His mind was muddled, and his memories of his life before awakening were unclear. However, even though Grey felt extreme fear toward the world around him, he also felt a strange familiarity with it, like he had lived in this world before. Grey could only push the blame onto his fractured memories.
Outside, darkness stirred. Groans echoed. Whispers slithered through broken windows. Something with too many legs scuttled silently over shattered glass. A shrill cry from a twisted beast cut through the night like a rusted blade.
Grey's hands shook, but panic was a luxury he could not afford. Survival required clarity.
His body felt broken. One of his legs had shattered, his skin was torn, and his muscles were on the edge of collapse. If he couldn't move by dawn, he wouldn't live to see another sunrise.
He uncorked a battered water bottle, sipped the metal-tinged liquid, and eased the dryness in his throat. Then he straightened his leg. Pain exploded through him, but he bit down on his lip and forced the bone to align, inch by inch. Time stretched as agony tore through him.
Finally, he wrapped a filthy cloth around the injury. Sweat soaked his shirt. His skin had turned pale, like moonlit snow. And yet, he was alive.
"…Now… I can study this crystal," he said in a soft voice.
He lifted the purple stone, its faint glow catching the moonlight. When he pressed it against his chest, warmth spread through him. It felt soft, ancient, and undeniable. The pounding in his skull eased. His leg ached less. His wounds began to slowly knit themselves together.
The process was agonizing, inch by inch, moment by moment, until finally, his body started to feel whole again. Many scars were healed, and only his most grievous injuries that remained. Exhaustion crashed over him. Outside, creatures prowled, but sleep claimed him without mercy.
Grey awoke with a sharp inhale, momentarily expecting his old room. Dust, rust, and dried blood grounded him firmly in the new world. The crystal pulsed faintly within him, a gentle, eternal rhythm.
"So this… is real," he murmured.
He sifted through the few items the previous Grey had left behind: a jade slip, some trinkets, and spoiled food. His eyes fell on the jade slip. The symbols carved into it were strange and alien, until they slowly twisted and reshaped themselves into words he could read.
'Sky Mist… Cultivation Art.'
It was a method used to guide Qi, amplifying cultivation speed even without reaching its full potential.
Grey exhaled, a faint smile touching his lips. He was only at the Second Level of Qi Accumulation, barely a cultivator, but it was a beginning, a foothold on the cliff of survival.
For the first time since awakening in this world, Grey's eyes softened. He had survived. And with the crystal in his chest and the cultivation art in hand… he had a chance.
On the second day, Grey decided to familiarize himself with cultivation. In this chaotic world, only cultivators were able to survive. In fact, almost every intelligent life form on the continent practiced the art of cultivation after God's hand descended.
Because of the strange changes that had come over the world, even cultivation itself had changed.
With a long sigh, Grey began to read the small jade slip in his hands. Although he had already reached the Second Level using this same art, he had no memory of doing so. His memories were still scrambled and fragmented.
But as he read the jade slip, fragments of those memories gradually returned.
"To cultivate the Qi Accumulation Realm is not really that hard. You just have to start by controlling your breathing. Because of the peculiarity of this art, training in mist is the fastest way to progress. But since there is no safe area with mist, I'll have to cultivate normally," Grey said in a low voice. His expression did not change much, but a faint glimmer could be seen in his eyes.
Following the instructions in the jade slip, Grey began to cultivate again. After crossing his legs, he closed his eyes and began to sense the particles of spirit energy in the air.
This was very easy, as he had already begun cultivating before and had stepped into the Second Level of the Sky Mist Art.
After sensing the particles, Grey began to breathe in and out in a specific rhythm. He continued doing this until the spirit energy in the air slowly surged toward him and was absorbed into his body.
In this state, Grey did not let his mind wander. Instead, he focused entirely on absorbing the spirit energy in the air. Slowly, time trickled by. In the blink of an eye, four hours had passed. By then, the sun was already high above the earth.
But in the Corroded Zone, thick red clouds blocked all sunlight from passing through. Everything remained dark and steeped in gloom.
When Grey opened his eyes, a faint glimmer of profundity could be seen within them. As that glimmer faded, he let out a soft sigh. It wasn't long or loud, but a faint wisp of white mist flowed out of his mouth.
Grey looked around and found everything still in place. He then let out a silent sigh of relief.
"After cultivating, I can feel my strength increasing. It's subtle, but it's still a change," Grey muttered in a low voice.
While I was cultivating, I also felt another energy in the air. Maybe it's better to call it a substance instead of energy, since it seems to have physical properties, Grey thought inwardly. That strange substance must be the corrosive substance that appeared after God descended. The jade slip mentioned that I would sense its presence and absorb it along with spirit energy.
The jade slip containing the Sky Mist Art mentioned that another foreign substance existed alongside spirit energy. That substance was the corrosive substance that appeared after God descended. When cultivating, it was impossible to avoid absorbing it while drawing in spirit energy.
"The time I spent cultivating helped me better grasp the world I'm in, and it also let me sense the energy within my body. Very soon, I'll enter the Third Level of Qi Accumulation," Grey said. His gaze remained steady, but vigilance could be seen in the gray of his eyes.
After circulating the spirit energy through his body, Grey suddenly felt a sharp pain in his lower wrist. When he looked down, he saw a small black dot emitting a harsh sizzling sound. That sound came from his flesh slowly melting under the effects of the corrosive substance within his body.
Grey observed the scene calmly. He had already known this would happen once he began cultivating. The jade slip had mentioned that a decay point would appear after absorbing the corrosive substance.
Once it reached a critical point, the cultivator would either mutate into an abomination, or their body would disintegrate into rotten flesh and blood.
**☺️😉**