Chapter 3 – Cultivation 101

The next few days Ren followed his self-determined schedule. He would try and memorize the rules listed in the jade, followed by preparing and then sowing his half plot with the assorted vegetable seeds. His young body bounced back easily from the hard labor each day. Ren suspected the mountain air had higher quantities of qi, which helped recovery. After his plot needed no further attention, Ren chose to spend his morning practicing his family’s sword forms with a branch he’d cut from one of the trees.

With two days left, he decided to go greet his fellow new disciples. Just because one of his neighbors was rude didn’t mean they all were. Word had spread about the first class and also about the market, but most had missed their opportunity for the week. The market was much smaller other than on market day.

Ren walked the mountains and went about meeting others and trying to learn something from their experiences so far. He didn’t gain much but didn’t mind their gratitude when he shared some tips he’d learned from the jade. He also remembered his promise and promoted the grain merchant he had encountered.

“Returning a favor is just good manners.” He nodded sagely to himself.

One of the new disciples, a girl called Mei Ling, had done the same as him and bought spirit vegetable seeds to plant. In talking with her, Ren found out he had completely messed up his own garden. Mei Ling was from a merchant family that grew their spiritual herbs. She pointed out to him that each vegetable had its own needs of sunlight and water and the quality of soil.

When Ren admitted his lack of knowledge in this, she didn’t laugh too much and gave him some tips on how to improve the situation and how to better prepare for his next attempt. Her bright and easygoing personality made it easy to feel encouraged. He thanked her sincerely as he left.

On the last night before the class, Ren lay awake in excitement for what the next day would bring. He would finally begin cultivating. Growing up hearing his elders talk about the magical sensation of qi had always made him impatient to experience it as well. In all his eagerness, the burden of expectation suddenly made an appearance after having slipped his mind the entire week.

Yet this time, something was different. The burden didn’t feel so heavy. Maybe what he had needed was distance from his family. Then he felt guilty for even thinking that since they had given him all the resources they could lavish.

“Tomorrow is a new day. Let’s just focus on becoming a cultivator first!” he said and lightly slapped his cheeks.

The next morning Ren woke and meditated till sunrise. Then rushed to prepare for class and found Hua outside just as he was leaving. They made their way to the Hall of Learning together. As they approached the hall, more and more disciples joined them until it was a stream of young people all heading in the same direction. The jade directed him to a large open area with stone platforms where many of the new disciples had already arrived. Ren spotted some familiar faces, like Mei Ling, and also his rude neighbor, who was seated at the front. There were also a lot more unfamiliar faces.

The position of the teacher was occupied by an ancient-looking man who had a huge white beard, bright as silver. He wore the sect robes and what looked like rosary beads around his neck. Somewhere a bell rang to mark time, and the teacher began speaking without hesitation.

“Greetings, young ones, to the Heavenly Sword Sect. I hope you all have gotten accustomed. I know those who arrived at the sect early were eager to begin, and those who just made it in time before the sect gates closed for the year will still be finding their feet. I hope you used your time well; cultivation waits for no one.”

“Today you will practice sensing qi and gathering it. It is the very first step of cultivation and the first step on your journeys. The length of your journey is up to your talent and effort. Once you have sensed qi, you may go to the Hall of Scriptures to select a cultivation method. Our sect’s main cultivation method is the Heavenly Sword Scripture. It uses the meditative trance of swordplay to attract qi into your spirit roots.”

“These spirit roots will only absorb qi of their own attribute, and once you gather enough, you will purify your bodies and meridians to an extent. This is called a breakthrough. Go through 9 such breakthroughs and you will reach the peak of the Qi Gathering realm. Breaking through to the foundation realm will be left for later. Now, begin meditating on these platforms while I activate the formation that pushes qi towards you. It will help you sense it.”

Once everyone had taken the correct posture, glowing lines appeared around each platform, and Ren suddenly felt a pressure surrounding him evenly. He began meditating and focused on his dantian, the area around his bellybutton, as his tutors had taught him in preparation for this moment.

Eventually, he felt the pressure there grow into a tingling sensation until all of a sudden he could sense something.

“It must be Qi!” he thought. “Finally! I should make the most of this opportunity and familiarize myself with this feeling.”

The tingling sensation seemed to pulse in step with his heartbeat. Ren lost himself in that feeling. He felt different sensations, which he knew were what different attributes of qi were supposed to feel like.

“So these are earth, metal, and wood qi. I wonder when I’ll be able to direct them as I please.” He knew that generally, those with earth qi are supposed to be good at formations, those with wood qi at growing herbs and plants, and those with metal qi at forging tools and weapons.

He also knew that fire qi was used for making talismans and water qi for healing arts. This wasn’t a rule, and to cultivate was to defy the heavens, much less the general trends. This was just the profession side of things. Qi could be used for all sorts of offensive and defensive moves as well. But having all 5 spirit roots spelled doom for cultivating. It was better to focus on something instead of failing at everything.

When the pressure surrounding him faded, he opened his eyes. Immediately he became aware of the thin layer of blank gunk covering his body. The formation had helpfully blocked the smell and was rapidly vanishing the rest of the gunk. Ren looked around and saw around 20 to 30 of the nearly 150 students had successfully broken through the first layer of qi gathering.

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The teacher addressed the class, “Congratulations to those who broke through. The impurities covering you are the accumulation of a lifetime of being touched by the Red Dust of mortal life. Every breakthrough slightly increases your lifespan. Breaking through to the next realm will bring a large increase, almost doubling your natural lifespan to around 150 years. You may now select a cultivation method and practice on your own. Return to class after a month and don’t rest on your laurels. I will reward the one who progresses the most.”

“As for the rest of you, don’t be disheartened. Cultivation is a journey, and progress must be made methodically. Those who rise rapidly may stumble first. You will get your chance. Exercise your bodies and continue attempting to sense qi on your own. See you next month.”