"Controlling heat... you thought of it that quickly?"
After their joking around, Iroh heated the tea himself, but he was no longer in the mood to keep savoring it and repeatedly marveled at what had happened.
Just as Kahn had expected, Iroh had considerable accomplishments in this area too, but there seemed to be a clear gap between him and Kahn.
He had always known Kahn was a genius, but previously, Kahn had only been learning existing knowledge. Now, he was beginning to discover, think, and create for himself. The difficulty and differences between the two could not be spoken of in the same breath.
Yet even in this regard, Kahn still displayed talent far beyond ordinary people!
If Kahn could have heard Iroh's thoughts, he probably would have felt embarrassed. After all, none of this was actually original; he had simply seen enough things in his previous life.
What could he say? Weren't the advantages of being a transmigrator showing themselves right here?
Regardless, having successfully taken a huge step forward, Kahn was overflowing with a sense of achievement. When they discussed the move he had just used to freeze the tea, he said proudly:
"I've already named this move. It's called [Deadly Zero Point Breakthrough: First Edition]!"
"What?"
For a moment, Iroh wondered whether something had gone wrong with his hearing.
Looking at the smug-faced Kahn, he could not for the life of him work out how he had come up with such a bizarre name. He had even specifically added "First Edition" at the end of the move's name. What was the point of that?
Kahn gave a mysterious smile, indicating that only kindred spirits would understand the meaning of the name.
All Iroh could say to that was:
All right, then. As long as you're happy.
At the same time, Kahn also asked Iroh for advice on a few questions. Developing these moves had felt incredibly smooth, as though there were no obstacles at all, which made him feel that something was off.
Just listen to that. Was that something a human being would say?
"Indeed, and that speed..."
He had understood the principle behind that whatever-it-was First Edition move at a glance. It was simply using Bending to draw the heat out of the tea, but the speed of that extraction was downright outrageous, indirectly revealing Kahn's terrifying control over Chi.
Combined with Kahn's previous claim that he also had perfect control over his own body, this information gave him a rough conjecture. He said to Kahn:
"Perhaps it's because your [Spirit] is stronger than most people's."
"[Spirit]? Spiritual energy?"
Kahn said instinctively, "Do you mean the Chi inside my body?"
"No. [Spirit] here means consciousness and soul."
Iroh explained.
Life in this world consisted of two parts, [Spirit] and [Flesh]-the soul and the physical body-while [Chi] was the product of their union.
Iroh speculated that, for some unknown reason, Kahn's soul was stronger than an ordinary person's. Thanks to that powerful soul, Kahn possessed control over his body and Chi that far surpassed ordinary people.
Another bit of knowledge acquired.
While marveling at Iroh's extensive knowledge, Kahn also quickly accepted this premise. Since the Avatar's reincarnation was already an established thing, the existence of souls seemed perfectly normal in that light.
He could even roughly infer from this why his own [Spirit] was stronger than an ordinary person's.
It should be because my soul fused with the original owner's, right? That would also explain why I could inherit his memories.
Mm, perfectly reasonable.
And as he thought of this, he involuntarily thought of the Avatar again.
Someone like him had gained such astonishing talent from the fusion of just two souls. How terrifying, then, would a soul like the Avatar's be after hundreds or thousands of reincarnations? It might even have reached a height he could not imagine!
While Kahn let his imagination run wild, Iroh, beside him, had another conjecture:
Since Kahn's soul is unusually powerful, perhaps he has some other talents besides Firebending...
He kept this conjecture to himself, waiting for the moment Kahn displayed them. Otherwise, bringing it up ahead of time only for those hopes to come to nothing might have some negative effects.
So he said to Kahn out of the blue:
"You could try spending more time on Meditation lately. You might get some unexpected results."
Back to speaking in riddles, are we?
Outwardly, Kahn acted as though he had not heard, but he still committed it to memory. Presumably, Iroh would not lead him into a pit; there was no harm in meditating when he had nothing else to do.
After this round of answers, the two returned to the topic of controlling heat.
Kahn divided the ability into three main parts: generating thermal energy and imparting it to other things, controlling the movement of thermal energy, and extracting thermal energy from other things. Its practical effects were extremely formidable.
For example, rapidly injecting a large amount of thermal energy into a tree would cause the moisture inside it to expand instantly, then explode. The same would apply to a human body.
Controlling the movement of thermal energy could allow heat and cold to coexist within a single object, which would easily become warped and damaged at the boundary between the different temperatures.
As for extracting thermal energy, Kahn had already demonstrated that just now. Its effects when applied to living creatures would be equally terrifying.
Although ordinary Firebenders would not be able to bring this ability to such a level, in Kahn's hands, it was a truly terrifying ability no matter how one looked at it.
However, Iroh soon doused him with a bucket of cold water. He raised a ball of flame in his hand and had Kahn extract its heat, but the resulting effect was greatly diminished-
In Kahn's expectations, he should have extinguished the flame outright. In reality, however, it only shrank a size, leaving something to be desired.
Iroh revealed the answer with a chuckle:
"[Chi]. That's the biggest reason."
Although all things possessed a spirit, the Chi in natural substances such as water and stone could essentially be considered almost nonexistent, and ordinary people could not detect it. Plants and trees might fare a little better, but their Chi was similarly negligible.
In animals, however, and especially in humans, the presence of Chi was very clear.
Although ordinary people who were not Benders could not make good use of Chi, its very existence would spontaneously ward off outside enemies. Unless Kahn had a special constitution or his own Chi could overwhelmingly dominate someone else's, this was the effect he would get.
However, Kahn objected:
"But it worked pretty well when I used it on myself?"
Earlier, he had even wanted to convert the extracted thermal energy back into Chi to nourish himself, pulling off something like the Northern Darkness Divine Art or the Great Skill of Star Absorption. But he had failed. He could indeed absorb thermal energy into his body, but he could not convert it back into Chi.
"You actually dared to experiment on your own body?!"
Iroh's eyes widened. He sharply rebuked Kahn for this reckless behavior, then explained in a half-warning tone:
"That's because the Chi you use to perform Bending comes from you in the first place. It's like coming home. Of course your own body won't resist it."
Kahn froze. Well, yes. That was indeed a well-supported argument.
So this ability was actually weakened by thirty percent when attacking enemies, but hit me at full power?
Good grief!
That said, even with some weakening, its abilities and functions in various areas were still very powerful. He was already quite satisfied.
Just then, Iroh suddenly remarked:
"Actually, having reached this level, you can already be called a Firebending Master."
Kahn: "?"
Before you continue