“You may have used Sword Qi, but you aren’t a first-rate sword cultivator yet.” I said to Sun Lingling.

“…Why?”

Her confusion was understandable, even geniuses cannot skip over the Sword-Body unification before achieving Sword Qi. It was a prerequisite as a user would have to connect their pathways with the sword to bring about the transfer of energy and meticulous control. However, Sun Lingling wasn’t a normal genius.

“Just like I used a trick for Sword Silk, you too have arrived at Sword Qi realm with a trick.” My eyes went to the sword on her hip.

That sword belonged to an accomplished and hardworking sword cultivator, paired with Lingling natural talent and spiritual root reaching the Sword Qi would be as difficult as walking for her. But therein lay the problem.

“You cannot achieve Sword-Body unification with that sword, because to you that is the same as affirming that the previous owner of the Ashen Blade had passed away.”

Sun Lingling’s gaze lowered, and for a moment she bit her lip before speaking.

“Master… How much do you know?”

“Not enough to let your worries at rest.” Shaking my head was all I could do.

“…Do I have to part with this too?” That weak mutter was unlike the stoic Sun Lingling, the small shoulder trembled as her hand gripped the scabbard.

“If you want to go beyond Sword Qi then yes, you’d need a sword you can accept as your own. In truth, I have already prepared one so tell me after you have thought things over.” There was not much I could do to help her here even if I wanted to, as fantasy like Cultivation sounded there were many preset rules that couldn’t be broken for one’s convenience.

“…I will.” Her words were barely audible as she left for her cabin on the other side of the pond.

Do forgive me Lingling. I can’t have you breaking down over news I haven’t confirmed with my own eyes. Looking at her back I turned and entered my own cabin. I understand your torment better than anyone else, that is why I cannot let you live with it.

A boatload of trouble waited on the Horizon.

***

The schedule inside the cavern reflected that of the outside world, even if the place was lit for 24 hours. To sleep everyone used the curtains to block the windows and used the clock in the cabin to know of the time.

As for how they woke up…

“This thing is annoying… but it works.” Kexin ripped off the green talisman from her forehead, it functioned as an alarm clock that sent a string of sounds straight into her ears to wake her up.

Since no one else would hear it, this became the perfect tool for the three disciples because of their variable schedules in the past month.

On the bed next to her Sun Lingling lay on her side, her eyes shut giving her the visage of a sleeping princess yet a sword handle peaked out from the blanket. The Ashen Blade was synonymous with her, and she hadn’t been seen without it even when she entered the heaven’s pond. Although unexpected, Kexin had grown accustomed to it now, leaving the bedroom she washed her face with cold water kept in the kitchen and made herself a light breakfast.

It was five in the morning, an hour earlier than yesterday. She stepped out of the cabin with a sword in hand, deep black in color with sliver lines stretching from the hilt to the tip, made with quality iron giving it a sharp edge and proper weight.

“Mornin’ Kexin.” However, she wasn’t the first one out here, as usual, Wang Yang had already completed the physical training and started swinging his own sword, one similar to hers but a bit longer and wider.

“Morning, aren’t you pushing yourself a bit too much? That’s almost twice the weight compared to last week.” The black straps wrapping around his arms had several pockets filled with solid metal sticks for the weight.

One four-inch stick weighed around 2 kilograms, and Wang Yang had 10 of those on each arm and ankle with a weighted vest of similar weight.

“If it wasn’t for Master’s warning I would’ve doubled the weight.” He said doing downward slashes without breaking a sweat.

“Well, a gradual increase is better, it will cause problems if you hurt yourself because of overconfidence.” She sighed, she had only reached about four sticks on each limb.

Kexin wrapped the straps on her body in preparation of her run when an explosion occurred behind the cabin she shared with Sun Lingling. Despite the echoes ringing in their ears, the two didn’t bat an eye at the rising smoke. They had grown used to it over the past month, however there was one thing they couldn’t understand.

“How can she cause explosions while cooking meals?” Wang Yang’s question went unanswered again.

After physical training and following the sword drills instilled in her by Li Muchen, Kexin entered the heaven’s pond to meditate and strengthen herself. She entered the water in silence to not disturb Sun Lingling and closed her eyes.

My strength is still increasing, and even my speed of cultivation is seeing progress. She still couldn’t rival Wang Yang’s speed not to mention Sun Lingling, but her speed had almost doubled from what she started with. And according to Li Muchen, she still had more room to grow, but the same was true for the other two.

Wang Yang is already making his way to the third layer of Qi Refining, Sun Lingling is nearing a breakthrough to the seventh… No, don’t think like that, remember Master’s word. She clenched her fist under the glow of the pond. I am a turtle, not a hare. But even hares come to a halt along the way, and that will be my time to catch up.

With burning passion, she slipped into meditation once again.

***

Around afternoon the three disciples had finished with their physical training and moved to alchemy practice, the three sat down outside of the cabin. Wang Yang and Kexin sat only a few steps away from one another with a brown cauldron the size of a pot before them while Sun Lingling was about a hundred steps away, they focused their eyes on the murky liquid inside.

Like water mixed with dirt, the scent of it was as appealing as its appearance, strong enough to make their noses numb. However, the two kept their burning eyes close to the pot, their hands grabbing on the sides of the cauldron, sweat trickling down their forehead.

I’ll pass today! With a mental battle cry, Kexin sent her Qi into the cauldron, the earthy liquid burbled along the side of the earthen cauldron as a hint of green hue broke out from the cloudiness.

The liquid was a mixture of water and Ligu seeds, an inexpensive spiritual herb, that were about as small as mustard seeds, the three had to separate the Ligu seeds from the water. But they could only use their Qi to form a clump in the center and then extract it so that it doesn’t scatter afterward, such was the exam Li Muchen used to know of a student’s alchemy potential.

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Kexin had been doing this test for over three weeks now and had succeeded in gathering ninety percent of seeds at a time, the concentration it took to gather each seed had many roadblocks, the biggest problem being the seeds rejoining the water because of her weak control over Qi and even if she tried to extract them the seeds wouldn’t stick together.

But that is what this training is for. Not only does it help in increasing my control over Qi, it also helps in learning how to focus on two tasks at the same time. This way, even if I don’t have a talent for alchemy, the time I spent would still benefit me in other things. Kexin has seen the results of it when she meditated, so she put her all in the training to reap the maximum benefits from them.

“Oh… It worked.” Wang Yang had surprised himself with the way he looked.

Kexin stopped her practice for a moment and looked at the clump of tightly packed Ligu seeds, they hadn’t separated even after he had taken it out of the water marking the first success out of three disciples.

“What… How did you do that?” The result was exactly what their Master wanted.

“Well, I saw a kid playing with a toy yesterday in the nearby village.” He brought in an unexpected variable.

“A toy?” Kexin titled her head.

“Yeah, they were some marble-sized metal balls that stuck to one another for some reason. I thought that if I treated the seeds like those balls and used Qi to hold them together it could work, and it did somehow.” Wang Yang showed the clump of Ligu seeds in his hands to Kexin so she could have a closer look.

Using Qi to bind them rather than keeping them in place? Kexin had tried to hold the seeds in place by wrapping each seed with Qi, however, her mental capacity had limits and her control slipped at times. I was going about it the wrong way? This wasn’t about Qi control and concentration training alone…

“So, this is how pills are made…” Kexin looked at the seed clump with a deep gaze. “From herbs to pills, the process to remove the unneeded, binding the medicinal properties from a myriad of different and contrasting materials together. It all happens like this.”

“What?” Wang Yang blinked.

“Nothing. About the toy you mentioned, can you show me who has it? I’ll be going to the village today to barter eggs and milk, so come if you can.” Kexin had to look deeper into this, and not because she wanted to succeed in her test.

“I don’t see why not. But I’ll go in the evening, I have to hunt now.”

“Didn’t you go hunting yesterday from afternoon to sundown?”

“Ah… well…” Wang Yang scratched his cheek.

“Did you really waste time playing yesterday?” Kexin already knew the answer when he averted her gaze.

Li Muchen gave them one day in a week to hunt for food after the pantries had emptied, true to his word he didn’t help them cook or gather things. With everything left to them, only today the real problem arose.

“Since you are done with this, you should leave now and handle the food, I’ll give you some for today.” Kexin sighed.

“Wouldn’t master punish us then?”

“This isn’t simply sharing, you gave me valuable information and I gave you food in return, it is a proper transaction. Remember that.” She wouldn’t take no for an answer as his grumbling stomach told her the state of his food reserves.

“If you say so.” He stood up with a smile and stored the cauldron in his storage ring. “Meet me at the village in three hours then.”

“I hope he doesn’t get distracted today too.” Kexin cleaned up and got ready to enter the pond again, but then a booming explosion rang through the cavern.

It was the fourth one since morning.

“I should be grateful that it isn’t happening in the cabin at least.” With a sigh, Kexin moved towards the pond.

***

A couple of hours before sundown, Kexin left the Heaven’s Pond through the cave Li Muchen had dug. The chilly evening wind made the damp forest much duller, as if night had already fallen.

The light outside and inside, the atmosphere, the temperature, and the taste of the air, everything differed. As if the tunnel she had taken brought her to a different world, such was the difference between them.

The clouds are gathering… an untimely rain? Kexin observed while making her way through the forest at a maintained pace.

After roaming the place for a month, she knew the area well enough to take shortcuts through the dense trees with confidence even if there were no animal trails. The falling leaves made for a good dodging exercise in the meantime.

Master really has some wei-Ahem* unique ways of training. Coughing away Kexin climbed the small mountain to reach the village, the men who worked in the field had grown used to her timely visits to the village.

“Young miss, here to trade meat again? Did you get a big haul again?” A guy knees deep in mud asked with a smile.

“Not a big haul, but it should be enough to get me some goat milk and eggs.” Kexin smiled back with a rucksack in hand, she had taken it out at the foot of the mountain to avoid suspicion.

“Ain’t that perfect? My chickens have been working hard lately. How bout it?” The man offered.

“I don’t see why not.”

The transaction didn’t take long as the boar meat she brought got her enough eggs and milk for the week. After climbing a little more, she found Wang Yang sitting outside a house, he was enjoying a bowl of congee with a smile.

“Oho, if it isn’t the hunter lady. How you doing?” The middle-aged woman with a baby girl strapped to her back smiled, she was the one they first talked with in this village.

“As usual, here is the meat you wanted. I put in a little extra as a thanks for taking care of this fool.” Kexin handed over cured meat wrapped in yellow paper.

“It is nothing, my Liu becomes more energetic whenever he is around.” The woman reigned in her kid that tried to climb over her back to reach Wang Yang.

“Looks like you are as popular as ever with kids.” Kexin turned towards her troublesome friend.

“Don’t act like you didn’t diss before this, also you’d be popular too if you don’t get angry so often.”

“What’d you say?” She looked over.

“Nothing, big sis.” He coughed as his grumbling stomach demanded the congee.

“You two sure get along.” The woman smiled stirring the pot of congee. “The village always feels lively with many visitors.”

“Is it rare?” Kexin asked.

“Of course, who would want to come to a remote mountain village in the middle of nowhere? Even merchants wouldn’t come by if it wasn’t for the tea leaves, but more people have come here since you arrived.”

“More people?” Kexin’s eyes narrowed.

“Some relatives of village chief from a nearby city, they brought some valuable spices as gifts too. I haven’t seen them around, but the men were causing a ruckus at how beautiful and polite they were.” The woman’s tone turned low.

“Was that all?” Kexin tried to smile, it seemed this woman’s husband was one of those men.

“No, the problem’s something else. Two days ago, Hunter Yu saw a bear-like man roaming about the Jo River, and yesterday night some men came by the village to find directions. I heard they looked like ruffians or the sort, so be careful when you go in the forest.”

“I will be careful.” Kexin nodded and turned to look at Wang Yang. “Then, I’ll go ahead.”

“Sure sure.” The woman waved them off.

“Have you seen the bear-like guy they were talking about?” He asked waving the woman and kids goodbye.

“I haven’t. Don’t look for him either, if you do encounter him alert Master immediately.” She said looking around, they were quite deep into the village.

Unlike the small houses attached to the field on the outskirts, the main village had a dozen of wooden and mud-walled houses.

“Where is the kid who had that toy?” She asked.

“The village chief’s grandson. Their house is just 20 or so steps ahead.” Wang Yang pointed at the house at the end of the dirt road.

This was the only house with two floors in the village, a waist-high wooden fence surrounded the residence with a slanted roof made of hay. Kexin didn’t think much of the unassuming appearance, such houses were commonplace in the countryside, however as soon as they were within 10 steps of the house her expression stiffened.

“Wang Yang, we are getting out of here.” Her voice turned grave as the vision before her changed.

Unlike Wang Yang and Sun Lingling, Kexin had a passion for learning every path she could to follow in the footsteps of Li Muchen, her master. So much so that she had been learning swordsmanship, alchemy, formations, and forging, at the same time even if it meant losing time to rest.

And to get started on formations Li Muchen gave her a Talisman to access Qi sight. In non-complicated words, she could see the Qi in nature using her sight, such a skill became necessary to Formation users who used the natural Qi to their advantage and it helped in locating hidden formations.

I only found out about it after stepping in it, we are too late. Sweat trickled down her forehead as her disciple token in a panic, almost dropping it.

“What happened suddenl-?!” Before Wang Yang could finish his sentence she pushed him away.

A woman in purple, one a little older than Sun Lingling rushed towards them with a silver sword in hand.

“Shi-!” Kexin tried to bring her sword out of the ring, but her vision dyed crimson the next instant.