“Qi, the spiritual energy of Earth, is the source of a cultivator’s power. It flows upwards from deep underground, growing thinner and more diffuse as it reaches the surface, and then even more so as it continues to climb into the atmosphere.”
Lu eyed his four new students. Rod and Yon seemed eager to learn, in a forced sort of way, while Bo was mostly bored by the prospect of receiving a lecture. Sir Entrails’s expression was the most neutral by far, showing almost no emotion. Ah, I know I shouldn’t rely on first impressions, but I feel like they’ll be a bit more of a handful than my first four students…
“All life on Earth relies on qi to some extent; when it is removed, the land withers and dies, becoming barren.” Though it takes many years to get to that point – but this is just the first day, so I’ll leave the trivia for later. “The deliberate use of qi, its internalisation and concentration, is what makes a cultivator a cultivator. Using qi, one ascends their body, mind, and soul to a higher level, and its use extends even further – the same way the spiritual energy of Salt can be used to perform techniques, Earth’s qi can be used to fuel spells and other arts.”
Raising his hand, Lu demonstrated. A small flame appeared above the tip of his first finger, then a large drop of water the second, followed closely by a nearly-invisible ball of wind and a pebble of stone. With a swirling gesture, the conjured elements blended together and burst into a fountain of sparks.
In response to his show, the quartet became slightly more animated. There we are. Less words, more spectacle – though I’ll need to hammer some theory into them at some point.
“Yes, the energies of Earth and Salt are very similar. When I journeyed to Salt, my experience with qi allowed me to skip ahead somewhat where consumption was concerned; hopefully, you will be able to do the same in the other direction. However!” He clapped, and as he brought his palms apart two balls of fire floated between them. “Though they are similar, they are not equivalent!” He opened his arms further, and the two first realm Fireball arts floated up to head-height. “Note how one of these spells shines brightly, while the other gutters somewhat weakly. This is because I am casting one of them with qi, and the other with Salt’s energy – which I will refer to as ki from this point forward. Were I to use a technique with qi, the result would be similarly mediocre.”
He hadn’t actually tested this more than a handful of times, but it was a pretty safe speculation. Exactly as casting spells with ki had resulted in underperforming effects while on Salt, qi seemed to react to the fluctuating ‘musical’ shockwaves that activated techniques with lower efficiency.
The Fireballs rose and exploded overhead, and Lu crossed his arms behind his back. “In the same way, I have encountered numerous hurdles in my attempts to practise consumption. The human body is simply not suited for it, and I suspect you will face many difficulties on the road of cultivation… But for the moment, let us be optimistic.” The men watched as Lu drew four spirit stones from his purse. They floated in front of his face, and with a flick of his chin he flung them into each man’s hands, a pleased smile lifting the corners of his mouth.
Normally, the spiritual sense only became strong enough to move objects at sixth realm, but it seemed that having his soul tempered by ki had finally yielded a positive effect; he was able to pick up and manipulate small objects with nothing more than a flex of his spirit, a full two realms early. Ah, telekinesis is fun! I may only be able to lift about a kilogram, but I’m sure this will be useful for all sorts of things!
“Those are spirit stones, qi compacted into a solid form. Traditionally, young humans are given one of these stones to aid them in recognising qi. The first step of cultivation is this: feel out the qi that makes up the stone, and draw some of it away. Success will be obvious, as the stone will shrink.” A scholarly nod. “I’ll come around and help each of you in turn, so don’t worry if you don’t get it right away.”
----------------------------------------
When Lu had first been admitted to the sect, nearly twenty-two years ago now, he had managed to condense his dantian within three days.
That was an unusual feat, though; most cultivators, including the rest of the children that had been admitted that year, took a month or more to do the same. I still don’t really know why I was able to do it so quickly. I certainly haven’t lived up to those first days where the rest of my cultivation is concerned, hah.
So as he paced between the four warriors, Lu kept a firm hold on his expectations. “Have you made any progress, Sir Rod?”
The man’s face was screwed up in exertion. “I can feel something, but that’s it. Doesn’t move.”
“Well, you’re still halfway there. Don’t be discouraged.” The same as the others. “It may be helpful to picture the qi as a gas; imagine it rising off the surface of the stone, in time with your breathing.”
“Sure thing, boss.” The exact particulars of his expression were a bit hard to make out – his black eyes blended into the skin of his face, where there were no yellow marks to add contour to his shape – but he seemed to be straining even harder. “I’ll get it. Just gotta keep at it.”
“That’s the spirit.”
But as he made his way to Sir Yon, who looked at his own stone with more puzzlement than anything, Lu couldn’t help but feel that he was going about this in the wrong way. They don’t have any spiritual sense, no way to manipulate the qi the way a human does. I know that warriors can consume ki even if it isn’t inside their bodies, but ki is so much more physical than loose qi. He had been hoping they could cheat a little with their Comprehension the way Lu had been able to build ki circuits with his sense, but if that was possible then it seemed to be much less intuitive.
Luckily, I thought up a few contingency plans ahead of time. “Any luck, Sir Yon?”
The man really did resemble a rooster, if you squinted. His skin was a milky white with clusters of red freckle-like dots visible through his scant clothing, which resolved into scales on closer inspection. They were particularly thick around his eyes and neck, and covered the crest along the top of his head completely. Would that perhaps make him… Big Cock Yon? Ugh, no, that’s terrible. I’m ashamed of myself for even thinking it.
“Naw. Never really had to manipulate energy outside myself before, so I think I’ll probably get it last.” He shrugged, visibly less frustrated than the other three were becoming as the exercise drew on.
A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.
“Ah, yes. You are a Joeist, correct?”
The man diverted his eyes from the stone, looking at Lu for a moment before giving a so-so gesture. “Eh, I’m not in a cult or anything. But if you just mean consumption, then yeah.”
“I recall that the Junk Dogs would boil their own fat and inhale the vapour. Is that how Horrib- pardon, Moving Waters does it as well?”
“Naw. Mostly it’s internal, getting the stomach to digest itself over and over to purify the energy. Strain out everything that isn’t me.” He turned back to the stone, holding it close to his face as though seeing it more clearly would reveal its secrets.
Purified power. I suppose out of any of them, Sir Yon is probably the safest to try this with; no conflicting elements to interact and blow him apart. “Sir Yon, I am beginning to fear that doing things the human way might not work out. While my people lack a natural Comprehension, we are born with a spiritual sense that allows us to weakly feel and manipulate qi, even as mortals. Without that sense, you might be unable to take the first step on the road of cultivation.”
The warrior’s expression tightened. “You’re saying it’s impossible?”
“No, no. Merely that a different strategy may be required. What I have in mind might be dangerous, though.” For all the knowledge I gained while crafting Jiendao’s treatment, I’m still not entirely certain if the warriors on Earth become ill due to the lack of ki, or due to the presence of qi. It’s almost certainly the former, but…
Yon eyed him again. “Dangerous how?”
“Truthfully, I’m not entirely certain how. Qi and ki annihilate each other as they interact, so theoretically all that could happen if anything goes wrong, is that you expend your internal reservoir of energy. But I’ve heard horror stories of warriors damaging their Comprehensions by mixing incompatible energies, so…”
His eyes were narrowed, and for a moment Lu really took in how much bigger the assembled warriors were in comparison to him. Yon wasn’t massively larger than his brethren the way the Junk Dog Joeists had been, but given the existing size disparity that only meant he was over four metres tall, rather than six or seven. I’ve become somewhat inured to the way they tower over me, since I’ve spent so much time around them lately. It would be child’s play for Yon to simply pick me up with one hand, his fingers would easily reach around by entire waist.
But it seemed that any frustration was directed at the situation, rather than his instructor. He made a croaking sound that Lu took a moment to identify as a laugh, his teeth grinding against each other. “You want me to consume it? We’ve been trying that since we got here.”
“No, not consume it- well, sort of. Can you swallow it, but not take the energy into your spiritual stomach? I feel it might be easier if the stone is inside your body.”
Yon paused. He squinted at the stone again, holding it only a few centimetres from his eye. “…Eat it, but don’t eat it. Might work.” Without hesitating any further, he popped the stone into his mouth and gulped. “Huh, doesn’t taste like anything. This how you figured out consumption?”
Lu allowed a shaky smile to form. “Ah, not quite. Hopefully we won’t need to repeat what I did for you all.” Though they’d probably stomach it better than I did – pun unintended. “So, feel anything different?”
The massive man’s head tilted this way and that as he considered. Twenty seconds passed, and Lu was starting to feel antsy when he finally replied. “Maybe? Feels like… there’s a little cool spot. Still can’t quite touch it. You should try with Entrails, he’ll be better at feeling out different types of energy.”
“Of course, of course. Though I’ll wait a little bit, to be sure you don’t become ill or anything.”
----------------------------------------
His first lesson teaching Salt warriors – Salt warriors who weren’t Cobo, that is – ended with little success. By the fifth hour it became obvious that more drastic methods would be necessary, as not one of his ideas had worked. Consumption seemed to only help slightly with feeling the qi, doing nothing to aid in its manipulation. Manually inserting qi into them with his sense only got it destroyed by their denser internal ki. Utilising Elder Persimmon’s artificial quasi-ki-creating formations to train in an environment where qi could form technique shockwaves had led nowhere.
Having them swallow enchantment-hardened pebbles did nothing that the spirit stones hadn’t. The same with qi-infused meat and replenishment pills.
Lu sighed as he trudged back towards the sect, the sound lost to the greater vibrations Bo’s footsteps caused behind him.
“Cheer up, bro. You’ll think of something.”
He held in the urge to sigh again, louder. “Oh, I’m sure we’ll come up with something. But it’s frustrating, isn’t it?” I wonder if implanting memories of using qi would do anything? That’s basically what the Grandmaster did for me…
“Yeah, it was pretty boring near the end there. Though it was funny when Rod threw up.” He chuckled, and Lu’s lips thinned.
I don’t know what I was thinking, letting him eat all those spirit stones. ‘Maybe it’s a quantity issue’ is such a terrible argument in hindsight. “Well, it was a fitting climax for the day, at least. I don’t suppose you have any ideas?”
Bo was silent for a time as they curved around the bottom of the mountain. Eventually he stopped making faces, and conceded. “Nope. I’ve got nothing. Maybe you could try teaching Throw first? Sharpies can pick things up really fast, sometimes.”
“Bo, if I let my guard down near your son, he will bite my head off.” Not even an exaggeration, his jaws are more than wide enough. “…But I appreciate the thought. Let’s hold off on brainstorming until we get back to the sect proper, I want to enjoy the quiet for now.” At least there’s one upside to the long walk: I get to avoid the bustle of foreign disciples moving through the sect for most of the day.
Bo grunted, and they continued.
----------------------------------------
The next day, Lu decided to assemble a think-tank.
Cobo, Stingy, and Bo were brought in to provide knowledge of consumption. Lan, Jiendao, and of course he himself were present for their experience bridging the gap. Lu had leaned on the sect’s resources a bit, and gotten two core disciples to add their expertise to the mix; one of the original disciples to have entered Salt, a martial artist named Orou On, and an alchemist-slash-biologist assistant of Elder Aiya Yu’s who called herself Winter Blossom. Lu considered the latter the real prize; disciples who insisted on titles tended to be eccentric, and eccentric was what they needed. Ah, not that most Elders are eccentric. Well, I suppose they are, but- anyway, moving on.
Bull was also there, for moral support. Throw, the diminutive ball of endless ravening, was also there, because Bo’s sitter didn’t want to do the job two days in a row.
“Alright.” Lu looked across the room and its sitting and reclining occupants, bringing his hands together softly. Bit crowded, but not unreasonably so. “Thank you all for coming. I’ve assembled you here today to help me in advancing human understanding, and to establish further diplomatic relations with our neighbours from Salt. To cross the boundaries of reality itself, to-”
Bull made a noise of impatience. “Yes, Lu, we know why we’re here. You laid it out to each of us in person, you ridiculous man.”
“Quiet, Bull, I spent a lot of time on this.” He cleared his throat. “To…” A pause. “To… Argh, no, it’s ruined. It just sounds silly in my head, now. We’re here to try and figure out how to teach Bo and his peers how to cultivate. The floor is open; begin.” He sat with a huff.
The first person to raise her hand was Winter Blossom. She was a small woman, both short and thin-boned, who wore rather conservative robes of thick fabric. Unusually, her spectacles actually had lenses, a fact that, together with her clothes and lack of jewellery save the ubiquitous Wheel pin, immediately marked her in Lu’s mind as old-fashioned.
“Pardon, but perhaps we could start with introductions?” Her voice had an anxious tint to it, oddly appropriate for her fairly youthful face. “I’m of course familiar with your writings, disciple Lu, but…”
Lu blinked. “Ah, of course.” My writings? I suppose my reports on Salt could be considered some form of writing… But putting my ego aside, that’s a reasonable suggestion. “I suppose we’ll go in clockwise order, then?”