by Wong, Tao
It was hard to tell, but to break the next meridian, he needed to draw in sufficient chi to fill his dantian to nearly over-bursting. Then he could push aside the clogs inside his next Energy Storage meridian. Without sufficient chi in his dantian, he would have no way to create enough pressure to cleanse it. And thus, a month was his best guess.
“A month,” Tou Hei repeated. “And then, the next. Another six months? A year?”
“Maybe less, if I can find a way to improve my cultivation speed,” Wu Ying said. Pills would help, increasing the flow in his dantian, clearing out polluted sections of his body. Cultivation exercises like his Never Empty Wine Pot. And of course, the constant practice of his cultivation method, allowing him to refine his abilities and to increase the density and volume of chi within. “Which is why I want to focus on my cultivation exercise.”
Tou Hei nodded. “Well, if you’re going on another expedition, then we’ll all need to get ready.” Tou Hei pointed at his friend’s stomach. “Get cultivating.”
“Yes, sir!”
Chapter 4
With his regular duties to Elder Li completed at the moment, Wu Ying made his way to the sect library the next day. He expected to find information on the two creatures they would need to locate. To Wu Ying’s marginal surprise, Fa Yuan was also within the large, elaborate, high-ceilinged wood-and-marble-pillars building.
Among the numerous stacks filled with bound paper books, rolled up scrolls, and handwritten journals lay tables for the cultivators to study on. The inner sect library was larger, more elaborate than the one dedicated to the outer sect, where less important, less useful works were kept. In fact, the inner sect library also held works on the outer world, over and above the basic classics that all sect members were expected to memorize.
In the library, among the numerous books, Wu Ying found Elder Yang poring over a laid-out map of the kingdom. He blinked in surprise, curious why the Elder was there and not in the library above. And then, realization struck him. The Elder library likely held little documentation for the kinds of assignments that inner sect members ran, nor the maps of the outer world. The Elder library probably only consisted of the most important information—cultivation manuals and exercises at the Core and above stage.
Fairy Yang looked up, meeting Wu Ying’s gaze with placid eyes before waving him over. Wu Ying ambled closer then looked at the map. For the first time, Wu Ying surveyed a detailed, topographic map of the kingdom and the surrounding lands. It even had markings on the wildlands where spirit beasts roamed, the numerous areas local rulers had yet to exploit.
In truth, those lands took up a vast portion of any claimed kingdom. Road stretched through unclaimed forests, around looming hills and valleys. So much of the lands were untouched by human hand, their virgin expanses guarded by powerful Core and sometimes Nascent level spirit beasts. Lakes might be fished, rivers crossed, but sea dragons, water-aspected turtles, and flame carp ruled the deep waters.
In the wilds, humanity was still outnumbered, the invader into a vast and primeval environment.
Standing beside the beautiful young lady, Wu Ying stared at the warm, slightly browned parchment map. Bamboo slats on each edge of the paper held the document flat, while a large stack of books tottered on the edge of the table beside Fa Yuan.
Small flags had been inserted into clay bases and set on multiple locations. Each of the flags was colored differently: some red, some blue, and a single green. Most of these indicators were spread across the entirety of the map, in what at first sight seemed a haphazard manner. Certainly, Wu Ying saw no order to their allocation.
“Elder sister,” Wu Ying said, bowing to Fa Yuan. During the course of the last evening together, she had insisted he switch to their more informal, less distant mode of address. No longer was he to call her Elder Yang, especially if they were to work together on this expedition.
“Perfect timing.” Fa Yuan pointed at the end of the map. “Did you learn about the Sun Lotus from Elder Li? I’m marking locations for the other creatures.”
“Yes. But the colors…?”
“Indicating age and reliability. Some, I have more than one source showing the presence of our targets. Others are but old news or rumors. Come. Show me where we are going,” Fa Yuan said, gesturing for Wu Ying to speak.
In short order, Wu Ying had passed on the three locations his Master had provided. Of course, he made sure she knew that he had yet to confirm any of it. Fa Yuan waved away his words of caution even as she marked with green flags all the locations mentioned.
Assuming the green flags meant trusted sources, Wu Ying began to understand the map. He studied it for a time, rubbing his chin as he considered travel times, the dangers, and the geography ahead of them.
Farthest to the west, taking up the majority of the kingdom, was the mountain range the Sect was located in. To the south, the mountain range petered out into rolling hills, in which the majority of the grains that fed the kingdom grew. It was down south that Wu Ying’s village had been located. Crisscrossing the land below was the river that led from the mountain range, headed south and east, and met up with the river Li.
Running across the north of the kingdom and starting from the same mountain range was the third major river that crisscrossed the kingdom. Here, it was fed by the mountainous, silver-laden hills which the nobility guarded. Farther north, between the valley and the river, was a no-man’s-land in which lay another mountain range, much taller than the one to the east. On the other side of the mountain range was where the State of Khoo began.
East was, of course, the State of Wei with which they constantly battled. To the north and east of the state of Wei lay the State of Cai. To the west, past the mountain range that the Verdant Green Waters Sect was part of, was the State of Wu. Luckily for the State of Shen, they had significant, and peaceful, mercantile ties. Due to the significant presence of demon beasts in their state, the State of Wu had difficulty producing enough food for their people. Because of this, the men of Wu often left their country to act as mercenaries or to trade-in demon beast stones they had acquired.
As for the south, there lay the State of Ying. It was a small state, focused mostly on their maritime activities with just enough land to allow production of rice for their own kingdom. The kings of Shen had, on occasion, chosen to conquer the State of Ying. That conquest never lasted more than a generation or two before the independent fishermen rose up in rebellion and overthrew their conquerors.
Added to that were the ongoing difficulties of ruling a land that was regularly struck by typhoons, and for the last few generations, the State of Ying had been left to their own devices. In truth, even the current king of the State of Ying was king in name only. His words had little standing among the independent fishing villages and the few cities outside his capital.
Wu Ying considered the many locations before he turned his gaze back to the markers. Hills, bamboo forests, mountainous regions, and small and large lakes all contained a flag. Furthermore, to Wu Ying’s chagrin, he could not see any pattern, especially when he tried to tie-in the green flags and their locations between the various materials they needed to gather.
“Can we even do this?” Wu Ying said, concern carrying through his voice as he stared at the map. He drew a deep breath, catching the scent of old ink, dry parchment paper, and the hint of a floral perfume coming from Fa Yuan.
“At present? Probably not.” In contrast to her words, she looked nonplussed. “The heart will be the most difficult. That must be fresh. Even a few days would reduce its effectiveness significantly. We’ll have to collect that last.”
“Then—”
“We continue to gather information. This? This is just the start.” Fa Yuan flashed Wu Ying a quick smile. A hand waved at the table beside him. “Now, you should see if I missed anything.”
Wu Ying sighed, then turned to the books she’d gestured at. Fa Yuan turned away, beckoning one of the librarians to come over. Unlike Wu Ying, she did
not have to wait. After all, she was an Elder. They, the inner sect librarians, were there to serve her. And as she rattled off her list of requirements, they jumped to it.
***
The Chan Chu was a demonic frog with three legs, the third leg positioned at the back of its body in slightly different angles. Each kind of frog was aspected to a different element, so it was simple enough—if you memorized the leg positions and coloration—to tell which genus a particular demonic beast was from.
Numerous drawings and detailed information from the scrolls and books, laid out before Wu Ying, showcased this information. A smaller stack of paper beside the cultivator allowed him to complete his own sketches and notes. Along with the information on the uses of various body parts from the Chan Chu, with references to particular alchemical potions and pills, were detailed notes on habitat, eating preferences, prey and predator types for the demonic beasts, and the signs of its whereabouts. All of this, Wu Ying noted and memorized.
Just as important were notes by former hunters on how best to fight the Chan Chu. Traps—generally metal-imbued talisman traps—were a common method. That allowed the hunters to hunt multiple members of the demonic frogs. However, that obviously only worked for certain types of the frogs.
Metal aspected Chan Chu could sense the talismans. Earth aspected beasts were often tough enough to deflect the simple attacks with their bodies. Only the fire, wood, and water Chan Chu were vulnerable. It also meant that the hearts and other body parts of those genus were more readily available on the markets.
In truth, battling the creatures was less troublesome than luring them out from their watery abodes. The Chan Chu were extremely aggressive and would fight one another constantly, often leading to their deaths. Since the creatures all began with cores in the late Body Cleansing stage and grew quickly to late Energy Storage stages, they dominated whichever locale they lived within. Some, a rare few, even reached the Core cultivation level.
In fact, the advancement of a creature, along the various stages of cultivation, had as much to do with its bloodlines and environment as its own progress in the Dao. That was why it was often difficult to rear such creatures for their spirit or demon cores—the very change in their environment saw to their lack of progress.
Truth be told, Wu Ying did not understand the Dao as experienced by creatures, especially demonic creatures. But then again, he didn’t really understand the Dao at all.
In either case, finding, locating, and finally ending a Chan Chu would be difficult. Especially since they couldn’t use the heart of just any animal. For greatest effectiveness, they had to find one in the late Energy Storage Stage, potentially even Core.
Drawing a deep breath, Wu Ying exhaled and set the document aside to dry. He rose from his seat, searching for the library attendants. Next up was information on the Ben.
***
“Let me understand this,” Wu Ying said, leaning forward as he spoke to the old library attendant seated before him. “You only have a single book with a picture of the Ben?”
“Yes,” the attendant said. His long whiskers twitched as Wu Ying glared at him, and the attendant met the young man’s irritation with the calm of one who knew his position was secure.
“And that’s because another Elder—Elder Hua—took most of the documents twelve years ago on an expedition. And never came back,” Wu Ying said.
“Yes.”
“And you didn’t see the need to have more copies acquired in that time,” Wu Ying said.
“Yes.”
“Why?” Wu Ying said, exasperatedly throwing his hands in the air.
“Because the Ben is a migratory animal whose core can often be found on the open market. In addition, while rare, the actual uses of the Ben’s core are limited. As such, demand for the core itself is extremely low. Many recipes have found more efficient ingredients,” the attendant replied.
“So?”
“There’s no need to spend limited funds learning of a bird that has no use.”
“Well, that worked out well, didn’t it?” Wu Ying snapped sarcastically. “What of the other documents my martial sister—Elder Yang—was reading?”
“Expedition notes. Old ones,” the attendant replied. “A few notes from current wandering cultivators and the like.”
“And they don’t have sketches or details?” Wu Ying said.
“Not that I know. Though I have not read them all. Obviously.”
Wu Ying’s eyes thinned before he sighed. “Fine. Just show me where to find them. I’ll gather them again to read.”
“That will not be necessary. Elder Yang has requested we set those notes aside for you.” He gestured to Wu Ying to follow, leading him to the pile of documents.
Grumbling under his breath, Wu Ying took hold of the documents and made his way back to his table. Hopefully the document was more enlightening than the library attendant. Otherwise… well. Otherwise, things would be interesting.
Bending his head, Wu Ying focused. As the day’s sun grew low and spirit lamps were lit in the library, Wu Ying made notes. There was nothing to it but to learn, study, and hopefully succeed on the expedition. They could only do what they could do, for now.
Chapter 5
Wu Ying drew in a deep breath, inhaling the clean mountain air as he lightly ran up the mountain. As he breathed, he filtered the chi coming into his lungs through his body, sending it into his meridians and to his dantian, working to cleanse the aspected chi and trying to make the unaspected energy his own. The Never Empty Wine Pot cultivation exercise continued to allow him to filter much of the aspected chi that tried to enter his body, allowing him to continually progress as he ran.
Over the last weeks, Wu Ying’s life had grown into a routine. He trained in the morning, cultivating for an hour then doing combat training with the few martial specialists left in the inner sect. He practiced forms in the martial halls, sparred with those available, occasionally taking on two or more Body Cleansing cultivators when Energy Storage cultivators were not available, and worked on the projection of his sword chi. After spending the early portions of the day training his physical body, he scarfed down a quick meal and began the second portion of his day—studying. That began in Elder Li’s gardens.
Together with Elder Li, he practiced picking wild herbs, new growing formations for the herbs, the use of enchanted, specialized gardening implements—ones filled with chi, ones made of special material—and the recognition of various plants in the surroundings. With his Master, he journeyed outside the Sect into the back reaches of the mountain range, traversing the untamed wilderness at a run, spotting and picking herbs left untouched by the ignorant.
His Master often spoke of additional expeditions in the future, to map out and exploit the lands below for the Sect. Older maps were available and were updated on their treks, but many were decades, if not centuries, old. The lower the level of the herbs, the more out of date the maps were. Still, Elder Li left the matter to Wu Ying’s discretion. After all, many of the plants near the Sect were of little use to her at her stage of cultivation and level of wealth.
By the time Wu Ying was done training with Master Li, it would be late afternoon at the earliest. Other times, he’d finish late into the evening, running with the last glimmers of sunlight at his back as he raced down the stone pathways. He’d consume a late dinner at the nearest dining hall before making his way to the inner sect library. He would join Fa Yuan if she was at the table, or if not, continue his own research.
After a few hundred years of collection, the Sect had accumulated a significant number of documents detailing past exploits, mercantile purchases, and expeditions carried out by various members and ancillary groups. All that information had to be filtered for the details that Wu Ying and Fa Yuan required. Even though various outer sect members had been tasked with the assignment of reading the documents, the final pieces of information, the correlation of the data had to be done by them.
The information the
y searched for was wide and varied. Locations of the needed materials, the monsters and their habitats, their weaknesses and strengths. Sects known to be able to produce the final compound when the material was acquired. Even hints of the antidote that might still be kept in a sect vault. It was this work that saw Wu Ying working late into the evenings. Meals would often be served at the library table, allowing them to work uninterrupted.
In between the dry scholarly work, Wu Ying often took breaks to cultivate, exercise, and work on the new cultivation technique Fa Yuan had insisted he learn.
It was this technique that Wu Ying practiced as he ran. The Twelve Eastern Gales Movement technique was a qinggong exercise of some repute. Almost all the Sect members learned this particular technique for it was a well-balanced movement technique. It improved swiftness of the feet and lightness of the body by altering the environmental chi via the projection of internal chi.
It was even usable in combat to some small degree. Like most movement techniques, continued use of the Twelve Gales should become part of a cultivator’s existence, much like breathing. Each level of the Twelve Gales denoted both strength in a cultivator’s understanding and grasp of the qinggong method’s use and the level of integration into a cultivator’s existence.
All that meant, in the end, was that Wu Ying spent every waking moment he could trying to integrate the new exercise into his daily routine. Thankfully, his earlier cultivation exercises—the Iron Bones and the Aura Restraint techniques—had achieved the level of Greater Achievement. As such, using them by reinforcing his body and restraining his aura was now as simple as letting one’s heart beat.
Wu Ying ran up the mountain, his cloth-bound feet pushing against the smooth paving stones of the pathway. Around him, trees loomed, their leaves dripping with the last of the midday rainstorm that had just passed by. Wu Ying’s clothes were slightly damp, since he had been caught by the tail end of the shower as he exited the dining hall.