Clear Sky

by Patrick G. Laplante

  “Do you need some help finding anything?” said a squeaky voice behind him.

  Du Cha Ming jumped upon hearing the voice and looked behind himself. He didn’t notice anyone and continued looking around. Once he confirmed that no one else was present, he continued rummaging through the books.

  “Ahem.” The sound of a throat clearing could be heard immediately behind him. He looked back once again and noticed a strand of hair. Following the strand of hair, he looked down and noticed a small figure. The figure was a short old man. In fact, he was a little too short—three feet tall at the most. Cha Ming hadn’t heard there were dwarves in this world. Or perhaps he was a halfling?

  He clasped his hands apologetically and bowed. “Greetings, Elder. My apologies. Is there something you need?” He didn’t dare to elaborate on the reason he initially ignored him. Who knew if this short man would have a disproportionate temper? Much to his relief, the short old man smiled, brushed off the unintentional insult, and started speaking.

  “My name is Elder Xiao1. Yes, it is a very ironic name, so please don’t laugh. My family has always been of this… stature, supposedly from ancient times. Regardless, it looks like you’re not sure what to pick for techniques. I am the overseer on the first floor, and perhaps I can be of assistance. Otherwise, the other students may not get a chance to browse the library, as you might be here all week.”

  A little embarrassed, Cha Ming nodded and accepted his help. He truly did have too many options, and a little help would go a long way. “I am currently cultivating the Lesser Five Elements cultivation technique,” Cha Ming explained as he walked through bookshelves behind Elder Xiao. “While I have one thousand points to spend as an acceptance bonus, I am pretty insistent on cultivating at least one technique for each element.”

  The elder looked over at him, surprised, but allowed him to continue.

  “I have a significantly lower qi pool in each element than most people, around one-fifth, and so I would need skills that emphasize variety and decision-making. They must be of low cost but must give me tactical advantages as opposed to skills emphasizing brute force. I cannot compete with others based on brute force or skills that emphasize large amounts of qi for a single technique.”

  The elder pondered for a few moments, contemplating Cha Ming’s thought process. Indeed, this was really the only way he could compete, which was to outwit his opponents and catch them by surprise. After a while he turned around and motioned for Cha Ming to follow him. They passed several bookshelves until they reached a small room. There was a large black stone inside the room, and the stone gave off a glossy lustre similar to polished obsidian.

  Elder Xiao stood in front of the stone and intoned, “Computer, please show all skills below three hundred contribution points in the elements of wood, fire, earth, metal, and water.”

  Cha Ming was quite shocked. Elder Xiao called the stone “computer.” It seemed a little too coincidental.

  Elder Xiao frowned as a list of over a thousand scrolls popped up on a screen in the back of the room. “Please remove all water-element techniques that focus on aspects other than evasion and freezing. Remove all non-defensive earth skills. Remove all non-offensive fire skills. Remove all wood skills that do not heal and grow plants. Remove all metal techniques that are not physical offense and physical defense skills.” The list narrowed to 200 skills.

  “Different elements have different specialties,” explained Elder Xiao. “Often, single- or dual-attribute cultivators need to obtain a variety of skills in an element to ensure they have a variety of skills, even if the element is not particularly good at these types of skills. For example, earth skills focus on all types of defenses, but you can’t win only by defending. Therefore, earth cultivators will also practice mediocre attack skills. Water skills are good at slow, freezing, and redirection techniques, but their attacking power is also not as strong as fire or metal, and their defensive techniques are not as strong as earth and metal. They have healing techniques, but wood is far superior in this regard. While water is good at entrapment, it is worse than wood skills, which provide the best physical restrictions.

  “Since you don’t specialize in an element, it would be best to go for efficiency. That is, focus on the skill that each element is good at.” After his explanation, he turned back to the black orb. “Computer, remove all skills that cost more than three drops of qi at the level of initial mastery.” The list narrowed down to twenty skills.

  “Typically you want to be able to use a skill more than once, unless it is a finishing move. You don’t have the qi pool to have a finishing move, so I suggest you don’t study those yet. The skills currently on the list are the only skills you can practice with your small qi pool. The qi requirements for each skill will increase when your mastery of the skill increases.

  “Normally you would want skills that are able to augment each other in the generation cycle. However, these are all dual-element skills of a higher grade, which you can’t afford. As your cultivation advances, be sure to get such skills, as you will start to have access to high-qi finishing moves and combination specialties. For example, the best attack moves would have fire augmented with wood, while the best defensive moves would have earth reinforced with steel. The best healing skills are water-fed wood techniques.”

  Cha Ming looked at the skills carefully. Eventually, he was able to choose a total of five skills.

  Wood Auxiliary Skill, Mortal Grade 1, Entrapping Vines—100 contribution points

  Water Auxiliary Skill, Mortal Grade 1, Frost Cloud—100 contribution points

  Fire Attack Technique, Mortal Grade 1, Blaze—100 contribution points

  Earth Defense Technique, Mortal Grade 1, Earthen Wall—100 contribution points

  Metal Attack Technique, Mortal Grade 1, Finger Slash—100 contribution points

  Cha Ming had 500 points remaining, but he felt like he was missing something. These skills only took up 20% of his qi pool per usage, and he felt like he was lacking a movement skill and perhaps a basic attacking skill to make up for a potential qi deficiency.

  Elder Xiao, sensing his predicament, went through a few dropdown menus and brought up another two skills.

  “This basic fist technique, Tiger Fist, doesn’t really require any qi to activate. It’s based on your fleshly body strength. While your body strength isn’t very high, your opponent’s qi pools aren’t high either, and it will give you a lot of flexibility with your attacks. If both you and your opponent’s qi pools are exhausted, you can still use this basic fist technique to deal with them. What are your thoughts?” asked Elder Xiao.

  Cha Ming agreed quickly, and another hundred contribution points were deducted. Elder Xiao continued to look through the techniques until he found one last skill:

  Physical Movement Technique, Mortal Grade 3, Ghost Steps—400 contribution points

  “This technique is very good for its price. It’s also a fleshly body technique, and it will help you position yourself to execute attacks and evade attacks. It would be a very sad situation if you didn’t have the qi to execute a movement technique when you are in critical danger.” This time Elder Xiao didn’t wait for Cha Ming’s reply before making a copy of the technique.

  The whole trip to the library had taken Cha Ming four hours, and he’d obtained seven scrolls. These scrolls were valid for one month, as they were not especially valuable.

  Cha Ming started practicing the skills he obtained at the library that same day. The skills were not very challenging, and he managed to learn each skill in the next six days, all of them learned to the initial mastery level. Perfection in these skills would take a long time, and higher levels in each skill required a larger qi pool. He also continued to cultivate as much as possible every day, and while the amount of qi he had stored did not change, it appeared to be constantly trying to break free from its bindings.

  He continued to have supper with Xin and Xun. Xun was about go into the forest on a mission to gather medi
cinal herbs, and he made sure to spend extra time with his sister. On this sixth day after Cha Ming started training his techniques, Xun departed with a group of five other students, leaving Xin in Cha Ming’s care. Xin was a girl, after all, and Xun felt reassured that Cha Ming was around to prevent her from being mistreated.

  Cha Ming was convinced that lectures were perhaps the most boring way a human being could teach a subject. There were many better ways, such as teaching by repetition in a martial arts class, through games, and by getting a student to practice under guidance. Unfortunately, Cha Ming once again found himself sucked into compulsory lectures. The lecture was packed with 300 people and was taught in the same way as in university.

  A professor would read through a flowing script that was projected on a white stone in the background. His dull voice droned on and on for the next eight hours, only halting for a one-hour break at lunch. The students had all packed lunches from the cafeteria and ate at their seats. The structure made Cha Ming wish the teachers would just write an overly expensive textbook, which at the very least would enable him to skip lectures and obtain a passing mark if he passed the final exam. But there was no exam for this class, only mandatory attendance.

  The class focused on the basics, such as the different cultivation elements, their strengths, and their weaknesses. The lecture also covered common techniques in both single-element and dual-element combinations. There was also an introduction to the different professions, types of magical items, and low-rank magical beasts and herbs, which the students would likely go gather in their early stages of qi condensation to accumulate contribution points.

  One interesting lecture touched on the importance of basic body strengthening and finally touched on the concept of body cultivation. The majority of young cultivators would possess a fist strength of one to two hundred jin, the strength of a strong adult. Body cultivation could increase fleshly body strength, the rate of healing, the body’s natural defenses, and the body’s reflexes.

  Body cultivation could also be broken up into three stages containing three grades each. In early-stage body cultivation, one would train their body strength to the average adult strength of 200 jin. Building body strength past this point would become increasingly taxing, reaching 400 jin by the end of mid-stage body cultivation. The body’s natural healing abilities would also increase during this period.

  Late-stage body cultivation would increase one’s fist strength to 1080 jin, the very limits of strength deliverable by a normal human body. During this stage, the body’s defenses would also increase substantially. Very rarely, cultivators would finally be able to purify their body’s flesh. While this step would not deliver an increase in strength, it would eventually lead to the destruction of one’s mortal shackles, and one’s body would be reborn. The body cultivator would then be considered as a Xiantian2 life-form, natural and pure. From then on, he would be able to embark on the true journey of body refining.

  Cha Ming learned that body refining to become a Xiantian life-form was extremely painful, and the vast majority of people would not attempt it. In addition, one could usually obtain a better and less painful advantage through qi refining for the same amount of effort. Much less effort was required to reach the peak of early-stage body cultivation in early adulthood.

  The path of body cultivation was the right path only for a select number of people. Some people were born with innately strong bodies and were especially suited to body cultivation. Others were born with special physiques that give them innate Xiantian bodies, which means that they would reach the Xiantian stage early on in life without much effort at all.

  In addition to all of these, destructive dual-element cultivators yielded very good results in body refining. This was because the first element could be used to reinforce the body while the other opposite element rid the body of the impurities generated by this element. The combination of strengthening and refining was ideal since body refining was usually limited by the physical stamina and healing power of the person in question.

  While Cha Ming was quite interested in body cultivation, he decided to postpone trying it for now, opting to do some running in the morning to at least increase his stamina. He had many things to work on, too little time, and far too few contribution points.

  * * *

  1 Xiao means small in Chinese, and this pun is intended. It is also a very popular surname. Another alternative meaning is laughter. Xiao puns and jokes are very rampant.

  2 Xiantian means natural and pure and is often used in Chinese fantasy novels as returning to a pure and natural state, which can then be used for cultivation.

  Chapter 8: Monthly Arena Battle

  Cha Ming’s first round of classes ended after a week. The teacher kindly reminded them that they should attend the monthly arena battle; if they performed well there, they could earn contribution points. This was one of the school’s ways of rewarding the talented of each generation. Of course, talent could only be evaluated based on success within a specific cultivation level. Cha Ming had already cultivated to the peak of the second level of qi condensation, and as such he would be matched up against other people of the second level.

  Perhaps one-fifth of the new students had reached the second level of qi condensation. The effort required to get to this level was quite pitiful compared to subsequent levels, so there would not be any remaining students from the previous year to compete with. Grade-four talents would have already moved into the third level of qi condensation.

  Normally the monthly arena battle would involve five elimination rounds. Those who lasted three rounds would obtain 100 contribution points, those who lasted four rounds would obtain 500 contribution points, and those who lasted five rounds would get 1,000 contribution points. The amount would scale up for higher-level students.

  Since this was the first round since the start of the New Year, the freshman students could earn 100 spirit stones in addition to the 1,000 contribution points if they passed five rounds of elimination. Grade-three talents could obtain ten spirit stones per month as an allowance to support their cultivation, so this amount was not a measly sum. The reward was put into place to get first-year students to face their fears and gain a bit of combat experience. After they had passed through this first round, they would be much less afraid of fighting and would continue to participate.

  How could Cha Ming miss out on a great money-making opportunity? He effectively had the mentality of a forty-five-year-old between his previous and current life. He was not too worried about outwitting a bunch of teenagers.

  The morning of the tournament, Cha Ming and Xin Er made their way to the arena. The atmosphere was festive due to the number of excited new students. These first-year students were quite haughty due to having been admitted to Green Leaf Academy; being able to cultivate put many of them above their previous friends and family members, and as such they had grown quite arrogant. The tournaments had been designed in part to teach a good portion of these students humility.

  Hong Xin, being quite shy, did not want to participate in this round of arena battles without her brother present, and she decided to stay in the audience and cheer for Cha Ming.

  At least I don’t have to worry about Xin Er getting bullied in the arena battles, he thought. If she got hurt, he would never hear the end of it. Therefore, he didn’t try to convince her and quietly stood in line to complete his registration. He was handed the number twelve. There were only a hundred or so students at the second level of qi condensation. In a few months, there would be over five times this number of competitors, so this specific competition was unique. All first-grade students and most second-grade students who were participating were in the same category: the first level of qi condensation. The competition in this group was fiercest. Unless these students gained incredible good fortune, they would never step into foundation establishment.

  Once everyone had completed their registration, an energetic middle-aged man wearing elder robes stepped up. />
  “Silence!” he shouted. “You may all call me Elder Huang. I will be presiding over this arena competition and will have final say in deciding every match. As many junior students are participating today, many of the older students will be adjudicating individual matches. Their word is final, and they are all being rewarded with contribution points. You can rest assured that these adjudicating positions are highly sought after, so they would not dare to be dishonest while performing their duties as referees during this competition.

  “Before we begin, please accompany me in bowing to our teachers and elders.”

  Elder Huang turned around, clasped his hands together, and bowed toward the east. The students followed suit. As it was still early morning, the sun was shining brightly in their direction, and it was difficult to make out the faces of the different teachers and elders. Elder Huang turned around and continued.

  “This round of the monthly arena battles is very special. As per our yearly tradition for the past few centuries, this month’s arena battles are used to spotlight outstanding talents. Talent is a very difficult thing to define. Many people compare talent in terms of cultivation speed; our school also gives preferential treatment to third-grade through fifth-grade cultivation talents. While this is a very technically accurate way to evaluate talent, is this truly the most effective way?

  “To put it in other terms, is cultivation talent the only way to evaluate talent? The answer is no, of course! This world is one that reveres the strong. As such, many different types of strength are important. One of the most important types of strength is combat strength. If two people are at the first level of qi condensation, clearly the one who is victorious over hundreds in the same class can be considered talented, even if his innate cultivation talent cannot be compared to others.