Tower of Heaven

The sun rose over the horizon and granted light to yet another day. However, this one was different from the rest. Atlas barely slept the night before, eagerly anticipating it.

The day had finally come. He had been waiting ever since he learned about the concept, but today was the day he was finally able to cultivate.

But the significance of the day was elsewhere in the eyes of the other two residents in the house. Before Atlas could even move to leave his bed, he heard the door to his room barge open.

"Happy Birthday!" Two overly excited voices called out.

Atlas nearly jumped, genuinely surprised by their entrance. Truth be told, he never really placed importance on birthdays.

He didn't even know when his true birthday was, but ever since he was adopted by his parents, that day had become his birthday.

So not only did today symbolize his 16th birthday, but also the 6th anniversary of his adoption.

"Come on, kid! Aren't you going to make a wish?" Daniel chided.

"That's right! Just because you've grown bigger doesn't mean you can hide from us!" Melody continued.

It was to be expected, but for the past 2 years, Atlas had slowly been trying to gain some independence. He still had his wish of entering the tower, so he didn't want to cling to his parents forever. Still, he never forgot the kindness they'd shown him.

So, he obliged them for small things like this.

"Okay, okay! At least let me get dressed first!" He complained, trying to grab a shirt from his closet.

Although they were slightly disappointed, they still left his room. Standing up, Atlas started getting dressed.

As someone who aspired to be a cultivator, he had done what he could to train his body even before he started. He didn't want any mishaps once he was finally able to achieve his dream.

Due to this, his body had started to grow some muscle. It wasn't anything too prominent, but he was definitely in good shape.

'I wanted to start the day off by trying to form my dantian, but a little bit of celebration never hurt anyone.'

Atlas opened his room door and walked to the living room. When he was a kid, he tended to hit the walls a lot as he walked, but nowadays he had already memorized the layout of the house.

He soon reached the room and sat down on the couch with his parents on either side of him. Together as a family, they celebrated his birthday.

They held a small party with just the three of them, eating until they could barely move, playing some small games, and even drinking some light liquor.

Atlas had never tried it before, but the slight burn he felt in his throat as the liquid passed and the buzzing feeling in his head were things he enjoyed.

The festive atmosphere lasted for the entire day, with Daniel and Melody only leaving Atlas alone when the sun began to set.

"Listen, kiddo. I know how much you've been dying to start cultivating, but take it slow. We don't want you getting injured," Daniel said with evident concern in his voice.

"We don't know much about cultivating since we both have no talent in it, but I don't doubt you can pull it off. You've always been a tenacious kid."

Melody nodded.

"As long as you're safe, we won't ask for anything else. So please don't push yourself too hard."

Gratefully receiving his parents' heartfelt concern, Atlas returned to his room. Once he arrived, he immediately sat on his bed in a meditative posture.

'The first step of cultivation is to form a dantian. Without it, there is no place for a cultivator to store their qi.'

He thought about the books he had read on the subject. After Dantian Establishment, there was the Qi Seed Realm, and after that, there was the Core Formation Realm.

These 3 realms together made up the foundation of a cultivator's strength, which was why they were collectively titled the Warrior Realms.

Entering Dantian Establishment Realm was easy. The only thing necessary to do was to gather spiritual energy into the body and lead it towards the lower navel where the dantian was located.

Every human was born with a dantian, this was without a doubt. The reason some people wouldn't cultivate was usually due to either their meridians or their body's natural disability to gather qi.

Thinking thus far, Atlas felt there wasn't much else he needed to do. He concentrated on the atmosphere to feel the spiritual energy around him.

'Spiritual energy has always been with me. When I was a child, it was the reason I didn't die. All I have to do now is consciously feel it.'

And it didn't take long. The essence permeated the atmosphere and made up a large part of the air people naturally breathed. Even for a cultivator without much talent, sensing its presence wasn't difficult.

'To gather spiritual energy, the main component is will. The will of a cultivator can affect their surroundings even in the absence of qi. This is proof that they are meant to climb the stairs of strength and ascend to the Heavens.'

The words he read were definitely flowery, but Atlas didn't think they were wrong. Especially considering the tower, he felt that the power of a cultivator could become immeasurable.

Slowly but surely, the spiritual energy in his surroundings began gathering towards him and entering the pores of his body.

'Now, I just need to direct it towards my dantian.'

It was going just like he planned. This was the easiest step to becoming a cultivator, so he knew there was no need to fret.

At least, there shouldn't have been.

The rate at which he gathered qi suddenly increased exponentially outside of his control. The energy began entering his pores at an alarming rate his body couldn't handle.

'What's going on?!'

Atlas tried his best to control its flow, but it wouldn't listen to him. In fact, it wasn't even entering his dantian as it was supposed to.

The qi inside his body congregated near his chest and started to disappear as if it was being sucked into a black hole. And even though he couldn't feel it inside his body anymore, he knew it was still there.

Atlas was panicking. This wasn't how things were supposed to go at all. Something was driving his qi berserk, but he had no clue what that thing could be.

The area of his chest where his qi disappeared slowly began to glow with an iridescent blue light akin to that of the stars. The glow soon grew to cover his entire body, encasing him in a sort of cocoon.

Atlas wasn't able to think anymore. His sole focus was on trying to control the rampant energy in his body. It was to the point where he didn't even realize the changes that were taking place outside.

'Why me?! Everything was going great, so why do unfortunate things always have to happen to me?!'

He genuinely felt that he might be dying. He was slowly losing control over his body and even the qi inside him was rapidly escaping his control.

With thoughts of unwillingness plaguing his mind, Atlas fell onto his bed lifelessly.