Heavenly Shae

Chapter 7: "Silent Slumbering."

Shae moved a dozen paces away, putting the watchers between her and the training. She tried to sleep right there but the sword clashes made just enough noise to keep her awake. Hmrgh, I'm already comfortable though. She accessed her calming divine qi and cycled it to her head, it seemed to help her drift off faster.

She was startled awake by a louder sword crash. Eyes snapping open, she saw the moon had jumped across the sky. Well, a few hours is better than nothing. Then the next clash woke her again, I should have found somewhere else to sleep. She stretched out and wiped sleep from her face.

The training had been reduced to longer pauses interrupted by much louder clashes. Shae thought it looked like it was Bai testing the new attack style against Long, instead of sustained exchanges. The main indication was Bai's pose after flickering past the Master.

She sensed her own qi had become more active while she slept. Bits of various qi types that she had collected were migrating around her channels, being pushed by a few small wisps of her demigod qi. I don't remember... Oh, I must have left a mess when I stopped to expel the bao buns.

She felt much more awake now. Still tired, but she recognized she was in a state where more sleep would be difficult. As her personal demigod qi floated through her mind, she felt it energized her, just a little bit. Ah, caffeine for the soul. She frowned, that's definitely why I'm awake now, can't believe I left it going.

She moved into a lotus pose and began to meditate. Cleaning up the small bits she left from dealing with the spicy qi was a simple task. All of the elemental qi settled into her Dantian's formation with the only trouble sorting out the types. I must have been so sore and tired that I didn't notice all these scraps. She had absorbed the larger quantities of fire, steam, and water qi the night before, but these smaller scraps had escaped her notice. Until now, just them bumping into my channel walls stings. Bleh, I guess I didn't notice the taps were still on while the house was burning down.

Partway into sorting she realized she didn't need to. Instead she moved the whole lot around the formation, letting it figure itself out. She thought she sensed a few new types starting to form from the mixture, like mud from earth and water, but she didn't feel the need to explore that right now. I've still got no idea what this thing does. If any had formed, they were too small to be a concern, or maybe were too unstable and torn apart by the formation?

Out of habit she filled her channels with her own qi mix from her Dantian: neutral, demigod, and her personal demigod qi. She cycled it around and started to catch small scraps of qi she had missed. They didn't last long, getting overtaken and dissolved into the larger mass.

That encouraged her to fill her channels more, to make sure no area was missed. All the qi she had collected with the qi gathering pill a few days ago had been neutral, and only a fraction had been converted to her personal qi. Especially since this is the first time I've cultivated since then.

Many of her qi channels were sore from abuse. Either from the endurance run, or damaged by the fire qi. She quickly found it to be too uncomfortable and returned the qi to her Dantian then left meditation.

Remembering her gifts from the monks, she dug through her pack. Aside from the ones that Wise Yungfan had guided her through, she hadn't had an opportunity to read any of the works the monks had provided her.

Even with the moon out, the sky was still too dark to read under, so she walked back to the group of cultivators spread around the geyser. The small lanterns that scattered the area were her target. At first she was just going to return to the spot she had before, but saw a single cultivator with two lanterns providing him better light to work under.

As she got close, she recognized the ink stained hands of Cultivator Bai, the scribe with the similar name who she had met in Minlin city.

She made sure to get the enunciation correct. "Cultivator Bai, may I use some of your light?"

He didn't look up and just waved her forward, to the opposite side of the paper lantern. She noticed the second light wasn't another lantern, but a light source he had likely supplied himself. It appeared to simply be a floating orb of light, but the way it swayed subtly suggested it was anchored in place somehow. Shae couldn't figure it out, since it was like staring right into a bright flashlight and trying to see the handle.

She dug into her own paperwork. Quickly flipping through the bundles of pages. She thought that one of the monks must have worked in a copy shop in a past life because the title page and headings were expertly made. Each containing a clear title and description of the work. Those pages were clearly all done with a brush, the traditional method. Whereas the insides were often done with a quill-pen, one made for calligraphy so as to mimic the wide strokes a brush was naturally capable of.

She had seen much writing in her youth, then more at the mountain, and neither style prevailed. Brushwork was generally considered more appealing, so titles and cover pages used it exclusively, and of course poetry and more creative works preferred the brush. Quill pens and a modified script were used in legal documents, to write the characters smaller thus fitting more text on one page. In fact, quill-pens dominated most professional fields reliant on writing. Some skipped the calligraphy style, simplifying the characters to shrink them, and likely speeding up the scribe's work. Shae noted her experience might be biased; quill-pen documents were more common among peasants as it was cheaper in every way. Even harsher inks that would destroy a brush could be used.

Having experienced ballpoint pens, brush pens, and markers, Shae disliked both methods because they required ink pots. She was surprised to discover those developments were not in use. Now, with more confirmation she was not the only soul from Earth, she was even more surprised no one had created them. She watched Bai make a few notes, his hand going from a delicately supported position over the ink pot, to a blur, then back to the pot. Yet cultivators don't really need the convenience. They might not even need printing presses, she frowned, though the peasants do.

For the thicker stacks of paper she was given, the monks had chosen a simple string binding method. Like a duotang, a few holes along the long side of each page, string threaded through to hold them. When only a few pages were needed, paper clips were used. she had seen them before, but it was still jarring to see the little objects appear here. Moreso because she could have sworn they were identical to every other mass produced steel paperclip on Earth.

To the untrained eye, the writing looked similar to Mandarin or Cantonese characters. Shae expected the Empire's language and text would be vastly different from Earth's, but she had never learned them in her past life, so couldn't compare. Some complex characters were made up of stacked simpler characters, it seemed to be to limit how many consecutive characters were needed for a single word, thus compressing the text again. Though, that did make it rather challenging to write small.

Most of the writing was done with the page turned sideways, in landscape, as that was standard here. Bound pages would have a line of writing flow down, passing from the back of one sheet to the face on the next, crossing the horizontal spine. This was considered a cost saving method and was avoided in more auspicious works. The most expensive texts didn't even use both sides of the page.

The monks had used both sides of every page. Some only had a roughly scratched thought or two, but they were used. Aside from title pages, the writing was all small tight characters written with a fine tipped quill-pen. Only the occasional character or word received a flourish to clarify its meaning.

She finally found what she had been searching for. "Ah-ha." Slipped from her lips, barely audible.

"Shh-" came the terse response from Bai.

She looked up, ready to complain, but saw he was quickly writing a longer document and she got swept up in the display of skill.

When he finished the page, she had forgotten her complaint and went back to her reading.

The document in question detailed several practical exercises a cultivator could perform to increase their control. Each exercise had a specific aspect of control that it focused on. Senses, precision, and speed were the most represented. These and more all counted as control because that was just the broad term for all qi manipulation skills.

She started at the Senses section and quickly found the one that required the least qi use. It was primarily focused on expanding one's senses, and required a higher than average qi density. She assumed this area would qualify. It was weaker than even the base of the mountain, but was still noticeably stronger than the city had been.

The first few paragraphs were general theory, then setting up a baseline. So thorough, I shouldn't be surprised, but the old monster's loose approach really messed up my expectations. She skimmed most of it and found that it was focused on proving out progress, which she wouldn't be able to do until she got to the sect. It would do that by reusing the same qi-stable area to accurately measure out her range.

The last page made Shae smile. It was covered in scratch notes from Yungfan. Knowing the woman had put in the extra effort warmed her heart.

Her notes were a list of ideas about how Shae's qi moved on its own and interacted with the practice. Some were ideas that Shae had as well, but seeing them here, and properly thought out, made the girl feel much more comfortable with testing them out.

The notes ended with:

Some of us argue that not moving the qi yourself will be a bad habit.

If done manually, this technique can lead into multitasking practice ver. 3, so there are downsides.

Monk Wuan claims it won't work at all if you don't do it yourself, but he is an idiot. Testing will prove it all out.

-with peace, Kaiun Yungfan.

The words were just what she needed to get started. She quickly stretched, was reminded of her built up aches and pains, then got herself comfortably seated on the warm ground.

Entering meditation was easy, and she quickly followed the steps involved. First she verified her channels were empty, pushing out even imaginary wisps that could be lingering unseen in the channels she needed to use. A very important step according to the documentation. Then she spread her senses out as far as possible. The main breathing rhythm was a deep and slow inhale-exhale pattern combined with stretching out her sensory range on the exhale.

The guide had also included historical lore which claimed the practice had been adapted from stretching exercises. Shae's rushed stretches just before had confirmed that the original physical exercise had merit. Exhaling caused the body to relax, and stretches to extend. She didn't even need to force her limbs to prove it worked.

After a dozen cycles she thought she had the hang of it, though she wasn't sensing anything new past cultivator Bai and his lamp. She guessed that was partly because her aches and pains flared up, and even her stomach twisted in discomfort.

The next step was to introduce some of her own qi into the cycle. The document stated this would help the process along so she could notice the progress. A small wisp of personal demigod qi floated out and began its circuit through the qi channels in her head, then down past her heart, to her Dantian and back up.

As the mind was most associated with senses, her instructions were to only cycle a small amount of qi through her head. One of the potential pitfalls of her demigod qi moving on its own was whether it would stay in the required area or not.

She didn't get to find out. A hard tap on her shoulder and a loud "A-hem. Miss?" Brought her out of meditation.

The sound had been loud enough that the trailing hiss of 'miss' echoed and rang through her head.

"Ugh.. wha-?"

"-ssss-do that-ssss-else" Scribe Bai's words were interrupted by the continued hiss.

"Ugh, wait, what did you do?" She tried to flex her jaw and rub her ears to banish the sound.

"Nothing strange."

"Ah there, it's mostly gone."

"What is gone?"

"Your words were too loud, they kept ringing afterward."

"It was just a simple sound transmission. Shouldn't have done that."

"Are you sure you did it right?"

"Yes. I'm no fool. What were you doing to change it?" He leaned around the lamp to look at what she was reading. "Ah, a sensory technique, or practical exercise?"

"Control practice, yes."

"Looks like... Slumbering Sense Expansion. Or a variant?"

"Yes, the notes mention that as a follow up practice. It's just called... Silent Stretching Senses." She read off.

"Ah yes, I believe that is the work which Slumbering is derived from, and explains perfectly what happened to you just now."

"It does? How so?"

"One of the faults with Silent Stretches is that your mortal senses are also amplified, especially at the beginning of the practice. I apologize, if I had known... Well, you are going to the sect, yes?"

"Yes. Don't you recognise me?"

He leaned further around the lantern. "Ah! Miss Zhi Shae!" He stopped with his mouth open and she felt his qi sweep over her. "Odd, your core feels different from our last meeting. You seem to be at the stage you claimed, now."

"I always was."

"Sure, anyways. The sect has the Slumbering method available, I suggest you switch to that as soon as possible."

"Huh. Are you not still mad at me?"

"Ha ha, no! As cultivators who plan to live hundreds or thousands of years, we can't hold grudges against every near-mortal that shows disrespect. None would last two decades just remembering everyone that looked at you sideways?" He shuddered. "The stress and annoyance are one thing, but the mass of minor personal demons that could cause would still be enough to consume most souls."

"Err, uh, wow. I never considered it from that angle."

"Heh, start to. It's worth considering the broader future, not just what you dream will happen. Many cannot let go of their early ties; grudges, regrets, guilt, and grief are all heavy ties that may bind you to your past."

They both say in silence for a moment, considering his words.

"Thank you, Cultivator Bai. So, uh, that technique, is it more complex than this one?"

"Of course, I believe there are half a dozen additional steps devoted to dulling certain senses while not affecting others."

She frowned. "That seems needlessly tedious for a simple practice exercise."

He shrugged. "Yes, it would seem that way. Most practices that the sect supplies are designed to transition into more advanced techniques later, so getting the habit of the correct qi patterns and rhythms first is quite important."

"Oh! That's actually quite helpful, thank you."

He shook his head. "It's nothing. You'd learn it in the introductory classes."

"Classes, about that-"

He raised a hand, "ask me when we are on the road. Right now I have work to do. Which you were interpreting with your qi channeling."

"Ah. But really? Just that small amount?"

"Small? I can see why you were doing control practice. Maybe focus on a finesse practice, if you have one."

She cringed to herself. "Uh, yes, that is a weakness right now. And I will pick your brain more later, but may I ask...?" She gestured to his work.

"You wouldn't understand."

She sat upright, pitching her voice towards mock offense, "Oh? I'm not as simple as I seem. And that sounds like a challenge."

He sighed. "What's five times seven?"

"Thirty five- err... In Imperial it's thirty-less-one."

He titled his head. "Correct, so, what else do you know of mathematics?"

She sighed, "A mathematician, that explains a lot."

"Why does everyone say that?"

"I mostly know that the Empire's fixation on using base twelve is frustrating; base ten is so much easier."

"Hah, are you a descendant of an Earth human?"

Her eyes went wide, "Uh, well, yes. How did you know?"

"Earth's lost souls always insist on using base ten. Always claim their math is better. Do you feel that way? Is Earth's math really so much better?"

"Um. I never really got on well with math. Memorizing two multiplication tables was annoying. Don't get me started on the way Empire-Standard writes numbers. Just use digits and pick names and characters for ten and eleven." She sighed and rubbed her temples.

Bai burst into laughter. "Ah-ha-ha, yes, yes! Spoken like an Earth soul." He finished his laugh while Shae watched with a frown. "Ah, don't give me that sour face, I'll introduce you to another at the sect, you'll get on well."

"Hmm. I guess that would be nice. Thank you for the offer, Senior Bai."

"Heh heh, not a problem. But!" He pointed at her papers. "Back to the issue at hand. If you are going to move qi around so roughly, please move to another lantern, try that one. Also, silent stretching might backfire again if the geyser does erupt. So keep an eye on its activity, or switch practices. Oh, and last thing! Put your paper away, lest it gets soaked by the geyser, yes!?"

"Oh!" She felt a strong blush of embarrassment. "Thank you again, Senior Bai." She gave a seated bow. "I am possibly in your debt."

"Only possibly? Hah, I'm just acting as a proper senior should. And just between us..." He lowered his voice to a whisper. "I owe you for calling out Elder Bai for overworking me. I haven't had to lift a finger since then." He ended with a friendly smile and a nod of respect. "Enjoy the night, Junior Zhi."

She bowed again and went back to her papers, searching for a new practice.