The Quantum Path to Immortality-Chapter 205 - 204: The Sky Shatters 1

[The Next Morning - Chen Family Home]

Kai woke up to sunlight streaming through his window and his mother’s voice calling from downstairs.

"Kai! Breakfast is ready! Your father wants to start training early!"

He groaned and rolled out of bed. Right. Training. The thing he’d agreed to do because his dad looked worried.

"Coming!" he yelled back, pulling on clothes and stumbling downstairs.

Breakfast was simple but good—rice porridge with vegetables and a bit of salted fish. His sister Yue was already eating, swinging her legs under the table.

"You’re starting cultivation training today!" she said excitedly. "That’s so cool! I don’t get tested for another two years."

"It’s just exercise," Kai said, shoving porridge into his mouth.

"It’s cultivation exercise," Yue corrected. "That’s way better than normal exercise."

Kai wasn’t sure he agreed, but he nodded anyway.

After breakfast, his father led him to the small yard behind their house. The morning air was cool, and a few neighbors were already up, going about their daily routines.

"We’ll start with basic physical conditioning," Chen Wei explained. "Running, stretching, strength exercises. Cultivation requires a strong body as a foundation."

"Okay," Kai said agreeably.

Host is ready to begin cultivation path? the system asked.

"Yeah, just wait a minu—"

The sky went dark.

Not gradually. But Instantly. Day became night in a single heartbeat.

"Cultivators," Chen Wei breathed, his face going pale. "High-level cultivators."

[High Above in The Sky]

Two figures materialized in the sky above Redwood City, their arrival creating sonic booms that rattled windows across the village.

The man in crimson robes—Elder Crimson Flame of the Burning Sky Sect—stood perfectly still in the air, not a scratch on him despite the battle that had raged across hundreds of mountain ranges.

Opposite him, the man in white robes—Patriarch Ice Wind—breathed heavily, his robes torn but his body unmarred. They’d been fighting for six hours, destroying landscapes with each exchange.

"You should have stayed in your frozen wasteland, Ice Wind," Crimson Flame said, his voice somehow carrying despite the distance. "Now you die far from home."

"Bold words," Ice Wind replied, gathering energy around himself. Wind howled. Space rippled. "I’ve survived four centuries. I won’t fall to an upstart like you."

"Four centuries of mediocrity." Crimson Flame drew his sword—a weapon that blazed with condensed fire law. "Let me show you what real power looks like."

Ice Wind’s hands moved in complex patterns, wind and ice converging. "Heaven Severing Wind—"

"Too slow." Crimson Flame raised his sword above his head, and reality itself seemed to scream. Fire condensed. Space warped. The technique reached critical mass.

"CELESTIAL FLAME SEVERANCE!"

The sword fell.

[Village Level - Kai’s Perspective]

The world broke.

That was the only way Kai’s five-year-old brain could process what happened next.

The slash cut through Ice Wind from shoulder to hip, bisecting him so perfectly that for a moment, the two halves hung in the air, still aligned.

But the technique didn’t stop. It continued on its path.

It cut space itself.

Reality split along the slash line—a visible fracture spreading outward. The dimensional fabric shattered like glass. The sky cracked. Multiple layers of reality became briefly visible before snapping back.

Then the shockwave hit.

Mountains in the distance—thirty miles away—evaporated. They didn’t crumble. They ceased to exist, matter converted to pure energy by the residual power of one sword strike.

The ground shook. Buildings rattled. Windows shattered.

"GET DOWN!" Chen Wei tackled Kai, covering him.

But Kai’s eyes stayed locked on the sky.

The man in red robes caught the corpse—or what remained of it—before it could fall. With casual efficiency, he pulled something from the dead man’s finger. A ring. Storage ring, probably, though Kai didn’t know that yet.

Then the killer raised one hand, and the corpse ignited. White flames consumed it in seconds, leaving nothing behind. Not even ash.

Then the victor looked down and saw the damaged village.

His expression shifted—annoyed, maybe guilty.

He raised one hand, and time reversed.

Kai watched buildings un-break. Glass shards flew backward and reformed into windows. Wounded villagers un-bled. ten seconds of localized time reversal.

Then Crimson Flame vanished.

One moment there. Next moment not.

The sky returned to normal. Birds resumed singing.

Total duration: Maybe twenty five seconds.

Chen Wei stood slowly. "Is everyone alright?"

Murmurs of confusion and disbelief, but no injuries. The time reversal had undone everything.

Kai just stood there, staring at the sky where the battle had been.

People could do that ?

They could cut mountains in half. Break space itself. Reverse time on a whim.

"Holy shit," Kai whispered.

Language, Host, the system chided automatically.

"HOLY SHIT!" Kai said louder, not caring about his father’s shocked look. "System! System, was that—did you SEE that?!"

Yes, Host. That was cultivation.

"AND YOU DIDN’T TELL ME IT COULD DO THAT?!"

...Host never asked.

"I NEVER—" Kai sputtered. "You’ve been in my head for FIVE YEARS! You could have MENTIONED that cultivation lets you CUT MOUNTAINS IN HALF!"

Host showed no interest in cultivation until yesterday. Mentioning advanced capabilities seemed premature.

"Oh my GOD." Kai grabbed his own hair in frustration. "I’ve been playing with BLOCKS and READING BOOKS when I could have been learning how to DO THAT?!"

To be fair, Host is five years old. Mountain-cutting typically requires several centuries of cultivation.

"I don’t CARE! That was the COOLEST thing I’ve ever seen!" Kai was practically vibrating with excitement now. "Why didn’t you tell me cultivation could be more fun than literally anything else?!"

Previous attempts to interest Host in cultivation were met with ’maybe later’ and ’too boring.’

The system’s tone was absolutely dripping with sarcasm, though how a system achieved sarcasm was unclear.

"That—okay, fine, that’s fair," Kai admitted grudgingly. "But STILL! System, activate! Full activation! Tell me EVERYTHING! All your functions! All your abilities! I want to know ALL OF IT!"

Acknowledged. Initiating full system activation.

Would Host like this explained simply, or with technical specifications?

"Simple! I’m five! Use small words!"

[System Activation]

Golden light filled Kai’s vision.

SYSTEM FULL ACTIVATION COMPLETE

CORE FUNCTIONS:

1. ATTRIBUTE ABSORPTION Primary ability. Absorb attributes from ANY living being. Does NOT require killing. When creatures use power, they drop ’attribute spheres.’ Host can absorb: physical stats, skills, techniques, comprehension, talents, bloodlines, affinities, and more. Although when a living being is killed either by the host or another person, the deceased drop DEATH SPHERES which contain all aspect of the person existence.

Current range: 50 meters

"That mean in that battle—they dropped stuffs?!"

[Correct. Thousands of attribute spheres are currently dispersing above battlefield. Also: sphere from deceased cultivator’s death—complete techniques, full comprehension, intact law fragments.]

Dissipation time: 3 minutes

"WHERE?!"

[2.7 kilometers northeast. Host too slow to reach in time at current speed.

However: Multiple villagers within range performing activities. Their spheres available now.]

Kai looked around. The blacksmith hammering. Farmer lifting grain. Baker kneading. His father stretching.

Floating around each person—invisible to everyone but Kai—were small glowing spheres.

"Absorb everything nearby! Then I run!"

[Acknowledged. Auto-absorption activated.]

[Village Absorption]

The spheres flowed toward Kai like water finding a drain.

From Blacksmith Wei (hammering metal):

+3 Constitution

Kai’s muscles tightened. His bones hardened fractionally. His small body became denser, more durable. He could feel strength settling into his limbs—not much, but noticeable.

+2 Blacksmith Skill

Knowledge flooded in—how to judge metal temperature by color, proper hammer angles, heat distribution. Useless to him now, but stored perfectly.

+1 Hammer Technique

Muscle memory inserted itself. His arms knew how to swing a hammer efficiently now.

+0.4 Comprehension

A strange sensation—like his brain became slightly more capable. Processing speed increased minutely. Learning potential enhanced.

From Farmer Chen (lifting grain sacks):

+2 Constitution

More density. More strength. His legs felt sturdier.

+1 Endurance

His stamina ceiling raised. He could exert himself longer before tiring.

+3 Farming Skill

When to plant, how to till, reading weather signs—all inserted seamlessly.

+0.5 Comprehension

Another mental boost. Thoughts flowed faster. Connections formed quicker.

From Baker Liu (kneading dough):

+5 Cooking Skill

Recipes, techniques, temperature judgments, ingredient ratios—massive culinary knowledge dump.

+2 Dexterity

His fingers gained precision. His hand-eye coordination improved noticeably.

+0.3 Comprehension

From Elder Hou (walking past, using minor cultivation):

+3 Intelligence

This was profound. Kai’s thoughts suddenly operated on multiple tracks simultaneously. His mental processing capacity tripled instantly. He could think about the absorption, his father’s confused expression, the battlefield timing, and optimal running route all at once.

+2 Spirit

His perception expanded. He could suddenly sense energy in the air. Feel life forces around him. Detect ambient power flows. Most importantly: his absorption range increased from 50 meters to 68 meters.

+1 Medicine Skill

Basic herb knowledge, common treatments, diagnosis methods.

+0.5 Comprehension

From 15 other villagers performing various tasks:

+8 Constitution +4 Spirit +6 Intelligence +2 Endurance +3 Dexterity +Multiple mundane skills: Carpentry, Weaving, Animal Handling, Herb Gathering, Fishing, Pottery +2.3 Comprehension (cumulative from all sources)

Total absorption time: 4 seconds.

Absorption complete.

Gains: +13 Constitution, +6 Spirit, +9 Intelligence, +1 Endurance, +2 Dexterity, +4.0 Comprehension, +21 skill levels

New absorption range: 72 meters

Kai gasped as the changes settled.

His body felt different. Stronger, faster, more coordinated. His five-year-old frame now carried strength that shouldn’t exist.

His mind operated at speeds that made his previous thinking look sluggish. Enhanced Intelligence meant he could process information, make connections, and solve problems almost instantly.

His Spirit attribute changed everything. He could feel the world now. Energy flows, life forces, power signatures. The village population glowed in his perception like candles in darkness.

"Whoa..."

[Time to battlefield spheres: 2 minutes 30 seconds.

Recommend running. Now.]

"Dad, I’ll be right back!"

"Kai, wait—"

Kai ran.