Yu Chen sat in the living area of the small house he’d been given. It wasn’t a grand place by any stretch, but it was clean and furnished, and even bigger than the small home he’d grown up in where four people lived. The extra space only emphasized the emptiness, a void he wasn’t large enough to fill on his own.

It lacked the laughter he once recalled, the warm presence of others, the commonality of shared emotion that truly made a place a home. Yu Chen didn’t normally feel this way, but today the loneliness that had weighed on him since coming to the sect was the heaviest it’d ever been.

His fight with Wu Feng had left him with a bitter feeling despite his victory, and he knew Jin Hua’s reaction was partially to blame. They were good friends, and Yu Chen thought he’d found a kindred spirit in the boy. However, the look they’d exchanged afterwards had expressed his inability to understand Yu Chen’s actions.

Feeling his mood, Lue She butted her head against the side of his neck, reminding him of her presence. Yu Chen raised a hand, absently cradling the small snake.

“I know.” He said softly.

He wasn’t alone and never would be as long as Lue She was by his side. She at least could understand him. Life was simpler for beasts. Death was commonplace and understandable as the natural order dictated that the strong survived on the weak.

She could understand why Wu Feng had to die.

Through his veins flowed the blood of a dragon, and something of one’s personality had begun to take root within him. A dragon’s pride was not emotion, it was identity. It was inviolable, demanding that every wrong be righted and that he straightens out any who crossed him.

Yu Chen was ruthless where Jin Hua was righteous, and he felt the two stances were fundamentally at odds.

“Ah.” He softly said with a sigh, realization filling his eyes.

He realized why the feeling of loneliness suffocated him. If others hadn’t been present to stop him, he would have murdered Wu Feng in that ring. If he had done so, he would have lost one of his only friends. Jin Hua wasn’t the sort of person who could stomach such a thing. How could animosity fester to such a point?

Even so.

“I would have done it.” Yu Chen said, a melancholy look in his eyes as he stared across the room, looking at nothing in particular. Lue She hissed, and he felt a sense of agreement travel through their bond.

When it came to weeds Yu Chen knew that if you didn’t pull them out by the roots, they would only return next season to trouble you again. It actually wasn’t Jin Hua’s reaction that had spoiled his sense of victory and left him with this feeling of bitterness.

No.

It was the fact that Wu Feng still breathed.

Yu Chen let out a soft breath, followed by a low sigh of frustration. Well, either way, there was nothing to be done about it now. Both Feng brothers would be sorted out sooner or later.

He stood up, dusting himself off before walking over and retrieving the bag he’d deposited by the door unceremoniously. He carried it to the low table that sat in the middle of the room, before sitting down and rifling through its contents.

Yu Chen’s eyes widened; his spirits partially restored as he examined his rewards.

The first thing he pulled out of the bag were some small pieces of quartz like crystal filled with a smoky gray energy. They were spirit stones, a commonly accepted currency among cultivators. They were small, but still worth quite a bit to a qi condensation cultivator, and a small pile of them began accumulating on the table.

Next, came a hefty bag, a few kilos in weight. Yu Chen opened it, causing an enticing scent to spread through the room, alongside the presence of spiritual energy. The bag was filled with small white grains of spirit rice; no doubt grown in the sect’s own gardens. It could be acquired from the Treasure Pavilion for some contribution, but Yu Chen had never purchased any. This was a large bag, and Yu Chen wondered what unfortunate victim had lost it.

Either way, he couldn't wait to try it. Yu Chen was already thinking of how it would pair with a bit of roasted spirit beast meat, perhaps from a stag, or even a boar. He’d never gotten to taste that ironback boar, after all, he thought as he unconsciously licked his lips.

He set the small bag to the side before moving on to the next item, picking up a small pouch containing a number of pills. Yu Chen’s heart skipped a beat, but he realized they weren’t that impressive. There were a few nurturing pills, which increased your rate of health regeneration, as well as a couple blood clotting pills, useful for sealing wounds.

They would surely come in handy in the days ahead.

There were a few other odds and ends within the bag. A couple of trophies from various spirit beasts, such as a claw or a fang that might be worth something, as well as a couple of beast cores that he set aside for Lue She. He was nearing the bottom of the bag, pushing a few articles of clothing out of the way, when the strange sensation of a qi infused object touched his hand.

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He stilled, his thoughts turning as he considered the object.

The item felt warm, but it wasn’t the sort of warmth he would have associated with heat. Instead, it felt like body warmth, or like sunlight, the sort that filtered through the leaves of a dense forest to alight on your skin. It almost seemed to pulse, and he realized it was, matching the rhythm of his own heart.

He grasped the object and the sensation became sharper, more real, as the feeling of the qi grew clear in his mind. It was soft and resilient, reminding him of life - but not simply life, something much more. No, this was a life that flourished, that blossomed, that sprouted, strong and flexible, vibrant as the world itself.

He pulled the object from the bag, revealing a skinny glass tube that stretched from the base of his palm to the tip of his finger. It was filled with a thick, golden-green liquid and he watched in fascination as it slid like molasses when he tilted it sideways.

Honey? He thought in confusion.

Curious, he peeled the stopper out of the bottle. The sharp scent of fresh pine wafted forth, and a thick qi, many times denser than that released by the rice, filled the room. Sap. He realized, as he examined the bottle.

He didn’t know where Wu Feng had found it, but this was a true spiritual treasure, and Yu Chen could only imagine what sort of tree must have produced this.

Drink It.

The voice reverberated in Yu Chen’s head, surprising him and causing his body to tremble. He didn’t bother questioning Xiao Huang, abruptly tilting his head back and letting the liquid slip down his throat.

Surprisingly, despite the warmth he’d felt from it, it didn’t burn, sliding down his throat with ease to pool in his belly, where it sat unreactive. He frowned for a second as he examined it, unsure of what he’d expected. There could only be one reason Xiao Huang would have told him to eat a thing as rich in wood qi as this, so Yu Chen began to revolve the Yellow River Tempering technique.

His qi began twisting, moving through his body in a strange pattern. At first nothing happened, but eventually the pile of sap in his belly began burning, slowly emitting a dense wood qi. The feeling of it was enjoyable, and he found himself relaxing as the new qi spread throughout his body.

This time the tempering process began with his organs, slowly working its way outwards towards his extremities. Wood qi slowly seeped into them, resonating with his body’s own rhythm as it slowly reworked them. His lungs were becoming stronger, and he was taking deeper breaths as his capacity for air increased.

His kidneys were flushed, his liver reworked, the wood qi even spreading throughout his heart to improve that as well. It was as though his entire body had been enveloped by the very essence of vitality and growth, wrapped in the feeling of gentle warmth, like the bright rays of spring sunlight coaxing new life out of the soil.

What was Wood anyways?

The thought entered his mind unbidden, and Yu Chen entertained it, reflecting on the feelings the thick qi diffused throughout his body brought to him.

It brought a sense of growth, and inevitability. True growth, like that of a tree, occurred in its own time and couldn’t be forced or hurried along. Embody this, and achievement became the natural result of patience and persistence.

It gave and received. He could sense that. It took in nourishment from the earth and provided something in return, enlivening others. It provided shelter for those in need, and even fuel when the time came. Living like this, one obtained purpose and found meaning.

It was life. It represented an entire ecosystem and the interconnectedness of all things. Filled with this energy one couldn't help but see that every action he made influenced the whole. It brought with it a deep sense of responsibility, stability, and gravitas.

Wood was change.

It was the cycle of life, from beginning to end, from seed to maturity, decay, and rebirth. It was a stubborn mix of resiliency and flexibility, of vibrancy and distinction. If he could hold just a bit of this potential, there was nothing he could not accomplish.

Yu Chen breathed a sigh of contentment as the feeling washed over him. By now the wood qi had well and truly penetrated through his body, and a strange reaction began to occur. As the wood qi worked its magic, moving on from his organs to strengthen his tendons and expand his muscle fibers, it encountered the remnants of the water-aspected spiritual energy that had previously reworked his body.

That energy empowered the wood qi, feeding its remodel of his body. His joints became more flexible, their elasticity increasing. His ligaments thickened and stretched. It even affected his meridians, filling them with a soothing energy that slowly refined them, removing any burrs and imperfections, and minutely increasing his qi circulation.

This was one of the secrets of the Yellow River Tempering Technique. By using the elements in a harmonious way one could enhance the end result, increasing the effect of the tempering. By now, the wood qi within his body had become much livelier as it went about its work, reinforcing his body.

At last, the wood qi made its way to his skin, reworking and fortifying the outer layers as it toughened the dermis and made it more resilient. The cool air in the room lost some of its sting as his skin was reformed, and it seemed to now provide some small barrier against the elements.

He sat there for a while, meditating in peace as his body was once more transformed, tempered into something stronger. With a soft sigh he opened his eyes once the energy had fled, missing it already.

He could feel his body was now brimming with vitality. He’d already possessed a superlative ability to mend himself, at least compared to others. Now, however, it seemed to have improved even further, and he had the sense his regenerative abilities had increased severalfold.

Yu Chen’s eyes flashed as he stood, and though he couldn’t tell, his body now possessed a heavy aura of its own, emitting a dangerous feeling to any who might stand nearby. The second tempering had brought powerful changes with it, powered as it was by the first.

Yu Chen wrinkled his nose, before looking down in dismay at the first set of embroidered robes he’d managed to ruin. He wasn’t sure where they’d come from, but it appeared his body had once more ejected some impurities.

Another trip to the baths was in order.