Accidental Cultivator
Chapter 11
Learning new skills
Ling Mai stood in the middle of the hall whilst everyone stared at her, making her feel self-conscious and very embarrassed. She vaguely pointed towards the two, foot-shaped holes in the ceiling and attempted to explain herself, “Well I do have a pretty good technique that I have attempted to learn semi-successfully, and a few of my own techniques, but that, “ she pointed towards the ceiling, “was caused by my feet.” Seeing the look of confusion on the mayor’s face she gave up trying to explain how the holes were created and decided to distract the Mayor by demonstrating a technique.
“I am Ling Mai. I have attack and defence techniques that I have developed. Which would you like to see?” She asked whilst bowing respectfully to the mayor.
“Really? You have developed defence techniques at such a young age?” The mayor showed great surprise but also keen interest. “They are very hard to create. How effective is your shield?” Ling Mai felt a bit exacerbated by the Mayor as he kept looking at the holes in the ceiling. She realised the reason he was doubtful was due to the fact that defence techniques were the hardest to create as they had to account for different types of energies and the attack techniques used. On the other hand, some attack techniques were designed purely to penetrate shields, more than to hurt the opponent, and so to allow follow-up attacks. Grandma Tang had given her a brief rundown on what she knew of techniques and cultivation though she had admitted she knew next to nothing,
Ling Mai didn’t feel offended by his lack of belief in her abilities. She didn’t know how hard it was to create techniques, especially defensive types.
“I haven’t tested it yet but it should work as I have put a lot of thought into it. I would normally just neutralise or absorb an attack but if taken by surprise or if the attack was overwhelming then my defensive shield will respond automatically,” she explained. She looked at the Mayor but decided not to demonstrate it with him. She glanced at the others and then settled her gaze on Lord Jai.
“No, no, no! I am not going to attack you!” He hastily retreated while holding out his hands in a warding gesture. “The last time I attacked you I lost my robes and all my hair!”
Lady Meng walked over to Ling Mai whilst scolding Lord Jai, “And let that be a lesson to you. Not all harmless-looking people or beasts are unable to retaliate and attack you or bite you if you attack them indiscriminately.”
Lord Jai looked slightly contrite but mainly just kept a wary eye on Ling Mai. He retreated to stand behind Elder Xing.
The Mayor had been wondering why Lord Jai was in his underwear and was hairless, including even the hair of his eyebrows and eyelashes. It gave him the weird look of a tailor’s mannequin, sans the pins.
A burst of laughter came from the doorway. The Mayor’s lackeys were peeking in from the hall’s anteroom. A quick glance from the mayor silenced the laughter, with the lackeys disappearing from sight with alacrity.
Lord Jai didn’t seem at all perturbed by the laughter, he simply shrugged in resignation. Looking at his sister he pleaded, “Can you give me a robe please.”
Lady Meng looked through her storage ring and retrieved a plain black robe and some sandals. Lord Jai donned them, looking relieved at being dressed for the first time in over twelve hours.
Lady Meng turned to Ling Mai and asked with a lifted eyebrow, “Would you like me to pretend to attack you?”
“Sure, just let me modify my defence to be less reactive and at a lower level of response.”
Lady Meng looked interested, so Ling Mai explained, “My defence has multiple layers. The inner ones, or if you can imagine a number of layers like onions, have greater power and more severe reactions depending on the type of attack and the power. Physical attacks are easily blocked no matter the force or concentration of power. I am quite proud of the solution I came up with. Not only is the resistance to penetration exponential in nature but the shield is anchored to the earth and rock beneath us. It is even resistant to vibration as it is dampened with multi-directional energy tethers. The first layers are mostly sensory arrays to determine the type, power and direction of the attack. The next layers neutralise energy attacks by absorbing the energies and both storing these energies in automatically multiplying vortexes and reflecting the attacks back at the attackers. If attackers hide behind innocent bystanders then it only absorbs the energies.”
Lady Meng looked stunned. “Where did you learn how to do this? Who is your teacher? I have never heard of such a defence.” She and the Elder looked overwhelmed.
Ling Mai laughed, “Your storage Ring was my teacher. I just extrapolated from the protection runes I found and analysed on your ring. In some ways, it does less than your ring as my shield can not create or interact with a storage dimension. In other ways it is more sophisticated as it can keep track of people and beasts in the vicinity, do energy attacks and link with the environment. Other aspects are just more developed abilities that your storage ring does.”
Lady Meng and the elder had been nodding along as they absorbed Ling Mai’s explanation but they were once again shocked when she concluded by saying, “The last layer is to respond with Heavenly Tribulation Lightning. Of course, I have temporarily disabled that final defence layer for this demonstration.” Ling Mai smiled at their flabbergasted response. She knew from Grandma Tang’s previous reaction that manipulation of Heavenly Tribulation Lightning was unheard of.
“Thank heavens for small mercies,” mumbled Lady Meng. “Just how did you obtain Heavenly Tribulation Lightning?” She asked Ling Mai doubtfully.
Ling Mai wondered why Lady Meng hadn't guessed at the source. She dismissed her thoughts and put the questions she had for her into the back of her mind. They could wait until later as they were unimportant in the scheme of things. She decided she needed to be serious as these were important nobles and they were helping her for free.
“I absorbed them when you advanced and attracted the heaven’s response. It was slightly tricky as this type of lightning doesn’t like being controlled. I had to use a special type of energy to subdue it.”
Looking nonplussed, Lady Meng asked, “And you, of course, worked out how to do that by yourself?”
It was more a statement than a question, but Ling Mai answered it anyway, “I had been identifying types of energies and had mostly identified almost one hundred energy types. The special energy I used seemed to interact with other energy types which gave me the idea to try it with the energy from the clouds when it came down as lightning. I didn’t know Heavenly Tribulation Lightning couldn’t be manipulated. I guess I was just lucky I chanced upon a way of subduing it. It was a bit touch-and-go for a minute. It really didn’t want to be controlled.”
A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.
Lady Meng stared at Ling Mai for a few seconds, then gave instructions, “Everyone move to the foyer of the hall. I don’t want any accidents if stray energy escapes my”, she paused, “our control.”
Lord Jai promptly scampered to the foyer. He had learnt not to be around Ling Mai when she was defending herself. Undignified it may be, but discretion was superior to valour when Ling Mai was around.
Lord Xing and the Mayor followed more sedately, though the Mayor did look apprehensive, glancing between Lady Meng and Ling Mai with both confusion and concern. Ling Mai realised that he didn’t want anything happening to the nobles in his town. She decided this was prudent as some nobles were very arrogant and would blame him for any disrespect or injury incurred in his town.
Ling Mai turned back to Lady Meng who had taken out a practice sword and was flourishing it to limber up. Ling Mai looked at her in consternation, “Are you going to use that sword?” She asked worriedly.
“Yes. Will it be a problem?” Lady Meng looked perplexed. “How did you expect me to attack you?”
“Ah, it is not a problem if you don’t mind losing that sword,” she replied, then explained, “My defence shield will disintegrate any weapon used in an attack.”
Lady Meng frowned then re-sheathed the sword and swapped it for a wooden practice sword. “This better?” She asked.
“It is up to you. It doesn’t matter to me if it is a Legendary sword or just a stick. They all are the same to my shield.”
Lady Meng looked surprised then intrigued. She swapped back to the steel practice sword. She looked eagerly at Ling Mai, and stated, “I want to see this.”
Ling Mai realised that Lady Meng was so rich she didn’t value a sword that would sell for an amount that would feed Ling Mai for almost a year. Though now she was eating better quality meals and three meals a day with Grandma Tang, the money would only last a few months.
Seeing how keen Lady Meng was to see her sword disintegrate, Ling Mai closed her eyes to concentrate on reviewing her defensive shield. She didn’t want anything to go wrong. She also called on her sub-minds to help both review her shield and to be ready for the mock battle. She was keen to analyse Lady Meng’s attack technique. She could use this battle to improve her shield and maybe even learn some attack techniques. She smiled and opened her eyes.
“Okay, I am ready now. Attack whenever you want. I have double-checked that the Heavenly Tribulation Lightning defence is switched off.”
Lady Meng didn’t seem worried. Ling Mai guessed that if she had already survived her levelling up then the small amount of Heavenly Tribulation Lightning that Ling Mai had was inconsequential.
Lady Meng bowed, so Ling Mai returned her bow. “Is this what people do when doing mock battles? I guess it is a way of showing respect for your opponent. I wonder what else I need to learn? What happens after the battle, and what indicates it is time to stop?”
Lady Meng asked, “Do you want to take out a sword or just show how effective your defence shield is against me?”
Ling Mai thought for a second whether or not to pretend she could use a sword then decided to keep it simple. It was the first time testing this new shield. She shook her head and set herself into one of the stances she had been shown.
Lady Meng stilled, then disappeared. Ling Mai’s energy sense recognised an application of wind energy to help move both Lady Meng’s feet, legs, hands and arms and separate wind energy applied to her body and head to keep them moving smoothly. She only had a split-second to feel appreciation for Lady Meng’s skilled use of wind energy, before she was attacked from behind.
A sonic boom crashed out as Lady Meng had exceeded the sound barrier. Lady Meng thrust her sword at Ling Mai whilst imbuing it with wind energy in the form of a blade that slashed at Ling Mai with incredible speed. Ling Mai could feel the piercing pressure and a sword image was incorporated into this attack. As Ling Mai’s shield started to react Ling Mai concentrated on this sword image. She tried emulating this image in retaliation to Lady Meng’s attack. As her shield absorbed and reflected the wind blade and her physical layer triggered a disintegration energy discharge against the sword, Ling Mai’s sword image clashed with Lady Meng’s, successfully neutralising it.
Lady Meng took three steps back and eyed her empty hand. “Amazing!” She looked at Ling Mai, “And how do you know Sword Intent?”
Ling Mai felt puzzled by her query, but before she could reply, Grandma Tang’s voice rang out from the direction of the foyer, “What did I tell you? No practising your experimental techniques in town!” Grandma Tang strode into the hall, totally ignoring Lady Meng.
“But I wasn’t experimenting! And I disabled the more extreme defensive layers before demonstrating it with Lady Meng. Look, she still has her eyebrows!” Ling Mai complained as she was feeling unjustly chastised.
Lady Meng’s hands flew to her head to feel her eyebrows and hair. Feeling nothing wrong, she sighed in relief. ‘Why did she say eyebrows?”, she thought to herself. She looked at her brother with a bit more understanding and a little sympathy for his losses but no forgiveness for his previous behaviour, though he seemed to have learned his lesson and even his attitude had started to change to one of humility. She would have to make sure he didn’t lose all his confidence as it would affect his cultivation advancement in the future. Unjustified arrogance was his previous foible amongst the many other inherent character traits displayed by the majority of nobles who had only experienced life in the capital city. He needed more exposure to semi-dangerous situations where he would not get killed outright or badly injured until he had a more balanced outlook on real life so he could make informed decisions and respond appropriately to the dangers of the world.
Giving Ling Mai an unconvinced look, Grandma Tang turned to Lady Meng and bowed, “Tang Lingxue pays her respects to the Lady.”
Lady Meng looked Grandma Tang up and down, “You are a cultivator. Are you her mentor?”
“More of an animal tamer.” Grandma Tang replied with a smile.
“Hey! I am still here and I know how to behave!” Complained Ling Mai. “Lady Meng and Elder Xing are teaching me martial arts and the sword though we haven’t started on the sword training part yet. I was just demonstrating my defensive shield to the Mayor.”
Grandma Tang turned back to Ling Mai and frowned. “It is very good of them to teach you but you should not use experimental techniques with them. They may be very powerful but so are you.”
Before Ling Mai could apologise, Lady Meng interrupted Grandma Tang by saying, “Ling Mai is very powerful but I am more interested in how she grasped Sword Intent?”Everyone turned to look at Ling Mai, including Lord Jai, Elder Xing and the Mayor as they had followed Grandma Tang into the hall.
Ling Mai was puzzled and wanted to find out what this Sword Intent was. It seemed important. “I just copied your sword image that was attacking me.” Seeing the doubtful look on Lady Meng’s face, she added, “What is this Sword Intent?”
Lady Meng stared at her in disbelief, “You are a prodigy. You have no sword training but you can sense and use Sword Intent after just a single demonstration. I included it in my attack as I didn’t know if your shield would be able to repel it. Am I right in supposing it would not shield against Sword Intent?”
Ling Mai felt dismayed at her shield’s failure in this aspect but wanted to know what Sword Intent was created by. She could tell it wasn’t a type of energy. “You are correct. My shield only responds to physical and energy attacks. What is Sword Intent created with? It doesn’t seem to be a type of energy.”
Lady Meng looked satisfied. “Sword intent is created using one’s soul. The more powerful a person’s soul, the more easily they can comprehend and master soul attacks, but usually a person needs to have a comprehensive understanding of a weapon before being able to gain an understanding of Sword Intent. I have Sword and Spear Intent. My Sword Intent is at Mastery level whilst my Spear Intent is better as it is at the Perfection level. There are nine levels, Mastery is level four and Perfection is level five. I will explain the others to you later. You still haven’t explained how you sensed it and understood it so quickly?”
Ling Mai was nonplussed on how to reply, “I could see a sword image. It looked like the image I used to have of my sword when I pictured myself rescuing people from monsters and bad people. I used this when I copied your sword image that was attacking me.” She felt rather embarrassed for revealing her fantasies but felt it was important enough to learn about this Sword Intent.
Lady Meng asked incredulously, “So you developed an understanding of Sword Intent before you ever saw a sword used?”
Ling Mai looked sheepish. “If you say so. I did like to fantasise a lot when I was bored.”
Grandma Tang wryly clarified, “She likes to try truly unexpected things. She made it rain the other day as she needed to wash her face.”
Lady Meng looked at Ling Mai with an inscrutable face. She turned to Elder Xing and asked, “Do you still think you can have her in your sect?”
Elder Xing shook his head, “I imagine she will learn everything I know in a very short amount of time. Only Immortal sects will be able to guide her.”
Ling Mai was excited. “Do you know any Immortals? Can you introduce me to some?”
Grandma Tang shook her head and looked to the heavens at Ling Mai’s naivety. She then noticed the two holes in the ceiling. Ling Mai saw where she was looking and fell into a panic. She tried to explain, “It was an accident! It wasn’t an experimental technique. Lady Meng asked me to jump. I’ll fix it!”
She quickly used her energy sense to examine the ceiling and could sense the mixture of energy types. She could sense that some pieces were in the ceiling space and a few small fragments were on the hall’s floor. She separated those fragments on the floor into the different energy types then moved the pieces in the ceiling to the hole using wind energy, having learnt how to from Lady Meng’s recent attack. She then ‘glued’ the pieces in place using the energy from the pieces from the floor. She nodded in satisfaction. The ceiling looked unblemished again.
“There, all fixed,” she stated smugly, very happy with herself. She realised that she would be able to use this skill for all sorts of things. She had previously only used it for a few things such as forging her sword.
The Mayor asked her, whilst looking a bit incredulous, “Is it safe? It won't fall out onto someone’s head?” He purposely looked at Lady Meng to indicate his concern.
“It is as good as new,” she replied. A thought occurred to her, “Is telepathy a soul technique?” She asked.
Grandma Tang shook her head whilst everyone else just stared at her.
“What? It seems similar but at the same time very different.”
Lady Meng sighed, “I know I am going to regret asking this, but do you know telepathy?”
Grandma Tang looked on in bemusement.