Mage's Cultivation Journey 34

“I … I still can’t believe it,” Yu Xing muttered once he returned from his bath, wearing new clothes. Clothes that had been provided by our host, far more expensive than anything we had provided.

Wearing them, Yu Xing truly looked like a young master from a martial arts family; the intensity he carried easily lending itself to a noble look.

“Believe it,” I replied.

That didn’t help him process his success. “It really took just an hour. It’s … impossible.”

“Not impossible. Just tricky,” I responded while examining him, making sure there were no unexpected problems. From what I could see, there were none. His meridians were strong, his skin already embedding the aspects of his transformed internal energy, and all his vital signs were strong. “You will stay inside for the next day, maybe two,” I said.

“As you wish, master,” he said immediately.

Before I could even start explaining my reasoning. I sighed. It was another difference between mages and martial arts, it seemed. Even the simplest direction between teachers and students would spawn long arguments. That had been just a part of being a good student, facilitating learning.

Here, it seemed blind obedience and a lack of questions were prized more.

Worse, even more annoyingly, I couldn’t exactly say it was a bad method of teaching. The more I delved into the workings of internal energy, the more I started to realize the true differences between dimensions, which highly suggested that a direct analytical understanding was not as helpful.

“I want you to stay in isolation until you learn the Skin Refinement techniques described in the manual,” I explained. “That way, we can also let them believe the breakthrough took something like two to three days. That’s still impressive, right?”

He nodded. “Yes, master. Even back when the Furious Wind school was active, I haven’t heard anyone taking any less than a week to break through, and I don’t know whether it’s true or bragging. It’s not unheard of for people to take a month or two.”

“I see. Then, you achieving it in three days fits our story perfectly,” I decided. “Now, let’s go to the training room in the basement. I want to observe the new set of techniques.”

He nodded, and moved to the basement. It was truly a convenience to have a private training area. It was not large enough for sparring, but it was sufficient for practicing moves. Best of all, it was very difficult to spy on, with no secret tunnels or anything similar.

I checked.

The techniques described in the booklet were quite simple compared to the breakthrough method. With my occasional assistance, the kid deciphered them easily.

Handling the physical mechanics, a bit more troubling. It was the tricky part with the martial arts. It required a certain cadence of movement, like dancing to an unheard melody. Everything had to be perfectly timed, from the breath he took, to the tensing of the muscles at the exact right time.

Inevitably, as the martial moves regulated not only the transformation of energy, but also the movement path of the internal energy through the meridians. Unlike my perfectly tight control of internal energy, martial artists exerted next to no control during the movement.

Admittedly, their method was far more achievable … albeit riskier, especially without a teacher to guide properly.

While I could observe the kid’s internal energy perfectly, my lack of understanding when it came to kinetic portions and the transformation together meant that I could never be a replacement teacher. Most of the time, I only realized the damage when the energy started to build up in his meridians dangerously, moving to disperse it.

It prevented a rapture, which was the most dangerous part of what he was trying to do. But, it wasn’t enough to prevent internal bruising or pain. To his credit, the pain didn’t dissuade him. He continued practicing, his expression focused, his stance anchored into the stone floor as he moved through the techniques for the Skin Refinement realm.

That was the benefit of my presence. Any other martial artist had to be extremely careful trying to learn a move, taking weeks to prevent an accident. With me watching, he was able to attempt them repeatedly. Combined with his aptitude, I could feel that he would make decent progress in three days.

Once his mistakes started to dwindle, I turned my focus fully on the transformation once more. Interestingly, reaching Skin Refinement did nothing to improve his internal energy transformation, at least in terms of purity. While his body handled both the conversion and expulsion of the energy in greater amounts, the same didn’t apply to the purity.

I would have assumed that was a constant for the style, but I had seen other Furious Wind users. They had differing concentrations of energy. And, even for Yu Xing, the success of the move affected the purity, meaning that, temporarily, Skin Refinement moves affected it negatively.

Curious, I walked around him in circles many times while he practiced, trying to get a better idea of how the transformation happened, and why the purity was also affected by a misalignment of his foot. Was it just about mental focus, or were the moves fundamentally linked to the transformation?

Annoyingly, there was nothing about the subject in the library. Every manual had examined the issue of transformation and tried to maximize it, but they all approached it from the same angle. Perfecting the moves and delving deeper into the mantras.

No material comprehensively delving into the issue.

While I watched him, Yu Xing was getting more familiar with his latest move, and that made him confident enough to chain two attacks together.

Big mistake.

I immediately moved forward, catching him just as his knees hit the stone floor with a crack, his face turned bitter with pain. I put my hand on his back, dispersing the energy before it damaged his meridians. But, that was not enough to prevent a bruising.

“Tell me? What was your mistake?” I asked while I checked his bruising, making sure that there was no accident.

“I …” he muttered, trying to ignore the pain. Pain that I deliberately did not dispel, as I felt it would be a good lesson about recklessness. “I pushed myself too much,” he admitted.

“Exactly,” I said. “Repeating the move before letting the leftover disperse overwhelmed your meridians, risking another rapture. Without me, it would have been just like your old injury, but worse.”

He squirmed. “I’m sorry, master,” he said.

“I don’t need to be sorry. I need you to be better. Think before you act. I don’t want you making mistakes like that, especially since you should be able to feel the energy buildup.”

“I … I’m not sure I can,” he said.

“Fine,” I said as I flicked his head. “Then, you just earned a reward. Cross your legs. We’re going to meditate together.” His expression shifted to pure shock, like I had just ordered his flogging. No, if I offered a choice between flogging and meditation, he might choose the former, especially since it would end quickly, and he could continue his martial training.

Too bad.

“What was the core principle of meditation?” I asked.

“Awareness of the self,” he replied. His distaste was clear, but I didn’t let it dissuade me from my plan. Instead, I asked several questions to make sure he remembered the basic meditation technique I had taught him.

To his credit, he still remembered the method. It was just not as exciting as learning the new techniques of the Skin Refinement Realm. I was about to continue, when I heard a knock on the door, one that followed a certain pattern.

It was Su Mi, telling me that we had a guest that she couldn’t send away. “Continue,” I said to Yu Xing before I stood up and walked to the door. “Tell me,” I said.

“It’s Elder Kai. He’s here to invite Yu Xing to another sparring session.”

I sighed. While I expected the eventual visit, the timing wasn’t very good. Still, it was not the worst case. At least, he didn’t arrive while the kid was breaking through. “Fine, I’ll deal with it. You will stay here and accompany this thickhead in his meditation. And, no practicing without me present. We don’t want him to injure himself. Alright?”

“Yes, master,” Su Mi said with a nod, her gaze sharpening once she turned to Yu Xing, enough to make him flinch.

Good. At least their little crush was a good way to keep the kid from hurting himself. But, as I climbed the stairs, I let amusement wash away. The meeting I was about to have was too important to be distracted.

Though, before I went to the meeting, I stopped by the library and picked up two books, the Furious Wind manual, and the diary… Maybe I could give him a clue on exactly what kind of gifts he could present to me next.