Muchen found himself breathing much easier the next morning with his brief bout of intrigue behind him. Even the cold weather could hardly put a damper on his mood. He found that a simple cloak was enough to ward off the chill, and the surrounding landscape had a certain stark beauty to it. His opinion would have changed if they'd been trudging through drifts of snow, but a bit of cold wasn't enough to bring down his mood.

He also found himself surprisingly happy just to be traveling again. He'd enjoyed his routine back in the capital, but living elbow to elbow with so many people had been stifling. Not to mention the matter of being under the Wang family's eyes at all hours. They only meant him well, but Muchen still appreciated having his privacy back.

He took a glance at the turtle shell resting on the bench next to him. Mostly having his privacy back. Also, now that they were out on their own his martial lessons would be resuming, but Muchen had decided not to worry about that for the moment.

"That sword would have served you well," Xinyi said. Her voice was clearly audible despite her unwillingness to poke her head out of her shell. Muchen didn't think she was actually affected by the cold, but she certainly didn't enjoy it.

"I'd rather have a new friend than a new sword," Muchen said. Setting aside his ability to keep such a treasure without losing his head, he didn't want to live the kind of life where a nice weapon was an important part of how he made his living.

"Friend?" Xinyi asked.

Muchen shrugged. "Friendly acquaintance, at least."

If he was being completely honest with himself, he figured it was about fifty fifty whether Heisan would follow through on his request to keep an eye out for Xinyi's prizes. That was fine. Muchen didn't intend to put all of his eggs in that basket. Besides, even if he never saw Heisan again, at least the worst case scenario no longer involved fighting off angry cultivators.

After all, if he had brought their initial bout of cooperation to a close with a spot of murder, whoever was behind Heisan would have done their best to strike back. First of all because while people in the Qianzhan Empire were talented at many things, few were capable of letting go of a grudge. Second, and probably more importantly, they would continue to covet the Long family's cultivation method for as long as Muchen had it in his possession.

Now that the slip was out of his hands and, to all appearances, still unread, Muchen had at least shed one of the targets on his back. Somebody still might come after him for his cooperation with Heisan, but Heisan himself would remain a much more important target for as long as he lived.

"That cultivation method," Muchen said, "will I be able to use it?"

"I doubt it," Xinyi said. "I have no interest in playing nursemaid and feeding you trickles of lightning aspected spiritual energy."

Muchen wondered whether it was a matter of "won't" or "can't", given Xinyi's reduced state. Either way, he'd have to find a different approach.

"You said it could be found in lightning storms, right?" he asked, then continued before she could inform him of the foolishness of cultivating as a lightning rod. "If I could produce a steady trickle of electricity, would that work?"

"Electricity?"

"Small, controlled bits of lightning," Muchen said. For a moment he regretted selling the piece of amber that would have allowed for an easy demonstration of static electricity.

"If that were possible," Xinyi said, trailing off as she thought for a moment. "It probably wouldn't be enough."

Muchen sighed. A cultivation method that could be fueled by a hand cranked generator would be worth pursuing. If he had to be struck by lightning in order to progress, he'd rather search for a new method.

"For similar fire type methods, the best results come from cultivating near a volcano," Xinyi said. "You would need something like that, but for lightning."

Muchen perked up. That actually might be doable, if he could set up a primitive electric grid. "The physical environment affects the spiritual energy?"

Xinyi poked her head out of her shell and gave him a considering look. "I suppose you've made enough progress that explaining these things to you won't be a waste of breath."

Muchen just nodded agreeably, long since used to Xinyi's attitude.

"What you have been doing so far can barely be considered cultivation. You have used spiritual energy to nourish your body and soul. This is important, but it is still working within the bounds of nature," Xinyi said. "You will begin going beyond such things when you reach the next step. Your dao is what you do. Your foundation is the first step towards remaking what you are."

Muchen nodded again. The full philosophical implications of cultivating were still beyond him, but he understood the gist of what was going on. In comic book terms, everything so far had been building him towards a sort of peak human shape. Maybe a little stronger and faster than what was technically possible for a normal human, but he was hardly leaping over buildings in a single bound. Building a foundation was the first major step towards breaking mortal limits entirely.

"Of course, to obtain great results, one must invest great effort," Xinyi continued. "While at the early stages any sort of spiritual energy will suffice, building a foundation requires a more specific approach. Just like building a building, if you take a haphazard approach in constructing the foundation then it can only end in tears."

Muchen nodded again. He'd figured there was a reason the sects were relatively free with the instructions for taking the first few steps along the path of cultivation while they vigilantly hoarded the secrets of further progress. He'd taken it as a simple recruitment method, but it seemed there was more to it than that. They weren't just trying to create artificial scarcity. Rather, building a foundation was demanding in an entirely different way, and probably never ended well for anybody who tried to do it without supervision.

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"Spiritual energy takes on the aspect of its surroundings. For the most part, this results in a whole medley of spiritual energy, mixed together just as the physical world is," Xinyi continued. "Only in an extreme environment like a volcano would you get a relatively pure stream of a single element of spiritual energy."

"So to build a foundation you need to sort out the right type of energy?" Muchen asked.

"Usually, yes," Xinyi said. "It's difficult, imprecise work, especially for beginners. If you have access to a pure stream of a single energy type, together with a scripture that is designed to take advantage of such a thing, then your progress will advance by leaps and bounds."

"Would that hurt you later?" Muchen asked. He might not be an expert in cultivation, but he'd long since become acquainted with the idea that there was no such thing as a free lunch.

"Hardly. That's why such techniques are so highly sought after," Xinyi said.

Muchen nodded. He was a little vague on exactly how electricity worked, but if the reward for figuring it out was a major boost to his cultivation then he didn't mind putting in some time to experiment.

"Latent defects haunt the poor souls who simply fill in their foundation with whatever energy is available," Xinyi continued. "Technically you can build a foundation that way, but you're building castles on the sand. Advancing any further would be impossible."

Muchen thought she was being a bit harsh. A cultivator who had finished building his foundation could live a comfortable life on the Qianzhan Continent. Maybe it was foolish to give up long term prospects for short term gains, but when the only other option was to wait for a heaven-defying opportunity to fall on your head, he could understand the temptation.

Xinyi withdrew her head back into her shell. It seemed her desire to educate Muchen had been exhausted. That was fine. She had given him plenty to think about.

Over the course of an entire day of travel they saw only a handful of other people on the road. For anybody without cultivation to back them up, traveling in the winter could be a life-threatening endeavor. Muchen didn't have a chance to try and sell the clothing and jewelry he had bought in the capital. He could only hope that shoppers in the city would be more willing to brave the cold.

Even making camp was made more difficult by the onset of winter. Muchen had to work hard to drive his tent stakes into the frozen ground, and of course preparing a campfire wasn't just for cooking purposes. Muchen was thankful once more for the boosts cultivation gave to his physique. He might not be completely comfortable in the freezing cold, but at least he didn't have to worry about waking up with frostbite.

Once their basic living arrangements were in order, Xinyi reappeared in human form, willow switch in hand. Muchen grimaced. He knew these martial exercises were meant for his own good, but he'd never enjoyed re-starting his exercise routine after skipping on a month of workouts. He might be grateful for it eventually, but today was going to be rough.

Much to his surprise, Muchen found himself going through the standard set of stretches with the same ease that he remembered from a month previous. It took a few swings of his knife before he knocked off the rust, but before long he was making his strikes with at least as much speed and power as he had put on display before their trip to the capital.

Between his unexpected prowess and the sheer excitement of getting to stretch his muscles after so long, Muchen was feeling pretty good as he reached the midpoint of his exercises. That good mood vanished when he saw the scowl on Xinyi's face.

Breaking out of the established routine would only make her mood worse. Muchen pressed on, completing the usual set of exercises with what he thought was a very respectable performance. He waited to broach his question until he was awarded a brief moment of rest, meant to let him catch his breath before they began active sparring.

"What's wrong?" he asked. "You look angry."

Xinyi startled at the question. She looked him up and down, then sighed. "I'm not angry. Just disappointed."

"I thought I was doing about as well as before," Muchen said. He wasn't timing himself with a stopwatch or anything. It was unsettling to think that his performance might have degraded while he remained completely unaware of the change.

"Well, yes," Xinyi said. "You've opened two meridians since then."

Muchen couldn't help but feel a bit guilty as comprehension dawned. He hadn't been keeping up his physical exercises in the capital, but he had been diligent in his cultivation. Advancing his cultivation, by itself, ought to result in an increase in his physical abilities. For his performance to only match what he could do a month ago essentially meant that he was failing to take advantage of his progress.

"Well, not everyone's a prodigy," Xinyi said, readying her willow switch. "If you don't make progress on your own, that just means there's more improvement to be squeezed out of you."

Muchen wasn't entirely sure he was comfortable with the metaphor. He didn't have time to say anything about it, though, as Xinyi decided that today they would be working on his defense.

At the end of the exercise, it was hard to say if he was doing better or worse than he had been a month ago. He was sore, wrung out, and badly bruised, but that was pretty much par for the course. Considering Xinyi's ability to adjust the challenge he was facing, Muchen suspected he would be enduring very similar training sessions for a long time to come.

Well, at least every session brought him that much closer to being able to defend himself against an angry cultivator. Right now he'd be fine as long as the cultivator either wasn't that angry or wasn't that much of a cultivator. That was more than he'd been able to do two months ago, though, and in two months he should be at least a little bit more capable still.

Muchen dragged himself through the preparation of a simple rice porridge for dinner through stubborn determination. Once he had eaten he felt something of a second wind. It wasn't enough to go for another round of exercise, but he at least felt like he could cultivate without worrying about falling asleep halfway through.

Muchen felt some trepidation as he sat and prepared to enter the meditative state. He'd completed arguably the biggest deal of his life the previous night, negotiating a nice windfall of silver as well as peaceful coexistence with a potentially hostile cultivator. He hadn't done any business during the day, though. He'd never ever really considered doing so. Citizens of the capital might be out and about in all sorts of weather, but out here people stayed inside when it was cold.

His fears proved to be unfounded, as Muchen felt spiritual energy rush towards him with a vigor that he'd not felt in a long time. He could vaguely sense a connection leading up north, into the wild lands where one might hide a spare heir from the eyes of the Empire. He also felt a subtle pull towards the capital. It reminded him of what he would feel after a good day at the tea stand, though attenuated by distance.

If he could satisfy his dao through his partnership with Liling, his cultivation would soon increase by leaps and bounds. As soon as the thought crossed his mind, though, Muchen felt a slight sinking in his stomach as part of him instinctively rejected the idea. Perhaps the partnership would serve as a useful supplement, but that wouldn't matter if he failed to walk his dao for himself.

He could worry over the details later. For now, Muchen put his worries aside and let the spiritual energy flow through him.