Chương 15: Storage Ring

"We begin with the Rooted Stance. Just like a tree cannot grow without roots, a fighter cannot exercise power and control without a stable stance. It is, of course, heavily based on Stillness, but it is more. It is about stability and defense; it incorporates Sink, Open, Retreat, and ends in Stillness. And, of course, you need to do this with a spear in hand," Minghao ended with a wink. The retainer moved beside Jianyi and took on a wide stance, feet slightly wider than his shoulders.

He sank down, lowering his center of gravity, and held his spear vertically by his side. He slid back with his rear leg and kept his spine in a straight line from bottom to top as he came to a rest. He made it look simple, but Jianyi already knew it would be exhausting, though he was beyond excited to move his training to the next level. Minghao released his stance and used his spear to slightly correct Jianyi's position.

After repeating the form multiple times, always being corrected for minor deviations, sweat started to run down his face.

"Release!" With a groan, Jianyi followed the retainer's command and shook out his legs.

"Resume!"

"Release!"

"Again!" He could feel how the stance he took allowed him to connect more directly with the ground below him and, while he was not yet allowed any other forms, he could easily imagine how that connection would allow him to accelerate faster into attacking and defending motions.

"That is right," Minghao confirmed.

"The exercise serves two purposes: for one, it is the basic stance you will always return to, and second, it helps strengthen your core and lower body musculature, which will benefit all other forms." It was a grueling hour, and by the end, Jianyi's legs shook, but the spar had put it in stark relief why it was necessary, and the last few weeks of training had prepared him well.

Jianyi felt like this would be the day that he would get access to the ring. He was still vibrating with excitement—and exhaustion—from the Rooted Stance lesson with Minghao earlier that day. They had completed their tasks for the day, and now Jianyi had a couple of hours before his next dishwashing shift. His "breathing out" metaphor to visualize retaining control of his qi outside his body was the way. He knew it. He settled down and pushed the sliver of qi to and through his meridian.

With a gentle mental push, he directed the qi from his right palm up toward the ring on the same hand and… connected! A new space opened up to him. It wasn't large, and he couldn't enter it. But he could see—or rather sense—its contents, and he instinctively knew how to remove items from it. He willed his newly acquired wealth out of the ring. The first item was a pouch with gold coins—not quite as many as the elder had given his mother, but enough to be called a small fortune in the mortal world.

He could not imagine ever spending that much money and would likely give it to his mother as well. Next, he retrieved a pill bottle with two green pills—the label called them Simple Restoration Pills. Jianyi had heard about them in the past. If his understanding was correct, they would heal light wounds and help recover from exhaustion—a gift that could be very valuable in the right circumstances. And finally, the most valuable items: two technique cards.

Together with the card his mother had given him, he now had three—more than he had hoped to have this early on his journey as a cultivator. Both cards were green jade with a single golden line, denoting them as commons. They looked beautiful to him.

Edge of the Blade Technique Common 1x Metal Swift Increases damage of a bladed weapon, lasts for five breaths Blockading Barrier Technique Common 1 x Earth Creates an earthen wall, lasts for two breaths Edge of the Blade was exactly the kind of card that Jianyi had dreamed about when thinking of having the affinity for Metal. The ability to make his spear sharper and deal more damage was magical. Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation.

He would have to ask Minghao or the elder what the meaning of 'breaths' was, but he was sure they were powerful either way. Jianyi did wonder why the elder had given him metal and earth cards, given that he wanted him to exclusively focus on Wood and Fire—at least externally—but then remembered that he had received the ring before the elder knew about his Celestial Core Card. He would have to talk with the elder about whether he should trade those cards for fire- and wood-aligned ones.

Obviously, he would like to keep them, especially the metal one. However, he also understood the importance of appearing as a Wood and Fire cultivator, and for that, he needed the appropriate techniques… he was resigned to trade them in if needed.

It was the beginning of the fourth week in the sect. After having been introduced to the Piercing Fang form the previous day and Flowing Current in the morning, Jianyi was now on his way to deliver a package to another elder living a few hundred steps from Elder Sun on the same peak. The compound looked very similar to his new home, but there was one big difference: people. While there were just three people living in Elder Sun's home, here there were more. Many more.

Obviously, Jianyi didn't know how many there were across the compound, but just in the entrance hall were two maids and one retainer, who looked at him skeptically, and he could hear voices from various angles deeper into the building. Jianyi bowed slightly before the older man, who had his hair in a long ponytail held together by multiple ribbons.

"I have a package for Elder Chen from Elder Sun. Would you mind letting her know? Of course, I am happy to wait." The retainer looked at his clothes with a raised eyebrow.

"I didn't know that we used peasants as messengers now. How did you sneak into the inner sect?" Jianyi was slightly taken aback by the welcome—the few people in the sect he had interacted with so far had largely been very kind—but he had grown up in a part of the city where you needed to stand up for yourself, or you would be at risk of being bullied without end.

"I might be a peasant, but it does not change the facts. Will you inform the elder, or do I need to return to Elder Sun, telling him that I was blocked from delivering his package?" The retainer shook his head in disgust.

"You need to think about your threats more, peasant. Running back to your elder, if you really have one, makes you look weak and useless. Anyway, give me the package; I will deliver it." The man, slightly larger than Jianyi, made to grab the silk-wrapped bundle, but Jianyi took two quick steps back, surprising himself by ending up in a Rooted Stance—without spear, of course.

"I was asked to deliver it to the elder personally, so…" They were interrupted by a voice, seemingly projected from afar, as there was nobody else but the maids to be seen.

"Haoran, lead the boy to the courtyard." The retainer's face became a calm mask, his body rigid. He bowed and waved politely for Jianyi to follow him deeper into the building. Just a few minutes later, they stood in the courtyard of the compound, but it looked more like a field than an enclosed square. What Jianyi hadn't seen from the front was that the back buildings had been removed to make space for a larger garden. And large it was.

Instead of the calm perfection of Elder Sun's courtyard with its clearly delineated triangles, this was a garden not for its pleasing look but to grow plants. Spirit herbs, to be more precise. Several people of various ages, some only slightly older than Jianyi, worked in the garden weeding, planting, pruning, and in the middle of it all stood a tall, slim woman who did not look older than twenty-five, but her eyes gave her away.

These eyes did not belong to a young woman but to an elder of a cultivation sect that had seen things—a lot of things, over a long period of time. But they were not unkind, and slight laugh lines framed her eyes. She nodded to Haoran, the retainer, to dismiss him and turned to Jianyi.

"I am Elder Chen Qingmei, and you are a curiosity. You are not a sect messenger, for you don't wear our robes, but you are trusted enough by the old man that he has you deliver packages for him. But you are a cultivator—I can sense it—so you are not a mortal servant." She tapped her chin with her index finger.

"A mystery. Tell me, who might you be?" Jianyi bowed deeply.

"Honored Elder, my name is Zhao Jianyi. Elder Sun has taken me on as a student and servant."

"A student? That alone is surprising and hasn't happened in a long, long time, but even before intake? He usually sticks to the rules, your elder. So, what makes you so interesting that he broke his habits in multiple ways?" He could tell from the way she spoke and the slight wrinkling of her eyes that the elder was enjoying herself and likely didn't mean anything by her questions, but it was a reminder that he needed to be careful in what he said to explain his presence and relationship with Elder Sun.

"It was a chance encounter that led to me becoming his student. We share affinities." He made to hand over the package, but the elder would have none of it.

"You share affinities, you say? Wood and Fire? That is a very rare combination indeed. Good for you. How many meridians have you opened?" Jianyi bowed again, primarily to gain some time to think about his answer. He did not know whether it was customary to share this kind of information freely—it went against his instincts, at least. But in the end, she was an elder of the sect and was probably entitled to the information.

"Honored Elder, I am still very much at the beginning of my journey. So far, I have opened four gates."

"Interesting. That is truly very much at the beginning—at least I hope so. Somebody with such an interesting dual affinity should not be constrained by a limited cultivation talent." She produced a small pill bottle from a storage ring, looked at it, then put it away and pulled another one out containing one large pink pill. She threw it over to him.

"Here, take this. You have quite the journey ahead of you. If at some point something goes wrong, take the pill—it will help you. If you don't need it, bring it back to me. Understood?" Jianyi bowed even deeper than before.

"Thank you so much, Honored Elder. I am not sure I am worthy of your gift, but I am deeply grateful."

"As you should be," she said with a chuckle.

"But the old man does not take anyone on as a student just because they share his affinities. Make sure you prove yourself worthy of that honor, because he truly is one of the best of us. Now," she clapped her hands, "give me that package; I am busy." Jianyi quickly complied and left after another heartfelt thank-you. The interaction gave him a lot to think about. For one, he needed to understand better what to say to whom, and two, he needed to learn more about his own teacher.

If other elders respected him this much, he would be worth investigating.

As much as Jianyi enjoyed learning the Blazing Arc form—it was a diagonal slash that required precision, as delivering too much power would unbalance you and leave you open to unpleasant counters from opponents—he struggled to focus, as he had finally earned enough contribution points to buy the manual. Still, he moved through the forms to the best of his abilities. First Rise, then, in quick succession, Advance and Turn, followed by Sink.

Minghao described it—with a bit of theatrics—as drawing sunlight from the clouds. Jianyi had, of course, practiced something similar to the form, but he felt how the differences that he had originally thought were minor changed everything. He could imagine how the blade of his spear would rip through a demonic beast's hide. Still, he was glad as the training ended—his mind might have drifted a few times—and Minghao released him from the day's chores with a knowing grin.