A heartbeat. A vibration. A pulse.

What separates them? They were all a rippling movement like a wave.

My mind floated back to how Scar condensed the water on his fist.

Could the earth move like water? Could the vibrations take on different forms? Would those forms clash against each other? Instead of a multitude of different vibrations, could it move as one?

I felt my mind wander down a path that I hadn’t anticipated. But I let it flow, endlessly exploring the thought. In response, the pulsing from my violet earth core grew steady like the earth, and my heartbeat slowed to a deep, meaningful beat.

The resulting vibration ebbed and flowed and didn’t just rocket out from my body. It felt like my being had become the heartbeat, the vibration, the pulse.

Hou…

My breath expelled any doubts I held, and when I breathed in, it was with the strength of my whole body.

Violet mist rushed toward me, and my body rippled with a deep vibration. It ebbed and flowed like water as it drew in Qi from the violet mist and fueled the growth of my cultivation base. I watched and waited as the Qi filled every nook and cranny of my body. Then, I exhaled, allowing the violet mist to come closer in anticipation of my next breath. Slowly, the pressure mounting in my Dantian reached its peak.

I had been holding back on breaking through the bottleneck to the fifth Qi condensation stage because I didn’t want to just break through one stage. I wanted to break through multiple stages at once.

But that was more difficult than I imagined. I had barely accomplished it last time with the violet water assisting me alongside the Qi from those spirit stones.

At first, I was worried that I couldn’t do it again. But then I remembered another detail from Grandma Sylvie's xianxia stories. Collecting Qi wasn't the only way to grow your cultivation base. In rare moments of Dao Revelation, the cultivation base of an immortal can grow.

I was experiencing that now, with the vibration echoing in my body. As my heart beat in unison with my violet earth core, it felt like the next stage was only a single step away. I could puncture the barrier to the next stage with a single thought.

So, I did.

Pop!

I immediately broke through to the fifth Qi Condensation stage and rocketed to the sixth. I felt the accumulated pressure on my Dantian propel my cultivation base upwards like a spouting geyser. The violet mist in the area flocked towards my body, fueling it with the Qi it held. Countless violet dirt particles multiplied as my fridge-sized clump approached a car in size.

Pop!

Another pop rang out as the barrier keeping me from reaching the sixth Qi Condensation stage was instantly torn apart. I could feel the blackened sweat pouring out of me, but I forgot about it. I focused all my senses on my cultivation base.

I wanted to reach higher.

Pulse.

My violet earth core responded to my will, and my heartbeat answered it in tandem. Immediately, the vibration rippling in my body jerked the robes I was wearing, and with it, the blackened sweat splattered across the cave.

I mentally screamed at my cultivation base to rise, and it roared in response like a dragon as the barrier to the seventh stage was battered. A deep crashing sound echoed throughout my body as the initial blow was repelled, leaving a crack that began to heal within seconds.

I couldn’t let it heal.

I willed my Qi to battle against the barrier with everything I had. The Qi filling my body was quickly used up as it concentrated in my Dantian – A process that signalled my cultivation base was solidifying at the current stage. If it solidified at the current stage, I would lose all the momentum pushing me toward the seventh stage.

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But I wasn’t content with only breaking through two stages.

Violet mist filled my nostrils as I breathed in all the ambient Qi I could, battering it against the barrier to the seventh stage in the process.

I will reach higher!

My will turned as stubborn as a stone and propelled the Qi into a final attack. With unparalleled momentum, my cultivation base rapidly congealed, forming countless dirt particles that pushed against the barrier to the seventh stage.

YOU CAN’T STOP ME!

Pop!

Pulse.

All at once, the Qi flowing within me vibrated. A whole vibration, not the multiple vibrations I was used to. The earth cracked where I sat as the vibration rippled out from me, sending tremors into the ground.

Pulse.

I opened my eyes from my reverie and felt the Qi in my body rapidly acclimate to the Seventh Qi Condensation Stage. As it did, I noticed the faint reverberations that originated from underneath me.

"I did it," I spoke with a smile.

I spun on my hand, a feat I didn’t think I’d ever do, and landed on my feet with a graceful step. From that single step, a vibration echoed out into the ground that caused the earth to rise where I previously sat, like when a water droplet landed in a pool and rose up after the initial contact.

From the rising ground, at the same spot the skeleton had been sitting this whole time, rose a violet-hued sword a bit below a meter and a half in length.

“That must be the sword the skeleton woman was talking about,” I muttered.

The vibration it gave off responded to the whole vibration I emitted from my body. That's how I only noticed it now when my vibrations reached a new peak. It was almost like the sword was trying to match frequencies with me and couldn't when I was emitting so many conflicting ones.

It was trying to match my Earthen Heart Vibration.

Yeah, I liked the sound of that.

“Heh, it sounds like a superpower when I name it like that.”

Suddenly, a loud crashing sound rang out against the cave entrance, followed by an ominous shaking as the cave walls crumbled.

“Not good.”

I leaped for the sword that had risen up and could only pray as the rocky ceiling of the cave collapsed on top of me.

*****

Gou Jing rebounded off the cave wall from a blow that sent rocks crumbling beneath her. She fell with a soft thud against the reddened ground, and hope began seeping away.

“He’s taken too long.” She whispered into the earth.

Above her, the bramble chimera stood and raised its paw. Its claws flared as it slashed a hole into Gou Jing’s heart. Thankfully, that spot was already empty.

The bramble chimera swung again.

Gou Jing felt the rib bones supporting her transformation crush into splinters, and the violet mist keeping her chest muscles intact began to drift away.

Suddenly, Gou Jing’s eyes widened. But not with fear or pain. She was well past the point of letting either of those distract her in battle. She watched the reddened ground beneath her vibrate, slowly filling with violet-coloured earth.

Had he done it? Did the Mountain Sealing Sword accept him?

Another reverberation rippled through the ground and caused Gou Jing to let out a peaceful smile.

Finally, her heir was here.

She could rest.

*****

“Collapse the cave! COLLAPSE THE CAVE, YOU DUMB BEAST!” Gou Hui screamed from the cobblestone dome.

Roar!

The bramble chimera stomped on Gou Jing’s head, crushing it and sending the violet mist seeping from her body into the cave remains. With a feral series of attacks, the bramble chimera smashed the stones at the entrance and pounded away at the rocks above it.

Crash!

The rocks quickly gave away under the mighty paws of the bramble chimera, and before long, there was only a heap of rubble left of the violet pool cave.

Huff, huff, huff.

“There, see? It’s all dealt with. I knew I could do it.” Gou Hui calmed himself before shrieking toward the top of the ceiling.

“You see that, Gou Jia! I’m capable! That’s why The Matron chose me! I am—"

Gou Hui’s words caught in his throat as he sensed the bramble chimera back away from the cave.

…Tremor…

Gou Hui looked at the rocks piled up in the aftermath shake a bit through the bramble chimera.

“No…” He whispered.

…Tremor…Tremor…

“NO! Why won’t you just DIE!”

With growing intensity, the collapsed cave entrance shook with vibrations that petered into the earth. Finally, with a blast of stone shards, a figure emerged from the blasted rubble.

“I wish I could get a robe that doesn’t break so easily. I don’t even have another to replace this with.”

A chubby young man dressed in nothing but torn robes walked out from the destroyed rubble. He wielded a violet sword that sang with one clear vibration. As he swung the sword once in the air, the violet mist swayed alongside it.

“Well, it was worth it.”

He wiped the mix of cultivation impurities and dirt from his face and flung it to the side with a disgusted glance. Then, his face relaxed into a simple expression as he looked toward the bramble chimera. With a proud tone, he announced his return and pointed the violet sword toward it.

“I shall vanquish you, demon! I— Hehe. That’s so cliché. Maybe instead, I could say something like… It’s the coward’s way to come back stronger! Yeah, that’s totally it!”

“Catchphrases!” The chubby young man finished with a smile and made Gou Hui’s vein pop from his forehead.