Chương 14: Contribution Points

Jianyi was back in the library after a morning of intense repetitions of movements. The librarian who had shown him around initially was fortunately again at the counter when he approached with a question.

"Good morning, I would like to borrow a technique from the library. Could you help me with that?"

"Of course, I would be happy to. Techniques that we have in abundance can be borrowed; those of which we have few copies need to be bought, as we create a scroll for you.

"Obviously, that is more expensive than just borrowing it. Which one do you want?"

"The Martial Meridian Art," Jianyi replied.

"Ah, that should be relatively cheap to borrow. We have a lot of them because they were in use a long time ago, but are now largely out of fashion. You know that you will get the Imperial Gate Opening Technique for free on your official intake?" Jianyi bowed his head, grateful for the librarian trying to look out for him.

"Thank you, yes, I already got it, but I want to try something else. How much would the technique cost to borrow? I have to admit I don't know how many contribution points I have…" She laughed.

"Let me check." She got up and vanished behind a door that probably led into the depths of the library. After a few minutes, she was back, holding a scroll and passing it over a plate on the counter.

"As I thought, it is fairly cheap. Two hundred and fifty contribution points to borrow it for three months. If you give me your medallion, I can check how many points you have." After Jianyi handed it over, and she checked on the same formation plate, she looked at him slightly awkwardly.

"Unfortunately, you currently have only one hundred points available. I am sorry, but I can't make any exceptions."

"I understand, please don't apologize. I will gather the points and return." Being poor was not a new feeling for Jianyi. There was no point worrying about it; he needed to find ways to get more points—it was as simple as that. Back home, he sought out Minghao.

"Minghao, it turns out that I have one hundred contribution points. Did I get those from Elder Sun?" The retainer nodded.

"Yes, you did. Fifty points per week of service."

"I don't want to appear ungrateful, but are there ways to earn more?"

"There always are, but what do you need them for, and how many?" Jianyi described the situation, and Minghao offered to lend him some. He bowed.

"I am very grateful for the offer, but you are already doing so much for me, and my mother always said that we should never borrow unless it is to save our lives. This is not life or death, but rather a question of speed. I could just wait three weeks, and I would have the sum available." Minghao nodded.

"Your mother is a wise woman, and good on you for honoring her wisdom with patience. Let me think… unfortunately, there aren't too many ways for you to earn points. For some, you are just not eligible; others are not compatible with your duties here. One thing I could think of would be to help in the central kitchen in the evenings. You would get something like five points per night, which won't let you borrow the technique right away, but it will accelerate it by a week or two.

If you want, I can go there with you to make it work."

"Thank you, I am happy to work in the kitchen. Let me explore on my own, and if I fail, I will come back for your help."

Jianyi stood in front of the head cook for the inner sect kitchen. She looked at him with a frown.

"You are sure you want to do this? Very few disciples are willing to start as a dishwasher."

"That is not a problem, Huang Jingyi. I have done chores all my life, and I am not afraid to work."

"Very well, it is five contribution points per evening; typically, it should just be a few hours of work."

"Can I start tonight?"

"You are really eager, aren't you?" she said with a laugh.

"Sure, you can start tonight." Washing dishes had not been exciting—certainly not what he had thought of in his dreams about cultivation—but if it brought him closer to his goals, he would do it any day and smile while doing so. It was also interesting to get to know a few more people in the sect. Most of them were mortal servants, but it was nice to talk with them anyway. He had returned to his room and lay on his bed with the so-called toy from Elder Sun in his hands.

He examined the artifact from every angle, noticing the ring on his hand that he had been given by Elder Sun. It also required him to move qi out of his body. It was probably wiser to focus on walking before running, so he put the toy to the side, closed his eyes, and resumed his attempts to get his qi to access the ring. The side benefit of learning what gifts the elder had left for him in the item was faintly in the back of his mind. Compared to his previous attempts, he now had distinct advantages.

First, he had already shown that he could move qi, and second, he had experience in separating a sliver of it. Support the creativity of authors by visiting the original site for this novel and more. So that's where he started. He broke off a tiny fragment and then tried to move it through the walls of his dantian to exit via his body, but even after multiple attempts, the walls of his dantian seemed too robust to penetrate. He opened his eyes to think about it some more.

After a moment, he focused inside again and moved the sliver of qi to his hand, close to the ring, and tried to connect to it through the short distance that remained. Unfortunately, the walls of his meridian channels were not more permeable than those of his dantian. He slapped himself on the forehead as he realized his folly. Quickly, he navigated the qi toward the gate he had recently opened on his thigh.

As he tried to push the qi through the meridian, there was strong resistance, but he did not relent and, after minutes of intense concentration, sweat on his brow, he managed to penetrate the gate with his qi… just to have it immediately dissipate into the environment. It seemed that controlling it outside of his body was yet another challenge, but progress had been made, and he smiled as he lay down to finally sleep.

It was already the third week of his time in the sect, and Jianyi could hardly believe it. The test loomed large in his mind, and he was well aware that he could start his next gate opening attempt if he had stuck with the Imperial Gate Opening Technique—but he believed in his path, and he knew that he was making progress—he could feel the changes in his body with every move he made.

He was planting some flowers with Minghao in front of their compound when a messenger came running up the hill and stopped before their house. The retainer got up and, after a brief exchange, received a few scrolls. He quickly flipped through them and stopped at one, which he handed to Jianyi.

"Looks like you got a letter. Let's quickly finish up here, then you can go and read it. All right?" Jianyi nodded enthusiastically and got back to the flower beds with renewed energy. The only person who would send him a letter was his mother, and he was keen to learn how she had fared over the last two and a half weeks. An hour later, he was back in his room and lay down on his bed, opening the scroll. My dearest Yi'er, I so hope that the last weeks have treated you well.

I can only imagine how intense your time in the sect must be, and I wish I could be there for you. But you are almost a grown man now, and I have faith in you. Every day since your father's death, you have proven that you live up to his legacy and family motto. Discipline and dignity will serve you well, no matter where you are. Remember, though, that life is more than that. You have ignored my advice to make some friends in the past, but maybe you reconsider now that you are surrounded by like-minded individuals?

I have taken Elder Sun's advice and bought a new house with a wonderful storefront attached to it at the central plaza of the merchant district. Know that you will always have a home waiting for you. The letter continued for a few more lines with news about some of the people they knew, and the scandal caused in their old neighborhood by his mother's sudden wealth. A strange mix of feelings clashed in Jianyi's chest.

There was a feeling of loss for his old home—the familiar sights and smells, happiness for his mother's good fortune, missing her at the same time while thoroughly enjoying what he was doing at the moment. He hoped to be able to visit her soon and settled into meditation in his cultivation chamber to calm his nerves.

It took him almost an hour to get back into a mindset that allowed him to fully concentrate on his next attempt to access his storage ring. Over the last few days, he had made significant progress in seamlessly bringing a sliver of qi to one of his open meridian gates and moving it out of his body. It was slow going and exhausting, but progress was progress. Unfortunately, so far, the qi had dispersed immediately upon leaving his body, but in the morning, during practice, he had had an idea.

When he breathed out, the air left his body, but he was still able to give it direction, at least to some degree. He knew it was a convoluted comparison, but it was worth a try using it as a crutch. With a well-practiced thought, he produced a sliver of qi and directed it to the meridian in his right palm and quickly passed the barrier. Instead of losing touch with it, he wrapped his mind around it and pushed it in the direction of his ring. He felt it almost physically, as if it brushed his hand.

It failed—but only after having moved a few finger-widths in the right direction. That was a success in his books. From now on, he sensed, it was only a question of practice. That he could do. But first, he had to get to his shift as a dishwasher.

The next morning, Minghao was not alone in the courtyard as Jianyi entered. With him was a young disciple wearing the robe of the outer sect—a rare find on the peak of the mountain, with narrow shoulders and his hands clasped behind his back.

"Good morning, Jianyi. You have done well so far, and I think it is the right time to move on from movements to the forms that will combine the movements and, most importantly, will allow you to work with your spear." That was the best news Jianyi had heard in a while. As much as he appreciated the progress he had made with the movements and the increased strength of body that came with it, he was very excited to get back to working with his spear. He had missed the feeling of holding it in his hand every day.

"Now, before we get going, I thought it would be helpful for me to see you actually spar against an opponent of comparable strength. This is Wei Fang, a disciple who joined us a year ago. He kindly offered to spar with you." Jianyi nodded his head towards Wei Fang.

"Senior brother, thank you for your time." The other youth nodded as well but remained silent.

"Very well," Minghao said, clapping his hands.

"Take a training spear so that we can start." A few moments later, Jianyi faced his opponent, waiting for Minghao to call for the beginning of the spar. The retainer brought his hand down decisively.

"Begin!" It had been a while since Jianyi faced a human opponent, but the spear in his hand gave him confidence, and he slowly moved sideways in the circle, trying to gain a few moments to observe the other disciple—to his delight, his movements felt smoother than ever before. The young man had other plans, though. Flowing across the training circle, he opened with a furious overhead strike that Jianyi knew he couldn't block. He sidestepped and evaded by a hand-width.

Trying to get into a proper fighting position, he again tried to move to the side, but his opponent seemed disinclined to give him the time. Seamlessly, he flowed from the overhead strike into a horizontal sweep at knee height. Jianyi had no alternative but to block, but the strength of the contact made his bones shake and weakened his grip on the spear.

Realizing that he was in a losing position, he tried to counterattack with a piercing stab, but Wei Fang easily side-stepped and followed up with two piercing attacks of his own in quick succession. To Jianyi's chagrin, both landed on his shoulder and chest, respectively. Without hesitation, Wei Fang returned to the starting position, giving Jianyi the opportunity to catch his breath. Thirty minutes later, drenched in sweat, Jianyi had been hit many times. Many, many times.

And not managed to land more than a few glancing blows. With every exchange, his knuckles whitened more, and it took all his willpower to unclench his teeth, thanking his opponent for the fight as their time came to an end. After the boy had left, Minghao looked at him.

"That was very good." Jianyi returned the look, eyes wide.

"Good?" He could barely contain his frustration. Minghao chuckled.

"Yes, very good. We will begin with the first form in the afternoon. Go and freshen up." Jianyi was so enraged that he barely needed the formations to heat the water of the shower.