Qi Sense

In Stillheart Hall, the last wisp of sandalwood incense burned out, and its curling blue smoke slowly faded into the cool night air.

"Time."

Daoist Zhang's calm voice rang out like a muffled hammer blow, rousing the four boys absorbed in their breathing exercises.

Chu Bai slowly opened his eyes. He felt refreshed, as though the ailments accumulated over years of labor had eased a little.

He did not rise at once. Instead, he adjusted his posture along with the others and looked respectfully toward the blue-robed Daoist.

Daoist Zhang stood and swept his gaze over the four of them, beginning his routine inspection of their progress that day.

"Li Jinyuan, your mind was restless. Your breathing faltered three times in that quarter-hour. Is something troubling you?" Daoist Zhang looked at the richly dressed boy on the left and frowned slightly.

Li Jinyuan flushed. "Your eyes are keen, Daoist Zhang. There are... some matters at home. I'll correct this tomorrow."

Daoist Zhang nodded noncommittally, then turned to the stern-faced boy in a worn, freshly washed robe. "Gu Qinghe, not bad. Your qi sense is steady, and air is beginning to stir around you. In a few more days, you may be able to retain your first thread of spiritual energy."

Gu Qinghe merely pressed his lips together and cupped his hands in salute, saying nothing.

Chu Bai listened quietly, gaining a rough understanding of his fellow students.

Li Jinyuan was the youngest son of a wealthy man in the west of the city, a typical rich boy who had come to gild his name more than cultivate the Dao. Gu Qinghe, he had heard, also came from a poor family. He had entered the Inner Gate over a month before Chu Bai and was progressing faster than anyone else.

Finally, Daoist Zhang's gaze fell on the quick-witted boy who was still scratching his head, his face a picture of misery.

"Wang Xiaoliu, you've been in the Inner Gate for half a month and still haven't found your qi sense. With your aptitude... you'll need to work harder."

Wang Xiaoliu answered with a long face, clearly disheartened.

After assessing the three of them, Daoist Zhang finally turned to Chu Bai.

It was Chu Bai's first day in the Inner Gate.

Daoist Zhang considered for a moment. Perhaps intending to give the slow-to-grasp Wang Xiaoliu an example, he said, "Chu Bai, this is your first day of practice. Perform the Lesser Qi-Gathering Art with its mental formula. There's no need to be nervous. Just do as you were taught."

"Yes, Master Zhang."

Chu Bai did not hesitate. He took a deep breath and closed his eyes again.

In an instant, the clamor fell away.

With his Fate Destiny aiding him, Chu Bai entered that clear, empty state almost instantly, without the slightest hitch.

Inhale—exhale—

His chest and abdomen rose and fell in rhythm. The cadence seemed to accord with some profound truth of heaven and earth: neither hurried nor sluggish, every turn of breath timed with perfect precision.

At the same time, he formed a hand seal and sank his awareness into his dantian. The obscure incantation for drawing in qi flowed through his mind as naturally as if he had practiced it a thousand times.

"Hm?"

Li Jinyuan, who had been paying little attention, let out a surprised sound and widened his eyes.

With every breath Chu Bai took, the fine dust floating through Stillheart Hall seemed drawn by an invisible force, slowly circling him.

It was extremely faint, but this was unmistakably...

"He's stirring the air?!"

Wang Xiaoliu's mouth fell open. He had practiced bitterly for half a month without feeling a damn thing, yet this newcomer could stir the air around him on his very first day?

Gu Qinghe, who had been resting with his eyes closed, snapped them open and stared hard at Chu Bai's calm face. His fingers tightened slightly where they rested on his knees.

He had sat here for twenty whole days before he could barely manage that kind of pull!

Standing beneath the tree, Daoist Zhang also showed a fleeting trace of surprise in his eyes.

The boy... grasped it on his first try?

He had taught many students. Even those with decent aptitude inevitably fumbled when first trying to coordinate their movements with the incantation, attending to one thing only to lose track of another.

Yet Chu Bai moved as smoothly as drifting clouds and flowing water. His breathing faintly resonated with the spiritual energy around him. If Daoist Zhang had not known Chu Bai had only paid his tuition and entered today, he might have taken him for someone with half a year's practice.

Did Tutor Liu give him private lessons? Or... is this boy truly born to cultivate the Dao?

Thoughts turned in Daoist Zhang's mind, but his face betrayed nothing. Only after Chu Bai completed a Lesser Celestial Circuit did he give a slight nod.

"Stop there."

Chu Bai slowly ended the exercise and breathed out a mouthful of turbid air. He looked at Daoist Zhang with some apprehension. "Master Zhang, did I... make any mistakes?"

"None."

Daoist Zhang regarded Chu Bai with new seriousness, no longer treating him as a farm boy there to make up the numbers. He turned to face all four of them, raising his voice slightly.

"Since Chu Bai already has qi sense, I'll say a little more today."

Everyone perked up at once. Even the badly shaken Wang Xiaoliu pricked up his ears.

"Mortals who practice martial arts train their flesh, blood, sinews, and bones. Those of us who cultivate immortality train a breath of innate spiritual energy."

Daoist Zhang raised a finger. A tiny glimmer flickered at its tip.

"Having qi sense only means you can perceive spiritual energy. You've pushed the door open a crack. For now, it merely passes through your body like a draft through a hall, arriving quickly and leaving just as fast."

"The next step is to turn passive awareness into actively retaining it."

At this, Daoist Zhang's tone grew stern, and he gave them a precise measure.

"With ordinary aptitude, once you've gained qi sense, three days of diligent practice will let you retain one 'thread' of spiritual energy from heaven and earth, keeping it in your dantian without letting it dissipate."

"One thread every three days?" Chu Bai repeated silently, committing it firmly to memory.

"Correct." Daoist Zhang nodded. "Spiritual energy is formless and difficult to measure, so the sages counted it in 'threads.' Gather a hundred threads, and you can refine them into one 'wisp.'"

"That wisp of spiritual energy is the first hurdle in cultivation."

"Only with one complete wisp of spiritual energy in your body can you use it to activate the most basic talismans and perform the simplest techniques, such as the Spirit Eye Art or the Light-Body Formula."

"Only then can you truly enter the Qi Refining First Layer and become eligible to seek a place on the Dao Academy's rolls!"

Chu Bai quickly calculated in his head.

One thread every three days, and a hundred threads to make a wisp.

In other words, at an ordinary person's pace, gathering enough spiritual energy to enter the Qi Refining First Layer would take a full three hundred days!

Nearly a year!

And even by the most generous count, only six months remained before the Dao Academy's selection.

Chu Bai frowned slightly. No wonder Tutor Liu had called it "a thousand soldiers and ten thousand horses crossing a single-plank bridge." Without talent or resources, most people could not even reach the threshold through sheer, painstaking effort.

As if sensing the pressure weighing on them, Daoist Zhang changed tack.

"Of course, that isn't absolute. The spiritual energy of heaven and earth has different attributes. If you find a place suited to you, you can achieve twice the result with half the effort."

"Take the shores of the Eastern Sea, for instance. Water-aspected spiritual energy is abundant there. Those who use a wisp of it to enter Qi Refining have deep, unbroken reserves and excel at drawn-out contests. Or consider the volcanoes of the Southern Frontier, where fire-aspected energy is fierce and those who cultivate it wield tremendously powerful techniques."

"Our Anping County in Qingzhou lies within the Plains Grand Formation established by the Great Zhou Celestial Court. Its spiritual energy has been combed by the formation's web into the most balanced and gentle state. It may have no special qualities, but it is the most stable and least likely to lead you astray. It is the best place for you to build your foundations."

Daoist Zhang glanced at the sky and waved a hand.

"Bite off more than you can chew, and you'll choke. That's enough for today. Once you return home, do not neglect your practice. Cultivation is like rowing against the current: if you do not advance, you fall back."

"Your disciples take their leave."

All four bowed in unison.

After rising, Li Jinyuan gave Chu Bai a meaningful look but said nothing. He left with his attendants. As Gu Qinghe passed Chu Bai, he paused briefly and murmured, "You're good."

Then he strode off into the night.

Chu Bai rubbed his nose and paid it no mind.

As he stepped out of the academy gates, the cool night breeze brushed his face and calmed his heated thoughts a little.

Three days per thread is the standard for ordinary people...

Chu Bai pressed a hand to his chest, feeling the fierce hunger within him—a side effect of Refining Essence into Qi. His body desperately needed meat to replenish what it had lost.

His eyes shone especially bright in the darkness.

I have my Fate Destiny. As long as I practice, I'll make progress. I don't have to worry about bottlenecks, much less ruining my cultivation.

If an ordinary person gains one thread in three days, could I gain one in a day by practicing twice as hard? Or even... faster?

As long as the grind doesn't kill me, I'll grind like my life depends on it!

Grrrr—

A thunderous growl from his stomach cut short his grand ambitions.

Chu Bai gave a wry smile, clutched his belly, and quickened his pace.

Cultivation is great, but it costs money... I'm not an immortal yet, and I'm already on my way to becoming a hungry ghost. I need to find something to eat, or my body will give out first.