Path of the Ascendant

That day, Yi Wei did not sleep, as her mind was wholly concentrated on developing her Condensed Formation Body skill.

She was able to complete the arrangement of her dantian shard nodes just moments before they would have literally burned through her and began to condense and course energy from all of her various body techniques through the nodes. By sending in skills focused on healing first, she was able to negate the damaging effects of the shards, and with each technique that she added, the rejection from her body was lessened.

Her final body cultivation method was added to her Condensed Formation Body Array, which lay somewhere in between an imitation array and a true array, five hours after she began, and it was only then that she could finally relax, albeit only briefly. Only a brief period of time later, she had to focus even harder to begin the process of achieving Initial Accomplishment within the technique.

This was perhaps the most important step, more so even than the proper arrangement of her dantian shards. If a technique that generated or used some form of unique energy was trained in and then interrupted prior to reaching Initial Accomplishment, all of that energy would disperse and melt back into the body as basic or planar energy, depending on what was used. In basic techniques, this wasn’t a significant risk, as the quantity of energy would typically be low, and the work required to reach Initial Accomplishment would be minimal. None of that applied to the Condensed Formation Body, which was far, far more complex than any of the techniques originally involved in its creation.

Even if the strange combination of them somehow reduced the amount of energy required to train in them to a tenth, the combined cost still added up to a far greater quantity than Yi Wei was comfortable with. However, as she had decided to train in her technique before properly developing it, this was something she had to deal with right now.

Luckily enough, her planar energy was outstanding in every way, so she was able to rely on her energy regeneration to save herself from literally drying up as a result of her practise.

‘Now that I think about it,’ she thought after several hours of attempting to condense the essence of her Condensed Formation Body, ‘Body cultivation techniques are very different from basic cultivation techniques, and I couldn’t even put the latter into a single skill without the advantage of the mysterious characters… so what made me think that I could combine every body skill into one all on my own?’

Despite that pessimistic line of thought, the essence of her skill was close to completion. The last few components of her technique were those that allowed for foreign objects to exist within the body without rejection, and they were initially meant for cultivators to be able to become one with swords or ancient treasures, empowering their bodies at the cost of replacing some vital organs with those particular treasures. Yi Wei intended to apply those same effects to keep the dantian shards in her body, while not losing a single thing – instead, she hoped to create something entirely new.

The only problem with that particular idea was that the techniques she studied didn’t explain how or why the item of choice would replace a certain body part, so she had no way of knowing how her combination and modification of those techniques would function.

‘However, every single man or woman who ever created their own technique must have studied and experimented, or else they wouldn’t have created what they did,’ she calmed herself, trying to feel out every change that was occurring to her.

All of a sudden, she gasped, grasping her throat with a pained expression.

‘This… is this replacing my lungs?’ she mentally screamed out her first fear, but quickly realised that the sensation she felt wasn’t simply from the lack of air, ‘No, it shouldn’t be… My meridians! It’s creating new meridians!’

If she was able to scream, she probably would have, as it seemed as if a large serpent suddenly dug into her and began to eat through her flesh, forcefully carving out an entirely new network inside of her.

Out of all the things she had experienced so far, including the scalding dantian shards and the near destruction of her body by the failed talisman, this easily topped the list as the most painful experience.

Yi Wei had no clue how she was able to stop herself from passing out, but she did it… only for the experience to repeat itself, with twice as much pain. As the second meridian network was already complete, there was also nothing to stop her from yelling, either, so she had to do it herself by forcing her throat shut with planar energy.

‘F-…’ she clenched her teeth, coursing some planar energy through them to prevent them from breaking, ‘Why is it even creating a third network? Aren’t two enough? Still, it’s almost- AAH!’

A third serpent chewed through her, clearly of the opinion that four was the perfect number of meridian networks.

She wasn’t sure when it began, but she suddenly became aware of all of the planar energy around her being drawn into the depths of her planar aperture, where her mysterious characters were shining with a soft white light. As if her technique had taken offence to her viewing anything other than it, a fifth snake bit down somewhere near her heart.

The taste of iron appeared in her mouth, and a few drops of red dripped out from her lips. There was a faint feeling at the tip of her tongue, almost as if she had bitten it during her confusion.

‘I remember doing that when I was younger… I thought it was actually quite painful, but I guess it can’t compare with almost literally being eaten… Yi Kun must be even more of a wierdo than I thought she was…’ she thought, in a strange moment of clarity, before glancing into her dantian.

It was full yet again, suggesting that it had been absorbing energy for several hours. The planar energy remained in place for a few more minutes, then burst out, bathing her pained tissue and muscle, before collapsing into a thicker cloud within the dantian. Just before it fully settled, the energy exploded once more, completely soothing her injuries, and fell back to her abdomen, where the characters rearranged themselves again.

Now, the cloud of energy became difficult to see through. Obviously, this was not the typical appearance of third-stage energy.

‘A second perfected stage, so I now look like I’m at the fifth stage,’ she thought, feeling a silly grin appearing on her face, ‘and the pain has finally stopped, too. Huh, its absence is almost a little strange. I hope I’m not going to get used to this sort of thing.’

She breathed slowly, in and out, calming her racing heart. With each breath, she felt her blood pumping through her body, but also a second kind energy, beside her planar energy, running through the second set of meridians crafted by her skill. It was a… unique… feeling, to say the least. It could be compared to suddenly gaining a new set of lungs, or an entirely new cardiovascular system after being chewed at by four serpents for a while.

When her heartbeat and breath finally settled, she glanced outside and found that the sun was already coming up.

“I have enough time to check out my physical strength,” she said, but she lowered her fist as quickly as she raised it, “I should do so outside, though. Accidentally destroying the walls wouldn’t be a good idea.”

The sky was crimson, bathed by the rising sun, and it covered the land in red. To the people of Yi City, such a day foreshadowed a bloodbath, or the death of a great man. Naturally, it was a simple superstition, and it often proved inaccurate, but it occurred every month or so – and no-one could be blamed for wanting to fight on an auspicious day.

To Yi Wei, however, there was little difference between this day, and any other. After all, what chance was there of her meeting some great figure?

“I recall my previous strength well enough, but if my technique worked as I wanted it to, there shouldn’t be any need for me to remember,” she muttered to herself, readying a strike, ‘I can already feel my skill’s power strengthening me. In addition to my greater cultivation…’

She swallowed, to delay the moment a little longer, and punched the air.

The sound of her fist cutting through the air was incredible. It was perhaps the most powerful sound she had ever heard, and for once, she could say with absolute certainty that she was the cause.

It made her proud, as did the sheer force of her fist. Compared to her original strength, it was six times greater, and it even lifted a great number of leaves and small items from the ground and into the air. In the grand scheme of things, when compared to experts of the Emergent Anchor realm, who could solidify their planar energy and tear through buildings effortlessly, or the Active Core realm, which permits for the planar energy to be left behind and forged into arrays, which can then overpower a hundred Energy Condensation cultivators even with a one-star array, lifting a few leaves was nothing much. Compared to common Energy Condensation experts, however, it was quite something.

‘Although I don’t know exactly how much this would do against someone at the peak of my realm, it should be safe to say that the force of my regular punch exceeds the power of the techniques used by someone at the sixth or seventh stage,’ Yi Wei recognised, relaxing her body, ‘This means that I can- no, I should bathe first.’

Only now did she notice that the lower part of her face was covered in blood. It had dried completely, so it must have been there for quite a while, and it had already drawn the gaze of a passer-by.

“Yi Wei, what have you been doing this time?” Yi Zehao’s voice suddenly entered her ears, and only then did she register that the onlooker was none other than her least favourite aunt.

Her first instinct was to suppress all of the strange energy within her body, and to dull the appearance of her planar energy. In the next second, she felt her aunt’s spiritual will passing through her, scanning for hidden injuries and any other things of note.

“I’m sorry,” she replied while pretending that she didn’t notice a thing, “I had reached the second stage recently, and I’ve been trying to practise a new technique. However, I was a little foolish, and made a small mistake.”

“Did you say second stage? Not the third?”

She made a face that suggested she knew nothing about it, “What do you mean, Aunt Zehao?”

Her aunt frowned, but her search was unable to uncover anything other than unusually dense energy for the second stage, so she shrugged and moved on, “Try not to injure yourself like this again. If you do this to yourself, I won’t spare you any pill no matter how much you beg me to help you,”

‘I do not intend to do so anywhere in the near future, aunt. Besides, I still have the last pill you left me,’ Yi Wei thought, but said nothing.

“Sit down and recover. I’ll be leaving now – I didn’t intend to stop by anyway,” Yi Zehao said, and immediately turned and disappeared from sight.

Only then did Yi Wei let out a sigh of relief, permitting her planar and body energy to roam her body freely. Although she had not actually held her breath, it very much felt like it. The fact that her body relied that much on her new technique was slightly alarming, but costs like that were easily worth it when looking at what it gave her.

Today, her destination was the technique library yet again, where she intended to pick up a few palm techniques. Naturally, however, she was quickly stopped at the door by Yi Zhihao.

The old man initially only gave her a brief glance, but what he saw quickly forced him to search her with his spiritual will, “Xiao Wei, did… did you… did you break through three stages at once?”

“W-what? Uncle, you must be joking. I’m only at the third stage,” she said truthfully.

“Third? Are you certain?” he asked, but he didn’t wait for a response before he began to mutter, “Although, since you appeared to be in the third stage the day before, a progression of another stage would logically resemble two, in your case. Still, how have you managed to remain in place for four years, then go through two stages in one week?”

“Well, you see, I was rather fortunate to come across a formation master. He was testing a Planar Condensation Array, and he let me help out by seeing how my cultivation speed would be affected by it,” Yi Wei made up a short story that wouldn’t seem too outrageous – such lucky encounters were rare, but they could occur every few weeks to at least one person, “As it turns out, the effect was great, and with my great understanding of techniques, I broke through.”

“Huh.”

“By the way, Uncle Zhihao, I have been told that you’ve been advising people that they should study a bunch of other techniques and elements.”

“That’s right,” Yi Zhihao nodded, “In fact, I would have used you as a perfect example, but I thought that you would appreciate remaining unbothered while browsing the library. Have I made the correct assumption?”

“That’s right. Additionally, it seems like my situation isn’t exactly normal,” she was sure that he mumbled something like ‘you don’t say’, but since even her improved hearing didn’t allow her to distinguish it properly, she let it go, “so my example wouldn’t be the best. May I go upstairs now?”

“Sure, go on.”

Yi Wei headed upstairs, and straight to the palm technique section. She didn’t see the girl who approached her yesterday, so she was able to focus on reading.

She didn’t get through too much before her mind began to drift slightly, ‘How strange that I’ve never done this before. Reading, whether through techniques or anything else, had always been really pleasant and calming, and yet I’ve been extremely nervous for the past year and didn’t even consider doing this… Now, the Bestial Palm Skill… wood-type… slower? Not too useful… Sizzling Palm… that’s better…’

Techniques, and cultivation in general, is typically split into five elements: wood, fire, earth, metal and water. There were certain rumours about more unique elements, like lightning or yin and yang, but there was no evidence of any of them in the technique library or anywhere near the district in which Yi Wei lived. Each element had a specialty, and a certain benefit that encouraged people to cultivate it.

Fire is focused on raw strength, and the techniques are primarily themed around fire, heat and light, creating techniques like the Solar Crushing Fist, Sizzling Palm, or the Meridian Explosion Art. Earth is slower, but easily the most defensive. It is often inspired by stone, dirt, dust and other variations, thus leading to the creation of the Bedrock Skin Skill or the Collapsing Cavern Fist. Metal and wood were the opposite of one another – metal is sharp and brittle, wood is more suited for crushing, and is more durable, though neither were typically the true inspiration for their techniques. Metal was often inspired by wind, causing the creation of the Gentle Breeze Fist, while wood was typically the preferred type for beast or animal-related techniques like the Bestial Palm or Beast Punch Skill. Finally, the water element was most useful for healing and recovery, and the inspiration behind its skills came from rivers and seas, ice, steam or other water-related substances, creating the Torrential Falls Body, Boiling Ocean and Harsh Waves Sutras, and certain unique abilities like the Blood Vision Technique, which allows a cultivator to see the blood of others, even in absolute darkness.

Additionally, every element was most suitable for a particular form of crafting. Pill refining was primarily a wood-type profession, as it primarily involves handling plants and other natural materials, formation array arrangement was suited for water cultivators, as it was focused on sensing and adjusting to the natural currents of planar energy, talisman crafting was best practised by fire cultivators, as talismans had an incredibly limited duration and were based around releasing great quantities of energy quickly, hence the danger of failed talismans, and blacksmithing was an metal-type profession, which wasn’t typically the first thing that most people thought of. Inscriptions were best made by earth-type cultivators, as they relied more on the material they were embedded in.

‘Finally, the last manual, ‘Scarlet Metal Strike’, and then I can finally get around to my original plans,’ she thought, having mentally reminded herself of certain basics. She completed the book in a minute and shut the book as loudly as she thought would be acceptable.

This particular action wasn’t observed by anyone, allowing her to exit the library in relative peace.

‘Alright, now that I have all of those, I can seek out a combat arena. Although I haven’t yet combined these into some sort of Mysterious Palm Skill, I am still able to make use of any of their main principles to strengthen my basic attacks,’ Yi Wei travelled in the direction of the arena square, where those who wished to fight or those who wished to see other fight gathered, ‘Just to make sure that I don’t get pulled over by some other ancient master, I’ll even keep my energy in its typical metal form…’

On her way there, she stepped into a small shop that sold various trinkets and items, and acquired a mask, conspicuous black robes, a few odds and ends to stuff into them to obfuscate her figure, some old pieces of broken armour to make her seem like an ancient warrior of some kind, and a broken blade for the purpose of experimentation.

All together, these items were only worth a few copper coins, a small but necessary expense if she was to avoid making her identity completely obvious to anyone that bothered to look in her direction. She was also considering changing her voice slightly, perhaps speaking with a higher or lower pitch.

Her intention was to duck into some alleyway to disguise herself, but she nearly bumped into an elderly woman who was burying a pristine weapon into the ground.

They stared at one another in silence for a while.

The elderly woman made a move first, suddenly appearing right before her, staring at the weapon by her waist.

“Young lady, if you’ve such high-quality metal cultivation, what’re you doing with that broken thing?”

That wasn’t the question she expected, so she stuttered a little before deciding to be honest, “While I don’t know what my cultivation has to do with anything, I was intending to use this and some armour pieces to disguise myself before entering some combat arena to earn money, resources and possibly win something good in a minor competition.”

“You’re honest. That’s good. Do you want to learn blacksmithing from me?”

‘Are… are you being serious right now? Are the heavens trying to discourage me from fighting? Still, if this woman is like the other masters I’ve met so far, she should be easily impressed and then allow me to have some free time, and then I will be able to enter combat with a completed skill and some actual armour,’ Yi Wei considered the matter for a few seconds, then nodded, “Sure. Is the axe in the ground some of your work?”

“No, that isn’t my work. It’s trash,” the old woman replied, spitting at the half-buried weapon, “Unfortunately, I did make it.”

“I see…” Yi Wei examined the weapon from where she stood, but she couldn’t find a single issue with it, ‘I guess she’s a bit of a perfectionist, or perhaps I am just missing all of the problems with it.’

“Name’s Ning Guanting,” she introduced herself, holding out her hand. Yi Wei shook it without much hesitation, “I can tell that you’ve not practised this art before, but I will hammer you into shape within a month.”

“Thank you, Master Ning. Are we also going to begin by reading a large manual?”

“Also? You’ve trained in some other arts? Do you prefer theory over practise?”

“Yes, and it does seem to be a good start for me in any field I’ve tried.”

“And what have you tried at such a young age?” Ning Guanting asked.

She realised that she had said a little more than intended, so she decided to keep the details to the minimum, “I’ve previously tried talisman crafting and formation arranging, and I’ve had some luck with both.”

“Curious. I’ll let you read for one hour, but blacksmithing is about practise. You must feel each strike, each metal, each hammer and each anvil for yourself to understand how to shape the tool you craft, and no ordinary tome can bring you that,” the blacksmith explained, turning away, “Come on, come with me.”

Yi Wei followed, leaving the alleyway and passing a few streets before being forced to stop abruptly. The elderly blacksmith held out her arm and pointed at a small group.

“Now, fight them.”