Chương 71: Interference

There is a rumor. As a scholar, I resent rumors. But as my time nears its end, I will make an exception. A rumor that he fears something. That his relentless scouring of planes is driven by fear more than greed. Will we ever know? — He who calls himself Chi You, The Completed Works by He Shulin, foremost scholar of the Outer Realms Jianyi sat in his cultivation chamber, looking at the jade card in his hand. They had just returned from the city, and he could not wait to add his new qi card to his middle dantian.

Bamboo Shoot Grove Qi Uncommon Minor increase of passive spirit cultivation While techniques were collected from spirit beasts, qi cards were extracted from natural treasures. They were always at least uncommon and were therefore harder to get than the typical technique cards that young disciples like him would use.

The benefit that such an uncommon variant would generate was limited and in no way a replacement for his active cultivation with the Eternal Spear Meditation, but it added up, and over the centuries that successful cultivators lived, it made a big difference. Of course, those cultivators would replace those cards with rarer variants, which sometimes apparently even had additional benefits beyond the amount of qi that they helped gather.

That qi cards were the main reason that people did not engage in spirit and body cultivation at the same time had been one of the more interesting things he had learned in his time in the sect. The middle dantian was limited to two qi cards, and the benefit of having two spirit cultivation cards outweighed the advantage of dabbling in spirit and body cultivation—apparently.

Given how much fighting with a spear meant to him, he was still slightly disappointed that the strengthening of his body would be more of a byproduct of his spirit cultivation than the outcome of a dedicated effort that would vastly exceed what pure spirit cultivators could achieve. He took a few deep breaths, then engaged the same method that he had the chance to practice a couple of times by now. He reached out with a thread of qi and pulled the card towards his spirit.

It dissolved and entered through the gate on his right hand. Instead of pulling the card downwards towards his lower dantian, he had to move it to the place beside his heart, where his middle dantian was located. Given that this was an uncommon card, it should take a couple of hours, but not be an issue. He settled down to observe the qi card on its path, not because it was necessary, but because it was an opportunity to settle down after all that had happened over the last few weeks and hours.

Slowly but surely, the mass of qi that represented the Bamboo Shoot Grove moved through his meridian pathways, and Jianyi fell into an almost trance-like state as he followed the card. No worries about friends, about revenge, about killing mortals, just the peace and beauty of qi, his spirit, and a card that represented progress on his path to ascension. Hours passed. Half asleep, Jianyi observed as the card closed in on his middle dantian—on the cusp of moving in, he felt a vibration.

The vibration did not originate from the card, though. He widened his perspective and felt it arise from his lower dantian. From the Celestial Core Card, to be precise. It vibrated with energy, faster and faster, until a pulse echoed from it through his spiritual being that seemed to resonate with the qi card he was integrating. The vibration intensified, and it seemed to mobilize the qi in his lower dantian.

It circled around his five-affinity core card until it shot out through one of the channels that connected the lower and middle dantians. The mass of qi, everything he had accumulated since reaching the second stage of the Qi Gathering Realm, smashed into the qi card and swept it away from the entrance through pathway after pathway until it arrived at the lower dantian.

The Celestial Core Card pulsed once more, and the ball of qi, together with the qi card it had grabbed, was sucked into the pearlescent card at the center of his dantian. From one moment to the next, it was all gone. Jianyi looked on, open-mouthed. A third pulse echoed, and it clashed with Jianyi's awareness, throwing him into blackness only for him to find himself in a place that he had visited exactly once.

Above a giant tree, inside a magma river, below loose loam, within an iron vein, swimming in an endless ocean. Amidst an endless forest… on and on his mind was inundated with the elements of Wuxing. The one constant was the Celestial Core Card hovering in his awareness. But there was a change. If you encounter this narrative on Amazon, note that it's taken without the author's consent. Report it. With every pulse, with every change in scenery, a symbol emerged behind the pearlescent card.

It was translucent at first; it whirled in constant motion, but it was unmistakable: Yin and Yang. As the symbol crystallized, the speed of the pulses increased, and he felt something from the Celestial Core Card. A thought? No. A feeling? Maybe. A demand. Yes, it was a demand. What was it that it demanded? Jianyi was uncertain, but he felt that it was related to Yin and Yang. With a final pulse, Jianyi was expelled from this space and his spirit, and he opened his eyes in his cultivation chamber.

What had just happened? He really didn't know. He was fairly certain, though, that this was not normal. Also, he had just lost weeks of cultivation progress and an uncommon card. Why was nothing ever simple? This could have been an unambiguous win in all the mess he had experienced. He was about to get up and go to bed, but instead he decided to take one more look at his spirit. Everything looked normal. Everything except his core card.

The culprit of whatever had just happened, of stealing his qi, still hovered in the middle of his lower dantian, except… it had lost its solidity. It looked translucent, and he got the distinct sense that it was not available to convert ambient qi into aspected qi. The rage in him threatened to take over. Without the Celestial Core Card, he was unable to cast Verdant Mending as it required two Wood qi, and he currently had only a Wood and a Fire affinity card each beyond his core card in his lower dantian.

He took a deep breath and looked closer at the card that had put him on his current journey. Celestial Core Card Unique Affinity – Core Card Converts cultivator's qi into any affinity. Evolving. It looked mostly unchanged. Except for one word: where it normally said 'Evolves', it now said 'Evolving'. He had to admit that that sounded intriguing, interesting, promising even, but right now he was angry. Wanted to be angry. Wanted things to be clear, simple, and straightforward.

It was late, and he was exhausted, but he got up and marched towards the training ring. It was time to let off some steam.

Jianyi had been fighting against imaginary foes with one kata after the other for quite a while when he felt movement behind him. With a sigh, he ended the exercise and turned to find Elder Sun observing him in silence.

"You did well today against the cultists. If that is what is on your mind, Jianyi." His shoulders sinking, Jianyi shook his head.

"It isn't that… Well, it isn't just that. I had hoped to feel better afterwards, but… Teacher, would you mind deploying your privacy formation?" Elder Sun raised an eyebrow but produced the chained plates with silvery engravings and deployed them around the two of them.

"What happened?"

"I don't really know…" Jianyi said and recounted the events around the planned integration of the Qi card. The elder listened impassively and remained silent for a while, even after Jianyi was finished.

"And this is the reason that you are exhausting yourself in the middle of the night?" he finally asked with a slight smile.

"Yes! I just… For once…" Jianyi sighed.

"I know it might be childish, but I am so tired."

"I understand, my young friend. I truly do. Life can be exhausting—and I sometimes forget that you are just sixteen years old," the elder shook his head.

"Regarding your Qi card, I think it would be wise to assume that if your core card is interfering the way it has done, it will turn out well eventually, even if there are setbacks in the short-term. Now, I would suggest you go to bed, and tomorrow morning we will talk about what this likely means."

"You know?" Jianyi asked, his voice full of hope. The elder chuckled.

"No, but I can speculate. But only after you have had some rest. Go now." Jianyi bowed and returned to his room, where he barely managed to disrobe before he fell into a deep and dreamless slumber.

"We talked about how Wuxing is about balance. Balance of the affinities that the Heavens use to express their will on Earth. Do you remember?" Jianyi nodded vigorously. Even though he had slept only for a few hours, he felt refreshed, and the topic of Wuxing was obviously one that was important to him.

"In that case, you might also remember that demons and the Outer Realms represent what happens if things fall out of balance. They are excess. Unbalanced, reckless focus without regard for consequences or the whole." He had seen it himself in the demon they had encountered in the cultist's mansion. The metal affinity that had suffused the creature at the cost of all others. Elder Sun continued.

"I want to say that we, the orthodox cultivators, are different, and we truly are. But if there is one area where we could be accused of being unbalanced, then it is in the exclusive focus of spirit or body cultivation. It is almost always one, not both. The reasons, I think, are quite logical, but it does not change the fact that it can lead to a degree of disharmony." Jianyi leaned back. That rang true to him.

He had regretted the need to focus on spirit cultivation exclusively, but in the end hadn't explored options to proceed with both.

"And how does this relate to Yin and Yang?"

"The Dao gave birth to One…" the elder started"… One gave birth to Two. Two gave birth to Three. Three gave birth to the Ten Thousand Things," Jianyi concluded the fundamental wisdom that any child could recite.

"Exactly. The One is qi. What are the Two?"

"Yin and Yang," Jianyi murmured, trying to understand what the elder was trying to tell him.

"So, Yin and Yang are the two." Elder Sun nodded.

"That brings us to Three, the balance between Heavens, Earth, and Humanity. This requires the balance of the elements. Which is…?"

"Wuxing?" Jianyi said tentatively.

"Exactly. So Wuxing requires the balance of Yin and Yang… I suspect, but of course cannot know for certain, that your core card is telling you that all aspects of your cultivation need to be in balance, because Yin and Yang are opposite forces that are interdependent and in a continuous cycle."

"So the spirit is Yin and the body is Yang, and only together can they be in harmony?" Jianyi thought he understood. The elder shook his head.

"No. While some argue that the spirit is Yin-leaning and the body is Yang-leaning, both have both elements. Think about it: Yin stands for the material, for denseness, but it also stands for perception and an inward focus. Yang stands for movement, strength, and heat, but also for intent and will.

"We all strive for harmony, but my instinct tells me that you will need to pay more attention to balance than the rest of us, my young friend." That had been a lot to digest, and Jianyi committed to spending some time in the library to strengthen his understanding, but one question remained unaddressed.

"So what do I have to do now?"

"What do you think?" the elder asked with a smile. Jianyi berated himself for asking a question that seemed quite obvious if one just took a breath to think it through.

"I need a body cultivation Qi card."

"That sounds right to me—and to be honest, I am quite excited to see what will happen," the elder said with a laugh.