Far too many young cultivators become obsessed with the tricks and details of cultivation. What is the Sun? How does one properly apply qi through their body to reach Iron? But all these questions are, ultimately, distractions. Cultivation is about the self; it is about growing beyond yourself. This is true from the lowest seed to the highest Ascendant. –Jin Sarei, Elder of the Heaven’s Blade Sect.

* * *

“Your core will become everything that you are and everything you will ever be,” I began. Xinya was watching me with such intensity and determination in her eyes, it felt as if her gaze would burn a hole right through me. I supposed it was good that she was paying such close attention. Crafting one’s core was a tricky business, and one misstep could cripple any chances of becoming a cultivator.

I reached inside myself, feeling my core as it was positioned in my heart. Most cultivators build their core in the pit of their stomach, or in the space behind the naval. It was more central, easier to build one’s meridians to spread qi like blood through the body. But, there were merits to other locations, too.

“You must always take care to keep the location of your core safe, no matter the cost,” I continued. “It will become like any other organ. You cannot live without your heart, nor will you be able to live without your core. If it is damaged, you may be injured to the point of never being able to cultivate again, if you’re lucky.”

“And if you’re not?” she asked. I reached over and smacked her over the head with the feather end of an arrow. It was gentle, but she still screwed her face up in shock.

“Use your head. What do you think could happen?” I said.

“You could die?”

“Precisely. You must take this extremely seriously because you are playing not just with your life but with your soul. Think everything through, ask questions, but most importantly, make sure you understand everything before you attempt to do it,” I waited for her to nod before continuing. “Now, once you’ve picked a place for it, you will want to mentally guide the energy in your body to that point. You’ve already shown an affinity for lightning, and we know you are capable of harnessing the power of the moon. You can choose one or the other or choose to guide both into your core.”

“What would be the benefit of choosing only one?”

“What stops fishermen from becoming carpenters?”

She paused to think about the question before responding. “Well, most of the fishers in Saikan were born to the life. They learned it from their parents, and don’t understand the other trades.” She reached up and bit her knuckle as she continued thinking. “They never learned it, so they go to those who did.”

“And if a fisherman did pick up carpentry?”

“Then they’d be able to fix their own boat!” she answered. “They’d have more skills and be able to do more things themselves.”

I nodded. “Very good. The same holds true for cultivation.” I looked both directions up the alleyway. Only once I was sure no one would see, I summoned a small orb of moonlight to one hand. “A cultivator who specializes in only one form of qi will become an expert in that one form. They will be able to accomplish great things by discovering and understanding every aspect of that form. I used to follow a path like this, and I was very good at it. But, a cultivator who understands and can harness two forms of qi,” I summoned a tiny bit of void mist to my other hand. “Their mastery will take the form of mixing the two forms together.”

Xinya frowned. “But what about Master Tenri? I’ve never heard of him having more than plant powers.”

“An excellent question,” I praised. “Tenri only uses wood qi. Likewise, Pollen only uses land qi and Pharyx only uses sun qi. Why do you think they would only harness one? They aren’t stunting themselves by doing so.”

“Maybe…” she thought hard about it. “Maybe because they don’t have the affinity for a second one?”

“Technically, you can cultivate a path without the affinity for it,” I countered. “But, you’ll always be more skilled using qi that resonates with your soul. Why else would they only choose one?”

“Maybe…because they don’t want to take the time to learn another element?”

“Correct. There’s always the question of resources. Think of your core as a bowl,” I explained. “You could put water in the bowl all the way to the top. Then you’d have a full bowl of water, and any problem you need water for, you’ll have a lot of it.

“But just as easily, you could fill half the bowl with water, then go and fill half the bowl with honey. You would have less water, but if you came across a problem that needed honey, you’d have a solution. Most people have a set capacity for qi and can only take in 100% of their qi at any given time. If you choose both moon and lightning, you will have half a core of lightning, and half a core of moon.”

Xinya narrowed her eyes as I snuffed out my light and sent my void qi into a nearby crate. The wood began to dissolve, and I drew back the small amount of void qi that was created.

“You said ‘most people,’” she said, and I winced. “Does that mean you don’t?”

“I…uh…I’m a special case,” I answered. Now was not the time to reveal to her my full past. “I got my void affinity only after I’d already cultivated along the Path of Lunar Light. It was…an unorthodox ritual.” It was also one of the most painful things I’d ever been a part of. The ritual had fused another’s core into my own, effectively giving me twice the capacity, and doubling my power as an Ascendent. I’d been lucky that it had worked at all, messing with one’s core in that way nearly always ends in death.

“I see,” she answered. “So, if I wanted to use both, I’d need to gather the qi from both. But, how do I gather it?”

“You must first understand what each power wants.”

This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

“What they want?”

I nodded. “Everything in the natural world gives off an aura, and spirit artists capture that aura and turn it into qi which they use to improve themselves. But, the world itself is alive. Everything has a purpose, and you must learn to guide your power how you want by knowing what feeds it. The most poignant example would be the Elemental Cycle. Earth is cleaved by metal, but even metal cannot withstand the patience of water. Wood consumes the water and is, in turn, consumed by the fire, which then nourishes the earth with its ashes. Everything has something it needs to survive.”

“But what about lightning? It’s not in that example?”

“Correct.” I resummoned my moonlight and void mist. “We both function on the Celestial Cycle. Lightning, Void, and Moon are all dictated by the heavens, and, thus, have more esoteric needs.” I snuffed the light. “For example, the Void exists beyond our world. It’s the nothingness between stars, so naturally, it tends to want to bring matter in line with what it knows. Just as the stars are isolated from one another, the void wishes to isolate matter, as well, which manifests by turning objects to dust.” I sent the void mist into the crate once more and dissolved a circular section. “It’s also why void energy creates more void energy. It simply converts what was already holding matter together.”

All of this I understood on a more-or-less instinctual level on account of being Void-Touched…not to mention the voices which had taught me in the first place. That said, I used void as the example so that Xinya would have to come up with Moon on her own. This was her journey, after all. That said, I would give her a place to start.

“Now, for the Moon, I will tell you that the moon actually has no light of its own.” She frowned and almost interrupted me, but I held up a hand. “You’re a clever girl, so I’ll leave you with a question. Where does the light of the moon come from, do you think? And how do you think that manifests into the Moon’s true nature?”

She nodded. “Can I think on it?”

“I’d have it no other way. We have plenty of time.”

“And what do you know of the lightning?”

I scratched the back of my head. “That, I can only share what I’ve heard. I’ve never studied it, but, as I understand it, lightning is the will of the heavens, sent to smite down the unjust. You’ll have to determine for yourself what that means, if you intend to cultivate lightning qi.” I leaned back. “Now, while we wait for the others to return, I recommend you think on what you intend to do. No answering any of my questions until tomorrow but take as much time as you feel the answer needs.”

Xinya nodded and closed her eyes. I desperately wanted to know what was going on in that bright mind, but she needed time to sort through her thoughts, so I sat up straight and began the much less interesting work of cycling my qi through my body.

However, I’d only gotten through a handful of cycles before bickering reached my ears.

“Honestly, you’re lucky I went with you! Do you want him to look like even more of an idiot than you?”

“Of course not, darling. No one can beat me at the idiot game.” Pharyx’s voice was dripping with sarcasm.

“Mister Tsuyuki?” Xinya whispered. “Why does Pollen hate that other guy so much?”

I sighed. “It’s an insect thing. Men are usually the bottom of their hierarchy.”

“I can’t believe your queen sent a drone instead of a warrior,” Pollen grumbled as she and Pharyx entered the alleyway. “If I didn’t know better, I’d say the hornets weren’t taking this seriously. I came personally to see this through!”

“I assure you, my Queen is taking this very seriously,” Pharyx assured her. “I’m easily worth three of our warriors, and I’m blessed with our sacred bloodline.”

“A fact which I’m sure brings great shame to your people,” Pollen countered. “Imagine having to train a drone to fight just because you hit the one-in-a-million chance that he inherited the bloodline.”

Pharyx stuck out his tongue. “It’s actually one-in-ten-billion for a drone to inherit, thank you.”

“Enough,” I snapped. “I’m very proud of you both for coming back in one piece, but can we get this part over with?”

Pharyx lit up with excitement. “Oh! Yes! I think you’ll feel like a whole new man after this! I can personally attest to the importance of a new look.” He first handed me a package. “I picked out everything, then her Majesty tried to change everything, then I went behind her back with her money and bought all my first picks anyway.”

“Wait, you did what?!”

“What did you think I was doing while flirting with the girl at the shop?” He sneered at her. “Believe it or not, a man can have good fashion sense.”

I carefully unwrapped the package to find a set of brown and black leathers, like a hunter’s outfit. Over the top, Pharyx draped a nice outer robe. It was plain, but Pollen promised that her Groomers could embroider whatever designs I wanted once they were home. It only had one sleeve, leaving my left arm free of hinderances for shooting. The other sleeve was shorter than I was used to, only going to my elbow before separating into a flowing sleeve that hung next to me, even with my arm raised to my string. I strung my bow over my shoulder.

“Oh, and we stopped by the fletcher, too, and he recommended some of these,” Pharyx handed me another package. With his help, I strapped a long armguard to my left arm to protect from my own string. Finally, he fitted me with a pair of half-fingered gloves for my left hand’s grip, and a three-fingered glove for my string hand.

Pharyx was right. I felt like a completely different person, and I had to admit, it was kind of nice. Already, I felt less like a moon artist in hiding. I was a void artist, and unlike with my Void-Touched form, I still felt human.

“You ready for the last bit?” Pharyx asked. In his hand was a blue and silver silk ribbon. “I thought you might still want something like your old outfit, so I snagged this. It cost more than the rest combined.”

I knelt on a dry patch of ground and let the hornet stand over me. He pulled Chiho from my hair and let it float to the side.

“I love your hair,” Pollen murmured. “It looks so soft.”

“It is soft! Just feel it!” Pharyx answered.

Pollen reached out and stroked it. I gave them both an awkward smile. It was a little weird, but I guess insects don’t normally grow long hair at all, thus the hair they got with becoming humanoid spirit beasts wasn’t very easy to work with.

“I hope I have hair like that someday,” Pollen said with a sigh.

Pharyx made quick work of putting my hair into a high tail, wrapped up with the blue and silver ribbon. Once he was done, he stepped back and let Chiho observe the change. It vibrated almost grudgingly as it studied the new style. I genuinely wondered if it would accept it. Other than minor variations, I hadn’t changed my preferred hair style since nearly a thousand years before I’d been imprisoned. In the end, Chiho managed to wedge itself between two turns of the ribbon. Once it was in, it trilled happily, and everyone relaxed.

“Excellent! How does everything feel?” Pharyx asked. I nodded in approval.

“Fits perfectly. Not sure how you guys managed that.”

“I know your measurements,” answered both Pharyx and Pollen in perfect unison. They shared a look of surprise before Pharyx grinned suggestively, and Pollen crossed her arms in a huff.

“How do you both know my measurements?”

Pharyx shrugged. “It’s an insect thing.”

“We’re just more observant of the physical traits of others,” Pollen explained. “Particularly myself, since I’m a queen. I know every member of my hive based on their exact size, shape, stripe patterns, and scent. Memorizing your form is child’s play by comparison.”

“Wait, scent?” I blushed. “Did you both memorize my scent?”

Neither of them answered, but the look they shared between each other was answer enough. “Guys, guys, when did you get close enough to memorize my scent!?”

“Come on Xinya! Time to see if Tsuyuki’s disguise is worth the honey money we spent!”