"Well then, I guess it'll be worthwhile to get his position," I muttered under my breath. "Hmm… yeah, I should really try. If I can do that, I can give my parents a good and peaceful life."
That thought alone made me smile a little.
For so long, I had only been thinking about finding my parents and restoring their past memories. I never once thought about what I'd do after that. But now, for the first time, I had a clear goal — restore my parents' memories and then inherit that man's position.
After that… live peacefully.
While I was thinking about it, Gu Xue suddenly opened her eyes. A soft glow surrounded her body, and the Qi around her slowly settled down.
"Congratulations," I said, smiling. "You've surpassed me within a day."
"I was just lucky to have Qi from my planet," she replied modestly.
"No matter the circumstances, the fact that you broke through still remains, right?" I said. "Even if you were born under a planet filled with Qi, reaching Foundation Establishment still takes effort."
She didn't reply immediately. Her expression softened a little.
"…You're right," she said quietly. "Luck or not, I still did it."
"Exactly," I said with a grin. "Besides, isn't it good that I have to do less work now that you're stronger than me?"
"You want to rely on me?" she asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Is it wrong?" I replied. "Getting help from someone better than you is always a good idea."
"I suppose," she said after a small pause. "You aren't wrong."
Burden? I thought, glancing at her. She might actually be the best companion I could ever ask for. Either I'm lucky or just too smart… yeah, probably both.
The sky had already darkened, and the stars were out. We cooked the meat she hunted earlier, ate in silence, and prepared to rest.
"You're sleeping too?" she asked as I lay down.
"Yeah. Is that strange?" I asked.
"I just thought you'd be cultivating in a sleeping state like last night."
"I only did that to understand the Planetary Path and to keep watch. But now that I have the Ancient Path, I can sense my surroundings even in normal sleep. No need to keep my consciousness active anymore," I said casually.
She nodded, then lay down beside me on the grass.
As I looked up, the night sky stretched endlessly above us. Come to think of it, I thought, this is the first time I'm sleeping next to someone of the opposite sex.
I glanced at her — her skin was pale as snow, and her features were calm and elegant. I hadn't noticed before, probably because I was never interested in such things. But now that I thought about it, both she and that man were far beyond normal in looks.
If they lived on Earth, they'd probably be world-famous models. Maybe good looks were just common in the universe — or maybe it was something unique to her home planet.
Either way, thinking about it wouldn't help me now. I'd get my answers eventually, once I started exploring the universe myself.
With that thought, I slowly drifted off to sleep.
---
The next morning, the sun's rays woke me up.
I got up, stretched, and gathered a few stones and pieces of wood. With some effort, I shaped the wood into something resembling a sword. It wasn't perfect, but it'd work for testing.
"I should test how Qi behaves in combat," I muttered to myself.
I didn't know any skills or techniques yet, so I'd have to start from the basics — solidifying Qi or forming an aura around the weapon.
Heh, I thought, smirking. Guess reading all those novels wasn't useless after all.
I raised my hand and began gathering Qi from the air. The energy condensed quickly into a small sphere — dark in color, almost black. It suited me.
Qi could appear as any color depending on one's perception, but since I called it Dark Energy, this felt right.
I studied the sphere for a moment, then pushed it forward using a burst of Qi.
Boom!
It shot forward like a bullet and hit a large stone, shattering it completely. The explosion was loud — much louder than I expected.
I froze for a few seconds, shocked.
As someone from Earth, I'd only ever seen explosions on TV, not up close. Seeing one caused by my own hand was… unreal.
After taking a deep breath, I picked up the wooden sword I'd made earlier.
"Alright, next test," I muttered.
I channeled Qi into the sword, letting it flow for about ten seconds. A dense, dark aura covered the blade.
When I swung it at another boulder—
Tang!
The boulder split cleanly in half.
A wooden sword had just done that.
The best part? The sword didn't even crack.
I stood there, amazed at the power of Qi.
Then I heard a soft chuckle behind me.
I turned and saw Gu Xue covering her mouth, laughing.
"What's so funny?" I asked.
"You looked like a kid playing with a new toy," she said, still smiling.
I couldn't really deny it, so I changed the topic. "You seem… different from yesterday. Did you recover more of your memories?"
She caught the change but didn't comment on it. "Yes," she said. "It seems more of my memories are returning — probably because I learned the fundamental rules of the Ancient Path. Though these aren't personal memories yet, more like… other things."
"Other things?" I asked. "Like what?"
"Like combat techniques I used to know," she said.
"You learned them?"
"Yeah. It was something everyone on my planet had to do. Learning at least ten techniques was mandatory."
"Then is there any technique I can use?" I asked quickly. If I could get even one of those, it'd save me the trouble of creating something from scratch.
She shook her head. "Sorry, but no. Those techniques can only be used by people who carry the same mark."
"Mark?" I asked.
"It's a type of seal," she explained. "Very common on my planet. Once something is marked, only the owner can use it. It's a way to protect techniques and personal treasures."
I was a bit disappointed, but that feeling didn't last long.
If such a system existed, it meant I could also use it later — not just for techniques, but for items, seals, or maybe even planetary resonance itself.
"Heh," I smiled faintly. "That marking method sounds pretty useful."