Wuyum County. Dadangar Five-kingdom subcontinent.
Aksai’s rental farmland.
Hour of Rabbit. (09:00 AM – 10:00 AM)
The aroma of Spirit rice, Spirit fish, meat stew, and other delicacies permeated the air, signaling Aksai’s early morning endeavors.
The 18th year held a special significance in a Spirit cultivator’s life.
It marked their transition into adulthood, requiring them to host a celebratory feast using their own resources and invite those they knew and cared about, following the customs of the cultivators’ world.
Though not particularly fond of such gatherings, Aksai chose to adhere to tradition as a means of embracing the culture of his current world. Honoring what he believed would have been his father’s wish, Aksai prepared to host the feast.
Aksai extended invitations to only a few neighboring families for the birthday celebration, lacking close relationships with anyone aside from Aunt Reta’s family. Nevertheless, he sent out the invitations with sincerity.
Emerging from the Everwood farm after a refreshing bath, Aksai found himself beaming with joy as he attended to the day’s tasks. Today held significance for two reasons – his birthday and his breakthrough into the upper stage of the Bronze Body realm.
Following his breakthrough, Aksai sensed a newfound strength and vitality coursing through his muscles and tendons. Physically stronger than an average Spirit cultivator in the 7th stage, he also noticed heightened senses and increased agility.
Moreover, Aksai detected an optimization in the flow of his Spirit essence within his body. While the immediate effects were not evident, he remained confident that his body cultivation would yield long-term benefits for his Spirit cultivation and vice versa.
“Alright. The main meal has been prepared. Time to make some side dishes,” Aksai said out loud before resuming his activities with a newfound motivation.
With practiced hands, Aksai started another culinary ritual, selecting the finest Spirit herbs from his farm.
He carefully chopped vibrant greens and fragrant spices, infusing each dish with Spirit essence to enhance their flavor. As he worked, he chanted some incantations, invoking Spirit spells to imbue the food with some peculiar properties.
[ Flame Manifestation ]
The hearth crackled with energy as Aksai ignited a flame with a flick of his finger, using his Spirit cultivation and neural link fabric to control the temperature with precision.
He simmered pots of savory stews and stir-fried vegetables, the aroma filling the room with a tantalizing scent.
With each dish prepared with meticulous care, Aksai arranged them on the long table, his movements graceful and deliberate. With his current skills and abilities, he could easily snatch the jobs of those culinary geniuses and service industry experts from his previous world.
Aksai placed plates of steaming dumplings and aromatic rice alongside platters of succulent meats and colorful salads, creating a feast fit for the celebration. One could say that he had enough to show his sincerity.
Aksai could always do more with his current wealth and power. However, he decided to stick to his current avatar of an average Spirit farmer that he had maintained for a long time.
The food was arranged properly. But Aksai didn’t stop there.
With a whispered invocation, he cast a spell of preservation over the food, ensuring it would remain hot, fresh, and delicious until his guests arrived. He adorned the table with shimmering spirit crystals and glowing orbs, casting a soft, ethereal light over the spread.
As the final touches were made, Aksai stepped back to admire his handiwork. As far as the standards of Spirit farmers were concerned, the table was a vision of abundance and splendor. With a satisfied smile, he awaited the arrival of his guests, eager to share in the joy of the celebration.
“Aksai Everwood?”
Suddenly, a feminine voice echoed from outside the farmhouse. Its gentle yet firm tone caught Aksai off guard, prompting him to raise his eyebrows in surprise, soon knitting them into a frown.
Aksai hoped the visitor wasn’t a party crasher seeking free food. While he didn’t mind sharing, he preferred such characters to arrive after the feast. He didn’t want his guests to go hungry before the celebration even began. That would surely make him lose his face. His father’s spirits would surely haunt him in his nightmares.
“Come out to collect your annual pay,” the voice continued, snapping Aksai to attention. He realized the speaker was likely from the Lakir family, here to deliver his annual pay for tending to the rented farm.
‘Strange. I wonder what happened to Haisha Lakir, the mongoose who usually handles this?’ Aksai pondered as he made his way out of the farmhouse. He was curious about the girl who had taken over Haisha’s duties.
‘Let’s see who this girl is,’ Aksai anticipated as he opened the creaky main door, almost as if it was on its last legs. However, before he could lay eyes on her, he realized she was already within his sight. Somehow his own wish to see the girl had been granted by some kind of supernatural power.
This vision was different, more acute than normal sight. It revealed details up to 10 to 12 meters around him, as if seen through a microscope.
It was as if Aksai was present at various places within the limited range simultaneously. And yet, he didn’t feel overwhelmed by the scope of the vision that entered his mind straightaway.
Aksai closed his eyes and felt the gates to confirm his doubts. He realized that the Third-eye Gate had been opened more than its previous state after his recent breakthrough, which might have allowed him to project his Spiti Sense outward in this manner.
‘This… This has to be outward Spirit Sense! But… But how? Is it because of the breakthrough into body cultivation?’
Aksai realized his nascent Spirit Sense had evolved after his recent breakthrough, allowing him to project his senses outward.
‘Unbelievable!’ Aksai marveled.
‘A fully functional Spirit Sense that is only supposed to be obtained by those Spirit cultivators who have successfully built their foundation and entered the 2nd Spirit realm.
To wield such power while still in the 1st Spirit realm. Am… am I some kind of prodigy?’
The Spirit farmer questioned himself after his ego had been stroked a bit by his own achievements.