There is, in fact, going to be a tournament; that much was confirmed two weeks after Yorins declaration by master Jorin himself. “This is a momentous occasion!” he had said, “you have all proven your worth in joining this sect, now you must prove your dedication to the path! In two weeks time the disciples of the River’s Scales will come down along with their master to test your value. You will show them that we are strong, you will show them that we are wise, you will show them that we are true cultivators!”
That’s right, an inter-sect tournament, the River’s Scales are coming down to the Serpent’s Fang to duke it out between their best and brightest, and their worst too, but the focus is mostly on the stars of the show. She is well enough to fight now, and Etra is making up for lost time beating her derriere by challenging her to a duel everyday. She could swear her soul was bruised at this point, considering how much of a beating she’s received.
Speaking of,
“Yorin, Kisrin! Where is she?” Spouts a demon taking the form of a simple girl.
“Apologies disciple Etra, where is who?” Kisrin questions.
“Don’t give me that baby-face, you know exactly who I'm talking about,” Etra replies.
“Well, maybe if the honourable disciple Etra learned politeness, I'd be inclined to help.” Kisrin says, Yorin lets out an ‘ooh’ as Etra turns red.
“Boy, I will beat your ass all the way to Sunday if you don’t tell me where she is,” Etra threatens.
Kisrin, bless his heart, snorts, “please disciple Etra, the role of the jester doesn’t suit you, you should go back to being a mindless brute.”
Etra’s temper flares, “Oh yeah? we’ll see who's the jester once I turn your face into a carnival piece. C’mon shrimp, I challenge you to a duel!”
“very well, I will present my condolences to your family.” Kisrin nods solemnly.
Both of them walk away to the training field, and only once she’s sure it’s safe, does Tantra lower herself from the branch she’s been hiding on.
“She’s determined,” Yorin says, “I like it, full of that cultivator fire”
“She’s insane is what she is,” Tantra grumbles, “I’m surprised she hasn’t broken my bones at this point.”
“Would that be so bad?” Yorin ventures, “It would make you stronger.”
Tantra gives him a flat look, “Yorin, I get it, you’re a cultivation enthusiast, and an idiot, please develop a personality.”
Yorin puts his hand over his heart like he’s been struck, “You wound me honourable Tantra! I’m only an idiot sometimes.”
Tantra rolls her eyes, “sure, sure. Now, how have your studies progressed? I hope you have filled that mind with some knowledge.”
“Please Tantra,” Yorin groans, “please don’t, you’ve thoroughly beaten my brain to mush. Why do I need to know Impala species are fast boys! They don’t even live on this side of Testhim! When will I ever get the opportunity to hunt one?”
“Hunt!?!” Tantra gasps, “why would I teach you these things to hunt such majestic creatures?”
“You don’t feel the same way about birds.” Yorin points out.
“That’s not the same, birds are the agents of Doghoth’thor”
“OH TANTRA, I’VE FOUND YOU!”
Tantra turns to see a furious Etra sprinting in her direction, she nods, turns, and runs for dear life. She’s taken enough beatings that they shouldn’t kick her out for cowardice.
-
“Whatcha looking at?” Sola appears next to her side, and Tantra barely musters the composure not to scream. She’s been getting better at this.
“Just a book on Qi control,” She replies smoothly, “Reading in advance to see what I can look forward too, It’s all…rather complicated.”
This book's true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.
“Oh? Practicing control to make up for that lackluster connection between your core and soul?”
Tantra sighs, “exactly.”
“Well, don’t keep a girl waiting, I could always use new methods to cultivate.”
Tantra raises a brow, “what would you need with greater control?”
“Well, not much. But it could translate pretty well to my dao.”
Huh, so she does have a dao, pretty obvious considering her disappearing trick but confirmation’s always nice.
“Alright,” Tantra says, “The first exercise is simple enough, you just grab two threads of Qi, instead of one, and weave them together like you might a rope.”
Sola raises a brow, “can it only be two threads?”
Tantra tilts her head, “I’ve never tried but it’s mentioned in the book, along with threading multiple ropes together.”
“Well we can always try all that later, what about the rest?” Sola asks
Tantra flips a few pages back a few pages and points to two specific words, input and output.
“So for this one you have to pull on a thread of Qi, then put it back into your core, that’s the flow input. You have to keep your hold on it, preventing it from integrating with the rest of your Qi. Flow output Is how much Qi ends up on the other side, the more the better.”
Sola blinks, “That’s…a big jump from threading Qi together.”
Tantra sighs, “yeah, it’s rather ridiculous, but not as ridiculous as the third exercise.”
Tantra flips a few pages forward, “‘Net Qi distribution’, tell me what you think that means.”
Sola taps her chin and hums, “It sounds like the density of Qi in the core, but liquid Qi is something only Anchored Souls can achieve, otherwise it’s just the same all around.”
“Yeah that’s what I thought too,” She says, “but then I read this-”she points to the words ‘Qi voiding’ “-and found out it’s talking about Qi outside the core”
Sola looks flabbergasted at her, “what?”
“I know!” Tantra throws her arms in the air, “you're supposed to void all your Qi, then assert your will on all of it at once. Then you slowly organize it equally throughout the body, being careful not to let a single drop get lost to the atmosphere. It’s ridiculous!”
“How are you even supposed to stay conscious with no Qi in your core?” Sola asks.
Tantra sighs, “Apparently, so long as the Qi isn’t lost, you should be able to keep yourself awake forcefully.”
“That…that sounds insane.” Sola says, “Do I dare ask what’s next?”
Tantra shrugs, “haven’t checked yet, I’ve been examining all the variations on this exercise first. Let’s see…”
She flips a few pages forward and starts reading with Sola beside her, excitedly waiting for Tantra to finish. Tantra scrunches her brow as she stares at the pages.
“Okay, this is bullshit.”
-
Tantra is running, again.
Wow, how surprising.
She’s gotten pretty good at the act of throwing one leg ahead of the other at violent speeds though. Enough to where she could surpass all the disciples in her peer group when they first came to the sect, which is surprising, considering most of them are farmers. Before coming to the sect she only jogged occasionally, and not to complete exhaustion as she does now.
She’s learned that that’s actually a pretty crucial point of cultivation, sure, you can circulate your Qi after a light jog or a hard day of work, but the benefits grow exponentially when you bring your body to its brink. The harder you’ve pushed yourself, the easier it is for Qi to absorb into your body. It’s gotten to a point where Qi travels noticeably smoother in her legs than the rest of her body, since runnings the exercise she always chooses over push ups, except for that one time
The point of foundation is to acclimate the body to Qi, so that it doesn’t damage itself when using Qi to boost its abilities, this comes with some additional benefits, like making Qi easier to control in the areas more acclimated, as well as boosting all aspects of that part of the body. Calling yourself a cultivator before completing this stage is kind of like comparing a tiger to a cat. The ability to boost the body with Qi so long as you posses it is staggering in the difference it can make, as evidenced by an untrained bandit managing to almost defeat four disciples on his own.
Three of which have training for years, and one of those three being possessed by a Daemon that enhances her physical prowess to the foundation level.
She really shouldn’t think about that.
Back to the running then. It’s gotten easier, which means she either has to take longer or push harder. Yorin still has an annoying habit of slapping her back, he has soared above his peers because of the extra training he’s maintained despite her no longer needing the whole day to circulate, she even considered joining him if it wouldn’t drain her Qi stone precipitously, so instead she sits aside weaving and chatting with Kisrin. He’s starting to take to the control exercises as well, though she doesn’t know why since most of his major meridians have been cleansed.
Damn, she’s surrounded by prodigies.
The merchant side of her rubs its hands with glee at the potential connections with future cultivators, but the majority…kind of feels disgusted by the thought of taking advantage of them. This isn’t like back home, where she had only family and anyone she called ‘friend’ was just a useful asset. These are genuine, and…wholesome.
She’s sure she’ll miss the feeling when she’s gone.