"Before I can explain what a cultivator is, I need you to close your eyes and take slow, deep breaths in and out," Ming said.
Jie did as she was told, closing her eyes as she breathed deeply and slowly.
"With each breath you take in your body is nurtured and given life," Ming said, "with each breath out the wasteful air is removed. Do you feel the air within your lungs? The way it makes you feel more alive? More full of energy? If you were to stop breathing, you would pass out and later die. So essential is air to life."
Jie kept breathing deeply and evenly as she listened to the dragon's words.
"However, if you turn your attention away from the air. Away from taste, touch, smell, sight, and even what you can hear... if you turn away from those senses and focus your mind and your spirit... and reach out... what do you feel?" Ming asked.
Jie furrowed her brows. Sight was easy to shut out as her eyes were closed, but it was hard to ignore the soft breeze against her skin... the birds chirping nearby...
One by one she closed herself off from her senses, pushing them out of her mind. When her mind was clear, she tried to do what Ming said. To reach out with her mind and her spirit... to feel through a sixth sense.
Something clicked within her. A new sensation filled her mind, pressing on her from every angle. It flowed and moved around her like water.
It weighed on her shoulders. It brushed against her hair and her skin.
It permeated everything.
It was in the tiles beneath her feet and in the earth beneath the tiles. It was in the weeds that grew between the cracks, and the vines on the temple walls.
It was in the petals of the flowers around them. Inside the bodies of the birds that chirped.
And especially inside Ming.
If the world around her was like a lake of energy that pressed on her from every direction, yet somehow allowed her to breathe... Ming was like a maelstrom.
A swirling vortex of power so dense it would crush her if even a fraction of it were to release and brush against her.
Not just that but the energy inside Ming was infinitely brighter. The entire world around her shone with energy, but Ming made it seem dull and lifeless.
Like a blazing star amid the inky black of space.
The energy that weighed on her was nothing compared to the power inside him. It hurt her head just to have him close, yet his energy remained tightly controlled within his body.
"Wow..." Jie said.
"Incredible isn't it? At first, you were blind, but now you see. Do you begin to understand one of the differences between my world and yours? This energy that you sense all around you is called Essence.
"Or rather... the Essence of the Heavens and the Earth. It's easier to just say Essence though. It's energy. Most worlds produce this energy naturally, but yours does not. Or if it does, it's so little that even I could not sense it, and I like to think I'm rather talented," Ming said.
"Now that you've sensed this energy, it'll make understanding what cultivating is and what cultivators are much easier. Cultivating is simply the act of absorbing this energy into your dantian.
"Your dantian is the spiritual body within you... you will understand more about that later. For now, just remember that cultivating is taking in this energy, refining it within yourself, and making it your own.
"In a world like this, and in most worlds in fact, the amount of Essence means that everyone is a cultivator. It doesn't matter whether they farm, or fight in glorious battles.
"They exist and will take in Essence without even thinking about it. However, many cultivators will focus more than this. They will actively meditate and seek to absorb Essence to refine it within their dantian and make it their own. This is much more effective than just letting it accumulate slowly," Ming said.
"And what happens when I gather Essence into my body?" Jie asked without opening her eyes. A broad smile was on her lips as she continued to sense the energy all around her.
"A good question. I'm glad to see you're paying attention, kiddo," Ming said, "When you bring the Essence into your body, you will refine it into qi. Once you've done so, it will become part of you.
"It will stay within your dantian and obey your will and command. With it, you will be able to use martial skills to attack your enemies, defend yourself and do many things that would be called magic in your world."
"So I can do magic?" Jie asked.
Ming snorted.
"Don't get ahead of yourself. The body you were given is impressive, but you haven't gathered even a scrap of qi. Frankly, I'm surprised you could walk around as you did... most babies gather some qi naturally before they can walk.
"If a cultivator runs out of qi they usually can't even move. I've never met someone who could move without qi. Maybe it's because you come from a world without using it, or because of something to do with your body that our mysterious helper gave you," Ming said, "but in time, yes.
"You will create swords of pure energy. Hurl balls of qi that blast your enemies to dust, and so much more. Qi is just one of three main energies, kiddo," Ming said.
"Three? So there are three types of magic?" Jie asked.
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Ming sighed. "I wish I'd never said that now. It isn't magic. Magic is something else. I just said that because that seems to be the closest concept your world has to it.
"No, these are internal energies, and they aren't... argh! Now I know why those damn elders always got frustrated when they taught me...
"Let me try a different way... you take in the Essence of the Heavens and the Earth and refine it within yourself. This creates qi. The type of qi you cultivate depends on your cultivation technique and natural propensities. Once you've built up enough qi you will eventually break through into the middle part of your dantian. There, you will further refine that qi into spiritual energy as well as gain access to your elemental affinities," Ming said.
"Elemental affinities? Like you mentioned before and used to track those men and make that... thing?" Jie asked.
"Precisely," Ming said, "then once you've built up enough spiritual energy and qi you will eventually open your upper dantian. Your upper dantian is where you will refine the third type of energy which is astral energy. Each time you unlock a level of your dantian, what you can do will expand dramatically and you will receive an enormous boost in strength.
"But, it will be a very long time before you unlock your middle dantian, and even longer before you'll unlock your upper dantian."
"How long will it be?" Jie asked eagerly. Her heart pounded in her chest at the thought of such wondrous abilities.
"You're a very greedy girl, you know that?" Ming said, "I heal your injuries, help remake your body, and take you to a world of limitless possibility, and already you're hungry for more?"
"Sorry," Jie said.
Ming laughed loudly and then coughed into his hand. "Don't be sorry, kiddo! Being greedy is good! You will have to reach for more than you can imagine if we are to succeed! You will have to gather all the power you can! Greed is wonderful! Just don't get taken away by it," Ming said.
"I won't," Jie said. She tried to give a serious nod to emphasize her point, but couldn't restrain her bright smile.
"I'm glad you're so eager to learn," Ming said, "cultivation is separated into stars and ranks. There are nine stars to a rank with the first star being the lowest and the ninth star being the highest. Once you break through beyond the ninth star of a rank, you will reach the first star of the rank above it. And there are three ranks per section of the dantian. The three lower dantian ranks are Disciple, Adept, and Expert.
"Once you break beyond the ninth star of the Expert rank, you will unlock the middle dantian. Gaining access to your elemental affinities and spiritual energy. The three ranks of the middle dantian are Elementalist, Spiritualist, and Grand Spiritualist.
"And of course breaking beyond the ninth star of the Grand Spiritualist rank will unlock your upper dantian. That is where you'll be able to use astral energy. The three for the upper dantian are Emperor, Saint, and Angel. Beyond the upper dantian are the divine or god ranks. But, there's not much point in discussing those as you're not even the first star of the Disciple rank yet."
"Are you in the divine ranks?" Jie asked.
"Yes," Ming said.
"And you're not strong enough to fight Fang Zhuyu and his followers?" Jie asked.
"I'm afraid not... they are well beyond me. That's why I'll need you to train hard," he said.
"Wouldn't it be faster for you to train and get the power to face them?" Jie asked.
"I will certainly try. But, advancing becomes exponentially more difficult the higher you reach. And it's not predictable. I could break through tomorrow. Or it could take me centuries... perhaps never. It's an insane thing to train you to face them... and yet my instincts tell me that I must.
"Besides, it's not as though I'm going to simply give up. Once I've healed my injuries, I'll resume my training as well. With luck, I may indeed become strong enough and spare you the trouble. Or perhaps we'll even face them together. Time will tell," Ming said.
"I guess that makes sense..." Jie said, "What are the elemental affinities? How many of them are there?"
"There are five elemental affinities and when you break through, you'll have access to at least one of them. A rare few have access to two, and a miraculously tiny number of exceptionally gifted cultivators have three," Ming said
"How many do you have?" Jie asked.
Ming gave her a toothy smirk. "I have four," he said as he pretended to inspect the back of his claws as though it were of no importance to him.
"So you're the rarest of the rare? Does anyone have all five?" Jie asked.
"My ancestor, the Great Lightning Dragon was said to have five... but I don't know. I've never heard of anyone having more than me. I do have a rather exceptional bloodline, you know," he said without a shred of modesty in his voice.
"How many will I have? And you still haven't said what the five are," Jie said.
"We'll only find out how many you'll have when you break through into the middle dantian," Ming said, "as for which ones there are... you have fire, wood, water, metal, and earth. Each element has its strengths and if you have multiple affinities they can be combined to achieve greater feats. Some professions and skills require combinations of them. Alchemy, for example, requires fire and wood affinities. But, there's not much sense going too deeply into such things. This is, after all, merely your first introduction to cultivation. Better to get through it quickly and focus on cultivating already," Ming said.
"In a minute please..." Jie said, "What are the strengths of the different elements?"
Ming sighed. "I suppose I shouldn't be surprised by your curiosity... I asked many of the same questions myself when I was a hatchling... it's a deep and complex topic that we'll not explore in any depth until you've broken through into the middle dantian.
"Further complicating matters is that different experts are skilled in using their affinities in different ways. So, one earth affinity expert might have incredible defense. Like an unyielding mountain. While another of the very same affinity might have devastating offense like an unstoppable rock slide.
"As such, it's hard for me to say. In general, however, fire affinity is excellent for overwhelmingly powerful attacks capable of precision or devastating an entire area. It's also useful for seduction, but that's not something you should be thinking about at this stage.
"You likely have some idea of water's strengths already. It's excellent for stealth. Both for making yourself invisible, erasing any sign of your presence, and for tracking. It's also the best for manipulation, mind control, and illusion. It's excellent for assassination.
"Earth is regarded as the best defensive affinity both for protecting oneself and your allies. As such earth affinity bodyguards tend to be highly prized. Earth affinity users also tend to use totems, and gravitational effects, and have increased situational awareness. Not to mention it's remarkable for building just about anything.
"Metal affinity is best for controlling weapons. Either by controlling dozens of your own or manipulating those of your enemies. It's also excellent for necromancy. A water affinity expert can manipulate someone. A metal affinity expert can kill them and force them to serve in death. It's also renowned for parasitic attacks."
"Metal sounds... evil," Jie said.
Ming shook his head. "It has one of the poorer reputations, but it's not good or evil. None of the affinities are. It's how we choose to use them that defines who we are. Water affinity for example could be used to turn someone into a slave, or to strike down a tyrant from the shadows," he said.
Metal and water both sounded somewhat disturbing to Jie... but what Ming said made sense. And she couldn't deny that she was curious about how they might be used...
"The final affinity is wood. It's by far the best affinity for healing and as such those with the wood affinity are perhaps the most prized and valued. It's also excellent for raising and taming beasts, growing crops and cultivation resources, and many other things," Ming said, "but everything I've said is only the basics and very general rules. You'll find that the uses for each element are wide and varied."
Jie couldn't help but wonder which elemental affinities she would get... she hoped it would be more than one, but even just a single affinity of any of the elements sounded incredible...