Gift

Under the Fierce Tiger's gaze, faint wisps of spiritual light surfaced around Qi WuHuo. The young man's eyes were half-closed as, guided by the orthodox teachings, his Primordial Spirit commanded his vital energy to circulate throughout his body.

With the aid of this spiritual liquid, even a mountain fox with a touch of spiritual awareness could enter a state of meditation, step into the hazy depths of contemplation, and cultivate by instinct. Qi WuHuo, of course, entered this state with ease.

In this state, he could faintly sense the mysterious presence within every limb and bone.

It was difficult to describe in words, yet he could feel how precious it was.

Instinctively following the method taught by the Fierce Tiger, Qi WuHuo gathered these intangible [Primordial Qi of All Things] and absorbed and refined them.

The process was slow, yet each step was real and sure. At that moment, Qi WuHuo's vital energy naturally flowed through his flesh and blood, and the method the old man had described earlier suddenly rose in his mind—

When the heart is empty, the spirit settles; when the spirit settles, qi gathers; when qi gathers, essence is born.

This was the Dao.

It lay between action and non-action.

Absorbing and refining was action, while qi gathering to give birth to essence was non-action.

The two did not need to be distinguished from one another.

In that instant, Qi WuHuo suddenly understood. It was as if the two halves of the yin-yang fish had joined together. The process of Gathering and Refining Primordial Essence suddenly accelerated, yet remained balanced, neither hurried nor slow, like the wind brushing over lotus leaves. His Primordial Spirit rose above it all, and he understood the mystery behind the old man's words: Using Spirit to Control Qi.

In a hazy daze, he knew not where he was, nor how much time had passed.

At last, the mysterious sensation from every limb and bone gathered in his lower dantian, coalescing into a faint point of spiritual light.

It was as if a river channel had been carved open.

The primordial essence throughout his body began to gather naturally.

Primordial essence rested in the lower dantian, vital energy in the middle dantian, and the Primordial Spirit in the Niwan Palace between the brows. The three formed a faint cycle. Primordial essence was the root of life, vital energy coursed through flesh and blood, and the Primordial Spirit was what made me myself.

At the instant these Three Treasures appeared together, Qi WuHuo finally felt that he had set foot on the path of cultivation. It was a strange feeling, as if in the past he had looked at the world and himself as though seeing flowers through a fog. Now, he could not say that the thick mist had vanished in a single sweep and left his sight entirely unobstructed, but it had thinned a little. Sensing something, his primordial essence sank, his vital energy surged, and his Primordial Spirit stirred in response. The young man instinctively tilted his head.

In truth, all that had happened was that a withered leaf had landed in Qi WuHuo's hair. A white ape had reached out curiously to help remove it, but even with its speed and agility, it had failed to touch him.

Qi WuHuo tilted his head slightly, just enough to let the ape's hand pass by.

The ape froze.

Then it saw the young man open his eyes, his expression calm.

Morning dew clung to his clothes.

Only then did the ape react, its eyes widening.

He'd dodged it?!

It wasn't a dodge. It was as if he'd known in advance that it would reach out its paw and had moved beforehand...

The ape stared at its paw, utterly bewildered.

It had already gained a trace of spiritual awareness. It had swallowed spiritual medicine with primordial essence as its core, then, by a stroke of fortune, obtained a wisp of killing intent from a three-hundred-year-old Geng Metal Original Iron and cultivated Geng Metal Dharma Power. Yet this human was still perfectly ordinary, and he had somehow foreseen its move and avoided it?

The Fierce Tiger, more than a zhang long and tremendously powerful, rose to its feet and looked at Qi WuHuo, uncertainty in its eyes.

"...Was that your first time Gathering and Refining Primordial Essence?"

Qi WuHuo nodded. "I should be thanking Mountain God for enlightening me."

"No, no need..."

The Fierce Tiger shook its head.

Its amber eyes fixed on Qi WuHuo as it rumbled in a low voice:

"Such talent... such talent..."

Seeing that Qi WuHuo seemed not to understand the reason for its exclamation, the Fierce Tiger sighed and paced back to the broad stretch of smooth bluestone, where it lay down.

"Primordial essence is the Life Treasure of all living beings. It must be reclaimed to walk the Great Dao."

After pondering for a long while, it asked, "What do you think of my cultivation?"

Qi WuHuo looked at the tiger, with its white forehead and hanging eyes, more than a zhang long. He thought of the great cauldron it had used, in which the flames had refined the brew nine times, seeming to intoxicate the whole mountain. He also recalled the demons he had seen in his childhood and answered, "It is formidable."

The Fierce Tiger accepted the praise and sighed. "I cultivated to this point by occupying the ley lines of sixteen mountains to nourish my vital energy and refine my divine powers. Those who visit me are mountain gods and earth deities. The Earth Gods and City Gods address me as Mountain Lord, while the demon spirits make way for me. True cultivators show me respect, and souls and Ghosts fear me."

"I enjoy the blessings of this land and have lived for five hundred years."

"Yet I cultivated primordial essence only because, when I was young, I swallowed a five-hundred-year-old Huang Jing. By a stroke of fortune, after thirty years of cultivation, my primordial essence formed and my vital energy arose. Essence and qi joined, forming Primordial Prenatal Qi."

"Yet I still fall far short of you."

The Fierce Tiger sighed. "Should I say that humans are ultimately more spiritually attuned than beasts, or that you are no ordinary person?"

Qi WuHuo suddenly asked, "A five-hundred-year-old Huang Jing?"

The striped tiger chuckled as it replied, "That's right. It was the thousand-year-old Huang Jing you found. When I was young, I swallowed half of it and nearly ruined its cultivation. Later, I traveled through eighteen provinces and promised to protect its cultivation until it reached a thousand years."

"I invited you here to hear the Dao because you didn't lay a hand on it."

The five-hundred-year-old tiger watched Qi WuHuo.

This man's aptitude was extraordinary. The road of cultivation was lined with one pass after another, but his potential was such that he might one day cultivate Primordial Prenatal Qi. Go a step further, and he could reach the Three Flowers Gathering at the Crown. The Daoist sects called those who reached that realm True Persons; even cultivators of unorthodox paths had to show them respect. In terms of overall strength, such a person was capable of finding a scenic mountain and establishing a sect and lineage there.

Thus, the striped tiger's attitude had imperceptibly shifted. Compared to its hearty, free-and-easy manner at first, it now carried a little more ease and treated Qi WuHuo as an equal. The mountain spirits who noticed this were all faintly astonished. They could not understand why a Mountain God would value this ordinary man, who had not even cultivated any divine powers.

Qi WuHuo and the Fierce Tiger Mountain God discussed the methods of gathering, refining, and cultivating primordial essence, the Life Treasure.

They spoke until the sun stood high in the sky. When the Mountain God saw that Qi WuHuo seemed ready to leave, it smiled and asked, "I saw that you came up here with a basket on your back, WuHuo. Did you come looking for medicinal materials? Tell me what you need. If it grows on these mountains, I can give it all to you."

Qi WuHuo saw the Deer Spirit stiffen, its swishing tail coming to a halt.

The Green Snake stopped with its tongue out, and the fox lowered its head. He knew they cultivated spiritual herbs, and that the Mountain God had enlightened and taught them the Dao. They would not refuse its request, but they were still afraid Qi WuHuo might demand too much and take the spiritual herbs they had painstakingly accumulated.

The young man winked at the little deer with his right eye, then lifted his basket and answered with a smile:

"It's already noon, and there's an old man waiting at home. I came up the mountain to gather a few things."

"If possible, I'd love some winter bamboo shoots."

"I'm visiting a friend tomorrow. I'd like to bring a gift."

After hearing why Qi WuHuo had come, the Mountain God burst into hearty laughter. "The mountain has no other fine things, but there's plenty of winter produce. Take as much as you like. Come, let's give my guest a farewell gift!"

The many mountain spirits sprang into action.

A Spirit Snake with a head as thick as a bowl carried a bright red fruit atop its head. The fox held ginseng in its mouth, and the ape that had cultivated Geng Metal Dharma Power carried a gourd of wine. Besides those, they brought winter bamboo shoots, mountain greens, and so much kudzu root that no one could count it all. Qi WuHuo stared.

"This is..."

The young man came to his senses. "This is too much."

The Fierce Tiger laughed heartily. "You treated us as friends and didn't shake us down for spiritual herbs."

"So I treat you as a friend, too!"

"When a friend visits for the first time, how could I let him go home empty-handed?"

The tiger's paw stirred the wind, keeping Qi WuHuo from stopping them.

Then it laughed and explained:

"Don't worry. These are all things I gathered myself while traveling the world. I won't take anything from them. Don't be polite!"

Before Qi WuHuo could refuse, his little basket was already packed with mountain produce, along with spiritual herbs that had grown for years: ginseng, Huang Jing, and Lingzhi Grass. There was also a gourd of wine brewed from a hundred flowers and a hundred fruits. The familiar Deer Spirit even gave him a rather large piece of Huang Jing. Qi WuHuo reached out and stroked its head. The Deer Spirit closed its eyes in contentment and rubbed against his palm.

The Fierce Tiger Mountain God saw Qi WuHuo as far as the mountainside before stopping to remind him:

"There are no distractions in the mountains. Whenever you have time, come up and visit. We can discuss the Dao and exchange teachings."

It watched Qi WuHuo leave, then turned and headed back up the mountain.

Qi WuHuo made his way down the mountain with light steps and returned home. He pushed open the door to find the old man still brewing tea, waiting for him to cook. Qi WuHuo put the things in his basket in the storeroom, took a dozen or so coins, and went out to buy a pound of cured meat and some vegetables. When he returned, he sliced the winter bamboo shoots and stewed them with the Huang Jing the little Deer Spirit had given him.

The staple was still yellow millet rice, with a dish of crisp, refreshing greens on the side.

The old man glanced up from brewing tea. When he saw Qi WuHuo, his eyes lifted slightly and his hands paused.

"Your primordial essence..."

Qi WuHuo knew the old man's depth was unfathomable.

He set the food down and thought for a moment.

Then he clasped his hands and replied:

"I cultivated it."