Body strengthening.

Cultivation was vast. This was the feeling Xiao Ji had gotten after reading the introductory scroll in the room. There were many ways in which it could be practised. From intuitive methods like the simple spirit cultivation where one breathed in the energy of heaven and earth, to more esoteric practices that involved crafting corpses or spirit forging.

Body strengthening was one of the more popular cultivation methods. It was fairly straightforward and was generally considered a good complement to spirit cultivation. According to his master, every sect or trainer that knew what they were doing made body cultivation a requirement along with spirit cultivation. Both were necessary for a solid foundation.

All in all, his Master sang its praises as an art capable of making one’s body perform truly outrageous feats. It was also painful, draining and very difficult. It required one to stretch and move the body in ways it was not meant to move. Overall a nightmare for students around the empire.

Ji might have focused a bit too much on the latter parts.

Which was why he was currently feeling apprehension. At least for qi control and spirit cultivation, he had a trait and a Beyond technique helping him. Here, there was no such luck and he would have to do everything the hard way.

His Master left him a scroll after a brief explanation of body strengthening and told him to go through it. The man left after that, saying he would be back in a few hours to see his progress.

After fiddling with the scroll for a few moments, he managed to get it open and go through the basic movements of the technique.

First Step of the Rooster Strengthening Art.

The scroll used diagrams to depict what looked like a very complicated dance with elaborate moves that he had no confidence actually performing. There were also lines that represented pathways and the way qi flowed during each stance. No doubt he would have to manually control the qi flow when he was ready.

He ignored the temptation to start attempting the stances, choosing instead to read to the end and wait for his Master to return before starting. There was no point injuring himself for nothing.

When he finished and did not find the old man, he decided to try out the old man’s earlier advice. From his words, he had implied that it was possible to steal qi from the egg. If so, then all his worries would be solved quickly and he could practise his breathing technique without fear, simply syphoning any excess qi back to his dantian.

Inside his dantian, he found the egg was as he left it, still releasing a faint glow that shone to his qi senses. Unlike the previous times however, the egg was not completely dormant even after being starved of energy for hours. Instead, he felt it exert a constant force on his qi, as if attempting to claim it for itself. Thankfully, the pressure was still low and very easy for him to fend off indefinitely at his current level. Yet it was the fact that the pressure was there at all that bothered him.

It meant the egg was getting stronger.

A process he would have to stop if he wanted any chance of actually making progress in his cultivation. He made sure to keep a firm hold on his qi before focusing on the egg and using all his free mental energy to try wresting control of the qi it held.

Ji was expecting a long battle where he would gradually get better until, over the course of days or weeks, he was good enough to properly syphon enough energy to make a difference. What he got however, was outside of his expectations.

On one side was a sentient mind, boosted by a powerful mental trait and over a month of sustained practice controlling qi. On the other side was an unconscious egg that was starved of qi and could barely sustain itself. When he put it that way, perhaps the results were not so unexpected.

The primary reason why using the breathing technique was so difficult was that he was currently incapable of manually controlling the amount of qi it brought in at once. The actual power of the egg was a secondary concern. So it should have been less of a surprise when he ripped out a large chunk of qi from the egg on his first try. Instantly, its glow dimmed, and the pressure it radiated died out.

He ripped out more chunks, each success making him feel even more stupid. To think he had agonised about it and dreamed of confronting his Master to complain about unfairness. For something so simple! Internally, he made a resolve to reduce his complaints and take his master’s instructions with grace. So far, nothing he had been given was beyond him. Not to mention it was the path he himself had chosen.

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By the time his Master returned, he was able to retain more than half of the qi he breathed in. For the first time in over a month, he could actually feel his cultivation gradually start increasing, something that brought joy to his heart. He grudgingly dropped his cultivation to focus on his master.

“I see you have taken my advice to heart. Good. Now, we will start with the basics of the body strengthening art I gave you..”

And so the next few hours were spent going through what the old man called ‘warmups’. Not part of the stances proper, merely a prelude to free the body and the meridians. Of course that did not mean these warmups were not much harder than the exercises he had been doing, and he found himself feeling more sore than he had in weeks. More interestingly was the fact that he actually noticed qi moving in his meridians in interesting ways. It was a careful process where he had to follow every bit of qi closely to ensure they did not get stolen.

When he was finally done, he felt like he was incapable of doing anything but eating and sleeping for the rest of the day. Naturally, the old man had other plans.

“Now that you are done with the warmups we will move on to the last lesson for the day. Controlling your qi internally.”

Even though he was tired and hungry, Ji still found himself getting excited. Practical applications of qi was something that could directly contribute to his defence. Plus, he was sure it would be the start of a journey that would lead him to create wonders like his master. Currently, he was still bumbling about in the dark, clueless on how to proceed. Which meant he was grateful for some guidance.

“I am ready to accept your guidance,” he said politely.

“Good. Qi can be used for many things, from creating pillars of flame to flying through the air. But at your level, your options are much more limited. The primary use of qi for you will be to strengthen your body for bursts of power. Body Strengthening techniques are good, but sometimes you will need more power. Let me demonstrate. Qian Shi.”

The Third Disciple came running not even a minute later, looking as energetic as always, though Ji noticed how hard she was panting.

“I am here, master,.” she said, then turned to him. “Oh hey Ji. You look spent.”

Thankfully, the old man spoke before any conversation could take off.

“Third Disciple, I wish to demonstrate the difference between the effects of a normal body strengthening art and a qi enhanced body. You will run around this courtyard twice. Once with just the power of your body and the second time assisted by qi.”

Qian Shi nodded and went to the end of the courtyard where she took off in a sprint. Being in the Foundation Establishment realm and having made progress in body strengthening, she was much faster than a regular dog and he could see why she had easily caught him on the day they met. He almost found it difficult to keep track of her as it was.

The moment she finished the first lap round the large courtyard though, something changed. Where he struggled to keep track of her previously, she now appeared as a black blur to his senses, moving faster than he thought was possible. If he were to guess, her speed had doubled at least. He briefly imagined himself enhanced with the power of qi performing impossible feats with his body.

His interest in internal qi manipulation rose even further.

Qian Shi came back when she was done, not even looking the slightest bit tired.

“Thank you Qian Shi, you may go now,” their Master said, then turned back to Ji. “I hope the demonstration showed you the power of internal qi.”

“It has.”

“Good. In theory, using qi internally to boost your body is simple. You simply spin your dantian and send qi through your meridians to a certain part of your body and it strengthens it. That strength will leave when the qi runs out. In practice, there is a risk of injury. Some people also fail because their qi control is not good enough. Naturally, I expect you to be fairly proficient with the basics within the next hour. The main thing I will teach you is how to enhance your body on the fly and build it into your subconscious as a first response.“

The process, as it turned out, was just as simple as Master said, he spun his dantian and directed qi to his legs. Immediately, he noticed the difference in strength. Adjusting to the feeling while keeping hold of his qi took a few seconds to get used to, but that was it.

The next thing he did was to send qi to all parts of his body. Spreading the qi evenly while maintaining control taxed him more, but it was nothing he could not handle. He took a jump, flapping his wings with his newfound strength and found himself easily reaching twice the height of his Master. He also understood what he had meant by risk of injury. As he was in the air, he knew that an uneven spread of qi would likely have torn his wings and other parts of his body.

That was not enough to reduce the thrill and he found himself practising till he ran out of qi just a few minutes later, his low cultivation showing his weakness.

“It seems like you have come across the first lesson. At your level, enhancing all your body at once is simply too draining. You will be better served by directing qi to individual body parts that you need strengthened. That way, you will maximise the use of what little qi you have.”

Ji nodded, and following his Master’s guidance, he was able to quickly improve his proficiency in enhancing individual parts of his body. By the end of the day, he could run round the courtyard at twice his normal speed for five times before running out of qi. Compared to the body strengthening training, he felt like he was in his element and he even found himself looking forward to the next day’s lessons, regardless of the body strengthening practice.