Two woman stand before a raging inferno. One is poised with impeccable posture even as she swings a hammer nearly as large as herself. The other is wobbling atop shaky legs as sweat and Ki pour from her in equal measure.
“That's enough for now.” That short sentence brings sweet relief to Ming Jia Ying as she nearly collapses. Lin Liqin helps her to a chair while Lin Liqiu reminds her, “Try to maintain your mental image of the item even as you rest, so it will be imprinted on your Ki as it recovers. That will improve your Ki efficiency for the next round.”
Ming Jia Ying manages a nod before she begins the familiar breathing exercises they all learned from Lin Liqin. In many ways Ki is a reflection of the cultivators body. Granted, it provides a general enhancement of its wielder's capabilities, but it also makes them more of who they are. The strong become stronger and the quick become quicker. Knowing this, Lin Liqin attempts to help Ming Jia Ying recover quicker by returning her body to its optimal condition. An optimal body producing an optimal amount of Ki that can further enhance the body, should, in theory, create a feedback loop of sorts.
Unfortunately, Lin Liqin is too focused on helping her to properly record her condition to test the theory, but it will make for an interesting discussion with Tomo later. In the meantime, a basin of cool water to soak Ming Jia Ying's feet brings her core temperature back down and a simple, yet effective, massage helps get the Ki circulating. He works his way down her spine, focusing on the Chakra points, feeling the flow of Ki and Chi blossom under the pressure from his fingers.
The fusion of the purple Ki crystals and light blue Ki crystals was successful, but the temperature needs to be maintained so that the dark blue Ki crystals can be added. Lin Liqiu carefully places the piece along the edge where it can stay heated without breaking the bond they've forged. The highly viscous dark blue Ki crystals require a special technique to work similar to glass blowing. As Lin Liqiu begins shaping a large bubble from the super-heated crystals, Tsubame approaches and lightly whispers, “Is everything alright? This really seems to be taking a lot out of the kid.”
“What we've made so far is solid. Her intent isn't fighting against my design. The only reason it'd be taking this much Ki is if I underestimated the scope of her intended use. But there aren't any stress fractures, as such it hasn't surpassed the complexity of the piece. If she can make it through this next phase... it should be fine...” Lin Liqiu said, not sounding very sure.
Not wanting to contaminate the piece with her own Ki, Tsubame wasn't using any to protect herself from the forge's heat. As she begins to wilt, she places a reassuring hand on Lin Liqiu's shoulder before withdrawing.
Lin Liqiu continues to mold and shape the dark blue Ki crystals. The fluidity of it is a challenge, much different from the others that she's used to working with. Despite the difficulty she manages to contour it into mock representations of hill sides, forests, city-scapes, and any other environments she can imagine. The more forms she can imprint on it during the forging process the easier it will be for the light blue Ki crystals to push it into similar shapes later. Also, it doesn't hurt that the extra attention to detail is buying Ming Jia Ying more time to recover.
Ming Jia Ying's breathing levels off and sweat clears as her internal temperature stabilizes. Lin Liqin steps back, nodding approvingly, as a haze of golden Ki begins to embrace Ming Jia Ying. With the Ki now shielding her from the heat, she returns to Lin Liqiu's side.
Under Ming Jia Ying's attentive gaze Lin Liqiu removes the core of the Seige board from the forge. The slab of purple Ki crystals with a thin layer of light blue above glows from the heat. As she begins to wrap the dark blue Ki crystals around the core, Lin Liqiu states bluntly, “Add your Ki as the layers bind. Pace yourself, but hold nothing back. This is the final push!”
Golden Ki continuously bathes the would be Seige board as Lin Liqiu attempts to mold and hammer it into shape while ensuring that the three layers of Ki crystal bond properly. Mere hours stretch into what feels like days before Lin Lqiu motions for the teen to stop. Exhaustion seeks to claim her, but the desire to see the finished product wins out as Ming Jia Ying continues to watch from the side as the blacksmith flaunts her craft. The hammer is a maddening flurry of strikes until it stops abruptly. A smile blossoms on Lin Liqiu's face as the newly Ki forged item begins to hum with power before erupting with a golden aura matching Ming Jia Ying's Ki.
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“Well, what are you waiting for? Grab it, it's yours,” Lin Liqin says encouragingly while retrieving a bottle of the sweet wine from breakfast, which his sister gladly accepts as they share a congratulatory drink.
Ming Jia Ying fights off fatigue to reach out and cradle her new Siege board, her Ki forged item. Tsubame suggests, “While holding it, try circulating your Ki down one arm, through the board, and then back down the other arm to your core.”
Doing as she was told, the item disappears and suddenly Ming Jia Ying can feel it tucked in her core, or dantian as she's used to referring to it. The sensation is odd, a pleasant type of fullness, like eating a full meal for the first time. She wouldn't compare her previous state to starving, but this is the first time she's felt satiated in terms of her cultivation. It is similar to when she began refining her Ki. Where she thought it would fight for space with the Chi within her, it instead fills a void she didn't know was there, like it was always meant to be and simply makes her more. She can feel her dantain shifting to accommodate its new tenant, but there is none of the stress or tension she is used to from Chi cultivation or Ki refinement. Instead it is rather comfortable, as if her Chi and Ki have extra room to stretch out and relax despite the addition of her Ki forged item.
The others observer her quietly. Ming Jia Ying's eyes remain closed for a while even as a toothy grin plasters itself across her face. When her eyes finally open she sees an excited Tsubame looming large before her with the same ecstatic expression, “It feels amazing, doesn't it? It's like our cores are a room and our Ki items are furniture. Like a couch or a big fluffy bed. Sure, it technically takes up some of the space, but it makes the whole thing more comfortable. More functional.”
“Mmhmm...” When Ming Jia Ying opens her mouth a slight moan escapes quickly followed by an embarrassed giggle. After collecting herself she can't help but agree, “I'm not sure how I would have described it, but that fits perfectly. It just snapped into place, like it was always meant to be there. My Chi and Ki no longer feel like they're competing for room. It really ties the space together.”
Ming Jia Ying circulates her Ki and the Seige board appears in her hand. The surface is an impossibly smooth and polished dark blue, but even through the opaque material flashes of light blue and shadows of brilliant purple can be glimpsed. Everyone eyes the board with anticipation, but instead of activating it right away she guides them outside, to one of the many palace gardens.
Standing on the grass the young woman kicks off her shoes and breathes deep as her Chi reconnects with the earth. With a light tap of her toes a column of earth slowly rises, creating a pedestal for her to set the Siege board. A familiar pulse travels through the ground as Ming Jia Ying activates her Breath of the Earth skill, but it originates from the board, not her. It is also moving much faster than her audience is accustomed too. The pulse returns just as quickly, running up the pedestal. The surface of the board begins to ripple before taking shape.
Once the surface settles into shape Tsubame is the first to inspect it. “It's not as smooth anymore. It looks a bit lumpy,” she says as she runs a finger along it, “and it's very rough.”
“Well, the Qin province is mostly rolling grasslands until it reaches the coast,” Ming Jia Ying states matter of factly.
Once she mentions the province the others begin comparing the Siege board before them to maps of the region and can see the similarities, especially the hint of a coast line running along one edge of the board. Despite being responsible for the piece's creation, Lin Liqiu can't help but be shocked, “I thought your previous limit was the size of a large city. Are you saying you can now observe an entire province? I never imagined you'd take it this far.”
“What's the point of Ki forging an item if it can't help me surpass my limits. I could tell I could reach further, but the issue was the amount of information coming in. Now my Siege board can handle that for me,” Ming Jia Ying waves her hand as she's speaking and the board begins to shift, focusing in on a small town along the coast, far from the palace.
As the details become clearer they can make out several collapsed buildings with one especially large mansion at the far end of town that seems to be barely more than a foundation. There are a few people and animals wandering the streets and crossing the bridge that spans the river that runs through one side of town, but for the most part it's a ghost town. Lin Liqin asks the question the others are thinking, “What town is this? What happened here?”
Ming Jia Ying solemnly answers, “The dead have no need for names, not really. The same is true for towns, I guess. This is where I grew up. It's just one of the debts I owe General Gui.” And with another wave of her hand the Siege board is gone. Then she turns to face the inky black door full of stars materializing behind her. “Time to go.”