“Before you can cultivate, you first need to learn how to sense and move qi within your own body. Now that would normally take us years or even decades to truly master but we’re going to fast-track the whole thing and do it in three minutes.”

I pulled out a berry and passed it over to Chin.

“What is-”

“Just eat it!” I yelled. “You keep asking too many questions!”

Chin didn’t comply and inspected the berry for a few more moments.

“Can you-”

“No, you can’t grow more of these berries now just eat!”

Chin frowned and mumbled something about wastefulness before tossing the berry down his mouth.

“You’ll feel a tingling sensation spreading throughout your body in a moment. That will be the feeling of your meridians opening up. The qi from the fruit will flow through your dantians and out your meridians. Don’t try to stop it or hold it, your dantians aren’t capable of storing that type of qi, instead, feel the qi flow through your body and in the world.”

“It…. itches,” Chin stated.

“That happens. Your meridians are expanding as qi flows through them and it can be a bit of an annoying sensation. This is a dangerouse method of opening the meridians. Most people’s meridian pathways would burst open due to the lack of controllable qi, but the fruit I fed you should maintain a consistent and slow outpouring of qi for a while.”

Chin nodded.

“How…how long will this last?” He asked.

“A couple of days.”

Chin frowned.

“Relax, you’ll get used to it in a couple of hours, but until then, we wait.”

And we did wait. I was old and used to waiting and Chin was a farmer, a job that required a lot of patience to do properly. He focused himself for the next couple of hours, eyes closed and legs crisscrossed on the floor. He didn’t bother clamping his hands together but instead rested one of his hands on his knees and the other one on his staff.

A small thin cloud of sweat and qi came up from his skin. This was the opening of the first twelve meridians. The rest of them would open throughout the next few days.

“The twelve major meridians throughout your body are like veins and arteries that connect your qi to the outside world. There are also minor meridians, but those come over time as your qi main meridians strengthen and branch out.”

Chin breathed out, his whole body relaxing with the exhale.

“I’m… I’m tired,” he mumbled.

“It happens,” I replied.

“So… what now?”

“Now we practice the three movements. Pushing, pulling, and holding qi. Before you can cultivate anything, you need to be able to move qi through your body.”

“Pushing, pulling, and holding qi?” Chin asked. “How do I do that?”

“You just do. They’re natural movements of the soul and everyone can do it but it takes some practice to get down. It’s sort of like walking or controlling your bowels. You just need some time to get the hang of it.”

“How long will that take?” He asked.

“A couple of days,” I replied.

“There’s no faster way?” Chin asked.

“Well, there is but the faster way is painful. Really painful.”

“But it’s faster?”

“Yes, but it’s quite literally torture Chin. Are you really going to torture yourself for a two-day advantage?”

“How long will it last?”

“About a minute.”

“Do it,” Chin stated.

I sighed.

Of course, Chin would want to speed up the already sped-up process.

“It’ll hurt like hell Chin.”

“Only for a minute,” he replied.

I wanted to tell him no, but I knew that wasn’t going to work. In some ways, I still saw Chin as the stubborn little boy who refused to do anything but farm. But he wasn’t that anymore, he was a man capable of making his own decisions and living with them. He managed the village, he managed the crops, and he managed a family. Who the hell was I to tell him no?

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I raised my finger and touched his brow, my qi closing in on his meridians.

And then, I held. Chin’s body went stiff, his muscles tightening in place as the qi from the fruit I’d given him clogged up in his meridians and eventually reversed itself back towards his dantians. This would be deadly for most people, but I was reinforcing his meridians from the inside and the qi was flowing smoothly enough throughout his body. But that was the feeling he needed to focus on. The feeling of qi moving towards him, the pull, and the qi leaving him, the push. And once he did those two he would be able to hold his qi as well.

Chin’s brow had become oily at this point with sweat dripping out of every pore. His clean clothes became soaked with sweat and the old man struggled to keep himself together.

“I told ya,” I mumbled.

An annoyed groan left Chin’s mouth. Well, that was good. At least he could reply to me.

I removed my finger from his forehead and his meridians flushed out all of the excess qi.

“How was it?” I asked.

“Excruciating,” he replied still panting to get his breath.

“Wanna call it a day?” I asked.

Chin kept on panting for about a minute before he answered.

“No.”

“You sure?”

“Yes.”

“Too bad.”

“What?” Chin asked.

“We’re calling it a day.”

“I’m not tired,” Chin rebutted.

“Well, I am.”

Chin looked at me with an accusing stare as I feigned a yawn and stretched. Then after another moment of glaring, he slumped. His shoulders sagged and his eyes dropped.

“You’re not tired huh?”

“No,” he grunted.

“Then what’s happening right now?”

“Thinking.”

“About sleep?”

“No.”

Then there was a lengthy pause. Chin was having one of those blinks that took effort to recover from. The old man would rather work himself to sleep than get actual rest and if it wasn’t for his wife dragging him in every night, he’d probably live out in those fields.

“I’m thinking about this woman, a cultivator I think. She wanted to set up a little place here for the rainy season.”

“Oh yeah, the fourth-rank?” I asked.

“You know her?” Chin asked, his eyes opening a slight margin in surprise.

“I keep an eye on the village,” I replied.

“Yes, well she came through talking about setting up a little spot here and ran in Rin Wi, then she panicked and apologized and hid out among the merchants.”

“Was she wearing expensive clothing and extremely attractive?”

Chin frowned.

“Was she,” I asked.

“I don’t know. I’m thinking about it?”

“You’re thinking about whether or not she was attractive?” I asked.

“Yes.”

“You didn’t notice the moment you saw her?”

“No,” Chin replied.

Anyone else and I’d call bullshit, but knowing Chin he was probably wondering how much food she and her party would consume and if the village would have enough to feed the merchants through the rainy season. They did of course, but Chin was always thinking about farming in one way or another. It wasn’t that he lacked attraction for women, more so that he lacked the brain space for anything other than farming, his wife and children, and the village. Any thought that wasn’t about them was a useless one and Chin would toss out useless thoughts like rotten cabbage.

“Yes,” he finally stated. “She was extremely attractive.”

“And how’d you figure that?” I asked.

“A couple fellas got smacked upside their head by their wives. Was wondering what that was about. Also, she had clear skin and a good physique. I was going to ask her about her diet but Rin Wi stopped me.”

“You didn’t realize she was a cultivator?” I asked.

“I did,” Chin answered nonchalantly.

“Of course you did. Anyway she probably runs some sort of seductor clan in this region. Wanted to set up a base here for all the wandering cultivators who need a reslilent one night stand.”

“A prostitute?” Chin asked.

“Yup.”

He frowned.

“Why?”

“Word about me probably got around, though they probably don’t have the most accurate information avialble.”

“And?” Chin asked.

“Cultivator sects means more cultivators in general, even if they know I’m not taking any members, the area is bound to be visited by people trying to see the wise old and Honorable Master Bill. Means buisiness for any seductor in the region. I’d let her set up shop if I were you.”

“Why?” Chin asked.

“Less violence or assualt on you villagers-”

“I thought you were taking care of that,” Chin said accussingly.

“I am,” I replied. “But it’s not a pleasant experience for me or the villagers. And seduction clans are pretty good at beating down attempted assaults.”

Chin’s frown lightened as he thought about it.

“Any down sides,” he asked.

“A few broken marriages for some of the children, but that’s on the people who make those choices.”

“I can warn the men about them,” Chin replied.

“And the women,” I added. “Lots of male seductors in those clans. Almost anyone is up for grabs.”

Chin’s frown turned to small scowl as he thought the situation over. There had been a few attempts by some unsavory individuals, and I either castrated and cripple or outright burned those bastards before anything could happen. But that didn’t make it a pleasent experience for their possible victims, and Chin knew this.

“Economically? Would there be any benefits?”

“Lots,” I nodded. “Food would be needed as well cleaning service, maintence, and they’d probably want to build a place all their own. But on the down side, this would be the start of an influx of cultivators, more of them than you’d like.”

Chin nodded as he considered this.

“But that’s inevitable, isn't it?”

“Yup,” I replied.

“And you’re sure the village is safe from them?” He asked.

“Safest place in this universe,” I replied.

Chin sighed, the mental and physical weariness catching up to him.

“I hate change,” he grumbled.