Remembering fifteen years back wasn’t so difficult for me. Memorization was a big part of being a monk after all, and also one of the only areas where I shone in. If I could memorize the entire Pali canon and all the Mahayana sutras, remembering significant events like the first few days of training was a breeze.
Tomorrow morning, the Alliance would put us in an array that thickened the energies of heaven and earth, making it so that even a novice would be able to sense it with some meditation and focused breathing. It was expected that we all awaken our energy bodies or spirits during the three hours set aside for us while the array was active. The energy body consisted of our core of energy, which sat in our stomachs, the assortment of meridians that stretched around the body, transporting this energy, the acupoints that transformed the energy and helped it interface with our physical bodies and thus our martial arts, and finally our domains, the portion of the universe that was ours and ours alone, that made us separate from the world and our own entities.
The Alliance Leader would go over the explanation for why so much was expected of us specifically, but I remembered exactly why.
In fact, I could feel it inside my nascent spirit: while we had no inner energy to speak of back on Earth, we also didn’t have the flipside to this energy: gu. Gu, or death energy, stuck to all bodies in tiny impurities. Gu could be cultivated, but that was a Demonic path that more often than not led the practitioner to become a mass-murdering psychopath.
We Earthlings upon reaching this world would form a spirit on par with any other human being, only we would never be bottlenecked by the existence of gu in our systems, granting us a growth potential that eclipsed even the most talented martial artists in existence.
Then there was me.
My talent was great compared to a native, but compared to my fellow classmates?
I bowed my head as Wenhao and his group of friends passed by me in the courtyard. I could faintly feel their burning spirits. They had grown so fast, and I was still lagging. And soon, the selection would start.
Who would select me?
I was dead last. My lack of natural talent in qi gathering was second to none in my cohort. For every ten days of gathering qi, Wenhao could muster the same gains in one, and that didn’t even account for the sheer amount of resources that the higher-ups would invest in him, because in the Central Plains, and in the rest of multiverse probably, only winning stocks were invested in.
And Wenhao was a stock unlike any other.
That being said, I was not without gifts of my own.
In the hushed embrace of my chamber, I immersed myself in profound meditation, my consciousness a canvas for the mystical art I yearned to master. The ancient whispers of Qi Genesis Infinitum echoed through the corridors of my mind, revealing a mesmerizing dance of spiritual energies.
Within the tapestry of my thoughts, I envisioned my qi core as a celestial vortex—a cosmic whirlpool poised to harness the very essence of the universe. Each breath became a harmonious dance, orchestrating a symphony that resonated through the very fabric of my being.
This was the ultimate gathering technique I had come across, a unique creation for a unique kind of being.
The technique demanded a vessel of utmost purity, an ideal met by my transmigrated spirit, and it also required an adept's insight, a veteran's understanding of martial intricacies, and the keen intuition to navigate the ethereal realms. As I delved into the recesses of my memories, I revisited the crossroads of my past, where I had discovered this technique, with the help of my master, the Abbot of Shaolin. It was a promise of increased talent, the technique, and all it cost was my entire progress in martial arts.
In a previous life, the prospect of unravelling my core and starting anew had left me on the precipice of greatness, yet fear had gripped me—a fear of discarding the fruits of years of diligent cultivation. Now, armed with the wisdom of hindsight, I embraced the opportunity unfolding before me. The room pulsed with latent energies as I neared the culmination of my meditation. The timing had to be impeccable—tomorrow morning, during the practice session. A clandestine transformation awaited, promising to alter the trajectory of my destiny.
I coaxed the vortex to unravel, satisfied that I had set up the dominos for tomorrow’s awakening.
Tomorrow I would gain a talent in chi gathering ten times that of my normal rate.
Tomorrow I would be on the starting line right alongside Wenhao.
It's In The Details: Interior Art for Kindar [https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-wEna6T86--o/UT-buNLIw9I/AAAAAAAAAz8/aZy5fbTUYUo/s1600/Interior+Art+Sword.png]
I was among a small fraction of students that had changed into the training clothes that the Alliance had provided to us. Among that number was Wenhao, Xinyi and Jingshu, all of whom had proven an ability and willingness to adapt to a foreign situation. I was proud to say the least.
The rest were not so keen however. Unlike other schools, ours was high class, in an expensive neighbourhood, and prided itself on a standard beyond that of the common tracksuit uniforms found across the country. Instead, we wore blazers, ties and shirts, and a pair of slacks, and the girls wore skirts.
Among those who still wore our school’s excessive uniform for this temperate climate, none had brought with them their blazers or ties, but that wouldn’t be any comfort once they were forced to hold a horse stance for thirty minutes.
We were all standing in a courtyard, the one we had been summoned in at that, but instead of the crowd of elders—monstrous supreme and transcendent warriors and late peak masters—around us were only servants watching, and the Alliance Leader, who was henceforth taking point, with a group of peak masters behind him who would later serve as our instructors in the various forms of martial arts.
The Alliance Leader began his explanation.
“The energies of the heaven and the earth exist all around us. It springs from creeks and rivers running through forest glades, rises and falls from the solid earth that makes up mountains, is blown all around us by the winds like so many leaves. The closer you are to nature, the greater this energy is, for this energy is vitality. It is life. And within this courtyard, you should be able to feel this energy. Once you do, you must guide it into yourself and awaken your core. To begin, we start by sitting down. Make space between yourselves. Sit in a grid formation.”
It didn’t take long for us to fall into position.
“Now, we breathe.”
From there, I ignored everything he said, instead focusing on counting down to make sure I was the first to awaken my core, and receive the first merit reward, a legendary elixir that could bump up my natural rate of qi gathering… permanently. I suspected the percentage was in the high single digits to low double digits, but that was still an amazing boost to have, especially after receiving a boost of a thousand percent as it was from the Qi Genesis Infinitum cycling technique.
Wenhao had awakened his core within twenty-six minutes. While I could do the same immediately, that would only raise suspicions. If they suddenly discovered that a person they had recently summoned from another world had such intimate knowledge of martial arts, there would only be one assumption they would make: that I was no longer myself, but a Demonic sect warrior that had possessed the body of one Li Tianming. From there, they would kill me and hope that the rot hadn’t spread.
I had to be better than Wenhao, but not so good that I was suspicious. Thus, twenty-five minutes.
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I counted diligently, getting to the twenty minute mark before suspicion and doubt began to bloom in my heart.
What if I had counted too slowly? What if I was actually closer to twenty five minutes?
Twenty-three minutes now.
No. This was too risky.
I initiated the awakening without further ado.
The moment I initiated the core awakening, a surge of energy coursed through me, intertwining with the Qi Genesis Infinitum's celestial dance. It was as if a cosmic gateway had opened, connecting me to the very essence of the universe.
In that pivotal instant, time seemed to lose its grip. The courtyard faded away, and I found myself suspended in a realm of pure energy and profound stillness. The ethereal threads of Qi Genesis Infinitum wove around me, creating a luminous tapestry that mirrored the celestial patterns above. My acupoints became stars in a constellation, connecting to each point via meridians that shone gold in my mind’s eye.
A profound tranquillity enveloped my being, transcending the physical constraints of the world. The whispers of the wind and the rustling leaves became harmonious melodies, resonating with the heartbeat of the universe. I could sense the energies of the heavens and earth converging within me, like rivers merging into an expansive sea of vitality.
The boundaries between self and cosmos blurred, and I became a vessel for the boundless energy surrounding me. The Qi Genesis Infinitum technique, now fully awakened within, pulsed with a rhythm that echoed the heartbeat of creation.
Visions of my past, present, and potential future flashed before my eyes, a kaleidoscope of experiences and insights. The secrets of martial arts, once shrouded in mystery, unfolded like an ancient scroll. I glimpsed the interconnectedness of all things—the dance of energy that flowed through every living being.
As the Qi Genesis Infinitum technique integrated with my core, a profound enlightenment washed over me. I became attuned to the ebb and flow of the universe's energy, a cosmic symphony in which I played a harmonious note. The boundaries of my physical form dissolved, and I existed as a conduit for the celestial forces that permeated existence.
In this trance-like state of enlightenment, I felt a oneness with the universe—a profound connection to the energies that fueled life. This experience, akin to an elixir of spiritual awakening, had been imbibed, and I emerged from the experience with a heightened awareness, transcending the limits of ordinary perception.
As I slowly returned to the courtyard, the echoes of the Qi Genesis Infinitum lingered, leaving an indelible mark on my essence. I had embarked on a journey beyond the confines of the mundane, unlocking the true potential of my martial prowess: true mastery over my body.
It's In The Details: Interior Art for Kindar [https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-wEna6T86--o/UT-buNLIw9I/AAAAAAAAAz8/aZy5fbTUYUo/s1600/Interior+Art+Sword.png]
Zhang Wenhao POV
Zhang Wenhao had been a master of his body all his life. He never had a choice in the matter. Before he could even remember, his father had trained his upper body strength as an infant, having him hold onto rings and suspending himself above ground, performing the infant-equivalent of calisthenics before he even uttered his first word.
Nothing too strenuous of course. Wenhao’s father was a sports scientist with a doctorate in the subject, and the fruits of all of his education and discoveries in the field had been poured into his little boy. He was kept just strained enough to encourage muscular growth, nervous system development and good bone density without going so far as to strain his joints or his ligaments. His entire life, Wenhao had danced on that tightrope.
That didn’t make his childhood a particularly fun one, needless to say.
He could still remember when he was six years old, and his father had banned him from playing outside without his supervision because he came home with a scraped knee, how he had later been subjected to hours of gruelling balance training that pushed his mind if not his body to its limits with repetitive and exhausting drills to make sure he never fell and harmed himself again.
Which was why Wenhao could not stop thinking about how that Li Tianming had so casually slung him to the ground.
Perfection was all that was ever demanded of him, both in the field of sports and in the classroom, but if he could land a regional or city-wide record here and there, father would always forgive him if his grades were only above average and not perfect. There was no helping that anyway with the god of studying Jingshu being in the same year as him.
But now that he was here?
Wenhao snorted. He had no excuse to lag behind that monster anymore. Studying was well and good, but in a world of martial arts, there existed only one sovereign in their school and that was Wenhao. And if the people of Earth could reportedly become even stronger than the natives of this world, then Wenhao was looking at a very bright future indeed.
And that started with overcoming this first challenge: unlocking his core first.
The Alliance Leader spoke of a reward, but that was secondary to Wenhao. All he heard was that being first in this regard mattered, and even if it wasn’t a purely physical pursuit, a part of him could tell that it was the same difference to someone like him. Even after stepping into the courtyard, he could already feel the dense swell of energy playing on his body, and each movement he made had a way of interacting with this energy in curious ways. He punched the air testingly, feeling the energies carrying his body, straightening his lax and off hand stance, forcing him to move in a way that maximized his force.
Forcing his body to take the forms of martial arts. This transcended intuition. The truth of proper movement was all he could sense so much that it took active effort to move half-assedly.
When he sat down on a grid made of the rest of his classmates, he didn’t even bother listening to the old man yammering. He just did his own thing, and that was to breathe.
In an instant, he disappeared into a world of shimmering stars against a dark purple backdrop. The world around him shone from the stars with an ethereal ghostlight, and when he reached out with his hand to touch one of the lights, he found that he couldn’t. He didn’t have any hands.
He was only a floating ball of consciousness in a sea of power.
The next step came easily to him, as if by intuition as well. He swelled in size, and the stars pushed away from him. He contracted, and the stars approached him, closer, closer and closer before stopping. He expanded once again, pushing them away, and when he contracted once more to his limits, the stars ended up closer than they were before.
That settled it.
With each swell and shrink, the stars approached ever closer, slowing down as they approached him, until they seemingly came to a total stop.
That wouldn’t do.
A thought struck. If he could expand quickly enough to encompass the stars, what then?
For that, he knew that he required focus and concentration, and a build-up of intent which he needed to hold back for long seconds, like a race-car whose backwheels were raised from the ground but spun wildly, until he felt that he could no longer hold it back anymore.
With a thunderous snap, he let his soul loose on the stars, devouring them before they could be pushed away. The stars rushed into his center, lighting it up like the sun itself.
Then it pushed through his body, from acupoint to acupoint via a highway of meridians, and for one pregnant moment, he could feel the energy of the entire world whispering a pregnant secret to him.
Chosen.
The word was Wenhao’s own interpretation, for in reality, the message had been so heavy, so manifold, that a single meaningful word was all that he could glean at the moment.
But it was all he needed. With a contented smile, he opened his eyes.
Only to find the white-haired old man standing in front of Tianming of all people. The glasses-wearing, lanky little guy was exuding a strange, otherworldly pressure that gave Wenhao a bad feeling in his stomach. The Alliance Leader looked his way and gave a smile. “Ah, good that you as well have awakened.”
You as well.
No…
“Li Tianming was first?” he found himself saying, against his wishes. Why did he say that? Why did he have to make it real by speaking it into existence? “Why?”
He looked at the back of Li Tianming, which seemed so large to him now, and hoped beyond hope that he wouldn’t jolt out from his meditative session to gloat. Instead, he paid the conversation no mind at all and just continued meditating.
“You will have more chances to distinguish yourself,” the Alliance Leader said, and Wenhao hated the sympathy he heard in the old man’s voice. How dare he? Wenhao came from the real world where stupid martial arts magic didn’t exist. His entire life, his entire life, he had trained his body. He should be the strongest!
He will be the strongest.
Mark my words, Li Tianming, I will show you your place once and for all!