Battle Against Heaven's Will

Chapter 6: A breakthrough! An end!

What is cultivation? Zorai had pondered over that question many times. It was a mystical thing that allowed even the scum of earth to become gods among men, but other than that, literally speaking, what is it?

Zorai, while going through many short stories and poems in a book about cultivation, had a revelation. It is a process to transcend rules, to not be shackles by dead, sickness and fear, a process to live forever and be what mortals dream of, godhood.

In the lower realms where Zorai resided, only stages from Mortal Tempering to Nascent Soul existed, and from the details of the various stages his mother used to talk to him and he reads from the family small public library, Zorai found a similarity. The way people talked about the energy moving through meridians was similar to an ocean being connected to rivers and passing through the land. Cultivation techniques basically paved the path for the water to flow through.

But Zorai couldn't really do this—he didn't have a technique, and foolishly trying would be detrimental to him. However, he realized that humans had the natural ability to obtain this flow.

Firstly, cultivation techniques didn't really do anything other than the top tier ones making absorbing Qi faster and purifying it, while the cheap public ones absorb Qi at a slow pace and without purifying it. To Zorai, it didn't seem that important—even though it was.

Anyway, cultivation techniques simply affected the qi itself, not the body or the path it took. Zorai realized the body would only do this natural circuit if the qi in the dantian was filled to the point of bursting, and even then, it had only a small chance of acting.

The second way it could happen related to the body's natural defensive mechanism, but this was even harder. The human body, in the face of something like death or despair, seemed to unleash the maximum potential it could. There were always stories of mothers lifting large carts to save their children and such, but even then, the possibility of having a natural cycle form was very slim.

To be fair, many practitioners had already realized this, but just to get a better flow of qi—who would sacrifice the power of qi that had been tempered in the element of flame from some technique or the likes?

Currently, Zorai formed his own natural circuit, but something dreadful happened. The qi from the pill, originally dormant, was now like a rampant bull charging into his dantian and being absorbed. Furthermore, it didn't stop there. The drops of qi in Zorai's dantian acted the same way as the impure qi gas.

Perhaps it was the danger level, or perhaps it was the quantity of the qi—or both—but Zorai's Portal Meridian, which was the basis for obtaining Mortal Tempering, split the rampant energy, sending it in eight directions.

Zorai realized the rampant, now-filtered qi liquid was trying to forcefully make him advance. At the same time, the impure excrements of the qi—which would normally be subdued by the qi in the dantian, ensuring no waste—were left alone.

Zorai not only had to deal with the harmful impurities in his dantian, the multiple successive advancements, but also the Humming Bunny still attacking. Zorai didn't realize his good fortune—opening all nine meridians at once was highly beneficial to cultivators, as it made future advancements very stable.

The Bunny noticed Zorai's face shifting—from grimacing to neutral and then back to grimacing. It saw this moment of hesitation as the perfect opportunity to strike and immediately lunged at Zorai again. Zorai, already half-expecting the attack, quickly rolled to the left, barely dodging in time. But he had made a mistake. He had forgotten that the Hummy Bunny, despite being low level, had incredibly fast natural reflexes. Smashing its small paws against the root of a tree behind it, the Bunny launched itself straight at Zorai. Its feet were only a foot away from smashing into his face.

Caught off guard, Zorai instinctively raised an arm to shield himself. At that exact moment, the Bunny's powerful kick struck him, sending him skidding backward across the ground. Using the force of the impact, the Bunny flipped in the air and landed a few paces away, already back in a defensive stance.

*No! This is not good! If this beast keeps attacking I wouldn't be able to concentrate and not let this qi in me run rampant!* Zorai thought with look of worry across his face.

The reason Zorai was worried that the multiple successions in a row would be bad was because he had read that the foundation would be weak if one's cultivation skyrocketed without consolidating his levels, and therefore his future would limited. Zorai was not wrong to think this way, but he didn't know that the connection of the dantian to the Portal Meridian and the other eight core meridians could also occur during such moments.

So truly, it was not detrimental—but beneficial. Furthermore, for some reason, Zorai's killing urge was getting stronger with each circles of Qi in his meridians to his dantian, with a low grunt, eight successive clicks could be heard in Zorai's body. He was now no longer a mortal—he was a cultivator.

The bunny seemed startled but then became more firm in front of Zorai's increasing power. Zorai looked into the once-prideful bunny's eyes and saw no emotions as if it was now a puppet. Zorai understood—as a weak being, to be able to use even 0.1% qi related to death so wantonly meant a huge price had to be paid. Its soul.

The bunny seemed to only be able to use basic attacks now, which made Zorai feel even more confident.

Suddenly dropping low, the Bunny kicked off the ground, scattering dust and sending leaves fluttering from the sky as it shot toward Zorai. Despite the surge of energy coursing through his body, Zorai was momentarily startled. He instinctively thrust his stone arrow forward, aiming to pierce the Bunny. But even with the speed behind his attack, the Bunny nimbly dodged by swerving to his right and leaping toward Zorai's rib, its sharp claws aiming to tear into him.

As if sensing the incoming danger, a chill ran down Zorai's spine. He roared inwardly and, summoning every bit of strength and skill he had, twisted his waist and swung his fist—stone arrow still clenched tightly—toward the Bunny.

His strike landed.

The Bunny, caught midair with no time to dodge, was slammed backward by the force. But halfway through the fall, it flipped and landed cleanly on the ground with a low growl.

Zorai's eyes narrowed.

Its green fur remained untouched, and even the spot where the stone arrow had struck showed no visible damage.

Zorai realized the arrows were useless and threw them down. Not only were they unable to pierce through the green fur—from Zorai's estimations, the tips had already deformed. How could stone, no matter how much power was behind it, not become blunt when coming into contact with the tough hide of a demonic beast?

Zorai used his fists instead. His cells seemed to have evolved, and he believed these were the best weapons he could use.

Zorai made large strides, his long black hair flying around as he sped forward. Although the speed was alien to Zorai, for some reason, he felt that it wasn't enough for him.

The bunny was slightly slower. Zorai used the boxing style he had seen the small militia from Green Doe Village using when he would walk around town. It was rough and not very smooth, but the very basics, as well as qi, were implemented.

A right hook, followed by moving closer to the enemy and releasing a left uppercut. The bunny, while mid-air, was shot very far away. The red in its eyes seemed to fade—it was obviously dying.

The bunny, truthfully, would have had a better chance if its mind was still stable. But in front of strength, a crazed, mindless bunny was bound to die.

Many more exchanges happened, and although the bunny was mindless, it didn't make it incapable of fighting back. The demonic instincts it possessed allowed it to strike back quite a few times, but the qi in Zorai would just turn a little before becoming still.

After a hundred exchanges, Zorai's fists were bloody and skinless. Although his fists had become more advanced, he had yet to consolidate the change, so they were still very weak.

The bunny was coughing blood with each rough breath. Its previously beautiful fur looked even more stunning, colored in crimson blood. Slowly, it slouched down, let out a last squeak, and died.

Zorai let out a queer chuckle and felt he was about to lose consciousness. A half-conscious Zorai grabbed the bunny, wobbled over to the Xin dog house, and collapsed.