The Laws of Cultivation: Qi = MC^2

Chapter [B3] 16 — Earth Refining

It had taken me an entire day of being knocked out cold to gain any semblance of normalcy back again. I couldn’t really remember a time where I had slept that deeply. Certainly not after after I had become a cultivator.

But the relaxation and relief that had come from my long and rather restful sleep had been brief. Work had flooded me after my return. All sorts of responsibilities that I’d ignored over my nine day long trance, and the tenth day that I’d spent just sleeping to recover were not coming to bite me.

Still, I couldn’t complain much.

I walked around the sect, taking note of the people walking around, giving me rushed bows as they went to work on the tens of different projects that had sprang up all at once from my trance. All the different project that had certain key pieces of informations missing had now started to move along at rapid speeds and the workers seemingly had a fire lit under them as well.

That was just the direct result, there had been far more indirect results as well. Printing had begun rapidly from simply printing machines, that were quickly growing more complex and advanced as they began to create the diluted versions of my books that Qiao Ying had created to make them more understandable.

And apparently to suck out their power. That was still something I had to wrap my head around.

The books themselves had power stored in them as the first point of inception for entirely new ideas that revealed some fundamental truths about nature itself. That part was weird enough but they were apparently also like spirits that I had formed while writing, and may very well gain a life of their own. So to keep them safe, and to not have anyone who wanted to read them go mad or pass out from an information overload they needed to be slightly altered, and created without a source of power being whispered into them.

Just thinking about it made me shake my head in disbelief but I was aware that things like this existed. The perks of a magical world came with it’s own downsides but mostly I just felt glad that the books could in fact be replicated and shared. If just writing these things down was gonna make everyone be struck by tribulation I was going to be really pissed off.

My attention drifted from my thoughts for a moment as I felt a pulse flow into me. I looked nearby and saw one of the early copies of my books with an old man who read through them, his expression rapidly cycling.

From the looks of it, it’d almost seem like he was reading the most thrilling novel ever, and not a book about maths or science.

I moved along, not disturbing the man. As the printing presses began and the books began to be created, the pulses of Chi traveling to me had increased. I wasn’t quite sure what they meant, but it felt similar to when the roots of the divine tree in my spirit spread out into the land around me. Like a part of me was being sent out and making itself intertwined with the world. Everytime a new book was made and someone took a piece of the insights present within it, I could feel my words being imparted into them, and my spirit changing as they did.

It was a much lesser extent of a change compared to the ones I’d written on my own, barely a sliver, but I could feel it nonetheless.

There would be no impact from it right now. My cultivation wasn’t going to grow from these little threads. But if I could truly reach out to the people across the entire empire… the image of millions of these slivers, all of them tied to my soul and my words giving me just a small portion of their strength, with each thread eventually adding up to a roaring tide, washed over me.

My soul had changed as well. Or grown, was the more accurate word. The power I had gained upon drawing on the Chi from Xianwu had not truly settled within me up until now. Like I had been sitting on borrowed power I did not truly have the capacity to control. But now, it felt different, my spirit was more robust, and my power felt well and truly mine. I had grown, and in a matter of speaking, my vessel had as well.

With these thoughts running in my mind I walked into the herbal buildings for alchemy, before finding the chamber I was looking for. I was certainly busy, excessively so, but with a little bit of effort and some help from Qiao Ying I’d managed to find enough time to sit down with the Old Man for a lesson.

As I slid open the door, the Old Man looked at me with a smile.

“Ah, you’ve arrived. Come, come, sit down, I’ve been waiting,” he said, showing me my seat.

The Old Man’s enthusiasm brought a smile to my face as well. I did not get nearly enough time to sit down with the Old Man like this anymore, and that only made the time we did get all the more precious.

As I looked at the Old Man, standing with his usual cup of tea in hand and the look like he was about to reveal the secrets of the universe to me, I couldn’t help but feel like I was once again the ignorant child who had first opened his eyes here, not knowing the world around me, and excited by every little thing I saw.

In some ways, I was still that child. And I hoped that child never truly dies.

“Sorry, I was busy with things. You know how it is. You give them five books, and they go and make a whole thing about it,” I said, smiling at my own joke.

“Indeed. We’ve all heard of the books. I even got to see one. There are many fascinating things written in them, that this old fool does not truly grasp. Perhaps one day, I would be the one sitting there, and you would be the one teaching me of those,” the Old Man said, sipping his tea.

“Hah, perhaps. That would be something. But I do really am sorry, it’s been terribly difficult to find time before this, and I neglected our practice,” I replied, this time a bit more genuinely.

The old man nodded. “I understand Lu Jie. The burden of a sect are not light. Especially when put on such young shoulders like yours,” the old man said, glancing out the window as he did. “Though it is still cold, and the snow yet falls upon a winter landscape, it pleases this old man to see the life you bring to this place,” the old man said, his gaze returning to me.

“A sect is like a family, and the kind of person who leads them reflects itself within the sect. And right now, there is an energy that courses in this place, and the passion of youth.”

I scratched my cheek, feeling a little embarrassed at the praise.

“This does not mean you can grow complacent however. The challenges you face are still great, and difficulty in achieving them is to be expected,” the Old man replied.

I nodded.

Walking to his desk, the old man picked up a little knot of clothing carrying something within it. Bringing it closer to me, he opened the thread keeping it closed, revealing a lump of clay inside, as he put in on the table in front of me.

I could feel strong earth Qi coming from it.

“We’re going to start with refining this. Do you know what it is?” The Old Man asked.

“Spirit clay. Or something similar,” I replied.

“Indeed. It’s spirit clay, although this one is as of yet impure, but we can refine it. Make it pure, and extract it for use. Many artifacts, formation artists and alchemist use these to craft all sorts of things. Many mortals things alchemy is merely about refining herbs into pills and elixirs, but the truth couldn’t be further from it. It is an art of the five elements, and of creation and purification,” the old man said.

“So, how’re we going to do this?” I asked, looking at the lump of clay.

I’d worked with spirit herbs before, and I’d used some earth elements but never with straight up clay like this.

“First, I will show you how to do it, by demonstrating the task. Your goal will be to observe and get a feel for how I manipulate the earth and coax it into shedding it’s impurities. Then, I will create a pill from it, and you can use that pill to feel the earth Qi, before you can control it and guide it to absorb the impurities and reforge your vessel,” the old man said, and I nodded back.

Getting up from where he sat, he took the clay with him and walked up to his cauldron. I followed him, watching him work.

“First we simply put the clay in and turn on the flames to let any water evaporate,” the old man said, as the fires lit up with a flick of his wrist, igniting underneath the cauldron.

“Then, as the clay soaks in the heat and begins to harden, we give it some pure water infused with Qi,” the old man said, before adding some water into the cauldron. “The thing with this pill in particular, is patience. Unlike others pills, the earth Qi moves slowly and thus, having patience and knowing when to simply observe is important,” the old man said.

I continued to watch the clay, as it soaked in the Qi water, turning more malleable again, all the while the heat from the cauldron continued to morph and shape it.

It mostly just looked like muddy water from my eyes, but I could sense the potent Qi swirling inside.

“Now, watch as slowly the color starts to become darker. The impurities are lighter, so they will rise to the top. But they also stick, so you must coax them out before separating them from the clay,” the old man said.

Like he’d mentioned, the process was slow, the clay gradually letting out more and more dark substance that began to mix into the water. I almost started to lose attention, not finding much to observe, but just as my attention began to fade, the old man spoke once more.

“Now is the critical time. Watch how the impurities have formed a layer. If you go too long, the water will simply boil away and the layer will mix back with your clay, so you must act quickly and rapidly,” the old man said, as his own Qi moved. With a single gesture, I saw the dark impurities get collected in. A blob that were pulled out of the clay, flowing in the air, the old man grabbed the blob of water in his wrist, condensing it down as steam came from his fingers and a second later, he showed me a black pill.

“This is the impurity we have extracted. Though we call it impurity, really, it is a mixture of elements that themselves can be of use in many different kind of pills and substances when properly utilised,” he said, putting the pill in his pocket before he turned back to the cauldron.

“Now, with the clay refined, it is time to condense it,” the old man said. Picking up some dark brown herbs with a powerful earthy smell, he added them to the cauldron. Qi began to boil and bubble forth from the inside, swirling around, as the clay began to mix with the herbs. The essence of the herbs were realized, rapidly being absorbed by the clay as it was cooked, turning lighter and lighter.

The old man guided the contents inside, until it was a small smooth light brown pill. With ease he picked out the pill from inside, and put it in my hand.

I looked at the pill, feeling a powerful earth Qi coming from within it.

“Now eat it Lu Jie, and feel the earth Qi, before guiding it inside your spirit,” the old man instructed.

Following his words, I ate the pill, feeling it dissolve slowly. There was more substance to it, as I swallowed and I found it sitting in my dantian instead of melting away.

“From you expression, it seems the pill is working. Unlike most pills, earth Qi based pills are heavy and do not melt away so easily,” the old man said with a smile.

I felt the pill soaking in the Chi around it, slowly mingling together melting away, little by little. I felt the earth Qi it released when it mixed, before releasing the energy in my dantian. I controlled the energy, guiding it.

“Try to feel it and control how it flows through your spirit. Let it soak your Chi, and settle you, adding onto your vessel,” the old man said.

I circled my Chi, as the pill melted faster, before I began to swirl the Qi around inside my body. The Qi began to swim, heavy and heavy, soaking in the excess Chi in my spirit.

Almost immediately, I could feel the relief of the energy being drained from me as the pill continued to absorb, and I continued to channel the energy.

Yet, to my lament, the pill vanished rather quickly, leaving me wanting for more as the bundle of Chi continued to swirl around my dantian.

The old man gave a smile. “That much alone will not be enough to control things. Your spirit has grown, and you hold your powers better now, but still there is far too much that yet remains. And what these pills can do will only be temporary,” the old man said.

“Which is why now you need try and make your own,” he said, touching the cauldron.

I nodded, getting up and ready to start forming the pill when a boy suddenly opened the gate.

I looked sideways, frowning and he hurriedly bowed his head.

“Apologies,” he said, looking at the old man before turning towards me. “Qiao Ying has called asked this one to call for you.”

I looked at old man.

Old Man sighed, waving his hand. “Go, and see to your responsibilities. We can continue later.”

I gave the old man a smile, nodding before I followed the boy as I made my way out.

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