V1C15: The Half-Step Peak

As always, the heavens were not kind enough to grant her a lengthy reprieve from life. Just minutes after she lay down, before enough energy accumulated within her dantian in order to allow her to call upon more of it through cultivation and circulation, she heard a familiar voice calling for her again.

“Yi Wei. Yi Wei! How long are you going to sit in there again?”

Her brief rest, alongside Aunt Zehao’s words gave her energy to reply, “Esteemed Aunt, I am unable to come out. I have been injured.”

She heard the aged woman scoffing before she reluctantly made her way inside, mumbling under her breath after each step, perhaps complaining about the fact she was forced to walk on dirt and dust. When she made it into the shack, her demeanour changed in an instant.

“What in the heavens have you done this time? Have you developed a hobby of burning yourself?” Yi Zehao asked with a mixture of worry and confusion in her voice, “You imbecile!”

‘I won’t argue that the execution of Storm Blade Wreathing that I have developed is rather dangerous to myself, but that particular description is slightly disrespectful to the degree of changes I was able to make to it,’ Yi Wei thought, but she instead said, “I had the misfortune of running into a fight on the streets. One of the Planar Pool cultivator’s attacks missed and went straight at me. I have only just reached the second stage, so I couldn’t evade it in time.”

She was not concerned about her figuring out the truth regarding her cultivation realm, as she stretched the little cloud of planar energy that had accumulated in her dantian to cover the entire area.

“Hm, I can see that,” her aunt replied after sending her spiritual will to inspect her dantian, “I came here to tell you that you should be attending the Yi family tutor Yi Ming’s lecture today, among others, on the fifteenth of the month, since you have now advanced to the second stage. Personally, I think you’re unsuited for cultivation, but I can’t have you slacking off!”

‘My dear aunt, I sincerely hope you get into a difficult fight soon for you to correct that annoying character. If you hate me, just kick me out and let me progress on my own. If you don’t, then stop making it so difficult for me to believe it,’ she complained, her expression obscured by the pillow.

“You have two hours. Will you get up by then?”

“Yes. I’ll be out in half the time.”

Her aunt did not question this, only nodded and exited the hut with an amount of glee unbecoming of an older woman.

When she was far enough away, Yi Wei uncompressed her energy and began her cultivation. Having rested for a week, her planar energy was stable and her dantian was more than ready for advancement. It was noteworthy to add, however, that in combination with her perfected stages, she would reach the effective equivalent of the ninth stage. If it was as similar to the real thing as the people she had met so far seemed to believe, then it might also be the final step before her planar energy condenses into liquid.

If that is the case, it would be a little more difficult to hide her stage, and much easier to execute any of her external force techniques without constant injuries to herself.

Half a minute later, her body was refilled with planar energy, and by the end of the minute, it was overflowing. Before she reached the point of a breakthrough, Yi Wei got out a talisman paper and bit down on her thumb, drawing a small quantity of blood. In one smooth motion, she drew a one-star Energy Suppression talisman and threw it down on the floor.

It activated just as her energy began breaking through. Despite the ripples her energy caused being far above the level of a single star talisman, her purple planar energy also elevated the latter to a greater level, creating a form of equilibrium.

Her planar aperture shook once, twice, and settled down. The mist grew thicker both times, until it was almost completely opaque, akin to truly looking out into the night sky. Curiously enough, the characters within were still easily observable to Yi Wei’s spiritual will, so she had no difficulty reading the new segment of the technique.

‘Now that it looks like this, I suppose I have no choice but to call it: cosmic planar energy,’ she thought, trying to discern any familiar constellations within it with no immediate success, ‘Had I advanced just one more step, my planar energy would have become liquid. If this isn’t some mistake on my part, then it suggests that the liquid state of energy is not unique to the Planar Pool realm.

‘If so, what could be the true purpose of it? Are there secrets to a simple realm that have remained unseen even by the Master of Yi City, or were they hidden by him or someone that came after him?’

No matter how curious she was, she wouldn’t be able to arrive at any reasonable conclusions without any additional information, so she took the pill given to her at the Colosseum and consumed it quickly using the effects of the cosmic energy. After a single circulation, she exited her home.

Her aunt failed to notice any changes, as Yi Wei had not had the opportunity to wash herself, and somehow managed to forget about the fact that the latter shouldn’t have been able to walk after just five minutes of rest. Instead, she quickly looked away from her and spoke, “Finally. Because you might actually become of use to me in more difficult errands, I will reward you with a trip to the bathhouse. Be grateful, you useless wretch.”

‘I think this is what some call ‘seeking death’. I obviously have no intentions of harming my family, but I’m sure that enough of this repetitive verbal abuse will eventually force me down the other path,’ she complained in her mind, though she kept a calm expression on the outside, “Thank you very much, aunt.”

She was led to a lavish bathhouse in the inner part of the Yi District, which was frequented by those in the third realm. Her aunt, who was only in the lower stages of the Planar Pool realm, was even looked down upon until she managed to produce two gold coins to pay for herself and Yi Wei.

This would have been a pleasurable experience, and a first for her, but it was marred by the memories of the Seventh of Meng which were still floating around her head. Although she believed she had no interest in the women around her, those particular memories still made her feel like she wasn’t supposed to be here, and that she was looking at the female form differently from before.

‘I shouldn’t let those annoying images affect me like this. Otherwise, it will be like moving from one Mental Distortion Array to another,’ Yi Wei reprimanded herself.

When she was finished, she entered the changing rooms and dressed, putting the metal bracelets back on. The satin choker was rather inconspicuous, and seemingly impossible to remove without resorting to destroying it via her cosmic energy, so she had little choice but to let it rest on her neck.

The obvious upside presented itself both in the form of her muscles, which were slowly developing as a result of the last two weeks, as well as her ever-growing strength. Even though it was somewhat unladylike to rely on physical power, have a distinct layer of muscle and go around wearing messy rags (not that she could be faulted for the latter, as she had only started earning funds two weeks ago), all of that meant little for her as long as it grant her strength (though, once again, the ragged clothing wasn’t an intentional selection on her part).

Her Aunt Zehao exited some time later, having reapplied her makeup and dressed herself appropriately. She scoffed again, “Even though you’ve cleaned yourself, you still look like trash. Let’s go.”

“Sure,” was all that Yi Wei could say without letting the frustration seep into her voice.

The lecture hall was half-full of cultivators between the second and ninth stage of Energy Condensation. From a cursory glance, it appeared that there were slightly more men than women, and every single one of them had either red hair, or grey eyes, or both.

“Come on now, sit down. I’ll be going, since I’ve wasted enough time with you,” Yi Zehao muttered, letting her find her own seat in the hall.

She found an unremarkable location in the middle rows and sat down, sitting back and resting while she waited for the hour to pass. In her mind, she went through every technique she had, and considered the possible improvements or modifications she could make to them with the bits and pieces of other skills.

In the end, she became so focused on that particular pursuit that she nearly missed the entrance of the main speaker at the lecture – a man so old that he used a cane to support himself while walking, with a beard that reached down to his knees. From afar, it was difficult to determine his cultivation, but he certainly looked older than a ninety-year-old mortal would, suggesting that his true age, if he was capable enough to lecture the Yi family’s young, must have been far higher.

With cultivation, even without the usage of any special techniques, the lifespan of a cultivator increases proportionately to their realm. If a normal person could live until their eighties, someone in the Energy Condensation realm could reasonably be expected to pass on only after a hundred years. In the Planar Pool realm, that would increase to one hundred and fifty, then three hundred in the Emergent Anchor realm, and so on. In theory, had the Master of Yi City remained in this world, he could still be alive.

‘Pay attention, Yi Wei. You can ponder things like this later,’ she shook her head to wake herself, and began to listen carefully.

“Ahem… ahem…” the old man coughed numerous times before his throat was clear, nearly falling over twice, “I am… Yi Laoshi. You youngsters, who have entered the world of cultivation… must understand… each stage and realm… or else be-”

He broke into a coughing fit again, eventually spitting out some dark blood, “Let me take a pill quickly, then I will… continue…”

The elderly man reached into the folds of his robes and removed a thin round pill, which he placed in his mouth. He shut it and allowed the pill to melt in his mouth. A minute later, he breathed out and straightened his back.

“Now, where was I? Ah, yes, realms and stages,” Yi Laoshi’s voice now sounded like it was overflowing energy, in stark contrast to his previous tone, “The first realm is key. Energy Condensation is the process of absorbing sufficient energy to then compress it within the planar aperture, repeating the procedure nine times to go through the nine stages. If one accumulates enough energy, this will happen on its own, though it is best to manage your energy personally to ensure the method of breaking through is not harmful to you or your development in some way.

“As has been recently discovered, understanding your planar energy element is also beneficial to cultivation, as is having an image of your target within your head while practising. Supposedly, this doesn’t just involve learning about your chosen element, but also about those that oppose and create them, as well as the ones they destroy and generate. For instance, if you were a metal cultivator, you would learn about wood, fire, earth and water – in other words, all other elements can assist you.”

‘Huh. They actually didn’t know about this. Good to know,’ Yi Wei noted, as she had assumed that someone among the family would have stumbled upon the possibility long ago, though there was also another possibility, ‘Initially, they might have kept this part to those that were high enough in the seniority ladder, but the spreading rumours forced them to address it. That is also possible.’

“When you are breaking through to the second realm, the Planar Pool realm, it is absolutely necessary to let your cultivation stabilise in a brimming state first, or else you may fail and injure yourself greatly. If you are not confident about any part of the process, or even if you are, speak to an expert of the family and let us arrange a suitable environment for you!” the man almost seemed to plead, “Having the correct location and preparation is crucial for success, and may require talismans, arrays and pills of the Energy Gathering type to be prepared for you. I’m sure most of you should be able to afford it with your regular income.”

Most of the people in the audience nodded, though a few, dressed much like Yi Wei, shook their heads in discontent.

“Once you break through to Planar Pool, a few important changes will take place within your dantian and your body. Your focus should naturally move from strengthening your physical form to refining your control over energy, as you no longer have to utilise your body in combat.”

‘I disagree with that. If the Eternal Cold was a little tougher physically, I wouldn’t have been able to incapacitate him. I wonder, how did they handle his case?’

“Additionally, you will find that you are able to project your spiritual will outside of your body. By the peak of the ninth stage, the range will typically go up to one metre, though some have had less luck, and others had more. I cannot confirm this, but the Master of Yi City supposedly had the ability to extend his spiritual will to a whole ten metres when he was about to break through into the Emergent Anchor realm…”

He veered off track for a while before he returned to the relevant topic some ten minutes later, “More significant is the third realm. After reaching it, you will attain the ability to temporarily solidify energy, vastly increasing the power of your planar constructs, and also keep control over energy you released from your body for prolonged periods of time. Additionally, you may summon the planar anchor generated in this realm to double your power. Be wary, however, that if your opponent is capable of attacking spectral beings, they may be able to damage your anchor. If it is destroyed, then the least you will have to do is restart cultivation from the second realm.

“When your planar anchor forms, it will have three sides, with the prime point angled towards one of five directions, depending on the element you practise. If you wish to switch techniques to a different element, you will have to shatter your planar anchor and reconstruct it to face the correct direction based on the instructions provided by your technique…”

‘That… How will that work for me? I won’t have to rebuild my planar anchor every time I wish to switch elements, will I?’ she thought at first, though her distress vanished quickly, ‘No, that is unlikely. Considering the fact that I can already switch my planar energy at will, the anchor might end up pointing in all five directions at the same time, or it may be able to rotate whenever I switch elements, though that it less likely considering the existence of double techniques like the Thunder Lord’s lightning.’

“The range of spiritual will projection will also increase by an average of two metres. It will be difficult to perceive for regular mortals and could slip past the detection of absentminded Energy Condensation cultivators. That reminds me of the time I…”

Yi Laoshi got distracted again, letting Yi Wei focus on her own thoughts for a while.

‘Still, none of this relates to the matter of the key feature for the second realm. The first allows the usage of planar energy, and the third creates an anchor to enhance the control over such energy, but the second realm has only the ability to project energy outside of the body in the form of planar constructs. As proven by my Elysian and Storm techniques, this is not unique to the second realm…’ she pondered, briefly glancing at the old man at the front only to find him speaking about some adventure in his youth, ‘Then, is the purpose of the second realm to process planar energy into a certain state that can then allow for further progress? That seems a little too simple…’

“The fourth stage is called Active Core. During the breakthrough process, you will have to apply the anchor’s power to create a large spherical shield surrounding the dantian, as to shield it from physical attacks, and to allow the power within to be condensed further. Thanks to the shield, you will be able to stabilise your planar energy in the outside world, using it to create formation arrays in thin air, and your spiritual will’s range will increase by three metres. At this level, you should be able to use it to read through written text as long as you apply intense mental concentration.

“At this level, you should be able to survive any attempt on your life by those of the second realm and below, as they will lack the ability to break through the shield and shatter your planar aperture. However, if they are able to incapacitate you and continuously attack you for an hour, your body will not be able to hold up. As such, don’t think of yourself as being invincible.”

‘Once again, this would be solved with a stronger body. At my current level, with the combination of the Condensed Formation Body and the enhancement of cosmic energy, I should be able to resist a common weapon.’

“This is the realm I am on, so I am afraid I cannot say much regarding the next realm, Marked Core. Unlike the other realms, the fifth is completed over the nine stages that it has, and not during the breakthrough. Based on the purity of your energy and the quality of your technique, you will be able to call forth up to ninety-nine searing marks upon the dantian shield. Each one has an active effect – when activated, the mark will burst and grant you up to five times your mortal strength. To make it even better, this can be done multiple times, bringing your prowess far beyond your typical ability. Alternatively, you can detonate one mark every few seconds, to last longer and to keep some for emergencies.

“Now, let me discuss another topic…”

By the time the lecture ended, Yi Wei was rather exhausted mentally and emotionally. The more the man spoke, the more he got derailed and ended up speaking about more and more insignificant topics. She had to pay attention to each word just in case, however, and ended up suffering through three hours of stories and anecdotes about such trivial matters as the food he liked to eat before he was able to fully substitute his diet with planar energy, as one could in the fourth realm.

The only thing she could possibly claim to have gained from such nonsense was a greater resistance to mental attacks that were primarily based on nonsensical chanting and jabbering. She wasn’t even sure if they existed, but they wouldn’t possibly be as effective against someone who had already enduring this for several hours.

After she managed to exit the lecture hall, she headed straight for the Deadly Martial Colosseum, changing her outfit midway there. Like the last time she visited, Great Dark and Great Light sat by a low table, though this time they were drinking tea from simple ceramic cups.

“I see you have returned, and… healed yourself already. Damn,” Great Light complained, tossing a pouch of coins at her, “The Eternal Cold has been removed from our establishment, and we’ve been able to confiscate a few things from him. Had the yin condensed stone survived your encounter, I would have allowed you to keep it, but you just had to break down the bounds of reason, so you will not be getting it.”

“I wasn’t expecting to. How did he take the loss?”

“Poorly. He kept grumbling under his breath – even more than I usually do,” Great Light grumbled under his breath, “However, since you defeated him once, you should have no particular difficulty doing so again now that you have advanced in stage once again.”

“I doubt he will hold on for much longer. His technique, whatever it is, was rather close to fully corrupting his head,” Yi Wei mentioned, quickly opening the coin pouch and checking the number of silver coins within, “At that point, the district guard would take over, and I wouldn’t be in much danger.”

“It is good that you are aware of these things, but you should know that there are two common outcomes for the total corruption of an individual: death, and the loss of one’s mind. The former would be more convenient for you, but I fear this technique in particular is more likely to cause the latter,” Great Dark warned, pausing for a while before speaking up again, “At that point, it is possible for the cultivator’s prowess to rise sharply, and for them to comprehend a series of mysterious techniques relating to their particular forbidden art. As Jiang Sheng is currently on the second stage, he will not rise to the Emergent Anchor realm in one go, but he could go as high as the ninth stage. Since you seemed to use your full strength in this fight, I would advise acquiring a few consumable items to assist you in the event that he comes after you.”

“Great Dark… are you alright?”

“Hm?”

“It’s the first time you’ve spoken for such a long time without pausing,” she said in a serious voice, “Do I need to get help?”

“…”

She glanced at Great Light, but he was of no help. In fact, he appeared to be struggling to contain his laughter. His brother glared at him sternly before turning back to Yi Wei, “No need for that. Do you need help acquiring the items I mentioned?”

“Not really. When can I next participate in a match?”

“Any time you like. Ask my brother for details.”

“No, not today. I need to get going, and purchase a few things with my recent earnings,” she decided, stowing the pouch away, “Oh, but I’m not interested in any fights on the Energy Condensation level.”

“Noted,” Great Light managed to reply through clenched teeth, throwing a small slip of paper to her that he had scribbled on hastily.

As soon as Yi Wei exited the illusory world, he broke out into laughter, not stopping even when Great Dark struck him with several planar constructs. He kept going even as a strange force slowly froze his hair and clothes, finishing only once almost all of his body turned to ice. That very moment, he changed back as if nothing had happened, and turned to face his brother.

“That Eternal Cold fellow… he kept muttering “woman, woman” over and over again, right? Any idea why?”

“Neither of us thought to properly scan that Da Gang with our spiritual will, have we?” Great Dark replied with a question of his own, “Based on what I have understood from the Ice Demon’s Will, the changes it brings to the body allow the user to notice the yin qi of others. It is possible he noticed an abnormal quantity of it in our latest recruit and felt offended that he was defeated by a woman of a lower level than himself.”

“Possibly… As much as I want that guy… or girl… to suffer, since we’ve decided not to poke into his history, we shouldn’t research her- damn it!” he was going to curse further when a look of enlightenment surfaced on his face, “Is this what others have to deal with when they see us?”

“…” Great Dark was stunned, “Are you sure everything was split fifty-fifty?”

Having purchased a comfortable set of plain shirts, trousers and a dress, just in case she needed it in the future, for twelve silver pieces, Yi Wei turned her attention to the slip of paper she received from Great Light. On it were a few simple words.

‘To adjust weight of training set, trace multiplier on collar.’

‘Oi, you could have written a proper sentence,’ she complained, though the information was entirely positive.

With the recent advancement to the fifth stage, as well as the general adjustment of her body to the constant increased pressure from the bracers and choker, the current mass was beginning to reduce in usefulness. The fact that it could even be adjusted wasn’t much of a surprise considering the fact that it came from two Marked Core cultivators, especially since the satin choker was somehow capable of housing the Thunder Lord’s shadow without much obvious difficulty.

Her finger traced a one on the soft texture of the collar. As soon as it drew away from her neck, the weight on her entire body decreased tremendously, and she felt as if she could fly off into the sky with a single passing gust of wind.

‘This must be the setting at which the bracers don’t increase their weight to ludicrous levels,’ she understood, tracing the number four on her neck, ‘This should be the standard pressure.’

The weight pulling on all her limbs rapidly grew until it reached the level she had grown used to.

‘I don’t know what the maximum is, but for now, a five or a six will be enough.’

She adjusted the weight and performed a few stretches and basic exercises to adjust to the additional pressure. Although the streets were busy in that part of the district, no-one spared her a second glance, and some didn’t even bother with the first. All she did was stretch. Now, if she had begun practising an esoteric technique that required her to perform a strange dance, it would have been worth inspecting for a second or two.

The sun was beginning to descend by the time she arrived at the home of her talisman teacher, Luo Xiuying. She could distinctly smell the new paint, wood and furniture, implying that his home had been rebuilt yet again since the last time she visited.

As soon as his spiritual will brushed past her, he nearly tripped on the spot.

“What in the heavens, woman? It’s only been a day or two, and you’re already in the ninth stage? Are you some sort of heart demon that’s come to torment me?” he yelled, scaring away a potential customer.

“Old man, is that any way to congratulate your disciple?”

“You’re not my disciple. Not yet, anyway. I was planning to give you the pill I mentioned a while ago, but I’m thinking that there’s no use to it.”

“Pill?” Yi Wei briefly paused to recall all of their previous conversations, “You mean the one that would awaken whatever physique I happened to be born with?”

“If you have one, then yes,” he answered, pulling out a small bottle from his sleeve, “However, it also helps with developing an artificial physique. Are you familiar with those, you scoundrel?”

‘Artificial physique?’ her mind wandered into the depths of her memories, where all of the terms and phrases she hadn’t expected to need were stored. Indeed, this particular term was amongst them, and described a physique that was formed not by some whim of the heavens, but by the cultivator himself, concentrating all of their understanding of martial arts, energy manipulation and whatever else they are able to do into their physical form into their bodies, changing their very structure into an imitation of a typical physique.

By the description alone, one might assume them to be weaker than heaven-granted techniques, but there was no reason that an imitation couldn’t surpass the original. All Yin Physiques or Absolute Yin Physiques, for example, would be identical to one another, granting the exact same advantages and disadvantages – but artificial physiques had no such limitation. If one was sufficiently talented or lucky, they could vastly overpower the regular physique, creating a basic Artificial Yin Physique that was much stronger than a Greater Yin or even Absolute Yin Physique, possibly with fewer limitations and weaknesses.

Then again, this topic lacked sufficient study according to the texts she had read. It was entirely possible that much about it was misunderstood, as most cultivators couldn’t be bothered with improving their body.

‘Since I am unlikely to possess a common physique of any sort, as it would have awakened under the influence of my cosmic energy, the only option I have is to create an artificial physique. As far as I’m aware, they are best created as early as possible, as to bring the greatest benefit in later training, but I can still learn a little more before making an attempt,’ she concluded, then realised that she still hadn’t answered the first question, “Yes, I am, but I do not think I am in the best position to take it at this particular moment.”

“Then, are you able to hold on to it yourself, or do you want me to hold on to it for you?”

She considered both option for a few seconds, “I’ll take it, and store it elsewhere for now. Thank you, old man Luo.”

“Bah. Since you’ve advanced so quickly, take a look at my talisman crafting process. Maybe, by some coincidence, you’ll also figure out where I’m going wrong,” he said, fetching a brush, some form of ink and talisman paper. Before Yi Wei had a chance to escape as far away as possible, he pointed to a corner of the shop, “Stand there. I’ve paid a formation array expert to set up a protective four-star array there, so you will be safe from either explosion.”

Although she still wanted to escape, Yi Wei dragged herself into the corner and examined the array, just in case she was able to spot any obvious flaws that would give her the excuse to leave. Both fortunately and unfortunately for her, the nodes were all where they should be, without any flaws a novice like her could spot.

Luo Xiuying nodded, and began to draw on the paper. To be able to run away as soon as things went south, Yi Wei channelled her cosmic energy into her eyes, patiently observing the entire process. The technique he used was clearly different from the one he taught her, but she noticed several similarities.

By the looks of it, the Sealed Talisman Arts were connected to his technique, perhaps as a precursor or as a simplification.

‘I need to steal as much as I can from it, but not get so distracted that I won’t be able to raise my defences when he inevitably fails,’ she thought, trying to memorise every single movement he made to understand the reason behind it’s superiority to her current technique.

The first letter was complete, but then the problems began. For a brief period of time, the brush left the paper, and the flow of energy also halted. The very next second, the character ignited, and a curtain of flame burst out, covering the entire building in fire that rapidly consumed the walls. It ate at the invisible shield generated by the protection array, causing the energy in the nodes to flicker numerous times before the energy finally settled.

“FUCK!” Lou Xiuying yelled, tossing the talisman away.

Whether intentionally or not, the paper went straight for her, arcing perfectly to land on her face, if not for the array’s protection.

She leapt out of the corner seconds prior to the talisman’s activation, which tore right through the array and it’s shielding, stopping only a moment prior to obliterating what little remained of the talisman maker’s home.

“This stupid talisman thing… I should have just learnt formation arrangement when I had the choice, then I could have made sure that single node was correct before I attempted to activate the array…” he said, slapping a talisman onto himself that burned away and cleaned him of the ash, “I don’t understand… Girl, did you understand anything?”

“Nothing except for the obvious, I’m afraid,” Yi Wei replied, reaching into her pocket for a protective talisman as a precaution.

“Tell me that, just in case.”

“Well, while you were creating the first symbol, everything was fine. However, as soon as you lifted your brush from the paper, the flow of planar energy was disrupted, and the process naturally failed,” she said casually, not expecting any of her words to be of any use.

However, with just that little bit of information, the talisman maker’s eyes widened, “Yes! That’s it! How did I- ah, but how can I fix this, then? I can’t draw them in a single go…”

“Then why don’t you slow down the flow of energy? As long as the process is paced correctly, you should be able to put your brush back on the paper before it explodes,” Yi Wei proposed, but was forced to instantly retreat, “Don’t try to blow me up again!”