In the end, Liang Wei did the only thing that made sense.
He took off the black shirt he was wearing and put it on the unconscious girl.
It was big on her. Too big, in fact, but that was a good thing. The fabric covered her down to a little past her thighs, which was enough for now.
He lifted her from the ground with ease and adjusted her onto his back. Her head fell over his shoulder, her hair brushing against his neck. And he could feel her slow breathing against his skin.
'She weighs less than I expected.'
And without further delay, he started walking.
He had no idea where to go. Everything around him looked the same: trees, more trees…
The sun had already completely set, and the only thing lighting the path was the faint moonlight filtering through the leaves.
He couldn't afford to just stay there doing nothing either.
So he simply chose a direction and moved forward.
The minutes passed quickly, and the forest didn't change. Just trees and silence. He couldn't even hear animals or insects. It was as if the entire place was dead.
'Is this forest empty, or are the creatures hiding from something?'
He didn't know which option was correct, so he kept walking.
An hour later, after walking without stopping, he found a rock formation among the trees. And in it, an opening. A cave.
It wasn't large, and the entrance was partially hidden by vegetation and roots hanging from above.
But it looked deep enough to serve as shelter.
Liang Wei approached carefully.
He looked inside. Only to see darkness; he couldn't see beyond a few meters. But he didn't feel any presence. No movement and no sound.
"This will have to do."
He entered.
The cave was wider inside than it seemed from the outside. The ceiling was high enough for him to stand without bending, and the ground was relatively flat.
He left the girl leaning against one of the walls, making sure her head wouldn't hit the rock. She didn't even move. She was still completely unconscious.
Then he went out to look for wood.
It didn't take him long. There were dry branches everywhere, and some leaves that could serve as tinder. He gathered them into a pile near the cave entrance, where the smoke could escape without suffocating them.
Then he took two branches and started rubbing them together.
It took longer than he would have liked to admit, but eventually a small spark appeared. Then another. Until the dry leaves began to smoke and finally a small flame came to life.
After lighting it, Liang Wei sat down on the ground, in front of the fire.
From where he was, he could see the girl. Bai Lihua, the dragoness over five thousand years old who was now sleeping wrapped in his shirt.
Her white hair fell over her face and the small horns peeked out between the strands.
He looked at her for a few seconds. But not really at her. His mind was somewhere else.
'Another world…'
He raised his right hand and observed it in the firelight. The knuckles, the fingers. The lines of the palm. Everything was the same as before… he even still had the battle marks on them.
'How is that possible?'
He had no answer, and probably wouldn't have one anytime soon.
He lowered his hand and sighed. Then he remembered something.
'The system said that if I meditated in the lotus position, my Qi would increase.'
He had nothing better to do. And if he wanted to survive in this world, he needed to understand how it worked. That was the only thing he knew for certain.
So he tried it.
He adjusted himself on the ground, crossing his legs in the lotus position, with his back straight and his hands resting on his knees. With his eyes closed.
'Don't think about anything…'
That was harder than it sounded. His mind wouldn't stop moving. Thoughts about where he was. About what had happened. About the unconscious girl a few meters away from him.
But little by little, he managed to calm them.
The sensation was similar to before, when he transferred Qi to her. That internal river flowing through his body. But this time, instead of pushing it outward, he simply let it flow.
The system appeared beside him in response.
[Cultivation initiated.]
[Qi: 2290/5000]
[+5 Qi]
[+5 Qi]
[+5 Qi]
The numbers kept rising, slowly but steadily.
Liang Wei lost track of time.
Meditating was… strange. It wasn't exactly boring. It was more like being suspended in a void where nothing existed except him and that energy flowing.
There were no thoughts or worries.
When he finally opened his eyes, the fire had been reduced to embers.
How much time had passed?
He looked at the system.
[Time cultivating: 3 hours.]
[Qi generated by meditation: +300]
[Qi generated by passive bond: +75]
[Current Qi: 2665/5000]
'Three hundred in three hours…'
It wasn't bad, but it wasn't fast either.
If he needed to reach 5000 for the next step, that meant… more than twenty hours of continuous meditation.
It was an absurd amount of time.
He looked toward the girl, who was still sleeping in exactly the same position as before.
Then Liang murmured quietly.
"System."
The golden screen appeared instantly.
"How does the Qi limit work? How do I reach twenty thousand?"
[Purified Qi Realm Progression:]
[Stage 1: Maximum Qi 5,000. Requirement to advance: Qi Control at 50%.]
[Stage 2: Maximum Qi 10,000. Requirement to advance: Qi Control at 100%.]
[Upon completing both stages, the cultivator ascends to the Qi Sea Realm.]
[Note: Upon ascending a Realm, Qi control resets to 20%, but acquired abilities are retained.]
Liang Wei processed the information.
'It was expected that controlling Qi would be required to level up…'
It made sense. There was no point in having an ocean of energy if he didn't know how to use it.
'I should focus on raising Qi control to 50%...'
That meant meditating wasn't enough. He would have to practice somehow. Use Qi actively until his control improved.
'Tomorrow.'
For now, he needed to rest.
He looked toward the cave entrance. Outside everything was dark and silent. There were no signs of danger, but that didn't mean there was nothing out there.
He tossed a few more branches onto the fire to keep it alive a little longer.
Then he lay down on the ground, using his arm as a pillow.
It wasn't comfortable. The rock was hard and cold in some places. But he had slept in worse conditions before.
'With just two hours, I'll be fine…'
After that final thought, Liang Wei closed his eyes.
The last thing he saw before falling asleep was the silhouette of the girl against the wall,
illuminated by the glow of the embers.
Tomorrow he would have to deal with her.