Volume 2-Chapter 21

Chapter 21

~~~~Tai Su~~~~

Cultivator culture is a martial culture and this carries certain expectations on one's behavior. You could be rude, you could insult people, you could beat other people up and even kill them if the circumstances were just right, and do so with few if any consequences, however, while you were doing all that, you had to act with a certain level of dignity and restraint.

Your insults can't be too harsh, your rudeness never too obvious, fights must never happen outside of areas specially prepared for it, and while killing is allowed, you must have a good enough reason for it, and no 'losing a fight otherwise' is not a good reason, despite what I've heard individuals from other worlds might think is normal.

We are not animals, if society carried a constant risk of dying just by randomly existing in it, no cultivator would ever bother with it and our own culture was born out of our own willingness to interact with one another. Regardless of all that, all our interactions carry a certain reality, one that none of us can deny.

Each cultivator is a massive investment of resources on behalf of their sects and the Empire of the Blazing Sun, but each of us also had an almost biological need to fight each other. It came natural to us to test our ever expanding limits, to become better than we were before and prove it to the world.

Due to the reality that the Empire had to accommodate the need of its very expensive investments beating each other up, cultivators have developed a dueling culture to allow any of us to test ourselves against one another in a controlled enough manner.

Dueling had multiple purposes, from allowing cultivators to understand each other's skills and mentality in a way that can't be faked, to upholding one's honor and most importantly determining the pecking order, because cultivation was also highly hierarchical.

The strong are always worth more than the weak and are expected to be the first to jump into the battle to prove it. Because of this, the strongest must take the lead, and Rui Min and I were about to determine who that someone will be.

We were standing in a stone circle painted with the emblem of the Half-Moon Sect as we regarded one another. There were a few onlookers, members of the local banners judging by their armor and boots, but all they did was give us a quick look before moving on to their duties.

"Do you not carry a weapon? Or are you looking down on me? If not, I'd suggest you learn to use a weapon before even thinking of challenging me." The woman asked with a raised eyebrow.

Oh, we're doing pre-fight banter? It seems she was instructed to make friends as well, as that is usually reserved for friendly bouts, unless her sect did things differently in that regard, but that was unlikely.

It wasn't the best banter, but it wasn't like we knew each other well enough to personalize our insults. It might also be that she was testing the waters to see which insults were actually landing.

"I normally fight with a spear, but I am just as capable with my fists. Unfortunately the suddenness of our deployment meant I didn't get the time to finish attuning to a weapon. I don't know about you, but I'd rather not pick any weapon I find on the ground." I replied cordially.

At the first tier, our weapons could be infused with Qi to grant them extra durability if one knew some alchemists and formation masters, but once we Ascended into the Second Tier more was needed to prevent accidentally breaking them, which meant you needed to use Liquid Qi. If you were to only inject Liquid Qi into them, then you also risked having outside Qi just burning itself into the weapon, which reduced it's durability due to the damage.

Even if the procedure didn't reduce the durability of the weapon, it was, generally speaking, a bad idea to not have a weapon that readily responded to your Qi.

Attuning, or Quenching a weapon, was the solution for that, as a cultivator would take a specially crafted weapon and with the help of a Formation Master or a Talisman Master slowly Attune it to their own Qi over the course of several days. This allowed some of the more skilled practitioners to actually use techniques through their weapons, which was one of the few ways second tiers could use the Qi outside of their bodies.

The woman winced in sympathy at my word, as it seems to be a rather common issue among second tiers.

"It almost happened to me as well, I just finished attuning my sword a day before having to leave for the mission, after my last one broke. It's good to see you so confident in your fists, that means you won't have any reason to complain once I'm done pummeling you into the ground." The woman declared as she unsheathed her blade.

The blade was strange compared to what other swords I've seen in the Empire, it was both thin and straight and strangely silver. It fit with the theme her sect seemed to be going with, as it matched her black robes and silver stars emblazoned on it, even if it wasn't the same type of sword as the one on her sect's emblem.

Most of the blades I've seen were long and thick, or curved and thinner to accommodate that, but this sword was the thinnest I've seen in this life. Seeing something so thin it almost reminded me of a rapier put me on guard as I tried to remember what I knew of them. They were sharp and built mostly for stabbing and moving past one's guard, but they could leave shallow cuts with their edges.

So, a maneuverable foe that prefers precision strikes. They usually can't take a good hit, not without having their fighting ability reduced greatly.

Both of us took our fighting stance with me raising my fists and my opponent taking a strange pose with her sword above her free hand and pointed down.

I raised my hands up and arrange my feet in a defensive position, ceding initiative.

The woman looked strangely at me but the time for talking was over, now was the time for fighting.

Normally the individual with the shortest range would take the initiative to try and close down the distance, but I decided not to bother for a single reason. I am not an agile fighter by cultivator standards, and considering that I have just Ascended to the Second Tier, moving too much would put me at a disadvantage thanks to my lower reserves.

She has let me know that she has been a Practitioner for far longer than I've been when she said that her last sword broke, which meant several years at the very minimum. None of my spears broke yet and I've used one for years on end and I know perfectly well that Qi infusion makes them even more resilient than normal.

Rui Min has more experience with moving at the Second Tier, she probably has greater reserves and is definitely more mobile. Me trying to close the distance, meant that she got to be anywhere but where I wasn't, but if I was on the defensive then she had to come close and if I timed things right I could hit her and use her attempts at attacking me against her.

She changed her stance, the tip of her sword rising from the ground up into the air as she positioned herself to attack.

I felt the Qi start pumping through my meridians and dantian, I felt the rush, the sort of completeness that made my previous attempts at using techniques amateurish, and so I started using the only proper body enhancing technique I knew, Copper Temple Foundation.

Before becoming a second tier cultivator, I could only maintain it for a minute on my entire body before having my muscles become too sore. But now I felt like I could hold it up for ten times as long at least before exhausting my reserves and still be left with my muscles just as capable of moving as before.

My qi took the properties of Refined Copper Qi, the easiest metal to do that with and suddenly, the Qi enhancements became easier, my muscles responded faster, and I keenly felt the talismans in my pouch which was saturated with my blood Qi.

I drew one just as the woman charged towards me and I felt the way the Qi wished to burn, and so I let it and threw it at my foe.

The woman tried to cut it in two to neutralize it, a common enough strategy which made me smile. Her eyes widened in shock as the writing on the talisman became visible to her. The paper didn't have just one circuit, but seven drawing in the same Qi.

It didn't matter that she cut one or two of them down, she would need to cut down all seven of the circuits to stop the reaction. All she did was turn one talisman into two now and both of them glued themselves to her, one to her forehead where I originally threw it and one to her left hand and then they burned.

They were a personal invention, one that took longer to make than normal ones and that I've yet to be able to test in actual combat. I was glad to see that the design was actually working as intended.

"You'll pay for that!" She shouted indignantly as her forehead glowed with heat more akin to lava.

The burn didn't stop her from swinging unfortunately and I was forced to dodge.

Copper Temple Foundation did many, many things, but the one thing it didn't do was help you take a hit, even if it could help you hit harder. It was a training technique, one even First Tier Water Meridians could learn to use and one that people would abandon quickly for it's advanced form Bronze Grand Temple Technique. While it was far more difficult to pull off, and offered reduced benefits in Qi control compared to it's predecessor, the technique offered far more benefits in the body strengthening department, while maintaining most of the other enhancements, if at a slightly reduced level.

One slash nearly cut my head off, the second left a silver streak that even as it missed, it moved beyond the sword to burn into my flesh and uniform. I felt the flesh and my clothes sizzle and I realized what technique the woman was using.

Elder Shen Xifeng educated all of us in the common metal Qi enhancing technique and the other common Qi enhancing techniques, and the burning effect meant that what she was using was Immaculate Silver Tower technique. It was characterized by strong offensive prowess, as it had the ability to leave streams of 'purified' Qi in one's wake and enhanced the power of techniques, but offered no strength, mental or sensory enhancements, unlike most other Metal Qi Enhancement techniques.

It is an almost purely offensive technique, one meant to allow second tiers to hit above their weight class and gain a ranged attack. It also had the benefit of overwhelming other types of Qi and easing the cleansing of the body from them.

I deflected her sword strike with my left arm and strangely it didn't hurt despite the silver Qi that should be coating it, but I ignored the sensation and punched Rui Min squarely in the face. She was shorter than me the difference between us making it so that, strangely, her face was in the spot were punching it was the easiest thing I could do.

The woman's head dodged my strike and she took the chance to back off from our engagement.

A strange smell hit me, it was faint and mixed with something else, but the smell was unmistakable. It was blood, my own blood, my nose easily capable of noticing the difference.

I looked down and saw that despite feeling fine, my fist and my left side were cut into and bleeding. I pushed Qi into both and I felt how the Copper Qi was burning through a sort of Qi that reminded me of one of the Wood Qi elder Shen Xifeng showed me once. I burned the last of the strange Qi and then the burning pain came back as my nervous system once more operated as it should.

"An anesthetic, really?" I asked her.

Her silver Qi was a distraction to allow her sword to bleed you dry without noticing. If you were to realize the type of Qi she was using to enhance herself with, then you wouldn't expect the anesthetic, as Silver Qi was the exact opposite of subtle and painless to those it entered into.

Silver Qi was virulent and destructive to anything but its user and other silver Qi users. Nobody would expect wounds they aren't feeling when facing a cultivator they know uses Silver Qi techniques.

The woman looked unimpressed at my words and raised an eyebrow as her forehead and hand still haven't fully healed from my burning talismans, even if the Talismans were long gone.

"So speaks a craftsman with the physique of a bruiser. Copper Qi has a sticky texture, it tends to make effects last longer, it's not something most fighters use or expect to face, but it is the favored Qi type of craftsmen." The woman observed as her scars were finally healing.

I shrugged.

"I am not a craftsman at heart, people tend to underestimate copper qi just because it doesn't offer any direct battle enhancements, such as stronger hits or better defenses, it just improves your control and helps cleanse anything foreign." I said simply.

It was also the only Qi-Enhancing technique I knew and could use, but with the exception of learning the Bronze Grand Temple technique, I doubt I'll bother with learning any others. None of them managed to draw my eye when I read about them and of the two Copper Temple Foundation was far more useful in my opinion, as it enhanced your techniques and Qi control to a greater extent than its more advanced sibling.

The woman charged at me again, but this time she had one eye on my pouch and, instead of overcommitting to one lounge, she decided to try and wear me down with light cuts.

It was unfortunately working, because Rui Min could move faster than me, but all I needed was an opening, one I took as soon as it was offered to me and punched straight through her guard with all of my might and into her chest and blew her several chi* away. Whisps of my Liquid Qi leaked into her and the woman puked blood from my Qi ravaging through her lungs.

She didn't fall from her feet, but she was still panting from the lack of air and the pain of cleansing my Qi from her meridians and lungs. Copper Qi may not be as virulent as Silver Qi, but it was still 'sticky' as she called it, it could linger and held a lesser version of the same virulence Silver Qi had. Also, when two different types of Qi met, the result was rarely positive for the body they did so in, something she was no doubt learning on her own skin.

She cleaned the blood from her mouth and gave me a vicious smile, she was getting quite excited and I could feel my own blood start pumping harder.

"Do you wish to continue this?" She asked me, her tone getting more excited with each word.

At the third exchange our 'duel' would be getting serious, which means that this will turn from a mere spar into an actual fight.

I considered it, this battle was relatively short and was meant to be a friendly duel, but overall, I was already losing. My reserves were already at half, she already managed to find out all of my hidden cards, while she probably still has some hidden.

We both have drawn blood from one another, so it could be said to be a draw, but I knew that the situation was untenable for me in the long term and this was only our second exchange. I could maybe eke out a win if I was willing to empty my talisman reserves, but I'd rather not waste them in a duel that won't get me anything.

Not like I was in a good position either, my wounds may be shallow, but there were plenty of them and closing them was slow, as I needed to first find them. which I doubt she'll allow me the time to do so while we fought.

"No, I believe this is your win then." I admitted and bowed in respect.

The woman returned the gesture with a far too smug smile, but it was her victory so I had to bear it.

"Now that my superiority is obvious, it's time to get you to a healer to see to your wounds junior!" The woman declared, her tone peppy and carefree.

She then came and started dragging me to the nearest medical tent. Or at least she tried to, none of us knew where that was after all.

'Hopefully they have someone that can fix up my uniform too.'

I have spares, but they are in the ship and I'm not sure how to approach going after them while being dragged by an overtly energetic woman trying to find a medical tent for both of us to make sure we were well. I packed them as an after thought, one that considering that sect master Fu Jian lead me out of the ship without bothering with told me, that he believed that it was probably for the best that I didn't bother with them.

~~~~ Fu Jian~~~~

Seeing the younger generation get along will never stop being entertaining, and most importantly useful. The 'victor' of the bout was a wealth of information on what the Stellar Blade Sect considers promising youths and if they changed any of their techniques and ways of thinking.

The answer was that their thinking remained the same, they just got trickier about it, even if they remain about as ill-tempered and quick to anger.

"A well-earned victory for your niece Yao." I praised lightly, my face showing nothing but a soft smile.

The man looked like he ate a lemon, which was certainly amusing, as always. All three of us were some distance away from the two Practitioner's bout under stealth to ensure nobody short of other elders will bother us.

"You continue to have your fighting style made specifically to counter ours." My old friend said, his tone neutral.

I could feel the lightest form of stress in his words, which told me a lot more than the man probably wished me to know.

On paper it was a victory for Practitioner Rui Min and her sect, but In actuality, while Tai Su had lost, it is my sect that won this bout and my friend knew it.

Tai Su had only Ascended yesterday, while his opponent has been a second Tier for years and is far older. She was good and obviously skilled judging from what I could see of her, because if she wasn't, she wouldn't be here. Her strategy with the poisoned blade and silver Qi gambit was genuinely clever and well thought out, but her performance was lacking in comparison to Tai Su as far as all of us were concerned.

Her victory was assured, she was older, more advanced in her cultivation and has had experience with fighting others of her tier. Her victory was a question of how she won, as opposed to if, and the woman won by attrition due to having higher reserves.

"They lost an equivalent amount of Qi, despite that Rui Min is at four fifths full and young Tai Su is at half. Is he a recent Ascension?" Gao Li asked.

All three of us have decided to postpone our talks while the two disciples fought as the fight would set the tone of our conversation.

"Born with Water Meridians as well, he has Ascended yesterday actually. He is one of my own Personal Disciple's own protegees, so it was to be expected that he will acquit himself well." I replied.

My answer seemed to surprise the two men, which I suppose was fair.

Tai Su had one and a half as much Qi capacity as someone who has just advanced to the Second Tier should have, thanks to his and his family's strange plans in regards to childbirth.

This allowed him to increase his reserves more than was usual for his tier and allowed his Ascension to not leave him fully drained and unable to do anything more than walk for a day or two. It unfortunately, didn't seem to come with any actual advantages that couldn't be gained by just cultivating for a few weeks more at the second tier.

A pity, I was curious if his plan might provide any tangible results, but it seems that oversaturating the body with Qi before Ascending did not provide any benefits at the next tier.

The young man has fought while preserving his advantages and having his opponent abandon hers. The Stellar Blade Sect focuses on mobility and reducing the chances of having damage inflicted on them and wearing their opponents down, while the Blazing Fist Sect focuses entirely on countering that with powerful attacks and an ability to push through damage.

In two hits my own Practitioner, technically, did more damage than the many cuts and near cuts of Yao Min's protege, and the only reason the Qi loss was even being due to Tai Su needing to purge the poison out of his body, but that was semantics.

If the two were of a similar age, or had been cultivating for just as long, then those two hits would have been enough to change the result and that is how Elders and Masters judge a fight among our juniors. We judge not on the end result, but the trajectory that our junior's development takes, and so far it seems that my own junior's trajectory will take him further.

"Yes, but now that our diversion is done and the two of you have finished preening over your prized stallions, we have matters to discuss." Gao Lin declared, all traces of cordiality gone from his voice.

Yao Min and I nodded, both of us were here to assist them with their Sect Trials. We have imposed on their generosity to postpone the talks until after our Practitioners finished their duel, but now it was time to talk of more important matters.

"Where will the two of them be assigned to, and where do you need either of us?" I asked bluntly.

Gao Li looked at us evenly before sighing.

"Sect master Fu Jian, could you please run interference in the mountain? The Spider Elders have been getting a bit too cocky with their responses and are in a dire need of a reminder that just because our Sect Mistress is busy, that doesn't mean they get to do as they wish." Gao Lin asked back

He knew that he can't order me around, I was a Nascent Soul after all, and so he had to ask me if I agreed to my position first. Also I noted the fact that he ignored the first part of my question.

That wasn't like him, as those obsessed with Propriety do not ignore the words of those above them, but I let it slide. I just nodded at his words and gave him a thin smile.

I could my hands clench and unclench as they imagined what it would be like to rip the life out of spiders again. Good, just being here made me feel things I didn't want to remember and I could use some targets to vent my anger on.

"It's been a while since I managed to kill any, they always seem to run when I approach, so hopefully these ones are a bit braver than most. Do you think they will throw any serious offensives this year?" I asked.

The elder didn't take long to think about it and answered without delay.

"Unlikely, perhaps a few skirmishers and beasts thrown in remote areas, but little that is actually substantial. They are preserving their forces for the main event in a few years from what we can gather." He answered and then turned towards Hao Min.

"Hao Min, we need your expertise in the south-east near the Iron Fan Prefecture, the spiders have concocted a new plant abomination and while we have been able to squash it, you are one of the few elders that have come who is specialized in exterminating the plant life. We need you to check on it and purge it again if we missed a spot." He said.

My brow furrowed.

Plant life extermination already? That's not a duty you to entrust to just about anyone, especially a former rebel. Must be that damn scammer's decision based on whatever nonsense she calls portents. I never believed in Divination and I won't start now and if that woman didn't manage to reach Nascent Soul, I doubt anyone else would have either.

That's probably why the man ignored my question of our Practitioner's position, probably something about how 'saying such out loud is an ill omen' or such nonsense.

"I will not disappoint." Hao Min declared solemnly.

"Good, if that is all, then my job here is done. I need to go coordinate the other guest elders, Sect Master Fu Jian, Elder Hao Min." The elder said stiffly and bowed deeply to both of us.

He immediately started flying to the next pair of elders awaiting him.

"You need to be less hostile Fu, insulting another master so openly? I know you still hate Xiyin, but still, you shouldn't insult her so openly in front of her elders or her family while in her territory." Hao Min said as he moved closer to me.

I regarded my old friend coldly. Both of us became cultivators in the same year and have been great friends centuries ago. I still considered him such, even after his sect decided to go crazy and I became a Nascent Soul. That being said, there were limits to our friendship, limits that have been made clearer and more defined by time and distance.

"I'll speak of my ex-wife as I please Hao. I have earned that right and if the whore thinks otherwise, then she can come and say so to my face." I said coldly.

My former wife has avoided me ever since she decided to cheat on me and get pregnant when we were both on the edge of Ascending to the Third Tier. Why she did so eludes me, especially as she would have had to pay for the elixir to get pregnant in the first place.

There was an unspoken rule among cultivators, a year is a blink of an eye, a decade is short and a century last longer than a marriage if one is not smart about it. Expecting your spouse to not sleep around after a century of marriage is asking for much, and so when that happened we mostly ignore it, at least as long as it was kept subtle and it is a one-off with another individual.

Becoming pregnant takes consistent effort and resource investments to ensure it happens, and after our last children decided they didn't want to become cultivators, both of us decided to not bother with having any more to spare us the heartache.

Then, twenty years later she has a child that isn't my own and our marriage broke the night I learned of it.

The man knew the story, he was one of the men that helped put me back on my feet after the day I found it. It's those dark days when he had my back and helped put me back on my feet that made me still consider him a friend after his sect decided to go crazy and become rebels.

Hao Min sighed and thankfully let the matter drop.

We should probably talk some more before we go on our mission, but what to talk about? Hmmm… he and the young girl were probably related from what my senses told me, and I don't remember him being married last we talked. That should probably be a safe enough topic.

"What have you been up to since we last talked? Don't think I didn't notice the familial resemblance between you and Rui Min, or the fact you possess the same family name." I asked him.

The man went a bit red in the cheeks as he realized where I was getting to.

"She is my granddaughter actually, one of several. I should probably prepare for my part of the mission." He admitted sheepishly and tried to leave.

I put my hand on his shoulder to stop him. The man was an avowed bachelor last I spoke with him and now I learn he has grandchildren? I need to learn more of this.

"Oh no, you're not getting rid of me that easily junior. We have some time until nightfall and we can use it to talk and rekindle our friendship." I said jovially.

And that's how the two of us ended spending up hours discussing the intricacies of our own sect's marriage and family systems.

Just like old times.

AN: New units of measurement.

chi is 0.33 meters, a zhang is 3.33 meters, a li is 500 meters.