Chương 20: Breathing

"A fight is structured around the very basic order of breathing in, breathing out, and holding your breath if you choose to. That sequence forms one unit of time in a fight.

"In a breath, many things can and will happen. As you breathe in, you draw cards. Some of your cards might be swift cards that can be activated while you are still drawing breath. Most of your cards will need more time to activate, which will happen while you breathe out. You will also discard your drawn cards as you breathe out. If you hold your breath, you can try to manipulate which cards you will draw next, but that is a more advanced concept you don't need to worry about right now.

"We also measure the time your affinity cards recharge with qi in the number of breaths it takes—that time changes as you advance through the realms of cultivation.

"Coming back to why this is important now, your spear forms, of course, also leverage the concept of breath to time their actions and need to be aligned with the activation of cards.

"Typically, a fully executed form, like Piercing Fang, takes a full breath, but smaller motions, basic defense, and jabs are comparable to swift card activations and can therefore be combined with activating a card.

"Now you see why it is critical to optimize breathing for each and every form. It will set you up to become the best possible cultivator you can be." Jianyi's thoughts were racing. A new level of understanding of what it meant to be a cultivator opened before him. It would require more time to properly process, and he would ask Minghao many questions, but it already made sense to him. He bowed to Elder Sun and Minghao.

"Thank you for your guidance. I will try my very best to incorporate this in my exercises." Both men chuckled.

"I told you, my young student, you are too polite for this world," Elder Sun said as he turned to leave.

"Let us focus on Unyielding Wall today. As you know, Circling Sky is the kata that brings all forms together. We will start with it tomorrow and include an increased focus on breathing. Now, Sink, Close, Rise, Open. Begin." Unyielding Wall required a lot of upper body strength, and much of the focus was not on the blade of the spear, but the shaft, with which he had to block imagined incoming attacks. From time to time, Minghao actually whipped his spear at Jianyi, turning it from imagined attacks to real ones.

Still, there were brief moments when Jianyi's thoughts strayed—to the inclusion of breaths, to the opening of more gates, to the test that still dominated his every thought.

Jianyi was excited. Learning each individual form had helped him make tremendous progress compared to where he started more than two months ago. He not only felt different but looked it as well; his shoulders were broader, his skin clearer, he also felt that he had grown quite a bit. Minghao had explained that that was not just a consequence of the intense training but also the increased amount of qi he was funneling into his body with his opened gates.

But now, for the first time since he had left the city, he would move through a proper kata. And not just any kata, but Circling Sky, the pinnacle form of the Fivefold Spear Art. It represented the balance of Wuxing and the combination of all the forms he had learned previously. Minghao demonstrated it step by step with excruciating slowness. The Rooted Stance was the beginning and return point. From there, he moved into Piercing Fang—each slow thrust still brimming with power.

He returned to Rooted Stance and, without the tiniest of breaks, continued into Flowing Current, a fluid, circular sweep that could do horrible damage to horrible beings. From there, he executed Blazing Arc, a descending diagonal strike, and moved, via Rooted Stance, to Unyielding Wall, the defensive form that resembled a wall of earth. Every movement was intentional, every form flowed, and together it was a work of art.

"Did you see me breathing?" Startled, Jianyi realized he had been lost in the beauty of the form and had not paid attention to that part of the demonstration. He shook his head.

"I am sorry, but no."

"Okay, no problem. Let me do it again. This time, pay attention to my chest—I will exaggerate the movement slightly." This time it became much clearer. Jianyi could see how Minghao timed breathing in and out with certain movements. After he had completed the kata a second time, Minghao explained, "The breathing is not set in stone. It will follow the flow of the fight, and all of us are different. What matters is that breathing becomes a conscious activity—a conscious choice every moment of the fight.

Only if you can control that can you control the fight, and without control, the fight is lost. Do you understand?" If you encounter this narrative on Amazon, note that it's taken without the author's consent. Report it. Jianyi thought about what Minghao had said, and he thought he understood to some extent, but he didn't feel confident that he could apply it, and he told his teacher so.

"That is very natural. Learning this takes months—perfecting it, a lifetime. Focus on the kata and remain conscious of your breathing. We will take it from there. Now, start Circling Sky at the slowest possible speed."

At the end of their training session the next day, Minghao surprised Jianyi.

"You're doing well. We're far from done, but a change of inspiration might do you some good. The elder suggested that tomorrow morning, you go visit the training area and observe some of the inner disciples as they spar. Are you interested?" That sounded very exciting. He nodded vigorously. Less than a day later, dressed in one of his new robes, he walked down the path from the elders' residences toward the central area of the inner sect.

The training area was not far from the central kitchen where he continued to work six or seven nights a week. He hadn't checked in a while, but by now he was likely nearing five hundred contribution points. Certainly not a fortune, but he hoped to be able to buy another technique should it be necessary in the future. The arena of the training ground reminded Jianyi of his second day in the sect, where Minghao had taken him to see a duel.

While he certainly was nowhere near the level of capability or strength that the two duelists at the time had shown, he felt that he was at least a tiny bit closer after weeks and weeks of hard training. After a few minutes, more and more disciples started to enter the rings to spar; their features showed first signs of the transformation that people underwent as they ascended through the realms of cultivation. Smoothing lines, eliminating asymmetries, making the skin glow.

They all carried the training versions of the traditional spears—about two and a half paces long, with a blunted and weighted wooden tip. Having seen—if only briefly—Elder Sun demonstrate the forms, nothing here could truly surprise him, yet he was deeply impressed. Without fail, the disciples showed an incredible level of competence. Every form flowed into another, but no movement was for show; elegance and efficiency formed a partnership.

He could appreciate the proficiency of the disciples much more than he would have been able to with his barebones understanding coming out of the city. Jianyi was mesmerized by the rhythm—the clash of wood and the graceful, almost ballet-like flow of bodies below. A few rows down from where he sat, he saw a familiar face. He struggled for a moment to remember, and then it came to him. It was the young woman he had met at the inner sect library at the very beginning of his time on the mountain.

She fought with force yet made it look effortless. She had to take a few blows from her opponent, but dished out two for every one she took. During a break between two bouts, she noticed him and nodded in recognition. After most people finished their training and left, she came over to him.

"Have you practiced your movements?" she asked with a smile.

"I have, but I feel like I am very, very far from reaching the level of competence shown here today." She chuckled.

"Don't forget—everyone here earned their place in the inner sect. That is not a position achieved by seniority but by competence. Some have spent years in the outer sect training; the others are outstanding talents. If you haven't even started your first term in the outer sect yet, you should not compare yourself to what you have seen today."

"But why would my teacher have sent me here, then?"

"Maybe to give you something to aim for? Come, show me your movements." Jianyi hesitated. He did not want to embarrass himself, but then again, the woman had shown him nothing but kindness so far. There was nothing to lose, and any input could only help. He took the steps down from the stands to the arena and bowed to the woman.

"My name is Zhao Jianyi, and I'm honored to receive your guidance, senior sister." The woman laughed out loud.

"My name is Cai Fangyin, and I am no teacher." With that, she waved him forward. He drew a deep breath and entered Stillness, then seamlessly flowed into Open, Close, Rise, and the other movements. It felt good, and he forgot where he was and that he had an observer. Carried by the joy of motion, he flowed from Circling Sky into Flowing Current, to Blazing Arc, to— He felt an impact on his leg and landed with a crash on his shoulder.

"Ruolan! What are you doing?" he heard Cai Fangyin shout, her voice cracking in anger. Jianyi shook himself to clear his head, more shocked than hurt. Fangyin stood over him protectively. He turned to see the woman he'd nearly run into on the library steps weeks ago—training spear in hand.

"I just taught him a lesson about always staying attentive. This is the training area, isn't it?"

"Taking your bad mood out on an outer disciple who probably hasn't even opened his meridians yet isn't teaching. Now leave, or I will start teaching you lessons that you should have learned years ago." The woman, Ruolan, flushed in anger. She brought down her spear, barely missing Jianyi, and turned to leave. Jianyi stood, shaking off the dust, and noticed a tear in his robe where the spear had struck. For a moment, anger threatened to spill over—but nothing good would come of it.

"Are you okay?" Fangyin asked him with a worried expression. He nodded, trying to exude calm.

"No harm was done. Thank you for your support."

"I don't know what got into her. She usually isn't one to hold a grudge, especially over something as irrelevant as that minor incident months ago."

"She wasn't wrong; I did lose focus on my surroundings. It's happened before," he thought, remembering the fight against the guards in Administrator Deng's basement, "and it can't happen again." Forcing himself to keep his poise, he continued, "I need to be grateful for the lesson." Fangyin smiled for the first time since the incident.

"Spoken like a true cultivator from the stories. I need to go. Take care of yourself." Even before the altercation with Ruolan, the session had made it clear to him just how far he had to go. He looked forward to his next attempt to open his meridian gates—pushing through that would help close the gap.