Chương 12: A Piece of Cultivation

Imperial doctrine had a lot to say about engaging with spirits, from the minor annoyances to the especially powerful types. This spirit of earth undoubtedly fell in the latter category. It was the immortal cultivators' first duty to defend the Empire and the mortals within it from the spirits of the land. These conscious beings of pure power, arising from countless natural phenomena—sometimes spontaneously and ephemerally or long-lived and permanent—could cause all sorts of mayhem.

Spirit's typical targets were, unfortunately, those particularly unfamiliar with their ways or the dealings of qi. In general, the most common method of dealing with them was avoidance. If Paike had known such a creature was in this cave, avoiding it would have been his first choice. At least until he was stronger. Out of the sect, if there was a powerful spirit holed up near the base of a mountain, then any village would be established far away.

One of the first tasks when placing any sort of farm or settlement at the edges of the Empire was to survey the local spirits of all kinds. Of course, it wasn't always possible to find all of them. Sometimes, they slumbered, appeared spontaneously, or woke suddenly from seemingly innocent gestures. After that, the Empire had several options: they could drive out the spirit, kill it if necessary, exorcize it, bind it, or appease it. The choice depended greatly on the spirit's temperament and aggressiveness.

Killing them was the last choice. Bound spirits could be extremely valuable, and cooperative spirits could be essential in managing a healthy ecosystem. Killing a spirit was viewed as a bit like burning down a forest of lumber ready to be harvested. The perpetrator was considered to be a dullard, unable to think of a better solution. Those were the practical thoughts that ran through Paike's mind in the first few fractions of a second. However, that wasn't the only type of thought he had.

There were far more legends and myths about young heroes finding fortune. Tales of young cultivators finding spirits and using them for resources, learning techniques from them, and even adopting them into families. Marriages between ancient spirits and humans produced offspring that founded some of the most powerful houses in the Empire. Those houses had great reverence for their ancestral spirits and didn't tolerate disrespect.

Although such unions were slightly frowned upon in current culture, the process was not entirely unheard of. All of that wasn't to say that spirits weren't fought all the time. Sometimes, there just wasn't any other choice. Paike had studied—or at least heard tales of—many of these options. But facing down this ancient spirit now, he didn't know what to do. Now that it wasn't cloaked by slumber, he could feel that its power was far beyond his own. Fighting it or driving it off seemed fruitless.

Could he just leave it be? It could clearly speak, so maybe he could reason with it. Realizing he hadn't said anything for an uncomfortably long time, Paike cleared his throat.

"Ancient spirit," Paike said with a deep bow, pressing his fists together and holding them before his heart.

"I did not mean to disturb you. I was simply investigating this cave on behalf of my sister." Often, members of the Empire's bureaucracy knew how to appease the spirits of various rivers or mountains. This practice was formalized in many places, especially in lands closer to the Empire's heartlands. Complicated rituals, ceremonies, tributes of cultivation resources, or even just shows of respect were enough to keep wild spirits calm. Manuals were written about it and passed down through generations of caretakers.

But Paike was by no means an expert in the subject. And there was no tradition with this spirit. Sometimes, spirits responded well to familial loyalty. He was sure he had heard a story along those lines. The ancient spirit seemingly bent at what could be called a waist, its face coming closer. Paike could make out its eyes amongst the cloud of heavily earth-tinted qi that made up its body. Stalactites moved as it breathed.

"What does your sister want with my home?" it said in a deep voice. Paike blinked. At least the spirit was willing to converse rather than just taunt him. In hindsight, that should have been obvious. He hadn't been eaten instantly, and it had spoken first. It would be silly for the elders to leave an incredibly dangerous spirit that was automatically hostile so close to the sect. Surely, they were aware of this spirit. The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

"This one is named Kong Paike," Paike said, introducing himself. He should have done that earlier. He scolded himself internally—some spirits were really particular about manners. The ancient spirit stood upright and looked down on him.

"I am known as Xu Jing. Now answer the question, Mister Kong." Paike felt that his introduction hadn't been a waste of time after all. There was a certain respect in the ancient spirit's voice. Not enough to push his boundaries, but enough that he didn't feel like he was in danger of being instantly consumed.

"My sister is looking for something called Grim Veil Coral. Do you know if any is to be found here?"

"Mm." The spirit said, and Paike heard a clack of rocks, which he saw the spirit tapping what looked like a finger on the ground in front of him.

"A little disciple looking for some Grim Veil Coral. Why has she not come herself?"

"My sister and I were beset by enemies on our journey here, and she is currently recovering. I went ahead to survey the area," Paike said, being as honest as he could.

"Mm. I see. I do have some corals, something I have been cultivating for a very long time, little human," the ancient spirit said.

"But do not think I will part with them easily." Paike swallowed. He was actually doing it. He was bargaining with an ancient spirit. This was the stuff of legends. Careers in the imperial bureaucracy had been made on less. He clenched his hands to stop his fingers from trembling.

"What tribute can this one give you?" Paike asked with a deeper bow.

"What price would you ask for your effort?" The ancient spirit shifted back suddenly, startling Paike. The cloud of qi rubbed its pointy rock teeth together in an odd grinding noise that sounded like it was thinking.

"What should I get for my effort?" It asked rhetorically after a tense moment.

"I think it is only fair that you give some of your effort in return. The sweet, hard work of your life traded for some of mine. This is only fair. Yes." Paike frowned, grimacing as he realized what the ancient spirit was talking about. He quickly schooled his expression, knowing that in order to get the coral, someone would have to give up a bit of their cultivation, perhaps more. Was it important enough for Liming to give away some of her advantage? It could be recovered with time and effort, but Paike frowned.

No, he wouldn't let his sister give up her time and effort. He would give some of his instead. Besides, that would be less overall power given up, as his sister had made far more progress than she had in the short time since they awakened. It wasn't that big of a risk; he didn't make much progress in cultivation. He'd only awoken a little over a week ago, and a week wasn't that big of a difference. He could make it back up.

Besides, if he really focused on cultivation, it would only take him a few days to make progress, as this last week had been busy with preparations, traveling, orientation, and classes. To the ancient spirit, he bowed low.

"This one humbly offers a piece of his cultivation as tribute." The ancient spirit came closer, a tendril of qi stretching out.

"Yes. Give it to me, and you shall receive your resources." Paike, though, wasn't so easily fooled.

"I would like to verify that what we are looking for is actually what you have. I could have misremembered the name or made some sort of mistake."

"Of course, of course," the ancient spirit said, tendrils of greed re-worming through its words.

"It is simply back there." Another tendril of qi, tipped with a stalagmite or stalactite—Paike couldn't tell as it had detached from the floor or ceiling—pointed further into the cave. Paike squinted.

"Apologies, ancient one. My eyes are not as powerful as yours. May I move closer to see?" The ancient spirit ground rocks together, but didn't interrupt Paike as he moved closer to the rocks. Indeed, there was something that looked a little bit like a grey shadowy coral and produced a strong energy signature radiating from it. Whether or not it was what his sister wanted was questionable, but it was undoubtedly a potent cultivation resource.

He had no way of knowing if Xu Jing had actually made it or if that was just a bargaining technique. The spirit controlled access to whatever this was, and that was the only thing that really mattered.

"This is perfect. You have clearly worked hard on producing an object of such power," Paike said, doing his best to flatter the spirit into complacency. Sometimes, that worked with ancient spirits. This one did not seem to care.

"Yes. Now, you shall submit your cultivation in a fair bargain." The tendril brushed up against Paike's chest, and a ringing started in his ears as the foreign qi pushed into his body uncomfortably. It didn't follow the channels he had carved and so burned like a hot poker. But the distance was short. Paike suppressed his instinct to fight it off and let a path open to his dantian as the ancient spirit's powerful qi pushed into his wells of power. It wrapped around a portion of the gathered energy and cut.

A tearing pain flared in his spirit, far worse than when he had ruptured the bounds of his spiritual organ while pulling in qi to cultivate. The pain was so intense that his knees went weak, sweat started to bead on his brow, and he could feel thick liquid trickling down from his nose. Not ungently, but without too much care, the ancient spirit pulled, separating the torn piece of cultivation from Paike. He sagged, exhaustion and pain spreading through his body like a wave crashing over the shore.

Paike bent down to pick up one of the coral pieces as the ancient spirit roiled, starting to assimilate his cultivation. Just before his hand touched the powerful treasure, a scream like rocks breaking echoed through the cavern, curdling his blood.