Path of the Ascendant

By the fifteenth, Yi Wei had also browsed through the body cultivation section of the technique library. The various insights within the second realm techniques were certainly illuminating, but they lacked any mention of any sort of physique energy, nor did they have a feature of utterly purifying the body.

The latter could still be attributed to the breakthrough and the development of the True Ascendant physique, but the same could not be said about the former. Despite her physique being formed only recently, the power of the physique energy was enormous, surpassing even the combination of all of her cultivation techniques within the cosmic planar energy, and it was capable of substituting planar energy despite being in a completely different set of meridians.

‘I suppose that one conclusion that can be drawn is that this energy requires an empty set of meridians that do not accommodate any other type of energy, thus preventing anyone who pursued cultivation alongside body strengthening from discovering it. Since it also requires a physique, that narrows down the chances of discovering it even further,’ she hypothesised after she returned to the mountain residence from the library on the fourteenth, ‘Unfortunately, I don’t know anything about communities of pure body cultivators, nor do I expect any of them to be within the vicinity of the Yi District, unless there is a far larger number of resources for body cultivation here than I am aware of.’

Speaking of the Xiao Mountain residence, it was much more impressive than Yi Wei had imagined. It was placed half-way up the mountain, on a small plain beside a wide but shallow river that weaved through the courtyard before plunging below in a majestic waterfall. It was an excellent sight, clearly belonging more to a painting than reality.

It was extremely suitable for the initial cultivation of mental techniques, as it was calm and soothing, yet included many elements in which one’s mind could be lost, so by the end of the fourteenth day of the sixth month, she had entered the Initial Accomplishment stage of the Kong Mental Arts, as well as a number of other skills she decided to practise alongside it.

The Red Phantom Flood Skill continued to evade her, however. It wasn’t entirely complete, clearly, and the missing elements turned out to be vital, as she could tell that any attempt to practise it would repeat the rather unpleasant experience of the previous day.

With the body cultivation skills of the third floor, she made some progress on one of her previous plans to integrate every single one of the great arts into the Condensed Formation Body, or, as it would have to be called, Condensed Arts Body. Unfortunately, she could not cultivate it, as she had neither the spare dantian shards, nor the leeway to sit somewhere for the couple of days needed for the completion of the cultivation of the technique, nor the space to hide the incredible fanfare that would likely follow.

Thus, she waited, and on the day of her departure, she went around to her teachers and informed them of her departure.

Luo Xiuying was too busy with his attempt to stabilise his comprehension of his crafting technique, Yi Yi threw several bags of pills and low-grade artefacts at her before she could even say hello, Ning Guanting made her attempt to craft an item of sufficient quality again – which she failed to do successfully, as blacksmithing still hadn’t quite clicked with her, Great Dark was occupied with dealing with Great Light and simply allowed her to read up on a few more inscription manuals on the condition that she does not read too much and Chu Ling… her interaction could not be summed up in as few words as the rest, not while conveying Yi Wei’s response with any degree of accuracy.

When she entered the Timeless Grove, the voluptuous woman sat in the back of the initial open area. She was supported by a number of branches, creating something akin to a hammock on which she sat while idly reading a book made from rectangular leaves.

“Welcome, Ah Wei. How hath thee fared since our last meeting? Have thou decided on thine mission for thine family?”

“I have,” she answered, looking right at her to test the effectiveness of her mental techniques, “I’ll be leaving on the fifteenth, but I do not know when I will return.”

“No? Is thine mission connected to the secret space thine family discovered?”

Chu Ling stood up, causing her ample chest to bounce in a fashion that forced Yi Wei to look away that very instant, “You’re aware of that? Apparently, they’re unaware if there’s anything there, but they need people who are capable of surviving in the wild and finding things that do not belong. I happen to have gone out to the district’s outskirts a number of times, so I was apparently suitable for the task.”

“Thine family struggles to find talent, so thou hath naturally caught their eyes,” she said, “Since thee shalt be outside the district for long, I shalt grant thee two boons, if thou doth not object. Nay, if thou doth hath an issue with my gifts, I shalt ignore thy will this once, for I believe these to be necessary.”

‘That sounds a little ominous, but she has been kind so far. I doubt that she will do anything particularly harmful,’ Yi Wei hoped, peeking at her out of the corner of her eyes to limit how much of the woman she sees, “Since you have already anticipated my refusal of at least one of your boons, I get the feeling that I won’t like the idea too much. Can we get that out of the way first, and move onto something that I won’t have issues with?”

“Do not fret, child of Yi, thou hath too negative a mindset,” Chu Ling stated, waving her hand to cause a small area of the grass to shorten rapidly, where she then sat down on her knees, “Come, lay thine head into my lap.”

Something within her head froze for a second. However, even when she recovered, nothing changed.

“I’m sorry?”

“I believe thou hath heard my words the first time. Lay thine head here, Ah Wei, and we shalt talk whilst thou enjoy thine hard-earned relaxation.”

“Although I can appreciate the suggestion… if I try particularly hard… I am afraid that I cannot properly relax in such a situation, as you might have noticed,” she attempted to explain, taking a small step back, “I… I’m slightly uncomfortable with coming into contact with other people, you see-”

Her sentence was cut short by a number of roots that burst out of the ground, wrapping around her arms and legs and dragging her to Chu Ling in a single motion, forcefully laying her onto her lap.

She was placed eyes-up, and the majority of her vision was dominated by the woman’s twin peaks, surrounded by her brown hair and a set of different flowers that grew around her. Altogether, they created both an alluring sight and smell, making Yi Wei’s entire body heat up for the brief moment before she shut her eyes and blocked her nose via her control over her body. For a moment, she was able to stop herself from turning red, but any hopes of hiding her embarrassment were shattered the moment a soft hand began to brush through her crimson hair, which had grown since the last time to a few inches past her shoulders.

“Relax, Ah Wei. Thine reaction is not shameful, and thou doth not need to hide thyself from me. With a few exceptions, thou can do whatever you wish. More importantly, since thine family doth not care for thine well-being, I shalt assist thee in their stead. Tell me, child of Yi, why art thou afraid to show thine desires toward me?”

For an uncertain length of time, Yi Wei kept her mouth shut. Could she properly explain her issue? Should she, even?

“Well… I wouldn’t want to impose myself on anyone even if there was no problem, but… I do not think these… reactions that I’m having… I don’t think that they are my own… Some time ago, I had an encounter with a will that offered me its experiences to assist me in learning skills, but…”

“And hath thou found thine body and mind reacting in a different manner since?”, Chu Ling asked, quickly receiving the semblance of a nod in response, “Hm… thou hath found thyself in quite the curious situation indeed. Nonetheless, I implore thee to open thine eyes. Regardless of the cause, thou must adapt to it if thou art to conquer it.”

Yi Wei wasn’t an idiot, so she naturally knew that. However, it was somehow more difficult than creating new techniques, more painful than the consequence of the Red Phantom Flood, and far more shameful than anything she had ever done before. She couldn’t explain why, and, well… in her mind, the unknown could be one of two things: exciting, as in the case of the Kong Mental Arts and the mysterious physique energy she had developed, or utterly terrifying, as with the Red Phantom Flood or the strange message left behind within the ordinary manuals of the technique library.

She held her breath and forced one of her eyes open ever so slightly, though she still could not allow herself to look in Chu Ling’s direction.

“Do you… mind if I… go at my own pace?”

“Naturally. So long as thou art doing what thou hath to do, then I cannot possibly scold thee for not being able to go as quickly as some others. Even then, I know not of many that hath gone through the same things as thee, for the sorts of wills that reside near or within thine mind and rare in this year,” Chu Ling said, her hand drifting to the satin choker on Yi Wei’s neck, “I cannot blame thee for thine choice, and I do not know if this will is malicious in nature, but there is the possibility that thou were not meant to have been affected in the way that thou hath been. That will that resides within thine mind, what doth thou know of it?”

“Well, it’s… a lot like… the Thunder Lord, I guess… It is male and has had some… experience… with the other sex.”

The woman in green nodded, “I can see why thou hath arrived at the conclusion that it hath muddled your mind. Unless thou art some sort of voyeur, I can see it being greatly uncomfortable. If it is not too uncomfortable for thee, can thou tell me how thine memories of techniques ended up relating to the will’s interaction with women?”

That was an obvious question, and had an answer that was so infuriating that it somehow became amusing – though only slightly, “That jerk was using his techniques in bed…”

“Ah. Thou art unfortunate indeed, to have stumbled upon such a person, and to know the few techniques that triggered such a response,” Chu Ling sighed, and the person lying in her lap did not feel the need to mention that she knew way more techniques than that, “However, would thou be interested in examining the other potential possibility? I can leave thee to consider this on thine own, but I suspect that thou would benefit from someone else to speak to.”

“You mean the potential that I am not being influenced by the memories, but rather that they simply brought about some sort of comprehension within myself that then caused me to change the way I view certain things?” Yi Wei opened both eyes now, though they were still kept to the forest above them, “I’d love to get the answer to that, you know… I don’t have a clue. One day, I barely think about any of this, and then, I suddenly get a lifetime’s worth of memories from someone who really liked spending his time in one particular way… For all I know, it had no influence on me at all. Unfortunately, I am unable to confirm this, and I will not act on something that might not be my own thought. At the very least, I will attempt not to.”

“I see. I understand thine position on this. Is this why thou hath began the practise of mental techniques?”

For a brief moment, Yi Wei managed to use all of her regular senses to view the woman next to her with a raised brow, “If I may ask, how did you notice that? Of all techniques in existence, mental techniques are famously the most difficult to find, so far as I am aware.”

“Thou art correct about that, but they art the most difficult to find, not impossible, especially if thou hath the knowledge of their effects. Despite thine uncomfortable – in thine opinion, at least – position, thou hath quickly calmed thyself when it came time to discuss thine mind-set. Quickly calming thyself is one of the most common functions of mental techniques, and I also happen to possess a certain method of discovering them, but I cannot teach thee yet.”

“Huh… any advice?”

“The mind is a complicated thing. If thou doth not follow a single path all the way through, thou might lose thine self even further.”

‘So you cannot see that I’m practising a few hundred at the same time? Thank you for this information, Master Chu, beside the rest of the… conversation we’ve had, I guess…’ Yi Wei thought, turning her head to the side to look through the endless wall of trees, “Thank you for the advice, though you may already be able to tell that I care for my mind a lot.”

“Indeed, thou hath shown that clearly. In this case, once thou hath completed the clearing of thine mind, I would encourage thee to explore thyself, to be certain what thou art and art not. That knowledge ought to be beneficial in thine future.”

“It could be…”

The conversation ceased for some time. Chu Ling continued to softly caress her, while Yi Wei lay in place, in silence. The roots had already rescinded, but she did not want to move from her position.

 

She was also the person to resume their discussion, “I recall being promised two things.”

“Indeed,” the green-clothed woman whispered, her voice just loud enough to be heard amidst the rustle of leaves above them, “Thou hath completed thine reading of the Cherry Revolving Blossom, so I would like to offer thee another skill to study in thine absence from my grove. They are not all as impressive as that crafting skill, but they shalt serve thee well in the wilderness. I assume thou wouldst be most interested in choosing on thine own?”

“Preferably, yes. What are my options?”

“Thou hath the choice of a number of techniques I hath extrapolated from the essence of our pill refining technique, and thine options would be between an offensive, defensive and a recovery skill. The first can be used so long as thou hath the ability to move, the second is strengthened via movement, and the third is able to amplify thine natural regeneration and apply it to thyself or others.”

‘Strictly speaking, I do not need the third technique, but…’ Yi Wei decided to inquire on the matter nonetheless, “Out of interest, is the third skill based on the body’s regenerative abilities, or on one’s overall capabilities?”

“Purely based on the body itself. If thine physique vastly accelerates healing, then it wouldst be most beneficial.”

“No, it does not. When you said that the offensive technique can be used so long as I am capable of movement, did you mean that I could execute it with the same strength regardless of the movement I make?”

“Indeed. Greater movements art naturally able to amplify the effects of the technique, but there is a certain baseline that thou cannot go beneath. Since thou wouldst ask this nonetheless, I can also explain the function of the second technique to spare thee thine breath. It is intended to add to thine movement abilities and permit thee an additional layer of safety atop thine dexterity,” Chu Ling explained, “Thine movements are fast, and I wished to ensure that thee can avoid harm while thou art using them.”

“Master, are you saying you made these just for me?”

The woman in green smiled, “Nay, not for thee alone. However, I had kept thou in my mind whilst working on these three skills, so that thou may benefit from them.”

“I see. Thank you,” Yi Wei paused to ponder the best option, “Are you sure I can’t have all three?”

“Thine comprehensive skills, regardless of the assistance of the will, are incapable of substituting or avoiding thine mind’s limits. Since these contain some minor truths of the Dao, as thou hath seen, thine mind is incapable of processing it in a sufficient length of time for thou to complete thine studies in a single day,” Chu Ling said, “I would prefer that my work doth not fall into the wrong hands, so I cannot allow thee to carry it with thee in thine mission, especially due to the likelihood of thine family stumbling upon it.”

“Right, and I don’t have a spatial artefact to hold it safely… Fair enough. I’ll take the offensive technique, in the case of me running into something capable of restraining me,” she decided, sighing inwardly at the loss of the other two skills.

“Very well. Wouldst thou be interested in reading it now?”

“… Ehm… Well… Can I… how do I put this...  Would you mind if I stayed here for a bit longer? This has slightly… grown on me…”

She could feel Chu Ling’s gaze on her blushing cheeks for a length of time that seemed to grow slower with every moment, becoming so slow that she feared that it would last forever. All of a sudden, she lowered her head and spoke into Yi Wei’s ear, “Thou may. If thou doth not object, could thee tell me thine time of departure for the mission? So that, if thou doth rest thine eyes, I may wake thee at the right time.”

“It should be three hours from now… it is around ten minutes from here, and I should be able to read the manual in five minutes at most… If I hasten a little more, I should get both of the things done in twelve minutes at most.”

“Heh, thou art intent on spending quite so much time here, Ah Wei?” she chuckled, “If thou doth not object, I shalt place the technique before thee so that thou doth not need to factor it in thine calculations. Tell me, dost thou prefer thine reading material to be perpendicular to the ground, or to thine eyes?”

“I don’t have much experience in the matter, since I haven’t had many opportunities to read while reclining in this matter. Could I hold it myself?”

“Thou could do so, though I wish for thee to tell me as soon as thine arms tire.”

Yi Wei rolled her eyes, “Master Chu Ling, I am a cultivator who has practised an advanced body technique. If I get tired of simply holding a book open, I’d like to think that I am a complete failure in that regard.”

“I suppose thine words are right. Go on then, read on thine own.”

 

“… Ah Wei?”

“Hm? Yes?” she stirred awake, opening her eyes and blocking the bright rays of sunlight with her arm, “Where am I?”

“Thou hath indeed decided to rest thine eyes. How hath thine comprehension of the Cherry Blossom Strike fared? Have thou found thine resting place to be somewhat more pleasant than expected?”

It was at that moment that she remembered where she was, and nearly leapt out of the woman’s lap using her full strength. She stopped herself at the last moment, after recalling the rest of their conversation, and responded, “I understood all of it before I fell asleep, and I do not intend to answer the second question.”

“I will not force thee to,” Chu Ling said, “Thou hath a few minutes more to rest, if thou art still in need of it.”

“No, I should be leaving early. I’ve heard that latecomer servants can be punished, despite still being earlier than the rest,” Yi Wei responded, getting up slowly, “I’m sorry for wasting so much of your time, but-”

“Child of Yi, thou need not apologise to me. In fact, my offer of rest to thee hath harmed thine image. If thou doth not mind, I wouldst like to clear up thine appearance before thou art to appear on the mission,” she offered, reaching out to take a comb and a set of other items that spontaneously grew from the tree branches, “If thou art concerned about the time, then thee shalt be in for a pleasant surprise regarding my proficiency in this matter.”

“Right… Okay, so long as it’s quick,” Yi Wei agreed, sitting back down while frowning subtly, ‘Would I be surprised because of how messy her hair looks? To be honest, I have no idea what half of the things in her hand are- no, let’s be fair. I only know what the comb is, and I only use it sparingly, when my hair is in too bad a state. I break through sufficiently frequently for it to clean my body regularly.’

“I hath practised my art for many years, so thou shalt be dazed, no doubt,” Chu Ling repeated, and began.

A couple of minutes later, she put down her last instrument of physical transformation, and conjured a still pool of water through a casual wave of her hand for Yi Wei to inspect herself in. She looked down for a moment, and immediately had to turn back and question, “Did you put makeup on me?”

“Thou hath gotten a little distracted, so I applied the bare minimum. It is my personal creation, which I shalt give thee, and it requires not much effort to apply, and doth not require removal,” she said, holding out a wooden bottle and a few small wooden containers, “In the bottle, thou hath a cream, which thee can use on thine skin, regardless of location. In this container, I hath placed a lip balm, which thou can apply daily to prevent their dryness. Here is something to apply around thine eyes, this is specifically for thine hands, and if thou rub this into thine hair, it will be much silkier and softer.”

‘It’s a good thing she put labels on these,’ she thought while scanning it with her spiritual will when her eyes suddenly widened slightly, “Are these all one-star medicines?”

“Thou art correct, Ah Wei. Thus, if thou apply these regularly, thine features will benefit permanently, even if thine supplies run short. Regardless of the look thou wishes to adopt later in thine life, no matter how much thou change thine appearance later, it will create a good base for thee,” Chu Ling stated, also giving her a pouch to hold all of that, “I do not wish to limit the options thou will have, regardless of thine choices.”

Yi Wei nodded, returning her gaze to the pool of water. After Chu Ling’s work, her appearance did not change in any significant or shocking way, not even affecting her in the same manner that her physique did. However, the subtle changes amounted to something impressive. Her features were smoother, her eyes were highlighted, bringing out her grey irises, and her lips were slightly redder and moister.

In combination with her hair, which had been straightened and brushed until it almost shone, like it was made from a crimson metal.

Had her face belonged to anyone else, that annoying feeling within her heart would have most certainly made her attracted to it, perhaps even more so than Chu Ling’s motherly beauty, or Yi Yaling’s youthful good looks.

“… Thank you. I… I’ll be going now.”

“Be careful in thine journey, Ah Wei. Return safely,” she said, waving her hand to open a pathway through the woods, “I shalt miss my best student.”

 

Yi Wei arrived at the gathering location a few minutes earlier than she intended. Only a few other servants were at the location, and each one of them sent her a dirty look for arriving that much later than them, as if she was somehow at fault for the expectations placed upon them. She ignored them and found herself a place to sit, where she cultivated the Kong Mental Arts while she waited.

‘If I am to try to understand my own feelings, then I first need to remove the influence of the Seventh of Meng. The best option to do that should be to isolate all of his memories, current and future, elsewhere in my mind, so that I could continue viewing the things I am interested in while not being affected my them, as if they are simply facts that I have the opportunity to view in motion. Once I am able to do so, unless my mind has been affected far too much by those memories, I will be able to understand my true opinions on a number of things,’ she considered, ‘Unfortunately, so far as I can tell, this will take more than a year at the very least, and up to three if I am forced to add more memories and influences to the mix. I don’t have information nor experience to improve the technique, as the Kong Mental Arts, like the Red Phantom Flood, appear to be a far higher level than the other mental skills within the technique library.

‘Also, I have to figure out what to do on the journey. Beside the Cherry Blossom Strike, I have no other powerful techniques to use that are not connected to my identity as Da Gang, thus forcing me either to obtain a number of skills from my companions on the mission, or to create a few on my own. I should be able to do both, but the latter requires some sort of inspiration… Unfortunately, I am not the person surnamed Kong, who created the Kong Mental Arts, who was able to create a technique without it, but perhaps I already have something to draw upon…’

The latter thought was low on her list of priorities, as the journey to the potential location of the hidden grounds alone could take a week, which should be enough for her to come up with something, so she instead focused on sealing away the most egregious memories from the Thunder Lord, while using a small portion of her consciousness to listen out for the arrival of the rest of the team.

Seventeen minutes after the intended arrival time, the proper members of the family began to flood in. Men and women, mostly young adults, slowly arrived, their realms ranging between the middle stages of the Planar Pool realm and the lower Emergent Anchor realm, with each of them carrying at least one lower-grade artefact openly, though a few had a middle-grade artefact while others had multiple lower-grade artefacts.

They quickly occupied the most comfortable areas of the square, pushing away a number of servants who had previously occupied them. Soon after, a much older man in the family’s silver and red robes – the robes of a middle-class member of the family – arrived, and the chatter that had development during their silence instantly stopped.

“If you are not here as a member of the mission to explore the city’s outskirts, leave immediately,” the elder said, sending an intense glare over every person in the area.

A few visibly shivered at it, and many of them rushed away that very instant. Every single one who remained had one of the Yi family’s robes on, and the vast majority had either red hair or silver eyes.

“Yi Tai, Yi Zheng, Yi Jiazhi, Yi Henghua, Yi Guanyu and Yi Fenwu, into the middle.”

Six people stepped out of the group, assembling into a single line facing the elder. Despite them instantly following orders from a superior, they had haughty expressions as they glanced at the ones around them, as if they were instead lording over them in the throne of the heavens.

“You shall lead the exploration squads. Choose a similar number of members and decide on your own plans. I will go and get drunk,” the elder said plainly, and disappeared from the spot. Yi Wei was able to follow his movement to the rooftop of a nearby pagoda, where he vanished and reappeared a few times before settling down, using some sort of stealth technique to obscure himself.

‘I wonder how many others are aware of this,’ she wondered, though she was unable to find anyone else looking in the same direction.

For a moment, the six appeared to be stunned, but they quickly reverted their expressions and went into a circle, muttering to one another for a while. It took them some time, but the rest of the gathered crowd did not move, keeping perfectly still, perhaps instinctively aware that both the six in the silver and red and the elder were paying attention to them, perhaps even seeking an excuse to call them out and punish them.

“Very well then, it is decided,” a man – Yi Jiazhi, as she later learned – raised his voice and turned away from the circle, “We’ll call out names, or point at you, and you will enter a line in front of us. Do all of you understand?”

The gathered crowd nodded, so the six began to shout names or point at random people, one at a time.

Naturally, the first to be selected were those either in the third realm, or in red and silver robes, and once they ran out lower-class members of the family, the higher-realm servants were also chosen.

With every selection, the crowd slowly thinned out, until all that were left were the weak and the unknown. To nobody’s surprise, Yi Wei was amongst this group, as she had no fame to her own name, and her overall power appeared to be no greater than the first stage of the second realm, which was beneath a number of the servants in the area.

Despite that, a gaze from the middle was drawn to her figure, and a finger rose to point at her, “You. Were you fighting near the technique library the other day?”

‘I suppose that makes sense. I defeated someone of a much higher stage, so after he got every well-known capable figure, he moved onto me,’ Yi Wei understood, stepping forward, “I fought a guard two days ago, yes.”

“Then get over here.”

She nodded and entered the line behind the man named Yi Jiazhi. The other five leaders looked at him with some confusion but moved on quickly. A random servant wasn’t worth their attention.

 

After everyone had chosen who they wanted on their side, they split apart to decide on their own plans. Yi Jiazhi decided that the servants were not capable enough to assist in the strategic planning, so she ended up sitting on the side while she listened in on the plans.

It turned out to mostly be the principle of ‘rush in and win’, so she returned to mental cultivation.

They emerged some time after, scattering to collect various supplies and items for the journey ahead. Their leader, on the other hand, headed straight to her.

“I saw your fight. If you have any other talents, use them on the mission, but do not interfere if you do not,” he said sternly, before his face softened and he sat down next to her, looking her directly in the eyes, “I must say, you look much better today than you did the last time. Have you done something with your hair?”

“Not much.”

He was frozen in a half-smile for a second, “Is that so? When we leave the district, if you need something, you can go to me. Could I get your name?”

‘Why is he taking this much interest in me? I haven’t done something worth being this interested in, have I?’ she wondered, but she still provided an answer, “Yi Wei.”

Yi Jiazhi nodded, then turned around and raised his voice to address the rest of the servants, “Listen up! As you should know, we are going to be going outside of the district. We will require materials and camping equipment, as well as preserved food to consume when we are unable find a planar beast to consume instead. You will have fifty silver coins, and you may decide between yourselves what to get. However, if you make a mistake, you will be the first to suffer, I assure you.”

Without another word, he turned and left, leaving the family servants to figure things out among themselves.