Chapter 52: This Young Master Lacks Science (Patreon)

From lost soul to Young Master. From Young Master to lost soul. Chen Haoran wondered why his life in particular seemed so strangely cyclical. Perhaps he would become the master of the Spa Cavern next? He already found a genius to form a connection with, all he needed was an overbearing jackass to complete the trio.

Phelps yawned from behind and he felt the breath tickle his ear. The sloth was well-behaved, content with sleeping on his back and begging for moss. Neither rain nor the constant moving bothered him, for which Chen Haoran was thankful. This would have been a much harder journey if he was uncooperative.

Not like it was currently easy. Rain still fell in heavy sheets and while it wasn’t as bad as the steam it still hindered his vision. Under the torrential downpour, the pools overflowed and he was left sloshing through water. He wasn’t confident in running just yet with Phelps on his back so he could only cycle his qi and steadily hike on. The rain soaked his clothes and the chill in the air invaded his bones. His qi pulsed and flowed like warm water to take off the worst of the cold’s bite. The real issue was that it was getting warmer again. He could feel the temperature gradually rise, and misty vapor rose from the water. The clouds above were noticeably thinning as well, soon they would stop entirely. He would only have a short window of visibility between the rain stopping and the steam rising.

“I wish a had a minimap.” Chen Haoran squinted through the rain. He had long passed the outcropping he had been humbled on before. The cavern expanded immensely from this point forward and he could barely make out the outlines of the towering columns through the rain. They were his destination. He would hunker down and wait out the rest of the storm once he got there.

Lightning flashed and the sound of thunder and shattered stone rumbled through the cavern. He spied a familiar broken silhouette.

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The best thing about being ridiculously tough was no more stubbed toes. A fact that Chen Haoran was grateful for when he kicked a large stone hidden beneath the water. Before him rose the lightning-struck stalagmite he had first seen when the storm started. Its shattered remains were strewed around the water, their sizes ranging from stones small enough to fit in his hand to minivan-sized boulders. The stalagmite had been whittled down to half its height by the lightning. Even reduced as it was Chen Haoran had to crane his neck to see the jagged edges above him like an enormous spear had been snapped in half.

“You really live in a crazy place don’t you?” he asked the sloth.

Phelps blinked and opened his mouth.

“Freaking glutton.” Chen Haoran reached down to rip out more glowing moss and his hand brushed against the stone he previously kicked. There was a sudden needle-like pain that snapped across his skin. He cursed and jumped back, warily observing the water for any movement, a quick glance at his hand revealed it was unharmed.

“I got shocked?” He frowned and grabbed the stone, he immediately felt a dying vibration that tingled his palm. The stone was heavier than it looked and a glossy blue-gray vein ran through it. “It kept the charge?” He cycled his qi and squeezed it. It was tough.

If it was some kind of metal then that explained why it kept getting struck by lightning. He dropped the stone in his storage bag and grabbed another fist-sized piece. The electricity arced into his hand and left him feeling pins and needles up to his wrist. He directed his qi in a wave to clear the sensation, instead the wave broke as soon as it encountered the residual lightning.

Chen Haoran felt for his scattered qi and found it bunching up and overwhelming the lightning. He shook off the numbness in his hand and walked over to a larger fragment that came up to his chest. He cycled his qi and focused his sense as he laid his hand flat on the rock. The lightning sparked and this time he could clearly see his qi being drawn to it like a magnet. Yellow qi bunched together around the lightning and swallowed it, what remained was qi a brighter color than before. He flexed his fingers and gathered the bright qi to his fist before punching the rock. The surface cracked and he could see the indentation of his knuckles in the tough ore.

The lightning improved his qi. It made sense that it wasn’t normal, the clouds were made from qi-infused water. Why would the lightning they generated be any different? This qi lightning wasn’t water-aligned however. It had a sharpness to it that he was intimately familiar with.

“Metal gathers Water huh?” Lan Fen did say that Metal had a positive interaction with Water among the Five Elements.

He slipped Phelps off his back and settled him on the rock. Phelps squealed at him for the disturbance.

“Sorry boy.” Chen Haoran fed him a patch of glowing moss. “I’m planning to do something stupid.”

He trudged around the stalagmite, touching as many fragments as he could. Not all of the fragments held a charge so he was left with little more than a quarter of his qi improved. He cycled the Yellow Dragon River Refinement as he did so but despite having an example he couldn’t create the improved lightning-refined qi. Rather than an upgrade, it was more of a temporary buff. In the face of unknown potential dangers, however, he would take whatever boost he could get.

He walked over to the stalagmite. As he got closer he could feel the hairs on his arms stand up and there was a low hum like he was stepping toward a giant beehive. He took a deep breath and firmly planted his feet. Inside his meridians, the yellow dragon danced. He reached out his hands. Phelps squealed at him. He stopped short of the thrumming rock.

“Don’t be stupid.” He backed off from the giant lightning rod and threw over a smaller stone. There was a spark as it hit the rock and when Chen Haoran picked it up it was filled with lightning. He looked at it and frowned. It would be too slow to absorb the lightning like this. He still wanted to make the most of his time before the rain stopped but touching the stalagmite directly was just a bad idea. He looked at the large fragments scattered around.

Maybe he wouldn’t have to. If he could channel it then it might be more reasonable. He was already coming in with improved qi on top of his enhanced toughness. He could handle it.

He walked over to a large bathtub-sized fragment and heaved the rock over his shoulder. He carried it to the stalagmite and stood it up before tipping it over so that it leaned against the lightning-charged pillar. He had a brief moment of cold panic when he realized that he just connected a giant source of electricity to the water he was standing in. Despite his fears he remained un-electrocuted. Maybe qi water didn’t conduct electricity the same way regular water did?

He clapped his hands and patted his sides and grabbed the edges of the connecting rock.

His vision went white.

His limbs locked into place. Steam rolled off his clothes. Lightning outlined his meridians in blue. The yellow dragon furiously roared at the lightning and they coiled around each other like two fighting snakes. In the world of white he could only see, through his sense, his own lightbulb yellow qi and the tower of blue-white lightning that he plugged himself into. Thinking he could manage the power of the lightning by channeling it through another rock was foolish. If there was pain he could not feel it, if this was a mistake he could not regret it.

It was working though. His qi crushed around the lightning and glowed ever brighter for it. The yellow dragon clamped its jaws around the blue light and he could see the definition in its scales being thrown in stark relief. His reserves grew smaller as the qi condensed and new qi dripped in from the spiritual rain to feed the process till his meridians filled to bursting.

The yellow dragon roared. His vision returned. Chen Haoran looked up horrified. Lightning flashed and broke upon the jagged crown of the stalagmite. Thunder boomed.

Chen Haoran stared up at the clouds. He heard Phelps squealing. A burnt smell stung his nose. Slowly he lifted himself up from the water. If he hadn’t let go before the lightning struck then he would have died. He staggered over to Phelps, clutching his heart. With shaking hands he pulled out a medicinal pill and fed it to him. The sloth sniffed it and greedily chewed it.

Received Hundred-fold: Profound-rank Spring Vigor Pill

He summoned the improved medicine and downed it in one go. A rejuvenating energy spread from his core. He breathed. His qi coursed like liquid gold through his meridians. Whatever damage the lightning had done to him had been resisted by it and what was left was dealt with by the healing pill.

He flexed his qi. The water at his feet surged away clearing a circle three feet across. Phelps squealed in distress as he was flattened by the pressure.

“Sorry.” Chen Haoran released his qi and fed Phelps more moss while gently murmuring half-hearted assurances. His mind was elsewhere.

The dangers of this cavern were unknown. The benefits got clearer by the day.

More lightning fell and struck the stalagmite.

“No more playing with lightning though.”