Chương 23: Plum Blossom

Jianyi tried to complete the last movements of Circling Sky, but his body didn't comply. He dropped his spear under the watchful eyes of Minghao.

"I am sorry. If you give me a moment, I will do it again."

"No need. You did five more than yesterday—that's good progress. How do your pathways look?" Jianyi took a deep breath to calm down and sent his vision into his spirit. It felt like a miracle. In the five days since he had taken the Ancestral Pathway Preservation Pill, the redness of his pathways had largely receded—so had the gaping holes around his neck and lung meridians. They were still there, but much smaller than before.

He had followed the elder's advice not to use qi—for his storage ring, for practice, for anything—and it seemed to work. He opened his eyes with a smile and looked at Minghao.

"It continues to make progress. As the elder predicted, if it continues as it has so far, I suspect that in two days the ruptured pathways should be closed. Also, I couldn't say for sure, but it almost feels as if the pathways are a bit wider than they were before."

"That is possible. Some pills do that, and it might be that it is an effect included in the pill you used—it was at least rare tier, after all. But the width of your pathways typically does not play a large role until you have advanced a couple of cultivation realms. In the beginning, the amount of qi you collect is so small that it does not matter." Jianyi nodded, thankful for the perspective. Despite Minghao's gesture to leave the courtyard, he shook himself and started Circling Sky once more.

It hurt—a lot—but it was a good kind of pain, the result of hard work, not the debilitating pain of ruptured organs. As they were finally wrapping up, Elder Sun entered the courtyard.

"I am leaving for the city. Do you want to come along to visit your mother?" Jianyi nodded enthusiastically. He wouldn't say it aloud, but he knew a hug from his mother would do him wonders.

"Good. Wash up and be ready in twenty minutes. And just to manage expectations—it's not going to be a long visit, just a couple of hours."

A little more than half an hour later, Jianyi stood on the central square of the merchant district. It was late morning, and the place was bustling with activity. Beyond the elegant houses around the sides of the plaza, dozens of stands filled the square, selling everything from specialty foods to upmarket hair products. He didn't have a lot of time, so he made his way directly to his mother's store.

As he entered, the two young women who had been there the first time he came by were helping a customer, but one of them quickly stepped away to inform his mother. He got the hug he'd needed and clung to her a moment longer than last time.

"Come on, Yi'er, let's go upstairs." She led him to their living area and sat down beside him, patting him on the knee.

"Tell me!"

"Tell you what?"

"What's going on with you? I know my son, and I know when he's worried!" Jianyi tried a smile.

"I am not that worried, but the last couple of weeks were stressful—and it is not going to get better. I am recovered now, but I had a bit of an accident the other day…"

"What accident?" she interrupted him with worried eyes.

"I pushed a bit too hard when opening my meridians. But an elder of the sect gifted me a very valuable pill that let me recover very quickly."

"Oh, Yi'er." His mother shook her head and sighed.

"I told you to be careful. But… your father was similar. They'd told him he could never open more than eight meridians—and he'd reached ten. He was very proud of that achievement." That was a story about his father he had never heard before. He suspected his mother had tried to keep him away from cultivation stories in the hope that he would choose a life as a mortal.

"Mother, I was wondering whether I could use the workshop?"

"The workshop? What for? Are your robes not to your liking?" Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there. Jianyi touched the discipline and dignity stitching on his robe.

"No, I love them and wear them all the time. But… there is nothing in this world that I can do to repay the favor the elder did me when handing me the pill. There is no amount of gold that could make up for it, even if I had it. So, I thought I could make something for her with my own hands." His mother gave him a side hug.

"That is a wonderful idea, Yi'er. Let's have a quick bite to eat, and then we can go downstairs."

Twenty minutes later, they stood in the main workshop, and his mother had rolled out a collection of silk bundles in a number of different qualities and colors.

"What color do you want to go for?"

"I was thinking of making it pink, like the color of the pill she gave me, and then adding plum blossom embroidery on the front."

"That sounds great, but why plum blossoms?"

"That's her name. Elder Chen Qingmei—Pure Plum Blossom."

"A wonderful idea, son. Let me get you what you need." First, they cut two long strips of silk, five finger-widths wide. Jianyi had to estimate the elder's waist, but he was reasonably confident that he was within the margin of error. Then they prepared a slightly smaller, thick hemp cloth as a stiffening back cloth, placed it between the two silk strips, and started stitching with a fine, curved needle. The edges were rolled inside to create a smooth surface.

One of his mother's tailors steamed the belt before Jianyi attached two narrow cords at the back that would secure it. They had run out of time, so his mother packed the threads and needles he would need for the embroidery in a small satchel and provided him with a nice cardboard box in which he could present the belt. He knew it wasn't a masterpiece and that the elder might never wear it, but it was the best he could offer for now. He would finalize it once he was back in the sect.

He said his farewells to his mother, met Elder Sun, and was back home soon after.

Despite his rigorous schedule, he took time in between his tasks to embroider the belt with three white and light pink plum blossoms. The embroidery was just a few finger-widths large, but it came out quite well. Embroidery was something that he had never really enjoyed as a child, but something his mother had taught him over long hours anyway. He still preferred the tailoring itself, but the blossoms turned a well-made but plain belt into something special.

He was well aware that the elder might have masterwork robes that would put his work to shame, but he was still convinced that this was the only way he had to show his appreciation.

The first thing Jianyi did after waking up on the seventh day after he had taken the pill was check his pathways—and he found… nothing. None of the damage seemed to have lingered, and the parts that had ruptured were indistinguishable from the rest. Relief flooded through him, and he carefully separated a tiny sliver of qi in his dantian to access his storage ring. There was no pain at all, not even the discomfort he had increasingly felt after his first two attempts with the Martial Meridian Art.

He smiled broadly, opening and closing his ring several times just to feel it work. He did that a couple of times and then placed the belt in the cardboard box into it and went to meet Minghao for their training session.

Wei Fang was back—just as silent as the first time the disciple from the outer sect had joined Jianyi and Minghao for their morning session.

"You now have a decent familiarity with all forms of the Fivefold Spear Art, Jianyi, so I thought it would be a good time to give you another chance to spar with somebody on your level," Minghao said. Jianyi nodded to his sect brother and greeted him. Without further ado, they entered the training circle and started their spar on Minghao's signal. From the very beginning, he felt like his spear work was incomparable to what it had been in the past.

He was aware that he was far from perfect, but everything flowed so much better, movement into movement, form into form. The precision of every step, every adjustment of his spear and body was on a different level. Something to be proud of—within reason. However. The longer the fight lasted, the harder his body struggled to obey his mind or the instincts he had built over the last two months.

The reason was simple: he was too weak, and in particular, his endurance had suffered much from the pathway rupturing close to his lung. He could follow the fight much better, he knew what to do, but with a few exceptions, he couldn't make it happen—with only days left until the test, it was devastating. The fight ended unceremoniously, and Jianyi needed a few moments to collect himself afterwards.

He followed the familiar path to Elder Chen Qingmei's compound and was received by the same retainer who had given him a hard time during his first visit. This time, whether it was because Jianyi was wearing his finer robes or because of the reprimand he had received last time, he did not hesitate to lead him toward the courtyard, where the elder was overseeing her many disciples weeding, pruning, planting, and harvesting.

"Ah, you are the young student of Elder Sun. What brings you here today?" Jianyi bowed deeply and held the bow for a long time.

"Elder Chen, I came to thank you for your kindness in providing me with the Ancestral Pathway Preservation Pill. Without your foresight and compassion, my path as a cultivator might already have ended. There is nothing I can do to repay you for your generosity, but as a small token of my gratitude, I have made something for you. I hope it is not too impertinent." The elder laughed softly as Jianyi straightened and handed her the cardboard box.

"Who taught you to talk like that? Even my disciples—or should I say, especially my disciples—aren't as polite as you are."

"My mother, elder. Discipline and dignity are our family motto, and she taught me to behave accordingly."

"Very well. Now let me have a look at this." She opened the box and looked at the belt.

"This is quite beautiful, young man. You made this?"

"I did. My mother is a tailor in the city and taught me some of her craft. It is not perfect, but it was all I could think of."

"It is very thoughtful. I will be sure to wear this; the color and embroidery fit with some of my favorite robes. The gesture is appreciated. I hope you have made a full recovery. May your path be long and fruitful."

Back home, Jianyi faced a decision: risk another attempt to open his lung and neck meridians now, or wait until after the test?