Chapter 1: First step into a new world

It was a warm summer day Little Whinging. Perfect manicured grass swayed in the slight breeze. The playground was full of children running, jumping and swinging though if you looked closely you would see one rather rotund child running around pushing other children down. Parents chatted at the benches not even bothering to watch. This though is not what we are here to see this day. Across from the park rests one of the older buildings in Little Whinging, the public library.

Nestled into a little reading nook in near the back of the library a small boy can be seen. His bright green eyes locked onto the text in front of him. His black hair hung low over his forehead blocking what would look like a lightning bolt scar from being seen. If he was seen by a random person one might mistake him for a 5 year old with his short stature and skinny form but no this was Harry James Potter age 7.

Across from his nook a large bookcase rested. On this bookcase many books both new and old rested. Hanging from the ceiling directly above the bookcase you could find a sign that read Chinese Fiction. This section of the library had been installed only 6 months prior in an effort to spread culture from regions outside of England. Sure other nationalities had their own new sections but the Chinese section is what drew in the young child.

Only about half of the books located on the shelf was written in English the other half was written in Classical Chinese. Harry had read most of the English stories that he enjoyed and in an effort to read even more had forced himself to learn Chinese. Some might find it hard but Harry had picked up the language quickly. The books he enjoyed the most were listed as Xianxia. Basically stories of younger children that dove into the art of Cultivation, where they would rise up from being oppressed as the weakling of the clan or sect to be this all powerful Immortal martial artist.

Harry would sleep some nights in his cupboard dreaming of himself being one of these children. Finding that special something inside him where he rose to greatness and stood above all the children in his school that ignored him or picked on him, like Dudley. Of coarse he would wake the next morning to banging on the stairs demanding he wake to make breakfast for the family before he was kicked out of the house to do his morning yard work. He would then come in to hopefully eat any leftovers from the breakfast the Dursleys had already finished before he washed the dishes. On good days that would be it, he would be kicked out of the house to roam around or in most cases visit the library.

The library was his safe haven, if he wandered around Dudley and his friends would normally hunt him down and have him play Harry Hunting with them with him normally ended up bruised. The library though was a location of safety after Dudley had ripped a book apart and had been kicked out. The Dursleys of coarse didn't care where he went as long as he wasn't near them. And so he had started reading. Fantasy caught his attention right away. He enjoyed stories of adventure and exploration. He enjoyed stories of magic and wonder even if that word was banned from ever being mentioned in the Dursleys presence.

While everywhere else he was known as a delinquent that was just as likely to steal and destroy as help here he was known as the quiet child. The librarians had learned that even if outside he was known as one thing inside the library he was quiet and respectful. He always put up his books and always respected their authority.

Recently things had changed for Harry though. Just a few days prior just 3 days before school had let out for summer he had been cornered by Dudley's gang. In a desperate attempt to escape what was sure to be a beating. After a chase that lasted only a few minutes Harry had been trapped in a alley in between school buildings and with terror racing through his veins Harry hoped with all his might to be somewhere else and something answered his call. In a different time and place Harry who had no safe haven would have appeared on the roof of a nearby school building, he would have been found after a few hours by teachers and the Dursleys would have been alerted to their wayward nephew. Here things were different, instead of a small jump that was almost unnoticeable to Harry, he felt a twist and pull from his chest as space seemed to twist around him before he found himself falling onto his favorite chair in the library.

Now just a few days later we find Harry once again in his favorite chair doing what he loves to do to any outside observers. Inside though his mind was twisting in on itself, he had done something he had never actually thought possible. Over the last few days he had been searching himself for the location of that pull he had felt to no result. No matter how he poked or prodded himself nor how hard he searched in his mind he was unable to locate the power he felt before. So engrossed with his introspective he failed to notice one of the older librarians approach.

"Good afternoon Harry."

With a near silent yelp Harry's attention came back to reality before turning to the librarian. The librarian pushing a trolley with a fairly large box on top.

"Oh sorry to startle you my boy. I just wanted to let you know we received a new shipment of books for the Chinese section and I thought you would be interested in looking through them before we put them up, I do know how much you love them after all"

Harry hearing this jumped up to answer. "Oh its okay Mrs. Tuesdale. I should have been paying attention, but I would love to look through the new books before they get put up. Maybe they have a few new Xianxia stories in there."

With a smile and a small nod the librarian pushed the cart up before turning to return to her other duties. "Just let me know when you get done with them and I will put them up."

Harry not wasting a moment dove at the fairly large box that was left before him. The box lid had already been removed and he could see all the different colors used to bind the books. What drew his attention though was a thin brown book with nothing written on the spine. It couldn't have been more than a few centimeters thick but it looked ancient. Opening the tome Harry could tell that it had been hand written. The pages looked yellowed from old age yet they all seemed to be in perfect condition otherwise. It was also written in what looked to be a slightly older dialect of Chinese than he was used to.

Flipping to the first page in the book Harry began to read.

Welcome young disciple you have been chosen to step upon the path to enlightenment. Within these pages you will be taught the art of Qi. Qi is a grand force that makes up the universe around us. By mastering yourself and Qi Immortality awaits you.

The first paragraph drew him in. Even knowing this was likely just a story written to entertain the reader he couldn't help but hope that something he found within the pages would help him in his goal of finding whatever it was that allowed him to teleport the way he did. On he read as the book described what Qi was and what the benefits to using it was. While the book wasn't broken up in to chapters per say it did have what seemed to be the end of the introduction. The next part was what really drew him in even further.

Now that you understand the power you seek let us move on to unlocking your own inner reservoir of Qi. This point is the hardest part as only someone with an extremely large inner core will be able to start Cultivation without unlocking it. This is also one of the most dangerous parts of early Cultivation. If you wish to unlock your core one of two things must occur. You must either take the Core Unlocking Medicine, Instructions on how its made are written below, or you must go through such a traumatic event that your own body and soul forces your core to respond to protect yourself.

Below this was a recipe with a large amount of unknown ingredients as well as a very complicated crafting process. Harry knew he would never be able to craft the Core Unlocking Medicine and felt crushing defeat at the fact he might never find what his power was. Regardless of his depression Harry pressed on reading further.

If you are unsure if your core has been unlocked and you are in need of the medicine ask yourself these probing questions. Have you ever done something that seems impossible? Have you ever done anything outside of what everyone else can do? If you can answer yes to this you very likely have your Core unlocked already and can take the next step on your path to greatness.

His eyes widened. He was doing impossible tasks already. His Core must already be unlocked though he wasn't sure what could have caused his Core to unlock. Greedily he continued to read.

Congratulations on taking your first step on the path of Cultivation. Now that your Core is unlocked you will have access to your Qi. Do not worry if you don't know how to access it yet as that is what this manual is here to teach. If you have just unlocked your Core I would suggest delaying for a week for your Core to settle.

Moving on to your first major task. You need to access your Core. To do this is requires a large amount of focus and will but becomes much easier as you practice it. We will begin with Meditation. Meditation will balance your Body and Spirit and allow you to focus inward and locate your Core. Once you have located your core your task is to coax your Qi out from it and through your body. What this is doing is Tempering your body. As such the First Stage of Cultivation is called Body Tempering. Each Stage is marked by a strengthening of the body and even at the first stage you will already be half again as strong as a non cultivator.

The book continued on talking about circulating the Qi in the body as well as possible problems one might run into as they start their journey. Unfortunately around 26 pages in the book abruptly ended. What looked like a section of torn out pages is all that remained. While it was upsetting losing the latter section of the book, having something he could try gave Harry a little hope that he could do something great with his life. While he wasn't sure if what he would be trying was actually Cultivation he wanted with all his heart to find something that made him special.

Closing the book Harry moved himself deeper into his nook where the evening sun shown down brightly and warmed his body. While there were chairs and tables available there were also large pillows one could relax on and that was where he chose to make his first attempt at meditation. Knowing that the location he chose was quiet and calming helped with his relaxation and soon Harry was on the verge of consciousness. Just before he did reach the point of sleep he felt something. He had unknowingly synced his body and soul creating the balance that he needed to access his Core. If he had been 11 and at Hogwarts this connection would have been forced by a bonding of the artifact known as a wand to his core thus damaging his chances at cultivation. Properly synced though the energy in his core, which to most in the west was known as Magic but others in the east as Qi, began to stir.

Where before it Harry's Qi had only moved when forced by accident now it responded to his direct request. To Harry it felt as if he had been submerged in a warm bath with heat radiating from his chest toward his extremities. When he attempted to reach within it though it seemed to slip away. After multiple attempts and almost loosing his state of meditation he remembered a section he had read. Qi will not respond to a forceful grab, the harder you grab at it the more it will slip away. It must be guided and coaxed slowly at first until his control over it has grown.

Remembering this Harry slowed his approach to the energy no longer making grabs at it but more enticing it to move. At first it only seemed to churn before it slowly shifted. With the shift came a different feeling a slight sickening feeling to his mind like something was holding it back. Not to be denied though Harry coaxed it even harder to bypass whatever it was that blocked it away and it responded. Slowly at first like it was water draining through a sieve the energy started to shift out of his Core.

As this occurred unknowingly to Harry a binding placed on his core some five years ago started to weaken. The flow of Qi out of his core eroding the small holes left in the binding for his "Magic" to flow when in need. Over the next few hours as he continued to circulate his Qi the binding would dissolve into nothingness leaving his Qi able to flow freely. Having a safe place in the library was heaven sent. If this had been done while he was at his house in his cupboard certain detectors installed by a old goat currently in a old castle somewhere in Scotland would have descended upon him with a fervor to make sure it never happened again.

Shortly after the binding finished eroding away and the Qi finished its first slow circulation of his body a change came over him. Sweat started to pour from his body and damage that had been left unhealed or miss healed started to correct itself. The pain of this would have been unbearable had his meditation not been so deep that even pain couldn't reach him. Bones in his arms, legs, and chest which had been broken from beatings by his uncle and cousin straightened damage to the marrow mended itself. New blood started to slowly be built enhanced by the Qi now flowing through his skeleton. Over the next day small unfelt changes to his body would complete.

Roughly 4 hours after he sat down to begin Harry Potter came out of his meditation. Even out of it Harry could feel his energy infusing his bones making them stronger. He had begun his path of cultivation and had taken the first step into the Body Tempering Realm.

A/N: The first 2 chapters had been written for a while before i even started writing the rest of this story. While I have a literally notebook full of notes for this story I don't have anything actually written. I will try and update this as often as possible but only expect one or two chapters a week as I work 12 hour shifts 3 or 4 times a week.