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RM 33: Trust (VII)
🕑 Added 2024-09-28 11:00:21 +0000 UTCThe Heaven’s Pond. The only thing it brought to the alliance was trouble, not only did it help in skyrocketing the growth of the Demonic cultivators in large numbers, but it also helped them produce numerous geniuses that terrorized the Alliance. And even after the Alliance captured the Heaven’s Pond the only thing it did was cause factions to form, deepening the already apparent cracks in the system.
But now, neither the Demonic Sect nor the Alliance knew about it. Right now, this major resource is in one person’s hand, Li Muchen, me. To not use it fully would be foolish, as the time it could be useful to me was running out quick after the change in Spiritual root.
The Black Lotus, I was internally elated that the aspect that held me back was replaced by something much higher grade. However, that was foolish of me.
If there is an up, there must be a down. Such was Heaven’s way of doing things for the common man, one cannot experience fortune without misfortune of some kind.
In my case, this misfortune seemed much bigger than the fortune. The speed of Qi absorption this Spiritual root had far outclassed the durability of my meridians and Qi pathways that had stayed unchanged. If it wasn’t for my cultivation method that allowed me to reduce the base absorption, I would’ve died after only a few seconds of cultivation. As much as I wanted to use the higher-ranking Cultivation methods, they were impossible to use with my current meridians, and if I went any lower than my current method it would only result in an unstable cultivation.
And I could not allow myself to put a cap on my growth, to strengthen the meridians and the body Heaven’s Pond was the perfect place.
The Mortal Qi (Fire, Water, Wood, Earth, Metal) and the Heavenly Qi (Yin and Yang) everything was made up of these, and living beings were the greatest creations to come out of this union facilitated by the Goddess Nuwa.
The body and the soul, the mortal and the heavens, it was the creation that came about from an intricate balance created by the Mother of All. To intervene in such a process was like crossing a tightrope with your hands and feet tied while a tornado rages on, everything was bound to go wrong.
But I have no choice, and it isn’t like there weren’t ways created to make this possible. The condition was that one needed to find a source that had the perfect mix of the Mortal and Heavenly Qi, although found in nature such a thing was closer to a miracle than anything. Only seven such items had been found thus far, but the help they could give was abysmal compared to the pond I was in. Even then I couldn’t carelessly start absorbing the Qi right now.
My spiritual root is raring to go rogue again… Rather than a lotus it would be accurate to call it a starved beast in a craze. If I so much as started mediating that would be the end of me, even the cultivation method I was familiar with for several centuries couldn’t help, however, there was still a way to get what I wanted.
After completely closing my Mind realm gate, I emptied my lungs. With a relaxed motion, a stream of flowery air and Qi entered through my nose, holding my breath for four seconds the Qi quickly passed through my meridians before it was exhaled over three seconds, and the cycle continued.
What I was doing was a little more tedious than normal breathing, a breathing technique used by the very first cultivators to achieve the state of Pseudo-meditation, in other words, a passive state that allowed a common to get stronger without their knowledge. It was from this knowledge that the first cultivation method was born.
In this state one is meditating, yet completely aware of their surroundings and senses. Cultivation started with something that could be considered one of the hardest things to achieve.
Perfect for me even with the speed being reduced to five percent because it excluded my Dantian and Mind realm gate flawlessly, both of which had become a problem for me. However this breathing technique cannot be used for proper cultivation because of the slow yield, but that was of no issue as cultivating wasn’t the goal.
The Qi circulating through the meridians and pathways passes by organs, bones, nerves, and muscles, ridding them of any impurities while nourishing them further. While doing so, Qi from Heaven’s Pond gets absorbed in the body and doesn’t cause an imbalance because of the identical structure.
I had never used it in my previous life, by the time the Alliance took this pond over I had already gone past Golden Core Realm. The reason was that the first three realms are known as the Mortal realm of cultivation, is these realms cultivators only strengthened their bodies the best they could, as their souls resided in the heavenly plane.
But as soon as one reaches the Nascent Soul Realm their soul descends into the body, thus the balance becomes more intricate. Any rash tempering here results in being crippled. That is why I was thankful for being in the Golden Core Realm, although the benefits I get won’t be as great as my young disciples who have only started their journey, the results I get would be a hundred-fold more than any other method of doing this.
So, I kept at it. My skin felt hot, my bones were itchy, the muscles twitched in joy, and the nerves tingled with intensity. The wave of rejuvenation passed through my wound-ridden body, from every previously torn muscle to broken bones to punctured organs, my entire body drowned in the soothing touch, relieved of the lingering pain along with the shadows that came with it.
My aching meridians cracked, but not in a bad way. They were opening, slowly but surely, they widened to allow the passing of slightly more Qi as the previously damaged Qi pathways made recovery, absorbing all of the Qi with glee. A blissful experience like swaying in a hammock letting the spring breeze wash over you.
But as good as it felt staying here all day wasn’t possible, even at my stage 12 hours was my limit, any more and the potent energy will run rampant. However, I couldn’t use those twelve hours completely, at least not today.
A sharp beep pierced my ear, this made it the seventh time but instead of ignoring it again I opened my eyes and turned around. With a light touch, the token fell silent, but the second one continued, on the stairs Wang Yang stirred awake by the sound of his token as I wrapped a robe around myself.
“Oh, Master…” He rubbed his eyes while turning the alarm off.
He was fully dressed with dry hair as he had stopped meditating in the pool three hours ago. I expected him to jump in again after an hour of rest like before, but he fell asleep on the stairs.
“So how was it?” I asked fastening the white belt around my robe.
“It was like swaying in a hammock in the spring wind.”
His words brought a smile to my face as I too had the same thought, but most people would have a similar thought as that is a common experience.
I contacted Sun Lingling and Wu Kexin through the token after taking a quick bath, they came over to the cabin Wang Yang and I shared as preparations for the dinners started. Although I say that, food was prepared in advance and kept in the storage ring.
As the quick but hearty dinner came to a close, I made the closing remarks.
“From tomorrow morning you three are to use the ingredients in the pantry to make your own meals, if you run out the forest outside will be your hunting ground.” They looked over, eyes full of confusion.
“Why so suddenly?” Lingling asked, her eyes clearly showing her interest in training continuously.
“Food is important for sustenance, and being able to cook is a skill everyone must know. Especially cultivators who have to brave through unknown territories alone knowing the fauna and flora is an advantage, the Food pills can run out and in a situation like that this skill will help you. Also, cooking skills are a foundation that will help in alchemy.” I explained.
“Food as medicine like the one in the old books…” Kexin’s mutter gave them an idea of it.
“Along with that, I will start teaching you about the Four Cardinal Direction of Cultivation in earnest.”
“Does that mean we can learn about swordplay from tomorrow onwards?” Wang Yang’s excitement rose.
Sun Lingling and Wu Kexin had their attention set on this too, and I didn’t plan to dampen the mood.
“Since we have eaten our fill, how about some after-meal exercise?” It was time to show them the first mountain.
***
“Sword Mastery is divided into three major milestones, Sword Qi, Sword Silk, and Sword Soul. Each stage is much more difficult than the last taking cultivators decades to centuries to understand them.” I said holding a slender black sword in my hand, it emitted a dull white glow responding to my heart. “The first stage is accomplished when you can wrap your heart around the sword, giving it an edge as sharp as your ambition.”
Outside the cabin, the three looked at the glowing sword with intense focus. Pointing the sword at them I dropped an ingot of meteoric iron, the very metal this sword was made of, on top of it. Even if dropped from only an inch above the edge, the ingot was split in two even with the sword held still as if butter sliding over a hot knife.
Wang Yang and Wu Kexin’s eyes widened as the ingot, now cut sunk into the soft soil below. Sun Lingling’s eyes however were fixated on the edge of the blade, or more precisely the light green sword qi surrounding it, the Qi gave this sword a robust and hair-raising edge anyone who couldn’t feel that wouldn’t have the makings of a Sword Cultivator. But this wasn’t all I had to show today.
“The Sword Silk is a realm in which you can extend your Sword Qi beyond your blade. It creates an illusion of a long sheet of silk following the path of your sword. It is taxing, but its attack power is several times higher allowing continuous motion and unbreaking strikes that help weave offense and defense together, making it a trump card that every sword cultivator wishes to have.” Stepping forward my blade moved diagonally downwards in the air leaving a grass-green trail behind.
Although it appeared as soft and non-lethal like silk, yet the more I turned in tandem with the swing the more momentum gathered behind the blade, the sheet of silk now covered the openings as the edge sharper than steel moved towards the target. The meteorite iron ingot I had thrown in the air ended up in 10 pieces, each a passable cube.
“…Has Master already reached the Grandmaster realm?” A subtle emotion entered Sun Lingling’s voice.
“G-Grandmaster realm?” Kexin’s voice trembled.
“Is that great? Isn’t it the second stage?” Wang Yang looked at the two.
“Of course it is! There are only 20 Sword Grandmasters on the Eastern Continent. This not only makes Master the 16th but also possibly one of the youngest to reach it!” Kexin’s enthusiasm pushed Wang Yang’s shining eyes toward me, bearing the eyes of admiration was tedious, especially for people who weren’t special.
“No, that won’t be possible, the current youngest Sword Grandmaster on the Eastern continent would be Miss Gu Yue who reached the stage at the age of 180. But if we include the people who weren’t born on this continent the list would differ, however, Master would still be in the youngest ten.” Sun Lingling’s unblinking red eyes turned to me, now much more intense than before.
“Well, that would indeed be true if I had achieved true Sword Silk.” I said much to their confusion, there was a big reason why so few reached that stage even with the abundance of Sword Cultivators. “What I did not was but a trick to emulate Sword Silk.”
With the square pieces of meteorite iron placed before them, their confusion deepened.
“Look at the rough edges, the weight, and the number. A sword grandmaster can cut a 1 kg ore into thumb-size cubes of the same size and weight without the loss of any material. This is the difference between the fake and the genuine article.” The explanation seemed to be sinking in as the imperfections became clear to them.
Can I use Sword Silk? Yes. My insights with the sword had stayed with me along with my experience in battlefields, the most important aspect. But I cannot openly admit to it, such a rare prowess comes with equally scrutinizing attention, something that was of no use to me at this stage. So, the previously developed trick that imitated the sword silk by lining up individual Sword Qi, a technique developed by Sword Feind, and guiding threads came into play for cleaner cuts.
“With that, the demonstration will end.” I sheathed the sword.
“But what about the Sword soul?” Wang Yang asked.
“To understand that you must reach Sword Silk.” Such answers cannot be given that easily, regardless the bar had been set now so it was time for the push. “But before becoming the Sword Master, you must first become a first-rate sword cultivator.”
“First-rate sword cultivator?”
Wang Yang’s question made me worry if he had been reading properly. Maybe I have been a tad bit lenient with him to make up for the time before regression.
“One becomes a first-rate swordsman when the sword becomes a part of the cultivator.” Kexin explained, jabbing his side.
“The sword becomes the part of the person? Like Uncle Han?” Wang Yang’s innocent question was met with a glare.
“To a first-rate swordsman, a sword isn’t simply a tool, rather it becomes an extension of their hand. It is the moment where both the cultivator and his weapon become one entity.” I answered before the subject was lost in the moment.
“That sounds cool!” Wang Yang said.
“It indeed is, but it is also the first major roadblock that will show one how much talent they possess with the sword.” Cleaning up the ore I looked at the three with a smile. “You three will begin training first thing tomorrow so be sure to rest properly, unless you wish to faint halfway through the training.”
“Will do Master!”
Understanding the severity of the situation Wang Yang and Wu Kexin made their way to the cabins without missing a heartbeat, however, Sun Lingling remained behind, and the reason was clear.
“You may have used Sword Qi, but you aren’t a first-rate sword cultivator yet.” So, I answered before she could ask.
