“Piercing Iron Fist!”

I saw him standing there, fist pulled back beside his hip, full of surging Qi, and in the next moment came a sound of an explosion as the man punched out. I could feel a gust of wind from his punch even though I was still meters away.

The people around him cheered, a mixture of Inner and Outer Disciples.

“Wooo! Go, Senior Ren!” Someone shouted.

“That was awesome!” Cheered another. “Do it again!”

I made my way through the crowd and saw the brutalized victim get carried away to where other similar losers were currently being kept. The metal plate was all mangled and bent, its surface a frozen ripple, with concentric rings around an indentation of a fist. The other side was even worse. The metal appeared to have been reshaped by something other than the force of a punch alone, as the concentric rings protruded further the closer they were to the middle.

In the center, the metal was completely poking out, like a spike, as if most of the energy was concentrated there.

What a scary Martial Art. Senior Ren was right when he said it was made to destroy tough beasts. Boy was I glad it wasn’t me on the other end of his real strike.

“It’s not enough... I can’t get it to focus completely. A bit more training, maybe...”

I nearly received a whiplash as I turned my head around at the speed of light. Not enough?! You have to be joking! Senior Ren was standing there, rubbing his fist while frowning.

“So, I’m guessing about 75% done?” An Inner Disciple came to him and handed him a towel.

“More like 65%. You saw all those rings… I’m still wasting too much energy.” Senior Ren Kong took the towel and wiped his sweaty face before tossing it over his shoulder. “My guess is that I’ll have to reach the peak of Nascent Soul to completely master it.”

“That seems... pretty harsh for such a simple Martial Art.”

“It is.”

The onlookers then made some space as Senior Ren walked away and a pair of Disciples took his place, preparing for a spar. I didn’t care to watch and ran after him.

[Senior Brother!] I shouted from afar. Senior Ren stopped and turned around.

“Hm? Oh, Junior, it’s good to see you! How’s it going? Feeling alright?”

I came to a stop a few steps away from him. [Everything is fine, Senior Brother, thanks for your concern. I’m back in business!] I flexed my arms to emphasize my words.

“Good, good! I was worried there would be some hidden damage remaining. Once again, sorry for that…” He then proceeded to apologize for the umpteenth time.

[Stop apologizing already! You are so annoying!] I was so sick of it that I gathered all the strength of my Divine body and threw out a wild haymaker, hitting him right in the gut!

It did about as much as a five-year-old punching a seasoned boxer would. Which, considering our size difference, probably looked like it too.

Senior Ren Kong was stunned for a while, the power of my strike probably shaking him to his core. Then he burst out laughing. And laugh he did, for three minutes at least! He only stopped because he couldn’t laugh anymore and began coughing instead. I later found out it was because he inhaled a bug or something.

“Oh, Junior…” He wiped away his tears. “I’m sorry for apologizing so much, I won't do it again.”

I just gave him a side eye and didn’t say anything.

“Oh, I did it again, huh? Sorry about that. Hey, wanna get something to eat, it’s on me!”

Dude! Are you Canadian or what?! I wanted to scream at him, but he wouldn’t get the reference.

In all honesty, keeping my emotions under control was way harder than I remembered. But, I swore I would try to live a life without violence, as much as possible, and that included verbal stuff. So, I just kept taking slow and steady breaths, until my temper cooled.

[Yes, but Lilly said that if I find you at a bar I should tell you that she needs your help.] I considered adding the last part. [And then… she winked at me… I think.]

“Winked?!”

Senior Ren Kong appeared shocked for just a moment and then burst out laughing once more. “I’ll have to hurry back home then, wouldn’t want anyone snatching up my girl, hahaha!”

We entered a nearby restaurant and Senior Ren threw on a cloth T-shirt and ordered two portions for us. He didn’t ask what I wanted, but I didn’t complain. I was famished and just the smell inside made me salivate.

“So, what brought you here?” He quickly got to the point while we were waiting for our order. The waiter brought us two mugs of some sort of alcohol, probably ale, and we drank.

[I wanted to ask you a few things.]

“What things?”

[I don’t know, I forgot.]

“You forgot?!”

I shrugged. Nothing could be done about it. Sometimes my mind just dropped some things despite being extremely sharp. I quickly opened the previous chapter and reread what was already written.

[Just give me a moment, I’ll remember it quickly.] We remained quiet for a minute or so, and Senior Ren stared at me while I closed my eyes.

[Oh, I got it now!]

“What is it?”

[I was wondering… How can you increase the amount of Qi your body can store?]

This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.

“Increase Qi? You mean the quantity?” Senior Ren scratched his head. “I don’t know, it just happens over time, I guess…”

[Wait, so humans don’t have problems increasing their Qi stores?] I was so confused.

“No… Well, I have never heard anything about it, why? Do you have that problem? It should be too early for you to worry about that.” Senior Ren appeared genuinely confused, and I knew he had way more Qi that the newcomers, so…

[No, no, I was just curious…] Damn it! My information was wrong! Who the heck was that retard that said humans couldn’t increase their Mana- I mean Qi stores naturally?! An exception to the rule my ass! If I ever go back to Neloron, I’ll have to fix that crap.

[But never mind all that. How come you are so… big? I didn’t see many... large people in the Sect.] I didn’t know how else to say it. And I also didn’t know what manners or personal questions were acceptable here.

“Oh, that!” Senior Ren chuckled. “It’s because I’m Cultivating mass.” He began laughing even harder. I think that was supposed to be a joke or something. I didn’t get it.

He clearly noticed my confusion and then explained it properly. “See, Junior, in Body Cultivation, there are many paths you can take, but all of them have the same foundation. As you grow, you gain mass. Now, the way in which that happens comes in two ways, generally.”

[I’m listening...] Intently. That sounded like it might be important. I pushed away all distractions and focused on his words only.

“Basically, you can either grow bigger, or denser.” Senior Ren explained simply. “You can clearly see which path I chose.”

I nodded.

“Most people pick something in between, half and half, usually. It’s the best choice for the general purpose and everyday life. But Lilly, for example, decided to go for density only. It might not seem like it, but she is nearly as heavy as me. But she is also a bit younger so...”

I opened my eyes wide. That… was a revelation, to say the least. Lilly weighed almost the same as this giant?! Wow… just wow. I never would have guessed.

[But wait, what difference does it make if you pick either one? I’m guessing there are some pros to picking either path, right?]

Senior Ren smiled and nodded. “You are correct! I’m not certain if that’s all there is to it, but going for size brings power. On the other hand, by going for density you gain body durability. Or that’s what I’ve been told. I might be wrong, but probably not.”

The way he said it was funny. Covering all your liabilities, huh? Clever! Like saying it’s not financial advice while giving out financial advice… But this was serious! I would have to consider this information at length.

Power? Defense? Which path to pick? A mixture of both? 90/10? 70/30? 50/50?

There was no good answer at the moment, unfortunately. I was still lacking a lot of information.

[I’m assuming the direction can be changed mid-path? As in, you could now focus exclusively on density instead of growing larger?] I had to ask for I just had to know.

“Oh yeah, of course! But people usually don’t do that unless something drastic has happened. But if you think I’m big, you should have seen some of the Grand Elders! I saw one of them once, and the man was at least four meters tall! And I’m pretty sure he gave quite a bit of emphasis on density.”

I would have been left slack-yawed if our food didn’t arrive at the table at that exact moment. That distracted me and gave me some time to process the information. I even took out a notebook I bought and started writing stuff down. I couldn’t afford to forget even a single word.

“Hah, you are quite keen on all of this, huh? But don’t worry, this stuff can wait, there is no hurry. Before you begin Body Cultivation you first have to reach the Spirit Accumulation Realm so your Qi will be able to invoke changes in you.”

[Hm? What are you talking about? Doesn’t all Qi do that?]

“Haha, no.” Senior Ren took a bone with juicy meat on it and bit into it. “Base Qi is just that, very basic. You need higher grades of Qi to do the really interesting stuff.”

I took my notebook and opened to a fresh page. [Tell me more. What are these Qi grades?] I knew some stuff from my experiments, but that wasn’t enough.

“Well, they have different names, so we can begin with that… First is the Base Qi, you know that one, it’s the most simple and also the only stable form of Qi there is, as far as we know. Each one after that is unstable and needs to be held together by a powerful Soul. Or a special Formation, that works too.”

He took a sip of his drink and then continued. “The second one is called the Elementary Qi, gained in the Spirit Accumulation Realm, and can be used to begin the transformation of the human body into something greater. It’s called so because it is the first one that can truly begin changing things.”

He didn’t elaborate on what those changes were, but it wasn’t hard to guess.

“After that is the Nascent Qi, acquired in the nascent Soul Realm, which is where I am if you still remember.”

[I do.]

“Good, well, with it you can do more of the same. There are some differences, but let’s leave that for another time. Higher up on the ladder is the Golden Qi and that one can elicit some really drastic changes and can’t be manipulated by mere humans. Those that can achieve the Golden Core Realm change on a fundamental level and at the same time solidify their Path in life.”

[Path?]

“Direction of their Cultivation, basically. If there are any mistakes you made in your past, during the transition to the Golden Core Realm they become permanent.”

I swallowed hard. All my reckless actions came to mind. Hopefully, nothing bad happened.

“Yeah, but there is no reason for you to worry about that, you are still decades away from it. Just take it slow, and don’t do anything reckless.”

Dude, can you read my mind?! Well, anyway…

[What about the Spirit Stones, where do they come in?]

“Spirit Stones?”

[Yeah!] I took out the partially drained Spirit Shard and showed it to him. [I was curious what it was and fiddled with it a bit. I discovered it was filled with really powerful Qi and I was wondering if you could enlighten me.]

Senior Ren frowned and took the Spirit Shard, scrutinizing it intently. It was like a speck of dust between his massive fingers.

“You should really be careful with these things, they tend to go critical if you don’t know what you are doing.”

[Critical?]

“They explode. Though I guess this one wouldn’t outright kill you since it’s so small, but there are easier ways to cripple yourself than to mess around with bound Spirit Qi.”

[Spirit Qi, huh?]

“Yeah, it’s one grade above Golden Qi, also where the names come from.” Senior Ren explained and got another bite to eat, washing it down with more alcohol. “Only Elders in Spirit Realm can make Spirit Stones, and it’s not a fast process.”

[So, I guess Cultivating with Spirit Stones is not a good idea?]

“By all the gods, no!” Senior Ren Exclaimed, attracting some curious gazes from the other patrons of the restaurant.

“Don’t ever do that! The Spirit Shards are already dangerous enough, much less Spirit Stones. You have to wait until at least the Golden Core Realm, and even then you need a Formation to keep the energy stable and contained. Trying to absorb Qi from a Spirit Stone directly is something only those at the cusp of, or in the Spirit Realm can do, nobody else.”

He appeared extremely serious and agitated while saying his warning.

“I had a friend once, the fool blew up his Soul when trying to advance into the Nascent Soul Realm too quickly. We had to scrape his remains off the walls of his house. Luckily the enchantments on the Spirit Stone held it together despite the sudden discharge, but…”

[But he wasn’t that lucky.]

“Right…” His expression became somber. “I’m not sure I should be telling you more, I just hope you won’t do anything stupid. I couldn’t help myself if you died because of me.”

[Hey, I might be stupid, but I’m not reckless! …Wait, or is it the other way around? Well, anyway, I’m not going to die!] Again. [You can count on that!] My conviction seemed to soften the big man. I did look like a stubborn kid to him. A benefit of being small and young, I guess.

“Heh, I guess you are right, Junior, I was overreacting. But seriously, no more playing with Spirit Stones or I’m not telling you anything anymore, alright?”

[Oh… okay…] Come on big guy, why do you do this to me? I need knowledge, experiments, and science!

“Promise?”

[Alright, I promise!] What else could I say? Nothing, that’s what. You win, big man, you win!

“Good, now let’s eat, the food is getting cold.”

[One last question, please?] I looked at him with puppy eyes. He rolled his eyes and then sighed.

“Alright, what is it?”

[I’m interested in Qi constructs.]

“The what?”

I demonstrated and made a swirl of Qi and created a shield, the most simple of forms. It was created with haste so it wasn’t as stable as it could be, turning into mist at the edges.

[This thing!] I said.

Senior Ren just stared at my demonstration wide-eyed.