capture one militant?¡± ¡°Quite ye''r mouths'' ye''r bunch o'' weenies we''ll have to be in full power since the'' fellow is a Code Z enemy...¡± The Knights continued speaking but alas, stilled down into compleat silence, the only the that could be heard was the armour and the sound of the gutter water flowing. ¡°Psst... Pei, I''ll take out these fellows you work out an escape route.¡± In moments, the screams of agony filled the alley. ¡°He''s there!¡± ¡°AHHHHHH!!!!!!!¡± ¡°Hold your ground yer'' bunch of weainies'' we''ll catch this ol'' bunch o'' gaperwappers''''¡± The crowd of knights stood there shuddering in fear holding there swords waiting for the enemy to strike down upon them. ¡¾Knight perspective ¡¿ There was sweat stung my eye, and the blood of Latereal''s blood spurted across me, my own brother''s blood across my face, his body was stuck to the floor, his own blade nailed him to the floor. Still trembling I held my grasped my hilt with shuddering hands, my wiped my face with my gauntlet, covered in the dark red liquid of my brethren. My hair stood up, a ghastly shadow passed his eyes. My heart pressed against my ribcage. I could feel the eyes of animosity glaring upon thy. I walked towards the what I think was the enemy, grasping my hilt strongly. Where is he... Fingers closed around my ankles. ¡°ahhhhhhhh!!!¡± ¡¾Back to Pei¡¿ It was a horrifying act of cruelty, the sounds of the desperate screams of young knights, and they''re flesh being pierced through. I found a tunnel that was a shortcut to the outskirts of the city, where there was a dense population of 1000 workers or so. Of course, this was due to the help that was gifted by the kindest of the slum dwellers. I took Scabbords through the various tunnels ways, we huffed and panted our way to the tunnel. It took a few days or so, but we steadily arrived at the city, just as we stepped outside, hands wrapped around our eyes. And then he collapsed. __ My hands were stuck to the back of the chair by the tightest of ropes, I and Scabbard were in what seemed like torture room. The doors blasted open, revealing a lady dressed in Warlock clothing which was a basically a robe, but with a piece of armour made of a rare black stone. It was delicately en carved with advanced and indecipherable patterns and such. But the scariest thing was her helmet, it was like the mix of some sort of dark stone carved to look like some ancient alien warlord. There was the insignia of the Republic of Sixthars badged onto her face. ¡°Ah you two are the ones bringing upon the rebellion, aha, I can not let that happen, you see our great kingdom seized the wars to bring them upon our republic''s control, if you destroy this harmonious society, you will have to suffer the consequences.¡± ¡°Phh... Shut your mouth you ****¡± ¡°That behaviour is simply unacceptable... for that outburst and your actions you''ll have to pay greatly~!¡± She revealed a strange sharp dagger that was double sided, she pressed a switch and it circled around. I trembled from fear at the sheer sharpness of the dagger. As she moved in on us, my heart raced. As she struck me, I closed my eyes. Readying myself for the pain.But the pain did not come, only laughter. ¡°haha, you should''ve seen your faces!!¡± It was the same woman, except without her mask on. What''s so funny about this. I looked at Scabbord he was also amused. ¡°Just checking your bravery soldier, welcome to the Sastrana Rebellion, acting against the prejudice that the republic desperately tries to cover...¡± Chapter 3: The Last Cultivator 2,000 words Written by Enkai_65 Illustrations: Colin, Half Demon . Chapter 3 The Last Cultivator It turns out that when I died in the game, I was reborn into a similar world it seemed. But I have yet to even access the game system or even configure my abilities or anything. I woke up to the annoying and repetitive grumbling noises of one of the sleeping cadets in the bunker, I placed here into this sector away from scabbard ¨C this area is the lower sect disciples. Somehow that woman whose name was General Zexiuyu, had enrolled me into the cadet program of the rebellion. I have yet to even touch upon the politics or even the route cause of the point of a rebellion. The door blasted open and one of the many generals stepped right in. ¡°Al¡¯right newbies, the sun¡¯s up, that means your up, so get up. Meet at the central foyers, be there at in 10 minutes ¨C starting now.¡± And suddenly the disciples bustled into motion everyone scurrying around getting ready. I got ready quite quickly, seeing the rush busted me up to motion. After that I followed the people to the central foyers. We were lined up in almost perfect groups, a powerful looking mage stood with various knights behind him. They were all in very worn out armor made from scrapped metal and such. ¡°Good morning Disciples, I am the sect master of for you cadets. Now if you didn¡¯t know, you were all conscripted because your families have had enough of the poverty and suffering they have been secluded to. It is because of the caste system that requires us to have to work as hard as we can for the wealthy, while we die in these slums ¨C and the crime rate and the poverty has increased to such a point that we need to unite ourselves and stand against the perpetrators, the Republic. How can we do this? By preparing in secret and launching a quick siege against the kingdom. So, to prepare our forces we must train them. And that¡¯s were you disciples come in, your job is to train in your specific skill, if you have any of the magical aptitudes you are designated to the Warlock sect, if you meet the requirements of a blade master you may enter the blade-master sect, there are many other sects focusing on different skillsets that are useful for war ¨C if you don¡¯t meet any of these prerequisite¡¯s, you may have to become a support member or a laborer.¡± As the old mage kept on talking on, one of the cadets next to me nudged me a little. ¡°What¡¯s your name?¡± The world suddenly stopped in motion. ¡¸Loading¡­¡¹ This piece of text hovered in front of my face, ah I see, the game system introduces it¡¯s self now of all times. ¡¸Configure settings¡­¡¹ ¡¸What is your name: (Would you like a randomly generated name?) ¡¹ Okay how about a randomly generated name. ¡¸According to the data retrieved from your previous name, Zhou, would be a suitable name¡¹ Zhou? Sounds kind of nice to me. It¡¯s a Chinese name, but wouldn¡¯t a western style name be more fitting, because after all there probably isn¡¯t any other race with similar names. But anyway, this should be all right. ¡¸Status Screen¡¹ Overall level: 1 ¡¾Attributes¡¿ Name: Zhou Age: 11 Title: Peasant, Homeless Race: Human (barely) Charm: -5 Caste: Peasant ¡¾Attack Class¡¿The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement. Class: None (Note: Not yet decided) Attack Level: -3 Defense: 10 Aptitude: None ¡¾Items¡¿ Torn low quality uniform x 1 Knife (-1 damage) x 1 So those are my stats. They aren¡¯t too bad, wouldn¡¯t you say? Okay they¡¯re horrible, but I¡¯ve only been here for roughly two days. The world went back into motion, hey wouldn¡¯t this be a great tool. Being able to pause the world, but as I went back into the world, the neural connections between my brain and body buffered for a bit. ¡°My name is Zhao, I¡¯m fairly new here.¡± The guy in front of me was also a scruffy looking 10-year-old, wearing the same ripped uniform as I. He had blonde hair and determined expression face on his face. ¡°That¡¯s a strange name, I¡¯m Colin, but my nickname¡¯s the Silver Shiv, pretty cool huh? Y¡¯know my dad was the ¡®Silent Eye¡¯, Y¡¯know the guy who single handedly infiltrated a republic base, all by himself! He even defeated one of the Republic Mage¡¯s who was infamous for killing heaps of rebels!¡± This kid sounds like he has chuuni, but the funny thing is, that it¡¯s probably true. It sounds like the Rebellion has its fair share of extremely powerful legends. Even though there all of the ¡®Peasant caste¡¯, I assume. ¡°So where is the Silent Eye, and why was he named that?¡± I seemed to have triggered something, telling from Colin¡¯s eyes. ¡°He was name the silent eye¡­because even in the face of death, his eyes remained Silent¡­¡± That made no sense, what¡¯s so ever. How could his eyes remain silent if they couldn¡¯t even make any noise¡­? It¡¯s most likely meant in a philosophical way? ¡°He was murdered in front of me, along with my mother¡­¡± _______ Colin recounted the events of his parent¡¯s death, it had occurred when he was around 5 years of age. It was in the west side of the slums. He could recount the delicious smell of his mother¡¯s stew, and her gentle singing. His father was busy fixing the roof, Colin was with him. Handing him the tools and inspecting his father¡¯s books. All he could remember about those books was the diagrams of the various veins and arteries in the bodies, his father had said if you could hit some of those key areas you could kill a man in seconds. His father was great man, he had always spent time with him and his mother, but at times he was busy ¡®working¡¯. After they had finished fixing the house, his father taught him some martial art maneuvers. It was some basic blocks and parry¡¯s. After that they headed back inside and enjoyed his mothers divine cooking, he had no other word to even describe the taste. There was a knock on the door, his mother rushed to the door and opened it. His mothers body flew across the room and hit the wall so hard that it nearly crumbled. Blood flushed through her face, her arms and back were wounded so badly that not only were the flesh open, the bones were visible too. Colin¡¯s father¡¯s spoon dropped out of his hands, his eyes were petrified for the first time. Not even when he was on the verge of dying were his eyes not stern. Colin¡¯s father¡¯s eyes gleamed red, it was from his demon blood. His fear turning to anger. The entire door and the front wall crumbled from his anger. Outside was in-human figure, he was wearing a cloak but only half his face was visible, it was his smile that was so off putting. Colin or no one had seen his father so angry, or his demonic eyes in action. It was a sudden blur of motion, and his father fought with the man. They were so fast that you could not even see, what was happening. Colin¡¯s father¡¯s strike was so powerful that entire buildings crumbled from the exertion. The other man blocked each blow but started to take a lot of them. Still his smile had not perished. After the persistence combos, Colins father came to halt. And held the other man by the neck and dropped him. The Silent Eye walked back to the house, facing his back to the thought dead opponent. The cloaked man stabbed himself repeatedly drowning himself in pleasure. And as quick as lightening stabbed Silent Eye. The Silent Eye dropped to the floor. Him stabbing himself must''ve amplified his power. Colin screamed. He cuddled next to his dead mother. ¡°Mother¡­¡± A few days later the Rebellion had found him. [Flash Back Over] __ I gazed at Colin, who was in deep thought, his fist were clenched so hard I thought they would break. ¡°I vow to kill the guy who did that¡­ I swear I will not die until I make that guy suffer¡­¡± Anger gleamed from his eyes. It was finally our turn to pick a class. Firstly, I approached the magic disciples, they were sitting near a long wooden table. They gave me 5 stones which were all different elements. ¡°Touch them¡­¡± said one of the higher-class disciples. I did as they said. Nothing special happened. ¡°As expected you don¡¯t have the ability to harness magic...¡± Expected? You mean they knew I would fail? ¡°How did you know that I would fail¡­¡± ¡°You don¡¯t have the Ailko particle inside your body, it is what allows you to harness magic, it usually only comes from noble families, some of the peasant caste, may be able to harness magic, usually if a peasant caste can harness magic their either horrible or really good. Anyway, onto the next one.¡± I moved along to the other disciples, one of which was the blade masters. A bulky dark-skinned man with a beard handed me and another fellow a blade. ¡°Go to the center and fight each other, there¡¯s something promising about these fellows.¡± I¡¯m going to be in a sword fight? I really scared of blades or sharp things in general. I have little experience in martial arts, mainly southern Chinese martial art and the of system muay boran. None of which deal with sharp weapons. We square up in the center and draw out our blades. This guy seems relaxed and experienced, I can¡¯t imagine what I look like. I hold the hilt of the heavy blade, my hands shudder with anxiety. He charges towards me, his long blade nearing my chest. I move to the side, barely dodging it, one of the great foot work techniques my teacher taught me was putting the next to the opponents lead and moving 90 degrees around the opponent. So now I have a great dominant angle, I should stab him, but I don¡¯t. My body ditches the sword and I launch my fist into his groin, grab his body, and throw him to the ground. As he hit¡¯s the ground his swords fly¡¯s away. The crowd roars and cheers for me. Finally, I feel good about myself for once in my life. But one thing caught me, was a man in robes in the crowd that looked at me. I don¡¯t know why he caught my eyes, but he moved off. The swords man looks disappointed at me. ¡°Ah, I¡¯m sorry son¡­ You fail.¡± ¡°What¡­ Why?¡± ¡°What type of idiot ditches his sword for some basic martial art maneuvers, a blade master never ditches his sword, in battle you would surely perish. Now move on!¡± You have got to be kidding me? __ I had tried everything, cleaning, cooking or whatever. All of which I was rejected. How hard is it for me to get a job, it¡¯s getting pretty late in the afternoon? I might as well get some sleep. As I¡¯m walking down the base, the same mysterious robed man stops me. He wore some ancient style of clothing. He took down his robed and revealed his face which had handsome features, he had long hair. He smiled than attacked me. His punches were fast as light and felt like stones being mashed upon my face. His kicks were like blades stabbing. I tried blocking those, and desperately punched him. He used a powerful technique; his fist was gleaming with energy and it flew at tremendous speed towards my face. Oddly the world slowed down, and I easily dodged his technique and kicked his face. He grabbed my kick, and I could not move, he held me in a strange joint lock. He used his body and made fly onto the ground. He laughed quietly and gave me his hand. ¡°Sorry to startle you, I¡¯m Guang, the last cultivator¡­¡± Chapter 4: The Town of Martial Archives Written by Enkai_64 Roughly Edited by Enkai_64 2,000 words long Illustration: Kyra Chapter 4 The Martial Forest Guang or gong or whatever his name had pulled me up, despite him attacking me, he had a friendly smile ¨C and it being genuine bothered me the most. ¡°Sorry about that, I just wanted to test your ability, so far you¡¯re very good. Anyway, wat style did you practice before, those blocks, were out of this world?¡± ¡°You could say that¡­anyway, why were you testing me out!¡± ¡°So, you could be my disciple of course!¡± ¡°Phh¡­ Are you kidding me¡­ How many disciples do you have, and what sect are you from, and what is cultivation!?¡± Guang laughed nervously at all my various questions. ¡°If you¡¯re interested in cultivation you¡¯ll have to become my disciple.¡± I don¡¯t have anywhere else to work anyway, and this cultivation things sounds kind of interesting. I¡¯m pretty sure cultivation is like cultivating weed or flowers, right? And to add to peculiarity of the situation, is that this guy has a Chinese name. ¡°That¡¯s a deal, I guess my last hope.¡± __ We were nearing the area, where the ¡®monarch¡¯ is established. I was in an area where their dense population of tree¡¯s, and these mysterious Magical Beast roamed freely. I looked from high above a mountain. Onto something out of this world. There were a few houses here and there, filled with monks. (The Town of Martial Archives) As I walked into the town, a board with the characters imprinted ¡¾¾üʵµ°¸¡¿. Now what the hell do those mean? ¡°This town is home to the Shandong Monastery, and the Martial Archive. The sign is telling us that this is where the Martial Archive is located.¡± ¡°Okay, that was creepy, how did you know what I was thinking?¡± Guang simply replied by laughing. As we entered the lit room, we were greeted by a group of people. Two of which was two muscular Indian guys one of which was clean shaven with a man bun facing upwards, the other had a beard. Both wore orange robes and were eating some rice. The other were two other old Chinese guys, both having been clean shaven and having long grey hair. They were surrounding a bulb displaying a video of the me. It was me throwing the other guy with the sword, and the blade master getting angry. ¡°HAHA, here comes that idiot!¡± ¡°He threw the other idiot!¡± Okay, what the hell is so funny about me throwing the other guy? Maybe it was stupid to grapple a guy with a sword, but it worked. ¡°Okay, what¡¯s so funny about throwing that guy!¡± They all fell into silence, and then broke into laughter. Guang bowed to the four bastards. ¡°Masters, this is the disciple I bring upon you.¡± ¡°This guy¡­ I like him...! And he¡¯s very funny.¡± Said the clean-shaven master.Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings. __ Okay, I¡¯m not sure if this world got a whole stranger or cooler. The two masters with a south Asian appearance said they were from a fallen kingdom, they¡¯re names Bodhi and the other Simasita, Bodhi was the bearded one. The two Chinese masters were called Tian Qiu and Yin Choi. These people were of the Brahmin caste. This had a strong resemblance to the actual history of Buddhism and Chinese martial arts. Guang said that my first activity as his disciple was to go through the essence of cultivation or Daoism. He handed me a scroll. ¡°ÍâÔÚµÄÎäÊõ - ÎäÏÀ·ç¸ñµÄÌصãÊÇ¿ìËٺͱ¬Õ¨ÐԵĶ¯×÷¡£ ËûÃÇרעÓÚÅàÑøÌåÁ¦ºÍÃô½Ý¡£ÄÚ²¿ÎäÊõ£© - ÎäÊõ·ç¸ñµÄÌصãÊÇÁ÷³©µÄ¶¯×÷¡£ ËûÃÇ×¢ÖØÅàÑø˼Ï룬¾«ÉñºÍÆø¡­.¡± There were more of these strange characters in the manual. ¡°Ah, of coarse you would be bewildered by these texts¡­ Of course, ¡­ I shall transmit the information.¡± Transmit the information? He sat in the lotus position and silently meditated. The information buzzed in my head. He was able to transmit information directly to my head? Cultivation is the practice of harnessing the world energy known as ¡®qi¡¯ into the dantian or the elixir field. The first stage to gather this qi is the qi condensing layer, in which you will gather the qi and let it enter your bodies meridians, the meridians are for the circulation of qi. You can manipulate the qi in your body for health regeneration, amplifying a techniques power and for various other uses. One of the most basic cultivation method is the basic breathing technique, by breathing in a specific way you can gather more qi. As I awoke from thought, Guang sent me to the meditation chambers to practice the breathing techniques. The chamber was in the mountains, built into the massive stone. It was completely dark, and there was a single torch in the in the corner of the chamber. There was a similar blonde haired green eyes scruffy looking kid meditating in the corner. It was Colin, wasn¡¯t his dad extremely powerful? So why would he be in this sect? As he saw me his eyes lit open bright red but almost instantly cooled down to his usual green eyes. He faced went from his relaxed face into his usual scrawny and excited expression. ¡°Hey Zhao, what¡¯re you doing here!?¡± ¡°Quiet. The sect masters will hear us, anyway to answer your question I had nowhere else to go. The real question is you not being able to get into any of the other training sects?¡± ¡°Ah, yeah, it¡¯s kind of a disappointments, I actually had an even better magic capability than all of the disciples and even the head warlock, but¡­ None of them knew how to train me after all my ability was dark magic, specifically demon magic, but no one knows how to manipulate that, after all only devils and demons can teach that. But luckily Guang said he could train me, in gathering dark and normal qi! I guess we¡¯re at the same layer, Qi condensation stage. It¡¯s awfully boring though, I¡¯ve had to Meditate for a long time, and according to my status bar I have another 10 minutes before I can accumulate enough Qi.¡± (Dark Qi is the type of qi devils and demons and dark type magical beast cultivate) ¡°You can access the status bar?¡± ¡°Yes everyone can, didn¡¯t you know? You can even inspect other peoples how about I inspect yours?!¡± ¡°Sounds like a good idea.¡± ¡¸Status Screen¡¹ Overall level: 2 ¡¾Attributes¡¿ Name: Zhou Age: 11 Title: Cultivator, Qi condensation stage, Sastrana Rebellion Race: Human (barely) Charm: 1 Caste: Peasant ¡¾Attack Class¡¿ Class: Cultivator Attack Level: -5 (Increases when battles are won) Defense: 10 Aptitude: None ¡¾Cultivation¡¿ Qi gathered: 2% Layer: Qi condensing ¡¾Items¡¿ Torn low quality uniform x 1 Knife (-1 damage) x 1 Basic Cultivation Manual x 1 Level 2 huh? And my attack damage has increased by 2, so If you fight and win battles you attack stats increase. And I had a cultivation stat as well. ¡°Hey Colin, why and how do we have a status screen?¡± ¡°Um¡­ I believe pill makers create them and instill them into our bodies, so we may organize ourselves more, but if you enter the rebellion, the pill instilled in your body is ¡®edited¡¯ basically replacing some of the key modules and making the status screen different, now we can see our attack and defense stats and some other stuff, anyway we should practice our breathing techniques.¡± I sat in the lotus position near Colin and breathed deeply. __ ¡°Hey Zhao! You might want to come down back here!¡± I opened my eyes, I couldn¡¯t believe what was happening. I am floating above the chambers floor in the lotus position, I felt the qi in my body circulating in my vein, the qi felt like I was touching the material existence of power. It was electrifying, my body slowly dispersed to the ground. As I hit the floor, Guang stood there nodding his head. ¡°What you did there was pure stupidity, instead of doing the breathing technique, you spent the entire night, using a breathing technique that you made up allowing you to use qi to float. But at least I should congratulate you on being able to harness qi like that, it seems you broke through the first layer into the Earthly Yuan Stage¡¯s first layer.¡± ¡°I broke into the second stage in the matter of a night?¡± ¡°Yes, Colin also broke into the second stage (Earthly Yuan stage) except he is in the second layer, but you developed an entirely new breathing technique, but let¡¯s move on, today we¡¯re going to be training our martial skills. Come to the training hall at once, it¡¯s near the martial archive by the way.¡± Guang ran outside and used his staff which opened two parts of a special type of fabric and glided hastily down to the central village. ¡°Zhao! last one to the Training hall is a stinky loser!¡± And like that were running down the mountain to the training hall. Of coarse Colin was incredibly fast and sped down to the training hall. There was a tanned white-haired girl who wore similar clothing to that of the blade masters waiting with Guang. ¡°Hello, this Kyra a blade-master from the fallen kingdom from where Dharma and Simasita are from. She is also cultivator, unlike you guys, she has the aptitude to use blade arts, anyway she¡¯ll be training with us, oh, she¡¯s also at a higher layer than you she¡¯s at the 3rd stage of the Earth Yuan Stage.¡± She looks at us shyly and forces herself to talk. ¡°Uh¡­ Hello I¡¯m Kyra¡­ nice to meet you.¡± She bowed down to us. We started our training. Some exercise that loosened the joints. Guang showed us some basic forms and punches, and we repeated them. As he shouted the numbers, we repeated the forms. We continued this for a while. After that we had the infamous sparring session. ¡°Okay everybody, we¡¯re going to spar, I want Zhao to spar with Kyra, remember what I taught you, tap into the circulation of qi and concentrate it into a strike. And don¡¯t hold back, because we have Tian who is a pill master and an acupuncture master.¡± I bowed to Kyra and acclaimed my stance. I tapped into my meridians and tapped into the qi. I followed through with my first punch, directly to her nose, she blocked the punch and moved to my side and kicked me in the head, but before it could touch I ducked. But she must¡¯ve knew I would¡¯ve done that, she concentrated her qi into the knee strike aiming towards my head. It pierced my jaw, I felt an Incredible pain. But I was too started to notice the incoming strikes, and again I was greeted with even more pain. And suddenly I blacked out. I was felt the soft comfort of the matters beneath me, and a worried Kyra looking at me. I woke up and looked around, I saw Tian holding some herbs mixed into a potion. ¡°No, silly boy, do not get up take this medicine!¡± He handed me the elixir, I quickly gulped the entire thing. ¡¾Your health has been restored¡¿ It was incredibly disgusting, I wonder what that thing was. Colin and Guang entered in. ¡°We weren¡¯t worried about you at all, anyway Zhao you¡¯re going to have to get ready I have a scouting mission with you guys. On the north side, there have been repeated perpetrators attacking the slums. It¡¯s your job to take out those guys.¡± Well I guess I should get ready.