The Third Realm - Chapter 26 preview (Patreon)

Weeks flew by, the harvest put into the ground grown to its full-extent before being harvested. Vegetables and root products taken from the land, heads chopped and tilled back into the earth. Fields all around the village had been eaten and cropped down to the barest nubs by the grazing herds, such that the herdsmen were forced to take their flock farther and farther out each day.

Each day, the tension grew. More than once, Wu Ying noted tribesmen glancing to where the largest stone turtle napped, up to the ger that few could see. Even those without a sensitivity to environmental chi could see the effects of their Khan’s cultivation, as swirling clouds lay over the turtles constantly. Occasionally, sudden showers would happen in their vicinity but mostly, the clouds hovered, ominous and dark.

Overheard whispered conversations spoke of increasingly concerned citizens. Staying in these lands, overburdening it to the extent that they were could cause issues in future years. Patches of bare grass, a pond that had drained farther than most in living memory.

Few spoke to him about it, not even Oktai. Every time Wu Ying brought it up, the translator would divert his attention, bring up another conversation. Yet, there was no hiding the increasing tension, the worry and concern, the frayed tempers in all the tribe members.

And then, one day, late in the afternoon as Wu Ying exited the greenhouse after another long session working with the gardeners within, improving the rotation and the insulation, studying the enchantments, the clouds parted. A soundless thunder, pressure without motion, a stern, overbearing presence that watched over them all. Lightning and ozone on the lips, pressure in the ears.

Then, nothing.

Silence.

Wu Ying turned to the giant stone turtle, frowning as he watched the clouds that had been present there since their arrival began to disperse. The flow of chi to the top of the turtle shell had stopped, the constant tug of environmental chi ending.

“So, it’s done.” Wu Ying extended his senses a little, feeling the energy pour out of him and reaching towards the top of the turtle. It never even reached the turtle as it bounced off a domain of dao enlightenment. It was a sphere of absolute control, a world where her dao, her beliefs held utter sway and Wu Ying’s own paltry understanding was useless.

Retracting his own spiritual aura, Wu Ying tilted his head as a voice roared outwards. The spiritual voice was both too loud and yet, right inside his mind, bypassing the need for such pitiful things like voices and ears.

“I am awoken children. My apologies for taking so long. Pack up, immediately. We leave as soon as possible.” A slight hesitation, then the voice continued. “Elders. Cultivator Long, I shall require your presence.”

Wu Ying frowned, and then nodded to himself. He took a step forward, letting himself grow lighter as he poured chi through his meridians and activated his Twelve Gales movement technique. One moment, he was half a li away, the next he was halfway there. And then, another step and he was there, outside the tent opening.

A breath, then again and another and Ogdai rode up on his spiritual horse, landing beside Wu Ying. He frowned at him.

“I was just over there…” Wu Ying said, waving over to the previous stone turtle. “Elder Daginaa?”

“He and Ganbold are within,” Daginaa said, waving at the entrance. “Ganbold does not like moving that much, not anymore. And we wanted at least one of us keeping an eye on her at all times.”

Wu Ying nodded. In normal circumstances, most would want some form of protection and safety against being interrupted. Depending on the interruption and stage, effects could range from loss time and effort, to a missed opportunity at enlightenment to massive backlash. If he was interrupted while layering his Core, it could at worse end with previous layers damaged.

Gesturing for the man to proceed him, Wu Ying entered soon after. Within, he was amused to find the tent empty but for the two other elders and Daginaa, the Khan not present.

“She’s changing,” Elder Ganbold said, at Wu Ying’s curious look. “Come. Sit, drink.”

Wu Ying hesitated, but walked over to join them in their little circle. He took the cup of airag offered to him, sipping on the drink lightly. After weeks of stay with them, he had acquired a degree of enjoyment from the drink, even if he still preferred less sour and stronger wines. Peach wine in particular was a personal favourite, though he had few enough opportunities to drink it.

“So, the Gansukh  herd, did we manage the foot rot problem?” Ganbold asked Ogdai when the man sat down.

“When the Khan called, it was decided to slaughter the affected animals. We’ll feast on them on the road tonight,” Ogdai replied.

“Right, because we can’t…” Ganbold trailed off. “Cultivator Long, about the hives. You said you believe you could seed a new field with wildflowers?”

“That was planned for tomorrow.”

“Ahhhh.”

None of them would be here tomorrow. Silence fell over the group, before Daginaa grunted. “Well, Sarnia promised us a new dance next week. I am looking forward to it. Cultivator Long, you’ve only seen her perform once, no?”

“Yes. It was very impressive,” Wu Ying said. He had been so admiring of her skill that Nangerel had chosen not to visit his ger for an entire week.

“She won’t do it though,” Ogdai said.

“What?” Daginaa replied.

“You know she refuses to showcase anything without sufficient time to practice,” Ogdai said. “With all this travel…”

Daginaa groaned.

“Is it just a small delay?” Wu Ying said.

That brought laughter from the trio. Eventually, it was Ogdai who explained. “Sarnia is an artist. When inspiration strikes, she will bring a new dance. If the dance, when it is done, does not meet her standards, she will never show it again. And if she is interrupted and loses her inspiration…”

“Gone. Bah!” Daginaa said.

That brought another long moment of silence. Conversation after that grew even more stilted before movement at the end of the ger in the shadows caught their attention. Wu Ying frowned a little for he had little warning, his spiritual sense within the ger greatly suppressed. Even the wind was mostly still and very silent, refusing to speak to him.

“Thank you for your patience,” Khan Erdene said as she sauntered over to her seat. Wu Ying regarded the woman, curious to see what he could ascertain of her ascension. She was the first Nascent Soul cultivator that he knowingly, and regularly, interacted with.

Beyond the strength of her dao, which easily suppressed his own minor dao of the wind, she also held a core of strength within her. Unlike Core Formation cultivators whose core of power in their dantian was a solid ball of energy – unlike the more diffuse forms of lesser cultivators – the Nascent Soul cultivator before him was a solid barrier of energy.

At first, he had thought it was but a natural form of suppression. A method of hiding her actual strength. Yet, now, with her ascension and a previous iteration to compare; Wu Ying was concluding that the solid intensity of chi that coursed through her body was a part of the Nascent Soul stage.

It made sense, if he considered it. After all, after breaking out from the Core Formation stage was the emergence of the immortal soul from within. The Nascent Soul then embodied itself in the mortal body that was housing it, slowly burning it away at each stage till it was time to ascend. The solidification of the cultivator’s dao and embodiment of it was the necessary step.

So, of course, the body would be more powerful. Of course, there would be less of a focus on meridians, the dantian and the core. The soul now was the source of power, not some pot of energy held within the cultivator’s body.

“Cultivator Long,” Khan Erdene’s voice interrupted his thoughts. Wu Ying bowed to her, covering his surprise with the courtesy as he sought to recall the last few moments. Nothing of import had been said, just greetings. He did not, however, breathe out in gratitude at that. “Your aid in dealing with the Borjigin was an unexpected and welcome kindness.”

“It was a small matter,” Wu Ying said.

“Not for us. Fighting for a tribe not of your own is not something that is expected. Especially from a soft southerner,” Erdene said.

Wu Ying inclined his head in acknowledgement, ignoring the idle insult.

“We will speak more, about this. And your presence in our camp,” she said.

Again, he nodded.

Then she turned to her elders, speaking to them about what had happened. A part of Wu Ying wondered how she knew all that happened. Still, even that thought was soon enough drowned out by the continuing consideration of his earlier musings.

If a Nascent Soul cultivator was an immortal soul – or soon to be immortal soul – wrapped in a mortal body, Body Cultivation took the opposite tack. From the transformation of the mortal body to the secondary element, Body Cultivation was the eventual conversion of a mortal body into an immortal elemental concept. In his case, a body of wind. At this time, he would have judged himself in the Major level of perfection of the five mortal winds. And, perhaps, beginning or maybe even a minor level of understanding for the Heavenly wind.

Not for the first time, Wu Ying tried to conceptualise what a true wind body was like. Already, he was faster, more flexible, lighter than any mortal cultivator. The simple Heavenly Soul, Earthly Body technique was never meant to be used entirely by itself as a flying movement technique. In fact, few other cultivators could directly fly through the air – at least not at the Core Formation level.

Yet, here he was. Gusting through the air, borrowing the wind to help aid his movements, dancing through battle with nary a thought or movement technique to his name. And, of course, such techniques – weapon, movement, battle – were all but expressions of motions that were inherent in humanity. They were just well practiced, efficient utilisations of body and chi.

With an infinite variety of elemental chi combinations and an unending, exhaustive amount of flows through a meridian, a wide series of techniques – many similar in process to one another – could be created. Add in individual idiosyncrasies and it was no surprise that there were so many techniques through the world.

Yet, in the end, there was nothing stopping a well practiced, well read individual from creating their own techniques. Just like a swordsmaster might pick up a new weapon like the urumi and learn to wield it with minimal guidance, so could a cultivator who knew his own body and other techniques in general make up his own.

Which, after all, was what he was doing. Inefficiently perhaps – but how many wind movement techniques were there?

Another thought, and one that struck Wu Ying and made him ache to return to his ger to check his manuals and notes struck him. Was a bloodline then important because it was but a headstart on the process of Body Cultivation? Or was it perhaps only for certain bloodlines? Certainly, it was something he recalled being asserted by a number of writers – and yet, he’d also read works on gathering that were highly insistent that seawater was a powerful method of weed killing.

“Cultivator Long. Cultivator Long?” Another call, rousing Wu Ying from his thoughts. He blinked, staring as Daginaa could not help but grin. “Thinking of Nangerel, are we?”

“No!” Wu Ying said, heatedly. “Now, what were you calling me for?”

“I was,” Khan Erdene said, quelling his momentary impulsive temper. After all, having her angry at him was highly unhealthy. “You seem distracted.”

“My apologies, Khan Erdene.” Wu Ying bowed. “I had a thought. About my cultivation journey.”

“Ah…” She paused then raised one thin, liver spotted hand and waved him away. Was it less liver spotted? He could not help but consider, and think perhaps, it was. “Well then. Let us not keep you. You may go.”

“I…” Wu Ying hesitated.

“Go. If matters about the tribal management and where we go do not hold your interest, you need not stay.” A slight smile. “Your presence was but a courtesy for your aid.”

“Then, I shall take my leave,” Wu Ying said, standing and bowing to the group. “Thank you, again, for your consideration.”

He barely heard their remarks after that, hurrying off. He definitely needed to note down these thoughts and look over his notes.

***

It was two days before he emerged from his tent. Well, he had – briefly – exited his housing to pack it away and then set it up once more on the Khan’s turtle at their behest before he returned to studying, pursuing that line of research.

More than once, he cursed the lack of a proper library or his own incomplete notes. Yet, for all that, years of travel had resulted in numerous purchases and visits to sect library’s, resulting in a small but decent collection of works. Everything from low-grade cultivation manuals to treatises on Body Cultivation were part of his library these days, and all of it was read over once again as he searched for those elusive single lines, throwaway thoughts by authors that might shed further light.

In the end, having exhausted what little studies that he had onhand, Wu Ying was forced to accept that whatever further thoughts he might have would have to await the future. One where soaring libraries held remarks and manuals from cultivators who were willing to put their own thoughts to paper.

Unlike the very tribesmen he lived among now. Their own cultivation techniques were alien to him. Some, like the Khan’s seemed at first blush to follow similar lines. No spirits, herbs and alchemical pills, dao enlightenement and the concentration of energy within. Others though, like Ogdai’s revolved around the very spirits that surrounded them all. Esoteric rituals, entreaties late into the night, worship and embodiment all earmarked that form of cultivation.

At times, Wu Ying believed it might be similar; in structure if not form. Yet, other times, when Ogdai shed blood or lay upon the grass, rolling along the earth as he did so, he was not so sure. What was the point of such activities, how did it help with the flow of chi through one’s body? How did it even open meridians? At least, the cultivation session he had watched where children allowed spirits to roam through their bodies, guided by the barest touches to help cleanse and free meridians made some sense.

Some.

In the end, Wu Ying could only emerge from his tent, knowing that he had much more to learn. It was possible that nothing with regard to the spirits, to the way the Sakhait cultivated would be of use to him. He could only talk to others and explore the differences in hope that some form of understanding might shed enlightenment on his own path.

It was after a meager lunch on the move that Wu Ying was called once more to Khan Erdene’s tent. Entering it, he was surprised to note that it was empty but for the Khan, the elders missing from their usual spot.

“Cultivator Long, sit.” A gesture to a seat on the ground, where a cup of airag was already present along with some strips of wind-dried meat and nuts.

“Thank you, Khan Erdene,” Wu Ying said.

“Your research, has it borne fruit as you wished?” Khan Erdene said after Wu Ying had his first polite sip of his drink.

“Not as much as I’d hoped,” Wu Ying said. “I lack the proper materials for research. I have more questions than answers, I fear.”

“About our cultivation methods. And the Yellow Emperors?” the Khan said. “Of spirits, the Nascent Soul, Body Cultivation and your next steps?”

“Yes.”

No need to ask how she knew. If he could sense across the camp with little effort, how much more could she, a full tier above him, do? Admittedly, much of his senses were passive; ignored – but if he her were, he would have looked into his own tent too.

“A difficult question. Many scholars have delved into such discussions. Some have even treated with us and the other tribes, searching for an answer and an easier path. Seeking to cheat the heavens along the path to immortality.” She cocked her head to the side. “Do  you seek the same?”

Wu Ying shook his head. “No. Just answers and understanding.”

A pause, then the Khan smiled a little. “Then let me set at ease some aspects. Cultivation with spirits is different from the type of cultivates on espoused by the Yellow Emperor. It is as different as Body Cultivation is from Soul Cultivation. Call it, if you will, Spirit Cultivation. It is closer, in effect, to what Spirit Beasts do in your southern lands.”

Wu Ying blinked, his mind spinning at her casual revelation. Before he could find words to ask the questions that were beginning to sprout within his mind, the Khan continued.

“It is not, of course, the same. Our methods, the methods of the tribes in the north, are a mixture. A hodgepodge of cultivation methods in the beginning, learnt by study and practice and guidance, unique for each individual.” She paused, picking up a cup and sipping on the milky white drink within before setting it down. “Our members are more unique, in that sense. Yet, we must clear meridians too, work with the dantian for strength like a Soul Cultivator. At least, in the beginning.”

“There is a change, later? When?” Wu Ying asked.

“It varies for the individual. But often, the Core Formation stage is where we see a separation,” Erdene said. “Those like Ogdai who feel the calling of the spirits grow their connection to the spirits, sometimes to many, sometimes singularly. They embed their own understanding in the spirit, taking the spirit’s own beliefs as their own, while combining it with their own. When you sense the Core within him, what you sense instead is the spirit he has bound and the connection between the two of them.

“Others, like myself; take a more familiar method. We form a Core, develop our own soul, borrowing knowledge from the spirits that abound us. Eventually, we might become a spirit ourselves or an immortal of the kind you expect.”

“Ahhh… And Body Cultivation?” Wu Ying said, tenatively.

“It is not something we study,” the Khan said. “But as we understand it, you seek to become a spirit too, except instead of learning from a spirit beforehand, you blithely transform yourself in hopes that you are doing so correctly, following the instructions left behind by your predecessors. Many of whom have never fully succeeded.”

Wu Ying winced, for she was right. Most soul and body cultivation manuals weren’t left behind by the actual immortals. More so with Body Cultivation, especially since it was rarer. Even in kingdoms where Body Cultivation was more important, successful cultivators were rare.

Was it because, as Erdene mentioned, because of a missing link? Or was it just the vagaries of an impossible task?

“Are the Sakhait more successful then?” Wu Ying said, quietly. “It seems not…” He inclined his head to the side of the ger and the tribe outside. Of which only she was a Nascent Soul cultivator.

Erdene stared at him for a long moment in silence, long enough that Wu Ying began to wonder if he had insulted the Khan. Then, she laughed, slapping her thigh. He could not help but shift in discomfort, as the Khan roared with laughter, wiping at tears before she calmed.

“Ah, to be young again. Brave and foolhardy, without a care in the world of who you insult.” He could not help but wince at her words. “Still, you are not wrong. The path of cultivation is difficult, and our methods are no more guaranteed to work than any others.”

He let out a breath of relief, seeing that she was not angry. Or not too much. Still, her point about Body Cultivation, along with his own conclusion about how Soul and Body cultivation were, in the end, the same thing in different forms had him wondering about their veracity of all these methods.

Perhaps, in truth, no one really knew. The Dao was infinite, and so the path to immortality was infinite too. Perhaps each method was but an approximation of the Dao, a way of achieving the same, small portion of the greater whole.

Certainly, his search for the Heavenly wind that had taken him so far, the progress he had made with the other five winds were as much a question of seeking an understanding of the element itself as it was the physical exercises and the supplements he drank.

“Perhaps, young fool, you might want to explore such relationships in more detail. Rather than eavesdropping on lessons, actually partake in them?” She raised a hand when Wu Ying began to protest. “Not as a practitioner of course. That would but lead to a deviation. But as a scholarly student?”

Wu Ying paused, considering her words. He was not sure how much she could, they could, offer. Then again, the wind had not blown and he had not felt the urge to move on.

“And my debt?” he asked, instead.

“Already paid for with your prior actions,” Khan Erdene said. “However, there is much that we want from you still. There is much, I think, you can still learn from us.” A little smile crossed the woman’s face. “Also, my niece is quite intent on acquiring a child from you.”

“Your… niece?” Wu Ying choked. “A child?”

“Well, did you think what you were doing did not lead to that? You are young, but surely not that young or ignorant.”

Wu Ying shook his head. “I… well. No, I’m not. But there are techniques that one may use. Breathing and muscle control techniques, that allow ummm…”

“Pleasure without ejaculation(11)?”

“Yes…” Wu Ying said, his voice almost a whisper. He was not a very shy man, but there was something about talking a night’s relations with this brazen grandaunt that made him feel like a naughty child. Something in the way she sat, her tone of voice, the look on her face, the pressure in the air…

Ah.

He strengthened his aura, forcing chi through his meridians. He gripped on his Core, pulling at his own understanding in his mind to strengthen it and banish the spiritual pressure. Almost immediately, he felt the tiny tendrils that had entered his mind shatter and he sat up.

“Hmmphhfff…” Erdene said. “Well. I guess I must be blunter.”

“Blunter?” Wu Ying said, his voice colder.

“Did you think your nightly sessions-”

“Not every night.”

“-had no price? She seeks a child, and you are denying her that, whilst using her body like a cheap southern whore.”

“I had not… I had believe she wanted to spend time with me, because of who I am. Not because of what she could gain.”

“And Oktai had not eluded to the fact that our desire is for new blood? That we seek to strengthen the child with those not of our clan?” Erdene said. “Do not shame yourself by lying. And do not speak of a child as though it is a mercenary transaction. Children are a gift.”

“One that I will not be around to watch grow up,” Wu Ying said. “I have no intention of staying in your tribe. Or being trapped here.”

“Trapped!” Erdene slapped the table. Wu Ying had to swallow thickly as pressure built up around his ears. “There is no desire to trap one such as you here. Leave, if you will. The child – my grand-nephew – will not lack for anything without you here. We do not abandon our own.” A pause, then she lowered her voice. “Or do you think we – I – would allow either to be looked down upon because my niece liked your eyes?”

Wu Ying was smart enough to shake his head no.

“Then shed yourself of your weak excuses. Choose – to honour her desires – or stop your foolish actions. In either case, you are welcome to stay or go now.” A slight push with the front of her hand, a motion that never even came close to touching him.

Yet, the air pressure, the force of chi that struck him took Wu Ying by the chest and threw him out of the tent into the air. He tumbled for a good couple of li through the open air, the energy behind that slight motion sufficient to send him flying through the sky.

He could have aborted his flight a lot earlier, but perhaps some time away, from clan and Khan was the best. After all, her anger had not been feigned. Unlike, perhaps, her earlier largesse. Also, if he was a few li away, perhaps it might take them a little longer to catch him if he chose to run.

Footnote:

11 - Actual real world qigong technique taught. Supposed to increase pleasure and lengthen the process too.