Lin watched the adults walk away, baffled.
'That's it? Just like that?' Lin thought, not understanding why they just walked away from a raging fire and deep fissure like it was nothing. He practically commited arson and they just shrugged it off.
He decided not to focus on it and he went out to his mother's car as it was well past 4:30, which was when school ended.
He got into the vehicle silently and his mother started bombarding him with questions.
"Why was there smoke? Are you okay? Are you hurt? Was there a fire? Was it put out?" Wen asked with a worried look on her face.
"There was a fire, but it was put out. And yes, I'm ok and unharmed." Lin replied calmly, trying to ease his mother's worries.
"What happened? Why was there a fire?"
"Well…"
Wen raised her eyebrows at Lin's hesitance.
"Erm, I practiced a sword technique and it lit the ground on fire, but don't worry no one was harmed even in the slightest and it was put out quickly before it could spread."
His mother nodded her head. She wondered what kind of sword technique could cause a fire but she decided not to ask any further.
They drove home in silence until Lin spoke up.
"Mom, I wanna help with the chores. I can wash the dishes or I can help you cook. I'll do any regular chore you ask of me as long as it helps." Lin said with a warm smile.
"Really? Ok, you can start by doing the dishes after dinner. Don't do the ones after breakfast though because I don't usually do them until after I drop you off. We won't have any time." His mother agreed with gratitude. She secretly wondered when Lin changed. Instead of his usual distant and ignorant attitude, he seemed kinder and more engaged. He smiled more in two months than he ever had in a year. It was truly baffling for Wen.
'Maybe the cultivation is helping with his emotions. I've heard of that effect before so it's very possible.' She concluded.
They soon reached home and Lin went to his room. He did his homework for 2 hours and then walked back out for dinner. During dinner Wen mentioned the fire and how Lin had caused it with a sword technique.
"God, that's so cool Lin!" Rong exclaimed. "How'd you do it?"
Their father, Hao Qiang, laughed. "Almost setting a school on fire is cool, but my sword arts are mid?"
"Well, your sword arts don't even look that great, but Lin caused a fire with a sword technique so the skill must be really strong!" Rong snapped back.
They went back and forth in a humorous battle of why Qiang's sword art was 'mid'. Lin was relieved the question was evaded. He knew his family would have no ill thoughts if they knew of his ability, but it would be too tiring to explain everything. There's also the possibility that it will be on the news or become a popular video on social media so Lin didn't think it was necessary to describe the event.
Lin washed the dishes after dinner and then proceeded to get ready for bed. At 9:04 pm he was in bed fast asleep. He activated his ability and was sent to a beach. Behind him was an abandoned city and in front of him was a vast ocean.
He decided to stay on the shore for the meantime and fight the monsters there. 3 large crabs scurried across the sand, heading towards him.
'Three on one, huh? Good, I can learn to fight multiple enemies at once.' Lin stayed alert as the crabs approached him, ready to sense any attacks that came from his blind spots. Once the crabs were close enough he charged at the one nearest to him. The crab snapped its pincers at him but he dodged them effortlessly. His fighting experience from the tiger along with his enlightenment helped him understand defense aspects much more. He stabbed his sword into the space between the crab's eyes where it was softest. The crab dropped limply, turning into pixels and leaving behind a red orb. Lin swiftly ran his hand through it as he jumped away from another crab's large pincer.
He proceeded to swing his sword at the joints of the crab's legs, sharp cracking sounds ringing out. The crab fell down and he stabbed it between the eyes shortly after, simultaneously dodging the other crab's chelas.
Lin twisted his body and sliced the crab's eyes before sticking his sword into its glabella like he did with the other crabs.
He picked up their red orbs and started venturing the beach. He killed human sized bloodworms and many more crabs before becoming a bit bored. He decided to head into the abandoned city to explore.
He walked into the city, feeling a little nervous. He's not fearless and has always hated horror or jumpscares, although it'd be very hard for something to jumpscare him with his ability to sense presences.
A bird creature that looked like a pheonix suddenly descended to the ground in front of him.
"A human? What's a human doing here?" The pheonix said aloud, its head cocking to the side.
"Hello…" Lin said awkwardly, feeling no danger from this pheonix. The bird looked to have no ill intentions so he tried talking to it.
"Huh? Did you just understand what I said?" The pheonix said with a bit of surprise.
"Um, yeah?"
"Interesting… tell me, how are you here?"
"What do you mean?"
"Well, this is a place no mortal should be able to enter. Only the person with a special ability should be able to access this realm."
"Do you mean the 'Dream Cultivating' skill?"
"Oh so you're the one with the ability now! That means that young man has already died. What a pity." The pheonix shook its head. "Well, lemme explain since you seem confused. The environments you've entered are all part of one realm that the creator of the 'Dream Cultivating' skill created. He was a panzela with abilities that could rival the major gods, giving him enough authority to create a whole seperate realm for himself. The skill can only have one owner at a time so you are the current owner of this skill. Oh, now you can choose where you go to in this realm by the way."
"Wait what? How can I choose where to go now?"
"Your skill is special. Whenever you confirm any knowledge about the ability, your usage of the skill will adapt accordingly. For example, now that you know and have confirmed the fact that all the places you've been to are part of a single realm, you now have the option to go to any place you've already entered. You can also choose to go to a random new area so you can discover more parts, but you cannot do anything you haven't confirmed. Additionally, theories are not enough to gain abilities, only knowledge you know is true will work."
Lin nodded, processing the information that was given.
"Can you tell me more information so I can do more please?"
"Sorry, us intelligent beings are only allowed to give one piece of information about your ability, along with the fact that knowledge unlocks more options."
"Oh, alright." Lin shrugged, assuming he could just find more intelligent beasts.
"The other intelligent beasts aren't as easy to find as me though. I came out on my own volition but the others might not be so accessible. You'll have to venture much deeper into the environment to even have a chance at finding them."
Lin felt dread at the prospect of going even deeper than he had when he found the white tiger. The strength of the monsters there would be unimaginable.
"You're about to wake up. Good luck, and come back here sometime since it's real boring just sitting here for all eternity."
"Thanks, and I'll come visit from time to time."
A few seconds later Lin opened his eyes. 'Collect'. The orbs laying around his room zapped out of existence, and Lin sat up, too lazy to absorb the orbs at the moment.
'I'll just absorb them during basic cultivation period.'
"Ohhhhh! Woah!" Rong's voice sounded through the walls of the house.
Lin walked out of his room to see what was going on and Rong sat on the living room couch, staring wide eyed at the TV.
"Dude, that's so cool! Who is that?" Rong asked, speaking into his phone.
"I dunno man but it's insane no matter how many times I watch it!" A voice exclaimed from the other end of the phone.
"Lin! Lin! Come check this out!" Rong called to Lin after seeing him standing in the hallway.
Lin walked over to the living room until the TV was in view. What he saw on the TV was the scene he'd caused yesterday on replay. You couldn't see his face but the video was clearly what happened yesterday.
The video started at the point right before Lin swung his sword, a rainbow light emitting from the sword as he raised it above his head and then swung it. Lin's jaw dropped.
'That's what it looked like to others? Holy, that looks more insane than I remember, probably because I was blinded by the light from my sword when I struck…' Lin thought in amazement and he finally understood why everyone was reacting so strongly before.
"Look that was at your school! It's amazing how two fires were started by two different people." Rong said, not even considering the fact that his own brother might've caused the scene. Who'd blame him, his brother always avoided the prospect of cultivating and the strike looked like it required a lot of power. Anyone would assume the kid had started cultivating at a young age. "And look, I learned that blue fire is the hottest type of fire and look at the raging blue flames. Completely insane!"
Lin suddenly felt the urge to reveal that the person was him. He had no need to hide his strength from his family and he wasn't going to be like those protagonists in the novels he read in the past who hid their strength for no reason except to avoid trouble. Lin saw trouble only as a way to develop his strength further. Additionally, in every book with the cliche 'the strong acting weak' the mc's powers would be revealed at some point, defeating the purpose of hiding their strength. Lin could also secure some type of protection for himself along the way.
He finally decided to tell his brother.
"What would you do if I told you the person in the video was me?" Lin asked Rong.
"I wouldn't believe you." His brother gave him a weird look.
"And if I could prove it to you?" Lin persisted.
"Then I'd bow down to you and call you 'young master' for a week. Hahaha." Rong's eyes crinkled as he laughed.
"Bai, can you materialize for me?" Lin said, seemingly talking to the air. He saw Bai in the video meaning that this could prove it's him.
"Sure." Bai said aloud and he formed his fox body atop Lin's head.
Rong's jaw dropped as his eyes went back and forth from the video to the white fox perched on his brother's head. The fox in the video was clearly the fox right in front of him as the quality of phone cameras 7,000 years into the future were as good as expensive photography cameras. Rong could clearly see the blue eyes of both foxes and the black tips of their tails and ears, it was definitely the same fox.
"No way! You ARE him! Holy that's crazy awesome!!!" Rong jumped off the couch and bounded towards Lin with newfound admiration for his elder brother.
Lin broke into a wide grin as he looked at his brother's amazed face. For the first time, Lin had confidence. He felt proud of his strength and not in a complacent type of way but instead a pleased with himself type of way.
He ruffled his brother's hair before walking away, purposefully ignoring his brother's claim to call him 'young master'. Why would he make his little brother do that? There was no need, in his opinion.
He could hear Rong's friend on the phone start yelling after.
"Wait! That was your brother?! No way bro."
"It's true! Lin's so cool!" Rong responded, feeling proud of his brother.
Lin shook his head, smiling as he went back to his room to get ready for school.