The Essence of Cultivation

Sylar sat comfortably atop the stone chair that he’d shaped with a quick transmutation spell. It wasn’t the most elegant job, and it would certainly find no buyers if he ever attempted to sell it. It was crude and barely functional, but for now it was enough.

He was perhaps just five kilometres or so outside the borders of Penshan City. This was undeveloped land between Penshan and the nearest towns within Jinxiang Province. It was unfertile land, and not even weeds grew in its vicinity. As far as he could see, it was an expanse of rock, stone, and sand.

It would be the new home of the Nimbrian Academy of Essence Studies.

The Arcanist leisurely continued working on teasing out the appropriate spell structure of Dispersion. Now already five days since he first begun on this venture, he had ruled out most of the unfavourable possibilities, and was in the midst of rigorously analysing potential candidates and attempting to make sense of how they would likely manifest. Series of calculations dotted his page, and all around him were little scraps of paper. Small rocks served as makeshift paperweights for some he might need to refer to later, while others were shredded and crumpled heaps.

“Master cultivator!”

He temporarily turned away from his work, waving at the driver of the latest caravan. Mighty oxen pulled the carts, and within each there were heaps of coarse stone piled up, delivered fresh from the quarry.

“Where do you want these?” the driver called out. Huoyang was one of those employed by Jin’s estate, and he had been reassigned to this task several days after Sylar and Jin had sealed the agreement. He accepted the cup of water and damp towel that Qiyu handed to him as soon as he halted his carts, taking a short pause to thank the polite and adorable girl.

“Just over there, please,” he called in return, pointing. Off to the side, there was already a sizeable pile of stones of all shapes and sizes in his makeshift stockpile. “Last delivery today, right?”

The man loosened the cloth bound around his head, and wiped at the beads of perspiration atop his face. He took another long gulp from the cup, and sighed with satisfaction. It couldn’t be easy, making journey after journey like he did on a sweltering afternoon. Sylar hoped that Jin was compensating the man well.

“Yeah,” Huoyang said, as he laid the empty cup aside. “Let me tell you this, master cultivator – when Master Lu told me that I’d be kept busy for the week, I had no idea what I was in for.”

“Sorry for the trouble,” Sylar apologised. “Qiyu, do you feel that you’re up for –“

“I’m on it!”

He placed his notebook onto his lap, paying careful attention to his apprentice’s actions. She positioned herself before a large clay jar, that had seen frequent use over the past several days as a target for spell practice.

Her spellcasting was still shaky, and the effects were often less powerful than might be expected given some inefficiency in the activation and manifestation of the underlying matrices. It often took some time for her to gather the required Essences, and she occasionally faced spell backlash due to improper activation of the structure.

Well, backlash was perhaps the wrong term to use, now that he knew part of the hidden truths of Essence. Improper casting of spells – or activation of spell matrices in general – resulted not in the manifestation of spells, but instead in the evolution of the mystical energy called qi, and the generation of Soulburn all the same.

For one with barely a few weeks of instruction, despite the frequent setbacks she still faced, Qiyu was doing well.

Huoyang hushed himself, making space for Qiyu. Her eyes were scrunched up in focus, but her attention was not upon the container by her feet. She was feeling for the Primals, Sylar knew, and with the senses of a Diviner, he could see that all around her, Water Essence was slowly but surely responding.

He watched as two individual units were joined into a single pair. She held it there for several moments, inhaling and exhaling deeply to calm her nerves. She could get Dancing Flames working almost every casting, but Water Bolt had perhaps only six successful castings out of every ten. Earth Spike and Gust were barely practiced with at all, but she could come to those in time.

Sylar let Qiyu take her time. Learning how to properly perform the spell was what was most important now. Once she was ready, he would have her perform the same set of drills he had suffered in his apprenticeship days to train his ability to cast under pressure.

She held her palms out and took in one last breath. Then, steadying herself, she activated the spell, the Essence pair held within the single shell flaring to life, manifesting itself in the physical world.

A water bolt flew out, landing with a loud plop into the large jar, and it wobbled slightly from the impact.

A success, then. Sylar nodded to himself, and put down another tally mark on the successful castings column of today’s observation.

Huoyang cooed, as Qiyu refilled the cup with the liquid she just created from the energies of Water Essence that stemmed from the Elemental Plane of Water. It was cold and refreshing, and within moments, it was emptied once more.

“My thanks, little lady Lu,” Huoyang said. “You’re going to be such a promising young cultivator, aren’t you?”

She smiled bashfully, uncertain of how to respond. That earned another wave of boisterous laughter from the driver, and he began making his way back to the carts.

“I’ll begin unloading them!”

“Just a moment, I’ll have one of my guys lend you a hand…”

Sylar concentrated. Spells of Conjuration weren’t his forte, but this wasn’t too complex. His summoned servants were one of the weaker denizens of their Plane of origin, and so didn’t have a powerful will of their own. He didn’t have full control over them, but simple commands and suggestions were well within the range of his abilities when considering the level of the spell he had casted and the weakness of the creatures that had been summoned.

Just several dozen metres away, one of the five Mud Elementals currently hard at work filing stones to regular shapes and layering them neatly on top of the tower's foundation abruptly turned around. It set down the stone it had been carrying, one of its peers taking over its job almost immediately, and began making its way over to the carts.

Huoyang paused in his work, staring at the elemental with wonder. Without any hint of a protest or even the slightest of grumbles, the creature hauled a large stone up from the cart, hefted it on its shoulder, and began trudging his way back to the tower.

“Still can’t believe that such a Spiritual Art even exists,” Huoyang marvelled, grunting as he took hold of a stone, and set it on the ground beside the cart. “If I didn’t see it with my own eyes, I’d swear that it would definitely be just a tall tale.”

Almost a week of this routine, and still the man was amazed by the spell. Planes only know what his reaction would be if he ever met a true Spellsong of a Conjurer, one who could command even Ancient Elementals and turn space itself into their plaything.

This was the same way that he had built his tower back in Nimbria, except back then he had to perform the labour of hauling the raw materials from the city with just himself and his merry band of Mud Elementals. Having the right connections was such a pleasant luxury. Already, part of the tower’s exterior was well underway.

“Take a break,” he advised Qiyu. “Drawing in Essence is the main limiting factor at your stage, but handling Soulburn isn’t ever a comfortable experience. Take some time to rest and reflect, and begin again once you’re ready.”

She looked reluctant, but a stern look (or as stern as Sylar could manage, anyway) shut that down. She made her way over to her own little stool that Sylar had created, and sat down with a huff.

“When do I get to do something like that?”

She gestured over to the elemental shuttling stones between the stockpile and the rudimentary tower. There was a tone of awe, but also a hint of jealousy in there.

Ah, how nostalgic this was. Back then, he had assumed Master Rynwald to be this wizened individual who held all the answers within the innumerable Planes in the palm of his hands. Now acting as a master to his own apprentice, he was beginning to wonder if his former master had been just as clueless and winging it as he proceeded down the stages of his training.

“Give it another couple of years. Controlling a single Mud Elemental would require a Fourth Level spell, but simply summoning one just needs a Third Level,” he told her. “Of course, it’d just lumber around like an idiot at best, or attack its summoner if it was just rudely snatched away from his morning breakfast of biscuits, tea, and mudpie.”

She shot him a look, unimpressed at his joking and teasing.

“Come on, now, just think of what you can do when you manage to get to that stage!”

He mentally beckoned the lone elemental to put his cargo aside, and bid it to make its way over to Qiyu. She reached out, a spark of excitement in her eye as she made to touch it, and then –

“Hurrrp!”

He bid the elemental to stand in a bizarre pose with one knee slightly bent, its earthen arms flexed, cracked muscles composed entirely of mud and clay held taut. Almost as soon as he made that sound effect of a heavy grunt, as Qiyu flinched backward, almost falling over the back of her chair in her haste, and Sylar burst into laughter.

He had the golem hold that pose for several moments, before switching to another one, pressing its little muddy hands together and leaning forward slightly.

“Hurrumph!” he grunted once more. “Muddy STRONG!”

His laughter continued, even as Qiyu threw a nearby pebble over at him. The mild enhancement to his perception provided by his cultivation of Fate-Fate did wonders for him, and he effortlessly dodged the makeshift projectile as it flew past the side of his head.

“Oh no, little apprentice, why are you angry?” he switched to a faux high-pitched, child-like voice. The elemental’s face broke into a sad-looking frown, little bits of clay sloughing off. “Did Muddy’s display disappoint you? Muddy is sorry…”

Its head hung low like a child caught breaking the rules. Even Qiyu couldn’t hold back upon seeing the ludicrous sight, and she began to giggle, all annoyance toward Sylar forgotten. Observing from the side, Huoyang broke into fits of laughter as well, hacking and coughing as he haphazardly dropped the stone he’d been holding before.

Mentally, Sylar thanked Rynwald for doing the same to him all those years ago, in one of those rare moments where his humorous side broke past his stony exterior. He was fairly certain now that this was simply one of those traditions, and one day, when Qiyu became an Arcanist herself, she would do the same with her future apprentice.

“Heavens, Sylar, I was carrying this!” Huoyang shouted, glaring at him as he pointed at the stone. “Give me some warning next time, won’t you?”

“Muddy strong. Muddy help. Human tired. Human take break.” He reverted back to a guttural voice, and had the elemental march itself over. “Small human stand aside. Muddy do human job.”

Alas, in the moment that he committed himself to his performance, Qiyu chanced her opportunity to lob a pebble at him. It struck him by the leg, and though it wasn’t painful, he still yelped in surprise.

He narrowed his eyes. “So, treachery it is, then?”

Sylar rose to his feet, and carefully set his notebook aside. Then, he stamped on the ground with a dramatic flair, and simultaneously casted a quick Animate Objects.

Twelve small pebbles hovered in mid-air, magics of Enchantment stirring them to life. He let them orbit around him slowly, menacingly, but made no further move.

Qiyu gulped, and took a step back. Sylar grinned maliciously.

Animate Objects had the potential to be a deceptively dangerous spell if the caster intended to harm. When used in a controlled manner, however, it allowed for some little fun and play while his troop of golems continued at their mindless work.

“Ah, an appropriate time for a practical lesson in the Spiritual Arts, my little apprentice,” he said, and had one pebble fly over and strike her lightly in the shin, most of its momentum arrested just before it actually collided with her. “Lesson one: always think before you unleash one!”

And so, master and apprentice began a bizarre game, and Huoyang watched bewildered and amused at the supposed cultivator’s antics. All throughout, the elementals never once grumbled, continuing to go about the hard labour as the pair of supposedly enlightened mages chased each other around.

-x-x-x-

It wasn’t long before Sylar found himself making his way up the paths of Penshan mountain.

Jin, as someone who actually held official responsibilities and couldn’t simply do as he pleased like either of them, was not able to accompany them on the trip. As such, it was just himself and Qiyu now sitting in the carriage directed by their newest driver, Huoyang.

If it had been just up to him, he would have denied even that offer of transport to instead rely on a Phantom Steed. Alas, Jin was generous and a little obsessive over his daughter’s safety, and fretted that she might fall off the Phantom Steed along the winding mountain paths, given that she only had little experience in riding.

It had already been several hours of travel, and Sylar had to admit to being a little bored. Qiyu was already dozing off, following the first two hours in which he had delivered an impromptu lecture about the nature of the Realms Beyond, and their links to the Essence Cycle. She had plenty of energy when it first began, but that enthusiasm quickly waned over time.

He sighed, and leaned against the wall of the carriage. Once he got a little deeper into cultivation, he sorely needed to see if he could learn to scale the mountain just as the members of the Righteous Heart Sect did. Elder Hua definitely had the right idea with her approach to cultivation, that somehow allowed her to become an elemental-like being to soar as she pleased.

It was in quiet moments of contemplation like these that his thoughts drifted to home. Beyond the open windows of the carriage, he could see through his Diviner’s sight the wisps of Essence all about, each of the Transcendentals in far greater abundance than back home. Any Reshamin mage would be only too happy to trade places with him right now.

Lazily, he tracked their movements. Something had always bothered him in his time in the Immortal Lands thus far. How did the Transcendentals leak into the world in such abundance?

Back in Resham, sites that held a local weakness between Planes allowed for small trickles of Essence to bleed through, and also altered the local environment, providing reagents containing the respective Essences that could be transported for later use. He could only assume that something similar was in place here – except, save for the Silver Forest where he faced the pair of Spirit Wolves weeks ago, he hadn’t come across or heard of any such regions touched by the Planes Beyond. The Demonic Beasts had seemed promising, but from what he had observed of them, they were fundamentally different from the common extraplanar creatures that littered the pages of the many bestiaries of Resham.

So lost in his thoughts, time once again slipped by. Qiyu shifted in her seat, groggily trying to find a comfortable position as the carriage continued on its bumpy ride.

Before he knew it, they arrived at their destination.

The pair disembarked, Qiyu hurriedly smoothening her clothes to at least demonstrate a sense of decorum. Those on watch had to have noticed their arrival – not that hard, for an obvious vehicle traversing the mountain path – and a welcoming group of familiar faces were already by the Sect’s gates. As he moved to meet them, Huoyang was separately led to the stables by their juniors.

“Guanzhong, Shurui!” he greeted. Beside him, Qiyu gave a hasty bow.

“Welcome to the Righteous Heart once more, Sylar,” Guanzhong said, smiling. “And you as well, young mistress.”

She squirmed at the respect that was being directed toward her from a Ranking Disciple of the sect. Sylar took charge, patting her on the shoulder. “You can just call her Qiyu, Guanzhong.” He glanced at her. “She’s just too polite to correct you.”

She took affront at that, and kicked him in the shin.

“Alas, kids these days show no such respect to their teachers,” he lamented with a mock sigh.

“So this is the student you told us so much about?” Qin Shurui knelt down, bringing herself to Qiyu’s height. “Hello, little sister!”

Qiyu glanced at him, and at his encouraging nod, proceeded to talk to Shurui. Guanzhong took the opportunity to speak with Sylar. “What brings you both here today?”

“I promised that I’d visit, didn’t I? Besides, there was something I was planning to talk to Elder Yang about,” he said, glancing around. He frowned. “Quanhao and Yao aren’t here?”

“They are engaged in prolonged meditative cultivation at the moment.”

“How long do you think it’ll be until they’re done?”

“At least until evening,” Guanzhong replied with a wry smile. “A shame. Quanhao had been so vocal about wanting to spar with you when you dropped by to visit as well.”

Sylar winced. Though he may be inferior in rank to Guanzhong, Sylar had a sneaking suspicion that Quanhao would be far more enthusiastic in a spar.

“Yeah, no thanks.” Several of the junior sect members were out and about, performing various tasks pertaining to maintenance of the sect’s estate or their own cultivation. “I don’t suppose that Xingling will be showing up?”

“Unfortunately, no.” Now it was Guanzhong’s turn to grimace. “She’s become quite – how should I put it – focused in her training ever since she returned from the Demon’s Pass.”

“Well, I’m sure you two will resolve your lovers’ spat in time,” he said, earning himself a disapproving frown.

Qiyu was quickly warming up to Shurui, and was now excitedly chatting with her. Hopefully, she would remember his special instructions that he made her repeat multiple times over, that for now what she knew about Essence Studies was to be kept completely secret. She could show off a little of what she could do if she wanted – he could certainly use every advantage he had to prove that his teaching could offer something to the sect – but he wanted every precaution for the finer details of his world’s understanding of magic to be hidden from unscrupulous ears.

Just as she was doing right now, in fact.

Shurui’s eyes widened, before she excitedly drew closer to Qiyu. His student demonstrated what was now her signature spell of Dancing Flames, and having it slowly move between her spread palms.

“Woah!” she gushed. “Senior, have you seen this? She’s got natural fire roots!”

Guanzhong’s reaction, however, seemed a little muted. “A natural talent?” his brows furrowed. “Very impressive.”

Their words were full of praise, but considering how they behaved around his other spells, this felt a little underwhelming. He coughed. “Uh – not to toot my own horn – but you don’t sound as impressed as I imagined you would be to learn that Qiyu can use Spiritual Arts.”

They both looked at him, confused.

“She has strong fire roots, and has a powerful affinity with the element,” Guanzhong said, after an awkward moment of silence passed. “But, ah – Sylar, I don’t mean to tell you how you intend to teach your student, of course – but don’t you think making her believe that this is a Spiritual Art is a bit much?”

…

Eh?

They didn’t consider Zeroth Level spells to be Spiritual Arts?

That…

Huh.

Well.

Hells, that actually made some degree of sense.

They were, after all, simply but pairs of Essence, without much of a sense of order or structure that were present in the more complex tiers of spells. The only difference between this and the improper burning of Essence Pairs for generation of qi with the formation of Soulburn was the activation method involved. Even the supervision of a trained mage, and even if they knew nothing about spell structures or how Essence even formed pairs, it was feasible that the cultivator equivalent of a Neophyte could accidentally stumble across an activation method for the manifestation of a cantrip.

Even in Resham, children with magical talent were scouted by their accidental manifestation of cantrips. Most would only ever accidentally discover one or two cantrips by themselves, however, and it took the rigour of a firm education in Essence Studies and the guidance of an experienced master to hone that any further. A self-taught mage using anything beyond First Level spells was almost unheard of.

Qiyu was looking at him uncertainly. This newest development was an unexpected snag, but…

He nodded at her. “Show them the other one.”

It took a moment for her to understand his intentions. Still, she hesitated. “But…”

Was she afraid she would fail? “Remember what you did to Muddy,” he encouraged. “Muddy, Mucky, and Clayface. They wouldn’t dare show their faces in front of you again after what you did!”

Alas, context was lost upon their cultivator friends, but the memory of her spell that left the Mud Elemental slipping repeatedly just a few days prior eased some of her tension. She nodded and took a deep breath, readying herself.

“Sylar?”

“Just watch,” he insisted. Water Essence was slowly being drawn toward her – indeed, Fire always seemed to answer her call more readily. “Take your time, Qiyu.”

After the extra few days of practice with the spell, she was now more confident with it than her first day at the tower still being constructed. With a flare within her soul, the Essence pair activated, and a bolt of water burst forth.

“… was that really necessary?” he asked, sighing, as he fidgeted in his now-damp shoes.

“Oops?”

He ignored her sheepish reaction, choosing to focus instead on the cultivators. Guanzhong was frowning thoughtfully, while Shurui looked impressed but confused.

“She definitely has fire roots, but I can’t perceive any affinity with water,” he said, after a long moment. “If she doesn’t have dual roots, that is impressive.” He looked at him weirdly. “You taught her this?”

Sylar nodded. “I did.”

“At this point, I’m not sure if I should even be surprised,” Guanzhong began saying, but then paused, and looked at him with mild suspicion. “You don’t have any other surprises waiting in store for us, do you?”

“Not yet. We’ll be working toward the other elements soon, though.”

That now caught their attention. “Is this how you were taught as well?” Shurui asked, and Sylar nodded. She glanced toward Guanzhong. “Senior, you’re thinking the same thing as me, right?”

Guanzhong nodded slowly. “It’s quite… unusual,” he said slowly. “It’s not exactly unheard of, but… it is different as well…”

At Sylar’s look of curiosity, he elaborated, but sounded reluctant – and perhaps, embarrassed?

“I was – well, in a similar position, when I joined the sect,” he said. “It’s a bit of an open secret, but I am blessed enough to possess four spiritual roots.”

… huh.

“I had greatest affinity for Earth, and so took that to be my foundation for cultivation,” Guanzhong said. “But the Seniors in charge of my training soon took notice, and so did the Elders. Once I achieved the First Comprehension, and had cultivated my dantian for several more months, I began learning different methods that took advantage of my four affinities. To spare the details, I was eventually able to learn one of the sect’s most treasured cultivation techniques – the Four-Yin Mystical Tempering.”

That explained a fair bit about why Guanzhong was so respected by his juniors, and the near reverence with which Quanhao spoke the name of the technique when he carelessly let it slip. Four spiritual roots? If his own experiences with his penchant for Fate Essence was anything to go by, anyone in such a position had a great potential to go far.

“Qiyu is different, of course, in that the young mistress only holds a fire root,” Guanzhong said, yet remained thoughtful. “But… to train specifically to build a connection to the other elements, even without an innate talent? That is very unheard of. It takes more than just time, effort, and dedication. I would have thought it impossible, even.”

He looked at Qiyu intently. “You will be full of surprises, of that I am sure.” Then, he glanced at Sylar and gave a teasing smile. “Though, considering who your teacher is, I suppose that is a given. If this is the same way that you were taught, Sylar, I think I’m beginning to understand a little more about why you never cease to amaze.”

It was funny. He was learning things about Resham he never thought about before, while here in the Immortal Lands. It was true – working through the various Essences to an acceptable level could take months to years, and that was with a rigorous education, plenty of practice and supervision, and the well-established field of Essence Studies to guide novice mages forward.

He himself had taken a full two years with Master Rynwald to practice with all seventy-eight possible combinations of single pairs, Death excluded. Of course, his abilities hadn’t been stagnant throughout the entire time, and had been able manifest a single Second Level spell by that point.

Still, the point held. Though mages and cultivators began from a similar starting point, the systems in place took them through astoundingly different paths. What would happen for one like Qiyu, only now beginning her training, but was already having some rudimentary exposure to the knowledge of both worlds?

Would she, mayhap, be fortunate enough to become a bizarre hybrid of both worlds – an Archmage-Grandmaster? A mage-cultivator? An Elder-Spellsong?

Only time would tell if fate willed it, he supposed.

“She does have quite a bright future ahead of her, doesn’t she?” She squirmed, mixed between embarrassment at the attention directed her way, and pride at the praise showered upon her. “Don’t think I’ll be relinquishing my title as your teacher without a fight, though. You’ll have to beat me in a fair match before that happens.”

Shurui let out an audible ‘aww’ at his adorable little student. She hadn’t been quite as vocal with him back at the Demon’s Pass, but it seemed she had a soft spot for her younger juniors.

“I’m guessing that this ties in nicely with why you plan to meet with Elder Yang, doesn’t it?” Guanzhong said knowingly. “You still intend to pursue what you discussed?”

Sylar nodded. “I am.”

“The Grandmaster won’t be easy to convince,” he cautioned.

“I know. Jin said pretty much the same thing.”

“Hmm.” The cultivator smiled. “I suppose we should meet with Elder Yang then, shouldn’t we?”

“Sounds good,” he said. “Qiyu? Do you want to follow?”

“I could show her around the sect, if that’s what you both prefer,” Shurui offered.

She hadn’t been that invested in the idea of cultivation during her first visit to the sect, but now that she was on track to being part of their world, it was clear that Qiyu was curious about just how it was that the sect functioned. If Sylar knew his student well enough, he’d bet a fair wager that she also wanted to see how others her age fared, and how her own abilities held up in comparison.

“Go on, then,” he encouraged. “We’ll mostly be talking boring stuff.”

With that, they separated, and Shurui took her toward the east terrace, where some of the junior disciples were apparently engaging in practice. Sylar followed Guanzhong as he was led through the same walkways that he’d been through in his first visit. This time, however, he was not as ignorant and naively arrogant as he’d been – virtually every disciple was cultivating their qi as they went about their tasks, and he now knew that it was not a pointless exercise in Soulburn generation as he had previously believed.

Before long, they ascended the multi-tiered building that he knew was Elder Yang’s personal residence, and stood before his chambers on the fourth floor.

Guanzhong knocked politely on the door. “Elder Yang,” he said respectfully. “I apologise for the interruption, Master. Sylar Spellsight has arrived on a visit, and expresses that he wishes to speak with you.”

There was barely any delay before the reply came. “Please send him in,” Elder Yang said. “My meditation can wait.”

There was a sense of déjà vu about this. The last time he came, things had pretty much played out the same way, nearly word for word.

That feeling strengthened as soon as he came face to face with the Elder. He was just as Sylar remembered him, wizened and with a presence about him. There was that same sharp, analytical gaze as he took in Sylar’s appearance.

And as before – he was not burning Essence.

But… hadn’t he been in the midst of meditation?

Once more, he had the distinct feeling that this meeting would leave him feeling as though everything he thought he knew before was only but just scratching the surface.

“I did hear that you have achieved the First Comprehension.” Elder Yang smiled, and tipped his head slightly. “My congratulations. Elder Hua has told me about the Spiritual Arts you used to dispatch the Demonic Beasts alongside Disciple Song as well. I must admit – I knew you were a special one, Sylar Spellsight, but perhaps I have been underestimating you.”

“Please. I think I passed by a few twelve-year-olds with more advanced bodily cultivation than myself, earlier.”

“Ten-year-olds, actually.”

He stared at the Elder, recognised the good-natured tease, and snorted. “Well, there goes any self-respect I had for myself.”

“Ah, please, forgive me. I fear that Master Lu will never forgive me if a dear friend of his returned to Penshan with his confidence shattered.” Elder Yang let the façade slip, and chuckled. “It is a breath of fresh air to have you around, Sylar Spellsight. Other than my fellow Elders and the Grandmaster, none of the sect’s disciples dare to be quite so frivolous around myself.”

“I can imagine. It must not be fun to be punished by being made to descend the mountain and return ten times.”

“Sixty, actually,” he corrected. “Is that not right, Wu Guanzhong?”

Guanzhong, who had been dutifully standing by the side, looked mildly embarrassed, and refused to meet either of their gazes.

Wait…

“…no way,” Sylar said, staring. “You? Quanhao, I can maybe understand, but you?”

“That was almost four years ago,” he said, still embarrassed. “I have learned the folly of such a mistake since then.”

Hells. He already knew that Guanzhong had once been a hothead, but this was a new refreshing take on the ever-polite cultivator.

“But perhaps we should talk about what has brought you here,” Elder Yang said, steering the conversation. “Please, speak your mind.”

“Well…” Now the third time pitching the idea, it came a lot smoother. “I’ve been mentoring Qiyu, as you may have heard. Now that I have begun to embark on bodily cultivation as well, however, I am aware that I might have been overly careless. I’ve spoken with Guanzhong, and after discussing with Jin as well, this is what I’m proposing…”

-x-x-x-

“I see,” Elder Yang said, once Sylar finished speaking through his proposal. With more than a week to plan and develop, it was far more concrete than it had originally been. “That is certainly an unusual proposal. Even if we put aside the subject of a mutual arrangement with the Righteous Heart Sect, you might face many difficulties with just simply setting up a new sect.”

“Oh?”

“Your bodily cultivation leaves much to be desired, for one.” The Elder certainly didn’t mince words. “You must understand – except for those born within their cloisters, a sect attracts new talent based primarily on their reputation. Ignoring all other factors, that alone will make it challenging to bring students with the potential to go far into your sect.”

He grimaced. He knew that painfully well, after the failure of his own academy in Nimbria. Some students would probably come by, regardless, but they wouldn’t be the most talented or dedicated of the lot. He knew his fair share of stories of mages who never progressed any further than a matter of weeks into their apprenticeships.

“I’m aware. At the very least, Qiyu has been a diligent and motivated student. Besides, I imagine that my academy will be structured quite differently from your sects. I should be able to provide supervision for my students to begin with, assuming they put in the effort to learn.”

“Some may look down on you due to your age, but any true cultivator would know the value of not judging a book by its cover,” Elder Yang continued. “Then we have to consider our sister sects in the Penshan Alliance. It is unusual, and no new sect has been established in Jinxiang Province since our partnership began, but I do believe that they will defer to the Grandmaster’s wisdom.”

Elder Yang paused momentarily with a thoughtful look. “What of the matter of resources? The Sect, for example, is blessed with its own herb garden, and we possess treasures and artifacts passed down from our predecessors. What we cannot procure on our own, we have the financial means of purchasing.”

“Resources should be manageable, at least to begin with.”

He already knew that the Sect utilised daoshi – and likely other reagents possessing various Essences – to kickstart the cultivation of junior disciples, since it was far easier to draw Essence from them than to take it in from the ambient environment. Since he intended for his students to be grounded in Essence Studies and being on par with the mages of Resham, that could be easily bypassed, though it would require a greater degree of supervision from him.

Elder Yang looked at him curiously but did not pry. “Very well, if that is your judgment,” he said. He considered the matter carefully. “I believe that our disciples will benefit from this partnership. In terms of the Spiritual Arts, I think it no exaggeration that there is still much that even I can learn from you. However…”

“Grandmaster Mu?”

“Indeed,” Elder Yang said, nodding. “He was – and is – my master, as well as that of every member of this sect. He embodies much of our sect’s ideals, and takes his duties to the sect very seriously. If you were simply planning to establish your own academy, he would gladly welcome you with open arms. With regard to your proposal, however, I’m afraid that he will be unlikely to agree.” He paused. “Master Lu has spoken much of the same advice that I would wish to give to you, and I’m afraid there is little more that I can add. Both strength and the right set of beliefs and ideals will be necessary. If it were myself in your shoes, I do not think that even I will be able to successfully convince him.”

Well. Now that put it into a whole different perspective. Sylar sighed, and ignoring decorum, slouched forward over on the table. “Do you think it’s worth a try, at least?”

“There is certainly no harm in it. Even if he does not agree to it, your academy still stands much to gain in terms of its reputation if you manage to impress him in other ways.”

“True,” he agreed. Right, then. “When do you think I should meet him?”

“Even if you wanted to, the Grandmaster is currently with Elder Zhou on an extended period of secluded training,” Elder Yang said. “They should be returning any time now, however. They departed just short of eight months ago.”

It was lucky he hadn’t yet touched the tea that Guanzhong had offered, or he would have promptly spat it out. Eight months?

…then again, he did spend the last five years in that tower of his back in Nimbria in what was more-or-less isolation.

“I still have some things to work on, anyway. Having at least some of my future academy ready couldn’t do any harm.”

“I apologise that I couldn’t help any more than that,” Elder Yang said. “I will vouch for you personally, of course, but you will still have quite the uphill battle ahead of you.”

“Same as always, then. Thanks, anyway.” Sylar sighed. He hesitated for a moment.

“Is something the matter?”

“There’s… something that’s been on my mind that I want to ask you,” he said slowly. “I just hope that my words don’t end up offending you or the Righteous Heart in any way.”

Elder Yang looked at him curiously, a faint smile on his face. “Please,” he said, then looked at Guanzhong with slight mischief. “I do believe that I’ve grown quite immune to offense after involving myself with years of unruly disciples.”

To the side, Guanzhong turned away once more, chagrined.

“If I may be so bold, then…” Sylar began saying. “Why aren’t you cultivating your qi?”

There was a brief moment of silence.

“Sylar!” Guanzhong spoke up, astonished.

“Oh, my,” Elder Yang said, momentarily surprised, but that settled to a pained amusement a moment later. “That is quite offensive.”

Sylar readied himself to apologise profusely, but Elder Yang forestalled it.

“From anyone within the sect, such a tactless question would have been vulgarity of the highest order, but curiosity to remedy one’s ignorance is nothing to be ashamed of. I will answer you Sylar Spellsight, but first answer me this,” he said. “What prompted you to ask me this?”

“Well…” he said hesitantly. “I can vaguely sense when others are cultivating, I suppose. Your methods and how you understand it are different from those of my homeland, but there are some things in common. Almost every cultivator I’ve seen so far continuously generates and stores qi. I thought it was something to do with your rank as an Elder at first, but then I saw Elder Hua back at the Demon’s Pass, and then that no longer made sense.”

“You can already sense the qi of others?” Elder Yang had a brow raised, surprised. “After just reaching the First Comprehension?”

“Umm – before that, actually. But it’s not actually qi that I sense, I think,” he said, quickly adding to his reply when he saw Elder Yang about to respond. “It’s something else.”

“Ah. A secret of your own sect, I suppose?”

“…you could say that, yes.”

“Very well. I will not pry.” He gazed at Sylar for several moments longer, as though seeing him for the first time once again. “But I am afraid the answer to your question is a simple one. The reason I no longer actively cultivate is because it is pointless for me to do so.”

What?

“Y-you’ve reached the limit of cultivating the body with qi?” he asked, stunned.

The reaction was quite different from what he expected, however. Elder Yang gave a sad smile, a pained expression on his face.

“Quite the opposite, actually.” As much as he tried to hide it, grief and pain leaked into his words. “Are you already aware about the Revelations?”

“I’ve heard about it in passing, yes,” he said. “I think it is something that happens as one continues in their cultivation?”

“A true statement, but wholly inadequate,” Elder Yang replied. “Listen well, Sylar. As a cultivator progresses in their cultivation whether in body or spirit, and gains insight both into themselves and the roots of their cultivation, they eventually reach a funnel. A bottleneck. Emerging beyond that stage results in one achieving a Revelation; a small fragment of the truth of the dao, with which one can command powers that they never could before. It is different for each cultivator, and often manifests in not just a single form, but one thing is always true – they become more. Greater. Closer to the Truth.”

More. The word struck him. It was likely only one part of what a Revelation entailed, but it surely had to do with the powers that he had witnessed Quanhao and Elder Hua using. The Elder had a far greater command of her own version, but even Quanhao had sustained that transcendental state of his temporarily.

Sylar nodded slowly.

“You will come to discover what that means for yourself, I am sure. But power does not come without its price.” He sighed, and for the first time, seemed truly tired and burdened. “Tell me, Sylar. Have you heard of a Tribulation?”