On Astral Tides: From Humble Freelancer To Astral Emperor

“So, how was your night?” I asked Shaeula as she strolled into the kitchen, yawning. In response she shot me a sly grin as she opened the fridge and retrieved a cold can of coffee. Pulling the ring, she drank it down, wiping at her mouth in satisfaction.

“I should be asking you that, should I not-not?” she laughed. “Though I confess, your friends are rather fun. And they were-were very kind to Ichika, which pleases me. That Yasu was rather taken with her, though I fear-fear she was not reciprocating.” Sitting down beside me, she continued. “We talked a great-great deal about you and Shiro, and your times together. I talked as well, of course. Ichika was quite-quite taken aback at all that is happening that she does not-not know of.” She paused. “Now, that is quite-quite enough of me, how was your night?”

Well, considering we only got back an hour ago, it was quite hectic. “It was productive. We came to an agreement with Arisu-san, and I got two new vassals out of it.”

“I see. That is indeed good-good news.” However…” her smile broadened. “You know that is not-not what I wish to talk about. Have you and Shiro become as one-one?”

“Yes, there were no problems.” I hoped my face wasn’t flushed. “Let’s just say that her Lovers’ Link skill Ranked up a bit.”

“Excellent. I am quite-quite pleased.” Shaeula said, looking at me expectantly as her stomach grumbled cutely. Taking the hint, I headed for the stove, ready to prepare breakfast. “So where is she?”

“Taking a quick nap. We didn’t get much sleep last night…” I admitted, thinking back to our lovemaking. In the end, Shiro and I had stayed up all night, talking, reminiscing and interspersing that with sex, although after the experimentation, we had kept it strictly vanilla. “But she’ll be up soon. We’re meeting up with Arisu-san and the others later, she has something to give us. And then I want to make sure everything is working properly with the expansion of Haru-san’s Territory. Before all that though, probably some training…” I’ve got some ideas I’d like to explore…

“I see.” Shaeula approved. “Well, I do have to return to the Spring for some matters, but I shall-shall wait until after this training. Perhaps later I can meet Shiro’s comrades properly, since they shall be ours-ours now.” As she talked, others started filtering in for breakfast. Eri was next, roiling in on her wheelchair, being pushed by Daiyu, which was a surprising combination.

“Eri, Daiyu’er, good morning.” I greeted them, and Daiyu nodded, despite me having spoken in Japanese.

“Good morning to you.” She returned.

“Oh, so you’ve been studying then?” I asked, and while she stumbled over some words and there were a lot of phrases she still didn’t get, I was impressed in her progress over just a few days. The buffed memory and learning ability from stats really makes a difference.

“Today, is it a good time?” Daiyu asked me, a little shyly.

“For what?” We had switched back to Chinese while Shaeula and Eri were chatting at the table.

“I have codified the teachings of Qi Refining that I remember, as well as the details of Diamond Mountain’s lore. Coupled with my own Qi Refining Technique… I believe I wish to search for disciples, as well as teach you my ways.” Her eyes were imploring, yearning, and I remembered her desire to re-establish her Sect, to not let the legacy of her family die out.

“Well, I was planning to doing some training myself today anyway. That works.” Shiro’s in a good mood after last night, so she shouldn’t mind me squeezing some extra buffs out of her. She squeezed enough out of me… “I’d be more than happy to take a look at it. We could do with making a detailed analysis of your Network as opposed to mine, Shaeula and Shiro’s anyway.” I also want to process the water element the Territory has been building up…

“By Network, you mean the meridians, acupoints, pathways and Dantians?” she questioned, and I nodded.

“Yeah, it all seems to be the same thing, just put together differently. There are outliers, like the lunar chakra and probably your Dantians, but it all functions similarly, just like all living creatures, at least on earth, are carbon-based and are built from the same molecular combinations.” I said as I opened up the rice cooker, spooning out steaming rice into bowls for everyone. Hyacinth had joined us, and as usual had immediately started helping out, preparing some miso soup and pickled vegetables, and I was once more impressed at how well she had adapted to cooking Japanese food. Just waiting on Shiro now, but I do wonder if she’s too shy to face everyone right now?

“I see. Codifying knowledge and probing deeper secrets to gain greater strength is one of the foundations of Cultivation.” Daiyu mused, before nodding politely as I handed her a bowl of rice. Luckily her dietary tastes are quite similar to us Japanese, though she does apparently miss medicinal herbs that help with her Cultivation. Maybe we can procure some?

“It’s the foundation of everything worthwhile.” I laughed. “Knowledge is power, after all. So, what sort of disciples are you looking for?” I asked.

“Cultivation requires hard, dedicated study and training.” She said, reminiscing. “Without the will to face endless hardships, to surpass their own and even mortal limits, no true progress will be made. But just as important is talent and luck. For without those, the heights of Mount Tai will forever elude them.” Her eyes clouded over, her expressionless face displaying clear signs of unease. “I thought I had luck, I was blessed by the Heavens, even more when Chang’e bestowed her touch on me, though arrogantly I sought to dismiss such a power as unworthy, beneath Cultivation, for a power one cannot make one’s own is merely a sword without a hilt, harmful to the touch. Yet…”

She looked up at me as I patted her head gently, trying to reassure her. “You’re still alive. It may not seem like that is such a great thing, but when you look back to now in the future, you’ll realise why you survived, and how glad others are that you did.”

She looked at me for a moment, before gently batting away my hand. As she did so, Shiro strode in, wearing a fresh pair of jeans and a plain blue t-shirt. “Morning.” She yawned, before gesturing to the two of us. “Making a move on Daiyu now? How soon I’m forgotten. You’ll make me cry, Aki.” She teased us.

“You know that’s not it. Anyway, did you enjoy your nap?” I asked, as she sat down beside Eri.

“No, I couldn’t sleep. Too much on my mind.” She winked.

“So, how was it?” Eri asked, and Shiro laughed happily.

“Oh, I just knew you’d be eager to dig into the juicy, sordid details. Well…” she leant close and whispered in Eri’s ear for a moment, so quietly that even I couldn’t hear it. Eri nodded, surprised, face turning pink.

“You did that? How was it, did he like it? Did you?”

“it was different, that’s for sure. It wasn’t unpleasant, but… well, I’m not very experienced so I wouldn’t just take my word for it. Ask Aki.”

“I’m not asking that.” Eri’s face was flaming.

“Oho, this sounds quite-quite interesting. Do tell.” Shaeula joined in, and for a few minutes talk around the table turned dirty, which was a unique hell for me, Shaeula, Shiro, Hyacinth and Eri discussing sex. My only solace is that Daiyu doesn’t understand most of this. Daiyu… ugh, Dao Companions. We have to set out just what that means as well…

“Well, this is all quite-quite interesting…” Shaeula looked at me, licking her lips like a predator. “And I indeed wish-wish to try this out. Perhaps together?” She looked at Shiro, who shrugged.

“I don’t mind.” Her grin intensified as she looked at Eri, who was frowning. “After all, I have experience in that. We both have a first, right?”

“I have more than one!” Eri protested, though she seemed less annoyed than she was pretending. Even so, it was cute, so I went and kissed her and then Shiro. Hyacinth and Shaeula were then looking at me expectantly, so it turned into a major event, me kissing everyone for a number of minutes. Once that was concluded, I outlined the plans for the day.

“I see. Well, I can-can spare some time.” Shaeula agreed. “But, well…” she looked at Daiyu’er, before asking her a few questions in rapid-fire Mandarin. Oh, she raises some good points. If we are doing a true comparison, we should do it properly.

“So, I’ll be included obviously, but as a man there are differences. So, we need a baseline woman, Kana should do for that, and since it’s Sunday she’ll be about. But since she’s a Chosen, it might be best to have an additional non-Chosen sample. Maybe Keomi-chan or one of your friends. We then have Shiro, Shirohebi, Shaeula, Hyacinth, Eri, since your network is in a strange flux right now, and lastly Daiyu’er. With all these samples, we should be able to come up with some comprehensive theories and applications.”

After explaining this to Daiyu, she agreed. “I have transcribed the scrolls and tags regarding a Cultivator’s spiritual body from memory, and we can use them as reference.” Her expression had brightened just a touch, now that we were talking about tangible progress towards her goals, and Cultivation research, which clearly excited her.

“Great, well, let’s finish up breakfast and then get cracking.”

********

“Sorry about this. Everybody else had plans today, Hisano-chan was the only one available.” Kana apologised.

“It happens.” I said, shrugging. Turning to Takagi-san, who was looking a little uncomfortable surrounded by the abundance of beauties that had gathered in the Boundary on the coast of Sagami Bay, inside a building the kobolds had erected for the now-departed Bintara, I apologised. “Sorry to take up your Sunday, Takagi-san. Also… uh, did Kana explain what we’re doing here? It’s kind of like a medical exam, it might be a bit embarrassing.”

She nodded slowly. “Well, I trust you, you’ve always been fair with us.” she looked around. “Besides, I doubt you’d be interested in me with all these far more beautiful girls than me around.”

“Don’t underestimate yourself. I’ve said that before.” I chided her gently. “Besides, you’re looking a lot nicer recently.”

“That’s right. Everyone at school has noticed.” Kana agreed. “But seriously, I’ve done this before. It’s embarrassing, but it’s only underwear, right? Just think of it like being at the beach in a bikini. Besides, other than Akio, we’re all girls here. Well, there’s a kami, but it doesn’t count.”

“Other than him, right.” she muttered, her voice small. “I’m fine. Though at the beach, if I went, I’d wear a one piece…”

“Anyway.” I steered the subject back to what we were doing. “The aim here is to properly codify all the differences between the various Networks we have, and hopefully not only gain insights into Cultivation, but on how to improve our own Networks too. The Silver Cord and Chakra Network is the foundation of everything. We’ve made strides over the past few months, but there’s further to go.”

“All right then. So, what’s the plan, Aki?” Shiro asked. She raised one eyebrow in surprise as Shaeula had already removed her yukata, only a pair of panties covering her nakedness. “We stripping?”

“Underwear should be fine.” I sighed. “My Eye can see through clothes well enough, but I wanted to try something a bit more…illustrative… hence why we are doing it here in the Boundary this time.”

“Well, don’t ogle poor Hisano-chan.” Kana said, having loosened the ties on her hakama, quickly doffing it, revealing her rather flashy underwear.

“Aren’t you embarrassed, Izumi-san…”

“I’m Kana-chan now.” she corrected, before winking at me. “I sure am embarrassed. I’m a girl after all, right? But… I have to make my appeal somehow, since somebody is playing hard to get. Besides, I’m as hot as any girl here… uh, damn, that’s cheating!” She sighed as Shiro stretched, yawning, her bra-clad breasts bouncing. “Okay, nobody can compete with that. But I’m still gorgeous!”

As Shiro smirked, helping out Eri, who was struggling to remove her armoured dress, tail twitching, I calmed everyone down. “This is work, not an excuse for me to ogle girls. If I wanted to do that, I can any time. And I’m not that sort of guy anyway.”

“Liar.” Shiro laughed.

“Well, the results of this are what matter.” I said again, ignoring her teasing. “So Takagi-san, you’re the baseline.” As I spoke I started taking off my own clothes, leading to Kana looking away with a red face.

“Well, this one’s new. Uh, you’re pretty ripped, Akio.” She managed.

“He definitely is.” Shiro agreed. “Considering he used to be a weedy otaku back in the day, it’s nice.” She teased me by running a finger down my chest. Shaeula, ever one for mischief, joined in, and there was laughter and more teasing for several minutes, until I calmed everyone down.

“See, I’m just in my underwear too. Nothing to worry about.” I said, and noticed how their gazes all strayed down. Okay, maybe it’s a little embarrassing. Luckily I have enough self-control not to disgrace myself by any physiological reactions.

“All right. I’m done.” Takagi-san said. “And… I guess you should call me Hisano, after this.” Red-faced behind her glasses, she looked down shyly.

“Uh, okay. Anyway, if you can stand there, Hisano-san.” I pointed to one wall. “Shaeula, use your Mystic Eyes as well, it might see differently to mine.”

“I’ll give it a try too.” Kana said. “It probably won’t help much, but I’d like to learn.”

“That’s the spirit.” I approved, and she looked at me happily, before looking down at my bare chest, flushing and looking away again. Ignoring that cute gesture, I continued. “Learning and power won’t ever betray you. So… first up…” My Eye glowed a brilliant amber inside the windowless room. “So we start at the root chakra here.” I concentrated, using Split Thoughts to process the visualisations and Aether Manipulation, and a faint glowing red ball appeared visible to everyone around her panties. “Then we move up to the sacral…” an orange glow lit up. I went through the seven chakras that were in classical literature, and also added the lunar chakra, hovering at her back. “So these are the eight chakras in the Fae-inspired network we have. Hyacinth, if you would…” she stood next to Hisano-san, giggling softly, and I displayed the similar glowing balls of colour.

“All I see is great smears of energy.” Kana complained, squinting. “I see the abnormality of it, but not the detail.”

“Well, keep working on in. If you can stand beside Hisano-san on the other side…” I asked and as she did so, I sketched out her chakras too with colourful orbs.

“The chakras, they are identical.” Shaeula observed, “But that is not-not all.”

“Indeed.” Daiyu agreed, and I glanced over at her, only to realise she was in her underwear as well. Ugh, of course she is. Well, there’s no point worrying about that. This is serious Cultivation research. “There is more to a spiritual body than merely the chakras.”

“Right.” Glittering strands and beads of light formed, my Split Thoughts using aether to create pretty strings that mirrored the capillaries and main trunk of their networks. Kana’s and Hisano-san’s were largely identical, but Kana’s had changed ever since she took in the Divine Favour. That’s interesting. I’d noticed some of this before, but looking at it more in-depth… Hyacinth’s was probably ninety-percent the same as the others, but there were deviations, probably due to her Fae nature.

“See, Kana has the Divine Favour around her lower body, the sacral chakra, but if you look carefully, it’s reshaped her capillaries around the root, heart and crown chakras, seeming to be linked to them. We’re using a pretty generic system to empower people, and it works, but I think the next step is building a more tailored, individual one via Chirurgery, but to do that without risk, we need a lot more research.”

“Hmm.” Daiyu was extending her Qi, sensing their energies. “I am not skilled enough to distinguish such differences. I can feel their own unique Qi signatures, that is all.” She seemed frustrated.

“Don’t be sad.” Eri said, and Shaeula translated for her. “Akio has a lot of abilities that help him. But if you stay with him, you’ll grow too. We all have.”

“That’s right.” Kana agreed happily. “After all, I’m a Chosen now too!”

“Well, there’s still so much to look at. In addition to the main chakras, there are a lot of minor chakras that are circulating energy.” More lights bloomed, and additional channels were sketched out in luminous strands.

“The meridians and acupoints.” Daiyu said, thinking. “I recognise the layout, I am intimately familiar with such. Can you… map the flows?”

“All right. Just aether for now?” I asked, and she agreed. “Indeed, this aether, which I call Qi.”

“This is hard work. Well, it’s giving my Split Thoughts a workout. You should always take the opportunity to train when you can.” I said piously, only for Shiro to laugh and call me an old man. Shimmering energies, which I painted a vivid neon pink, so as not to clash with the other colours, started to circulate through the three of them.

“The main trunk and a number of secondary branches are in use, but… so many meridians and lesser chakras are simply lying fallow.” Daiyu pursed her lips. “I believe…” she stepped next to Kana. “I should be next.” Her dark eyes were glittering, curiosity writ on her features plain enough for everyone to see. “This is fascinating. To be able to illuminate the body like this…”

“All right…” Daiyu’s body had a set of seven major chakra as expected, but the root and sacral were somewhat distorted, as were the heart and third eye chakras, the capillaries and meridians around them twisted. As the pink glow spread, we could see that while the flows through the main chakras were similar, there was a cluster of energy forming at a vortex between the root and sacral chakras.

“You see that?” I asked Shaeula, who nodded. Kana was trying to see as well, squinting so hard silvery tears were springing from her eyes.

“Are you refining Qi now?” I asked Daiyu, and she nodded.

“Yes, I am converting my internal Qi and drawing in the Qi around us. The Spirit realm here is replete with Qi, it is far easier here.”

“Yeah, I thought so. Well, you’re turning ether to aether, like we do, but then there’s a further step, taking place here.” I changed the colour of theflow displayed from that whirlpool into a brilliant gold. Everyone looked on in interest as the golden light spread around her body, filling the network of acupoints, meridians and smaller chakras around the body. There was still pink spreading through her body as well, which was also interesting.

“Looks like your conversion efficiency is probably only around seventy percent.” I noted. “And it seems that your body relies less on the primary seven chakras, through they are all still in use to some extent. But the rest of your network shows far higher activity than Kana’s or Hisano-san’s.”

“I see. My Qi Refining technique has such flaws. I think…” she looked at me pensively. “… with your aid, I can improve it, perhaps push it to heights of old.”

“Yeah, I’m definitely down for that. Well, I think, next… Shaeula.”

“Of course. I was getting rather impatient indeed-indeed.” She chortled, taking her place beside Hyacinth. Her casual disregard for her bare chest was relaxing everyone, and even Hisano-san had become used to being in her underwear, perhaps helped by the fact the numerous bright lights and lines all over her body were obscuring the details anyway.

“So, Shaeula’s… it looks… hmm… damn, this is hard…” I was trying to run a lot of instances of visualisation and Aether Manipulation, and even with my Intellect and Alacrity it was proving challenging keeping it all together. But, I can overcome this! It’s like a computer, calculating and storing data. That’s what status excels at… It was almost like I was overclocking my brain, Body Enhancement layered on top, and then it was as if my thoughts expanded, more threads becoming available to me, easing the burden.

Your Skill, Split Thoughts has increased from Rank 3 to Rank 4. You can further process additional information threads, and the performance of each thread further increases. Your memory and visualisation skills have increased dramatically, and your Alacrity has increased significantly. You can further control Aether, Elemental energies and Adherence.

With a relieved sigh, I started painting Shaeula’s body with light. I noticed sympathetic eyes on me, but I waved to show I was fine, mopping silver sweat from my brow. “Yeah, I’m good. Just had a bit of a breakthrough, so it’s all good. Okay… Shaeula, your chakra network has changed from what I remember before you became a Kamaitachi as well. You see…” Using black light now, I sketched in the areas where her capillaries had rerouted, as well as the strange, small sub-chakras that had appeared, orbiting around her seven primary chakras. It looked like there was one by her lunar chakra too, but it was non-functional and disconnected. I wonder if they are the Night in her Night Moons Network…

“… if we had a Yokai to compare with, it’d be helpful.” I mused. There were some in my Territory, but right now with all the girls in a state of undress I didn’t want visitors. “That’s for later. Okay. Shaeula, can you create an overlay of yours and Hyacinth’s?”

She nodded, eyes narrowing, and suddenly the image was created. With black compared against pink, it was easy to see the differences. “I see-see. Well, I am half Fae, half-half Yokai, while Hyacinth is a Grey Fae. Of course there are many-many differences. But…”

“Understanding the principle is important. All right, next, Shirohebi, if you would?”

“Of courssse.” it hissed, back in its snake form. It slithered into view, and soon its abnormal network was in view, its Divine Star Chakra network made up on the usual seven major chakras, as well as the Divine Spark, which dwelt within and overshadowed its root chakra.

“All right, there are a lot of areas of similarity, but even more contrasts so…”

********

“Good job everyone!” We were all clothed again, and within my mind were locked images of all the data we had gathered. “I really think that is vitally important. I feel like we’re on the cusp of something special.” I turned to Kana and Hisano-san. “Thanks you two. I get it was embarrassing, but you’ve really helped us with baseline data. If you don’t have plans for the day, why not go out and have some fun? My treat.”

They exchanged glances, and Kana shrugged. “I’d normally take you up on that, but… I really want to keep training.” she smiled. “Seeing everyone working so hard, it really motivates me, you know?” She rubbed at her tired, bloodshot eyes. “Besides, I couldn’t do it again. It’s frustrating.”

“Well, I’m here now.” Hisano-san said quietly. “I’ll train as well.”

“Fine. But I’m putting a bonus in your pay-packet for the month.” I grinned. “All right, Shaeula, Hyacinth, you have to go to the Spring, right?”

“Indeed. It is a shame, but we must-must continue building support for our reconstruction. It is going rather well. Soon-soon… well, there will be time for this later, will there not-not?” She paused, a bit embarrassed by something.

“Arisu should be here soon. She’s always punctual.” Shiro said. “I’ll go give her the grand tour, and buff up the Trees, Asha and the others while I’m at it.”

Once everyone had discussed their plans, that left Eri, Daiyu and me. Eri was frowning, concentrating, and when I asked her what was up, she looked at me, her dark eyes serious. “I’m going to fix myself! I will!” she insisted. “I hate this, not being able to move properly back in the Material. Not being able to hold you!” Tears glimmered in her eyes. “I know I’ll get better, but I want it even a day sooner! Now Shiro’s in your life, I don’t want you forgetting about…” I pulled her into a hug, rubbing her back and hair (as well as her cat ears) as I softly comforted her.

“Hush now. It’ll be fine. I know it must have been upsetting, seeing a visual representation of your network…” It was largely intact, though there were similarities to Shaeula’s mixed in, and the capillaries and meridians were constantly in flux, as though they were taut guitar strings, moving and vibrating, which was distorting her chakras in turn. “… but you can stabilise it, I know you can. As for Shiro replacing you…” I lifted her chin, looking deep into her eyes. “Bullshit. I know you don’t mean it, you’re just feeling down and jealous, and I’m sorry. But Shiro’s Shiro, and you’re Eri. I need you both in my life, and you’re both my precious friends and girlfriends. Nobody will ever kick you out of my heart, Eri!”

“I’m sorry.” She said, before repeating it in a quiet voice. “Sorry. I want to be strong, stand by your side, but ever since Kyoto, I’ve been useless…”

“Useless? Hardly. You’re an anchor Eri. With you here, I can’t let myself be weak. After all, what guy wants to look pathetic in front of his childhood friend? Besides, I hear from Shiro you tried to help Nie Ling come to a decision. That’s not something I can do right now, I get so angry just thinking about the dead…”

“Well, I just don’t want you to end up wounded over her. And if she lets her cowardice rule her, she’ll end up regretting her decision one day. I know that so well.” Eri sighed. “Akio, you’ll wait for me, right? If it takes a month, a year… a decade… to recover?”

I softly kissed her, trying to ignore Daiyu watching with a faint smile. “It won’t take years. I promise. But if it did… you know I’ll always want you beside me.”

“Fine then.” Eri calmed down, wiping at her eyes unsteadily. “I guess… even though I’m only able to move clumsily here, I can still hold you a little.” She clung to me, arms quivering and trembling.

“You can.” I kissed her again. “Any time you get worried, just talk to me. Or any of the others. Shiro likes you, even if she sees you as a bit of a rival, and you know what Shaeula and Hyacinth think. Even talking to Hinata, Motoko or Natsumi might help…”

“Sometimes it’s all very overwhelming.” Eri shook her head a little. “Sorry. I just had… a moment. Aiko would laugh at me and call me an idiot for doubting you, doubting myself.”

“I think it’s natural. But who knows, the research we are doing here might help in the longer run.” I laid Eri down, and she sat watching us, a solemn expression on her face. “Sorry about the wait, Daiyu’er.” I switched to Chinese again.

“It is not a problem. Seeing you soothe her worry, it makes me think…” her face reddened just a touch. “…of Companionship. Now, I did not understand much of what was said, but I do know this. Can you translate?” she asked me, and she addressed Eri.

“Cultivation has many pitfalls and trials. A mistake can easily cripple the body, mind or spirit. That breaks most people. I do not know how you suffered such an abnormal wound, but… those that brave their sorrows, their Tribulations, and come out the other side, they rise stronger, unafraid of even Fate or the Heavens. Those are the strong. That is the sort of Cultivator, the sort of woman, I wish to be. Do you wish the same?”

Eri’s eyes widened at the words, before she burst out laughing.

“I see. I must look pitiful if she’s consoling me.” She wiped away tears of equal parts frustration and amusement. “Tell her I was just a bit rattled, but I’m no longer a coward. I won’t run from this. Or you. Or… her.” Eri met her eyes. “Damn, I wish I spoke Chinese right now. having you translate for me isn’t right, but… I accept you, Daiyu. As a rival. And hopefully as a friend. For we’ll be seeing a lot of each other from now on, won’t we?”

After her surprise at those words, Daiyu bowed, different to our Japanese style, but the intent was conveyed. “Of course. I never imagined my Dao Companion would not be for me alone, but… when a Cultivator knows, she knows. And today has only proved that we are kindred spirits, souls of the same type. This… research… is very much the pinnacle of Cultivation, securing knowledge and turning it to power, power no one else can fathom.”

“Well, you two carry on. I’m content to watch, and I’ll do my exercises.” Eri said gently, and with that, Daiyu and I faced each other, my Eye blazing.

“While you work, I’m going to be refining something myself.” I said, and a surge of orange energies were drawn from my Silos, pulled into me. “But I can do several things at once, so…”

She nodded. “Very well. I shall demonstrate the basic tenets of Qi Refining. The technique I use is the one handed down by most major Sects. Qi Refining is not like the Foundation Realm, the end result is always the same, the methods merely differ a little in efficiency.”

She pulled in ether, and her Silver Cord was visible to me. The ether broke down to aether, as I expected, and passed through the root chakra, only to be drawn to the area between her chakras, where the aether changed, being refined, almost flavoured. The energy was then dispersed throughout the body as we had seen before. “The purified, refined Qi responds to our will with greater swiftness, precision and clarity.” Daiyu spoke. “It also suffuses the body, making the next steps, of the Foundation, easier. We must hone our body, forging the connections that draw upon the Qi.” She sighed. “The spiritual body is shaped with will and Qi, but unrefined Qi, that which you call aether, while more flexible, is not suited for the rigours and discipline of Cultivation. Anyone can follow a series of mental exercises, drawing in the energy of Heaven and Earth…” she paused. “Well, no, an ordinary person would only see the basest energy of Heaven. Ordinary eyes cannot see the peak of Mount Tai, after all. But it would take many years to train the body to even a rudimentary level.”

“I see. Yeah, those are the sort of exercises that Shaeula set Eri and Aiko on back when she first told them about all this.” Hearing her name mentioned, Eri opened her eyes briefly, before shrugging and going back to her exercises. “But they hadn’t achieved much in just a few weeks. Really, it took Chirurgery to make any solid progress.”

“When one can refine Qi, and follow Techniques honed by millennia of study, the spiritual body can be rebuilt from the ground up, hence Foundation. Though the greatest Techniques will also create the ability to use elemental Qi or Yin and Yang Qi. Such as my Invincible Jade Yang Technique. Though the lack of Yang energy is hard for a female to overcome, without sourcing it… from a male…” her voice became smaller towards the end there, her face red.

“I see. So, in a way, our current Chirurgery has reached Foundation level?” I asked, and she nodded, not meeting my eyes, instead looking at the massive orange halo of energies around me as I compressed and forced it through my sacral chakra, the energies within feeding on it, changing it. Most was absorbed, wasted, but with my efforts, more and more High Moonlight Spirit Water was stored within me.

“Yes, you could express it that way, from what I observed with your play of lights. Though compared to our Techniques, it is lacking. Not in ability to draw in this aether, but in other areas. I suspect that afterwards, there is discomfort and irritation?”

“Yeah, it takes time and gathering of a lot of aether to flush out the debris left over. After all, Chirurgery is pretty invasive.”

“An impure spiritual body is a weak Foundation. Yin and Yang energy is used to expel impurities, leaving the body as pure as possible. One must train both the physical and spiritual if the Accumulation is to proceed and lead to pure, powerful results.” She sighed. “Of course, it is difficult to expel the deepest impurities with our current, lacking techniques. A further pass will occur during Perfection of Self, the Realm above. But just know, the more impurities removed and the stronger Qi, Yin and Yang energies, the stronger the Foundation.”

That… oddly makes a lot of sense. Healthy mind, healthy body. “Well, when I gained my Spirit Water, I was covered in black goo, it was disgusting. My Eye said they were impurities. My bed was a total write-off.” Shaeula had much less of an issue, perhaps because her Material body hadn’t built up many impurities, being so new? Eri also leaked a little when we shared some Spirit Water though the Fae way of love, though the effect was minor, perhaps because my reserves had dwindled, or it was only second-hand?

“How envious.” She smiled. “To have shed so much filth is to prepare well for Accumulation. Though I must wonder just why your body and spirit were so dirty?” She raised one eyebrow a little, and I realised she was teasing me.

“If you push me, you might find out.” I joked, and she bowed her head.

“I am not a fool. Last night, you joined with Shiro, the silver-haired woman. I do not complain, for I am aware that I shall not have your sole attention and affection as a Dao Companion, but… I do not wish to fall behind.”

“There’s no need to be hasty.” I reassured her. “When the time is right… for now, you need to find disciples for your Sect, that should be your priority. I think… and stop me if I’m out of line here, that combining our abilities, my Chirurgery, and your Qi Refining, should enable you to quickly put together some suitable candidates.”

“It would shorten the otherwise lengthy process. Most never make it past Qi Refining, though as the flow of Earthly and Heavenly Qi continues to increase, more disciples will break their limits, buoyed by the greater densities, making their talents, or lack thereof, less an issue.” She clicked her tongue. “Well, even amongst a thousand shards of glass, a gemstone still shines brilliantly. But first… can you even refine Qi?”

“Good question. Well, let me give it a try…” I focussed my vision on the processes happening within her network, and tried to replicate it…

********

“That is surprisingly… muda. Useless.” Daiyu smiled bitterly. Eri chuckled, since Daiyu had spoken the Japanese word, one she had learned, and from the expression on my face she must have known I had failed. “Your spiritual body does not have the proto-Dantian, it seems.”

“Well, I mean, I can do it through Aether Manipulation.” I created Qi to match hers, though the efficiency was trash, at around thirty percent. “Hey, even your conversion rate isn’t perfect. There’s a lot of aether swirling about your body, as we showed earlier.”

“So petty.” Her lips quirked in a smile. She turned to Eri, and managed some halting Japanese. “Is Akio… always… childish?”

Eri giggled happily, good mood restored after her earlier gloom. “I think it’s cute. He wants to look good in front of you, I think?”

Daiyu cocked her head, and I translated, tempted though I was to ignore it. Well, Eri’s not wrong. But it’s not for why she thinks, honest! I just want her to think I’m reliable, after all, she’s put her trust in me. “Sorry, I shouldn’t be disappointed. If I could master your arts in an instant, then that’d just be an insult to all your effort.”

“Effort without results is meaningless. Praiseworthy, but meaningless. If you find a better way to refine Qi, I shall adopt it in a heartbeat. Pride is nothing before success. Well, this requires further thought. Your methods and mine do not mesh well, it seems.”

“Yeah. Well, onto the next lesson. You wanted me to help your Foundation, right? Well, I’m ready.”

Her face immediately flamed scarlet, and she took a step backwards despite herself, before swallowing nervously. She shuddered, as if shaking away her doubts, and then looked me in the eyes, face still pink. “Very well then. After last night I expected this moment to come soon. I am prepared, my heart is calm and without doubts.” She reached out a hand for mine, and I froze.

Wait, I think she’s misunderstanding something here… I turned to Eri looking for reassurance, but despite not understanding the Chinese, she obviously read the situation, as she unhelpfully laughed and gave me a thumbs-up. Okay… not what I expected either…