Mage's Cultivation Journey 42

I took ten minutes to give Su Mi a detailed explanation of what had just happened with her internal energy, and how it was radically different than any other martial artist who used their breath as a medium to transform their internal essence to give it an offensive quality that internal energy lacked in its usual state.

She listened carefully for a long time before asking her first question. “What does it mean?”

“Well, we do know that your nature has something to do with the river and flow, which gives us a direction,” I said. “Other than that, I have no idea. It’s not something I have seen in others, including myself and Yu Xing.”

“How about others,” she asked.

“True for them as well,” I said. “I might have missed a few, but the general state is clear.”

“Are you sure?” she asked. “I couldn’t feel any change.”

“Because it’s subtle. Even with my senses, I only caught it because I was paying too much attention. But, there’s no doubt that the transformation is there.”

“What do I need to do?” she asked.

I closed my eyes to think. The temptation to take a martial arts similar to the concept of river and let her practice was there, but that would be a disservice. Why limit her when she wasn’t reliant on her breath to use her techniques? Especially since it looked like she could hold the transformed energy inside without damaging her meridians.

“We’re going to split the process into two,” I said. “First, we’re going to test with various similar concepts, to see if you can exert a direct control over your internal energy. It’s important to see if you can exert direct control.”

“What do I need to do?” she said.

I considered teaching her one of the more advanced meditation techniques, the one that was designed to partition her mind instead of just enhancing the internal focus like the one she was currently using. Too bad we were facing a time crunch, and teaching it would require months that we didn’t have.

I decided to have a workaround. “I want you to listen to the rhythm of my beat, and calm down while continuing to rotate your internal energy,” I said as I started tapping my fingers. It wasn’t hypnosis, which I would need mana to facilitate. It was just helping her to relax externally. “Imagine yourself in a river, flowing gently, the warm water washing around you…”

As I spoke those words, I noticed a distinct shift in her essence. The flow of her internal energy calmed down even more.

“Good, but as you continued to flow, the river reached a rocky stretch. The water is churning furiously around you, threatening to drown your enemies…” Her internal energy flow turned more chaotic, but still in control.

“Now, you’re under a waterfall, and water spilling over you constantly, carrying the might of the water…” There, I expected the feeling to stay rooted around the concept of flowing water. It did not. Instead, it started to feel more like … rain.

I could have tried to refocus her, but the sudden shift gave me a different clue. Instead of asking her to refocus the various interpretations of the river, I cycled between many different concepts, ranging from mountains to storms, swords to firestorms, to a shocking result.

Her internal energy was able to replicate only some of them, but the pattern was clear. The ones that she was able to replicate all fell under the category of water. The local interpretation.

I gulped, barely keeping myself from asking her to just try to embody the water element. That was too much of a risk, especially in this stage. “That’s enough, release your internal energy with your breath once more,” I ordered.

She did so, this time the energy carrying a stronger presence, one that I could pinpoint as water.

“What’s the verdict?” she asked.

“Your body is flexible, able to embody many different concepts under the umbrella of water element,” I told her. “I see no reason you won’t be able to perform any of them very proficiently, maybe enough to reach Connate Realm in mere months.”

I didn’t think I was talking nonsense. For others, martial arts was a dangerous challenge of balance, trying to reforge their bodies with the transformed internal energy, but trying not to ruin their bodies in the process.

For her, with her ability to transform her internal energy without damaging her body, things would probably take far less time.

“But?” she asked, correctly guessing something that I neglected to mention.

I took a deep breath, glad that Elder Kai had already delivered the second batch of books, which proved the foundation of my new elemental theory. “You also have a chance to push further. Every other martial art relies on what I call derivative elements. Mountain instead of Earth. Iron instead of Metal. Rain instead of Water. You might be the exception to it,” I said.

“But how?” she asked.

“In the books, there were mentions of several special body types, required for some advanced martial arts styles. They are just indirect mentions, so I can’t be too sure about their function, but too many independent sources refer to them, making their existence obvious. We might try to figure out a way to delve deeper. Potentially, it’ll make you much stronger.”

“Potentially,” she responded, catching the word. “And, how long will it take?”

I shrugged. “I absolutely have no idea, but I can’t imagine it taking just a few weeks. The fundamental elements are not something that you want to dabble halfheartedly.”

“Can I start with one of the other styles, like rain or river, then switch to water?” she asked. “Since it’s possible to switch between different styles as long as the concept matches, it should be possible, right? That way, I don’t have to wait, and start learning.”

I paused, considering her suggestion. “It might,” I started. She smiled. “It might,” I repeated, keeping my voice serious. “It’s not a guarantee. There’s a chance that once you pick a representation, it’ll solidify and reject a more general interpretation.”

I couldn’t blame her for her indecision. Making a decision between uncertain future potential and immediate gains was not always something simple. “Is there a way I could achieve both?” she asked.

“Maybe,” I said. “It won’t work for anyone else, but with the way your body reacts to transformed energy, there’s truly a chance. You’ll try to practice multiple water-based martial arts at once, and we’ll see if there’s any conflict. We can purge your meridians if there’s any conflict, but beware. It will be extremely painful.”

“I want to take the risk,” she said, then pausing. “I have to.”

“That’s your call,” I said.

“What do I have to do?”

“Wait here,” I said and went to the library, and started to go through current available manuals, separating the ones that could presumably be linked to the water element directly, covering concepts like tides, rain, and rivers. It was not always implied in the name, but at this point, deciphering the root of a style had become trivial for me.

It was the conversion step I was having trouble with.

I returned to her with a small pile of books. “That’s a lot,” she admitted.

“It’s a good way to start,” I said. “Let’s begin with something simple,” I said, pushing a book on the rain. “Try to copy the first set, but without mobilizing your essence.” She tried her best, but as a kinetic learner, she was not. “Stop. Go call Yu Xing.”

“Why?” she asked.

“Because you’re bad at the kinetic portions, and I’m even worse. The last thing I want to do is to ruin everything by teaching you wrong.” She seemed hesitant at the mention. “What’s the problem?” I asked.

“I … he doesn’t want to teach me. And I don’t want to force him,” she commented, trying to sound affronted.

“Teenagers,” I muttered, annoyed. It was a complete misrepresentation of Yu Xing’s intent when he argued, and even more frustrating, I knew that she knew it. When she returned after their talk, I had assumed that they had agreed, but it was clearly different. Maybe she wanted to prove something. The mature thing was to play along, maybe talk about her emotions in a nurturing way, helping her navigate.

I decided to go a different direction. “I don’t care. Go bring him, and start practicing,” I said. “Or not, you’re the one asking me to teach you.”

She let out a frustrated breath, but that was the full extent of her rebellion. It was one perk of the local culture. The unique spin they had on the concept of teacher-student relationship meant that she would follow my directive even if she didn’t want to.

If she grew up as a mage, the same discussion would have gone wildly different, maybe with a few fireballs thrown around.

She returned with Yu Xing, who looked just as resentful to be with her as she was, showing that their little argument had been explosive.

But, he was serious about teaching, and she was serious about learning. It was all that mattered.

I turned my attention back to the book I had picked from the kidnapper. Hopefully, I will be able to see something about the mysteries of the Connate realm.