Chương 50: Knowledge is Power.

TARION A full lotus burns my thighs. I closed my eyes, sitting on the floor of the underground umbra training facility. Zhi's footsteps got quieter until my breath could be heard.

"Mind's eye." Zhi stood directly behind me.

"The image training you use for forging, use it." I followed her instructions and delved into my body, feeling the mana rush around my meridians. I tracked the current and found a heart pumping. Two circles rotated around a healthy heart. I smiled.

"Done," I said.

"Time to cultivate your body. Your growth is not done," Zhi pointed out.

"Of course more circles need to –""Your Western circles are not where true power lies. It is not where YOUR power lies. You may not have realised. Or maybe you have, but your Western doctrines limit and hinder you from your true potential. Remember the battle with Fjord and the cursed man. A few days ago, as a 4-circled man, they were monsters. With two circles, you defeated them both in a single night. How did you feel, Tarion?" I nodded with eyes closed, overlooking my circles within me.

"I never felt better in my life. Even before the sickness."

"You felt like that because you are one in a hundred thousand. A natural-born Qi user," Zhi said.

"Unlike a Drac, you would have used qi without medicine. If only you had the right teacher…"

"The right teacher…" I said.

"Came at the right time." I heard Zhi cough behind me.

"Let's proceed. As you've learnt to manifest mana into one point, send your Qi up the thickness meridian. Now we learn Absolute Sense."

"My spine… You want me to send qi to my brain?!"

"Exactly, just as you immerse your muscles with qi, you can do the same with your mind."

"Won't it hurt?" I asked, scared out of my mind.

"Possible. But all growth hurts. Now concentrate. From basin to core to mind." I ignored my foolish worry and focused. Up my spine, qi migrated, warming my back. As though a plug were connected, my brain lit up like a Christmas tree. Stunned, I tried my best to keep my lotus pose as qi infused my mind with potent power. The world is open. Footsteps hundreds of feet above sound like thunder from the gods, hundreds of voices, and thousands of breaths.

Sound bounces off walls, creating a 3D image of the entire training hall. Each gap does not escape my ear. I saw through my thin eyelids. Lights and colours I never knew existed. Rainbow light flooded my eyes like a bad trip. Walls became see-through as my eyes became an X-ray machine. I saw bony figures dance The slightest breeze felt like a blizzard on my follicles. I smelt scents that have lingered for centuries, scents that have flown in the wind from acres away. I smelt my scent.

I smelt the blood leaking down my nose. I smelt him. The Dragon. I smelt the same kind of scent from three other places. I looked upwards through the metres of rock and into my bedroom, where my family's sword CURSE-EATER hung by my cloak. Further underground, my wolf was training with Uncle spectating. The last place was close. The black monument.

"Recant," Zhi tapped my head.

"You are using so much Qi. Your mind will explode." I listened well and tried to lessen the Qi used. The world closed up and became less radiant.

"Keep going… Until you can only hear yourself and me." Less and less…

"Do you feel it?" Zhi grasped my head like a basketball.

"Something vision, hearing and touch cannot sense."

"Mana! I can actually feel it!"

"What you feel is your qi interacting with mana. You are not sensing the mana. What you are sensing is the effect of it, like a wave in an ocean. Waves on the ocean are an effect of the moon on water. I am the shore the waves collide with. I see. Like radar. I remembered that feeling and poured more qi into my mind.

"Mmm… Have you figured it out?" The more qi I added, the more my senses expanded; thus, I felt more mana in the air.

"Good, you understand the feeling. Feel it out." In lotus position, I sensed the waves colliding. I expanded the feeling until I could feel the ebb and flow of mana around me.

"Absolute Sense. By creating a bubble sphere of qi around you, you are almost omniscient," Zhi said. I brought up my status. No points migrated to sense. But there was a new attribute: MIND. I allotted 20 points to my new attribute, and I closed my eyes. A foot became a metre, which became a yard. The more points, the less pain. Got it.

"It's like a mana field…" A mana field is the area of effect that a mana user has over their mana. Mana blade: the imbument of a weapon's edge is one application of a mana field. There are two ways to apply a mana field: by training and with circles. With rigorous training, the body will begin to instinctively regard the sword as part of itself and protect it accordingly, and the mana blade is born. Circles increase the reach the mana fields have.

A first circle can barely emit mana and can only manifest within themself. A seventh circle can control their mana from anywhere in the large hall. There are little tricks one can use to manipulate their field, like mana tethers or contracting it to create a type of propulsion. With enough skill, one could change the shape of the mana field into anything a warrior may require, such as knives and swords or, like, my mana shield. I never would have thought qi could be used on my senses.

However, it is deeper than normal senses can experience. I wonder if it is possible…

"I know what you are thinking," Zhi said.

"Utilising mana may work; however, some may experience their mind rejecting the mana. With qi, your body embraces all the energy, leaving none to waste. And even then, wrong training or lack of talent can leave an aspiring warrior mad with delirium."

"So much danger. How many people must have died before we learned the right way?" I removed points from Mind and placed them back into Intelligence.

"Enough to be grateful for the sacrifice but still too many." Now from your core and basin. All three Dantians alight with qi." I focused some more, settling deeper into my cultivation. I felt the mana like I felt my sense of self. Something truly innate. Under all my torrid emotions and below my terrible memory. My soul. In my meditation, my basin and core linked to a calm mind. I sent a tone out to the world, and a tone returned. One wave turned to two, then four, then hundreds, then thousands. Millions.

My dantians hummed the sound of the world. Absolute sense saw a teacher with a proud smile.

"You have already jumped months ahead in training and reached the requirements for Qi domain.

"Domain?" Expansion?

"The effect mana users have over the field is pure primitive willpower brought out by strict training, whereas Qi domain is total control, because the Qi is yours alone. That is Qi Domain. But no more skipping around. We must continue to our next lesson. Expand your senses. Eyes closed." Slowly, my field expanded until it hit a rocky wall.

"Now that you have learnt absolute sense, you will learn the best way to fight a mage. You will learn RESONANCE." I felt something to my left. A strange tone.

"What is that…?" My head pointed at the origin of the tone.

"Keep your eyes closed." Mana twisted in my qi sense. Eyes still shut, I rolled away from my lotus position from a point-blank shot of a fireball. I spread my senses far, and finally I saw Drac's figure. Normally, if he wanted, I neither saw, heard nor smelt him. A true phantom. But with Absolute Sense, he was as visible as the sun on a nice day. I leapt to the left from a spell that looked like wind. But stars sparkled in my vision from an uppercut from a flying rock. I flopped backwards.

I held my chin, hoping it was broken.

"Drac has graciously offered his time to help you train. Keep your damn eyes closed! Each time he throws a spell, you must guess what it is. You must get three right in a row, or we keep going till you can't move anymore."

"Mmm, sounds fun," I said as I made myself limber with stretches. I beckoned the seeker with teasing hands.

"I'm ready."

"I don't believe so." I dipped under a backhand covered in the mana of a spell.

"Fire?" Drac hammered down, and the ground sizzled.

"No. Lightning", I evaded two spells shaped like arrows. I noticed their less jagged nature compared to the lightning spell. I shrugged.

"Ignis."

"Shit." I sighed, realising that this could take a while.

"Rock pillar!" I leant aside before its sharp point pierced me.

"Water jets." I directed the three of them away with my palms. I recognised the very simple resonance.

"Ignis." A spin kick extinguished it quickly. I punched the air.

"There! Ten in a row! Fuck yeah. 3 hours, not bad…" Zhi and Drac glanced at each other.

"He can't be," Zhi mused.

"He learnt resonance too fast." Drac assessed me as well.

"Even I had to train for a month… There is something weird about you, Tarion. What the hell are you hiding?" I shrug.

"I am a lucky motherfucker. Drac, can you show me higher-tier spells? I still have petrol in the tank." Zhi nodded to Drac and stepped away so we could have our fun. Hours later. Cross-legged, I sat on the floor watching Zhi draw a chart of five elements on a chalkboard. You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

"Have you ever asked yourself, 'Why is mana blue?'" I scratched my head.

"I actually never considered it. Mana being blue is like the sky being blue. It just is."

"Seems that way. But in truth. Its colour explains everything." Zhi brought out a little stick and tapped water. There are five elements of the body. Wood, metal, fire, earth and water. The human body collectively uses all these elements to make the form you walk with every day. The five elements are also expressed in the meridians used in the body." Zhi then pointed to a chart of the human body with lines.

"For example, water meridians. Using the seeing glasses Drac gifted me and years of treating many mana users, I had noticed a pattern of overdeveloped water meridians. Which would make perfect sense, since the meridian travels close to the heart." I leant, taking in everything I could hear.

"From the water meridians, mana users 'create' a meridian to connect our core." Zhi nodded.

"Now you see why I see you Westerners as insane. You intentionally destroy your body to produce outputs barely better than a novice qi user. If we create a connection with the water meridian, the forging grades are the quality of the meridian. I spoke aloud.

"I did hear in the past that mana users would make as many circles as possible with only bronze-grade circles. Thousands would never live more a few war campaigns…" Zhi gruffed.

"The price of knowledge is a cemetery full of the ignorant." So if gold is meant to be a good connection, then platinum…

"So to answer the question from earlier. Mana is blue because warriors are foolish."

"Heh." I laughed quietly, thinking of my own foolish self who tried so hard for no reason.

"Although despite my misgivings about mana, it can be extraordinary power in the right hands, like Loran's, for example. He fights like a tsunami, overwhelming you with waves of energy. Fluid attacks and movement. Water is an element that bends and twists depending on the form of the container. And Loran is a great one." I hear they had a little spar before training. Never seen him so tired afterwards.

"What about qi?" I asked. From her hand, a soft green sparkled.

"The most common element for qi is wood."

"I guess that's where the term 'cultivation' came from."

"Shh. You see the meridian going to the gut? That's the basin. Where mana is collected to be 'washed'. Where all qi users begin. With usable energy, the prime meridian can accept your qi. From there, all that is along the prime meridian, such as the basin, the core and the mind, can be developed."

"Absolute Sense. I felt all three united, like it was intended to be. I'm blown away by what methods we have to do to achieve what feels natural. Imagine if we had full control over the prime vessel. We could become –""Gods," said Zhi, looking troubled.

"I shouldn't say anymore. Such 'theories' are taboo in these lands." Taboo? Who gives a damn? We killed a priest; we will get suspicion on us anyway. Is what I wanted to blurt out, but looking at Zhi's concerned face made my mouth mute. But I've never been more intrigued in my life. One day I will get to the bottom of that sad look.

"Wood is the element of growth. Through training, you can withstand what made you fall and defeat what made you feel weak. Tied to nature, Qi users are adept at the transfer of energy, whether giving it or taking it away. To be a natural qi user, one's wood element would have to be strong, but it is possible that they could be stronger in other areas."

"Like me?" I remember the colour of my qi. A smoky white energy.

"Yes, like you. The rejuvenation pill made your wood element meridians resilient enough to heal your destroyed body. However, there is another element you have a high aptitude for." Zhi pointed to the meridians going from the thumb, shoulder and my nose.

"Metal. It represents human creativity. Focused, it can be unbreakable. Without focus, it's brittle. However, under the right pressure, it changes its form into anything you desire. Whether a sharp sword that cleaves through life or a blunt hammer that makes tools that make farming simpler. Its application is contingent on the user. Never had I ever felt someone describe me as Zhi did now. Is this how the horoscope girls feel?

"That's me to the tee. Wait, I saw you healing me; white lines moved the needles. Was that metal element then?" Zhi nodded.

"I am not as proficient in metal as you, but I know how to utilise it. Different people have different ratios. Some may be able to use wood and water equally and very little of the other elements. Another may be able to utilise every element in equal measure, but their elemental meridians are not sufficient. I am strong in wood and earth, but with training, I can use metal, fire and water for certain skills. But you…" Zhi stepped up to me, regarding me with a stern look. Her eyes lit up with qi of all colours.

Absolute Sense?

"Ahh… I can't give you a big head. You will learn in time." She walked back to the board.

"Mastery of metal is very rare amongst qi users; that little martial has been created for it. And those who do have strong metal vessels always become mages anyway. But that means it's an open field. A chance to experiment and create what suits me. Still in my thoughts, I saw the metal meridian reach the nose. That could explain my good sense of smell.

"Okay, next on the list. Earth. The domain of the faithful." Vanessa ought to learn this.

"Spanning meridians going from the feet to the head. Earth is the bedrock of the body, keeping it stable. It is our root to the world, Gaia itself. Some say it is the foundation to our existence, where our souls are tethered to this reality. Like Gaia, the earth element sustains us, providing us the nutrients to live and keeping our bodies regulated. Without it, scratches wouldn't heal; bruises would stay purple. Even with strong wood qi." Zhi wrote the word 'heaven' on the board.

"One particularly strange aspect of the earth element is its connection to the land above. Next time you see a priest, use absolute sense, and you will notice a small ray of heavenly light shine on them. The connection is with them; always give them the otherworldly healing power never seen anywhere else but Friedland."

"You don't have your own earth element healers?"

"We do," she said, pointing at herself.

"But we are far and few between, and most just want to learn the way of war. Furthermore, we lack the connection to the deities of Freidland."

"When you speak of 'holy power', you specifically mean power from the land above and not the 'earth' element qi?" I asked Zhi.

"Exactly. There is richness to the energy that can't be imitated by human hands. Friedman really has been handed all the cards." Zhi wrote 'summoners' on the board.

"Curiously, summoners also have very strong earth elements." I leaned in.

"You have met summoners…"

"Oh! Plenty! I keep my mouth shut. That's why I get business. Wait. Why I HAD business. What can I say? I sympathise with the plight."

"I see…" Zhi whispered.

"Oh, that giant summoner of yours, I mean butler. Why are you keeping him here and not with his people in the north?" I moved, uncomfortable hearing that particular question.

"The north was never his home. Same with the refugees you heal."

"Ooohh…!" Zhi had a large smile.

"It's like that, huh. Rebellious little duke. Devoted yet friends with the church's worst criminals." I shrugged.

"He is my best friend. That is it. What's next?" Zhi scoffed and tapped the heart of the human diagram.

"The last element we talk about today is the strangest of them all. Fire. Boisterous, dangerous. Unwieldy. Destroying everything it touches." I am in a car, hanging upside down. Face broken by windbags. Legs burnt as I fiddled with my belt. Fire crawled on my skin, inch by inch. I am scarred and blackened with little escape. I kick the thick window without the superhuman strength I am so used to now. Surrounded by flame, I gave up, letting hell take me away.

"However –" Zhi continued, waking me from my daydream. Fire is also the energy of life, the fire pit that keeps you warm. The burning coal that cooks a feast for your family. The lantern that brightens the city streets at the end of the day. The sun that shines its light on the world." Zhi tapped on the heart again.

"It is the engine of our body. The furnace in which energy flows.

"Where we forge our circles." Zhi agreed.

"Mm... my theory is that the power of the fire element 'boils' the water element, increasing the pressure of the meridian."

"By pressure, do you mean it increases the speed and rate of mana usage?" Zhi clicked her fingers.

"Exactly! Haven't you noticed how some warriors can have mana that goes wild like a forest fire while others are calm like a still lake?"

"Kurt. Never seen a man with such mana control. I chalked it up to personality."

"More likely that you think." Zhi got excited as she spoke of her long-hidden thoughts.

"Because of his personality, he prefers more control; thus, he instinctively slows down his circles and calms his fire element meridians more than what is thought to be possible." From the water meridian to the fire core, then mana flows everywhere.

"Unlike Kurt, my mana had a flame quality to it despite it being blue."

"Mobile meditation. You were incidentally using the circle-connected fire core to push mana around your body. Consequently, you not only could receive mana from the air at an increased rate, but you could also exert mana faster too."

"Mmm…" I looked at my right hand. By my will, mana circulated across my skin, moving faster and faster as my circle revved up.

"There is a reason I have never told you to stop using mobile meditation. In fact, it is so ingenious it may change the teaching of qi forever. Sooner or later I will be learning techniques from you." I closed my fist, and the flame of mana was snuffed out.

"Who are the main users of the Fire element?"

"The Shaved have stronger fire element meridians than most. Most common users of the fire element are beasts and large monsters like wyverns and salamanders. However, there was a people who were masters of the fire element. A people left to only exist in the book of historians as a powerful, sophisticated society but in scripture as a race of wicked deviants."

"Demons." Demons like Ibis.

"Ah, that name. Typical of humans to call what they do not understand 'demonic'. In my land, the masters of fire were condemned and subjected to abuse just like the 'demons' of before. Just because of different ideals, different cultures, and different methods, we – they were called 'demonic' as well."

"One culture's demon is another culture's angel. Friedland and Liu aren't so different after all…" A sombre silence lingered in the air.

"Fire, water, wood, metal and Earth. Who are the masters of all?"

"Why ask when it's obvious? The mages, of course. But they cheat. Born where the main vessel is totally open, they are able to understand Gaia's language in its entirety, and by reciting it or writing it, they simply change the world. But if you're talking about qi users, they become more than mages. Words are useless when the mind understands the true nature of the world.

"Resonance. With true resonance of the five elements, cultivators can become gods?" Zhi lifted her arm up in resignation, smiling at the side of her mouth.

"You said it, not I." Like the Xiaxia novels. Goosebumps spread around me; I shook with excitement. Zhi ran up to the board, throwing it to the side.

"Since we have learnt theory, we must put theory to the test." Zhi looked towards the door, expecting someone. I used absolute sense and found several people hiding by the stairs.

"Since you've learnt everything," Zhi sighed as she gave up. With a childish smile on her ageing face, she waved the people over. She pointed next to the floor I sat on.

"Take a seat." From the stairway. Kurt and Beatrice ran for a seat closest to the teacher and folded their legs as I did. Uncle was slow and shy, unlike himself, and strode his way to the edge where a chair was. Joshua walked with confidence, choosing to sit far away but still on the floor. Vanessa and Jen were the last to come out of hiding. Jen held her dress as she ran to her man. Vanessa, dressed in training clothes, sat alongside me. Her presence already made me happier before she even said a word.

"How was dress shopping?"

"I am getting used to it now. I think I have learnt what suits me now. But I spent more time practising my manners and etiquette. You were here for a long time. Missed me?" Her smile stunned me like a surprise photo.

"Only the thought of you made me stay awake through this long class."

"Is that true, Mr Greystone?" Zhi whacked her with her stick on her hand.

"I can't lie to my wife. I need a bed to sleep in after avoiding it all day." Laughter echoed in the training hall. Zhi looked away, smiling. With a finger, she beckoned Beatrice. Zhi whispered in her ear, and with an Umbra step, Beatrice disappeared.

"What did you send her to do?"

"I told her to bring every Umbra and raven in Osberg. You have convinced me."

"Convinced?" I asked Zhi.

"Of what?"

"That Osberg is worth the investment." I looked at Bieye, who stood by the wall, and even she was confused.

"What are you planning, Zhi?"

"To make Osberg my new home. What else would I plan?" DRAC I walked up the steps, hearing the laughter disappear behind me. Seeing the Duke's talent in person had motivated me like nothing else. I needed to promptly complete the runes so I could start training. I know that every day that passes, the more Tarion will leave me behind. Is this what you wanted, Master? Is this what you meant when you said I should stay in Osberg until I am ready? Before I knew it, I mindlessly found myself in the servants' quarters.

A kid ran to my legs, and useless thoughts were washed away like sand on a beach.

"Brother!" Doesn't matter anymore. Kobi is well because of him. I stay here until my services are of no use.

"Kobi!" I roughed up his afro and carried him like a sack.

"Wanna go to the kitchen for a night snack?" ZHI Very late at night. LIU TOWN In a small hut. After a long day of surprises and fun, I went to Liu Town, as I needed a little solitude to write a few important letters. Four messengers I called down waited patiently as I wrote down each one for them to take.

"Are you certain?" The four messengers looked at the letters I gave them with suspicion.

"Is this land safe for our people?" Nowhere will be safe. Especially if he was correct about his visions. We need to be close to him.

"No," Zhi admitted. She sipped green tea while her kin were worried.

"But it can be our new home. The duke is of metal, with qi white as snow. His wood element is developed beyond his years, propelling his unnatural growth. His water is an ocean, and his connection to earth rivals his wife. I have never seen a vessel such as he. We must cultivate him. Help Him. With him we can start again. Please believe me." They gave each other short glances, and they came to their decision.

"We believed you, and now our families are safe. We will put our fate in your hands once again. Master Zhi" They bowed with reverence. They left the small building; the wind blew the only candle out. I remembered the old ways. Feeling my core warm up, a great ball of fire grew from my palm.

"I will bring it back from the ashes. The true Ming Cult will rise again." 7 days till the ball.