[NR] Out Of The Capsule For A While - Chapter 698

“Jason!”, Rosha shouts as she enters the clearing. “How’s the clearing been? Garden growing?”

Jason looks up from said garden. “Things are growing well enough. Though talking about the other form of cultivation, I need you two to watch the clearing for a little. I need to spend a day or two irl for a breakthrough.”

Courtney nods, “Fair enough. Can’t exactly leave the clearing empty for over a week. Do you need anything from us?”

Jason shakes his head, “Everything should be fine. Clearing the meridians isn’t a dangerous step. Or rather, if you manage to clear the first meridian, you’re generally good for the rest.

“The challenge comes not at the end, but from progressing. That tends to be the case with the ‘mortal’ stages of cultivation. It is about preparing the body and not an actual breakthrough. After all, no matter how much you mess up a building’s foundation the building can’t fall down until you actually start building it.”

Rosha smirks, “If that is building the foundation, what is the whole ‘picking your power’ bit?”

Jason shrugs, “Technically not a step in the traditional sense of the word. From how I understand it, most places don’t have such a large variety of powers to pick between. You live in a world with Qi? Chances are that’s all you get and you better hope you have a decent affinity with it.

“Even when there is a choice, it tends to be like here. Two or three powers. It basically comes down to having the right balance between them. Irl is just cheating by opening portals to other places and pulling in more sources.

“Though I guess if we were to put it in the building framework? It would be the step of choosing the plot of land you’re going to build on.”

Courtney, “So why don’t you have some method to choose exactly what power to use? You just had us feeling out what felt right.”

Jason, “That is the method. Oh sure, there is probably some method to find out what power aligns with you the best. What would be called either your affinity or talent, depending. In the end, though? You’ll do best with what feels right, especially with the selection we have.”

Rosha, “Would suck to be told you have an affinity for water when you’re hydrophobic or some such.”

Jason grimaces, “Yeah, that happens more often than is comfortable. One way to develop a connection with a power is to go through an emotional event, which also tends to cause phobias in a lot of cases. Almost drowned? Oops, connected to water. Trapped in a cave in? Welcome to earth powers.

“In those cases, the best option tends to be a side element. Not water, but ice. Not earth, but metal. That way some of the connection is still there, but the cultivator isn’t afraid of their own power. Because yeah, that is never a good thing.”

Courtney, “Well, if you don’t have anything to pass on, I don’t see any reason you can’t start right away.”

Rosha nods, “We can handle a couple weeks of staying home.”

Jason smiles, “Thank you, I’ll be back as soon as I can.” And after passing on a few details of taking care of the buildings and garden, he logs off.

Jason’s capsule opens up and he takes a deep breath. He hasn’t been lying. This wasn’t going to be some major breakthrough. Though the extra years of life would have any of the old rich types salivating over it.

One leg, then the other is swung over the edge and Jason stands up and stretches. A glance around what most would have called a closet in the not so distant past. Though with the capsule in it will always end up being called a bedroom. For some reason, people don’t like the image of living most of their lives in the closet. And not just because of the pre-collapse joke it invokes.

Now, though, it would serve another purpose. There was enough room to sit on the floor comfortably and Jason was going to take advantage of that. As while whoever was watching could probably get access to the living room feeds during the event, capsule rooms had a ton of privacy laws in place. 

Laws with real teeth to them that had in the past taken down massive corporations that had attempted the old school “too big to fail” tactic. Only to find out that there really is no such thing. Never was, if you’re going to be honest about it. You just need a controlling organization willing to go in and take over and break things apart.

Jason heads out of his room, as first he was going to get a drink of water. No matter how well the capsule keeps you hydrated. There is that mouth feel when you haven’t drunk an actual liquid in a while.

Glass of water acquired and finished, Jason returns to his room and settles in. He sinks into meditation, taking extra care to go deep. This was going to take all his concentration, so best to be in perfect condition.

It takes half an hour and even then; he doesn’t start on the last bit of excavation. Instead, Jason checks each of the primary meridians.

Yin and Yang, most easily identified with the Yang meridians traveling along the parts of the body that tend to tan. His first excavated meridian being a good example of this, traveling along the back of the hand and arm, up the back of the head. Yin being the opposite, traversing along the body where you tend not to tan. His second meridian, palm of the hand, along the inside of the arm, and up under the chin.

And from those, Jason progressed through his excavated meridians. Back and forth, yin to yang and back again. All to keep his body in balance.

Each limb carries three yin and three yang meridians, connecting the vitals of the body, creating systems like how people view the circulatory system. Except less direct, as the powers involved aren’t entirely restricted by physical blockages. Which is why the mystical blockages Jason had been clearing were so important.