While the Tournament started triggering a wave of activity in the city, it also slowed down some important projects during its first and second rounds.

Both rounds were organised as team fights involving ten fighters, the first having the rule that teams winning three out of five fights could qualify, while the second was only best of three. By the end of the second round, less than a sixth of the combatants were still running. It wasn’t only due to being eliminated according to the rules but also because many teams needed to be reshuffled occasionally to accommodate the wounded and those giving up.

Even with all sixteen arenas, the time dedicated to those two rounds impeded the city’s development for more than twenty days.

For Nate, it was also the less exciting part of the Tournament. The main reason was that his sister, Stelia Scott ò Starstrong, was just born. Thus, Diane avoided the arenas as much as she could. The other reason was that even on the rare days when she entrusted her daughter and son to one of her sisters and aunts – her in-laws in Nate’s mind, as he still couldn’t break away from his old life’s habit regarding that – the fights she saw weren’t that interesting to him. Even if he did enjoy reviewing them during the night, altering the dreamscape into an absurdly realistic 4dx movie. However, the focus of his interest for the Tournament was missing from those fights.

And from what was being told in the evenings, he shouldn’t expect to see any body cultivator anywhere but in the four central arenas. Sadly, there was little chance Nate would get to review those. Diane had made it clear she would only support her partner, who, while a talented fighter, was lacking compared to many others. He was still participating with his team and another from the Scott family, but during the third round, the teams would be reduced from five fighters to three. Then, two fighters for the fourth round, and finally, duels until the finals. Considering his team had only managed to grasp victory thanks to their teamwork, such rules would likely spell the end of their winning strike.

Meanwhile, everyone who wasn’t fighting or supporting those who did was imbuing more life in the city with each passing day. Their slow progress wasn’t any less admirable.

It took a while for Nate to learn where it came from, but water wasn’t an issue, the city being built atop an underground river. Seeing farms surfacing, their grounds being tilled and irrigated was much less mysterious with this knowledge. Watching the dry and bare earth slowly transform into moist and fertile soil wasn’t less magical.

Then, with each Clan finding their marks, large plazas were opened in the city, allowing everyone to trade and barter. One for each district with at its centre a totem in the image of a sect. It was, with the sects themselves, the only features in the city which were distinctly split. The other major facilities built to the wonder of most were called Halls. Six Halls, each a place to gather everyone’s skills in one field or another to promote growth. Then, ensuring those resources wouldn’t be wasted or misused but instead nurtured to support their collectivity. The domains in question were Life, Death, Craft, Trade, Order and finally Leisure.

Despite Nate being able to guess most of their purpose, he lacked many details. He might be walking on his own, but it didn’t mean he could leave the confines of their family compound. All he knew was that Life had to do with food, Death with warriors and hunters, Craft and Trade were self-explanatory, and Order and Leisure were to help everyone live together despite their differences, one being a hard method, the other a soft one.

For Nate, hearing of such a structured way of organising the city was a striking reminder that those four cultivators weren’t reluctant to get involved in ruling the city. At least from that, his expectation from the XianXia story of cultivators seeing mortals as inferior existences not worthy of their attention seemed false. Maybe they were the exception, but a man could hope.

On the other hand, he felt humbled by everyone’s dedication to working towards a common goal, as despite their recurrent quarrels for influence, none of the clans were trying to skirt their duties. It was more of the opposite, actually. Many disagreements came from a clan wanting more resources, workers, knowledge or anything else. Yet, common ground would often be found to allow both parties to get the most out of it, trading together and nurturing their relationship rather than sowing resentment or hatred.

From Nate’s perspective, it looked as if their grounded life, thanks to how often they previously risked death, had pushed them to consider making enemies as a sin. By nurturing allies, on the other hand, they were creating grounds for more opportunities. A more pragmatic view was for it to be their way of building a safety net in foresight for the Tournament’s ranking. Binding themselves to other clans would guarantee them access to better rewards than they deserved based on their rank.

Nate wasn’t sure for how long this cooperation would last. The safety granted by the city and the cultivators’ influence was, for now, a boon. Yet, at some point, it might turn into a crutch they couldn’t dispose of or even a curse.

For now, though, it was inspiring to watch everyone’s cohesiveness. This led Nate to acknowledge that while his path towards Immortality was for himself, it didn’t mean he had to walk it alone. It should have been obvious to him since he already had the reflection of helping his loved ones along his path. Or a part of it. Yet he missed the fact that he could rely on others to support him. Just because he was the reincarnated one didn’t mean he had to do everything by himself.

How relevant it was in his situation had to do with his cultivation. With his mother and sister sharing a spiritual link with him, he could design a way to borrow their meridians for his cultivation. Instead of having one unit of Qi flowing along a simple path, he could double or even triple it. Without testing, Nate could already guess that while, as a whole, the proportion of Qi being used wouldn’t increase, its effectiveness would.

The problem he faced was to apply his theory in practice. Not only were his circumstances as a child less than ideal, but he also lacked much knowledge on how to proceed. Once again, he would need to experiment and carve a path for himself.

With his sister being younger, he could tell it would be more effective with her since her meridians were still distinct from the rest of her vessels. It wasn't the case with their mother, whose sole trigger for Qi circulation was the Yuan Qi she had from birth. Diane’s body had quickly adapted to support her growth better, and with the lack of worldly Qi, her meridians merged with her blood vessels, nerves and other channels for energy.

Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

Yet, while Stelia’s Qi was purer and more efficient in nourishing her body, she was still too young, and some of her meridians were barely formed. While improving her metabolism had been possible, even regarding her Qi, it was crucial for her to only process worldly Qi for a few years longer. For this reason alone, she wasn’t a viable option.

As for Diane, despite how older she was compared to Nate, she was still under twenty and, more importantly, had yet to reach full maturity. That meant she still had some Yuan Qi left in her body, which Nate could exploit to nurture his own Qi.

However, with his mother not having proper meridians, Nate had a dilemma. He needed to find a pathway that allowed Qi to flow naturally. Failing that a way to guide the Qi along its intended path.

The old child’s first concept was to use each other’s limbs as a bridge to mirror the cultivation method he used for himself. Until now, he was cycling Qi from his dantian to his limbs, making a loop by having his feet touch each other and the same for his hands. Then, repeating the process in what might look like a figure eight. That option for dual cultivation would lengthen the loop while adding another dantian. This way, instead of having one unit of Qi moving through the pathways, there could be twice as much without causing interference. Before, sending a unit of Qi through both arms would have caused two opposing flows.

[https://imgur.com/XcyBetu.jpg]

That option was out with Diane since her body wasn’t used to having Qi flowing through it. While experimenting on himself, Nate had already noticed it before, but too much Qi could become harmful, as the vessels weren’t built for it. The pain of having a meridian overflow was excruciating.

He dared not try with his mother with channels as unsuited for this purpose as blood vessels or nerves.

An improvement that could be done while keeping the same concept was to manually assist the flow of Qi to ensure the meridians wouldn’t get damaged. However, it would require the amber-eyed child to manipulate Qi. An ability he was still struggling to grasp. The best he had managed to do was to envelop a small item with his sense, like a short string or a tiny scrap of fabric, and to levitate or even displace it. Nevertheless, it was great progress but not enough for the current objective.

Therefore, the solution Nate came up with was to return to the source when he was still in his mother’s womb, and his body was being nourished with Yuan Qi. At that point, both of their dantians were the link enabling Qi to flow. While this solution wouldn’t greatly increase the efficiency of his past cultivation method, it would be a massive boon to Diane. Instead of cycling Qi through all of her meridians, he would only send some to her dantian, triggering her Yuan Qi into stirring the worldly Qi flowing in her body. Then, once a cycle was done, he would get back the energy he sent when the Qi arrived once more at the dantian.

[https://imgur.com/0oDfexV.jpg]

While not allowing Nate to restore her meridians, the process would still make what vessels she had more attuned to Qi. Maybe with time, she could cultivate, although Nate had no idea how long it would take. He could tell it should happen, but no visible progress could still be seen.

Nate’s newly found method for what could be described as dual cultivation still had one major inconvenience. It required constant physical contact. With the brown-haired child growing up and the presence of his sister, he didn’t spend much time anymore in his mother’s embrace. Not that it really bothered the budding cultivator, as he had to explore his new Telekinetic ability.

His spiritual senses were still confined to a short range of under ten inches around him. It required a deliberate effort to keep it active, but his awareness within this range was flawless when he did. However, Nate had to physically touch an object before enveloping it with his senses. Only then could he move it by force of will. The items also had to be small and light enough. Otherwise, he was forced to stop, a headache quickly occurring. With everyone busy either because of the Tournament or the bustling city, it became a delight to entertain his little sister. He rarely did anything too strange with his new ability, preferring to make alterations rather than create movement.

While throwing a feather in the air, he would imbue it with his will beforehand, allowing him to change its falling speed and trajectory. Paper might not be a thing, but it didn’t mean he couldn’t find an alternative to paper planes.

“They’re oddly calm. Did something happen?” asked Diane one evening as she came back from the city’s core. It had become a routine to mingle with other like-minded people experimenting with crops. Sometimes, she was trading part of her production for different samples. At other times, she reunited in the Hall of Life to share her discoveries. On this, she did remember some of the lessons from her dreams. Mainly for trade, but also when sharing her findings: While she shared the need for good soil made of different layers, she kept the ratios she used to herself.

“You’d be surprised! Your son is a wonder. He was entertaining them, throwing all kinds of stuff in the air and then waving his arms. It was like watching the wind become alive.” Naellia, the youngest of Whistler’s Aunts, was one of the trio of women in charge of the youngest children that day.

“Most of the kids tried doing the same. Well, now they’re exhausted. Can’t say I’m not thankful!”

Albeit the exercise meant Nate wasn’t as active as before, when he tried to exhaust himself in the shortest time he could, it was a worthy trade. He might not make the most efficient use of his time, doing physical training when awake and spiritual when asleep, but he was re-learning to live rather than losing himself in reaching his faraway goal. The destination wasn’t as meaningful as the journey. If it means he had to alter his plans and risk slowing down his progress, then so be it. It wasn’t like it had that much impact, either.

When he was asleep, he would still cultivate and provide new dreams to his mother and sister. For Stelia, only landscapes were included. While his mother kept having diverse scenarios play out, giving her insights about her current activities. While his awake time would either be spent practising his telekinesis, refining his cultivation technique or being a child. This last part was as much a struggle to enjoy despite his much older mind than a delight in which to partake.