Re-birth: The Beginning after the End - Chapter 49

Chapter 49: CUE THE MONTAGE!

His warm light flickered quickly as if saying yes. “Master, as I watched and learned through your eyes and ears, I suddenly wished we had a home in this space—somewhere we could sit and talk and eat and tell stories together,” Little Firefly’s light pulsed with excitement as he recounted his discovery. “Then, all at once, a cabin appeared! When I panicked and willed it to go away, it vanished. That’s when I realized I could shape this portion of the space itself. I started experimenting, creating different types of homes based on your memories, until I found a few perfect designs.”

He paused, his light dimming thoughtfully. “What’s strange is that when your soul first transferred to this world and we received the system upgrades and new functions for this space, this ability didn’t appear in my thoughts. It seems our space holds more secrets than even I would know.”

Li Hua nodded, her expression gentle. “Don’t worry about why the ability wasn’t listed. We’ll explore and figure out all the secrets of this space together.” She smiled warmly at her spirit companion. “You are, as always, very impressive!”

She gave him a thumbs up.

Little Firefly, feeling incredibly proud, bounced out of her arms and performed an exaggerated spin in the air, his light flickering dramatically like a tiny spotlight. “I am the ALL-POWERFUL LITTLE FIREFLY!” he declared with mock grandeur, zooming around in theatrical circles. “Master of space-bending! Creator of homes! Designer of…” he paused mid-spin, “…well, mostly just homes so far, BUT STILL AMAZING!”

Li Hua chuckled at his theatrical display, watching as he zoomed and twirled through the air like a drunken firefly at a festival. His enthusiasm was infectious, and she found herself wondering what other hidden talents her spirit companion might discover in this mysterious world. The celestial diamond earrings tingled slightly, as if responding to Little Firefly’s joyful energy, reminding her that they too held secrets yet to be fully understood.

“Ok, ok settle down,” she said, her voice warm with affection. “I need to head back now, but I’ll return tomorrow night.”

Little Firefly’s light dimmed slightly at the mention of her departure, but he maintained his cheerful bounce. “I’ll be waiting, Master!” He performed one final spinning flourish before settling into a gentle hover.

With a fond smile, Li Hua withdrew from her inner space, her consciousness settling back into reality. She found herself once again nestled between her sleeping brothers, their peaceful breathing a stark contrast to Little Firefly’s energetic performance.

The warmth of their presence, combined with the lingering joy from her time with Little Firefly and the soothing effects of her bath, created a perfect moment of contentment. As she drifted toward sleep, she could still feel the celestial diamonds’ cool presence against her ears, a reminder of the extraordinary possibilities this new world held.

The next few weeks passed in a blur of focused training and newfound discoveries. Each night, Li Hua pushed her small frame to its limits within her inner space, the familiar burn of physical exertion reminding her of her previous life’s training regimen. Her four-year-old body protested at first, but gradually adapted to the demanding exercises she set for herself. The celestial diamond earrings became an integral part of her practice, their power responding more naturally to her will with each passing day.

During daylight hours, she maintained her carefully crafted façade of childhood innocence, joining her brothers in their parents’ guided training sessions. She matched her siblings’ pace perfectly—never too skilled, never too clumsy—while secretly reveling in the genuine warmth of family bonds she’d never known in her previous life.

Between sessions, she had Little Firefly experiment with duplicating items from her storage, a process that yielded an unexpected discovery: each item could be replicated exactly five times, no more and no less. This limitation, rather than disappointing her, filled her with satisfaction. Five copies of each resource meant five times the preparation for whatever challenges lay ahead.

Their father’s lessons grew increasingly detailed, revealing the intricate structure of their world. She learned that each realm operated under strict power limitations—a heavenly law that maintained order across the five realms. Their current realm, the Mystic Veil, capped all cultivation at Martial Phase Rank 2, forcing even powerful beings from higher realms to operate within these constraints while visiting.

Above them, the Ascending Plateau was capped at Martial Phase Rank 6, while the Profound Valley maintained its ceiling at Master Phase Rank 2. The prestigious Grand Eternal Realm limited cultivators to Deity Phase Rank 1, and even the legendary Celestial Plains capped power at Deity Phase Rank 4. These ceilings, their father explained, prevented chaos and protected the natural balance of power, ensuring that no single cultivator could dominate through sheer strength alone.

During these lessons, Li Hua absorbed every detail with both precision and her child’s enthusiasm. Her father taught them several breathing techniques designed to enhance their physical training, maintain their health, and lay the groundwork for future cultivation practice.

The Hierarchy system he outlined was already familiar to Li Hua, yet she still found herself genuinely impressed by the intricate details of this world’s cultivation path. When their father revealed that beyond the Fundamental Phase, all ranks in the Martial Phase and above were further broken down into Low, Mid, and High tiers, even she felt a touch of trepidation at the challenging road ahead.

Her brothers’ reactions, however, were far more entertaining—Li Wei’s eyes grew progressively wider with each new rank their father described, frantically counting the additional steps on his fingers, while Li Hao kept interrupting with increasingly outlandish questions about whether immortals could fly to the moon or spit out fire.

Their father’s patient explanations about the three tiers making cultivation exponentially more difficult were often punctuated by Li Hao’s dramatic gasps and Li Wei’s earnest attempts to memorize every word, his small face scrunched in concentration.

Between training sessions, their mother’s dedication to nourishing the family never wavered. She understood that cultivation demanded not just spiritual guidance but also physical sustenance, and each meal she prepared was a careful balance of flavors and nutrients designed to support their growing powers.

Hearty congee and pickled vegetables for breakfast provided sustained energy for morning practice, while lunch brought rice with fish and leafy greens to replenish their strength. By dinner, warming soups with tender meats helped their bodies recover from the day’s exertions. Li Hua watched with her eye for detail as her mother’s attentive care transformed the family day by day.

Where once her brothers’ collars had hung loose, they now fit snugly against fuller necks—Li Wei’s formerly thin face filling out with healthy roundness, while Li Hao’s endless energy found proper fuel in her mother’s generous portions.

Their father’s robes, previously draped with elegant formality, now stretched pleasantly across broadened shoulders as his teachings carried new strength and vitality. Even her mother, despite spending countless hours ensuring everyone else ate their fill, had gained a healthy glow to her cheeks, her elegant curves filling out her robes with renewed vitality. Her careful portioning and insistence on “just one more bowl” had replaced the subtle signs of hardship with marks of prosperity.

Soon, the anticipated day had arrived. The pale daylight was already giving way to dusk, and the full moon began to rise on the horizon, promising a night of profound significance.

As they gathered for dinner, Li Hua couldn’t help but notice the subtle signs of her parents’ unease—her father’s fingers drumming silently against his tea cup, her mother’s usual graceful movements turned slightly rigid. Though they maintained peaceful expressions, their spiritual energy flickered with barely contained agitation. Li Hua didn’t know the details of their plans, but the impending meeting with Grand Master Yu clearly weighed heavily on their minds.

“Hua’er eat more.” Her mother urged, filling her bowl.

Li Hua nodded dutifully, accepting another helping of fragrant rice and braised vegetables. She could sense the underlying tension in her mother’s movements—the way her hands trembled slightly as she ladled the food, how her eyes kept darting to her father.

Even her father, usually the picture of composure, tapped his chopsticks against his bowl in an uncharacteristic display of restlessness. Whatever awaited them at tonight’s meeting with Grand Master Yu clearly weighed heavily on their minds.