4 Sleep talking

"How much longer are you gonna sleep you cheeky little brat!?", A loud question woke Ryan up from his deep sleep. He opened his eyes to see what was going on around him, and slowly stood up. He was in a lush green forest, surrounded by nothing but light golden brown space. In front of him stood a white cylindrical building, around 700 metre tall, with a golden ring at every 100 metre of height, as if dividing it into seven sections. In one look, Ryan understood what it was; The spirit pagoda he asked for. He realised that he was in his mental realm. The next moment he was startled by a familiar voice from behind him,"Magnificent, isn't she?". It was the same god that had sent him, no, kicked him out, here.

"Hey old man, long time no see!" Ryan smiled. "Huh? Dude, you were sent here less than 12 hours ago" God said with a confused face, and then continued after waving his hand dismissively, "Anyway, my job here is done" and started walking away. "Whoa whoa! Hold you horses man, your job here is not "done", you still gotta explain what is what and how this pagoda works. It looks like it has seven layers, plus, I have only read about this thing before, I have no practical experience! and-", Ryan towards the god's back and try to grab his shoulder, but his hand just passed right through it. God turned back with an annoyed expression as he cut Ryan off, "Can't you just do that yourself?". Ryan held up his index finger, and gestured to let him finish, "-there is still the matter of my body and spirit cultivation techniques. You promised me that you will give me the strongest ones you have, although you didn't guarantee about my spirits. And what's up with this old body of mine?" Ryan said the last sentence while looking at his own body, which was the same as when he was on Earth; Fat and short. "You said you will make me handsome!", He exclaimed. "Alright, alright, stop whining like a baby! I'll explain", said God after a sigh. "First of all, you are in this form in your mental realm because this was your last mature form. I don't wanna talk about serious stuff to little baby and as the current you doesn't have a non-infant form, your appearance is like this. So, stop complaining about that and grow up (literally as well). Nest, about the pagoda, listen up I will only say this once. It is divided into seven parts, as you can see. They are:

1. 1st level- Spirit beasts from 0yrs to 999yrs old, split into two forests, with 0-499 yrs in the first forest and 500-999 yrs old in the second one. Level boss: 1000 yrs old.

2. 2nd level- 1000 to 9999 yrs, split into two, 1000-4999yrs and 5000-9999 yrs in second. Boss: 10000 yrs old.

3. 3rd level- 10000 to 49999 yrs, split into two, 10000-24999 yrs in first and 25000-49999 in second. Boss: 50000 yrs old.

4. 4th level- 50000-99999 yrs, Boss:100000 yrs old.

5. 5th level- 100000-499999 yrs, Boss: 500000 yrs old.

6. 6th level- 500000-999999 yrs, Boss: 1000000 yrs old (non-regenerable).

7. Apex level- 1000000<= yrs old, total of 20 beasts, out of which, two are bosses, both older than 1000000 yrs. Beasts in this level cannot regenerate once defeated.

"Yeah. Only 20. Even though I am a god, even my spirit energy cannot continuously regenerate million year old spirit beasts. Plus, even if it could, I am too lazy. Same goes for the levels. I felt like it was much easier to create separate forests than levels. And this will be good for you, as you can gain combat experience by fighting many kinds of beasts. Remember, they (apex level beasts) will only stop regenerating if you defeat and absorb them. Otherwise, they can heal even if their limbs are cut off. I didn't create any specific million year old beasts according to your spirits, mainly cause I don't exactly know what spirits you will awaken. However, all the things I have created for you are based on the two strongest spirits I know. And based on my initial help and your lineage, there is a good chance my intuitions are right, although there may be a few surprises along the way", God gave a playful smile as he finished talking. Ryan, who was listening, nodded absently, as if registering what he just heard. But, at the next second, shock filled his face as yelled at him in high pitch, "You crappy old god, what do you mean you "don't exactly know"? Then what did you do to me to give me strong spirits?", then he cleared his throat reduced his volume by an octave as he continued with a more serious face, "and what do you mean by my lineage?". God gave a smile and said, " Let's just say I unlocked your potential. And as for your lineage, you gotta figure it out yourself, big boy".

"Oh yeah, there are a few more things I gotta tell you. You obviously know you won't really die in real life even if you die in the spirit pagoda. However, your mental self will 3 days to recuperate after a death. So, you can't enter the pagoda during that time. You can only use the pagoda 6 hours a day. Also, you can use the pagoda and spirit cultivation technique only after your spirit awakens. Hence, the building is locked for now. And the cultivation technique is inside it. You will get it once you enter it. As for your body cultivation technique, It will appear in your mental realm on the day you master walking, because your body is still that of an infant's and you shouldn't overdo it. You can also choose one weapon training manual, as a welcome gift from me because I am a good guy. It will appear along with your body cultivation manual. So, which weapon will you choose?", as god said this, he held out his right hand and four weapons appeared in front of Ryan, floating in the air; A scythe, a sword, a ruler, and a bow. 'My father is called the Silver Bow Douluo. And god said something about my lineage affecting my spirits. If it is indeed true, this manual may become useful', Ryan thought, and said "I choose the bow". God chuckled, as if already he knew the boy would choose it and it was the right choice. "All righty then", as the god snapped his fingers, the bow turned into a small, albeit thick book, like a diary, and disappeared.

God continued, "Besides opening after your spirit awakening, your access will be restricted to certain levels of the pagoda as long as you are not of the required rank. So, you can only access the first two levels till you are rank 40. After that, one level opens up every 10 ranks. So, you can only access the apex level once you are Titled Douluo. Then, you can also use the rings of the million year old spirit beasts to assimilate your existing spirit rings. But, it will be painful, mind you. So you should be careful. Once all the apex level beasts are gone, the pagoda will collapse and cease to exist, although your mental realm will still be there. And here, the spirit energy is more concentrated than outside, due to the pagoda and my powers. So cultivating here will also be beneficial for you." Saying all this, god looked at his left wrist, as if checking time, and said, " All right, I have cleared all your doubts and spent a lot of time here. If I dont get going now, that annoying Asura is not gonna leave my ass alone for a long time. I am sure we will meet in here once again, if all goes according to my intuition. Until then.....". God turned his back on Ryan and slowly floated away into the space, but stopped once again and turned his head back with a smile on his face, as he said, "Good job on securing that bet bro, even I couldn't talk Sen Ming into marrying me. Looks like sending you into her bathroom to check if you have balls worked. Damn it, should have done that my self a long time ago. Anyway, good luck man. But, don't be too reckless. See ya!". "Alright, alright, now get out of here you perverted old man", Ryan said with his eyebrows twiching, 'this pervert purposefully sent me to Sen Ming's bathroom!'. But, his anger was soon gone as the god disappeared. Ryan, feeling as he has been in the mental realm for too long, closed his eyes and willed himself to wake up.

Ryan woke up as Xiao Yan, and looked around, only to see that he was no longer in the huge, ostentatious room in spirit hall, but a much smaller, normal room in a wooden house. He let out a sigh of relief, as he was really grateful that he was no longer in the spirit hall. He couldn't see his parents around at that time, although he could see their dresses hanging on hooks on the wall. So, he guessed they went to take a bath, together. 'Seriously, who leaves their infant child alone in a new house to go have some "alone time"?'Ryan thought angrily, but then remembered that he was a virgin and had no right to judge. So he let go of the matter. However, thinking of bath reminded him of his bet and thus, all the other things he had to do, now that he was part of the story. He also felt guilty for being annoyed at Bibi Dong. As his parents said, she had gone through much too, and she wasn't the one who ordered to kill Ah Yin. He felt he had to set things right. He also remembered the space god's words and understood that he needed to learn about his ancestry quickly. The only way to do that is by learning how to communicate (speak) as fast as possible. All these thoughts rushed into his mind as he desperately tried to move his chubby limbs and head, saying to himself, 'I have got a bet to win, and a world to save'.