In a long and wide hallway with green walls and jade tiles, a woman dressed in light green garbs was currently walking while carefully holding a golden scroll with a jade-stone cylinder through it. 

The woman arrived before an ornate green door engraved with divine images of monstrous beasts fighting against figures clad in different auras and miraculous powers. Both sides fought with mighty and mystical powers and if one were to look carefully, they would discover countless planets and stars getting caught up in their fight and being ravaged by the onslaught of cosmic powers. 

Merely staring at these figures would cause an unprotected person’s mind to be overloaded from the aura emitted and concepts represented by their silhouettes. Her anxious eyes did not dare linger on the scene any longer as she nervously looked down. 

“Young Master, I bear a message from the Grand Elder here for you” she cautiously and respectfully called out, making sure that her voice was neither too quiet nor too loud. 

Some rustling and clattering of unknown objects could be heard before a young five year old boy with gleaming golden hair and a matching fiery set of eager eyes. The woman bowed at the sight of the boy brought here by the Grand Elder nearly a year ago. Despite his actual age being close to two years old he looked like he was five. She quickly offered him the scroll with both her hands while still bowing. The boy excitedly opened the scroll, not wanting to waste a single moment he skimmed the contents of the scroll until he found what he was looking for “Finally.” 

Chen Huang revealed a toothy grin. It had been around a year since that mysterious elder took Chen Huang as his disciple. In that time, whenever he asked him a question all that he would respond with was, “Not yet.” This was extremely infuriating for Chen Huang. On the bright side, the written and oral language here was the same as that of his previous world and he had been given access to the ground floor of the library. 

The library was a grand tower on the mountain with multiple floors, each one having more and more precious information. Because of this, despite only having access to the ground floor Chen Huang was able to gather a lot of information about this realm. 

Firstly, the realm he was currently in was titled the Grand Spirit realm and it was one of only 3 Origin grade realms. Whatever Origin grade realm meant was currently inaccessible to him. As for where in the realm he was located, he had yet to obtain that information. 

Secondly, as it could be guessed from the previous information, there were multiple realms. Although the exact number was not specified in the books that he read, it was estimated to be somewhere in the trillions and still growing. 

Thirdly and perhaps the most important, was the knowledge of cultivation, sects and clans. Sects were organizations that took people in as disciples to teach them how to cultivate in return for protecting and helping the sect. Clans were very similar to sects with the only real difference being that the majority of a clan wouldn’t be outsiders but rather members of one family. Now as for cultivation, the books on the ground floor had different views and explanations most likely caused by the local culture and influences of the author. In the end, all of it comes down to the definition of taking and absorbing the surrounding energy to break past the limits of humanity and mortals as a whole. Still, due to his limited access, he didn’t have nearly enough information. In fact, the overwhelming majority of Chen Huang’s key questions were related to cultivation however no matter how he pleaded, the elder would never concede. 

Thankfully, the time had finally come. In the jade scroll, his master asked him to come to Room 3 of the Yellow Wing. The Jade Palace that he was situated in had five wings namely: red, purple, blue, green and yellow. The red wing was where residents of the palace could fight and test their skills, the purple wing was the treasury, the current green wing held the living quarters of the palace inhabitants, the blue wing was where visiting guests would stay and chat and finally the yellow wing was the testing area for new inventions but also measuring people’s abilities and power. In each of those wings existed hundreds of rooms of varying sizes. It could be said that Chen Huang had spent quite a lot of time thoroughly exploring the palace with Jin Long.

Chen Huang quickly thanked the servant lady who brought him the message before ducking back into his room. The room provided to him was nicely furnished with many handcrafted decorations and pieces of furniture however he currently didn’t care about that. He swiftly went to his wardrobe and opened it to instantly find quite a few luxurious looking articles of fashionable clothing. 

Chen Huang chose a simple but elegant wide-sleeved green robe with the striking image of a fierce dragon sewn into it. He solely chose it because it was the piece of clothing that looked the most similar to his master’s own choice of clothing. “Come on Jin Long, master’s asked for us.” Just before Chen Huang was about to leave, he called out into the room. 

From the room, out came a two meter long and 60 cm tall golden dragon. This was the same golden dragon that had hatched from that egg a year ago. Chen Huang had named him ‘Jin Long’ during that time. ‘Even though it’s a bit on the nose with the definition, he seems to like his name’, he thought to himself. In only one year, Jin Long had grown tremendously from his initial size. Although Chen Huang had also grown so that he now reached 1.13 meters, if Jin Long were to stand on its two hind legs they would completely eclipse him. 

Jin Long didn’t wait for Chen Huang and immediately sprinted down the hallway, heading for the purple wing. “Oh no you don’t”, Chen Huang exposed a smile as golden light started to emit from his body before he turned into and disappeared with a flash. “Grrrrruuuuu”, Jin Long released a joyous squeak seeing its companion play along with it. For a year, it had practically exclusively been Chen Huang and Jin Long together all alone and during that time both of them had become quite bored so they would usually play games with each other. This of course included races against each other. “I think you're forgetting I’m currently winning, 68 to 54 in our races.” Chen Huang yelled down the turning hallway. 

He immediately amplified the amount of the golden aura he was using on his legs to increase his speed. Despite not having progressively developed his powers much further, what he had been able to work on was his mastery over his power which came in quite useful now that he needed to chase down Jin Long. Chen Huang had already discovered that Jin Long was also abnormally strong and fast, rivaling Chen Huang’s own abnormal body.

Two independent streaks of dazzling gold flashed throughout the private hallways of the Jade Palace until they ultimately reached a yellow door with a large golden 3 engraved onto its double doors. Both Chen Huang and Jin Long skidded to a halt in front of the door leaving slight indentations in the floor tiles before it quickly fixed itself, promptly returning to its pristine state. 

“Whew, you fought hard brother but it looks like you still have some training to do.” Chen Huang gently advised with a slight smirk. “Grrrrrrrrr”, Jin Long frowned, even though it’s hard to tell when he’s frowning, and glared fiercely at Chen Huang. “What do you mean you won?” Chen Huang had a look of evident confusion on his face, “I clearly won, I was ahead of you way before the end”, Chen Huang began arguing his side to Jin Long. 

Even though Jin Long was unable to properly speak the dialect, due to the biological difference in human and dragon bodies which Chen Huang had learned about from the book called ‘Anatomy of Mythical Beasts’, Chen Huang was always able to feel and understand Jin Long’s intentions and feelings. In the same way, Chen Huang could transmit his specific emotions and will and by including the use of his voice, the communication could be amplified. The only thing that bothered Chen Huang was that he still didn't know where this mysterious connection came from or why they had it. He hadn’t managed to find anything about it through the books from the ground floor either. 

“Enough, quit your squabbling” a distinct voice sounded from inside the room. At the sound of the voice, both of them instantly abandoned their argument. Chen Huang traditionally did a bow while cupping his fists. 

Through keenly watching how some of the servers interacted with each other, Chen Huang was able to get a crude idea of the etiquette required for when a disciple is meeting their master. “Disciple cordially greets master.” 

Noting the social actions of Chen Huang, Jin Long also attempted such a bow but due to his dragon body it looked quite awkward. “Come in here”, his master opened the doors as they respectfully entered. Inside the room was a simple metal platform on which the elder was sitting peacefully in a lotus position. Chen Huang’s eyes sparkled at the thought that he was finally going to cultivate.

 

 

“I’m not going to teach you how to cultivate right now.”

“What, then why did you call me here?!”

Chen Huang had been justly expecting to finally learn how to cultivate, only to have his master inform him once more that it was not yet time. Profound disappointment was written across his face.

“Grrrraaaaa”, even Jin Long was dissatisfied.

The elder raised an eyebrow at those responses. Realizing their actions were discourteous, they both quickly bowed once more and fixed their replies. “With all due respect, master, I have waited a year to learn how to cultivate and have respectfully asked master countless times yet master refuses to...”

“I said I wasn’t teaching you right now, not that I wouldn’t be teaching you today.”

The elder said with a weary sigh. Chen Huang’s eyes went wide in joyful surprise, “Forgive me, but could Master further elaborate.” The elder stared at Chen Huang, not allowing a single emotion to appear on his face. While this direct action scared Chen Huang it also irritated him just a bit, ‘Why does master repeatedly take so long to answer a question, and what’s with the sighs?!” Needless to say, Chen Huang would never dare voice out these opinions of his. 

“At this time, I’ll be testing your spiritual roots and special physique.” His master’s voice promptly broke Chen Huang out of his daze. Before he could even inquire him; his master, having correctly anticipated his disciple’s questions, continued to speak. 

“A spiritual root is an essential trait in every cultivator, without it one cannot naturally absorb the spiritual energy which surrounds us”, the elder began to explain. “Similar to its name, a spiritual root is a root-like figure within a person’s body which can absorb, refine and redistribute the spiritual energy that is in close proximity to the body. Although to many lower realms the chances of one having a spiritual root is based purely on luck, higher grade realms like our Grand Spirit realm and even those realms one or, sometimes, two grades down know that while this isn’t completely false it also isn’t true. The chance of someone having a spiritual root as well as the strength of the spiritual root in question relies on the amount and grade of spiritual energy that said person has come into contact with in their previous lives. This is also one of the major reasons for why realms with higher and purer amounts of spiritual energy will usually have a greater quantity of powerful cultivators.” 

Chen Huang blanked out for a second at that piece of information. He had memories of a past life and knew for certain that there was no spiritual energy in that world or if there was then it was most likely in a very small quantity. Chen Huang didn’t have time to ponder on it any further though as the elder continued with his monologue. 

“Spiritual roots are graded from weakest to strongest: Human, Earth, Sky and Heaven with each grade having an additional nine subgrades” Chen Huang was completely enraptured by the detailed explanation of his master which at long last answered many of his questions. 

“Now as for special physiques, those are unique and unusual conditions that some cultivators have. A special physique is not necessary for a cultivator, however, if a cultivator with a special physique practices the right manuals and proper techniques then they will usually progress much faster than their peers with similar and can even match those with a spiritual root superior to them as long as the gap is not too immense. There are 5000 known special physiques and, for their specific users, they can be considered both blessings as well as terrible curses given by the universe.” Chen Huang’s noble brows furrowed in apparent confusion at the direct contradiction. The elder caught this action and decided to give an example so that his disciple could better understand. 

“For instance, let’s speculate that a girl had the Silver Ice physique which is ranked #362 out of all the physiques. Because of this physique, she would have great talent in ice and metal based techniques with her even being able to fuse the two elements at a higher cultivation base. Nevertheless, due to her having this physique, she would also be naturally more vulnerable to techniques and powers which counteract ice and metal and without a strong cultivation base to control her power, she would constantly feel like her body was freezing cold and her limbs would be rigid as if she was a statue. Do you understand now” Chen Huang nodded his head to show his master that he understood his thoughts. 

“Good, do you have any further questions?”. 

Chen Huang once again nodded to convey his answer. 

“Then give voice to your thoughts” uttered the elder. Chen Huang bowed once more before properly speaking.

“Would master be willing to enlighten this disciple on the precise meaning of ‘spiritual energy’?”

“Spiritual energy refers to the energy around us that is the main resource for a cultivator to advance. Spiritual energies are the building blocks for all living and nonliving entities and it is due to this that a cultivator can utilize their spiritual root to break past the limits of mortality. Different realms call it different things such as: Qi, psionic power, mana, etc.”

“How do you identify a spiritual root and a special physique?”

“There are specialised array formations and items that render the spiritual root and special physique as an animal, a sound, an object and many others; it depends on the culture and technology of that realm. Once rendered, the spiritual root can be graded and accurately identified according to the measuring system of that specific location. For a special physique, the process is more elementary as every physique expresses their own unique intent. Hence, it doesn’t matter what form the special physique takes since their intent will maintain their distinctive form thereby making it much simpler to identify a special physique.”

“What are 'array formations’?”

“Array formations are, in short, complex spells that require the placement of specific items in certain positions and are powered by spiritual energy. They have many uses and can achieve results beyond what any sole cultivator could produce with his own supply of energy.”

“Thank you master, I only have one final question” Remembering to convey proper respect and realising he was informal towards the end of the questions, Chen Huang bobbed his head in sincere gratitude towards his master for sparing time to answer his questions. If there was one key thing that Chen Huang had found crucially important in his limited time here, it would be to always be conscious of your status and treat those higher than you with the utmost respect.

“Earlier, master stated that one could not cultivate without spiritual roots so my question is why did master admit me as a disciple before testing my spiritual roots?” Chen Huang wanted to disperse some of his possible doubts about the situation, after all perhaps his master already knew he had a powerful spiritual root and that was why he was willing to take him in as his disciple.

His master snorted at that query, surprising Chen Huang, “You are binded to a powerful golden dragon and have a Heavenly Physique, even if you had a seventh level Human grade spiritual root those facts alone made you worth making my disciple. Not to mention that I doubt that a Heavenly Physique user would have such a poor spiritual root”

“Heavenly Physique” Chen Huang voiced out at the unfamiliar term. He had already learned from the ‘Anatomy of Mythical Beasts’ that dragons were powerful and rare and that golden dragons are considered the strongest species of dragons, above even the exalted Demonic Black Horned Dragons and Pure Heavenly White Dragons. He also knew although dragons may be much more common in this realm compared to others, even it wouldn’t hold that many golden dragons.

“The top ten special physiques are dubbed the ‘Heavenly Physiques’ and any physique that can block my Jade Eyes of Cosmic Perception is most definitely among the top ten.” The elder eyed Chen Huang, “You didn’t think that you had a normal physique did you”

Chen Huang recalled all the extraordinary things that he had been able to do with his body. At the time he simply thought it might be normal in this world, how was he supposed to know that it was the complete opposite. However, even if he genuinely had a special physique, he wouldn’t be qualified to cultivate without a spiritual root and his master’s response did not greatly reassure him. Worry was naturally starting to cloud his conscious mind. Thankfully, his master interjected into his internal debate.

“Do you have any more questions?”

Chen Huang gently shook his head. “Very well, then come up here” his master announced while gesturing for Chen Huang to come up onto the elevated platform. Chen Huang slowly walked forward but when he saw that Jin Long was faithfully following him, he voluntarily stopped in his tracks to pet him. “Stay here Jin Long; I’ll be back soon.”

“Ggggrrrrrrr”

“I’ll be super quick, alright.”

“Gggggrrrra”

“See, that wasn’t so hard”, Chen Huang pat Jin Long’s scaly but surprisingly smooth and warm head once more before walking humbly to the platform under Jin Long’s wistful gaze and master’s eye rolling.

“You two won’t even be 20 paces away” the elder reeled them back to reality. “Hehe”, Chen Huang laughed nervously at his master’s blunt remark. It just couldn’t be helped, the two of them had been together the entire time that they were in this world. So that combined with their strange bond caused them to become extremely close.

Chen Huang was standing in front of his master when his master looked at him. Chen Huang was once again momentarily stunned at the extraordinary power and wisdom contained within his eyes. He still couldn’t, even after beholding them so many times, help but marvel at how imposing and majestic they were.

“Now then, shall we begin the test” the elder declared in a tone that, to Chen Huang, seemed to contain a possible hint of excitement whilst Chen Huang himself attempted to calm his nerves.