After deciding how he would live his life in this world, Qiuxia took his money and headed out. His predecessor's parents had died on the battlefield, so both Konoha and the clan provided a subsidy that would last until his graduation from the Ninja Academy.
Of course, if one chose not to attend the Ninja Academy, the subsidy would cut off at age six. This was exactly why so many war orphans whose parents had been simple Genin felt compelled to enroll; their parents usually didn't leave much money behind.
After all, things like Kunai, Shuriken, and Explosive Tags were far from cheap. Between equipment and basic living expenses, a Genin could rarely save much. On the other hand, the orphans of Chunin and Jonin influenced by their parents' legacies would usually enroll in the Ninja Academy to become ninjas themselves, even if they weren't hurting for money.
Though Qiuxia didn't have much, he was determined not to become a ninja. In this place, as long as he didn't starve, he was content to eat and drink well at least until the Uchiha Massacre Night passed.
The Uchiha Clan was xenophobic toward outsiders, but they were quite kind to the children of their own kin. On his way to the shops, many people greeted Qiuxia. They were either acquaintances of his predecessor or neighbors who looked out for him, and he responded to each of them politely.
Because of Konoha's marginalization of the Uchiha, the clan compound functioned like a small city, housing its own vegetable stalls, general stores, and even Nekobaa's ninja tool shop.
It didn't take long for Qiuxia to purchase his first batch of supplies: Talisman Paper, Cinnabar, and brushes. He didn't spend much; partly because he received a "little kid" discount, and partly because these items were inherently inexpensive.
After dropping his haul at home, he headed out again to buy vegetable seeds and several live chickens both roosters and hens. He also managed to get some fresh chicken blood from the butcher. After storing those at home, he took a small saw and went out a third time. He found an ancient tree within the clan grounds, climbed up, sawed off several lengths of wood, and brought them back.
After three trips and an entire morning, Qiuxia felt he had accomplished his goals. After a simple lunch, he laid out his tools and began to carve.
Nine half-meter long rollers soon sat on the table before him, each adorned with different, intricate patterns. They were beautiful to behold.
Once the carving was finished, Qiuxia began the meticulous process of channeling his Mana into the rollers. He worked with extreme focus, terrified that a single slip might destroy the Formation Base. These rollers were the foundations of his array,
and the patterns carved upon them were Formation Runes. Although his resources in this world were limited, the wood he had used for these bases taken from a tree over a hundred years old would have been highly sought after in Uncle Jiu's world.
In the Zombie World, trees of that age existed, but they were difficult to find. Here, however, never mind the rest of Konoha, the Uchiha Clan alone had plenty of trees over fifty years old.
Qiuxia's cultivation had already reached the level of a First-Rank Daoist Priest. Thanks to his powerful mental strength and high level of Mana control, consecrating these items was not overly difficult. Before long, the nine Formation Bases were complete. Though they looked no different to the naked eye, they were now fundamentally different objects.
With the bases ready, Qiuxia stepped outside to survey the terrain. He quietly used Daoist arts to ensure no observers were watching. Once confirmed, he took a small spade and began digging holes around the perimeter of his house, placing the bases inside and backfilling them with soil.
After placing the ninth Formation Base, Qiuxia began to walk the Paces of Yu in his courtyard, performing the Seven-Star Stepping while his hands blurred through seals.
As he stepped and moved his Mana, a flash of golden light erupted from the nine bases. An invisible barrier manifested, enveloping his home.
Feeling the barrier stabilize, Qiuxia nodded with a slight smile. "It's my first time trying it here, but the Daoist arts of the Dragon Country are the ancestors of Japan's Ninjutsu. This barrier will definitely work. The Spiritual Qi in this world feels incredibly active. I was too worried about Konoha discovering me to practice before, but now I can finally cultivate properly."
Having made up his mind, Qiuxia began his first cultivation session in the Naruto world. It was different from the Zombie World. There, one had to use mental perception to sense the surrounding Spiritual Qi and slowly draw it in to be refined. The most active time was during the first light of dawn.
However, even the peak dawn hours of the Zombie World couldn't compare to the baseline activity here. The moment Qiuxia reached out, he sensed an almost infinite sea of Spiritual Qi. As soon as he activated his cultivation technique, the energy rushed toward his body like a stampede.
Under the pressure of this overwhelming Spiritual Qi, a mist of blood erupted from his skin, making it look as if he might explode on the spot. Sensing the agony and the looming threat of death, his left eye the Life Mangekyo Sharingan snapped into action. It consumed its Ocular Power to instantly repair his body.
The body was destroyed by the influx of energy, then repaired, then destroyed again in a frantic cycle. The Spiritual Qi was endless, and so too was the power of his Mangekyo. While other Uchiha had limited Ocular Power even with the Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan,
though it could eventually recover Qiuxia's eye was different. Having been purged of its curse, it could absorb the very Spiritual Qi that was threatening him to replenish its own power.
The massive influx caused Qiuxia's internal Mana to skyrocket. He gritted his teeth against the pain, refining the energy as fast as he could. The 531 strands of Mana he had possessed upon his return began to climb at a dizzying speed.
If any ordinary Daoist had encountered this situation, they would have disintegrated instantly. They didn't have a specialized Mangekyo to facilitate constant regeneration, nor an eye that could turn the crushing weight of external energy into fuel for recovery.
Yet, even with the Mangekyo, there was a limit. A Daoist's Dantian had a maximum capacity for Mana at this stage. If he didn't break through before hitting that ceiling, he would still explode.
To prevent that, Qiuxia reached the limit of one thousand strands of Mana and immediately began his breakthrough. He used the sheer volume of energy to force open every meridian in his body. In the Zombie World, he would have done this slowly, one meridian at a time. But in these "extraordinary times," he used extraordinary methods.
Forcing meridians open with such violence caused severe damage. Ordinarily, such trauma would result in death, but with the Mangekyo sustaining his life, Qiuxia didn't have to worry about dying only the excruciating pain he had to endure.
To provide the Mangekyo with even more fuel, he shifted the distribution of absorbed Spiritual Qi from a 50-50 split to 90-10. Ninety percent of the energy was fed into his eye, while ten percent was converted into Mana to continue the forced opening of his meridians.
Outside his body, the blood he had shed began to congeal into a thick cocoon, looking like an oversized silkworm pupa.
He lost track of time. One by one, every meridian, large and small, was violently cleared. Once the paths were open, he began using his Mana and Ocular Power to repair the internal damage. Only once his pathways were fully mended would he begin the Grand Circulation.
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