by Tao Wong
“You dare!” You Rou snarled. Incensed by being injured, he swirled the whisk faster than ever. Instead of a single large character, he sketched multiple smaller ones. “Sixth form—the Fortified Pass!”
Wu Ying was not sitting still, darting forward with his sword held aloft and ready. Not knowing what his opponent could unleash, he was a little cautious of committing to his own attack. His defense was soon put to the test when the multiple characters honed in on Wu Ying. Those characters, Wu Ying knew, were from an older poem, the first line so innocuous—“The bright moon lifts from the Mountains of Heaven.”
Rather than wait for the characters to explode, Wu Ying swung his sword at them. A surge of chi down the sword extended the weapon, the blade growing farther than he expected. That worked for him though, for as he kept the energy flowing, he struck at the formed words. One character after the other was broken apart, but he was unable to finish them all.
The remaining two characters split, forming ropes that spun around Wu Ying’s moving form. He saw the threads they left in the air, but rather than waste further time, he dodged through the gap formed by the two threads. As he came out from the simple jump-skip, he swung his jian at You Rou.
You Rou backed away, blocking with his whisk. The tendrils around the weapon, glistening with ice, captured Wu Ying’s sword and blocked its movements. The weapons froze for a second, with Wu Ying trying to pull his back. But each second of connection saw the ice creep farther down his weapon.
“Fool.” You Rou raised his foot, easily avoiding the foot sweep Wu Ying attempted, before he murmured, “Eleventh Form—Farewell to a Friend.”
Ice exploded, flooding up Wu Ying’s sword, encasing his hand and arm. It raced for his shoulder, intent on freezing him entirely. Wu Ying felt the ice chi invading his body, digging into his muscles, his bones and meridians. Desperately, Wu Ying reacted on instinct, flooding chi through his body. Environmental chi entered through his aura and along his sword, reacted to his commands. Along with his own chi from his dantian, it surged down his arm to combat the ice.
Wood chi, unaspected personal chi, and more swept in, battling You Rou’s ice chi. Pain erupted along Wu Ying’s nerves, burnt his bones, and forced his hand to clench tightly around the weapon. The forming ice shattered in reverse, the energy being forced down Wu Ying’s arm building quickly. Rather than let it injure himself, Wu Ying pushed the energy into the wooden sword, forcing it down the weapon. A dark brown glow suffused the green-blue ice of their locked weapons, You Rou’s eyes widening as he pumped chi in retaliation.
And still, the glow increased, their energy clashing. Wu Ying could not stop the flow now, not even if he wanted to. His eyes scrunched, his teeth gritted as he fought the pain and desperately tried for control. All he could do was ride out the explosion of energy and ensure it did not release itself into his own body in an unfortunate display of incompetence.
“Are you insane!” You Rou shouted. Rather than fight, he twitched his hand, moving the whisk off-line, intent on detaching himself. The ice binding both weapons shattered not a moment too soon.
The built-up energy of Wu Ying’s expenditure unleashed itself, a chi-blast of sword intent and energy mixing. The resulting attack was visible to the naked eye, brown-and-white light exploding through the air and shattering the built-up ice around sword and arm, just missing You Rou. The energy released conjured up storm winds, buffeting Wu Ying’s opponent even as the sword strike struck the energy barrier.
And pierced it.
Luckily, the entire attack had been pointed upward, and the energy dispersed in the atmosphere. Still, shouts of alarm and the clanging of a destroyed defensive shield echoed, even as Wu Ying’s attack continued to flood the air. Bright light, so bright that Wu Ying had to squint, danced through the air, tiny tornadoes of chi forming around the shining attack. The sword Wu Ying held glowed, energy leaking through cracks in the weapon itself.
“Control yourself!” Li Yao shouted from below, even as other martial cultivators reinforced the barrier.
You Rou, thrown to the ground by the attack, scrambled backward with whisk in hand, scooting away on his bum. Eyes wide, a long cut across one cheek bled freely and was ignored.
Then calamity struck again.
The practice sword, a simple weapon of hard redwood, was never meant to contain such energy. Its structural integrity, compromised by the flooding energy, exploded, blade edge giving way. Splinters of wood flew through the air, striking Wu Ying and You Rou, bouncing off the newly restored barrier.
Falling backward, Wu Ying clutched his bloody hand, face streaked with blood as surface wounds covered his body. Silence fell across the training grounds, broken only by the muted groans from Wu Ying and You Rou’s whimpering. The frozen stillness was broken by a shout, Li Yao urging the martial cultivators to drop the shield they had just reinforced.
Wu Ying ignored the screams, battling the pain that crested and began to subside. Lethargy took its place as his drained energy sought to pull him into unconsciousness. He fought it down, forcing his injured hand open to see a marvel. For the wounds he had suffered—wooden shards and splinters driven into his hand—were closing. Thankfully, whether it was his new constitution or his old training, the injuries were not as extensive as they had first felt. More wondrously, wooden splinters slid out as though they were greased with oil.
Each moment of healing seemed to drain Wu Ying though, his body struggling to fix the issues by borrowing energy from his dantian. As martial cultivators rushed to aid him, bearing compresses and pills, Wu Ying fought to cultivate, to fill the void that his miraculous healing was creating.
A smack on the top of his head made Wu Ying look up, only to see Li Yao’s worried face. “You idiot! What were you doing?”
Wu Ying had to wonder, as he swallowed a pill forced onto him, the answer to that question. Stupid. Dangerous. Foolhardy actions.
Why had he done it?
And more importantly.
What had he done?
Chapter 7
“Again,” Senior Hou said, his voice filled with disgust. “Do you think our presence cheap? Or have you fallen for me? For I must decline. I have taken a vow of celibacy until I acquire my Core.”
“No!” Wu Ying said, shocked.
Senior Hou stabbed Wu Ying harder with a needle, twisting it slightly. “Oh, am I not good enough for you?”
“No,” Wu Ying said hastily. “You’re fine. Quite fine. I just…” Then, spotting the glint of humor in Senior Hou’s eyes, he rolled his own. “There’s someone I think you should meet.”
“Oh?” An arched eyebrow.
“Cultivator Wang. He’d appreciate your… humor.” Wu Ying winced as another needle stabbed into his body.
Senior Hou was conducting acupuncture treatments as well as cupping his body to release bad blood a day later after Wu Ying’s mishap. Strangely enough, while the damage from the exploding sword had been fixed by his own body, the injuries he had sustained from the cold attack and the shards of ice had not healed. Or, at least, Wu Ying assumed the scratches that hadn’t healed were from the ice. They might have been left behind when the accelerated healing he had managed to conjure up ended prematurely as his chi ran out.
“Now, tell me again about this healing,” Senior Hou said. “I want to make sure we have the full details.”
Wu Ying happily complied, detailing everything that had happened. In the corner, Liu Tsong was listening as she mixed the tonic that had been prescribed. Both inner sect members were deeply interested in the entire episode. As Wu Ying understood it, Senior Hou’s report would even make its way to the Elder herself. Wood elemental bodies were rather rare, and what he had done was even rarer.
By the time Wu Ying wound down, Senior Hou was done with his ministrations and was packing away his implements. He finished carefully storing the sterilized needles, rolling the cloth bundle together and slipping it into his storage ring before he spoke.
“You
need to find a proper cultivation manual, and soon. Look for works similar to what you encountered, or that could improve your circulation, like this incident. While you have injured yourself mildly, the actual incident has released further toxins.” Senior Hou gestured at the bundles of stained cloths, toxins and darkened blood muting their grey colors.
“Nice! So if I blow myself up a few more times, I should be fine,” Wu Ying joked.
“While enlightenment may be found by the fool easier, it is through their clear and untainted viewpoint of the Dao,” Master Cheng’s voice cut through the room, freezing the three inner sect cultivators. “Not because one is playing the fool.”
“Master!” Wu Ying got up and bowed, holding his hands in a close-fisted salute. “I was just joking with Senior Hou.”
“Mmmm… I had not realized Senior Hou had such poor taste in humor,” Master Cheng said dryly.
Senior Hou bowed to Master Cheng once more, shooting a glare at Wu Ying for staining his reputation. He then hastily beat a retreat, his pale green and blue robes swirling around him. Liu Tsong, sensing the situation, joined Senior Hou, leaving Wu Ying to deal with his annoyed teacher.
“First, you injure yourself while cultivating.” Wu Ying made to object, but Master Cheng kept talking. “Understandable. Neither one of us expected even a simple test to cause an issue. We should have considered it, knowing how little we do of body cultivation. But vaguely acceptable.
“Now, you have injured yourself sparring with another. After you have just recovered. Tell me, what prompted you to take on his challenge? Such a headstrong action is not what I would expect from you, Wu Ying. From others perhaps. But you have shown better, more mature judgment. Or did the breakup affect you that greatly?”
Wu Ying withstood the tirade. Rather than be embarrassed, he actually felt confused. For while Wu Ying had been annoyed by Senior Hou, he had also been excited. Even more so when he touched the sword.
“There’s something I need to tell you,” Wu Ying said. He quickly explained his experience with the weapon, the heady rush he’d felt. The strange symbiosis. And since he was on the subject, the accelerated healing. When he finally fell silent, Master Cheng no longer looked annoyed but contemplative.
“This entire episode, it speaks of something more than a normal elemental body,” Master Cheng said. “An effect of your bloodline?”
Wu Ying could only shrug.
“It seems we must accelerate the search. I was hoping we had more time to look into other options at other sects,” Master Cheng said. “Are you fit to travel?”
Wu Ying blinked at the sudden change of topic. “I’m mostly healed. Tired. My chi stores are low…” Drawing more energy from the world, while automatic for him now, still required time. “But I could travel.”
“Good. I will speak with Elder Yun about your friend’s journey. It would be safer for you to travel together,” Master Cheng said. “I believe he has already begun organizing a visit, so the faster schedule should be a small matter.”
Wu Ying nodded, though a part of him wondered why he had not been invited to join his friend already. Then again, he had been in recovery for the past few months.
“You should cultivate and recuperate. Travel through the winter will be hard enough, even without your injuries.” His master hesitated before he lowered his voice. “Do not forget, you have made enemies as well.”
Wu Ying shivered, reminded once more that the dark sect lurked in the shadows. Even if they had pulled back during the winter months to consolidate their holdings, rumors of action abounded. There were always rumors of their actions, from bandits to wandering cultivators disappearing.
“Master, about that…” He watched his master’s face darken. “Will you… are you and Elder Sister…?”
“Do not concern yourself with such matters for now. You are of no use in the upcoming fight until you have healed. Clear your mind and focus.” Having said his piece, the Elder spun on his heels and stalked out of the room.
Eventually, Wu Ying shifted to a proper stance and began cultivation. Even spurred on by his Master’s words, it took him a while to clear his mind of his dark concerns.
***
Later that evening, Tou He arrived with Yu Kun, Li Yao, and an unwelcome guest, You Rou. Wu Ying watched as Auntie Yi showed them into his sitting room, and he came to speak with them once he was presentable. Thankfully, that meant retying his hair and brushing down his robes.
After the usual greetings—a little stiffer and colder with You Rou than the others—and concerned inquiries about his health, the topic of conversation turned to the upcoming trip.
“Really, Wu Ying. Inviting yourself on my trip. You could just have asked,” Tou He said teasingly.
“Maybe I had to because someone didn’t.”
“I would have, if you weren’t always injured lately,” Tou He said.
“Mmm… who was the one who damaged his foundation on our first expedition?” Wu Ying said. “For that matter, how much of your life essence have you burnt?”
You Rou frowned, turning to Tou He. “You’ve burnt your life essence? Do you not know how damaging that is?”
“Of course he does,” Yu Kun said. The ex-wandering cultivator with the single strip of unshorn hair in the center of his head snorted at You Rou. Wu Ying was not oblivious to the tension between the two, one a noble, the other a poor peasant like himself and, potentially even worse, a wandering cultivator from a distant clan. “Some of us have had to work hard to get where we are. Not everyone is gifted with guards and pills.”
“Some of us are just gifted,” You Rou replied.
Li Yao, watching the pair snipe at one another, shook her head and turned worried eyes on Wu Ying. “Are you leaving again? You know, it’s not normal to travel out of the Sect for expeditions and other long journeys like this. At least not when you’re so new!”
Wu Ying sighed. “I know. But I don’t have a lot of choices, do I? The cultivation manuals I need are not here. And if I don’t…”
“If you don’t?” Li Yao prodded.
Wu Ying stayed silent, and the other cultivators looked at him, curiosity aroused.
“There are… complications,” Wu Ying finally relented. But he refused to comment any more, shooting a distrustful glance at You Rou.
“You’re the one who caused a scene!” You Rou snapped, spotting the look. “It was meant to be a simple challenge. You had to cause a commotion and nearly damage my family heirloom. I should be the one angry with you.”
“If you hadn’t challenged me because you wanted to show off to Li Yao, none of that would have happened,” Wu Ying rebutted. Of course, a part of him was grateful for the fight. He had learnt something important about his new body and bloodline. But he wasn’t about to admit that.
“You…!” You Rou flushed, fist clenching around the teacup. He lost control after a second, the teacup shattering. The pieces that hit bounced off hardened skin, simple broken glass doing little to injure the Energy Storage cultivators.
Of course, Auntie Yi scurried, her eyes wide. A cloth seemed to magically appear from within her wide sleeves and she mopped up the mess while You Rou flushed even redder in embarrassment.
Li Yao glared at You Rou, hissing below her breath, “Calm yourself! I’m not with him anymore, remember. If you wanted to showcase your worth to me and my family, this is the least effective method.”
You Rou nodded stiffly, and Wu Ying blinked, realizing that the cultivator was likely younger than him. He and Li Yao were closing in on their twentieth year, while You Rou was, if Wu Ying did his estimates of the timing of his entrance to the sect right, either sixteen or seventeen. A child. And an adult did not argue with children. In fact…
“I’m sorry,” Wu Ying said, waving. “I’m being a poor host. You are right, our duel did get out of hand. The fight should never have happened at all.”
You Rou looked at Wu Ying distrustfully. Ignoring him, Wu Ying asked Auntie Yi to bring a ne
w cup for You Rou and more snacks. Translated as the better snacks, to the knowledgeable servant. She nodded before pushing at Tou He, chiding him for getting down to the floor to help her.
“Your apology is accepted,” You Rou said.
Wu Ying waited a beat, and seeing that the boy did not intend to apologize himself, rolled his eyes a little at Li Yao.
She grinned before shrugging. “So when are you intending to leave?”
“We should be gone in a few days,” Tou He said. “They sent a spirit messenger to the other sect to confirm the change of plans. But there are no suitable vessels docking any time soon, so we’ll wait until the latest one arrives. After that, we will take the boat downriver before crossing a number of channels. The end of our trip will be over land again.”
“How long?” Wu Ying asked.
“During the spring, we expected it to take just over a month at a leisurely pace. If we hurry, maybe two weeks.” Tou He opened his hands sideways a little. “Though with winter and everything else…”
“Might be longer,” Wu Ying said.
If they were to leave in a few days, Wu Ying would need to visit his parents. He’d already missed the mid-autumn festival while convalescing, his only prize from the event being the remainder mooncakes that his friends were now consuming. The festival itself, as celebrated in the sect, was quite an opulent affair with lanterns, contests, and food provided by the majority of Elders. It was a subtle way for the Elders to compete for honor and prestige, helping them attract better students.
Of course, Master Cheng always eschewed such matters, as did Elder Yang. One because he wanted no ties to bind him, the other as she had more than enough petitioners and no desire to take on apprentices. As the youngest Elder, she was not expected to do so until she had settled her own cultivation and expanded on her resources. When she was ready for an apprentice—or the sect felt she was ready—Wu Ying expected the competition to be truly intense.
