“If Qi does not exist in this world, how would knowledge about cultivation help us?” A puzzled Mountain Rest asked.

  “I do not know if Qi exist in this world, it could be that it exists in places that I have no access to.” Xu Han corrected. A correction that prompted a question from Bookkeeper.

  “That’s strange. Mana exists everywhere. It is in the very air of this world, but you make it sound like that’s not the case with Qi. Why? Does it not exist everywhere in the Crimson Lands?”

  “Qi exists in most parts of the Lands, but the spread is not equal. There are provinces, what you called regions here, with little to no Qi, but other provinces were filled with them.”

  “Is there a reason for that?” The Dungeon Master asked, a question Xu Han was less enthusiastic to answer.

  “There are many reasons, most of which would take too long to fully explain. Seeing that we are in a different world, it doesn’t really matter to us anyway.”

  Xu Han’s avoidance of the question was quickly accepted as the cores in the chat group were not really interested in the Crimson Lands. The cores weren’t living in the Crimson Lands, and even if they wanted to, they had no way to visit.

  “So, back to my question. What good is knowledge about cultivation to us?” Mountain Rest asked again.

  “Maybe Qi does not exist in this world. Or if it does, there could be so little of it that it would not make any difference in the grand scheme of things.” Xu Han paused for a moment before continuing. “However, knowledge is its own reward. And there is something I had wanted to do since arriving to this world.”

  “What?” A dungeon core in the chat group asked.

  “I want to create a new Class.”

  Xu Han’s simple statement silenced the chat group. Whatever the other dungeon cores thought, this was not it.

  “Only the Gods can create a Class.” Snowy Grief softly said, her intrigue clear to everyone.

  “Dungeon cores are half-divine. We are demi-gods in all but name.” Xu Han said.

  “That may be true,” Bookkeeper agreed with the slightest hint of snideness in his voice, “but we are not the only demigods in the world. The Gods have sons and daughter with mortals, Classed individuals who had reached 100 levels can become demigods, yet none of them had managed to create a Class on their own before.”

  “Have any tried? Do they even know how?” Xu Han asked.

  “I do not know if any had tried, but if they did, they failed. And we don’t know how the gods create a Class either.” Bookkeeper countered.

  The author's tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

  “We don’t, but we have a method.”

  “What do you mean?” The Dungeon Master asked.

  “There is no [Cultivator] class in this world, but I know how one becomes a cultivator.” Xu Han answered simply.

  You could hear a pin drop in the silence that followed. The other dungeon cores were incredulous, more than a few believed that their new member had gone crazy, and the reason for this was simple.

  “Xu Han, you just said cultivators needed to absorb Qi into their body. If there is no Qi in this world…” The Dungeon Master left the rest unsaid, but Xu Han was undeterred. Instead, he immediately answered the question.

  “When I first arrived in this world, my dungeon fairy told me to draw in the Mana of this world. I did, and I immediately discovered that Mana was different from Qi. The…taste of it was different. But it was also similar.”

  “Similar in what way?” The Dungeon Master quietly asked, and Xu Han could hear a hint of understanding in his voice. As expected, the old wise core had immediately understood what Xu Han was implying.

  “It is like tasting a different kind of wine. It is wine, but the texture, burn, and smoothness of the drink was different.”

  Xu Han immediately realized it was a bad example as most of the cores in the chat had no idea what it meant to taste something. However, there were some cores with the power to create avatars, physical bodies of themselves, and they explained what taste is to the rest of the cores.

  “So, Qi is a different kind of wine. What about it? How does that help you, or us, create a Class?” Unlike The Dungeon Master, Mountain Rest was still puzzled about what Xu Han was trying to do.

  “If Qi is similar to Mana, maybe we can use one to replace the other.”

  Silence reigned in the chat group once more. The silence grew before a puzzled Dancing Green asked a question with barest hint of fear in his voice. “That’s insane. Can you, we, really do that?”

  “I believed so.” Xu Han answered.

  “Why?” The Dungeon Master asked.

  “Like I said earlier, cultivation starts with the art of pulling Qi into the body. However, the Qi Gathering Stage is only the start of the cultivation journey. The Qi Gathering Stage has five tiers. Low, Mid, High, Peak, and once a cultivator reached the peak of the stage, he can choose to enter the last tier, and trigger a Tribulation.”

  “A what?” One of the dungeon cores asked.

  “Think of it as a test from the Heavens. Something to prove that a cultivator is ready for the next step of their cultivation journey. If the cultivator fails, he will lose the Qi he had gathered in his body. In more extreme case, he may even die. But if he succeeds…”

  “What happen if he succeeds?” Snowy Grief asked.

  “Then, he will reach the next stage of his cultivation. His body will be stronger, he will be tougher, and he will live longer. More importantly, above the Qi Gathering Stage is the Foundation Stage. This is where a cultivator lay the groundwork of his being, the Dao of his heart, his Way of Life. Many would argue that this is the real start of the cultivation journey.” Xu Han waited for questions and continued when none was forthcoming. “For me, this is when I started to accumulate knowledge. I discovered a love for knowledge and thought that was my Dao. I…made a mistake, but for decades I thought my Way of Life was the accumulation of knowledge and I pursed it to the end.”

  “That sounds like…”

  “A Class.” The Dungeon Master finished Bookkeeper’s sentence.

  “That is correct.” Xu Han agreed. “When my dungeon fairy told me about Classes and Mana, I had no problem understanding them as they sounded a lot like cultivation stages and Qi. That is why I believe it might be possible to create a cultivator here. A [Cultivator] class.”

  The chat group was silent once more, but this time there was a sense of anticipation. Everyone was waiting for one core to speak. He was the only dungeon core with the power and prestige to make such a decision. After some time, he finally did.

  “Xu Han,” The Dungeon Master began, “tell us everything about cultivation.”