64 Chapter 55

The two quickly managed to find a good 'hunting' spot for Wang. There were several different breeds and levels of normal 'Beasts' for him to test out his strengths on.The difference from his previous cultivation level and his current one were like Night and Day.

The Spiritual beast's he'd have been able to fight before, were more of a challenge then now. His Power level had dropped drastically. His mood was odd as he went from one battle to the next, testing not only his hit power, but his speed, agility and defensive abilities as well.

The outcome of his testing all pointed to one thing, he was extremely weak. Not only had he lost all of his 'skill' abilities he'd had in the game except for soul bound things, like his bonding with Ai. It was really as if he'd completely restarted his 'stats' and was playing with a 'newb' character.

The only saving grace was that the odd sensation of unreality was no longer there. This world felt as if it were truly real now. The Spiritual Energy was constantly humming against his skin as he found a clearing to begin practicing new skills he'd found from before with Ai, as the other was still going about gathering his basic resources for pill refining.

Following the same steps as before for several days, Wang found that his cultivation was slowly increasing, and it was moving at a rate faster than it would have logically. His body was used to holding a larger cultivation, so the emptied Spiritual Channels and Meridians, were aching to absorb as much Spiritual Energy as they could.

The other difference was that there was now a 'Spiritual Root' in which would condense this Spiritual Energy into different paths. Each path had a different property, such as defensive means, cultivation ability, or even simply his speed and dexterity.

Instead of working through a console to add 'skill points' into a slot, he now had to move spiritually to feel these channels to increase his strength. Once they were full, he could promote them to the next level. Starting this process over all again.

It was separated from his actual cultivation level, but the more he filled and upgraded these separate 'roots'. The stronger his cultivation got. His promotion to the next cultivation level later on would be easier to take so long as he kept these different properties balanced.

If one were to mark the differences in his body, Wang would only say that there was a network of different channels and Meridians all working together. His understanding of how a cultivation system worked before was missing a great many aspects. It was really clear how he had caused so many issues before with his 'programming' to make the incomplete format.

Ai was also adjusting to the new flow of energy. The missing pieces were sorted and his body felt the rush of warmth from head to toe. Though his body had been 'reborn' into this world. It still held blocked points that were unused due to the programming that his cultivation had caused.

Though he himself was unable to figure out why his cultivation had been so wrong before, the look Wang would give him caused a few shivers while his mind hinted at things long forgotten. Pushing these worries to the side. Ai just focused on feeling the different threads of Spiritual Energy coursing through his own Channels and Meridians.

The Spiritual Pearl in his Spiritual Sea hummed with acceptance as he allowed it to fill with the natural Energy around him. He would at times adjust his own state of mind while assisting Wang with attacking the Beasts before adjusting his own cultivation. His focus was less on attack power and more on support.

The attacking power of a Pill Master was different, and felt rather weak. Maybe his unique race was the difference in helping his own cultivation with his Spiritual pearl grow. Fundamentally, his race was not physically strong. Their attack abilities were linked to more Mental and quick attacks. His views were already aligned with how Pill Masters attacked, thus he found the flow faster than he should have.

When they were not testing their 'strengths' and fighting. Ai was off to the side, gathering the different herbs that would grow in patches along the forest ground. Though he'd gather a few of the 'rarer' herbs for later use. Ai's focus was on the more commonly found herbs, to help him start his path to pill making.

It wasn't until Ai felt he had enough Spiritual Energy stored up, as well as many herbs to practice with that he decided to hold himself up into a safe cave to begin practicing forming pills. Heading to Wang, Ai waited for the other to finish the stances of his own cultivation before handing over some water.

"I'm going to go practice the cultivation method for Pill Making...Okay?" he asked, though they were busy with their own things, Ai still had wanted to let the other know before hiding himself away in the cave they'd been staying in.

Wang nodded as he turned to look at the caves entrance. "I'll be here watching. Go off and learn." he said.

Ai nodded before happily heading into the cave to begin his practice. Wang himself just remained outside the cave, moving to sit off at the opening of the cave where he finally started to meditate, gathering in the wandering Spiritual Energy around him.

Inside the cave, Ai busied himself with setting up the cauldron, as well as setting the many different herbs he'd gotten to the side. He left the herbs he wouldn't be using safely stored away in his Space. He made sure that he had everything the scroll had told him to gather, before he cleared his minds of any unimportant issues before he began to go through the refining process that were given to him.