Lu Chang woke the next morning feeling light. He ate a quick breakfast and said good morning to his parents before going outside to practice his stances as he did every morning. There was a cool breeze and he luxuriated in the feeling for a moment before he started practicing.
He promptly noticed a difference from the day before as he practiced. His spiritual energy was flowing effortlessly through his meridians; yesterday it had required some effort for him to guide his energy. He quickly sat down to meditate and figure out the reason for the sudden change. He was given a fright as he did so, though. He could find no trace of his mixed spiritual energy. It had all converted to solely wind energy overnight.
Lu Chang was flabbergasted. He’d heard the rumor that higher rank martial spirits would convert spiritual energy quicker, but he’d never heard that the difference was so drastic. He shook his head with a rueful smile, attributing it to just another strangeness of his martial spirit.
He excitedly cycled his newly converted wind spiritual energy through his meridians. It felt even better than some of his father’s scrolls had described. The spiritual energy was as active as the real wind. He almost didn’t have to compel it to flow through his meridians it was so eager to be in motion.
Lu Chang returned to his practice, this time with his energy actively flowing. He felt the difference immediately. His body felt much stronger and lighter than normal. He supposed this was what all new martial cultivators felt. It was an addictive sensation.
When Lu Chang concluded his practice, he found his mother waiting for him. He wiped off the sweat and went to see what she wanted.
“What is it, mom?”
“That friend of yours has come by, such a sweet boy. Don’t keep him waiting too long, it’s rude.”
“Li Feng has come? Great!”
Lu Chang went straight to the parlor where he found the other boy seated. Li Feng was a tall, broad-framed, muscular young man with curly hair and a mischievous grin. The boy was Lu Chang’s closest friend, and a large part of the reason that Lu Chang had become interested in martial arts in the first place. He made quite the contrast to Lu Chang who, while not short, was not particularly tall, and was quite lithe and lean compared to Li Feng’s large frame.
Li Feng was a certified martial fanatic of a level rarely seen. The boy lived and breathed martial arts. Lu Chang hadn’t been able to catch up with him yesterday after the ceremony and had been looking forward to it. He sat down across from Li Feng and greeted him.
“Li Feng, brother, great to see you! What brings you by so early?”
The boy grinned at him.
“Did the news of your variant martial spirit sweep your brain clean? It’s the time of year where Old Man Zhao is open to visit. Have you forgotten he gives away martial techniques to the newly awakened cultivators? We need to leave soon if we want to get an early spot!”
Lu Chang had actually forgotten. In the excitement of yesterday and this morning, everything else had faded from his mind.
Old Man Zhao was a cornerstone of the martial cultivators in Hundred Fragrance City. The rumors said he was a retired martial expert of considerable might. Regardless of the truth of that rumor, though, the old man had an incredible library of martial techniques of nearly every affinity. Once a year, after the awakening ceremony, he would meet with the new martial cultivators and gift them a martial technique he thought would fit.
This sort of kindness endeared all of the martial artists in the city to the old man. Most martial techniques beyond the lowest rank were closely guarded secrets, and common cultivators could only hope to learn higher rank ones. Thus, the old mans’s martial techniques were nearly priceless to most of the cultivators here, and he gave them away for free. Needless to say, if anyone were to have a problem with Old Man Zhao they would have a problem with all the martial artists of the city.
Lu Chang sprung up from his seat and nearly dragged Li Feng out the door.
“C’mon fool, what are you waiting for? You said it yourself, we’ve got to go!”
Li Feng stopped him and pointed at Lu Chang.
“You’re the fool! You can’t go out like that, go change!”
He looked down and realized he was still wearing his sweat drenched clothes from his practice earlier. Coloring in embarrassment, he swiftly changed into a new robe, and the two of them left for Old Man Zhao’s house.
The old man lived in a large house in the lower district. When they showed up, there was already a large crowd outside the gate, clamoring for entry. Lu Chang groaned at the sight.
“Ugh, too late to beat the crowd. Sorry, brother. It’s my fault.”
Li Feng merely gave him an easy grin.
“No worries, my friend. There was always going to be a crowd. After we put our names on the list, we can spar. It’s been too long since we last sparred; you’ve been holding out on me.”
Lu Chang perked up at that. It would be a pleasant way to spend the morning while they waited. The two struggled their way through the crowd to write their names on a list held by Old Man Zhao’s butler. Then they found a space atop a nearby grassy hill to spar. Lu Chang could spot a few other people who’d had the same idea dotted around the area and nodded to himself. Truly this was a town of martial arts fanatics.
He stood across from Li Feng and analyzed the other boy. Li Feng had always favored an aggressive approach that leveraged his strength, while Lu Chang himself gravitated to a more evasive approach, only striking when he found an opening to exploit.
His thoughts rang true as Li Feng darted straight at him upon their unspoken agreement to begin. The other boy ran at him, both arms held out to the side to block Lu Chang from slipping to the side, a move that both of them knew he favored.
Today, though, Lu Chang had another idea in mind. He waited until Li Feng was almost upon him, then somersaulted backwards, raising up a foot to kick Li Feng in the face in the same movement.
The other boy was caught off-guard and took Lu Chang’s kick clean in the face, knocking him backward to the ground. Li Feng looked up at him from the ground, flabbergasted
“What the hell, when did you learn to do that?”
“Just now I suppose, it seemed the right thing to do.”
Lu Chang spoke truthfully. He’d never practiced such a maneuver, but as Li Feng barreled forward, some instinct spoke to him and compelled him to try it. He never would have been able to execute it so cleanly before his martial spirit had awakened. Since then, his body had felt almost too easy to maneuver, with stretches and moves that had troubled him before becoming natural to him overnight. He decided to ponder the matter another time as he held out his hand to help Li Feng up from the ground.
Li Feng rubbed the darkening bruise on his face as he got up.
“Brother, next time you have a ‘feeling’ when we spar, let me know so I can quit ahead of time. That kick hurt.”
Lu Chang scratched the back of his head embarrassedly; he hadn’t intended to kick him that hard, but most of the force was due to the speed that Li Feng had run into him. Li Feng seemed to know that as his cheeks burned red in embarrassment after he realized what he said.
After a small break, they set up to spar again when a snide voice interrupted them.
“Well, look who it is, brothers, a couple of trashy commoners thinking they know how to practice martial arts. How quaint. And unsightly.”
Lu Chang rolled his eyes as he turned around to see Wei Bolin and his entourage of silkpants. He should have known the day would be incomplete without an encounter with the boy. The arrogant ass was even more full of himself now that he’d awakened a profound rank spirit, and had already returned to his favorite pastime of throwing his considerable weight around.
Lu Chang had found that ignoring the boy worked wonders; without any engagement, he grew bored easily. Unfortunately, Li Feng’s fiery temper had been provoked. Strange, usually even Li Feng knew not to engage with Wei Bolin.
“Get out of here, Wei Bolin. Nobody here has time for your inane taunting.”
When Li Feng responded, Wei Bolin grinned at them. It was a wretched thing, that grin, full of poisonous intentions. Lu Chang started to pay attention. Whenever that grin surfaced, Wei Bolin had some kind of card to play, and it was never a benevolent one.
“Oh but I think you do, Li Feng. You’ve got nothing but time now since you’ll never become a true expert. Oh to think that the number one martial fanatic of our generation was such tra-”
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Lu Chang interrupted the poisonous gas posing as words with a quick slap. He’d heard enough, and there was no reason to let the air get tainted any further.
“Keep whatever other venom you have to yourself. It’s ruining the atmosphere.”
Lu Chang nodded to himself righteously; he’d done his good deed for the day. Wei Bolin looked up at him murderously from where he’d fallen, blood dripping from his cheek. Perhaps Lu Chang had been a bit heavy-handed with his slap, but one could hardly blame him. Stray dogs needed firm disciplining so they wouldn’t bite people.
Wei Bolin stood and looked like he was about to order his lackeys to attack them, but thought better of it. He merely stalked away with one last taunt.
“You’ll regret this, Lu Chang. You just wait until the tournament. My profound rank spirit will have allowed me to open at least four meridians by then. You won’t be a match for me, and I’ll take my sweet time before I allow you to surrender.”
Lu Chang ignored him in favor of looking at Li Feng who was looking down, red-faced and seething. Lu Chang observed him for a moment before offering.
“I’ve been a poor friend these past couple days. I didn’t even think to ask how the ceremony went for you. After that unwelcome intrusion, I think I can guess, though. Tell me what happened, you know I won’t judge you.”
Li Feng would not look at him, sighing sadly and sitting down on the grassy hill. Lu Chang sat beside him silently, and, after a few minutes of heavy silence, Li Feng spoke.
“You know I’ve always wanted to be an expert. I wanted to become strong, and make a name for myself in the capital, like that Su Yan. Yesterday, though… My martial spirit is trash. ‘Gently Creeping Vine’ Sage Liu called it. Inferior grade mortal ranked. My aspirations disappeared into nothing.”
Lu Chang was silent as he absorbed his friend’s words, eventually offering some encouraging words.
“Will you let that stop you? Martial spirits aren’t everything. You can still become an accomplished expert.”
“Don’t patronize me, Lu Chang. You know as well as I do that it is almost impossible for cultivators with low rank martial spirits to even get to the third realm, let alone past that.”
Li Feng spat out his fears angrily. Lu Chang silently contemplated. Li Feng was not wrong. Any martial artist could cultivate past the meridian opening realm and into the sea formation realm, but it was true that the overwhelming majority of cultivators with low ranked martial spirits stalled forever at the border of the next realm, energy expansion. Lu Chang thought if anyone could, though, Li Feng could.
“I’ll ask again. Will you let that stop you? You, more than anyone else here, have the determination, I think. You will only have failed if you give up.”
Lu Chang looked at Li Feng as his friend’s expression went from angry, to calm, to thoughtful. They sat in silence for a while as Li Feng thought. Eventually he laughed deeply, standing up again.
“Well said, brother! The path of cultivation is lined with barriers; I’ll just count this as another. After this tournament, you and I must go wander the empire and hone our skills. Who knows, maybe one of the lucky chances we find will be one of those mythical herbs that can upgrade the rank of a martial spirit.”
Lu Chang smiled softly at his friend’s renewed determination, then the smile became fierce as he imagined roaming the empire. The idea called to him in a way nothing ever had. Li Feng nudged him from his daydreams.
“Get that stupid grin off your face, Lu Chang. Let’s spar again. I can’t waste any time if I’m to become the youngest energy expansion level expert in the empire!”
Lu Chang obliged his friend, and they sparred long into the early afternoon until Li Feng’s name was called by the old butler. He waved goodbye to Li Feng, promising to meet up the next day for some more sparring.
He knew he’d be next after Li Feng was done, so he wiped his sweat away and meditated to pass the time and further familiarize himself with his spiritual energy. He’d deeply immersed himself in the feeling of his cycling energy when he was roused by the old butler.
“The master will see you now, Lu Chang.”
Lu Chang stood and bowed deeply to the old butler. Supposedly, the butler was an old martial companion of Old Man Zhao, and Lu Chang had no intentions of offending a hidden dragon. He followed the butler into the courtyard, where a table and chairs had been set up. Old Man Zhao sat there, sipping a fragrant tea and studying an ancient-looking scroll. The man was elderly, as his title suggested, with hair white as snow. He projected an air of easy serenity as he sat there, seeming like a figure out of a painting.
The butler announced him to the old man. Old Man Zhao thanked the butler and sent him back to the front, never looking up from the scroll. Lu Chang didn’t know what he was supposed to do, so he just stood there awkwardly, shifting restlessly in place. The minutes dragged on as the old man pored over his scroll. Old Man Zhao did not acknowledge Lu Chang until he’d finished his tea.
“Hmm, well you may have a bit of patience to you, but the truth is given away by your fidgeting.”
The old man looked up at Lu Chang then, his bright eyes seemingly seeing through Lu Chang’s entire being. His gaze dropped back to the scroll as he spoke again.
“Then again, I suppose it is impressive that a youngster with such a potent wind affinity could wait that patiently for anything. You must have strong self-control, or you want my martial technique quite a bit. Which is it?”
Old Man Zhao looked up at him again with those piercing eyes, awaiting his answer. Lu Chang thought for a moment before responding.
“Both, and neither, I think. I like to think I have good discipline, and I am very interested in a martial technique. More than both of those, though, my mother would be upset if I were to be too impatient. She would say she’s already got one impolite man in my father, and I don’t need to follow his footsteps.”
The old man had not anticipated that answer and his serious facade shattered as he laughed uproariously.
“Hahaha, quite right. I’ve met your father, and while he is many good things, polite is not one of them. What a fine answer. Humble, but not servile. Confident, but not arrogant. You didn’t deny interest in my techniques, and the last part of your answer was very filial. Yes, a fine answer. Come, sit.”
Old Man Zhao gestured to the chair opposite him. Lu Chang sat, relieved that he’d apparently passed whatever hidden test that had been. After he sat, Old Man Zhao poured himself another cup of tea and put away the scroll he’d been reading, turning his gaze to Lu Chang again.
“So, Lu Chang. You’ve awakened your martial spirit. A.. variant form of the Fierce Tempest spirit is it? Curious.”
Lu Chang wanted desperately to ask what was curious about it, but remembered the old man’s quip about patience and thought better of it.
“Well, you have a martial spirit that many here might envy you for. Do you have the passion to pursue martial cultivation? It is not a path for the faint of heart or spirit I can tell you personally.”
As before, Old Man Zhao seemed very interested in his answer. Lu Chang didn’t even consider lying; something told him that the old man could see right through him and would not appreciate it.
“I- I don’t know, sir. I have always intended to, if only to have a goal for myself. I have seen that real passion in others, though, mostly my friend Li Feng, and I don’t think I am as passionate about it as them.”
Old Man Zhao studied him closely.
“Well, if you aren’t passionate about it, then why are you here?”
The question stopped Lu Chang short. Why was he here? He could be snide and say that free martial techniques would tempt any person; after all, strength was the language of the world. That answer held no meaning though.
He was struck by the thought he had earlier with Li Feng, about roaming the empire. The idea held a fatal attraction for him, and the more he thought about it, the greater the attraction became. He knew in his heart now that whatever other goals he would have, the greatest would be to roam the world, seeing all there was to see.
The idea felt right in a way nothing else ever had. As he confirmed that to himself, he felt his spiritual energy cycle through his meridians of its own volition, and a great rumbling emanated from his martial spirit. The occurrence should by all reason be startling, but Lu Chang merely felt at ease.
He looked inward and was shocked as he found the first of his twelve blocked meridians had been cleared, only waiting for him to flood it with spiritual energy. Once he did so, he’d have truly stepped into the first stage of meridian opening. Lu Chang opened his eyes and Old Man Zhao looked at him with a small grin.
“You seem to have had an enlightenment. It’s been many years since I’ve had the privilege of witnessing that. Well, don’t keep an old man waiting. What have you realized?”
“I can’t claim to have been enlightened, but I have truly realized something. I don’t pursue the path of becoming a respected expert or the peak of martial arts. My path is to wander the world. I want to see it all, experience it all. The law of the land is strength, though. To protect myself and to be able to do as I see fit, I will pursue martial arts. Therefore, I ask you, sir, to bestow me a martial technique.”
Lu Chang spoke confidently, rising to bow solemnly to the old man at the end. Old Man Zhao laughed again, beckoning him back to his seat.
“Sit down, sit down, boy. I have to say, that’s the most unique answer I’ve heard today. The rest of your peers all have lofty goals in the pursuit of cultivation.”
He raised an eyebrow at Lu Chang, who was calm in his response.
“That may be their path, but it is not mine.”
Old Man Zhao nodded.
“I can tell you believe that, and you never would have triggered an enlightenment like that if it didn’t resonate with you. I’ll caution you to not give too much thought to paths and such right now, though. You’re still so young, many things can change in an instant.”
The old man sighed, staring into the distance as he remembered some even from his past.
“Dear me, look at me rambling. Regardless, you’ve given me a fine answer, one that has meaning to you. I’d be remiss not to reward such honest introspection from the youth. Take this technique of mine. I’m certain it will prove handy in your travels, both in combat and out. It is an incomplete technique I gathered from an ancient cultivator’s tomb once upon a time. Even incomplete, it is still a superior grade mortal technique, though. Perhaps one day you’ll find the missing pieces and you’ll have a much stronger technique.”
Old Man Zhao handed him the ancient-looking scroll he’d been reading when Lu Chang was shown in. Lu Chang looked down at the scroll, barely five inches long when rolled up. It was titled, “Wind-Chasing Steps.” Lu Chang stood and bowed deeply to the old man.
“Thank you, sir. I’ll never forget your kindness.”
Old Man Zhao waved him off.
“It’s no trouble. These old scrolls would just sit here and get dusty in my care. Better they be entrusted to you young people who have use for them. Now go on. I’m sure you have better things to do than sit here and listen to an old man ramble on. Though, once you’ve roamed far and wide enough and miss your old home, I hope you’ll visit an old man and tell some tales of your travels.”
Lu Chang promised he would, then left hurriedly after another bow. Excitement filled him. He’d received a technique from Old Man Zhao, and more importantly he’d discovered his life’s goal. It felt like a piece of him that he’d never known was missing had been recovered.
His spiritual energy flowed smoothly through his meridians as he rushed home, moving faster than he ever had. Lu Chang was more motivated than ever to start his cultivation training. He’d decided that he would leave Hundred Fragrance City after the tournament in a few months, hopefully with Li Feng. The tournament would be his stepping stone to the wider world, and he wanted to advance as far as he could before it.
That was his promise to himself.