The Quantum Path to Immortality-Chapter 209 - 208: First Training Day 1

After Bath - Evening Meal

Kai came down the stairs feeling much cleaner, wearing fresh clothes that didn’t smell like burning rocks. His hair was still damp from the bath, dripping little drops of water on his collar.

Mom had set the table while he was washing up. The smell of dinner made his stomach growl—even if his new energy body didn’t technically *need* food, it still wanted it.

Rice. Stir-fried vegetables with bits of pork. Fish soup with ginger. And—his eyes went wide—roasted chicken! They almost never had chicken except for special occasions!

"Is this because I came back alive?" Kai asked, sliding into his seat.

Dad laughed. "It’s because your mother was so worried she stress-cooked enough food for ten people."

"I was NOT stress-cooking," Mom said, but her cheeks turned a little pink. "I just... wanted to make sure everyone ate well tonight."

Yue was already at the table, eyeing the chicken like a cat watching a bird. "Can I have a leg?"

"After Kai gets some first. He’s had a long day."

Kai grinned. His parents were the best.

Dad sat down and looked at him with that serious expression adults got when they wanted to have Important Conversations. "So, Kai. You said you wanted to learn about cultivation?"

Kai nodded so hard his damp hair flung water droplets everywhere. "Yes! Dad, it was SO COOL! That guy cut a MOUNTAIN! And then he flew away! And the other guy turned into ice and then got un-iced by fire and—" He paused for breath. "—can I learn to do that?"

Dad smiled. "Well, cutting mountains takes a very long time to learn. But yes, if you have good talent, you can eventually do amazing things with cultivation."

"When can we start? Can we start now? After dinner? Please?"

"Tomorrow morning," Dad said firmly. "Early. I’ll teach you the basics—how to stand properly, how to breathe to sense energy, how to circulate Nexis."

"YES!" Kai pumped his fist in the air.

Yue immediately looked jealous. "What about me? I want to train too! It’s not fair that Kai gets to start!"

"You can join us for some of the exercises," Dad said. "The physical training is good for anyone. But the energy work..." He looked apologetic. "That has to wait until you’re ten and tested. City rules."

{Author Note: I made a mistake about the sisters age and the awakening age, Now take note, The Cultivation testing age for children is 10 years old, And Kai’s sister is 8 years old.}

Yue pouted but didn’t argue. Everyone knew the rules—cultivation instruction before testing could damage undeveloped meridians.

Of course, Kai had already absorbed enough energy to power a small city, awakened two Intents, and could fly. But his parents didn’t know that, so the rules still applied. Technically.

Mom started serving food. "Eat. Both of you have training tomorrow, so you need your energy."

Kai picked up his bowl and chopsticks.

And then proceeded to eat like he’d never seen food before in his life.

The first bowl of rice vanished in maybe thirty seconds. He scooped it into his mouth so fast the chopsticks were basically a blur.

[Energy conversion: Optimal. Continue consumption.]

The system encouraged him, which was a terrible idea.

Second bowl. Gone in twenty-five seconds.

Third bowl. Twenty seconds.

He grabbed a chicken leg and bit into it. The meat disappeared in four huge bites. Then another leg. Then a wing.

The fish soup—gone in six large gulps.

More vegetables. More rice. Another piece of chicken.

Dad’s chopsticks stopped halfway to his mouth. He just stared.

Mom set down her bowl, her expression shifting from pleased to concerned. "...Kai, are you feeling alright?"

Kai looked up, his cheeks stuffed with rice like a squirrel hoarding nuts for winter. "Mmph? Yeff, whai?" (Translation: "Yep, why?")

"You just ate enough food for three grown men," Dad said faintly. "In under two minutes."

Kai swallowed the massive mouthful of rice. "Oh. I’m... growing?"

[Accurate statement. Host is converting matter to energy at 100% efficiency. Current consumption capacity: Unlimited. Host could consume entire table and chairs if desired.]

*Please don’t suggest that,* Kai thought frantically at the system. *Mom will freak out.*

[Simply providing data points.]

Mom was still staring. "Kai, sweetie, you’re five years old. You weigh maybe twenty kilograms. You just ate at least two kilograms of food. That’s ten percent of your body weight in one meal."

Dad leaned back in his chair, looking between the nearly empty serving dishes and his small son. "Does your stomach hurt? That much food—you should be sick."

"I feel great!" Kai said honestly. His void energy cells had already broken down all the matter into pure energy, distributed it perfectly throughout his body, and converted the excess into stored power. His stomach was basically empty again. "Really good, actually!"

Yue saw her opportunity. "If Kai can eat three portions, can I have seconds too?"

"You are NOT eating three portions, young lady," Mom said automatically, still watching Kai with worried eyes. "Kai, are you sure you feel fine? No stomach ache? No nausea?"

"Nope! I’m just really hungry. Maybe it’s from all the walking I did today?"

That was technically true. He’d walked a lot. And flown. And absorbed the complete cultivation base of a Tier 4 cultivator. That probably burned calories or... void energy or whatever.

Dad rubbed his temples. "Maybe the excitement from seeing the battlefield increased his metabolism?"

"That’s not how metabolism works, Chen Wei."

"I’m trying to explain why our five-year-old is eating like a Body Tempering cultivator who just finished a month-long training session."

Kai quietly reached for another piece of chicken.

Mom gently but firmly pushed the serving plate away from him. "No more. I don’t care if you feel fine—that much food is not normal for a child your age. We’re limiting portions."

Kai made his best sad puppy eyes but didn’t argue. The last thing he wanted was to make Mom worry more than she already was.

[Host could simply absorb ambient energy instead of consuming physical food.]

*I know, but food is delicious. Why would I eat boring energy when I could eat Mom’s cooking?*

[Inefficient reasoning.]

*You’re a system. You don’t have taste buds. You don’t understand.*

[...Host makes a valid point.]

Meanwhile, Yue had successfully negotiated her way into a second (normal-sized) portion and was eating it with a smug expression.

Dad just sighed and poured himself more tea. He looked at the ceiling like he was asking the heavens for patience.

"Tomorrow," he muttered, "I’m teaching my son— eats more than he should, and went to a dangerous battlefield because he was ’curious’—how to cultivate. This is my life now."

Mom patted his shoulder sympathetically.

Kai smiled innocently and tried very hard not to think about the fact that he’d already accidentally cultivated enough to scare the entire city earlier today.

Tomorrow’s training was going to be... interesting.

Morning Training Begins

Kai woke up before the sun did.

That wasn’t unusual anymore—his energy body needed no rest.He just felt like resting, for the rest of the time, he was just... awake. Thinking. Processing.

He’d spent the pre-dawn hours practicing energy control in his room. Nothing big. Just making little spheres of void energy float between his fingers, practicing condensing and releasing them.

[Fine motor control improving. Continue practice.]

Now, sitting cross-legged on his bed, he reviewed his status.

[HOST STATUS SUMMARY:]

[Name: Chen Kai]

[Age: 5 years]

[Body Type: Void Energy Lifeform (appears human)]

[Cultivation Stage: None (has not formally begun cultivation)]

[INTEGRATED ATTRIBUTES:] [Constitution: 139] [Spirit: 109] [Intelligence: 125] [Dexterity: 40] [Endurance: 48] [Comprehension: 75.2]

[STORED ATTRIBUTES (for future integration):] [Constitution: +20,835] [Spirit: +30,109] [Intelligence: +4,948] [Comprehension: +823.6] [Nexis Spheres: 347,892]

[INTENTS MASTERED:] [Wind Intent: 100%] [Speed Intent: 100%]

[STORED LAWS:] [Wind Law: 53%] [Ice Law: 40%]

[STORED TECHNIQUES: 20]

[BLOODLINE: Terran Runes (Primordial)]

[PHYSIQUE: Void Physique]

When the first light started creeping through his window, turning the sky from black to dark blue to pink, Kai hopped out of bed.

Today was training day!

He got dressed in the simple training clothes Mom had laid out last night—loose pants and a wrapped shirt that let him move easily. Then he crept downstairs as quietly as he could.

Dad was already in the kitchen, drinking tea and looking way too awake for someone who’d been up late doing merchant account books.

"Morning, Kai," Dad said with a smile. "Ready to train?"

"So ready!" Kai bounced on his toes. "When do we start? Now? Can we start now?"

"After breakfast. Training on an empty stomach is a bad idea."

They ate quickly—Kai very carefully limiting himself to a normal child-sized portion even though his void energy cells were basically screaming for more fuel. Mom watched him like a hawk the entire time.

When breakfast was done, Dad led him out to the back yard.

The sun was just peeking over the city walls, painting everything gold and orange. The air was cool and fresh. A few birds were starting to sing.

It was perfect training weather.

Yue came stumbling out a few minutes later, still looking half-asleep, her hair sticking up in funny directions.

"M’here," she mumbled. "Ready to train."

"You’re still wearing your sleeping robe," Dad pointed out.

"...I’ll go change."

While Yue went back inside to actually get dressed, Dad stretched his arms over his head, warming up his muscles.

"Alright, Kai. First lesson of cultivation: before you can do anything fancy with energy, you need a strong body. Your body is the container for your power. Weak container, weak power."

Kai nodded seriously. That made sense.

"We’ll start with basic physical conditioning. Running, stretching, strength exercises. This builds your endurance and prepares your meridians to handle Nexis flow later." 𝚏𝕣𝐞𝗲𝐰𝕖𝐛𝐧𝕠𝕧𝚎𝚕.𝐜𝚘𝗺

"Okay!"

"But Kai," Dad’s expression turned serious. "I need you to promise me something."

"What?"

"Don’t try to show off. Don’t push yourself too hard. I know you’re excited, and I know you’re probably talented, but injuries from overtraining can last a lifetime." Dad put a hand on his shoulder. "Slow and steady wins the race. Understand?"

"I understand," Kai said. And he meant it. He’d be careful.

[System advisory: Recommend limiting displayed physical capability to avoid parental concern.]

*Way ahead of you, System.*

Yue came back out, properly dressed this time, and they were ready to begin.

Exercise 1: Running

Dad demonstrated proper running form—back straight, arms pumping at ninety-degree angles, breathing steady through the nose.

"The key is consistency," he explained. "Don’t sprint—pace yourself. We’ll run laps around the yard. Twenty laps to start. Nice and easy."

The yard was about fifteen meters on each side, so twenty laps would be... Kai’s enhanced brain calculated automatically... one thousand two hundred meters. A bit over one kilometer.

Easy.

Too easy.

Way, way too easy for someone who’d flown nine kilometers in three seconds yesterday.

*Okay. Remember. Normal five-year-old. Act normal.*

"Ready?" Dad asked. "And... begin!"

Kai started running, and immediately had to fight every instinct in his body.

His legs wanted to launch him forward at superhuman speeds. His void energy wanted to circulate and enhance every movement. His Speed Intent tried to activate automatically.

*No!* he told his body firmly. *Slow. Human slow. Normal child slow.*

It was like trying to walk through honey. Every step felt wrong—too slow, too weak, too inefficient.

Yue was running ahead of him, her longer legs giving her an advantage. She was already breathing hard by lap three.

Kai kept his pace deliberately slower than hers. He forced his breathing to sound labored even though his energy body didn’t produce lactic acid or experience muscle fatigue.

*This is so weird,* he thought. *I’m pretending to be tired when I could run for three days straight without stopping.*

By lap ten, Yue was panting. "This... is... harder... than I thought!"

"Keep going!" Dad called encouragingly. "You’re doing great!"

Kai made himself look tired too. He let his steps get a tiny bit heavier. Added a small stumble on lap twelve to sell the performance.

Dad was running beside them, barely even breathing hard. Body Tempering realm cultivation gave him way more endurance than normal people.

Twenty laps done.

Yue collapsed dramatically onto the grass. "I’m dead. Tell Mom I died doing something heroic."

Kai sat down carefully, making sure to look appropriately winded. He even did some fake heavy breathing for good measure.

Dad smiled. "Excellent work, both of you! Kai, you kept pace with your sister even though she’s three years older. That’s impressive stamina."

*If only you knew,* Kai thought. *I could have done five thousand laps.*

But he just smiled and said, "Thanks, Dad!"

[Performance assessment: Adequate deception. Father appears convinced.]

After a water break and some stretching, Dad had them sit down on the grass in meditation pose.

"Now for the important part," he said, his expression turning serious. "Energy circulation."

Kai’s ears perked up. This was what he’d been waiting for!

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