Jintian, currently, was beloved by his sister. Xiyun was of course unable to express this with words, and her eye rolls and pouting glares had not ceased or even lessened. But when Jintian practiced his Qi control, she would watch him with sparkling eyes and bright giggles.
The fact that he was practicing on her toys, making them wobble through the air around her, might have played a big part in that. But as far as he was concerned, any progress was good progress when it came to his fickle sister.
Jintian winced, a particularly painful throb of his heart making him lose concentration and disrupting his control. The wooden fish his sister loved so much clattered to the ground, and she laughed, snatching it away and inspecting it with awe.
"You lasted for nearly a full minute, that time." Kang Shanxi said approvingly, and Jintian smiled.
It had been nearly two weeks since he'd reached the First Circle, and his teacher had since given him a couple of pairs of silk robes, and immediately began the next stage of his training.
Qi manipulation.
"Now, what did you imagine that time, when you were moving the toy around?" Kang Shanxi, and Jintian cleared his throat.
"A cloud, carrying it around." He said, and his teacher laughed. When Jintian looked embarrassed, Kang Shanxi shook his head.
"There is no shame in how you apply your control, Jintian." He consoled. "At these beginning stages, your imagination will help you immensely. In fact, your cloud will help you transition into the next stage, which is formlessness, the direct application of Qi without the need for an imagined shape."
Jintian hummed, tapping his fingers on his leg. He was currently sitting cross legged at the dining table.
"Teacher, I still don't understand. What exactly is the difference between Qi, and spiritual energy." He muttered, and Kang Shanxi smiled as he waved his hand. A tea kettle began to float through the air, as well as two cups, landing smoothly in front of them.
Kang Shanxi then poured him a cup, and looked towards Xiyun. He then idly waved a finger, causing one of her dolls to spring to its feet and begin dancing around the room. Xiyun's eyes gleamed, and she crawled after it with lightning speed, startlingly fast for her age.
Jintian looked at the display with a smile, and Kang Shanxi looked at him. "What is the difference between the air around you, and the air in your breath?" He asked back, and the young cultivator frowned in thought for a few moments.
"That… I used it?" He asked, and Kang Shanxi chuckled.
"Well, I suppose you're partly correct. Yes, that you've used it." He said, making another doll rise up and dance with the first. Xiyun froze, her brows scrunching as she seriously considered which one to chase, and then decidedly continued her pursuit of the first doll.
"Qi," Kang Shanxi continued, "is different from spiritual energy for one thing: will. Will has been enforced upon spiritual energy, and has given it a task. Whether that task is to strengthen your body, cut something like a sword, burn something like fire, or strike like lightning, all Qi has been imbued with will. The will to act."
Jintian nodded along. "So the spiritual energy within my core…"
"Is just that. But it belongs to you, and once you imbue it with will…" Kang Shanxi pointed toward him, sending the doll flying into his chest. Xiyun then crawled into Jintian's lap, and he smiled as she grabbed the toy, and immediately began making it dance along his chest. "It becomes Qi."
Jintian pondered this for a few moments. "So Qi can do… anything?" He asked, and Kang Shanxi laughed.
"Well, yes, in theory. However, Qi is simply energy unless consciously directed, and more complex tasks require more complex direction. What you once called 'magic', were only Qi Techniques." He explained. "The simplest Qi technique is called Qi manipulation. Simply put, you push Qi onto an object, and direct that object to do as you wish. Whether it is to fly through the air or to carve itself into a cane, that is up to your finesse, strength, and imagination."
Xiyun crawled off of Jintian's lap, abandoning her toy with him to search for other things. Jintian then laid on his back, sighing.
"The simplest, you said?" He asked, shaking his head. "It feels hard to me."
Kang Shanxi laughed. "Well, you are only in the First Circle, after all. And you've only just begun to learn. You will surpass me in Qi control, sooner rather than later. Your Qi seems uniquely… malleable."
Jintian grinned at that, sitting back up. "How soon do you think I'll be better than you?" He asked, and Kang Shanxi snorted.
"You little rascal, if you have enough energy to ask that, then you have enough energy to practice." He snapped, and Jintian chuckled. Still, he obediently sat straighter on his cushion, and pointed his finger at one of Xiyun's toys to continue with his practice.
After a few minutes, he paused. "Teacher… you said that Qi can theoretically do anything, right?" He asked quietly, and Kang Shanxi was just about to snap at him to continue practicing when he saw Jintian's expression.
Kang Shanxi sighed sadly, shaking his head. "Theoretically, yes. With the right spell formations, the correct control, the precise mastery. The world is vast, and many strange and fantastical techniques exist. But once a soul has entered the cycle of reincarnation, you must not attempt to extract it. It is Heaven's greatest taboo."
Jintian nodded slowly, a thoughtful expression on his face. Seeing it, Kang Shanxi scowled, and he flashed forward, gripping Jintian tightly with his arm. "Listen to me, young Jin. You must not attempt it. Anyone who has ever tried, has died horrifically. Destroyed in body and soul, never allowed to enter reincarnation. Do you understand?" He asked, his eyes searching Jintian's.
Jintian froze. He had never seen such intensity in his teacher's gaze before, and finally he sighed.
"I understand, teacher." He said reluctantly, burying the matter in his heart. Kang Shanxi studied him a bit more, before he seemed satisfied, and returned to his previous position.
"Good. Then continue to practice." He said, and Jintian did as instructed.
But in his heart, his hatred for Heaven only grew fiercer.
-
The days passed by, once more turning into weeks. Jintiancontinued to cultivate in the cave in the morning with an incense stick, condensing more spiritual energy into the lake in his dantian. His teacher had said he would simply know when he had reached the peak of the First Circle, and once he did, he could induce a flood through his Qi passageways to form another lake.
It did not matter where he formed the lake. Each cultivator was different, though many formed their second lake along their Heart or Lung Meridian. He'd told Jintian that he would again simply know where he should form his Second Circle. As it was, over these past weeks his First Circle had nearly doubled in size, and he felt stronger at the end of nearly every day.
In the afternoons, he practiced Qi manipulation. His progress in this area was even more pronounced than his cultivation. He had gone from shakily gliding Xiyun's toys through the air, to being able to smoothly lift most of the loose objects in the house, turning them carefully in place before setting them down once again. Before he reached the Second Circle, he would not be able to do more than that, so he had graduated to making amateur wood carvings to make his control more delicate.
His worst area of improvement were his evening lessons with his teacher in philosophy and calligraphy. But he had discovered that he was strangely talented at Go. His teacher had progressed from handedly beating him within forty to fifty moves, to thinking deeply and winning after a hundred and fifty moves. However, Jintian was rapidly improving in this area as well, and though he had not won yet he could feel that time was nearing.
During one such game, Kang Shanxi was deeply immersed in thought, studying the board. Jintian for his part was smiling slightly, a growing hint of pride flaring in his chest. They were nearing their one hundred and seventieth move, and he had not lost yet.
Although they both had similar sizes of territory, and Kang Shanxi had two more of Jintian's stones captured than the student did, a deep study of the board would lead one to realize that Jintian held a slightly better position.
"You've taught me well, Elder." Jintian hummed as the silence between them stretched on, and Kang Shanxi pursed his lips, stroking his beard.
"Quiet, you rascal. I'm thinking." He grumbled. Shen Jintian sat back, leaning on his hands as he looked around the home he had lived in for the past few months. It was quiet, and secluded from the rest of the village, nestled within the forest. There were shelves stacked with scrolls and dried herbs hanging from the ceiling. Xiyun's toys were scattered around the floor, and many of Jintian's latest calligraphy pieces could be seen hanging along the walls, having turned out semi-decently.
It was, however, not his home.
"I think I'd like to pay my respects to my parents soon." He said quietly. "And see Liuwen. His uncle should have long opened his shop by now, so it's only right that I let him pursue his original goals."
Kang Shanxi glanced upwards, before returning to studying the board. "Are you sure you're ready?" He asked, and Jintian took a breath.
They were both worried that fully confronting his parents' death would lead to complications with his heart. He still had nightmares most nights, and at times the rage overtook him so fiercely that he needed to deeply meditate to control it.
While Kang Shanxi could not confirm it, he was of the thought that a heart demon had been born within Jintian.
The young man did not know what such a creature was, but from Kang Shanxi's grim expression when he had first spoken of it with Jintian, he knew it wasn't good. Still, he had managed to once again control the anger within him, and he nodded.
"I believe… that it's time. I cannot continue to run from it." He said, and Kang Shanxi hummed for a short time.
"Very well. You are close to the Second Circle. Once you reach it, we can leave together. I have my own matters to attend to in the village." He said, and Jintian breathed a sigh of relief.
He would have listened to his teacher, if he advised against it. The fact that Kang Shanxin did not, meant he thought well of Jintian's control over his emotions.
After another length of time, Kang Shanxin finally chuckled coldly, before placing a piece firmly within Jintian's territory. Jintian nearly moved to swarm it on instinct, to drive his invasion out, and then frowned as he thought more deeply about the move.
Soon, the same amount of time passed that Kang Shanxin had taken, and his expression only grew more and more serene. Jintian sighed loudly, rubbing the back of his head.
"Damn old man. How did you even think of that?" He grunted, before bowing his head. "I concede my defeat, Elder."
The move had truly been spectacular. If Jintian spent time to deal with it, he would leave nearly a quarter of his territory open to attack. If he did not, it would spread like a sickness from inside, just well connected enough to Kang Shanxi's own territory to ruin everything he had built. It was bold, and daring, seeming risky but actually the key to Kang Shanxi's victory.
Kang Shanxi smiled, and they both used Qi to slide their pieces into their bowls. That had been a form of precision practice that Kang Shanxi had him perform every night after their games, and Jintian had grown quite adept with it.
Just as the youth was beginning to take the board away, Kang Shanxi stopped him. Looking at his teacher curiously, the elderly man reached into his robe, and produced a bag.
Jintian looked at it curiously. Kang Shanxi had recently taught him another way to use Qi, known as Spiritual Sense. It involved roughly pulsing his Qi outwards, and it roughly gave him an imagined sense of his surroundings, as well as make him aware of anything with Spiritual Energy innate to it, such as herbs or magical items.
His control of it was crude, and could only span the width of the room he was currently in. Kang Shanxi had assured him that as he progressed in his cultivation, his control of it, and its range would both be astounding.
As it was, Kang Shanxi had told him to make it a regular habit. As it only involved a minimal amount of Qi, he made it a part of his routine anytime he encountered something, and at random points throughout the day.
As he inspected it with his spiritual sense, he found that it had the same feeling to it that Kang Shanxi's own bag had, which seemed able to hold far more than its size would indicate. A ridiculous amount more, even. It was only the size of a palm, and yet he had seen his teacher pull a fish out of it the size of himself.
Kang Shanxi gestured for him to take it, and he did, looking between it and his teacher curiously. "It's called a bag of holding. I mentioned, once, that your father left me instructions if you embarked on the path to Immortality." He said quietly, and Jintian was immediately far more attentive.
Kang Shanxi sighed. "I had hoped that reaching the First Circle would help repair your severed meridians, but the damage was too great. As it stands, there are now only three ways to heal you." He explained. "The first is to take a regenerative medicine, and have its healing powers guided by an expert. This is the easiest way, however the risk involved is large. Severed meridians are notoriously difficult to heal, and honestly, I would not trust anyone underneath the Foundation Establishment level to be able to do so reliably. Even then, your body is different from a typical mortal's, just slightly enough that if they attempt to restore it with a mortal's Qi pathways as a basis, it could very well lead to fatality.
"The second, is to reach Foundation Establishment yourself. Once you do so, the body undergoes a metamorphosis, as you transcend that which was once mortal. It will heal most grievous injuries, and even restore limbs. There is a very good chance it can help you heal your heart. However, that could very well be years, if not decades away for you, and you do not have that time.
"The third," Kang Shanxi sighed, pointing towards the bag in Jintian's hand, "is in that. The inheritance left behind by your father, in the event that you become a cultivator."
Jintian looked down at the bag, a complex expression on his face. After learning the truth of his father, he had been angry with him. Even blamed him, for the calamity that had befallen his family.
But after some thought, he realized that he couldn't have known any better. He had lost his memories, and left his family in the care of a cultivator powerful enough to be invincible among mortals.
"If you reach inside, you will only need to imagine a scroll, and it will appear." Kang Shanxin explained. "When your spiritual sense develops further, you'll be able to tell exactly what is inside an opened bag of holding if you focus it into it. For now, just know that inside is a scroll, and a hundred Beast cores."
Jintian hesitated for a few moments, before opening the bag and reaching inside. Just as Kang Shanxi had said, once he imagined a scroll, he felt the sensation of paper in his grasp.
Pulling it out, he saw a scroll that had been tightly bound by a leather string. He opened it, and there, painted in bold letters at the top, were three words.
Godslaying Bodily Cultivation
As he read the words, he felt his mind rumble slightly. And then he realized with a start that it wasn't only his mind. Outside of the house, a low rumbling of thunder spread across the sky, as if the very act of reading the name of it incited Heaven's wrath.
Looking at his teacher in alarm, Kang Shanxi snorted, looking upwards. Then he returned his attention to Jintian. "Do not worry. You will not be smitten for only reading it. Practicing it however, as you'll read, will provoke Heavenly Tribulation."
Jintian nodded, fear and excitement simultaneously stirring in his heart. Kang Shanxi sighed again. "I myself have read it, but I do not dare to practice what is inside. Jintian, you must take great care to not expose that you have that. In fact, once you reach the Second Circle, memorize it and then destroy that scroll. Bodily cultivation methods are extremely rare, and are almost exclusively practiced by the Great Cultivation Clans of our world. They are a jealously guarded secret, and if any cultivator learns you carry the method for one, especially one as powerful as that, they will stop at nothing to get it."
"... and my father left me this?" He asked softly, and Kang Shanxi nodded gravely. Jintian took another breath, and then skimmed over the contents of the scroll.
Ten Thousand Beasts, to form the Beast-Slayer body. One Thousand Demons, to form the Demon-Slayer body. One Hundred Asuras, to form the Asura-Slayer body. Ten Heavenly Kings, to form the Heaven-Slayer body. And one Deva, to form the God-Slayer Body.
Jintian had heard his teacher mention Beasts, and Demons. The former could span in power from the First Circle to the Second Fiord in power, while the latter could span from the Third Fiord to Core Formation, the step beyond Foundation Establishment. The other things mentioned in the scroll, he could not fathom the power they could wield.
But if the name was literal, then the Deva… would have the power of a god.
He trembled, looking deeply at his teacher, and then placed the scroll back within the bag of holding.
Kang Shanxi nodded to him. "While practicing your cultivation tomorrow, review that manual."
Jintian bowed to his teacher, and they separated for the night. Before falling asleep, Jintian held the bag of holding clutched in one hand, looking up at the ceiling.
"Father… just who…" He whispered, before shaking his head. Regardless of the secrets his father had kept, or what his origins were, they didn't truly matter in the end. His goal remained the same.
To kill Wu Mingjie.