Isaac had been humiliated, Isekai'd, learned about cultivation, and now he was already in a secret realm.
He was quite literally speed-running his cultivation story. It was a bit amusing.
That being said, he needed to gather his thoughts and truly plan something out.
Looking around, most other people were also gathering information and formulating a plan.
It looked as if the others were either wary of fighting or it was strictly forbidden. He wanted to use this temporary peace to think.
When he first heard he was late for the Spiritual Sword Sect's recruitment, he had thought his 'handler' had purposely sent him a day late.
But looking at now he was currently in a secret realm, perhaps he was always meant to come here.
Unlike the grounded Spiritual Sword Sect, the Great Love Sect was clearly the much better option.
Isaac thought his assumption was probably close to the truth, but without any direct evidence, he simply left it at the back of his mind.
Next came the mysterious organization that was the cause of his arrival in this universe.
To summarize what he knew: There existed other universes; cultivation and other powers were real; his home universe, where Earth resided, was sending out talented people to other universes.
The thing that concerned him the most was the reason people were being sent to other universes.
He doubted it was for diplomatic reasons since his presence was basically that of an ant compared to gods and immortals.
The only other logical option then was that he had been sent to spy and infiltrate this universe.
As an ant, he was nothing, and it was for that fact alone that he was a perfect spy.
But at the same time, an ant was just an ant.
Any information it would perceive was leagues below what a universal organization needed.
That was why they didn't use just regular ants, but talented ones. Adding a 'gift' on top of their own talent gave them the potential to grow from ants to humans.
It was a pretty good theory, and Isaac felt he was definitely somewhat close to the answer.
Seeing the other cultivators begin to gather around, Isaac decided to instead walk towards the distant mountain range.
Though entering the gathering would have netted him some useful information, he deemed it wasn't worth the risk.
From arrogant young masters to potentially outing himself as not from this universe, it simply wasn't worth it in his eyes.
Instead, he needed to find himself a body cultivation manual.
Unlike the natives of this world, the only information he knew about cultivation was from the web novels he had read.
But even then, most novels didn't go into the nitty-gritty details of everything, usually just giving a realm a name and then moving on.
Acknowledging his lack of information, he wondered if he should have headed into the meeting, but he shook his head in disagreement.
He wasn't that much of a social guy; it drained him. Only when he had enough strength to protect himself would he interact with others.
Currently, he was walking along a river to the nearby mountain range.
Though it was only a hunch, he felt a mountain range was a place where opportunities were plentiful.
There were classic stories of protagonists falling off cliffs or finding hidden caves where they discovered a secret manual or artifact that launched their start.
Isaac felt that if he were lucky enough, he too would chance upon a fortuitous opportunity.
With a source of fresh water by his side, he began his week-long journey to the base of the mountains.
As a farm boy, Isaac managed himself well in the wilderness.
He knew how to light a fire, catch fish, and test berries for edibility.
He also took the time to train his body along the way, which now doubled the expected week-long trip to two.
In Isaac's eyes, a good physique was a must-have before truly starting any body cultivation.
Or maybe he had it backward; working out was itself body cultivation.
Using techniques from a manual simply served to enter the next stage of body cultivation.
Isaac had a funny thought: perhaps he should call this realm 'Mortal Development,' the realm before stepping into what most consider body cultivation.
In the end, he decided to leave the thought behind. By the end of the day he would reach the base of the mountain.
Though not completely back to his peak, he had cleaned himself of the rust that had been eroding his body.
Two weeks wasn't nearly enough time to reach his level of fitness, but Isaac knew there were some mystical involvements in the background.
Everything from the fish to the berries to even the water and air contained within them wisps of energy.
The food was immensely dense in nutrients, the water was refreshing to the touch, and the air had a clear aroma.
Currently residing in a cultivation world, it was obvious the energy was Qi or spiritual energy.
Web novels tended to use the names almost interchangeably, so either would work but Isaac preferred the latter.
Name aside, its physical effects were quite apparent: increased recovery, vitality, strength, reaction time, etc.
It served as a real all-around buff; perhaps when Isaac learned to wield the energy, he could control it for more specific tasks.
In the two weeks, he had tried to sense spiritual energy, but he grasped at nothing.
Compared to the other cultivators in the realm, this was his biggest disadvantage.
According to the senior cultivator's announcement, most of the other participants had their progress abolished.
So they must have had experience with handling spiritual energy.
While he indeed could have asked a senior cultivator for help, it was too much of a risky endeavor.
It would expose his status as a mortal, leaving him at the mercy of other, more experienced cultivators.
It was the same reason he traveled to the mountains, somewhere that should be a remote area.
It was a bit lonely hiking alone, but he always set his mind to his goal.
The discomfort from training, the difficulty of hunting, and the beautiful nature surrounding him distracted him from the nagging loneliness.
High-level cultivators would sometimes go into seclusion for years, even centuries at a time.
Though Isaac wasn't even close to such a level, he couldn't fathom how any human stayed sane.
Or perhaps it was due to such long seclusions that most cultivators were seen as laughably immature compared to their old age.
There were always scenes of million-year-old seniors raging at a twenty-year-old kid for the pettiest of reasons.
It was both mind-numbingly stupid and laughable to read.
These exact thoughts were the ones Isaac would reminisce about to keep himself entertained while walking toward the mountain.
That was until he had something to do, like setting up camp near the waterfall that resided at the base of the mountain.
He had finally arrived at his destination.