Master, it has been a week since I started. Why can I not enter the 1st stage of Qi Refining?

It is because your mind wants to search for power. Thus, you are subconsciously absorbing more of Fire Qi, creating an imbalance of Elements in your body. That is the crux of the problem.

But, I need power… that way I’ll be able to…

I am not saying that seeking power is bad. But, when cultivating there is one thing more important than seeking strength, and that is a stable mind.

The conversation I had with Wang Yang when he started cultivation came to mind. He had troubles for two weeks before he finally entered the first stage Qi Gathering Realm. The reason was the missing Wu Kexin. However, this time that girl was safe and sound in the sect.

He didn’t have to worry, so his mind remained stable. Following the Cultivation Method, it became easier for him to guide the perfect amount of Qi from each element to his Dantian. Of course, this wasn’t an easy feat. People who had two or three dominant elements struggled to start their journey because getting the right amount of Qi for each element had its difficulties, especially if they were opposing elements. Those who could start early were considered lucky ones. And the one thing Wang Yang had in abundance, was luck.

“Master, is something wrong?” The silence must’ve made him nervous.

“Nothing, I was checking your meridians. The Qi pathways are now fully connected. If you focus on your belly, you’ll be able to feel the wisp of Qi in your Dantian. That Qi can now be moved through the pathways to your hands and feet.” I said, pushing my thoughts aside.

He closed his eyes and zoned in. From the way he raised his eyebrow, he must’ve felt it.

“Master, was something like this always in me? That Dantian thing was bigger than a room.” He opened his eyes, half in amazement and half bewildered.

“Dantian isn’t a physical organ. Just like a spiritual root, this is also a part of your soul. So, it can be as small as a grain of sand, but also be vast like the sea.” The size would change depending on how one imagined it, but filling it would require the same amount of Qi for everyone.

Wang Yang soon came out of his amazement and turned serious.

“So, what should I do now?”

“For today follow the Cultivation Method to take in Qi like now, your current goal is to reach the Peak of 1st Stage of Qi gathering within three weeks. That will happen when you fill 10% of your Dantian with absorbed Qi.” With the unexpected turn of events, I’d have to prepare the materials for teaching him much sooner. “From tomorrow onwards you will learn about the paths from noon and cultivate from early morning.”

“Alright, Master.” He said, getting back to meditation.

Till he starts studying the paths his speed will be half what it should be. Even Wang Yang wasn’t an exception to this rule. The good news was that it wouldn’t take time to discover his paths. Unlike Sun Lingling, Wang Yang’s paths were spread out in each direction. I had most of the basic books in the library, but some would need external effort to get. The list of things to do kept on increasing at a steady pace.

For now, I focused on Wang Yang to check on his breathing and absorption of Qi. Right now, about 80% of the Qi he took in couldn’t enter his Dantian. Sometimes in between his mind seemed to wander as the pattern broke, causing him to restart. After four hours of meditation, Wang Yang couldn’t re-enter his focused state. Still, a great result for the first day.

“Let’s go back to the Peak.” He followed after me. Spotting the closest window after leaving the chamber, we left for the Plum peak on the Flying Sword.

“Master, when will I get my flying sword?”

“When you enter the Fifth stage of the Foundation Establishment Stage,” I said.

“Oh…” Dejected, he looked ahead as the Plum Peak came into view.

I could give him confidence by saying he’ll make it to the Foundation Establishment realm in no time. But, that wouldn’t benefit him. With Wu Kexin alive, Wang Yang needed a different sort of stimulant to grow. And a Flying Sword wasn’t enough.

“Greetings, Master.” The moment we landed in the garden, Sun Lingling stood up from the veranda and stepped forward.

“Have you finished with your cultivation for the day?” I asked.

“I planned to rest for an hour before returning to it.” She said.

“Understandable. After all, sitting in one place all day long can be tedious at the start. So, how about some physical practice?” I said.

“That sounds fun.” Wang Yang looked eager.

“I’ll follow Master’s teaching.” While the other was following along.

“Follow me to the courtyard then.”

In the middle of the three wings of the residence was a courtyard wide enough for forty people to train side by side. Training weapons were on the right side of the stone area with a few rooms containing extra supplies connected directly to the area.

You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

“Pick up whichever you want.” I said to Wang Yang as Sun Lingling picked up the longsword in a heartbeat.

Before him were many choices, Spears, Four section staffs, Halberds, Broadswords, Fans, Sickles, Chain Swords, and Daggers. However, he too picked up a longsword.

“Now, you two will have a practice match. The one who lands a strike on the opponent first or makes them drop their weapon, wins.” Standing a little way from them, I turned to Sun Lingling. “Go easy on him, Start.”

Wang Yang looked confused when Sun Lingling nodded. Her face remained without any expressions. With the wooden sword in her hand, she looked much more threatening than normal. Yet, she stood in her place, waiting for Wang Yang to move. Seeing that, he lunged forward. Bringing his sword along to slash at Sun Lingling. Although Wang Yang appeared to be carefree, he had practiced the art of swordplay to a good degree at his age. If only his opponent was a normal one.

When he swung, Wang Yang’s hand passed by a few inches in front of Sun Lingling’s high nose. With a dull thud, his sword fell on the stone ground ten meters behind him.

“Match ends, Victor Sun Lingling.” I said. “As a prize, I’ll award you with nine Heaven Grade Mid Rank Healing Pills.”

“Thank you, Master.” She took the jade bottle without a change in expression.

“Huh…?” Wang Yang looked at his hand and the sword on the floor.

Even when she held back on power, Sun Lingling’s technique was nothing to scoff at. Without entering his eyesight her sword moved and struck the bottom of the handle, launching it out of Wang Yang’s hand.

“You want to try again, Xiao Yang?” He already picked up the sword and looked ready.

From his eyes, it must’ve looked intriguing. This time he ran from the left side, her non-dominant side, but the sword still flew out of his hand. From the right next time, yet it ended the same.

In ten minutes, the two had twenty matches, all of which Wang Yang lost. It didn’t matter which direction he came in from, the match ended with his sword falling to the ground. Sweat gathered on his brow from running around the arena, yet his opponent had yet to lift her foot from the starting position. Not to mention she received good rewards in the form of pills.

“Let’s stop here for today. You two are free to do what you want.” I said.

Sun Lingling bowed and left, heading to the cultivation room as she mentioned before. Wang Yang on the hand sat on the ground looking at his trembling hand. To anyone else, this would’ve been a tough blow. After all, everyone is a genius in their mind, till they meet the real one. The vast rift in talents creates fear and self-doubt.

“Master, will we do this daily?” However, Wang Yang never backed down from challenges.

“Yes, this will be a daily occurrence along with more physical practice. If you want, you can start it from today to get a Head Start.” I didn’t have to worry about his confidence after terribly losing to Sun Lingling.

That was how these two met in the future. The defeat stimulated him to learn more, and Sun Lingling became the goal he wanted to reach. Because he understood that he had to be that strong to get what he wanted.

“Really? Then let’s do it.” He stood up with a big smile similar to mine.

“Then the first thing is to strike that dummy’s head till it splits open.” The dummy in question was on the right side. It only had a wooden body resembling a bald man.

“Just that?” This type of training was also done by normal people to learn how to strike vital points. However, this dummy wasn’t normal.

“Yes, just that. Your time ends when the sun sets. If you fail, ten thousand sword swings before going to bed.” I said, leaving a confused yet scared Wang Yang in the courtyard.

Now that both disciples were busy till evening, I could move on with the things on the list.

The first stop was Chrysanthemum Peak.

***

Chrysanthemum Peak was the peak with the least amount of people in the sect. If my peak wasn’t counted. The twenty disciples and six elders who lived on this peak were handpicked by Chen Zhipeng. And most of them were just like him.

“Greetings, Second Peak Master. Running into you must be a sign from the Heavens.” I met one of Chen Zhipeng’s direct disciples on my way to the main pavilion at the top. Ye Hanjun.

“It must be. Someone has to tell you to cover up before Peach Peak disciples arrest you.” He flew beside me on his flying sword. His face and bare torso covered in thick soot. The yellow robe that should’ve covered his body was in tatters, flipping wildly in the wind.

“I am sure they’ll let me off if I tell them what happened.” He said. “You’re curious, right? I’ll tell you, what is there to hide between us? I was experimenting with this Black Powder from the Mortal market when something went wrong, and the explosion caused this. Good thing I wore the special uniform Master Chen and Peak Master Li were working on, or I would’ve lost an arm or two the first time.”

“First time?” My brow raised high. Why did this guy never learn his lesson?

“Yes, I tried to redo the experiment a few times to delay the explosion, but it was always instant and uncontrollable. I had ten uniforms, but they are all gone now.” Hanjun deflated for different reasons than he should’ve.

But, throwing water out of a sinking ship with wine cups would be much more effective than trying to talk sense into Chen Zhipeng’s disciples.

“Get your Master to make the Heaven Grade Ocean Shield, that will help.” That is how Hanjun’s project became a success later on.

Even if single-minded and few in numbers, these people competed for first place with Osmanthus Peak for total money made in a year for the Sect. Not even one of them should be lost in some small experiment.

“I already asked. But, Master has been working on this thing for a month and refuses to do anything else. None of us even knew when he sneaked out for the event again.” He said, the tiredness peeking out of his darkened face.

How could I say that what I am about to do may make things worse for them? It was better left unsaid.

“Master must be making something revolutionary again. I can’t wait to see it!” He spoke in high spirits as the Main Pavilion came into view. “Then Peak Master Li, I’ll go my way from here.”

Hanjun’s workshop was at the end of the beaten trail west of the Main pavilion. As he left, I got ready to face the boss of these people. The main pavilion was bright yellow with a large red banner atop the tiled roof saying Chen Zhipeng’s Den. A pair of stuffed Fire Mountain lions were placed at the wide-open main Gate.

Although called Main Pavilion, this was Zhipeng’s workshop. The actual pavilion of Chrysanthemum Peak was on the opposite side of the Peak, operated by the Vice Peak Master. Entering through the door I arrived at the well-lit area, there were no rooms or hallways. The entire place was like a big warehouse, a big messy warehouse that hadn’t been cleaned for a hundred years. Sitting on the single bed in the middle of this junk, Chen Zhipeng met my eyes and chuckled as the lights dimmed for dramatic purposes.

“I have waited for you to arrive with your requests for long my partner in crime. Have you brought the goods (ideas)?” The spotlight shined on me.

“…I have brought the goods (Ideas).”

His grin widened when I played along with his act for the first time.

The things I have to do to raise my disciples.