After the man who led him here, Xi Chen walks towards to busy but dim lighted market. And he ask a nearby person,"Where can I buy informations."
The person pointed at the direction of the inner part of the market and said,"Follow this path and you will know when you sees it."Then left.
Xi Chen walks towards the direction the man pointed. He passed rows of cloaked merchants, their eyes glinting from beneath the masks. In front the stall of the merchants are things Xi Chen had never seen before in his life, past or present. There were trinkets, things that look like Qi Beast core, talismans and some other things that look like broken magical weapons.
Xi Chen ignored them. Not because he did not need them, but, because he can not afford them at all. He already knows the price of these things without even asking the seller. He reluctantly withdraws his gaze from the stall and continued walking, looking left and right.
As Xi Chen passed by many stalls, he suddenly stopped in front of a stall with a sign that says 'Ask any information, get any information for the right price'. This must be it.
The owner of the sign was an old man with a hunched back. He looks like he is one foot in the grave with eyes like pale pearls, blind but knowing. The odd thing about the man is that he did not have any mask on his face. Which applies that either the man is so strong he does not fear of people finding out his identity or he must be an expert of disguise.
Xi Chen went up to him and says "Can I get any information." he also added "like the signs says."
The hunched old man opened his eyes slowly and looked up.
"If you can afford the price, you can get any information related to Red Bull Kingdom martial world. But that does not includes any hidden treasures or anything like that"the old replied.
"You much be a newbie here, right?" The old man looks deeply at Xi Chen and asked.
"Yes" Xi Chen replied thinking the old man must have guessed from his cautious looking behavior.
Xi Chen was about to ask a question.
"You seek the staircase," the man said before Xi Chen could speak.
Xi Chen's brow furrowed. "The staircase?"
The old man grinned with cracked teeth, "The path beyond the mundane."
Xi Chen lit up his eyes with a surprise expression of his face, then he asked "Senior please enlighten me" with his head low.
"I am no senior. I am just an old man who lived long enough for a mortal. Many people here calls me Lao Gui— the Old Ghost." The man replied as he extended his hand gesturing Xi Chen to pay up.
Xi Chen did not think anything odd about the man's act as he took out 2 silver coins from his pocket. It was basic supply and demand.
But the man still did not retract his hand and stays in silent.
Xi Chen knows the price he offered must not enough so added another 1 silver coin. But the man still stays silent.
Seeing the man's action, Xi Chen's eyes twitches but he still took out one more silver coin and placed it on the man's hand. Then the man retracted his hand and smile inwardly.
After getting the money, Lao Gui continued,"Every martial artist comes here with the same hunger. You have a well define body. You must have already entered the door of martial way."
Xi Chen node slowly. "I want to know what lies beyond the Organ Strengthening Realm and what are the first five realms. And how can one reach them?"
The old man reached below his stall and brought out a scroll bound in snake leather. He untied it with his fingers that trembled like dry leaves. Symbols swirled across the parchment like a dance of stars.
"The Mortal Realms consist of five realms you know," he began,"end with the Organ Strengthening Realm. A Martial Artist who completes that is a master of flesh. But flesh is just the vessel."
He continued, "The first Realm beyond the Mortal Realm is the Acquired Qi Realm. Then next comes the Innate Qi Realm. And lastly the True Qi Realm."
And he stops.
Xi Chen ask,"What comes beyond the True Qi Realm."
"It is a legend in the king of Red Bull. Nobody knows what comes after that. You have to explore yourself." The man speaks like the words are directed to himself.
"Please continue" Xi Chen requested.
"The Acquired Qi Realm is the first step where you begin to control the flow of external spiritual essence—Qi—into your body. You must refine it, not through muscle, but through breath and will."
Xi Chen leaned in.
"At this stage, you cultivate your meridians, the channels through which Qi flows. Most fail. They push too hard, force too much. The Qi rebels. Internal rupture, madness, even deach. But if you succeed, you form the foundation of a cultivator who can begin to manipulate the world."
"And Innare Qi?" Xi Chen asked.
Lao Gui tapped the scroll, revealing a diagram of a human figure surrounded by concentric circles.
"Once your body accepts external Qi, the next Realm is to generate Qi from within. You draw not just from the world, but from your essence, your life. It's dangerous. You must temper your dancing, and your mind must be still as moonlit water. The Innate Qi Realm is where you stop being merely human."
"And the True Qi Realm?"
The old man hesitated. "That... is the domain of those who can project their Qi. Shape it. Manifest it outside their body. True Qi cultivators can crush a man with a thought, incinerate steel with a finger. Few reach it. Fewer survive it."
Xi Chen took it slowly. The air felt heavier now. The path ahead sounded almost mythic.
"And what does it take to enter Acquired Qi?" he asked at last.
The old man's face grew solemn. "You must find a place of spiritual abundance. Meditate under a full moon. Bathe in natural Qi. But most of all—you must find your resonance. Each cultivators body sings a different song, except for identical twins. Even none identical twins body sings different song. You must learn yours."
Xi Chen think for a moment and thanked him. Then he turn around to walk away. But then he heard the old man saying,"One more silver coin. The last one was not covered in your payment."
Xi Chen think for a moment and said,"I can add another silver coin but you must answer one more question."
The old man showed a displeased expression but he still said," Shoot it. If I is not too much I will give you an answer."
"What if I can not find the place of spiritual abundance fills with natural Qi. What can I do to breakthrough to the Acquired Qi Realm. " Xi Chen asked.
"Ohh that one I forgot to mention. You can a spiritual treasure that has abundance spiritual nature Qi, to use as a replacement of it. It can be spiritual plant or spiritual fruit and it can even be spiritual weapon. Now give me my silver coins" the man demanded as soon as he finished speaking.
After giving the silver coin to the man, Xi Chen walked away from the stall.
As he walked the market again, the stalls and voices faded from his focus. He imagined the Qi flowing like rivers through the invisible channels. He imagined his breath no longer merely sustaining life, but drawing in the power of the world.
He was still in the Muscle Tempering Realm. Still low, in the bottom of the ladder.
But for the first time, Xi Chen could see the next rung.
He could see light at the end of his dark tunnel of no knowledge of martial world.
And he would climb it, no matter the price.
When he was just about to leave the market, Xi Chen suddenly remembered an important question he forgot to ask.
So he hurriedly went back to previous stall of the old man.
When he arrives at the place, the old man was preparing to close his stall.
The old man saw the man, who did not want to spend more silver, coming back. He asked in a displeasure,"What? Coming back to get your silver?. I do not do refund. You should leave."
Xi Chen shows a smile and shakes his head to deny it. "I am here to ask one more important question." he asked.
"Hurry up, hurry up. I do not have that much time. Just ask it away." the man quickly said.
"I want to know if there is any grade dividing the the levels of treasure,cultivation techniques and martial skills" Xi Chen asked quickly.
"I only know Grade 1 to 4 corresponding the same levels of cultivation. Grade 1 for Mortal Realms and others for subsequent levels." The old man speaks while putting his things in a sac and waves his hand in way and says,"Go,go,go I do not need money for that".
Xi Chen thanked him and left the market. And went back home.