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Chapter 43: "Highly Eccentric."
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Shae had been experimenting. She wasn't sure for how long; time was a weird thing while meditating, and weirder still when focused inside one's Dantian. She was testing the interactions between the different divine qi and her lightning ribbons. Then testing it all again against the memories trapped in the cat's-eye marbles.
There seemed to be an interesting interaction between the enlightenment qi and the divine lightning qi, especially when connected by the lightning ribbons. The marbles didn't add much, but they still had a small effect, now that she knew to look for it.
Without knowing exactly what was happening, Shae was hesitant to combine them all and see the results. Wouldn't want to summon a tribulation inside my Dantian. She worried this was the case as the reaction mostly took the form of arcing lightning.
She was reminded of the three colors of tribulation lightning, and the three aspects of the heavens that she had discovered during her inquiry in Minlin. A few misspoken words had almost led to something happening. Wrath, judgment, and enlightenment were what she had spoken at the time. How true they were, seemed up for debate, Xiang and Yingfan probably know. Wrath was representing heaven's tribulations, but she knew now that a tribulation has three parts, and wrath was only one of them.
Can I break the others down as well? Enlightenments are similar to the gold qi, progress and change. The comprehension of an individual recognized directly by the heavens.
The inquiry was similar to the blue lightning's test, and held some part of punishment as well. But I never felt that punishment was intended to be wrath. The executioner's blade was a threat and warning; impetus to obey. Warning and obedience. The words resounded within her Dantian, vibrating off certain parts. Warning was easy to find, the half dozen marbles that were memories of the tribulation's warning strike. Even the tribulation uses warning, though it is an aspect mainly represented during the inquiry.
She hummed in thought, the tone resonating within her, not a real hum that she needed to breathe for: it continued unbroken as her body autonomically inhaled and exhaled.
Obedience. She thought again. The response was subtle, not coming from anywhere in particular. Something hidden? She wondered. Something less physical? More automatic or natural? There was a nagging feeling that she couldn't place her finger on.
Ugh! She wanted to scrunch up her face and drag her hands down it. Here in her mindscape the best she could do was imagine it and that wasn't as cathartic.
A learned behavior? Obedience from threat of death? She recalled the feeling of the executioner's blade. That impending doom. That was a warning, but it could also be part of obedience. She slowed herself down and walked over the events of the inquiry. Slowly getting to the last words spoken by staff sergeant Xiang.
Ack! I'm an idiot! She called out within her mind. The bloody enchantment, or curse, if I had to name it something. She had finally remembered the automatic response delivered to Master Long when he had pushed the topic of her soul.
Obedience, that's it. The proof that I've been through an inquiry already. My own obedience to reveal the proof, and the implied obedience of others when they hear it.
She compared it to the other aspects of the heavens, looking for similarities, and found a surprising comparison. It's almost a form of progress, and so reveals more about the gold lightning. Not the progress of the individual, but progress on heaven's terms. She thought of her right arm and leg, they were flesh cleaned and progressed towards divinity. But as Auntie Mei said, it's hardly my flesh anymore. It's not my own progress, but the progress of the heavens, advancement according to its will.
She sighed heavily; as much as she could while meditating, and without interrupting her actual breathing. This is exhausting. While it had been brief, she had tapped into her mental focus several times to speed up her thoughts. To find the resonant vibration of the warning marbles, for example.
There is so much more to unpack here. I suppose a beginner can't be expected to understand the heavens completely in one evening. Hah! Cultivators probably spend centuries of their lives puzzling out its mysteries.
She let the larger puzzle fall away and looked over her Dantian again. A smile worked its way onto her face. She now knew exactly how to arrange the various parts within her Dantian. Put like with like, blend across the gaps, like a rainbow.
Some parts were easy. The divine lightning qi cloud joined the larger lightning ribbon. They were so close to embodying the same qi, she felt the weight of their presence as they joined into a ring around her central qi cloud.
Progress, even according to someone else, should be my main goal. Using it to get through cleansing faster; it seems appropriate.
The two other ribbons of lightning took the next orbital ring outwards. They were nearly the same, but she had made them quickly, and made them out of enlightenment qi. So, she flooded their ring with what was left of her enlightenment qi.
Technically, the large ribbon had also been made of enlightenment qi, but it was then filled with tribulation qi, and was made to best replicate that last strike of the tribulation. One that held the most gold lightning of the three. So much so that it even held the scar on reality from the strike. Oh! Shae mentally gasped as she made the connection. I almost forgot about the scar.
Clearly there is much more to understand there, not that I have a clue what exactly I did at the time. She shook the thoughts away. Enlightenments are scary, it seems like anything could happen during one. Another burst of realization struck her. Progress, enlightenments are also about progress, but perhaps, progress unhindered by the heavens? The power to make leaps and bounds forwards? That's quite the reward for comprehension.
A few breaths to settle her thoughts and she got back to the task at hand.
With barely a thought, the single enlightenment marble joined the second ring. It kept some distance from the ribbons, tracing the outside edge of the thin qi cloud.
Now, what to do with you six? She asked the remaining marbles, all representing warning.
Warning was closer to tribulation than enlightenment, so really, it should go on the inside of the rings, but Shae was very hesitant to give them that much prominence. And they were not even for me, they were warnings for another, to not interfere with my path...
Oh! She chuckled to herself. Well, that does work, I suppose. She began nudging them around. Slightly correcting their wild orbits, then pausing to make sure they didn't interfere with the other rings.
Still, a full ring of six seems excessive. If I just had one that'd be easier. Hmm. She considered crushing them together, but quickly discarded the idea. Another thing worried her, too close to the ribbons and they may be infected with wrath like the others.
If only there was another option for their orbit.
She paused to let her thoughts wander. The six marbles were still in their own wildly erratic orbits around the mock planet. She watched their elliptical dives toward the planet, saw them brush past it then shoot out into the empty space again.
Stolen novel; please report.
Oh, well of course there's other options. I've been limiting my options too much.
She had to laugh at herself, the solution is laughably simple. She gathered the six marbles in a very wide orbit, then slowed one to drop it from high above; testing the full orbital path. It produced a long eccentric orbit at a steep angle from the flat plane of the rings. Like a comet on a flyby path it dropped towards the planet gaining speed as it fell. From above it arced over what could be called the north pole, keeping just inside the divine rings, skimming the surface of her personal qi at a blistering speed. Then finally mirroring its entrance and streaking back out towards the high point she dropped it from.
She smiled to herself, yes this is perfect.
It wasn't quite perfect, actually. It took her almost an hour to get all six on the same trajectory and spaced out evenly. She also adjusted the path slightly so that they didn't skim the surface so closely. Her intent was to grow the 'planet' as she collected qi, so it needed room to do that.
As she wrapped up the changes inside her Dantian, Shae felt something was missing. Hmm, there should be something at the planet's center. Something heavy, anchoring it in place. Even just metaphorically. She considered it for some time, looking over what she had and what she might expand on in the future. Using one of the marbles or lightning ribbons could work, but they don't feel correct. They don't really embody me or my path.
Right, it will be where the Dao sits, according to Apollo's clues, then the nascent soul. But it's far too early for either. Needs to be solid first, or at least liquid. For now it's just the origin of my personal qi.
That thought struck a memory, and it took her a few breaths to dredge it up. My soul? My spirit root? Could be either, or both. The more she thought about it, the more right it felt. She smiled and nodded to herself then pushed at the space with her intentions again. Like she had when changing the gravity here. My soul and my spirit, anchored here, she projected the thought at the spot in the very center of the qi planet, the weight of both holding all qi within.
The false gravity within her Dantian shifted again. Strengthening in force and collapsing the qi planet down to half its previous size. The rings shifted, began to fall inwards at the change, lightning sparking across the two rings as they crossed paths. The warning marbles broke from their perfectly measured sequence as they arced off the other objects, and scattered into separate orbits.
She laughed at the chaos. Of course! She casually batted the lightning ribbons and divine qi around, finding it even simpler to move them now. Yet, only moving them enough to stop them from joining the planet of personal qi. She was too busy laughing at the chaotic scene to properly repair it.
What felt like an hour later her Dantian was organized again. It was possible that more time had passed, she wasn't sure how long she laughed for, and again, time is such a bizarre thing while meditating.
The rings of divine qi and ribbons of lightning were further out now. The lightning had a speed it wanted to travel at to keep its ring a circle. So it would only fit into one specific orbital distance from her core. She had begun thinking of it as a core now, even if it isn't solid yet. It seemed more reasonable than calling it a planet.
The warning marbles still used the same highly-eccentric orbit. Traveling most of it slowly, then rushing past her core. The single enlightenment marble floated just past the second ring. It looked lonely and Shae regretted not having more of them.
When I figure out how to make more of them, I'll need to take a trip back to Flame Well and Minlin to get reality impressions of the enlightenments there. Hmm, or not? I guess I didn't do that for this first one, that was just the lightning ribbons.
Looking over her qi collection she scrutinized the enlightenment qi. She wasn't sure, but it looked like she had slightly more enlightenment qi now than when she started. Yes, I really will need to make more marbles, ... especially if they're... making more within my Dantian? ... No, that can't be correct? Must be my imagination.
The rest of the night was spent without a clear goal. She kept her focus inside her Dantian, and calmly enjoyed the meditative rest. She let thoughts drift in and out of focus, addressing small concerns and leaving large problems for another day.
The issue of what to do about Master Long popped up a few times, and after the third she finally let herself think about it, but only briefly. His bizarre teaching practice was completely antithetical to Shae's own, and it infuriated her endlessly. Yet, it was also clear he was trying to do something when talking to her, something beyond his inane tests, and she would have to confront him about it.
The subject of teaching brought her to thoughts of her own distant past. To the many students she occasionally taught. Being a librarian meant she didn't teach classes often, only as an emergency substitute, but working in an elementary school meant lots of curious kids with many many questions. They always expected their teachers to have answers, and how could I disappoint them?
Most of what she knew was a direct result of some innocently curious child asking about the world, then her own obsessive research to ensure she could answer follow up questions. Whenever she didn't know an answer she would always say: "I don't know that right now, but I bet the library does know, and I'll do my best to find out for next time."
If she wasn't busy, she'd take the kids aside and they could find the answer together. She regretted not doing that more. Most of the time, the student would have forgotten their question by their next visit.
Then the internet happened, or more accurately, cell phones happened. Suddenly everyone could look anything up on a whim. Some absurd parents even gave them to their very young children, too. She sighed at the memories. She had intentionally left her past behind long ago. What a strange time to be reminiscing.
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Aside: "Apollo, Again."
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Apollo watched as Shae's enlightenment faded. The qi provided by the heavens had been slowly fading over the course of the night. She had considered disturbing the young woman, just a slight nudge. In the hope she wouldn't fully break meditation, but that it would be just enough she could sense the heavenly qi. Yet, that was just as likely to interrupt the enlightenment itself.
It was weak enough now that she wouldn't sense it anyway. Apollo shook her head and sighed. There was a theory that a missed opportunity at enlightenment wasn't as bad as it seemed. That heaven still wanted to reward you, even if you didn't accept it, that the next enlightenment would be all the stronger, to make up for the missed chance.
Apollo wasn't sure if she agreed with that idea. Heaven was capricious, rewarding with one hand, while punishing with the other. Yet, she had heard the young woman had an impressive enlightenment just days ago in Flame Well, so she probably wasn't going to suffer for missing this smaller one.
Another theory said there was a limit to the frequency of enlightenments. Too many too quickly would make them weaker; as though heaven would limit your progress if you progressed too quickly. Again, Apollo didn't care to put weight on superstition. Fate was one thing, the whims of the heavens another.
She lost track of the flow of golden qi just before sunrise. Well, at least it won't hold up the caravan. She smirked to herself.
The first rays of the sun brought activity to the campground. Everyone scurried around, packing tents and getting animals ready. Apollo nudged the young cultivator's shoulder then stepped unseen into the shadows.
She watched as Shae stirred out of meditation. She smiled up at the sunrise, watching it creep over the horizon, with no apparent urgency to get the day started.
After a dozen breaths, the young woman reached out to test the campfire formation, then broke the boundaries keeping the qi inside. Apollo sensed the rush of fire qi and shifted uncomfortably, waiting for the dangerous qi to ignite, but it never came.
The absurd girl ignored it, and began to meditate. Another dozen breaths and the fire qi started to move. It drifted to Shae and was absorbed, like she was cultivating it.
Apollo managed to not gasp or gawk. She had done enough of that last night when the girl did the same with most of Long's water qi. Water and fire, yet her qi is pure, free from both and even free from steam.
She pressed a knuckle to her lips, remembering the odd symbols the girl had drawn in the journal. Definitely parts of a formation, but how it worked was beyond her reasoning. At least she can clean up her mess.
Apollo watched a bit longer, as the young woman withdrew a stack of bound pages and read from the middle. Following the written instruction to start a qi exercise. Apollo had seen her use the folio before, it seemed like a set of sequenced qi practices. All were rather unexciting, but they all came from the same folio, suggesting a greater working was the intended result.
This wasn't spectacularly unique. Apollo had seen far more complex and impactful workings in her time, and heard tales of far more. Really, it was only paranoia about lost souls making her pay attention to this one. Somehow, they always seemed to find the most absurd combinations of qi techniques, and this could be the start of Shae's.
It was enough coincidence to overcome her dislike of superstition, it could also be dangerous, lost souls got themselves into trouble twice as often as not. She shook away the worry. In any case, the young woman intended to join the sect. She would not be a threat to her, or the sect. Quite the opposite, really.
Apollo breathed carefully, falling into a slow old rhythm that felt comfortable. Then she slunk off into the long morning shadows. Ready to start another day of mischief.
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