Chapter 82: The History of the World of Murim
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Nicholas, John, Aiyana, Yanisse, Francisco, Seth, and the rest of my family were present right now, surrounding me as I sat down over my throne of gold. My disciples sat cross-legged, looking up to me. I had given them special clothes this time; everyone was wearing the same type of golden and silver garments, ancient Chinese-styled Murim robes.
They aren’t just for pleasing my aesthetic choices or something, though; no, these are specifically made to help their cultivation increase rapidly. Even little Hekita had one fit for her smaller body, and she was excited to learn from me. These special robes would enhance their Ki circulation speed, refinement process, and quality.
Ah, right, Jackes is not here yet; he has yet to complete his test, but he’s getting there.
Just as I said, they quickly started bombarding me with many questions. I had allowed them the benefit of asking as much as they wanted to know to learn about the world I came from and the cultivation techniques I know.
They learned a bit more about Murim, the method of cultivation, and everything.
“Murim is the world where I was stranded for eleven thousand years. If you want the simplest explanation possible, it was a world very similar to Chinese mythology and fantasy stories,” I explained. “It was immense, perhaps thousands of times bigger than Earth. It was divided into five different continents, which were called the Five Regions of the World. The Central Continent, where I landed, the Northern Mountain Range, the Southern Plains, the Western Azure Seas, and the Eastern Golden Dunes. Each region was also divided by strange, supernatural walls known as Heavenly Walls, composed of concentrated elemental and divine Ki. Making it very difficult to move between regions. The stronger you were, the harder it became, as the pressure and weight of the walls would be equal to your cultivation rank.”
“T-That seems incredible—that big of a world it was?!” Yanisse wondered. “There is no world in the tower that big... Well, that's what we’ve known so far!”
“There were walls? How bizarre...” Nicholas muttered.
“Yes, I eventually destroyed the Walls when I managed to learn their connection to the Ki Veins underground, which I refined and then absorbed, making the Walls that had been there for immemorial times collapse,” I explained. “It only happened when I was already a Venerable, though, and it was after I had to beat one of the ancient, revived Venerables.”
“I-I see...” John gulped saliva. “Um, what were these regions like?”
“Let’s see... The Central Continent was around... Perhaps a hundred times the size of Earth? Immense and also the only region that shares so many different types of biomes. It is where the largest organizations are located. The former Heavenly Judgement Pavilion was located there. It was a group of corrupted, orthodox cultivators that used their ancient powers and the backing of three Venerables to dominate the world and its laws. I destroyed them and reformed their entire sect into the Heavenly Court, a truly righteous, non-biased, and lawful sect that brought actual justice to the world.”
“Just like this Heavenly Court will do?” John wondered.
“That’s the plan, to an extent.” I nodded. “Now, let’s move on. The Northern Mountain Range was located in the north of the entire world; it was divided into snowy mountains and windy mountains. People here lived by mostly mining for resources and battling the endless waves of martial beasts. It was a region where the Barbarian tribes lived—powerful humans with strong muscles and physiques—that cultivated the elements of earth and ice the most. Admirable fighters; many of their members used to be my enemies.”
“So there was a god in Murim too?” wondered my mother. “But this is confusing; he was born out of chaos, not belief and faith.”
“Yeah,” I nodded. “Murim is very different, a world that could only be described as a dimension of its own at this point when I compare it to other worlds. Even the only god-like entity there was much different than any other god out there.”
“Anyways, moving on, the Heavenly Will created the first human. The First Human Father, a man, is the human template for all human-like beings in the future,” I explained. “And also the precursor of cultivation as we know it. And the first-ever Venerable, the one that cultivated the Human Path, and the last foe I fought before trying to escape Murim.”
“Wait, the first human ever was alive?!” John muttered.
“Yeah, well, no... It’s complicated. His tales are many; he was the one who created every wonder in the world. He was the one who was able to cultivate, as he noticed the particles floating everywhere and harnessed them into his body. Harnessing the Heavenly Dao itself from birth, he battled the Chaotic Beasts that invaded the world through the cracks left behind by the Heavenly Wills battle for supremacy. Slowly becoming more powerful through thousands after thousands of years of endless battle. By harnessing the Essence of Heaven and Earth, Ki was able to grow powerful enough to survive, thrive, and grow.”
“But if he was only a man, how did he get children?” asked Urbosa.
“Was he made a wife out of his ribs like Adam and Eve? Haha...” Ruby laughed.
“Not at all; it is said he used the power of the Human Path, the Element of Human, the Dao of Humans, to combine the essences of the world and create the first children,” I explained. “Amongst his children, there were also the Barbarians, the Mermen, the Winged Men, the Stone Men, and more. Who was much stronger than the pure humans and had greater affinity for the cultivation of a certain element. But true Humans remained at the top because they reproduced much quicker. He was also, well, the first ever Venerable of the Human Path, using the entire population of the world as his weapon against me.”
“T-The entire population of the world? Wait, what?” my sister wondered.
“It is a complicated thing... That was indeed a fight, yeah,” I sighed. “Due to the Human Path, he could also revive almost indefinitely. Both his soul and body were the same, and he could also connect his powers with every single human or descendant and gain their power, becoming several times stronger. When I fought against him, even after having stolen the strength of the other Venerables I killed and having refined them into equipment, powers, and more, I was confident I only had roughly a forty percent chance of winning. But because of his overconfidence, mostly because I was a woman, he created several openings for me to abuse. Yes, he was the man responsible for creating a world so discriminatory towards women; even though women could gain as much power as men, they were always restricted. Creating a terrible imbalance between genders.”
“That’s awful...” Yanisse muttered. “Yet you fought your way through all of that... For eleven thousand years...”
“Yes, and I’ve come back home now. So, I shall teach you what I learned. We shall begin our Cultivation classes today. I will now teach you basic Meditation and Ki Refinement techniques,” I said. “So, pay attention.”
After a few hours of explaining and talking about the past, the classes of the day finally began.
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