Dao of the World Walker (Xianxia) Book 2

”Come in, Senior Brother,” Yang said, leading him inside.

Once inside, Yang gestured toward the table. ”Let me prepare some tea.”

”No, no. There is no need, Junior Brother Yang. Come sit.”

Yang settled across the table from him. A quiet settled between them and it was Senior Brother Lin Yi who broke it.

”Junior Brother, I must apologise. Last time I was planning to come alone. But the sponsorship letter had been brought by Zhen Hao and he was adamant on bringing it here himself, and once he came Brother Xu Kai was insistent on accompanying him. Not for your sake but to gauge Zhen Hao’s reason for insistence. You must have been surprised to see all three of us.”

”Not at all, Senior Brother. It was an honour having you all here.” Yang said waving of the apology.

”Junior Brother, I am sure you have some idea of why I insisted on bringing you back so quickly today, so I will not beat around the bush.” Senior Brother Lin Yi looked at him directly. ”I will ask again. Do you know Senior Brother Xiao Zhan?”

”No, Senior Brother. Before the banquet I had never met him. Today was only my second time seeing him.” Yang paused. ”Senior Brother Lin Yi, have I somehow offended Senior Brother Xiao Zhan?”

Senior Brother Lin Yi was quiet for a moment. ”I understand why you would think so, especially after today. But I do not believe you have offended him. If you had, Senior Brother Xiao Zhan would not have had you sponsored for this competition.” He looked at Yang’s surprised expression and asked. ”You did not really think some senior inner sect disciple you had never met would simply sponsor you out of goodwill, did you?”

”No. But I thought it might have something to do with Senior Brother Jiang Zhen Hao,” Yang said.

”A reasonable assumption for someone who does not know Zhen Hao well. But Zhen Hao is friendly and kind to everyone. To him everyone is a friend until they prove themselves otherwise. He treated you warmly but he treats every new disciple he meets the same way. He would not go out of his way to ask his shixiong to sponsor someone simply because he liked them.” Senior Brother Lin Yi took a breath. ”And either way Senior Brother Chen Xin Hai is not the type to indulge Zhen Hao in such things. The only one who could have urged Senior Brother Chen Xin Hai to sponsor you is his own shixiong, Senior Brother Xiao Zhan himself. I doubt Senior Brother Chen Xin Hai’s other shixiong or his master has any particular interest in you.”

He let that trail into a question.

”I have not met any of Senior Brother Jiang Zhen Hao’s other shixiong except the two at the banquet,” Yang confirmed.

”Hmm. The other one was Senior Brother Luo Yun Xi, the one after Senior Brother Xiao Zhan in the lineage. I agree he did not seem particularly interested in you.” Senior Brother Lin Yi shook his head slightly. ”All of this is coming from Senior Brother Xiao Zhan.”

A pause. Then: ”Junior Brother Yang, I believe it may have something to do with yourself rather than your actions.”

”Senior Brother?”

”I am sure you remember, last time I was here, I stopped along the path to look at your Spirit Spiral plant shoot?”

”I do, Senior Brother. At the time I wanted to ask you about it. I felt something unusual about the way you reacted.”

”You would be correct.” Senior Brother Lin Yi looked at him steadily. ”I felt your plants were different than they should have been. I would have thought it a different strain or a specially cultivated hybrid, except they were grown from my own seeds.”

”Senior Brother, what did you feel was different? I used the seeds you gave me. Why would the shoot I have grown be unlike what it should be?” Yang asked leaning forward.

”Junior Brother, after decades of cultivation the qi in everything becomes as familiar as breathing. The plants are are the same. Since the seeds were not unusual it has to be something else making them so. The soil is the same as everyone in the sect uses for farming and gardening. Unless you added something to the soil or are using some kind of special spirit water?” At Senior Brother Lin Yi’s questioning look Yang shook his head. ”Then the only thing that leaves, Junior Brother Yang, is the qi you yourself are providing the plant with each time you water it.”

”My qi? I absorb the same qi as everyone else. Why would it be different?”

”Junior Brother, everything produces its own qi. Everything. The air, fire, water, rocks, animals, anything that exists in nature. Some have more of it, some have less. Those that can absorb qi from the world around them and refine it are called cultivators, if they are human.” Yang was listening closely as Senior Brother Lin Yi continued. ”When you run external qi through your channels and refine it in your body, you are transforming it to match your own. The influx of refined external qi pushes your threshold and once overflowing, it advances you to the next realm. You are providing the Spirit Spiral plants with your own refined qi. If the plant is showing some kind of altered qi, it means you yourself have some kind of altered qi.”

Yang’s expression shifted. He had long known he was different, but that the difference was significant enough to affect the plants he was cultivating was something else entirely.

Senior Brother Lin Yi read his face. ”From your expression, this does not come as a surprise to you.”

Yang had been in the dark about his own differences for long enough. This felt like a good opening. ”Senior Brother, I have known for some time that there is something unusual about myself, but I am largely in the dark about what it is. I will tell you what I have observed and would be grateful for any light you could shed on it.”

”Junior Brother, you do not have to tell me anything. Cultivators are entitled to their secrets. But I believe this is also what holds Senior Brother Xiao Zhan’s interest in you. Whatever you decide to share, I will listen.”

Yang decided to explain the observable facts while keeping the origin hidden. ”Senior Brother, due to circumstances in my past I spent a number of years alone in a forest during my childhood. Learning to hunt and survive on my own. During that time I discovered that certain animals I hunted had stones in their skulls. Which I later found out were beast cores. When I ate them I went through a period of severe pain.”

Senior Brother Lin Yi’s expression sharpened his mention of eating beast cores.

”But once the pain passed I was considerably stronger than I should have been. It improved my chances of surviving in the forest, so I continued. Eventually they stopped producing any effect.” Yang paused. ”More recently I tried to cultivate using spirit stones and emptied one completely in under two minutes. I had the stones examined at the outer sect hall. The senior there concluded there was nothing wrong with the stones and suggested I might have a special physique.”

Senior Brother Lin Yi was quiet for a moment. ”I agree with your senior from the outer sect hall. As a child with no cultivation, eating beast cores should have killed you. While using beast cores for cultivation is not entirely unheard of, it is typically only viable for cultivators with beast bloodline in them, whether natural or somehow acquired. For ordinary humans the animal qi is too difficult to refine. But you are not cultivating the beast core, you said you ate it, that you were able to do so at all is a strong indicator of a special physique.” He considered. 

”The spirit stone absorption could be a symptom of the same thing, though I do not believe normal beast cultivators or cultivators with beast bloodline have ever shown issues with absorbing qi from spirit stones too quickly. That part is less clear.”

He looked at Yang directly. ”I would suggest seeking guidance from an elder who could help identify your physique if there is one, and advise you on the best way to cultivate it.”

”I agree, Senior Brother. But I am not close enough to any elders yet, and I have not felt comfortable sharing this with Elders I know only casually.”

”I understand. Trust takes time to build.” Senior Brother Lin Yi nodded. ”Since it has not harmed you so far, it is not urgent. Take the time you need to decide. And you can be assured I will not be sharing what you have told me with anyone. I will also do some research on my end and see if I can find anything useful.”

Yang bowed his head. ”Thank you, Senior Brother. I am truly grateful.”

”Now.” Senior Brother Lin Yi stood. ”Before I leave. As for getting to the remaining events, I will send you the contact of someone running an escorting service so you can attend as many events as you want. But I would advise you not to try to attend everything. Alchemy alone has hundreds of events, from events dedicated to healing, to particular elements, and elixirs specifically. You would spend the whole competition travelling rather than preparing. Stick to the main events, the generalised ones for Golden Core and Foundation Establishment, so you get a rounded impression of each craft.”

”That makes sense, Senior Brother. I will follow your advice.”

Yang walked him to the edge of the cave formation and watched as Senior Brother Lin Yi stepped onto his sword and rose toward the inner sect, growing smaller until he disappeared into the sky.

Yang stood there for a moment longer before turning back to his cave.

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