Book 2: Chapter 42: Changes

Book 2: Chapter 42: Changes

I opened my eyes, finding myself in my room. The smell of herbs was the first thing that I noticed, coming from the salves lathered upon my injuries underneath the bandages covering my right chest and arm. I tried to lift my arm, but found a sharp pain telling me not to push it. The tribulation had left a mark this time. Slowly seating myself upright, I tried to recall what I last remembered. A headache assailed me at the attempt, but the grogginess slowly washed away, and the memories came.

Right. Heavens. Chains. That was a lot.

I still did not understand what had happened. At the time, all I had been focused on was protecting the village from the heavens, everything else... it felt like a blur. Whatever it had been, it was powerful.

I looked around my room. It was nighttime, and the stars were slowly dancing across the sky as Lunar Qi... no, Lunar chi rose amidst the sky. Taizhou no longer had any Qi in it, or the presence of the Heavens above it. Standing up from my bed, I walked to the window to look out at the night sky.

I could see tribulation clouds in the distance, but the sky was clear above Taizhou, scant few clouds covered the night, with the moon bathing the world in its light. I could feel my connection to this place, stronger than ever before. The core of my spirit was connected to this land, and the things that lived within it. I looked at the grass swaying gently in front of me. I focused on my bond with the grass, and let my spirit mingle with it.

I could feel the grass, like a limb that was attached to my spirit. It was a part of me now. A new part, one I could harness if I so wished.

I tried to will the grass to sway, but it remained unmoving. I was doing this wrong, the tree in my spirit told me as much. I closed my eyes, and pictured the grass growing, focusing on every leaf, and every root. Once again, the chi did not move. Something was lacking here, and that thought stopped me.

Zhang’s aura pulled me out of my daze, and I turned to see the boy standing behind me.

“Brother Jie!” Zhang exclaimed, rushing closer. “Please sit down, you’re still injured,” the boy said, grasping my hand. I tried to tell him I felt fine, but his grip was unrelenting and I gave in, taking a seat on the bed. “Are you feeling well? Let me bring Granny Lang.”

“Zhang, don’t,” I said. “I’m alright, thank you. Don’t disturb their sleep.” I said with a smile.

“You were unconscious for three days, brother. Are you sure?” Zhang asked. His voice was filled with concern, and the sight made me smile.

“I’m sure. I feel alright, and I would rather not wake up the Granny needlessly. She may not show it, but age is catching up to her.”

Zhang frowned, before giving a quiet nod as he stepped back from the gate in acceptance.

“Three days, huh. The tribulations hit harder than I had thought.”

“We feared the worst. Granny said she could no longer sense your core,” Zhang said.

I paused. “My core? Why can’t you sense my core? It should be...” my words trailed off as I tried to reach out to my core, and found it missing from my abdomen. I froze, unsure of just what was happening. My core was missing? I reached out to Chi, and found it swirling around my fingers with no effort.

Zhang looked at me, the boy looking just as confused as I did.

“I don’t think I have a core anymore,” I told Zhang, not sure of what to make of my words. “Though I can use my Chi without any problems.”

“You walk a new Path. Perhaps this is merely another step forward,” Zhang said.

“Perhaps,” I replied.

Zhang looked at me for a long moment of silence. The boy seemed uncertain, and so I prodded him. “Do you want to say something?”

Zhang nodded. “You look troubled brother.”

“I did just defy the heavens,” I replied with a smile, trying to hide the uncertainty I felt. Zhang did not smile, and I found my facade breaking. I sighed. “I feel afraid. Things are moving fast, and there’s a lot happening that I don’t really understand. I wish I had someone to guide me, but I have to walk an entirely new Path of cultivation on my own, and figure out how it works. Then there are the people who wish to harm us, and the people of this village. And more so than ever, it is my responsibility to protect them,” I replied.

“Then try doing it again. Imagine someone precious to you is being crushed underneath that boulder, and the only way to save them is to lift it.”

Giving me a nod, Zhang turned. Once again, Gravity Chi spread all around, and once again I saw the world stir. But unlike before, this time, the boulder didn’t stir.

“Think, Zhang. Picture it, someone trapped underneath there, perhaps Twilight got stuck and is crying for help, and only you are there to save her.”

Silently, I watched the Chi from around Zhang concentrate itself on the boulder. A breath passed, and another, before a purple aura covered the rock, and with a powerful shudder, the boulder was up in the air. Floating above the ground.

Zhang looked at the boulder, before turning towards me. “I did it.”

“You did it,” I said with a smile. “What was different this time?”

“Before, I had wanted to move the boulder, but I felt something resisting me, pulling it down. This time... all I wanted was to free whoever was stuck. And so instead of trying to pull it up, I decided to reduce what was keeping it there.”

“So you can alter gravitational fields. Fascinating,” I said. “Do you think you could do that to yourself and fly as well?” I asked.

“I can try,” Zhang replied.

Closing his eyes, the boy concentrated. I saw gravity Chi gather around him, covering him in a purple aura. Slowly, I watched Zhang rising in his step as pebbles and rocks began to flow upwards towards him. A moment later, he lifted into the sky, hovering there.

I whistled, watching Zhang hovering and losing balance as the clutches of gravity left him. “Stay focused!” I said.

“It feels... strange,” the boy said through clenched teeth.

“Yeah buddy, being weightless always does,” I replied. “Adapt to the sensation, embrace it. You are cutting your ties to the earth. And then, using that, rise into the skies.”

Zhang nodded, redoubling his efforts. The Chi around him flared as he raised further into the sky.

I watched him go higher and higher till he was a mere speck. I suspected he could touch the clouds if he wanted.

For a moment, I was worried if he would fall, but with how deftly he was moving in the skies, I suspected he would be fine.

My gaze came back down, and I looked around the world as a thought came to me. Could I fly as well? I had done it, during the tribulation. I did not truly understand how, but I had done it.

I reached out, remembering what Sheldon had taught me in my spirit core. Reaching out, I tried to raise myself into the air. A familiar sensation came, like what had happened when I had reached out to the grass. I could feel the world around me, it was there, ready to be grasped, and when I did, I would take to the skies, but every time I came close, something slipped by.

I tried to reach to my core, to draw strength from within, but found it empty like a mortal. I opened my eyes, feeling confused before I looked back up at Zhang in the skies.

“Looks fun,” I said, feeling a little frustrated at whatever changes had occurred. Unable to give up, I gave it another shot. Closing my eyes, I recalled Sheldon’s words. To sever my ties to the earth, and walk as if the air was my new ground.

Yet, when I tried to do so, nothing shifted. The whisper taunted me, telling me the answer was right there.

I opened my eyes, and sighed. The moon shone brightly in the sky. I watched Zhang flying freely like a child who’d been given wings. A smile hung on my lips and I couldn’t feel too bad about my failure at that sight.

Things were changing, but that may not be a bad thing after all.