Tian watched the fire, bewildered. He had no idea what things he could do. Mostly he knew about the junkyard and all the problems with his body. And the forest and the river. That was about it.
“I don’t know. Enough to eat. A dry place to sleep where animals can’t bite me. Maybe better clothes and something to cook with? I don’t think I can cook much on a leaf or on a stick. I’d want to do whatever got me that.”
Would you like to meet people? Live in a nice house like them?
“No. They are scary and throw rocks. I don’t think I really want to be a human. Or around humans, anyway.”
Good survival instinct for now, but… going to have to work on that one. I guess we could start with “Man is a thing to be overcome” and work from there. How about something a little more primal- safety. How would you like to be so strong, nobody could hurt you?
Tian nodded. “Of course that’s good.”
At a high level of cultivation, people don’t need to eat any more. They just do it for fun. Want that?
“Not being hungry is good.”
Immortality?
“I don’t know what that is.”
Living forever, or so long as to make it seem like you do.
“No, that’s a terrible idea. Hurting forever sounds bad.”
You would be healthy. No pain when you pee, no sudden shooting pain in your guts or running down the marrows of your bones.
Tian just shook his head. He couldn’t imagine it.
I’d ask about wealth, but you don’t have that concept yet. Ditto lust, and man am I glad malnutrition is helping me out there. Never thought I would say that, but here we are.
“Grandpa, I don’t understand any of that.”
You will. But for now, it’s fine if you don’t.
Tian thought he felt a sigh.
You are really survival oriented. Which is good, but also limiting. You need more context, more experience. More contact with other humans. Even if you don’t like them.
Tian watched the fire burn. Brown sticks turned black, then glowing red, then ashy white and stopped burning, but could still be very hot. It still scared him, but it was also beautiful. The transformation of light and shape. The crackling, rushing noise. Scary, but comforting. And you could cook food with it. He didn’t ever want to lose that.
“What do you think I should do, Grandpa? Other than saving the world.”
It’s going to sound weird coming from an old monster like me, but I want you to find something you love, and for you to do it wholeheartedly. Even when it is boring, or frustrating, or feels like you aren’t making progress. I want it to be something you can take satisfaction in. You know how everything rots in the junkyard. In the end, everything, even the pottery and metal, break down.
“Mmm hmm.”
The whole world is like that. Doesn’t matter if you are the Grand Immortal Whozit Reverend Master of Ten Billion Blades or whatever, in the end, even immortals die. In the end, their creations turn to dust and are forgotten. It might take longer for some than others, but in the end, everything rots.
“Okay?”
So this is it. This is what there is. How you choose to spend this life should be on what brings you joy, and hopefully, what brings joy to the people around you. Nothing will make the world a better place forever, but since right now is all there is, isn’t it good enough to make it better for now?
“You think I should just do whatever makes me happy?”
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More than happy- you should do what gives you satisfaction. What you find meaning in. Then you will need to figure out what you have to do to support that. Raising a family might require you to study farming, or the way of money. Defending your family might require mastering the sword or spear. Healing them might require mastering medicinal arts, or creating formations, or even forging powerful artifacts.
In every case, given the sheer unreasonableness of the world, given the absolutely unjustified and unfair things that are going to happen to you, it will require strength. Above all else, you will have to be strong. And it will mean you wind up saving the world, because the spiteful heavens will give you no peace until you do.
Tian laughed. “Grandpa, I didn’t understand any of that.”
You understood. And you will spend the rest of your life learning how right I was.
Tian rose with the sun, hearing the racket the birds were making to herald its light. “Grandpa, where do we head now? Are we still going to the mountains?”
Yes, the river didn’t take us too far off course. Let’s pick a few things to eat along the way, and get going.
He was a bit fortunate- there were no random tiger attacks, bird attacks, or similar common forest mishaps. There was a wasp’s nest the size of a full grown man, but he walked a very long way around that.
Giant beehives are worth investigating, and often their honey is quite special. You will love honey when you try it- super sweet stuff. Some honey is even a rare body improving treasure. Not wasps though. They don’t make honey. Wasps are strictly good at pest control, right up to the point when they become a nuisance. Stay far away if you can.
Tian could practically feel Grandpa frown. Also hornets are murderous bastards, all of them, and will kill you if they can. And they definitely can. If you see one, stay far away from it. If you must kill one, kill it, then run far, far away. They can smell when one of their own dies, and they always take revenge.
This was the standard for the trip. Every tree had a story, a use, a secret. The rocks all had names, the clouds could be read like the footprints of forest animals. And Grandpa Jun knew them all. He didn’t insist that Tian remember everything, but every now and then he would insist that his Grandson could surely tell him four things to do with a Rono Bush, or tell which of two seemingly identical bird calls was a Green Throated Termite Terror in distress and which was a Green Throated Termite Terror faking distress and calling for reinforcements.
Tian did pretty well on the quizzes. It was all so fascinating, he couldn’t help but pay attention. It was like the world was talking to him, and Grandpa was teaching him the words. He could learn the language too. All he had to do was pay attention, and listen.
It was the same when they stopped at night. Each campsite was chosen for a variety of reasons, but always on flat ground near water.
Never ever pitch your tent in a hollow! You might think you are being clever, getting out of the wind, but the cold air rolls down the sides of the hollow and will freeze you. So will water. You might get away with it on a warm, clear night in a warm climate, but I sure wouldn’t bet on it.
“What’s a tent?”
Like a portable house or shelter made out of cloth. Hmm. We have some time before sunset. I will show you how to make a lean-to shelter this time. It’s a bit like a tent, as far as the shape goes.
“Grandpa? Are you going to disappear again after teaching me all these things?”
These are the lowest mortal wisdoms and the wisdom of animals. So no, the energy cost is completely offset. Bit of a blindspot there. Heh heh.
“Who’s blindspot? And what does “offset” mean?”
Oh look- see that plant with the spiky leaves and the bluish veins running up the stem? Grab it! It’s got a TON of good nutrition. And the taste is not bad either.
Tian had come to love staring up at the stars. He had no idea that the night sky was so beautiful, or that there were so many hidden mysteries within it. He looked into the billions of lights in the infinite void and let the wonder of it all consume him. Grandpa would stop talking at those times. Tian thought he must love the stars too.
“Grandpa? Where are we going, other than the mountains? Are we really just going to go there and look around, hoping to find something useful?”
Yep.
The rustling sounds of the night wrapped the two of them in a warm blanket of sound. Sometimes the insects were annoyingly loud, but that was alright too. You could eat them, and if they wanted to shout their location, so much the better.
“That easy?”
Easy is a stretch, but yes. We are moving with nature here, not against it. This world is built around that universal energy I was talking about. It is vast, and deep, and if you fight it, it will kill you. But if you learn to move with it, learn to dance to its rhythms, it will shower blessings on you. It will lay out a clear path to power, even if it looks like there is no path at all.
I don’t know what we will find, and honestly, it hardly matters. We are building the foundation of a foundation. Hell, we’re still picking the build site and shopping around for the General Contractor, and the architectural plans haven’t even been approved yet. Just you watch. There will be something. The Dao will provide.
A week and a half later, Tian was laying under a bush, staring down at a pond full of swaying lotuses.
Lucky. Well, depending on how you define luck. These are definitely Dustless Lotuses, a Earthly Person realm plant that can grow to the Heavenly Person realm with enough time. These ones haven’t quite reached that point, but are probably only a few years off.
“Why is that good?”Tian’s voice was barely a whisper. He could see at least one large snake near the water, and was privately certain there were many more he couldn’t see.
Because if the lotuses were Heavenly Person tier, you would explode trying to eat it. Or be dissolved in the medical bath, or in a really unfortunate case, become a living seedbed for a mutant lotus.
“That snake looks poisonous, Grandpa.”
The Three Venom Seven Death Adder? Yep. Super poisonous, and rarely alone. The one you can see is probably the runt of the brood, forced by the others to act as a lure for gullible predators. The others are in the pond, waiting for prey to come by.
“So how do we get the lotus?”
Lotuses- plural. At least ten. You are going to need a bunch if we are going to use it as the main ingredient for our Tian Refining Soup. And that’s up to you.
Tian blinked. “What do you mean?”
I mean it’s up to you. Oh, if you can, grab a few of the adders, like a dozen or so? We can use them too.
“Grandpa, there is no way.”
There is always a way. Remember this- Treasures will always seek protection from the strong. Good things will always have people eyeing them, wanting to possess them. Natural treasures will always lure in guardian beasts. These Dustless Lotuses have a symbiotic relationship with the adders- they assist one another’s growth. It’s going to be more or less the same no matter what treasures we find. Remember the tiger and the truffle?
“Yes, but, how am I supposed to get them?”
You tell me. We have spent years training your body. You are resistant to poisons and toxins, have excellent reflexes, and a head full of mortal wisdom and earthly knowledge. The treasury of the world has opened for you, if only a hair-thin crack. So this problem is for you to solve. The truffle was unsought for good fortune. This is a fortune you will need to fight for. It’s time, Grandson. Time to start your long battle, and seize your destiny!