License to Cultivate Bk 2 Ch 31

Chang-li knew they were on the right path when the deep crimson color of the light in the tunnels began shading to orange. He was practicing Mind's Wall as they proceeded, his bracer off, riding in his satchel where he could grab it easily if he needed to. Now he sipped at the lux, passing it through his core and purifying it. Yes, there was definitely orange flavoring the dominant red lux now.

They had fought another three packs of the stone creatures, each similar to the first. After the first, they'd learned to spot the warning signs of lux gathering in the walls around them and defeated the pack easily. Now Joshi slowed. Chang-li came up behind him.

The corridor had ended not on a blank wall, but an opening. The room beyond glowed like a fire.

"I hear something," Joshi warned. "Be ready." He stepped inside.

Chang-li donned his bracer and followed, the disciples on their heels. He found himself in a round room like the one they'd first come in. Five tunnels branched off. In the center of the floor was a well-like opening with a ladder sticking up from it. All around the room were more of the stone beasts. These ones were taller, close to shoulder height on Chang-li. There were eight of them, and they all carried weapons: clubs covered in spiky orange protrusions, spears, and in one case, a sword.

The stone creatures turned as they entered, but Joshi leapt. The roof here was tall enough to allow him to empower his leap with red, and he came down in their midst with an explosion of red lux as he used the Meteor Punch technique he had been learning. Chang-li lost himself briefly in a moment of admiration before realizing what he was doing. He drew his sword and channeled orange and red into it, then rushed forward as the creatures converged on Joshi.

Joshi's gauntlet had three orange spikes this time. He punched, and an illusory second pale orange fist appeared behind the creature he was punching and connected. That was his Thousand Fists technique. When they had practiced on the first floor, there hadn't been any kind of visual indicator like that. The higher lux density here must be affecting his technique.

The disciples rushed in. Brother Stone’s quarterstaff glowed orange. The other three used basic red lux techniques to strengthen their bodies and protect themselves.

Chang-li swung his sword down. The orange-reinforced blade sliced through the limb of the stone creature he was attacking, severing it. The creature turned on him, growling with a noise of grinding stone. It bit at his arm. Chang-li dodged back. The teeth closed on a piece of his sleeve and ripped. This one had sharp teeth, enforced with orange lux to become blades.

Chang-li swung his sword again and took another chunk out of the rock creature. Brother Stone was beside him, whirling his quarterstaff and shouting. He smashed the butt end of the staff onto the creature's midsection and shattered it into pebbles.

Chang-li raced on toward the next, even as Joshi aimed another punch at the one closest to him. He roared in frustration as the dual blows landed without destroying the creature.

Chang-li was focused on his own problems. His sword was effective here, but this was slow. They were hacking and chopping the enemies to bits, one at a time. He couldn’t channel as much lux into his sword as he wanted, not with the bracer on.

Disciple Yang and Shou had one of them backing up toward an exit corridor. "Don't get separated," Chang-li warned as he aimed his sword at the neck of one stone beast. It went halfway through and stuck. He yanked, but the sword wouldn't budge, there wasn’t enough lux left for it to slide through the stone. The monstrous creature grabbed him with incredibly strong fingers, holding onto his left arm.

Chang-li shaped red into his Firepot and filled it with the tiny reserve of yellow in his core. He threw it right into the creature's face. It exploded with a gout of flame. The creature fell back, falling to the floor. Chang-li leapt in and grabbed the hilt of his sword with both hands. He wrenched it free, then drove the point back down into the creature's open, wailing mouth. It shattered into pebbles.

He turned. Joshi had dispatched two of them already and was on a third. Brother Stone had one distracted on the other side of the room, and the disciples were playing with another pair. Chang-li raced for Brother Stone, who was the closest, and helped him finish off his monster. Then they hurried toward the disciples. The pair of rock monsters facing the disciples had their arms extended and grasping. The tips of their fingers ended in sharp orange spikes. They had slashed a deep cut on Shou's face, and Yang's robes were in tatters.

Chang-li roared as he helped them destroy the last of thier creatures, then turned to see Joshi had just finished his. As the last of the enemies dissolved into the gravel, Chang-li sheathed his sword and took a deep breath.

Joshi glanced around at the team. "We rest," he said. "We’ve made progress. It's been long enough, we should take a break." He unslung his pack and sat down before digging through for rations.

Chang-li followed suit. The disciples collapsed to the floor beside the wall.

"What do you suppose that is?" Yang said, gesturing to the ladder sticking up from the center of the room.

"One of the exits the Inquisitor mentioned, no doubt," Joshi said. "We seem to have reached some sort of crossroads. I presume we will have to pass through all seven colors to reach the tower guardian."

"There's no sign of anyone else here," Brother Stone observed, looking at the pile of gravel that had been monsters a few minutes ago. "Maybe the others went a different way."

"Possibly," Joshi said. "Or it is possible these creatures will pull themselves back together after some amount of time has passed. I don't think we will wait around to find that out. Eat, drink, and cycle."

He withdrew into himself. His lux creature appeared. It did that sometimes, going invisible in a fight and then visible again when things calmed down. Now it hovered over his shoulder and pulsed as Chang-li found his own rations. He ate and started to cycle.

Brother Stone finished his and slung his own satchel. "We've got enough supplies for perhaps a week and a half," he said.

"We may be able to supplement our rations with beasts we kill," Joshi suggested.

"Not if they're made of stone," Disciple Shou said.

"How perceptive of you. How is your cycling coming?" Joshi demanded.

The disciple colored. "Well enough." He ducked his head and focused on finishing the last of his ration bar.

Joshi turned to Chang-li. "You wore the bracer in combat again."

Chang-li nodded. "I did."

"You are hampering yourself.”

“I nearly cut your hand off before. I can't risk that happening in combat. I'm practicing my Mind's Wall defense whenever we're not fighting.”

“Have you been able to try your new technique?"

Now it was Chang-li's turn to look away, embarrassed. "No, but there's no green lux here," he added quickly. "I saw in the last fight you have Thousand Fists working."

Joshi snorted. "Two fists more like it, and barely that. I need more."

Chang-li remembered the other lesson he’d be trying. “The meditation technique that I shared with you, centering your core somewhere else in your body. Have you made any progress with that?"

"For a few minutes at a time. Not in combat yet. It feels too unfamiliar."

"Yes," Chang-li said. " I don't think you’re meant to move your core permanently. I think that's just a meditation technique.”

"It does not feel like it's doing enough for me," Joshi said. "Were there any other techniques?"

There was one that Chang-li had translated shortly before they left the first floor. He hesitated because he hadn't brought the book along. “It’s less of a technique and more of an image of using your core as a shell around your mind to protect you from the ravages of wild lux so that anything entering your mind must pass through your core and be purified.”

"Hmm," Joshi said. "And how would that work?"

"I don't know," Chang-li admitted in frustration. "The scroll was complicated, and I only translated portions of it. There was one exercise it recommended for anyone working on Mental Refinement. It said to imagine your core spinning, first slowly, then faster and faster."

"Spinning in what direction?"

"First spin it like a top," Chang-li motioned with his fingers, making a circle with his index finger from side to side. "Then spin it top to bottom," he rolled his hands about each other, demonstrating. "And then, to imagine both at the same time, all the while increasing the speed, faster and faster, until your core is a rainbow ball of spinning light. Then raise that to your mind and practice your techniques from there."

"That does not sound like a technique you will be able to practice wearing that bracer," Joshi said.

Chang-li frowned a moment then pulled off and set it on the floor beside him. He closed his eyes and tried to imagine his core spinning. It was harder than it looked. After a few minutes, feeling exhausted, he opened his eyes. Joshi was sitting cross-legged with his own eyes closed, concentrating. To Chang-li's amazement, the lux creature Magen was spinning just the way he had described to Joshi for spinning his core. He let out a cry of surprise.

Joshi's eyes flew open. Magen ceased its movement. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing. Sorry." Chang-li shook his head. "It's just Magen was spinning, I think, in harmony with you."

"Really?" Joshi peered at the little lux creature floated between them. Joshi turned himself to face it and then resumed his cycling posture. "I'm going to try again.” Magen began to spin. This time Joshi kept his eyes open. "He is reflecting me. How fascinating. And when I achieved Bodily Refinement, he seemed to become more solid. Is it possible he is somehow connected to my core?"

Chang-li shrugged. "You are bonded. I don't know much about lux creatures except to hear that they are coveted by cultivators. Maybe there's something about them in the Morning Mist records that I haven't translated yet."