Chương 15: "The arrogance of youth"

Ch 15: "The arrogance of youth" Zhen mounted Chul and gripped the reins. Shuo didn't wait, simply darting into the forest. One moment the old cultivator stood beside him, the next he was twenty paces away, weaving through the trees.

"I guess that's our sign to follow," Zhen said to Chul.

"Let's go." He gave her sides a gentle squeeze, and the mare responded instantly. Zhen nearly fell as Chul surged forward with an acceleration she had never shown before. His thighs clamped around her as she took off into the woods. Even with his enhanced senses the trees blurred and the wind tore at his clothes. With the Moonlight Steel horseshoes on, Chul's hooves barely seemed to touch the ground. Each stride carried them impossibly far, the mare moving with an unnatural fluidity.

But no matter how fast Chul moved, even on foot, Shuo bounded through the trees faster. He didn't restrict himself to the forest floor, sometimes pushing off tree trunks to change direction, other times running along low branches, all as easily as on the ground.

"Slow down, girl!" Zhen shouted as Chul narrowly avoided a massive oak, the trunk whipping past so close he felt bark scrape his leg. Chul didn't listen. The mare tossed her head, her movements jerky and uncertain as she adjusted to her newfound speed. One moment she veered sharply left to avoid a fallen log, the next she leapt a stream with such force that Zhen's teeth clacked together on landing. A low-hanging branch appeared directly in their path.

Zhen ducked flat against Chul's neck, feeling leaves brush his back as they passed beneath it. He pulled himself upright, heart hammering.

"You're going to kill us both," he muttered. Yet despite the chaos, Chul didn't crash into anything. Her movements might be erratic, but her perception had been enhanced much as his had. The runes on the horseshoes were not just about speed, they allowed her to navigate the dense forest, finding paths where none existed. Gradually, Chul's movements grew more controlled. Her stride lengthened and smoothed.

At the same time Zhen began to anticipate her shifts as he gained a new appreciation of his newly tempered body. The process had strengthened his skin and muscles, his Earth Tempered Body was more than just about raw strength; it had recalibrated all of his physical activities. Every time Chul pivoted, Zhen's thighs clamped down, his core stabilizing him before his mind even processed the turn. By the time the sun had fully risen above the horizon, they had fallen into a rhythm.

Zhen moved with Chul rather than against her, his body swaying in harmony with her powerful strides. His qi-enhanced senses tracked the forest around them, and helped him anticipate obstacles before Chul even reacted to them. The terror of those first chaotic minutes faded into exhilaration. Zhen grinned as they raced through the woods, keeping pace with Shuo's tireless running. When he finally had a moment to think beyond survival, Zhen noticed the sun's position.

They were heading southeast in the opposite direction to Xuanfeng's lake. He had never gone this way before. All he knew was that this way led deeper into the heart of the Empire. Although given that their village was at the far edge of a remote province, that wasn't a surprise.

"Shuo!" he called.

"How long will this journey take?" The old cultivator adjusted his course, coming alongside Chul with that same effortless stride.

"The Cloudstone Peak trials happen once every five years," Shuo said, not even winded despite running for over an hour.

"Next time is eighteen months from now. At this pace, we'll need most of that time to get there before the trials start." Zhen yanked on Chul's reins so abruptly that she snorted in protest.

"Wait. Did you say eighteen months?" He stared at Shuo, who stopped as well.

"What could possibly take a year and a half? What are we going to do?"

"Distance isn't the only issue." Shuo leapt over a fallen tree without breaking stride.

"We'll travel a circuitous route to avoid detection. The Folded Shadows have eyes everywhere, and your little light show at the lake will have drawn more than just Lau-Phu. Your parents are good, but we can't assume that they will draw all of the Shadows off." Shuo's face cracked into something between a grimace and a smile.

"Anyway, eighteen months isn't nearly enough time for what we have to get done."

"That doesn't make any sense. We…"

"Training." Shuo cut him off.

"Training?" Zhen repeated. Shuo nodded, his eyes scanning the forest around them.

"Now you've broken through your first spirit gate, you can start using Elementary Pulse properly." He gestured for them to continue moving.

"The main advantage of that meditation technique over others, and the reason I taught it to you, is that it can be used while doing other things." Chul trotted forward, her movements controlled and smooth. The metal of her horseshoes occasionally caught the dappled sunlight filtering through the leaves.

"In the trials to enter the sect, you'll be up against people who've been meditating since they could walk," Shuo continued.

"Before Cloudstone Peak, you'll need to have opened a minimum of eight spirit gates to even earn a place in the trials. If you're to have a real chance of making it through the trials then you'll need to gain a Sky Tempered Body and open at least two more spirit gates after that." Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. Zhen frowned.

"Why? How many gates have the best opened before they arrive?"

"The monsters of the Great Clans, the ones born with jade spoons in their mouths, aim for the Heavenly Fifteen. Opening fifteen gates, the eight in the first Qi Condensation stage, and then seven in the second Qi Condensation stage before they're twenty years old, creates a Perfect Vessel. It's the difference between a pot made of clay and a cauldron forged of steel. Most people don't even believe it's possible without a mountain of spirit stones." Zhen nodded, considering this information.

His first spirit gate had opened after just a few hours of concentrated effort. Eight or ten didn't sound impossible. In fact even opening fifteen spirit gates seemed like it wouldn't be too hard. That was the work of weeks, not months. If these prodigies had taken years to get there then they didn't seem that impressive. He kept his mouth shut, but something must have shown in his expression. Shuo sighed and glanced over at Chul.

"The arrogance of youth." Chul nickered, tossing her mane as if in agreement.

"The first spirit gate is the easiest," Shuo's tone hardened.

"The difficulty increases rapidly with each one. Your qi was barely enough for that first blockage. It will have felt hard at the time but it was like water pressing against a thin sheet of paper. Each successive gate is stronger, and more resistant so it will require more qi." They rode in silence for a moment, crossing a small stream. Chul's hooves barely disturbed the surface as she leaped across.

"To open each gate, you're going to have to fill your dantian with qi to have a chance," Shuo said.

"That's going to take time of itself. But here's the rub. Each time a spirit gate opens, you're going to have to push qi to your dantian so it expands significantly. Half as large again as it was before ideally." Zhen frowned.

"Every time?"

"That cap on your total qi, even more than the ability to open spirit gates, is what separates cultivators." Shuo's voice took on the cadence of a lecturer.

"If you don't expand your dantian enough each time, it becomes harder and harder to open the next spirit gate until, ultimately, you'll not be able to open any more.

"That sets your ceiling as a cultivator. Of course, no one is expecting you to open all 108 of your spirit gates. That would give you a dantian the size of an ocean. But too few will lock you into the Qi Condensation Realm. No shame in that, I suppose, but that's not even the Foundation Realm. The path to the heavens leads a long way past that." Zhen remembered the rush of qi he had felt when his first gate opened and how it had flooded his dantian, which had seemed to expand naturally under the pressure.

"As a result, the early gates are the most critical," Shuo continued.

"Many cultivators who rush their early breakthroughs find themselves permanently stunted." Zhen's confidence faltered.

"And you think I can open at least seven more gates in eighteen months?"

"I think," Shuo said carefully, "that if you can't, you'll either fail the trials or be relegated to the outer sect, where you'll spend decades doing menial tasks in the hopes of eventually being accepted for true training."

"But…"

"The Cloudstone Peak Sect isn't some village school that accepts anyone with a spark of talent," Shuo interrupted.

"It's one of the most powerful sects in the Empire for a reason. Their enemies fear them. Their allies respect them. And the Folded Shadows hate them enough to stay away."

"Then I'll open however many gates I need to," Zhen said quietly.

"Just tell me what to do." Shuo slowed his pace, and gave Zhen a speculative look.

"Hmm. We're far enough from the house now. Let's take a moment to start your training." The old man led them into a small clearing. Zhen dismounted, surprised at how steady his legs were despite the hours of riding. He was famished though, so reached into his pack to pull out some dried meat and a water skin. As Zhen ate, he noticed Shuo standing motionless, seemingly focused on the forest beyond.

"Aren't you hungry?" Zhen asked between bites.

"My body sustains itself on qi now," Shuo replied without turning.

"I only eat for pleasure or company these days." Zhen paused mid-chew, trying to imagine a life without needing food. Another reminder of how far he had to go. Once Zhen finished his quick meal, Shuo moved to the center of the clearing.

"Now, show me your Elementary Pulse." Zhen closed his eyes, settling into the rhythm of breath and qi vibration that Shuo had taught him. The energy flowed through him, stronger now than before.

"Wrong," Shuo said.

"You're still channeling qi as if your spirit gate were closed." He placed a gnarled finger on a spot just below Zhen's sternum.

"Your Qihai spirit gate is now open. That means you're going to have to adapt Pulse of…" Shuo bit the word off." Elementary Pulse. Think of it as a river that's found a new channel. The flow changes." Zhen frowned.

"That's not what you were about to…"

"Less talking, more feeling," Shuo snapped with rather more force than the situation required.

"Direct your awareness to your dantian, then to your open gate. Feel how the qi wants to move, remember the pattern I originally taught you and adapt it." As Shuo continued his explanation, Zhen tried again. He focused on the sensation of energy pooling in his dantian, then extended his awareness to the newly opened spirit gate. There was a difference. The qi swirled chaotically, probing and eager to find the path of least resistance through his open gate. Zhen focused internally and tried to guide his qi.

"There," Shuo said, his voice softer.

"Follow that current." Zhen did as he was told, and the qi responded, coming in through his Qihai spirit gate and flowing more naturally through his meridians. The flow increased and it felt right.

"Good. Now maintain that while we travel," Shuo said briskly, already moving back toward the forest edge. They set off again, Chul's enchanted hooves carrying them effortlessly through the dense woodland. As they traveled, Zhen struggled to maintain his meditation. When it slipped, even though Shuo didn't look at Zhen, somehow he knew to bark out a correction.

"Focus!"

"Your rhythm is off."

"The energy is pooling in your shoulders. Redirect it." The almost-approachable Shuo who had cooked fish skewers by a lake had vanished. In his place was the demanding taskmaster who noticed every minor flaw in Zhen's technique. By mid-afternoon, Zhen's head pounded from the effort of maintaining the Elementary Pulse while navigating difficult terrain. However he felt the benefit of Shuo's instruction and his dantian started to fill.

Given the progress they were making, when Shuo stopped in another clearing in the late afternoon, Zhen looked at him in surprise.

"We camp here tonight," Shuo announced, surveying the area. Zhen slid from Chul's back and stretched his muscles.

"So early? We could keep going for a few more hours. Both Chul and I have plenty of energy left." A slow, yet somewhat disconcerting, smile spread across Shuo's face.

"Good," he said deliberately.

"That's very good. Because we have a lot more to do today." Zhen felt a chill run down his spine.

"Tonight," Shuo said, his smile widening, "is when your real training begins."