Chapitre 142: Closed Door Cultivation
The light in the Guǎn never changed. He found himself growing irritated at this.
Chún was also getting truly sick of the 'basic form' - as the Xuánwǔ named the set of movements - that she had him repeating. It did not seem to matter what weapon she had him wielding: sword, unarmed, staff, blade, saber, chain or that insane Qigong method. He was always to perform the same group of moves - slightly modified for each weapon.
Mix the moves in different order, chain them together, loop them - the same 'form' over and over. It did not seem to matter that he was struggling with Qigong either. Randomly, she would instruct him to stop and change to a different weapon or fight unarmed; the Yin clones would come at him again, each time in greater numbers and more combinations of weapons.
The few times he attempted to use movements from Tiger or Snake, the Yin clones still managed to overpower him, using only the basic form movements. Part of him realised that this showed that powerful techniques were useless if you had not mastered them, but the rest of him was too tired for the concept to really register.
He had to try and strike at range, with Qi enhanced Essence, against his opponents. He had not even managed to produce - one - of those blasts of energy against the wooden targets; but it did not matter - the Yin clones kept firing off tiny bolts of light-eating Yin at him as they attacked. Yin Clones released the Qi attacks from the edges of their weapons or coated their weapons and limbs with a layer of Qi that hissed, crackled and burned at his skin when they hit him.
"Qi and intent are one; intent becomes movement," the Xuánwǔ repeated the mantra calmly, evenly and ceaselessly, "movement becomes strike. Qi guides, concentrates, controls, shapes, strengthens Essence within the strike."
It had all become one endless sequence of tasteless, bland repetition. The only positive side was that he no longer even consciously thought of his defensive or offensive responses - which was good - because all of his conscious focus was towards trying to release at least one of those turtles-grandfather blasts of Qi guided Essence.
"Hold."
The Yin clones vanished and the Yin Blood Essence Clone of his North Guardian handed him a familiar mug.
Despite his best effort, Chún's face twisted in distaste. He had lost count of how many mugs of the foul brew he had drunk - and although he could not deny its effectiveness, part of him rebelled at drinking anymore.
"I need a break," he said pointedly, tossing the training staff he was currently clutching so that it landed soundlessly into its stand against one wall, "a bath, some real food. Sleep. I am not gaining any enlightenment on the Qigong - I might do better if I have a chance to sleep on it. It feels like we have been doing this for a full day - and you have only taught me a single set of moves. I am assuming we will not be moving to any other sets until I manage to release Qi from my strikes?" He fought to keep the frustration out of his voice with his last sentence, but it was difficult.
"The 'First Form' of the 'Basic Set'," the Black Tortoise-Snake corrected him mildly, "correct, you will move onto other Forms when minor success with Qi strikes is achieved." She paused, obviously considering his words, before inclining her head, "humans require sleep to process new input, despite Cultivation. Two shí should suffice. A room will be prepared."
She plucked the mug from his hand and turned towards the door, clearly intending to leave, but Chún stepped around her to block her path, consternation plain in his voice and in his face, "Wait… First Form? Basic Set? How many Forms are there? And does that mean there are other Sets?"
"The library contains hundreds of thousands of Sets of martial techniques developed by various Martial practitioners," his teacher answered rapidly, her eyes lighting up at the question and suddenly appearing animated for the first time since she began instructing him, "most traditional Sets are specific to particular weapons or types of combat, both armed and unarmed."
"I have designed the Basic Set to function as a beginner's foundation for Martial Techniques. The Basic Set contains Nine Forms. Each Form within the Set builds upon the previous Form," she explained in a much more verbose style of speech than normally, while bouncing slightly on her toes, "this is common for most Martial Techniques. Once you have achieved a solid grasp of all Nine Forms of the Basic Set, we can select Martial Techniques that suit your personal abilities and preferred methods of responding to conflict."
"Nine… just a beginner...? What?" Chún suddenly felt faint as his adrenaline from the constant exertion ebbed; he fought to stand, "but I have been repeating the same form for…"
"First form and variations for all basic weapon types for approximately three days," the Dark Lady informed him, her tone cooling back to its usual level of detachment, "adequate progress, although an ideal student should have moved to the next form."
"Three, Days?" Chún shook his head, feeling as if one of the yin clones had punched him squarely on the jaw - again, "what? I… cannot… I cannot afford to stay so long away from my responsibilities..."
"Outside Palace, less than a half shí has passed," his teacher assured him and Chún stared blankly, swaying slightly on his feet as he tried to understand what she had just said.
Perhaps in response to his confused reaction, the Guardian elaborated, "the Palace is capable of slowing time's passage within. Normally prohibitively expensive - consumes Essence Stones or relies on siphoning ambient Essence to slow time."
Chún's stare began to - define - the concept of blankness, causing the Clone of his Teacher to throw him a hesitant glance of slight concern as she slowly continued her explanation, "...a combination of high ambient Essence Levels… True Cultivator generating surplus Essence... time slowing currently running at twice normal efficiency. Currently, for every day passing on Mountain, three months pass within."
Chún choked, freezing in alarm as his sluggish thoughts grasped one element, "That means I am getting old...?"
His Teacher shook her head, "aging remains constant. Likely, function originally designed to extend lifespan. Likely someone trying to find enough time to cheat death without Advancement. A pointless exercise. However, useful for training. A week outside Palace - will be adequate to reach minimum skill level required of Northern Disciples. Lack of distraction helps," she frowned, a note of annoyance threading through her voice, "although apparent need for rest periods will reduce time available."
"A week? That would…" Chún could not comprehend what he had been told, and shook his automatically in denial, "I cannot stay away from the Mountain that long," he muttered exhaustedly, starting to stagger towards the doorway he had entered by, but the clone of his Teacher grabbed his arm and started guiding him through the door and down another corridor that he was barely cognizant of enough to notice.
"Miscalculated," she muttered, "perhaps endurance will improve over time. Mountain assures nothing urgent likely over next week. Will inform any change of situation."
She slid open the door of a large, tiled room containing a large sunken bath filled with steaming water and pushed him in. The shock of hitting the scalding hot liquid woke him from his stupor and he sputtered, flailing in shock as he stood up to his waist in hot water.
"Undress, wash, before sleep. The Training robes cleaned - leave them. Sleep clothing there, if required," she gestured at a set of folded clothing on a bench next to the wall away from the bath, "sleeping quarters through there," she gestured at another door at the far side of the bathroom, "three shi of rest period. Do not waste." she turned to leave.
"Wait!" Chún called, his wits restored somewhat, "If I stay here ten days - how long will that be - inside the Place, I mean?"
"Approximately two and half years," answered the Xuánwǔ impatiently, "waste half day sleeping per week, leaves hardly any time to achieve reasonable standard. Hopefully - training will reduce requirement for rest - or likely run out of time." She looked at him intently, "train like Cultivator, not mortal human. Speak further when your wits return," She left without further speech, closing the door behind her.
Chún stared at the closed door with an open mouth, shutting it with a click as he started to angrily pull his sodden clothing off, snarling under his breath, "Three days of constant training without breaks and she is complaining about sleeping, eating and washing for three shi being a waste of time?" He threw his clothing out of the bath, splattering water satisfactorily across the tiles and grabbed a brush that lay at the side of the bath, hastily scrubbing at his body, "One form? For three cursed days - one form! She is insane! Train like this for two and a half years? I am going to die!"
Despite his anger, exhaustion quickly dimmed his thoughts, leaving him with only a dull apathy that threatened to pull him under as the adrenaline left him as quickly as his anger and drained his burst of energy with it.
He rubbed his eyes with the back of a wet hand as he finished scrubbing and pulled himself wearily out of the water. Despite not feeling any pain due to his Sky level body tempering, he felt as though he ought to be aching in every part of his body.
He cast a bleary glance at the folded clothing and yawned, his feet carrying over to the other door without conscious thought, "all I want is sleep," he muttered, "I will think later." That struck him as amusing and he was giggling inanely as he slid the smaller door aside, seeking the promised bed.
A small room holding a kang, with a basic sleeping mat laying atop the traditional heated stone sleeping platform, with a firm rolled pillow and a small side table at one end, greeted his exhausted gaze.
The glow of coals from within the grates set into the stone bed and the light from the bathroom was enough to let him see that the side table had a large steaming bowl - of something - on it and his half closed eyes suddenly opened wide as an appetizing smell hit his nose.
He was not quite sure how he found himself sitting some time later, on the side of the warm kang with the door to the room closed, looking down at an empty bowl and clean licked spoon as he swallowed the last of some sort of congee. He was vaguely aware that it had been both delicious and satisfying, leaving him feeling warm and more tired than before - if it were possible.
He barely had the focus to shakily place the bowl and spoon back on the small table beside the heated platform before swinging his legs up, laying his head on the pillow roll and was deeply asleep before his next breath.
---
The sound of a soft gong woke Chún out of a deep sleep. Blinking for a breath, he stared at the unfamiliar ceiling before the memory came rushing back and he released a sigh as he sat up on the edge of the kang.
Looking over at the side table, he saw that the bowl was gone - with a small paper lantern giving off soft candlelight sat next to his folded, dry and presumably cleaned - training robe in its place.
Chún was clear-headed, alert and he had the faint memory of having dreamed, although he could not recall details. Sorting through his now embarrassingly clear memories of his previous exhausted anger and confusion, he reached for the training robe and slowly began putting it on, giving himself time to think things through.
Chún had been exhausted, which in itself surprised him. He had not felt that tired since… Tai's Advancement into First Heaven. Granted, according to the Guardian, he had been training for something like three days and nights without stopping, but even so, he had gone awake for longer since he began Cultivating without such severe effects. Perhaps truly learning Martial Dao involved more than just strength.
It had seemed to catch his Teacher by surprise as well. She had certainly pushed him to bathe, eat and sleep - literally - as soon as he had expressed an issue. Remembering her Dao oath regarding his teaching he nodded to himself.
If she had deliberately endangered him, even via Clone, the original's Cultivation would have been severely damaged and likely killed her - or at least left her vunerable - and with the Dark Lady out there searching for her other students, that would have been a truly stupid thing to do. So it was almost certainly inadvertent on her part. Perhaps she was unused to training human Cultivators?
He scoffed softly to himself at the thought that a normal 'Consumer-style' Cultivator would have had an even more difficult time matching such a standard.
The training robe was on comfortably and Chún stood to tie it securely, still considering. It was her assumption that he would leave the Mountain for a week straight, to go and train for two and a half years.
On consideration, he supposed this was a type of closed door Cultivation that the old Village StoryTeller would always have in his stories, but he should have at least had a chance to plan for a ten day absence. Perhaps it was expected when accepting a Master to disappear for a while?
The time slowing effect of the North Palace Chún had no issues with. The idea that he could have more than two years to study under a God of Martial Arts, with only a brief absence from his normal duties, was amazing. If he had changed so much in two months, what would he be able to achieve in two years?
He supposed he might get rusty in performing his True Cultivator responsibilities; but then again, he might not - somehow, he thought ruefully, he doubted a God of Martial Arts would overlook the potential of those skills added to Martial Dao somehow. Even he could think of a few ideas - shaping extra weapons and armour from Earth Essence - adding lightning, flame or any of the other elements to his strikes.
So did he have a problem with the idea in itself? No. The way it was just dropped on him without warning - after he had already committed to it, he realised, thinking back to his student's oath - Yes.
He had to go and speak with his Teacher as Tai's partner the True Cultivator and Quilin Emperor that the Dark Lady kept referring to him as, rather than a student - and set some clear expectations and boundaries.
With that thought in mind he released his Essence Treasure Cloak from his skin and the World Tree Staff from its tattoo on his right arm, drawing himself up to take a deep breath, "I am not Chún the student at this time. I am the Quilin Emperor, the higher ranked superior of the Four Guardians. I am firm and respectful of her position, but resolute in my own."
He crossed the room to the door in a single step and opened it, passing through into another of those wood panelled and torchlit hallways, the bathroom nowhere to be seen. "Figures - this place probably changes layout according to need," he thought aloud, "Palace of the North Heavens, take me to Lady Bingqiǎo," he requested clearly as he strode down the corridor.
It probably said something about him, Chún mused, that his first reaction upon realising he was inside of an Essence Treasure that could change its internal layout was to give it instruction - as opposed to becoming concerned.
Rolling the thought around his head for a moment as he headed for the door - that had promptly appeared at an 'end of corridor' that had snapped into existence at his words, no less - he shrugged the idea of a transforming Palace off as he opened the door and stepped through, 'Eh, Tai is weirder.'
To Chún's surprise, he found himself walking out of the main doors of the Palace. The Golden Crow was a little way over the East horizon, its dim glow fighting wanly through the heavy grey clouds and blizzard that was still lashing the mountain plateau; he blinked as a familiar warmth sparked into full strength in the back of his skull.
"En? Why?" For a moment, Chún was confused as to why the Palace had put him back on Hidden Mountain, then he closed his eyes in exasperation as realisation bloomed, "Of course - the - actual, Dark Lady left Hidden Mountain entirely to go gather her disciples. The North Palace simply put me as close to her as it could manage."
He hummed, turning around to look up at the enormous, black metallic gates that made up the North Palace's front entrance, "I guess I should be glad it cannot just dump me at any random location I request."
"It is also possible that you have only limited access to the North Palace's functions," remarked a familiar stream of consciousness, his best friend's 'voice' resonating in the link, "I see you have had an interesting few days."
"That is one way to put it," Chún muttered, leaning on the World Tree Staff, "how long has it been for you?"
"Just over half a Shí since you went inside," Tai replied blandly, "This time dilation is a useful ability. I shall have to see if I can find a way to design an area that can do something similar under our full control."
"The Dao Patterns are bound to be - complex," Chún pointed out, "maybe ask the Palace for suggestions? It is probably lonely, mostly empty like that."
"She is," was his locus' immediate response, "but she is much like her master in temperament."
Chún snorted then revealed an uncomfortable expression at the realisation that the Palace had a gender and a personality of her own, "I could have gone without knowing that," he sighed, "well - try to be a good friend and helpful, rather than just demanding her help."
Chún hesitated, turning back to look out at the landscape below the mountain, although the blizzard and darkness obscured most of the land below. He knocked snow that had accumulated on the stones in front of him off the side of the mountain with the World Tree Staff as he considered how to ask his locus what he wanted to know.
"What do you think?" he asked eventually, giving up on putting everything he was feeling into words, just letting everything he felt and thought flow through the link to his locus instead.
"I think that I am not weirder than the North Palace is," replied Tai, a note of smugness resonating in the link.
Chún rolled his eyes, but a smile tugged at his lips, finding his spirits unaccountably raised by his friend's attempt at humor, "you know what I mean, Tai," he shot back, "though, that - was - funny."
"I think that time is the one thing almost impossible to gain more of," his locus replied seriously, "your Teacher has given you a priceless gift almost impossible to match. This will solve your problems with having the skills to go with your new power - especially with opponents gathering."
Chún sucked in a large gulp of icy air, blowing away the stuffiness in his thoughts, "There is going to be war," he stated with certainty.
"Yes," agreed his locus.
"How long do we have, do you think?" he asked intently, watching the dim light of the Golden Crow rising through the whirling snow, its feathers staining the undersides of the heavy clouds with a bloody glow.
"No more than a year," replied his locus, the presence in the link sounding like slabs of stone falling together, an inevitable finality slamming closed with each word, "very likely less - possibly much less - depending how long it takes for the powers outside the Fusou to adjust to the changes."
"Once they realise what is here…" Chún trailed off, watching his breath swirl away as he worked through his own thoughts, "you will not be able to separate from Golden Crow before it happens, will you?"
"No." Tai answered simply, "someone impolite will find us eventually. So - a couple extra years for you to gain skills for a week's absence is not even a price. If all goes well, you should finish your training around the same time that our new defenders arrive and be much more able to deal with them."
There was an apologetic pause from the Hidden Mountain and Chún bit his lip, suddenly certain that he was not going to like what his friend was about to say, even as Tai continued slowly, "at the moment, the few Martial Dao you have learnt are far from mastered and incomplete. A skilled martial practitioner - which almost all of the Consumers in your Princess' group are - save the youngest members, could defeat you."
His locus paused again then continued reluctantly, "if any of them got past your Essence abilities, which are currently reliant on overwhelming power, then we would be at their mercy. I encouraged you to risk engaging them because time was running out. We need more defenders as you simply have not had enough time to build the level of skills we need to survive what is coming."
"I do not really have a choice then," Chún frowned, "do you think that is why the Dark Lady did not bother to mention the time slowing effect?"
"No, she was just being high handed again, North Palace assures me," responded his locus, "she is used to making the decisions for herself and those around her. You will have to politely remind her that is not appropriate in your case, although there was no harm done."
"You can manage without me for a week, I trust," Chún asked rhetorically as he turned back to the North Palace's doors.
A comforting pulse came through the link and Chún nodded in acceptance as the Palace opened, the same blue-white light as last time shining out into the snowstorm, "see you soon then."
---
When Chún walks into the Palace this time, there is only a single door across the cavernous atrium. He smiles and thanks the Palace absently, his mind turning over his discussion with his locus, the link once again subsiding into quiescence.
The reminder that Tai has - supposedly for his own good - been manipulating his decisions to contact the outside Cultivator's group, to swear the Guardians and even how he has been learning Essence, makes him reevaluate his own focus.
For all that he treats Tai as a friend and brother, he has to remember that the hundreds of millenia old Mountain has its own agenda. Not that Tai would seek to hurt him, but the locus thinks in terms of eons and the rise and fall of stars, not the insignificant life of mortals.
"I would have never made such mistakes as a peasant," Chún muttered quietly to himself, "there is such a thing as being drunk on possibility and power; Golden Quilin, Hng… until I have the power to support the position... foolishness."
A thought banishes the Cloak and Staff, leaving him in the training outfit as he walks again down the torchlit hall to the door at its end.
"The Guardian has already given oath to me twice and three times over; I will be more successful in achieving a balance with her if I accept those oaths, rather than questioning them," he murmured quietly, "if I had barged around as a street rat with the gangs back in the Village, like I have been doing with everyone I meet lately, I would have forgotten to wake up within a week." He clicked his tongue absently, "I wonder why I had not realised before this - perhaps Tai's own tendency to always take the long term view has left me a little clumsy with needs of the day to day."
He shook his head as he put his hand on the door in preparation to slide it aside, "I cannot always afford to think like a Mountain," he decided softly as he opened the door, revealing the same wood scented and torchlit room that his Teacher had served him tea in.
The Blood Essence Yin Clone of the Xuánwǔ looked up from where she was seated behind a desk, apparently focused on a large amount of paper in front of her, the torch light reflecting off the fine scales that made up her skin.
Chún walked calmly to a stop two paces from her desk and folded himself into a comfortable seat on his lower legs, inclining his head respectfully, rather than making a student's bow.
Several breaths passed, with the Black-Tortoise examining him, her eyes moving to take in his complexion and breathing as well as his neatly fitted martial robe.
"Recovered?" the North Guardian asked, her snake 'braided hair and headpiece' appearing from around and behind her head, shifting upward and downward to give him its own examination. The eyes of the 'snake' were not even attempting to appear like metal as they blinked at him.
"I apologise for my previous lack of control," Chún replied evenly, rather than answering their question, "however, I believe I was more tired than should be possible, given my current level of Cultivation," he paused for a deliberate breath, "of course, I have only been a True Cultivator just short of two months - so I what I actually know about human Cultivation - let alone True Cultivation, does not amount to much at all."
His North Guardian blinked, opened her mouth - then re-considered whatever she was planning to say - then closed it again, her brow creasing in heavy thought as the 'snake headpiece' that held the end of her braid together rested on one shoulder, looking at him intently.
Chún smiled a crooked smile and waited. He was banking on the young women - well, the Clone of a millennia old Demi-god creature that still equated to a young woman in practical terms - being just as intelligent as all the tales made Xuánwǔ out to be and hear the subtext behind his words; that she may not have designed the training with a human Cultivator of any sort in mind.
Eventually she nodded, "both pointss acknowledged," she enunciated clearly, both sets of mouths opening and closing with the words, the snake's voice giving them a sibilant undertone as she shot him an appraising glance, "time to learn besst way for you to train - assuming you wissh to sstay?"
"I would have preferred to have known about the two year training I was signing up for," he answered ruefully, "but I cleared the week of closed-door cultivation with my locus," he affirmed, with a nod towards the ceiling, "I need to learn anything you can teach me - as long as it is teaching and not just ordering," he ended quietly.
His Teacher nodded, "we assumed too much," she paused and dipped her head in apology, before straightening, "We have accepted few disscipless - none human. As Teacher, We failed in not accounting for sstrengthss or weaknessess. We will do better."
"Your other disciples must be scary," observed Chún in concern, "if that training is what they are used to?"
"When we return with the others - you will find out yourself," answered the Yin Blood Essence Clone, the hissing previously threaded through the words disappearing as the 'braid' slithered down behind her back out of sight again.
Chún shook his head at the strangeness of the conversation, "you will not get in trouble for making this decision?" he hazarded, "when she - I mean, you - return? Will she return with the others in a week?"
"Takes millenia for thought processes of Blood Essence Yin Clone to diverge; identical decisions on identical data presented," answered the Dark Lady, ignoring his question about when the Guardian herself would return, "will merge on return. From our perspective, I never left."
She paused and pushed the paper she had laid on her desk when he entered to one side, retrieving a fresh page and an ink brush from somewhere, upon which she inked some elegant characters, "now, discuss capabilities in depth: plan training for next few months."
Chún recognised that the Xuánwǔ's, 'fully engaged and interested' mode of speech had made a reappearance and felt a flutter of worry.
Looking thoughtfully at him, she moved her head in a curious way that reminded Chún a little of a turtle snapping at flies. He shifted uneasily as an odd light seemed to appear in the depth of her pupils as she spoke, peering at him in a calculative manner, "I believe some experimentation in order to ascertain your abilities and limits is in order. I am not the Alchemist that a Vermillion Bird would be, but perhaps I can compensate with magic… I really need to know how your Essence functions in comparison to Consumers and Essence Beasts..."
She hummed thoughtfully, making a note on her paper, before leaning forward with an eagerness that appeared in her expression, "what would you say to some tests of your blood? Purely for research purposes, I assure you."
Chún felt his own eyes widening and he rubbed his glabella to stave off the impending headache. This was going to take a while...
L’AVIS DES CRÉATEURS 
WheeledWriter
WheeledWriter According to the legends and stories Xuánwǔ are supposed to be cold blooded warriors with God like skills to the extent that they are considered to have demon-like characteristics; avid scholars, teachers and accomplished magicians (in the style of Ancient China - so big on Formations, constructions of power and talismans) and almost one track minded - in their pursuit of and disemmination of knowlege, especially when related to Martial arts and warfare.
They are very big on the Teaching and spreading of martial arts, but they are not broadly people oriented. More introvert high level genius 'on the spectrum' type behaviour than the normal behaviour one associates with poweful beings, so their students are part of the search for and creation of further martial knowlege, rather than a person who goes out of their way to make close personal ties.
There is of course the Dragon element as well - the Xuánwǔ is a type of dragon, so it has the urge to collect and catalogue, which feeds back into the students - taking it personally when one is hurt or lost, but theres an element of - mine, you can't have it - than an empathic reaction.
That said, what partners or friends they do select they tend to be ver possesive and single mindedly focused on. Before anyone asks - no, Lady Bi is not going to develop an interest in the ML that way - he is linked with her differently as one of the Four Gods that hold up the Heavens of Hidden Mountain.
I am doing my best to bring that across in a fresh way rather than copying from other writers or directly from the legends, while making her a unique characacter who is in her own way relatable to readers.
Have I mentioned she is - Hard - to write without having her come accross as a sterotype? No? She is :)
État de l’alimentation hebdomadaire
-- Classement
Power Stone 
-- Power
stone