Master Xing entered the well lit room. Several Nascent Masters were standing around talking, but stopped speaking when he entered the room. “Report.” he said.

“Master.” one of the men said. “All people accounted for. Twenty nine children were recovered out of the initial thirty seven recruits.”

“Meaning the Black Serpents killed eight of them.”

“Yes, sir.” he said with a hint of sadness in his voice. “Only two inner sect members lost, both Foundation stage. The cultists seemed to stick to that blood bolt spell they favor so, while our people were in intense pain, only two of them died. One from falling off of his sword onto the stone pavement head first after being hit, and another because he got close to a cultist and they stabbed him in the heart with a relic dagger.”

The Immortal Master Xing nodded. “Continue.”

“There is also one Foundation level member missing, a Lo Chang. However, since many people saw him jump through the portal, including yourself, we know what happened to him. We just don’t know how to get him back.”

Master Xing looked at an elderly man in silver clothes. “Master Wu. You are the master of Arrays and Formations. Do you think you can figure out where their ritual sent him?”

“I do not know, Master.” said Wu. “Their methods aren’t exactly the same as ours. I will, however, take a team and investigate. If it is possible, I will bring him back.”

---

The next morning, after morning meal, the children were lead to a building in the inner ring of the town. The outer part of building was a hallway with chairs, and there was only one door to the inner room on the opposite side of the building, so that you had to walk halfway around the building to enter the room. Inside the inner room there was another stone on a pedestal, which had a jade tablet behind it. The walls were lined by dozens of identical devices, identical except for the monster part inside of it. “Hello, children.” said the white-haired woman that stood just inside the room. Despite that hair color she was at most thirty five years old. “I am Tia Wuxan. You can call me Sister Wuxan. This is the hall of traits. It is here that you will be accessed to see if you have any special bloodlines or physiques. If you do, I will help instruct you in anything unique about yourself that you might need to understand.”

One of the boys raised his hand, and Sister Wuxan pointed at him. “Does that mean you want to make sure we aren’t monsters trying to sneak in?” he asked.

“Not really.” she answered. “In fact, if you were monsters, we would congratulate you on remaining in human form for so long and be excited to accept you. Some people, though, are at least half human, but have ancestors who were monsters or magical creatures. My grandmother, for example, was a forest cat, so I have really good reflexes and can see in the dark. Other than that…” she brushed the hair away from her ears to reveal that they were slightly pointed and had tufts of hair on the end of them. “It isn’t really that important, but sometimes there are certain things we need to keep in mind like personality traits, or food requirements, or even special abilities that you might have, like my reflexes. Now, if all of you will wait out in the hallway, I will test you one at a time. This needs to be private, but I wanted all of you to see the room before you waited so you aren’t worried about the testing.” Some of the children complained a bit, but they were all lead into the hallway outside. Soon Sister Wuxan began calling people in.

Most kids didn’t seem affected by what happened in the room, but some of them looked disappointed or excited upon leaving. Wong Mae was even crying when she left. Shen made a mental note to talk to her about it later, if she wanted.

Shen was the thirteenth to be called. She entered the room and Sister Wuxan asked her to touch the device with the Jade tablet. Shen did so, and it started to glow slightly. “Interesting.” Sister Wuxan said.

“What is it?” Shen asked.

“Well, the tablet only glows in response to something that isn’t entirely human. That isn’t a bad thing, though.” Sister Wuxan lead her to the wall of strange devices. “These devices compare you to the creatures whose parts they contain.” She walked over to one with some hair in it and touched the stone. It glowed for a few seconds before dimming. “This is the Forest cat device. Now that I’ve touched it, the tablet will tell me how much of that monster I have in me. But we are testing you, not me.” She walked over to the first tablet and touched a few places on it. “There, now it’s reset. I want you to walk down the line and touch each of the devices, then wait until the light goes out.”

“Oh, ok.” Shen said nervously.

“There’s no reason to be nervous. It’s perfectly safe and no one but me, you, and the elders will be able to see what the tablet says.”

Shen nodded and walked down the line, touching each device. Several minutes later she touched the last device and, when its light went out, she walked back over to the tablet. “So, what did it say?” asked Shen shakily.

“According to this, you are 7% Dragon. Earthly Dragon, not Heavenly Dragon, so your powers and talents, if you have any, will be towards magic or the physical, not spiritual powers. Now we just need to test to see what powers you have.” Sister Wuxan walked over to a set of drawers and opened one of them, then returned with a box that was inside of it. “This box will test for all of the known skills that earthly dragons might have.”

“How does it work?” asked Shen.

The woman thought for a few seconds. “Have you ever heard of a reversion stone?” Shen shook her head. “A reversion stone forces any monster or spirit that touches it out of human form. It is used in areas where you want to keep safe, or sometimes against monsters that are hiding among humans for evil reasons.”

“But that’s not what this does.” Shen said.

“No, but this box contains a ‘Dragon Stone’ that is based on reversion stones, but in a way doing the opposite. It makes any powers that come from a dragon bloodline activate, assuming you are at or below its rank. You aren’t, by any chance, middle Foundation stage or above, are you?”

Shen shook her head. “Early Gathering.”

Wuxan looked impressed. “Interesting. Most people are only cleansing when they get here. How did you manage to break through? Did the masters instruct you in the sect’s techniques while you were traveling here?” They were restricted in what they could tell people based on their status within the sect, but sometimes people would say things they shouldn’t.

“They explained a few things to us, but most of it was things I knew already. My dad taught me the Cleansing meditation before he died, and one of the villagers let me read a copy of ‘The Dao of the Militia’ that she had. I learned Restrict and Release from it, as well as how to break through. The master just gave me some advise on how to do it easier or better.”

This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it

Wuxan nodded. As long as they stuck to simple advice and comments on the fundamentals all methods used, they weren’t breaking any rules. The rules were meant to keep the Five Elements Technique from getting out, after all, not to stop people from having an easier time cultivating. At the Cleansing phase there was little difference between the two different methods, so there shouldn’t be any problem with her continuing from where she currently was, using the Five Elements Technique in the Gathering phase. At most she would have to spend a bit more time purifying the chi that was already inside of her into one of the elemental types of chi.

“Well, then this should work, then. Now, I just need you to touch the stone and be careful not to damage anything if you have any damaging abilities like elemental breath attacks.”

Shen nodded and reached out, touching the stone. Suddenly she felt her chi force itself onto the surface of her skin. After a few seconds, Wuxan smiled and nodded. “Good. Looks like you have the Dragon Scales Barrier. This is a kind of defensive power that will protect you from magical and physical attacks.” Shen nodded thoughtfully. “Is that worrying?”

“No,” said Shen, then paused for a few seconds before continuing. “There was a story that some of the hunters and guards in the village used to tell about my dad. They said that, if he got serious in a fight, no weapon could hurt him. Do you think he might have had this power?”

Wuxan nodded. “That is probably true. Most of the time if a person has a bloodline power at least one of the parents will have that power.”

Tears started to come out of Shen’s eyes. “Then why did he die. Shouldn’t it keep him safe?”

Wuxan knelt and hugged her. “Do you know how he died? Was he poisoned? Did he get sick?”

Shen shook her head. “A monster near the village. He went out with some of the guards to fight it, but the monster killed all of them. The Master that came to fight it said it was a middle Foundation level monster wolf.”

Wuxan nodded. “The power can only block attacks that are weaker than it. A middle foundation monster’s attacks would have been much stronger than anyone below foundation.”

“He was middle Collection.” Shen said, and started crying again. Wuxan knelt there for a few minutes before Shen’s tears dried up and she stood up. “Thank you, miss Wuxan.” she said.

“Here we call each other Sister or Brother. Those you want to learn from are Senior brother or sister, and Junior if they are learning from you. Everyone here should always be trying to learn. The only exception is the sect Master, as everyone learns from him, so he is called Master.”

“He doesn’t have a name?”

Wuxan nodded. “Master Xing.” Shen nodded upon hearing this. “So, how about I teach you to activate your power, then we let one of the other children test?” Shen nodded and, five minutes later, after she had activated the power without the help of the Dragon Stone, Shen returned to the hallway.

Several hours later all of the children had been tested and they were lead to the cafeteria. There they had grilled vegetables and spirit rice. The meat was only given out with the evening meal unless you paid for it, and none of them had earned any contribution points yet.

After that they were lead to a lecture hall. There were mats on the floor for the children to sit on, and everyone was told to take a seat. The woman that led them there sat down at the back of the room and started meditating. Soon after that an old man came in, walking with a cane. He tapped his cane on the ground and the children stopped talking. He looked at them. “How old do you think I am?” the man asked and the kids started calling out numbers. He tapped his cane on the ground again, the sound reverberating off the polished stone walls. “One at a time.” he said, then pointed at a girl with his staff. “How about you?”

“70?” she asked and he chuckled.

“And you?” He pointed to a boy this time.

“90?” the boy guessed.

The old man shook his head. “I had my two hundredth birthday last year, and probably have another twenty years in me. One of the techniques that we old people learn eliminates most of the symptoms of aging, so I have aged very slowly over the last hundred years. And that is just one of the techniques we can teach you.” The man swung his cane and bursts of different colored energies came out of it and hit a wall. The children only recognized two of them, as one of them lit a nearby table on fire and the second put it out. Those must be Fire and Ice chi. “My aim isn’t as good as it used to be.” he said, chuckling, “But I can still do this.” He placed the end of his cane on the ground and pushed on it, lifting himself into the air with one arm.

“I am named Po, though most of the people here just call me Teacher, as I have taught chi techniques for the last one hundred and fifty years to almost everyone in the sect. Now I am going to start teaching all of you. Most of you were probably expecting to be given a book or scroll and told to teach yourself, but that method hasn’t been used for basic techniques since I was around your age. Most people learn better if they have someone to teach them. Though, since many techniques are rare enough that there might not be a teacher available, there are scrolls and books available in the library. You can even pay to have a copy made for you if you have the Contributions to pay for it. But what I will be teaching you for now is so common that everyone in the sect knows it.”

He walked to the middle of the students, and they turned to face him. “Can someone tell me what Chi is?”

One of the girls raised her hand. “A warm feeling in your stomach?” she asked.

“A good description of what it feels like, but not a description of what it is.”

Ponma raised his hands and Teacher pointed his cane at him. “The energy of heaven and earth which permeates all things.” he said.

“A good textbook definition,” said teacher, “But do you know what that means?” Ponma shook his head, and several others joined him. “Energy is the ability to do something. It may be in the sunlight which makes the plants grow or in the flow of a river which pushes a rock. It might be in the food you eat, to keep your body working. Or it may be in the fire that warms you. All of those are different kinds of energy. Chi is another type of energy, an energy which is everywhere. While it might be contained, no one really knows where it comes from. Some say Life, some say the Heavens. Some say the gods. I don’t know, however.

The important part is that it is everywhere, inside all things. It is in the air, the sky, the river, the ground, and even the fire. It is inside you, and it is inside all living beings. And through cultivation you can learn to use it to do things. This might be the same things that other things do in nature, or it might be something different. The limit is what you can will to happen and what limits you have because of your cultivation level.

In case you haven’t heard before, the six known stages of cultivation are Cleansing, Gathering, Foundation, Nascent, Immortal, and Ascended. There may even be levels beyond Ascended, but we don’t know. Each of those levels expands your abilities, and what you can do with the chi.

The most common form of chi is Neutral Chi. It is the form which most others come from. But as chi becomes part of an item it starts to take on the properties of that item. Chi that is part of the Earth becomes Earth chi. Chi that is in water becomes Water chi. Chi that is part of fire is Fire chi. Chi that is part of a plant is Wood Chi, and chi that is part of metal is Metal Chi. But it isn’t pure. In fact, only a small part of the chi actually changes. Does anyone know what ‘percent’ means?”

Ponma raised his hand again and was called on. “Out of one hundred”.

“Exactly. ‘One percent’ means that if we had one hundred objects, one of them would be the thing we are talking about. Natural chi is usually between one half of one percent and one percent the type we want. So, in order to use it, we must purify it by removing the extra neutral chi or turning that neutral chi into the kind we want, or what we call ‘refining’. I will teach you to do both of those, but which method you choose depends on which works best for you.

But not today. I understand that all of you have experience working with a type of demonic chi, but today we are going to learn how to work with neutral chi using two techniques, Restrict and Release.” A boy raised his hand and Teacher called on him. What was his name again? Dan something? Shen couldn’t remember.

“Teacher, what do you mean by ‘demonic’? I thought it was called Blood Chi.”

“Yes, indeed. The specific type was called blood chi, but ‘demonic’ is a group of energies. We use ‘demonic’ to refer to anything that is against life, or at least social order. Demonic types of chi, for example, usually hurt you when you use them on top of what you are trying to hit, because it doesn’t work well with life.” The children frowned and nodded as they remembered the pain cause by the blood chi. “They are also usually addictive. By that I mean that they make you want more of them, and if you don’t get them you start hurting and wanting them even more. Most types of demonic chi also alter your behavior. They make you angry, or sad, or violent. For that reason we believe that it is wrong to use demonic chi, and blood chi is a type of demonic chi.”

“But didn’t I hear someone call the people that captured us ‘demons’? Aren’t they a type of monster?”

“Maybe you heard that, but they aren’t a type of monster, though there are demon type monsters. In this case a ‘demon’ is a person that chooses to live their life in a way that hurts others and goes against societies in general. They go beyond a criminal, because at least a criminal will know that they did wrong, even if they try to hide it. No, a demon doesn’t care if they do right or wrong. They don’t think about right and wrong. They think about what helps them and what hurts them. While a criminal will have some moral guidance to their actions, such as not hurting women or children, a demon cares only if hurting women and children helps or hurts them.” Teacher sighed. “But this isn’t the kind of thing I normally discuss with new recruits. Your situation was just special because you were taken by demons. So let’s end this topic and return to talking about Chi.”

For the next several hours he taught the children to slow and speed up the release of chi. Most of them didn’t know where they were getting the chi from, but they practiced anyway. Eventually the kids were released to go back to their rooms.

The next day everyone was lead back to the training room. This time he taught about Dantians. “They are three different pools of chi, but are all connected, and in that way the same.” he said. “Imagine that in a small village a man has three jobs. In the morning he hunts, around noon he butchers the animals and hangs the meat to dry, and in the evenings he mixes the animal fat with ashes to make soap. The hunter, the butcher, and the soapmaker can all be talked about as if they are separate people, or at least separate jobs, but in reality they are all the same person. If the butcher cuts himself, then the hunter and the soapmaker are also cut. And if the soapmaker builds a bigger work area, all of them are effected. It is the same when working with the dantian.

The Upper dantian deals with spiritual matters and powers, the Middle with magic and the mind, and the Lower dantian with the body. Working on any of them will improve all three, just as it will improve the finances of all three men in the example, but the one you work on will receive the biggest benefit, like the way he can make more and better soap by expanding that part of his shop.”

After that the children were taught to target one of the dantian with their Restrict or Release ability. The one they Restricted started to hurt, or at least felt tight, which allowed it to build up pressure and therefore hold more once it recovered from the slight stretching. This technique would let them make the most of their cultivation at the lower levels.