Chapter 9: Into the Pink door

  There he stood, in front of the pink door. Sam was hesitating. He knew some of his achievements were quite impressive, after all he was the first in his universe to gain a class but he had no way of knowing how far ahead that actually put him. The development of his walking skill was something that made him certain he had done some things that were wholly unexpected of someone of his level and tier, the system itself told him that; and yet that skill can do nothing for him if beyond this door was a test of violence. At most it would let him get away more easily. Still, not being one to be deterred from adventure he decided to go for it.

  Putting his hand on the unassuming bronze door knob, he delved into the unknown. He was met with total darkness. The door right behind him was gone. He panicked for a second there but calmed down when nothing immediately concerning happened. This total darkness felt different from the total darkness of the night in the tutorial. Reaching out he could feel cobbled stone walls to either side of him, with his arms being just about long enough to touch both walls at once with the tips of his fingers. Behind him where the pink door he walked through should have been was just more stone wall. Before moving forward, which really was his only option, Sam did a bit of meditating and feeling out the energies of the place. It reminded him of the sensation that came from the Radiant Soul Cherry blossoms, which makes sense considering that’s how this door came into existence, but there was still a difference in the feeling between out in the island and in here. If while in bloom they felt fleeting yet strong, beautiful because of their impermanence, the sensation the energy gave off in here was more akin to what Sam imagined would come after. The blossoms showcase vitality, and their absence a reminder of the certainty of death. Sam’s intuition told him that wherever he was, that relationship between life and death that he was feeling was tantamount to overcoming whatever trials lay ahead.

  Considering how intertwined the concepts in the air felt with the power that helped form his cultivation core, Sam sat down where he was and meditated. He hadn’t properly tried to cultivate after he formed his core and he was in for a bit of a surprise. It was so much easier now to sense the flow of energy inside himself as he breathed. No longer did he feel like he was just pretending to feel something whenever he practiced. His breathing during cultivation was now accompanied by a certainty that wasn’t there before. This was a great relief to Sam and it helped motivate him even further.

  After having lost track of time, in part because of the excitement of having a core to actually fill up now, Sam observed the inherent synergy between the concepts in here and those that formed his core. He wasn’t sure if a good space for cultivation was the primary purpose of this place but he wasn’t going to pass up the opportunity regardless. Standing up he took a step forward while activating his skill and another revelation dawned on him. The energy he was feeling, the very same that formed his core, was spiritual power. When he activated his skill he could distinctly feel the difference between where the mana and the spiritual power originated, with the latter supplying the skill from his core. The juxtaposition of the two energies also led him to the discovery that the mana that powered his skills came from somewhere in his head. Satisfied with the knowledge he gained, he continued to walk forward while using his skill into what he was realizing seemed like an endless corridor.

  He maintained a steady pace of walking forward with his movement skill using just enough mana to match his regeneration rate, without adding in the use of spiritual power. Actually now that he knew it was spiritual power that formed his core, he decided to just start calling it qi instead. He had been walking for a while now, so far there really was nothing but this long stone corridor in front of and behind him. It was right around now that he wished he could cultivate while walking. That made Sam pause. Actually, was there any reason that he shouldn’t be able to? He had never tried to cultivate while moving before, while he had been consistent with cultivation practice he somehow had never tried visualizing the internal movement of qi while doing anything other than being completely still. Nothing that he observed so far made it seem like it should be impossible. Sam supposed the first step would be to try cultivating with his eyes open, although that might have to be saved for another time since he couldn’t see anything in here regardless of whether his eyes were open or closed. With that realization, he reconsidered his decision to keep boldly walking forward while activating his skill. He didn’t really know exactly what would happen if he walked into a wall mid activation but it was unlikely to be a pleasant experience.

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  Deciding to slow down, he decided to focus on the ambient qi around him. His intuition was telling him to attempt a balance between two aspects of the Radiant Soul Cherry’s qi. It was difficult because of the huge influx of the vitality and motion he received when he watched the petals dance through the air. He would catch up eventually though. He had an inkling that his core wasn’t fully complete yet and it felt like his soul was telling him it needed this other half to fully form. The more he focused on the qi, the more he could feel it in a specific direction. Even though he was walking the same direction regardless, he tugged on the qi he could feel with his control as though he were walking forward with a guiderope that he was following. Sam wasn’t sure this would make any difference in this infinite hallway of darkness and cobbled stone but there was no reason not to try. The feedback he was getting from his attempts reminded him of when he was pushing against the distortion when he was making his way to the mountains. That had yielded some very productive results and he was hoping this would lead him to something similar.

  For a while this is all he did; while focusing on the aspects of the qi, he walked forward while consuming the qi like he was slurping on one really long piece of spaghetti except the spaghetti was immaterial and he wasn’t sure if he was keeping any of it within his budding cultivation core. When he got thirsty he would stop and take a drink from his gourd, otherwise he just kept walking. A few hours into the endeavour and getting a little impatient, he made his attempts at tugging on the qi a bit more forceful.

  Eventually he felt a change, the strand of qi he was pulling on felt thicker and more substantial but only by a very small amount. The only reason he could even feel a difference was because of how focused he was on contemplating the death aspect of the cherry blossom qi. Motivated by the shift in the status quo, he resumed his walking, with each step he was metaphorically “pulling" harder and harder at the ambient qi until he felt like his control could pull no harder. At some point he stopped to take a break. He didn’t know how long he had been going for and the extra effort at pulling the qi as he moved definitely changed his perception of time as well. With how long he was walking for, and not running into anything, he decided it was safe enough to take a nap. So he took his pack off of his back and sat down with his legs crossed leaning back against the stone wall. He put his bag on the side of him that he knew was the direction he was walking in so that he knew which way to face when he woke up even if he got disoriented. Sam didn’t actually let go of the bag; his arm was still through one of its straps, even if nothing had shown up so far he didn’t want to be unprepared for surprises and lose his only bag in the process. The personal inventory was useful but it really wasn’t the kind of inventory he was expecting from the system, it was quite limiting at only being able to carry five things. Clearing his mind of errant thoughts, he drifted off to sleep after walking for a yet to be determined amount of time.

  He woke up feeling well rested and before he resumed his qi pulling walk, Sam tried a little experiment with the thermos. As he activated it, pouring both mana and qi into it, he maintained focus on the memory of the first time he ate from it with the chocolate rice porridge. Opening the thing, he happily found out that he could make the thermos produce something it had already made before. This was somewhat of a relief to Sam since even though he wasn’t a picky eater he also took comfort in setting a routine, and one of the ways he did that before the system came was eating the same meals everyday when he was at home and not trying out a new restaurant or something. The fact that he could follow a routine using his thermos pleased him. He dug into the nostalgia blasting breakfast food and savored every spoonful of the rich and creamy chocolate.