I didn’t see Mei or SuYin at all the next week. They gave me the time I needed to digest my decision. The more I thought about it, the more I felt like it had been rash, but I wasn’t willing to go back and undo it. I would let things play out and see what happened.

During this time, I would stand on the second-floor balcony and watch the people below as they shopped. Of particular interest were the Martial Masters I saw.

I wanted to understand cultivating as a Martial Master on a deeper level. So many of the Masters I had met were mentally unstable. This was also a problem for Martial Disciples, like Gougou, but the problems seemed to increase by an order of magnitude among Masters. Why? More importantly, how could I fix it?

In the Twin Mountains Sect, everyone focused on the speed at which one advanced. I had repeatedly been told that I needed to advance slowly as a Master to ensure I stayed mentally balanced. I wasn’t completely convinced of this, though. Why would cultivating faster cause a person to become unbalanced?

There had to be a deeper reason at play, and if I could understand this deeper reason, I should be able to find a way to increase the speed at which I advanced without risking mental instability. I just had to find it.

As I thought about this, my mind always drifted back to the same question. I had become convinced that it was the energy flows within a Disciple’s body that caused their change in temperament. So, what would adding meridians to a body do to affect these flows?

Day after day, I stood on the balcony and studied everyone who visited the Pavilion to try and tease out an answer to this question, but on the seventh day after our last meeting, Mei finally came to find me.

She walked right up to me and gave me a gentle smile. “Alright, stop just standing there. Come with me.”

Mei led me up to a small meeting room on the seventh floor. It only contained a few mats spread out around the floor, but it had a large window with an impressive view overlooking the city below.

When I entered, I saw SuYin already sitting on one of the mats. She looked nervous. Her eyes were staring at the ground, and she was twiddling her thumbs. When we stepped into the room, she looked up at us but then quickly lowered her eyes again.

Mei gently touched my shoulder and guided me to sit near SuYin.

“Fang, I’ve told Yin what I know, but it would be best if you gave us more details.”

I took a breath and nodded. “Have you tested your affinities?”

“No, it would be better if we don’t make a big deal about this. Some people, like WuJing, will notice the change, but most won’t think twice about it if we don’t say anything.”

I looked at Mei. “You should now have a mid seven-star water affinity and a mid eight-star wind affinity.” I turned to the other girl. “SuYin, you should have a mid seven-star wood affinity.”

SuYin silently gasped at the news, but Mei was more calculative. “What? That is… higher than I would have expected…”

I gave her a half-smile. “It’s what made the most sense, under the circumstances.”

Mei looked at SuYin and spoke in a firm tone. “Never speak of this conversation. Forget about having ever been tested before. You always had this affinity, right?”

She bowed her head weakly. “Yes, Mei.”

I gestured toward the books that were sitting in front of each girl. “I’ve given you both the best cultivation techniques I have for your affinities. The Pavilion’s library might have better, but—”

“No.” Mei cut me off. “We will use the ones you have already given us. That is for the best. I just didn’t want us to begin using them until you were ready to guide us.”

“Alright.” I rubbed my hands together nervously as I thought through what I needed to tell them. “First, Mei, the technique I gave you will make you more pliant. You will feel the urge to follow others’ instructions and wishes. I’m sorry, but that’s the only decent water one I have. As long as you are careful in your cultivation, these mental impulses shouldn’t become a problem, but if they are, we can look to minimize them after you reach Grandmaster.”

“But–” As she looked at me, a series of expressions flickered through Mei’s face. I could tell that she wanted to say something, but instead of speaking, she just forced herself to look down at the table.

After long moments of silent contemplation, she shook her head, then looked back up at me. “I understand. It’s probably for the best. It must be, right?”

Concerned at this reaction, I started to say something, but she let out a faint laugh. “Don’t worry. This is the technique that I’m supposed to cultivate, at least for now. What about SuYin?”

Still a bit worried but not willing to push things, I turned my focus to the other girl. “SuYin, yours will make you more adventurous. It might give you a wanderlust that urges you to go out and explore the world. I can see why this would be seen as valuable for wood qi practitioners, since it will give you more exposure to a variety of different plants, but you still need to cultivate it carefully. If you don’t, you might find yourself lost in the wilderness by this time next year.”

“Yes… I… I… Thank you.”

“If you are both happy with your techniques, then let’s begin cultivating. It doesn’t matter where you want to start, but I would suggest an arm. It’s easier to visualize what’s going on there.”

Both girls had already familiarized themselves with the techniques that I had given them before this meeting even began, so they were able to immediately get started.

Mei was the first to form her qi filter and whirlpool. It looked like she had been practicing, but as I watched, the filter began to destabilize, and impurities flooded her body.

“Stop!” I reached out with my affinities to help her cut off the flow of qi. “You need practice with the filter. It wasn’t quite right, and that will cause you serious problems. Until your filter is absolutely perfect, don’t try to draw in any qi.”

This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.

“Yes… I see.” She dipped her head. “It’s difficult, though. Working from a picture on a scroll… It’s not exactly clear where all the lines go or how to space them. It will take… time.”

I thought about this problem. While Mei would eventually need to improve her qi control, with the affinity I had given her, cultivating a simple Yellow-Rank technique shouldn’t be much of a problem. She just needed a clearer picture of what to do.

I held out my hand and used my fire qi to create a large version of the filter that she was supposed to make. With the insights from enlightenment that I had received upon creating my new Rank 1 technique, I was able to create a filter that was even better than the one recorded in her technique manual. I then created a second copy at the exact scale that she should use in her body. Then, I pumped the filters full of fire qi to force them to emit a faint glow that could be seen with normal, mortal vision.

A bit exhausted by this expenditure, I took a ragged breath. “Here. This is what it should look like. Your qi vision hasn’t developed yet, so it may be hard to see details clearly, but hopefully, you can use this as a guide. Try to copy the smaller one exactly.”

I looked over at SuYin. She was struggling, but unlike Mei, she hadn’t jumped to create a filter. Instead, she was placing and removing strands of her qi over and over. If any bit of qi was even slightly out of place, she dispersed it and tried again.

“One moment, SuYin. Use this instead.” Like with Mei, I used the insights from my enlightenment to enhance and alter the qi filter that she was creating. SuYin only took one look at my creation before getting back to work.

This seemingly dismissive glance made me slightly worried, but when I saw that she had shifted her qi to precisely mimic what I had shown her, I understood.

It was her blessing, her perfect memory. Unlike Mei, SuYin knew exactly how the filter was supposed to be put together after only a single glance. If she wanted to replicate the filter, she would need to practice and improve her qi control, but with her memory, she was able to easily identify any shortcomings in her work.

I looked at the progress that both girls were making and smiled. “Don’t rush this. Take your time. Once you are confident in your filters, come find me. Then, I will help you begin cultivating in earnest. If you have any questions, just let me know.”

Two weeks after our first session, SuYin sought me out to ask for further help.

This made me feel a bit ashamed. After only a single warning, neither Mei nor SuYin had rushed to cultivate. They both patiently took the time they needed to master the creation of qi filters. In contrast, when I was first learning to cultivate, I had bulled ahead time after time, even after personally experiencing the dangers of doing so, leading to several gruesome deaths. I could only console myself with the fact that their situations were completely different from what mine was. They weren’t learning to do everything alone in a rotten shack.

When SuYin found me, she was hunched and nervous, a world away from the bright young woman I had met when I came here. “Su… Fang, I’m ready to learn the next step.”

I tried to smile gently at her, but it didn’t have much of an effect. “Alright, come with me.”

In silence, I guided her to my apartment.

Inside, I poured her a cup of tea as I began to speak. “With a high-quality filter in place, all you need to do is create the whirlpool and cycle your energy. I’ll help you with the location and precise direction of everything, but with your memory and eyesight, it shouldn’t be a problem.”

She nodded without speaking.

“Go ahead and begin.”

She began to pull in the qi and form it into correct shapes.

“Stop! The positioning isn’t right. Move it here.” I used a flicker of fire qi to indicate the correct positioning. The difference between SuYin’s placement and mine was only a fraction of a millimeter, so it wouldn’t make too much difference, but why settle for substandard if you didn’t have to?

She began working again.

“Stop! Adjust the angle of the whirlpool.” I again demonstrated this with my qi.

She did as I instructed and began again. I worked her through several more small adjustments, but finally, everything was as close to perfect as my understanding would allow.

Once everything was locked into place, I handed her a pill bottle.

“This is a Basic Qi Gathering Pill. It will give you a burst of additional energy, allowing you to smoothly break through in an instant. The additional qi you will draw in might be a little hard to handle, but just focus on maintaining your cultivation. I will handle any problems.”

She silently took the bottle and swallowed the pill. Qi suddenly began pouring toward her arm several times faster than before. SuYin began sweating a bit, but she maintained everything perfectly. I was ready to step in and disperse the flow of qi, but it was unnecessary.

After only a few minutes, the qi in her arm reached the saturation point.

“Alright, you only get one chance at this. You need to form your qi into a sharp needle and stab directly here.” I created a visible needle with my qi to show her what to do. “Try to mimic the placement, shape, size, and angle of my needle exactly. If it’s a little off, it’s okay. Just do your best.”

SuYin’s performance was perfect. She stabbed with her qi, opened her acupoint, and broke through to Martial Disciple 2.

I gave her a wide smile. “Good job.”

“Thank you.” Her voice was quiet, and her eyes stared at the floor.

I waited patiently for her to adjust to the changes in her body, expecting her to silently leave when she was ready, but she kept sitting there. After several minutes, I wasn’t sure what to do and became concerned.

“SuYin–”

“Su… Fang… I’m… I’m willing to be your woman.”

That was not what I had expected her to say.

“SuYin… No… We cannot have that kind of relationship. I have… concerns that won’t allow it. I’m sorry.”

She began to cry. “But, you’ve given me—”

“No.” My voice turned cold. “What I have given was given freely, without any obligation. Especially not one of… that… kind.”

“I have to repay you.” Tears flowed from her eyes. “All I have to give is my body.”

I wanted to slap the foolish girl for saying such a thing, but I had come to learn that this type of exchange wasn’t uncommon in this society.

“Maybe in the past. Maybe. But not anymore. You are a cultivator now, and you have a world of possibilities in front of you.”

I wanted to blame someone for this mess, and part of me couldn’t help but feel that Mei’s blessing had forced me into this situation, then left me to deal with the consequences. Still, from what I had already seen, SuYin’s blessing had rather large upsides, and having her on my team would only be beneficial. I just had to solve the problem in front of us first.

I tried to see the situation from her perspective. The biggest problem was that she had no context to understand our relationship. She was alone in my apartment, and I had given her a gift beyond value. For her, from her life experiences, this might only happen in a romantic relationship. I needed to give her a new lens to see this situation through.

“SuYin… we won’t ever have that kind of a relationship, but if you are willing, I will take you as my personal disciple. While my knowledge is limited, I will share it freely with you, and I can guarantee your advancement to Martial Grandmaster. Beyond cultivation, however, everything depends on your own efforts. Will you accept me as your master?”

“Master?” My question had shocked her out of her despondence. “But, I don’t know anything—”

“All that matters is if you wish me to teach and guide you. I will provide as much help and protection as I can, though it will be limited. With your current affinity for wood, you could easily join the Verdant Fields Sect and find a superior teacher. That may be the better option, but if you wish, you can become my disciple.”

“Yes!” Hope seemed to well up inside of her as she gave me a deep bow. “I am willing, Master.”

Before I could stop her, SuYin knelt on the floor and kowtowed to me. “Master, I will follow your guidance. Please teach me.”

I helped her back up to her feet. “As your Master, my first bit of guidance is to rest. Take some time and just… live as a cultivator. Go to the library and read some books about herbalism or wood qi techniques.” I handed her a large bag of coins. “Use these to buy a couple of basic techniques. If you need pills, just ask me for them directly.”

“I can’t—”

I patted her shoulder. “It is my duty to provide for your lessons. Take the coins and go study. This amount of money has no meaning to me.”

She gave me a deep bow and accepted the bag. Then, I guided her out of my room.

I said goodbye to her as she walked away. Luckily, the hallway was pretty empty, so there weren’t many to see a tearful SuYin leaving my apartment. There were only a couple of men at the far end of the hall, but they were looking the other way.