Bab 11: Cultivation
After his fight with Twenty-nine, Helper Melia approached and gave Thirteen a few pointers based on his performance, and praised him greatly. Although she felt somewhat psychotic whenever he trained with her, Thirteen was fond of Miss Melia.
After a long break, Thirteen had two more sparring sessions against different people, neither got quite as fierce as his first, and both ended amicably, with Thirteen winning the second but losing the third, totalling one win and two losses. Unfortunately he didn't get a chance to spar with his friends, but there would always be time for that in the future.
When Combat training ended, Instructor Diore rewarded everyone with a spirit stone per victory gained today. In addition, Thirteen's friend, Four, along with the agility meta Eleven, were each given one of those spherical pills for winning all three of their matches. Thirteen noticed that while both were flaunting their success, Four's lighthearted bragging and proud demeanour was funny and endearing, while Eleven's cold arrogance distinctly displeased him.
"Good job!" Thirteen congratutulated as he approached Four.
"Haha, it's nothing, really" Though he used modest words, it was plain as day that this eldest brother of their group liked the attention. By the time the sparring had ended and all the Helpers had advised their students on how to improve, only half of Combat Training's usual duration had passed.
Instructor Diores once again grouped everyone together.
"You have all improved tremendously in this short amount of time. Although not everyone earned a spirit stone today, do not let yourself be dejected. From this day forth there will be many chances to prove the result of your training and earn rewards. And from this day onwards, those rewards will become increasingly valuable to you all, as you will now begin to cultivate in earnest.
I'd like all the Qi refiners to follow Instructor Elena again, and body refiners, your stuck with me. Follow on"
'We're starting today? Just like that?' Thirteen thought in surprise. He wished he had known earlier, he would have saved some more of his energy.
Bidding farewell to Four, Thirteen followed Instructor Diores and the other body refiners, moving away from the other two groups.
It started as it usually would. They began practising the control method to make sure everyone was ready and able to follow the Instructors advice. Then, he began to give just that.
"Keep track of my voice as you meditate. Do not lose it in your emptiness. Once you have completed at least three push and pulls of qi and confirmed your comfort with the method, I want you to begin expanding the area of your control slowly, keep bringing more and more qi under your influence until you can do no more, then practice control once more. Push. and Pull. Until you are comfortable with it."
Diores waited a long while as he watched the sweat gathering on the foreheads of the children. Once they had all relaxed somewhat, he continued.
"Now, slowly gather all that qi towards your chest. You've been taught by Nicholas the location of your heart and lungs, gather the qi there. Try to divide the qi evenly between your lungs. Any excess you can hold near your heart."
Slowly standing, Diores made his way to one child whose face was growing red very quickly and placed a gentle palm on his back, helping to control the qi and prevent accidents.
"Good. Keep holding it there, and gradually I want you to begin the transition of breath. It's very easy, you've all practiced this." He coaxed.
"Very good, now maintain that rhythm until you can no longer feel any qi under your influence. Just keep breathing… Don't lose my voice."
Instructor Diores continued helping them through it, providing aid whenever one child appeared about to lose control of the qi. He also made sure to take note of each of their progress and the level of difficulty they each faced.
Thirteen did as the instructor said and transitioned his breathing from the rudimentary control breath that served as a learning tool, into the true first stage breathing technique of fundamental body refinement. As he did, he felt the large amount of qi he had gathered near his lungs slowly dissipate, as instead that tingling feeling began to spread along his body, milder than last time and without the feeling of needles. It felt more controlled now, like it was following specific pathways in his body; Not the meridians of qi cultivators, but through his arteries and veins, channeling through his lungs and heart.
As his cultivation continued, Thirteen felt each breath he took become clearer and cleaner, as the sound of his own heartbeat grew stronger in his ears, until finally, a new sensation emerged. The streams of fire-like warmth! He had felt this once before, when he first cultivated in his dorm. He didn't realise it then, but he was sure of it now. That was his blood. Fast and powerful, moving with the beat of his heart. As to why he had sensed his pulsing blood last time, Thirteen didn't know.
Gradually, that warm rushing of blood and the tingling sensation of qi began to merge until there was no longer a tingling, just a powerful torrent through his arteries. And soon thereafter, the gathered qi had been completely assimilated, leaving Thirteen to open his eyes and release all of his breath, sucking in a new, clearer lungfull thereafter.
Looking around, it seemed he was the first to finish. Instructor Diores looked at him with a smile and gave a short thumbs up. 'That's the second time he's smiled now. Is there something wrong with him?' Thirteen thought cruelly.
Turning his gaze to the other two groups, Thirteen saw that while Four, Nine, and Forty-five were all still undergoing their own form of meditation, Ten had finished and was looking his way.
As she noticed him finish, she grinned and waved, which Thirteen then returned.
The next while went slowly as Thirteen waited for everyone else to be done. After a few minutes he thought about cultivating again, but the thought produced a negative reaction in him, like thinking of eating a buffet while you're full. And so, Thirteen instead simply practiced his first breathing method. He now knew three. The first was a learning tool for absolute beginners to help them sense the existence of qi and had no use beyond that.
The second, was to aid in learning to control qi, and pull it into one's body. This too was a learning tool, but it had practical use in acting as a stage one for real cultivation methods, like he had done earlier, using this second technique to gather qi, then transitioning to the third to refine it.
And of course the third, was a method of assimilating the qi into your bloodstream through the lungs.
When he practiced the first now, it was often as a method to relax. There was no objective associated with it like the others, and he could simply feel for the qi around him and escape in the state of emptiness it brought.
When he did so now though, Thirteen noticed a distinct difference. He could sense the surrounding qi, moving with the air he breathed in and entering his body on its own. Like his lungs had become vacuums for the surrounding qi.
As Thirteen continued to observe this phenomena, Instructor Diores called everyone to their feet as the last child finished cultivating.
"Congratulations to all of you. You have now become legitimate cultivators. As you are still in the fundamental stage, you are body refiners, not yet Augmentors, but you have taken the first step. You may now follow the fundamental manuals you were given in your own time and advance your cultivation. The unique arts you were given can also be practiced now, but it is on you to ensure you meet its requirements."
Looking at all the blooming smiles on the faces of the children, Instructor Diores almost let loose a taunting grin as he ordered.
"But we still have an hour before combat training ends! Lets have you start with sit ups!"
---
After that day, Combat Training became even longer, as archery and swordplay were introduced into the list of things practiced. They would begin with basic strength training and cardio, followed by unarmed combat routines, then hand to hand sparring with the helpers, followed by archery training, and then basic swordplay routines. At the end of every week they would spar with the other students and receive rewards based on their performance.
Each child was given a wooden sword for now, but for those whose cultivation arts required the use of a real sword to practice, they could be found at a dojo within the estate's western wing that the children were now allowed to make use of.
Additionally, two days a week were now absent of any classes, leaving the students to cultivate or train in whichever way they deemed fit. There were severe punishments though for those found slacking.
Like this, Thirteen continued to live his life in the Clarke Estate, lacking the time or spare energy to miss home, he dedicated himself to cultivation, eager to finish the first step of his body refinement in order to practice the Grand Life Tome.
Hadiah
-- Hadiah diterima Status Power Mingguan
-- Peringkat
Power 
-- Power
stone