The ax was cleaving down with such speed and power that, in a split second, it would reach Xuehua. Yet, that second seemed to last far more – minutes… hours, even. Yueshi eyes grew wide as the world seemed to slow down, something inside him becoming restless and desperate.

The girl, however, seemed unconcerned with her fate. Instead, her wavering eyes looked toward him, screaming at him 'run away, now' as if only that mattered.

Staring at her worry-filled eyes, Yueshi found in him a thought that disgusted him to his very core. 'What I am thinking during such a critical moment?' He condemned himself as jealousy toward her true brother sprouted from the depths of his heart.

However, while he tried to raise and run toward her, his thoughts continued to run amok. 'If you knew I am not him, would you worry so much?' he could not believe that. 'Would you look at me with such eyes?' That was, also, unbelievable. Jumping forward he tried to forget all that, trying his hardest to reach her in time.

Just then a high-pitched whistling sound reached his ears.

From where he stood, Yueshi saw a sword split the air apart as a man advanced tens of meters in a single step. What followed was the crisp sound of iron clashing against iron, and a grunt as the mountain-like man was thrown back a few steps.

"Do you dare to kill in Flying Snow City?" Yueshi covered his ears as the deep shout made his ears bleed. Yes, this was a world where the strong ruled supreme, however, no leader wanted to see meaningless slaughters happening in their cities.

Although that was only true for the richest and most important districts of the city, it was enough. This place was the business district, so there were guards here are there to make sure customers would not end in a fight.

Yueshi, being new to this world, was not aware of that. Meanwhile, Xuehua had been afraid that they would not come in time, or would not bother with two poor siblings.

Going back to the man, he was clothed in black robes and a hood hid his face. Nonetheless, Yueshi could still see his eyes glowing in emerald green, like two ghostly fires.

Later, he'd learn he was one of the 'Shadow Guards', originally hired to protect the city leader. However, with the man being far stronger than they were, they were deployed to protect the peace of the citizens in the most developed districts.

"Those that cause trouble here shall die!" His voice was sharp and cold like a blade, so emotionless it made everyone around shiver in fear.

The big man trembled when his opponent's merciless eyes stared him down. His sharp and wild expression crumbled, becoming even uglier as fear spread across his face. Even the man with a mustache had a pale face, clearly afraid of the consequences.

Only Xuehua seemed to be unaffected. Instead, she sighed in relief and then approached her brother with fast and hurried steps. She was so calm and composed that it was hard to say she had almost been killed just a moment ago.

Her eyes even gazed at him with disapproval for not running away.

"You can take the girl back. I assure you those two will not follow." The hooded man declared to Yueshi while sheathing his sword.

Yueshi nodded and thanked the man, then, he felt an arm interlock with his own. Soon after, Xuehua dragged him away – which was easy since he did not put on any resistance.

As he was leaving, he heard a few words softly echo in his ears.

"Standing for the lady was the good and righteous decision", it was a bit less cold than before, but he was sure it belonged to the guard, "however, remember that only those that are powerful enough have the right to act as they want".

Yueshi frowned, yet, he was forced to admit the man was right. His actions had put them in danger because he did not have the power to back them up. If he had been strong, then the mustached man would not have tried to touch Xuehua, nor flirted with her.

'Whatever,' grumbling to himself, he looked toward Xuehua. Her brows were arched and her gaze unfocused… 'The only thing I regret is putting her in danger', had his actions condemned only himself, then he'd be more than willing to do it all again.

Just like that, his first 'date' in this world came to an end, and it was not in a good way.

It had, nonetheless, been a great experience, and coupled with the guard's words, it had left a mark on him.

Power… it was the sole and surest way to protect oneself and the ones he loved. Looking at Xuehua, he imagined what would have happened if he had not stepped in and the guard had not appeared.

In the best case? She would have been humiliated, touched by a dirty and filthy drunken bastard. In the worst case? She would have been killed there and god-only-knows what they would have made with her body. Both cases were not something he wished to see.

Feeling her frail and slender arms crossed with his own, he closed the distance between them, making their shoulders touch. "Next time… next time I will protect you and make them pay for their actions." He promised, staring forward.

Looking over at him, Xuehua sighed and shook her head. "I don't want you to protect me." Patting his head, she continued. "As long as you stay safe, then that is all that matters."

Despite putting him down like that, she had a thin smile on her face and he could swear that the words 'he grew so fast' were written all over her face. Yup, she was totally treating him like a child.

Unfortunately, he could do nothing about that as of now. Scratching his cheek, he decided to stay quiet and just enjoy their walk toward home.

—--

Like that, time flowed.

After getting home and eating dinner, Xuehua promptly went to sleep. She not only hard work the next morning, but also, despite trying to act strong, the experience from before had clearly shaken her.

Sitting in his bed with his legs crossed, Yueshi took a good glance at his sister, making sure she was sleeping. He had decided to start his cultivation today, the experience from before fueling, even more, his desire for power.

Only by becoming stronger would he be able to protect Xuehua and go back to his mother.

However, he felt it was better to not tell his sister, not for now, at least. She seemed to have an extremely negative perspective of cultivation and had frowned hard when he mentioned it during their chat earlier in the day.

Throwing those thoughts aside, he focused on what he knew. For one, ordinary people rarely tried to cultivate. It was not hard to start, however, without enough talent and proper cultivation manuals, chances were that years of effort would lead nowhere.

Meanwhile, rich people could soak their bodies in body tempering liquids, drink miraculous medicines and eat all sorts of pills - shortening considerably the necessary effort to progress through the first stage. On the other hand, the poor had to withstand the pain of refining their bodies through sheer will, something most people were not willing to face.

That was another motive for the previous Yueshi to never have cultivated.

None of that mattered now, though. The current Yueshi did not want to stay as a weakling forever and was willing to put in the effort and embrace the pain to become stronger.

Thinking about the events that had happened earlier in the day, the blood in his body started to boil in rage. Why did Xuehua have to be treated that way? What right did that man have to dispose of them?

'No, this is not the right mindset…' Breathing in deeply, he tried to clear his mind of any and all thoughts.

His anger came not only from the experiences he had today, but also from his past on Earth, and both were things he had no control over as of right now.

'Since I can't deal with them now, leave them for later,' and only when the time was right and when he became strong enough would his fury be unleashed – like the awakening of a dragon!

Controlling his breath and closing his eyes, he cleared his thoughts and entered into a trance-like state.

Every living entity relied on a certain type of energy to stay alive. In different cultures and places, it had different names, but the most commonly used was qi. It was a vital part of every existence – it flowed inside one's body, in the atmosphere, inside plants, birds, and beasts of all sorts.

The very first step in cultivation was becoming aware and being able to sense the qi in the world. The second step was to guide it through one's meridians and strengthen the body.

Consistently repeating the second step would eventually allow one to set foot on the first realm of cultivation – the Body Strengthening Stage.

He had learned earlier that this stage was divided into ten layers, and the disparity between the later layers and the earlier ones was like the one between the sky and the earth.

An example would be the two people from earlier. The shadow guard was at the fifth stage, while the black-skinned man was at the first – resulting in an unmeasurable difference in power.

Silence descended upon the room as Yueshi's breath became faint. The thoughts flew out of Yueshi's mind as he seemed to lose all his senses and feelings – it was as if he was becoming one with the world.

It was a strange feeling, to say the least. It was as if something inside of him was reaching for the outside world, crawling its way from the darkness that had taken over him.

As it continued to pulse and expand, there was a warm and cozy sensation that washed over his whole body.

At first, he could not exactly pinpoint where it came from. However, as Yueshi became accustomed to it and further concentrated, it was as if his world was illuminated.

One centimeter, then two, then three… ten centimeters, fifty centimeters, and then it finally stopped when it reached one meter in radius. In this tiny and small space, he could feel the endless vitality of the world.

It was hard to describe it. It was like a malleable substance that changed shape and moved every time he tried to completely grasp it – as if avoiding his perception and existence.

'This is qi', he concluded. It was immaterial and ethereal, one could not see it with one's eyes but could perceive with one's senses. Every time one actively sought after it, it would scurry away – like a mischievous child playing catch.

'Slowly… there is no need to rush things. Feel it, embrace it, and be in tune with it…'

He did not know if that was the right way, but while on his date he had inquired about it while Xuehua was occupied - and all descriptions were vague.

After trying for a while, Yueshi finally managed to find a way to attract the qi.

It was as if his body was a black hole - with every breath he took the qi flow in his direction in a spiral motion - like a vortex devouring water.

He could feel the small particles being brought toward him and sense that each particle held so much energy that it was hard to believe.

Yueshi did not understand the fundamental concept behind it, nor could he understand how his senses could perceive and how his body could gather the ethereal energy, so he ignored the questions that arose in his heart.

After all, he did not have time to waste in such trivial matters, for there was still much to do and accomplish.

Allchemic

The break [...] has been changed to '—--'... stole it from MelasD, writer of Salvos '3' Somehow, it feels... smoother.