Chương 109: Chapter 108: Spirit Stones

Yang sat on the meditation platform with a pouch in front of him. The pouch contained his entire wealth in spirit stones. What remained after he had split Senior Cheng Mo's gift with Li San, plus what he had accumulated of monthly allowance since arriving at the sect. He had spent a fair amount of his monthly spirit stone allowance on talisman supplies, but there was still a considerable amount. Senior Cheng Mo had been generous. He took one out, tossed it lightly, caught it, and turned it over in his fingers.

He thought of Lord Ardeth's crystal mines. The source chamber, where the energy had been so concentrated you could feel it pressing against you through the air. Compared to that, this spirit stone was a matchstick beside an inferno. But that was an unfair comparison. The source chamber was the origin point of an entire crystal formation, accumulated over an unimaginable span of time. This was a low grade spirit stone.

He rubbed his thumb across its surface and thought about the moment he had touched the source formation, the status bar climbing toward one hundred, the energy flooding into him without meridians to channel it. His working theory was that the concentration had been dense enough to absorb directly into his soul, bypassing the physical entirely. That would also explain the inexplicable change in his soul's luminescence. It was a theory without proof, but it was the most coherent one he had formed so far.

For now what mattered was the competition. Senior Brother Lin Yi was coming in three days and had told him to work on his talismans with everything he had. The most direct way to expand the grade of what he could inscribe was to advance his cultivation realm. He was stuck at the second stage of Qi Condensation. Even reaching the third stage would open up more powerful talisman inscriptions. Two stages would be better. He had spirit stones. He would try.

He held the stone in his palm, formed the cultivation mudra, and attempted to draw qi from the stone rather than from ambient air. It took a couple of tries before it connected. When it did, he felt the difference immediately. Qi absorbed from the air was thin and slow, a trickle that built over long sessions. The spirit stone was a flood. Pure concentrated qi, flowing into his meridians with a pressure and richness that made his usual cultivation feel like drinking from cupped hands beside this.

He could feel his meridians stretching to accommodate the intensity, adjusting to the unfamiliar volume. Then it stopped. Yang opened his eyes and looked down at the stone. It was completely empty. Drained to an ordinary crystal. He stared at it. That had been less than a minute. He had read in the library that a spirit stone of this grade, at his low realm should take at least an hour to fully absorb. He turned the stone over, half expecting some explanation visible on its surface. He took another from the pouch.

Chose the one with the more intense internal glow, though the difference between them was negligible. Held it, formed the mudra again. A flood of qi, his meridians stretching to take it in, and then nothing. Same result. He looked at the second empty stone. A few seconds longer than the first, but still under two minutes. Yang sat for a moment. He was either wasting the qi from the stones somehow, or his absorption was proceeding with unnatural speed.

Either way the result was the same: spirit stones that should last an hour were emptying in under two minutes. He did not have enough of them to cultivate properly if this continued. He had learned something important since arriving at this sect. When something did not make sense, the answer was always the same. Find a senior and ask. He put the stones in the pouch and made his way to the outer sect hall. Senior Brother Bo Yu was not at his counter.

Yang found Senior Sister Wei Wei on the other side of the hall, finishing with another outer sect disciple. He waited while she completed the exchange, then approached as the disciple left. She turned and saw his expression.

"Junior Brother Yang, is everything well? You only just got the letter yesterday. I would have thought you would be too busy practicing your talisman skills to come back so soon." If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

"Everything is fine, Senior Sister. Do not worry. I had an important question." He set the pouch on the counter and took out the two empty stones alongside two unused ones.

"I tried cultivating with spirit stones for the first time today. I was hoping to advance my realm before the competition. But the stones emptied in less than two minutes each. I have read that a low grade spirit stone should last at east an hour at my cultivation realm." He paused.

"I did not know what else to do, so I came here. I was hoping you or Senior Brother Bo Yu could check whether something is wrong with the stones." Senior Sister Wei Wei picked up the empty stones first, examining them, then moved to the unused ones. She looked at them for a longer moment, her expression becoming uncertain.

"I can see these are completely devoid of qi," she said, setting the empty ones aside.

"As for the unused ones, they look perfectly normal to me. But I am no expert." She picked up two of the unused stones out of the pouch.

"Let me have someone else look at them. May I take these to the back?" Yang nodded. She disappeared through one of the interior doors. Several minutes passed. She returned followed by a man considerably taller and broader than anyone else Yang had seen at the outer sect hall.

"Junior Brother Yang, this is Senior Brother Huang Jun Jie. He is the most senior disciple among us at the outer sect hall. Everything that gets sold or brought through here passes through his hands. If anyone can advise you on the stones, it is him." Yang bowed.

"Senior Brother. I am Chen Yang. Please advise." Senior Brother Huang Jun Jie had a deep, even voice.

"Junior Brother Yang. I have examined the stones and there is nothing wrong with them. These are in fact among the better examples within the low grade category." He held out his hand and Senior Sister Wei Wei passed him the empty stones. He turned one over and used what appeared to be a sensing technique, his attention inward and focused. After a moment he looked up.

"Junior Brother, there is nothing wrong with your spirit stones. You absorbed every trace of qi from them, which is itself the surprising part. I cannot find a single residue. There is always some remainder, always a trace left behind. If Senior Sister Wei Wei had not told me these were absorbed by you, I would have taken them for ordinary quartz." He paused, then leaned slightly forward and lowered his voice.

"I suspect it is your cultivation technique. Whatever method you are using is absorbing the qi from the stones too quickly and too througly. I will not ask you about the technique itself as objects are my area of expertise, not techniques, and I have nothing useful to offer you in that regard." Yang was quiet. In his peripheral vision Senior Sister Wei Wei was fidgeting slightly. She asked it before he could form the words himself.

"Senior Brother Jun Jie, could absorbing qi that quickly be dangerous?" Senior Brother Huang Jun Jie considered this properly before answering.

"Dangerous? I do not believe so. Unless," he said, looking at Yang, "do you feel as though you are about to burst?"

"No," Yang said.

"Then I cannot say it is dangerous. Though do not take my word as final. I am not an expert in such matters. What I can say is that the usual consequence of absorbing too much qi at once is a sensation of pressure, as though the body cannot contain what it is receiving. The damage is burst meridians, and in severe cases damage to the dantian, which can be fatal. If you feel no symptom then I would not be overly concerned." He set the stones down.

"It may be your cultivation technique. Or it may be your physique."

"Physique?" Senior Sister Wei Wei said. Senior Brother Huang Jun Jie shrugged.

"I would not be able to say which, or even whether it is a special physique at all. The knowledge I have would not make a single drop in the ocean of cultivation knowledge." He looked at Yang, whose expression had gone quiet, and sighed.

"Junior Brother, do not worry too much. I may not be able to help, but the sect is full of experienced elders. If there is anyone you can trust, go to them and ask. If not within the sect then any elder you may know through family."

"Thank you for your guidance, Senior Brother."

"No need. I wish I could have been of more help." Senior Brother Huang Jun Jie gave a brief nod and made his way back inside. Senior Sister Wei Wei stepped closer.

"Are you worried, Junior Brother?" Yang thought about it honestly.

"Not worried. Frustrated. New questions keep appearing and the answers stay out of reach."

"Junior Brother," she said, "cultivation is a long path. If fate favours you, an eternal one. There will always be more that you do not know than that you do, no matter how long you live. Even the greatest elders carry questions that have followed them for centuries. It is not something to be frustrated by. It is simply the nature of the path." Yang took a slow breath.

"Thank you, Senior Sister. I was being impatient."

"It is natural at your age." She smiled.

"Is there anything else I can help you with?" Yang had been about to say no. Then he remembered.

"Actually, yes. Does the outer sect hall sell tea cups? I only have one in my cave and I want to be prepared when Senior Brother Lin Yi visits. Last time he came I had nothing to offer him at all." Senior Sister Wei Wei looked at him with a gently teasing expression.

"We do not sell items like that here. And I am assuming you do not want a refined cultivation-grade tea vessel tool."

"No, just something simple to serve tea in properly."

"Then," she said, with a expression of enjoying, "you will need to go down the mountain. Which means joining the long and honourable tradition of outer sect disciples standing at the peak's edge and hoping for a kind senior brother or sister passing by with a spare spot on their sword." Yang just looked at her. She let out a brief laugh at his expression.

"Junior Brother, you need to get to White Cloud City. Do not overthink it and do not let pride make obstacles where there are none. The inner sect disciples were all in this same position once. Go to the city, find a proper tea set, and get some snacks as well. Securing you a competition sponsorship is a significant favour. Show proper appreciation." Yang nodded. He could not argue with that logic.

"And before you go," she added, "you should know the currency. One hundred bronze coins make one silver coin. One hundred silver coins make one gold coin. One hundred gold coins make one low grade spirit stone. Ten silver coins is one tael of silver and ten gold coin is one tael of gold." Yang committed it to memory and thanked her.

He made his way out of the outer sect hall, already planning how to arrange transport down the mountain, and already feeling the anticipatory embarrassment of standing at the peak's edge waiting for someone to take pity on him.