Chương 52: Decision

Jianyi closed his eyes and thought about his options one more time. With a deep breath, he opened them again and grasped the Eternal Spear Meditation.

"This is the right one. I know it. I feel it. The spear will not fail me even if I have no qi, no technique left." Elder Sun nodded without hesitation.

"Very well. You have made your choice."

"Not that I am going to change my mind, but… do you think it was the right one?"

"Of course, Jianyi. It was your choice. Therefore, it must be the right one." The old man, maybe one of the most powerful beings, at least in the region, if not the plane, and the young cultivator grinned at each other.

Jianyi sat on the stairs on the side of the training ground of the outer sect on the western mountain. Jun sat beside him, Hong lounged on the stairs behind him, and they watched Miyao and Shuhua spar. It was very impressive, Jianyi had to acknowledge. Shuhua was good. Every form flowed into the next one. Despite being at it for a while, she was still full of energy and always looking for opportunities to attack. Miyao, though. Jianyi had to admit that she was on another level.

The controlled efficiency of her movements, combined with her exceptional ability to read her opponent, was better than what he could do—at least for now. It was also interesting how different her personality in the ring was from how she behaved outside of it. Jun tried to distract him with another story of how he had found true love with one of the servants who had been circling the dormitories. He could see Hong just shake his head behind them. Jianyi wished him well but was truly not interested.

Instead, he wiped the sweat off his brow from his last bout, got up, and looked at Hong.

"Go again?" Half an hour later, they were sitting together—supposedly to review the learnings, but Jianyi had quickly understood that these few minutes after their training were more about… socializing, than a true reflection of the training. He had initially been tempted to leave early, but he knew that even Elder Sun made time to have tea with other elders from time to time—and from what he could tell, it served no real purpose that he could discern, except to have fun.

In light of that, it might be acceptable for him to spend a few minutes learning about what else was going on in the sect.

"I have heard that the inner sect has training rooms where you can fight through gauntlets that are powered by formations that attack you constantly, and you have to hit targets while moving through them," Hong said, surprisingly animated. Jianyi wondered whether those were similar to what Minghao had him do during his seclusion.

"Yes, but those cost contribution points to use… It will probably take a couple of years until we can afford to spend points on something like this," Shuhua replied. He felt himself blushing and busied himself with collecting the spears to return them to the rack. Lately, he had had a few moments like these that made him appreciate his new home in Elder Sun's compound even more.

"I can't help myself, I am so curious, are you all using the Imperial Cycling Art?" Shuhua asked. Jianyi had learned that it wasn't forbidden but frowned upon to ask others about the details of their cultivation—but he had also learned that Shuhua was not one to accept boundaries like these amongst people she considered her friends. Jun just shrugged.

"We haven't finalized opening our meridians, yet. But, sure. Is there a reason to use anything else?" Shuhua threw her hands in the air.

"I don't know. My mother uses it, so it should be good enough for me." Miyao shrank into herself, clearly uncomfortable.

"My family has an art that I shall use as well," she said quietly. Family arts had come up in Jianyi's research. Apparently, there were many out there. Some strong, many quite weak. They had been one of the main sources of techniques in the past, and one of the reasons why the imperial technique had spread so widely and quickly. The others looked expectantly at him.

"I won't be using the Imperial Cycling Art. It was very interesting to search for other options in the library. But I haven't bought it yet, so we will have to see whether I can even afford it. As the group broke up to return to their next task, Miyao followed him. It took a moment for her to speak up, but eventually she marshalled her courage.

"Was it hard to find the right cultivation technique?" Jianyi waved his hand.

"Yes and no. There is a staggering number of them in the library, and it is relatively easy to find ones that fit you. But deciding which one to choose, given how long you are likely going to use them, was quite hard." He paused for a moment, not sure whether he should inquire, then decided to go for it.

"Are you not happy with your family art?"

"I think… I grew up with my grandmother, who is a cultivator, and she really wants me to use the family art… But, most of my family were rather scholars than fighters, and I am maybe more… physical than they are," she looked at him from the side, gauging his reaction. Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author's consent. Report any sightings.

Jianyi had little experience with this concrete problem, but his mother had hoped for him to lead a mortal life, or at least one without violence, while he had always wanted to become a cultivator, so he could relate to some extent.

"Does your grandmother want the best for you?"

"She does!" Miyao exclaimed, then more quietly, "But she thinks it is something else than I do."

"My mother is similar…" She looked at him, hopeful.

"Not concerning a specific technique… but… anyway. My teacher always says that it is my path to walk and not his; therefore, it has to be me who makes the decisions. He provides input, but not more."

"Your teacher, he is pretty senior, isn't he?"

"I don't know for sure, but I think he is quite an influential elder, yes." He could see the agony on her face as she wrestled with herself.

"Have you thought about body cultivation?"

"What? Are you crazy? She would kill me!"

"She could try, but you would be so strong that she would fail," Jianyi said, and despite her horror, Miyao had to laugh as he winked at her. For some reason, it felt easier to talk with the four disciples who made up the training group. It was actually quite relaxing.

"I don't know anything about body cultivation, so it could be quite an interesting project to read up about it. Should we do it? Doesn't cost anything… I could also show you the books about spirit cultivation techniques that I found most helpful." It took a moment, but eventually Miyao swallowed hard and nodded.

"That would be great, thanks!" Soon after, Jianyi was back in his cultivation chamber. Smiling, he looked at the Fire affinity card in his hand. Over the last few days, he had already added Wood, Force of the Forest, and Bolt of Fire to his dantians. He hadn't decided yet whether he should add Skin of the Granite Tunneler, the Earth affinity card that his mother had preserved from his father's legacy. It was his only uncommon card, and he had promised his mother to use it to protect himself in whatever way best.

He felt very reluctant to trade it for another card, but if he ever had to use it in public, it would be a disaster because it would be proof that he wielded more than two affinities. Something to ponder at a later time. Now it was time to add his third and final affinity card to his dantian—even though he could barely scrape together enough qi for a single affinity. He willed a thread of qi to reach out to the card and pulled it back, together with the card.

It burst into a sliver of qi that entered his pathways via his right arm meridian. By now, the process was familiar, and he directed the card towards his lower dantian, where his Celestial Core Card and Wood were waiting for it. He felt like he had practiced the process sufficiently to let it run in the background, but he didn't want to. Instead, he observed how it wandered through his pathways and slowly made its way to its destination. Just an hour later, it was done.

He could see the three affinity cards hovering in his dantian; the Celestial Core Card outshining the other two. He was ready to cast his techniques; he just needed the qi to power them.

At breakfast, Elder Sun had warned Jianyi that he was close to unraveling another hint in his hunt for demonic cultists and cultivators and that he would take him along on a mission once he had a concrete lead. He was apparently of the opinion that it was good for him to be exposed to these situations and learn about the enemy. Jianyi agreed. Now he was rushing to the library, though, to finally buy his cultivation technique—or at least understand its cost.

Jianyi felt a slight regret that the young woman, who had helped him when he had been searching for a meridian opening technique, was not at the desk this early in the morning. Instead, an older man was looking forlorn at a bunch of wooden boxes that almost blocked the entrance to the reception room. He tore his gaze from the boxes and looked at Jianyi with a resigned expression.

"How can I help you disciple?"

"Good morning, senior. I am looking for a copy of the Eternal Spear Meditation."

"Oh, that is a rare one. Good for you, young man, good for you," interest seemed to temporarily overwhelm whatever had the man in a bind.

"You know that the Imperial Cycle Technique is free, right?"

"I do," Jianyi said while nodding.

"But I have high hopes for the Meditation."

"Good. Let me search for it. I should be back in just a few short breaths." The man vanished through one of the doors on the left side of the hall, and Jianyi studied the boxes standing around the room, but the only discerning mark on them was the sect emblem.

"It's a shame, you know." Jianyi turned around to the old man who had returned without him noticing.

"What is a shame, senior?"

"They are making us switch to imbued jade slips instead of beautiful calligraphy when transcribing techniques. They are saying it enables easier comprehension, but I personally think it is just a way to keep some of the apprentice formation crafters busy."

"That does sound like a big change," Jianyi said, trying to sound comforting while being quite intrigued about the jade slips. He had seen them in the inner sect library when returning scrolls for Elder Sun and had been curious about how they worked. The librarian sighed and placed a scroll on the counter.

"This is the Eternal Spear Meditation. I would have to make a copy, as we don't have any available. It will cost fifteen hundred contribution points." Jianyi grimaced. He didn't know for sure how many points he had, but it was likely less than that. He handed over his medallion.

"Would you mind checking how many points I have?" After a moment, the librarian handed it back.

"I am sorry, there are only twelve hundred points available." Jianyi's shoulders sagged. He was so close to finally getting there, but there was always a barrier. The librarian tapped his chin.

"I assume a young cultivator like yourself does not want to do a mortal's work?" he asked carefully, probably unwilling to offend a disciple wearing his nose in the sky. Shaking his head vigorously, Jianyi declined.

"Not at all, I worked in the kitchen as a dishwasher up until recently and currently work as a servant and tailor."

"Hmm, good. So, if you could help me carry these boxes into storage and would accept the first jade slip that I create, I can let you have it for your current points." Jianyi was elated. That would be three hundred contribution points saved, something that would take him six weeks to gain for being a servant for Elder Sun.

"That sounds like a very fair offer, senior. I am happy to help. Should there be a problem with the jade slip, could I return to you for your help?"

"Of course, I was told that it should be easy and I don't expect any problems, but should any arise, I would certainly make you a new one, after all, I don't want to stunt the growth of a disciple choosing such an exciting technique." Almost an hour later, Jianyi left the library with a jade slip in his storage ring. It had not been the first, but the third, as the librarian had stumbled through the process, but that didn't matter.

After classes, he could finally start to gather qi and prepare for life as a cultivator with powerful techniques at his command. However, he had barely set foot into the compound after his classes on history and natural treasures, when Elder Sun swept him up into a bubble of qi and raced down the mountain.