**In the village to the north**
“Thomas, you must take the four potential disciples and see what that source of chi was to the south!”
Thomas sighed, opening his eyes and gazing at his overbearing grandmother. Her blue eyes, deeper than the richest sapphire, pulsed with a power he knew he was close to. Countless pills, concoctions, and other items had been fed to him since the day he could begin absorbing them. His mother had been nothing more than a vessel, used by his father in the hope of producing an heir of worth.
How many of my siblings have I killed and claimed their chi as my own? Seven? Eight?
“Thomas!”
His grandmother snapped her fingers, and a wave of power washed over him.
“I heard you, Master Hanna.”
The white-haired woman, who had fewer wrinkles than most women half her age, frowned. She hadn’t missed that tone, and if her son hadn’t forbidden her from touching Thomas, she would personally kick his ass and enjoy every moment of it. She was close to reaching the sixth stage of cultivation, and her body was enjoying the growth she had acquired in the last few decades. Her son had broken through the seventh stage, earning their family great renown and alliances with many who would not have acknowledged their presence a century ago.
“You are lucky your grandfather is no longer with us, or he would have wiped that smug look off your face,” Hanna said. The finger she wagged before Thomas’s face left no doubt the frustration inside her. Chi seemed ready to burst forth from it.
“Forgive me, grandmother. I mean no disrespect to our family. I simply wonder why you would send me on such a wild chase. Anyone with the power to do what they did wouldn’t be foolish enough to stay there. You and I also both know that others will be traveling there. No doubt those earth mongers to the east are scaling those mountains, ignoring the threat of the creatures who call that barrier home. How many of them will die before they actually come to the place?”
The older woman huffed and turned, staring out across the courtyard they were in. Thomas was in the meditation stance, resting on a bed of nails as he cycled his chi, working at absorbing the pill he had taken over a month ago. The grade of it was immense, and the pill furnace had been a foolish child, strong enough to progress had their parents not sold them to her son.
In the courtyard, there was a vision of beauty: perfectly drawn lines in sand and stones laid out according to order. Bushes and trees were trimmed with the utmost care and precision. Gardners and caretakers would come later and work at night so as not to spoil the beauty of what she could gaze upon during the day.
Even greater was the power underneath it all. There were so many pill furnaces, cultivating and growing the chi she and others within her clan would absorb to strengthen their hold on this valley. Beyond the walls of her home were fields and a town that served them, each person who didn’t have the gift of cultivation filling a task of service.
“How much longer until you have completely absorbed and transformed that pill?”
Thomas sighed for a moment, still trying to ignore the command his grandmother had given him.
“At this rate? At least another month. It is like a river of sludge, having to strain it over and over to thin it out so that I can move it. Whatever gift that boy had, he could have been more than just a pill furnace had someone taken the time to properly train him.”
A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.
Hanna spun and cocked an eyebrow, glaring at Thomas.
“And risked someone with his potential rising to power? Do you not forget how easily a single cultivator can shift the power of balance?”
Shaking his head, Thomas stood up. The bed of nails he was sitting on did nothing to his skin. It had been hardened to the point that normal weapons and items couldn’t damage him anymore, but the pressure always seemed to help him focus. Stepping off of it, he picked up his robe, covering his tan, muscular body. Flicking his head back, the long braid of black hair rested over his robe, and he slipped his sandals on.
“I shall go and see what caused this disturbance. Are you certain you want me to take four potential disciples? Surely only one or two would be enough.”
“And what if you run into other cultivators? Wouldn’t their ability to serve as a distraction be beneficial if you got into a fight?”
Nodding, Thomas couldn’t argue with her about that. Having a shield or someone you could drain if you needed a little more chi was always beneficial. Bowing, he kept his eyes on Hanna the entire time. Even though he knew his father's command, he didn’t trust the woman to not test him in some way.
“I shall return in a day or two at the most.”
Hanna watched as the young man bounded away with a speed only a cultivator of his power could. The walls of their garden were nothing more than a twig under him as he lept the ten-foot walls with a single hop, disappearing to the north on the other side.
“Oh Mizar, my love,” Hanna said aloud, “how I have missed you. If you were here, perhaps that fool of our son and his offspring would do a better job carrying on our family name. You had to go and pursue that other clan…”
The memory of how Mizar had died still made Hanna shudder. When his body was found, it looked like someone had squeezed him like a lemon. Not only had his chi been drained, but every drop of blood was gone. A blood cultivator had killed him. They had done everything they could to wipe them out or use them for pill furnaces.
Staring up at the sky and the sun that was just barely up, Hanna sighed.
“The winds are changing… a new season is upon us… an omen for certain.”
**Meanwhile, back in the garden**
“Focus!”
Haylock was trying to focus on the lesson Mimi was trying to teach him, but he was under attack. All around him, creatures were coming for him. His scent had stared up, and in a six hundred or more yard diameter, his roots were under a constant barrage by the mole-like animals.
A flock of birds had descended upon him, and over three dozen corpses lay at the base of his stem near the roots. A few injuries from those that had managed to pierce his stem were evident by the black liquid oozing slowly down his shaft.
“You must learn to control your chi! This is the perfect time!” Mimi exclaimed. “Direct it to your body. Harden your shaft so that it won’t bend or go limp when you need it to be strong! If a fight comes, you won’t be able to dodge or run like other cultivators. You must learn to protect yourself and strike while you can.”
Haylock wished he could grumble. Instead, he used his eyes to watch the chi that Mimi was directing through her body. She was doing some dance, waving her arms and shifting her feet, and he could see the chi moving as she moved. Like a painter with a brush, wherever her hands went, the chi was there, ready to be used.
“Now move your chi through your shaft and to your leaves. Make them move.”
Haylock focused as she instructed and showed him, trying to figure out how to direct the chi inside him.
Consumed +1 Chi
Consumed +10 SC
Consumed +1 Chi
Consumed +10 SC
So many creatures are dying to my roots. Indeed, they must realize they don’t stand a chance…
The constant flood of notifications he was trying to ignore distracted him, so Haylock used his world vision, shifting from his glowing-golden eyes, looking down upon himself, and watching the chi inside him move.
It had been easier to direct it through his roots when his life was on the line, but without that threat, it was more challenging to find the motivation.
Mimi stood there, tapping her chin with a wrinkly and aged finger and nodding as she studied his chi movements.
“You’re close, I can tell. Perhaps if you can figure this out in the next hour, I will find a reward for you—another person worthy of death by your roots.”
Haylock felt a hunger gnawing inside him, and not the pack of moles that were currently dying from his roots. The man he had killed had tasted amazing. The power he had given had been absolutely impossible to compare to anything else so far. Every part of his being felt alive and energized for a brief moment.
Chi began to slowly shift from the center of his core, running up the stem and toward his leaves. He could feel it moving, seeing it as a small amount entered the area where his leaf branched off of the shaft and watched as it washed through the beautiful greenery.
“Excellent!” Mimi said, clapping as she watched. Very well, I will find something for you soon.”
She spun and peered off in the direction Haylock knew Fufu and Nini had gone.
“Those two have been gone an awfully long time… Nini knows better than to go past the boundary.”
Moving further out with his vision and looking down below, Haylock spotted the pair in the woods to the south. Large creatures were moving about, and it appeared a pack of two was coming toward the place where Nini and Fufu were collecting mushrooms and other plants in the forest.
He began to shudder, and Mimi turned to see his whole body shaking.
“Are you ok?”
Shaking his head, Haylock prepared for the longest game of twenty questions in his life in this new world.