บท 7: Failure, Magnolia Dormitory
Hovering in front of Li Mo Shang was an enormous iron sword. To be precise, it was nothing more than interlocked iron bars, with neither the edge, temper, form, or even the essence discernable of a sword. If Li Mo Shang wasn't the person utilizing spiritual qi to manifest the 'sword', perhaps he would have labeled it as a fancy iron crosspiece.
The 'iron sword' was a meter in length, and five centimeters in thickness. It contained similar dimensions to those that Li Mo Shang decided prior to visualization, and possessed a massive weight of nearly forty kilograms. It seemed that in his attempt to make a pure sword of iron, the material had become extremely dense. As if to demonstrate its existence as an object created of qi, the sword in his hand flickered frequently, with several areas appearing more hazed than others.
Relaxing his grip and allowing the sword to dissipate into several strands of qi, Li Mo Shang attempted to reflect over his mistakes in manifestation. The process of redirecting qi from the spiritual core to his hands was indeed quite sluggish and wasteful, as almost half of the extracted qi either was absorbed into his bloodstream or released into the environment from his pores. Even his visualization had flaws, as Li Mo Shang had never physically observed a sword or wielded one. It seemed that before he could manifest a proper object, he needed to know its exact specifications.
First, Li Mo Shang was determined to refine and practice the redirecting of qi throughout his body. Though he wouldn't be able to manifest objects simply by perfecting the circulation of qi through his cells, a sudden burst in strength in the midst of a heated battle could very well possibly clinch the victory. Moreover, nobody would decline an increase in overall vitality.
Sending his consciousness towards the spiritual core once more, Li Mo Shang observed the orbiting spiritual qi. The strands of qi that had been extracted and attracted towards the core were indeed of the highest quality, and with each strand that was branded onto the spiritual core's surface, Li Mo Shang felt his soul becoming nourished. Unbeknownst to Li Mo Shang, the spiritual core embedded in his body simultaneously cultivated the Nascent Soul and Body Tempering realms. Though he may not win in a direct fight based on sheer firepower, nobody would possess the capability to match him in endurance.
On a whim, Li Mo Shang willed the orbiting spiritual qi to release several strands, suspending outside of the orbiting ring and redirecting the grasped strands towards his right hand. This time, Li Mo Shang paid no attention to the rush of worldly qi from the environment surging to replace the extracted cluster from the orbit, and focused completely on the strands that were slowly traversing through his bloodstream. He cared not about speed, desiring to observe the process of redirecting his qi.
As the strands of qi inched through his blood, Li Mo Shang noticed that the vessels containing the spiritual qi would rapidly expand and contract, appearing quite chaotic as if the strands of qi were invasive and harmful. Not only that, the spiritual qi became quite agitated when contacting the walls of the blood vessels, attempting to rampage through his body or explode in a gruesome mess. Li Mo Shang desperately willed the qi to calm down, and nearly summoned the spiritual core's influence to calm the raging strands.
Once the bull-like fury of the spiritual qi was quelled, Li Mo Shang willed it to transverse towards his hand once more. With each centimeter covered, he would take note of which areas of the blood vessels agitated the strands of spiritual qi, construing a basic preventive measure to implement on his next attempt. Finally, the strands of qi reached his fingers, and surged out of his hand into the air with a loud bang, and tiny tendrils akin to lightning ravaged the nearby air. This time, none of the spiritual qi was wasted, hence the explosive result.
Upon observing this attempt's result, Li Mo Shang suddenly thought of an idea of utilizing spiritual qi as a direct attack compared to manifestation. For his current development, he lacked the necessary knowledge to complete visualization nor did he have any estimate for when it would be possible. Since the future of conjuring weaponry from thin air appeared distant, he could expand on the idea of hand-to-hand combat with spiritual qi. At the very least, the destructive power of the blasts created from redirecting the spiritual qi to the extremities of the body surpassed what his previously shoddy iron structure could accomplish, and the consumption was negligible.
Once more, Li Mo Shang attempted to extract spiritual qi towards his hands, this time aiming towards blasting spiritual qi from both hands. Willing the orbiting ring to 'donate' qi for his use, Li Mo Shang guided the strands of qi through his bloodstream, taking caution to avoid any excitatory regions to avoid any harm. As the blood vessels leading towards the limbs were quite similar in structure, he encountered little trouble, and the explosive bang and visual result manifested once more, this time from both hands, even denting the hard concrete ground of the roof. Excited and pleased about the slight improvement of his technique, Li Mo Shang immediately sat crossing his legs, before immersing in deep practice once more.
Before long, he had lost completely track of time nor did the thought of returning to class enter his mind, causing an enraged teacher to roam the university halls like an angry predator.
-
When Li Mo Shang emerged from his deep immersion of mindless practice, it was already sunset, and the afternoon classes had long since concluded. Noticing the time, Li Mo Shang bolted upright before rushing towards the administrative office, as he had forgotten to obtain his dormitory keys earlier in the morning. If he couldn't obtain access to his dorm, he would have to sleep in the streets as Li Mo Shang had already assured his mother that he would remain at the dormitory unless it was holiday break, to focus 'diligently' on his studies.
Realizing that he had missed all of his classes for today, and most likely enraged his professors especially the beautiful Professor Ming Yue Lian, Li Mo Shang indeed felt quite guilty. However, his downcast mood didn't remain long as his thoughts returned to the results of his practice, his lips rising in a gentle curve while he ran towards the administrative building.
Practicing without distractions for a long time was indeed rewarding. Li Mo Shang could effortlessly redirect spiritual qi to any of his limbs in two seconds, and the blasts generated were twice as powerful compared to his initial attempts. Additionally, he had constricted the flow from which the spiritual qi surged from his body, eliminating the obnoxious bang, creating a silent and effective weapon. Moreover, redirecting qi to his eyes and ears improved his already elevated vision and hearing, though these still took considerable time to display any noticeable effects.
To Li Mo Shang's fortune, the administrative building for Blue Rose University was quite close to the general studies building. Constructed completely from white concrete, the administrative building appeared as a plain octagonal structure that towered over the rest of the campus, establishing a majestic. Imposing aura of authority. Decreasing his speed to enter through the double doors in the entrance, Li Mo Shang gaped in amazement, his pupils constricted from the sight before him.
The interior of the administrative building of Blue Rose University was truly the complete opposite of its exterior. With gently polished marble flooring, lustrous nephrite walls, and a golden ceiling, the interior of the building quite screamed and stank of luxury and wealth. Most impressive were the gold and silver carvings of majestic lions, phoenixes, and dragons circling a granite human figure with the words 'Blue Rose' carved below.
The workers in the building were dressed in black and white uniforms, with the males in a black suite akin to a robe, and females in a short-skirt, sleeveless shirt with a tapered collar. The guards outside and within the building were dressed in a blue uniform, with a menacing rifle hanging from their shoulder, which Li Mo Shang recognized as the military grade Z-317 model, one created very recently.
Perhaps Li Mo Shang was quite conspicuous with his dazed appearance, he was approached by a female worker, who greeted him politely.
"Young sir, do you require any assistance here?"
"…My apologies, I was surprised at the design of the building. May I inquire where students could acquire their dormitory passes?" Li Mo Shang replied, his answer steady and unhurried unlike that of a normal teenager flustered by the sudden attention. The office worker was slightly started, before smiling slightly and gesturing towards the location of the dormitory services office.
"Young sir, the dormitory office is on the third floor's west wing. It is the first office on the left."
Expressing his thanks, Li Mo Shang departed towards the nearest elevator platform. The female worker gazed at him quickly in curiosity, before departing towards her destination. This youth was quite interesting, for within his eyes there was no presence of any lustful or licentious intention within his gaze.
The dormitory office was truly like none other. Upon passing through the door, all that greeted Li Mo Shang was a large mahogany counter, and a large crystal screen. Sensing his approach, the screen lit up, revealing a holographic display and several input boxes requesting his tokens of identification.
Quickly inputting his name, address, and current year as a freshman at Blue Rose University, Li Mo Shang observed the display and mahogany counter. Redirecting spiritual qi towards his eyes, he discovered that the crystal consisted of a multitude of miniscule intersections of nanoscopic material, creating a lattice structure that possessed incredible durability.
The mahogany counter was composed of in a similar format, though the nanoscopic material formed parallel structures, weakening the durability for increased flexibility and reduced weight. Perhaps he could utilize a similar structure when manifesting an iron sword, Li Mo Shang mused.
With a pleasant bell ring, the crystal display flashed after verifying his credentials, before shutting off completely.
A small rectangular cross-section of the counter withdrew, before a metallic platform extended from within. On the platform lay a purple card, with complex circuitry engraved onto its surface, appearing more like a computational frame than an actual usable object. The moment Li Mo Shang picked up the purple card, the metallic platform withdrew, and the rectangular cross-section was replaced.
Gripping the card lightly with his hand, Li Mo Shang tapped on the card gently with his fingertip. With a light 'woosh' sound, a small holographic display emerged, with Li Mo Shang's identity appearing on the hologram. Upon finding his dormitory's location after a quick scan of the card's archives, Li Mo Shang tapped the card once more to turn off its display, shoved it into his pocket, and headed off towards his destination. His immediate problem assuaged, Li Mo Shang adopted a leisurely pace, for Blue Rose University had no curfew. Moreover, the dormitory rooms were all pre-assigned, hence no need to fight over any specific room.
The dormitory buildings of Blue Rose University were quite interesting. Appearing as tall structures composed of a grey-colored material, the buildings were akin to enormous triangular prisms, surrounding an dodecagonal structure made of concrete. The pattern of which the buildings were arranged intrigued Li Mo Shang, as they seemed to give an impression of an ancient ritualistic attribute, perhaps a magical or spiritual formation of some kind.
Interestingly enough, the dormitories in Blue Rose University were co-ed blocks; not only were the buildings co-gender, the commons were as well. With the nature of young teenagers taken into consideration, Li Mo Shang prepared himself for incoming amusing shows.
-
The dormitory building Li Mo Shang was assigned to was named 'Magnolia', the unit due north of the unique arrangement of buildings. If Li Mo Shang were to be knowledgeable on ancient formations, he would have noticed that the central dodecagonal building possessed a certain ominous, redirected from the twelve surrounding dormitories.
Shattering Li Mo Shang's expectations of extravagance was a plain interior of the dormitory. The walls were painted white, with several paintings of flora and nature hanging from set intervals of the hallway. Every ten meters, there existed a corridor on either side of the wall, presumably leading to the student's residential areas. Li Mo Shang's room was located on the seventh floor, a considerable way up. Thankfully, elevator platforms could be found almost everywhere. Other than the plain appearance of the building, the dormitory was packed with technology.
-
Greeting Li Mo Shang was a door slated '303', with engravings of olive branches and plum blossoms underneath. Holding out his dormitory card obtained from the administrative building, Li Mo Shang suddenly felt an uneasy feeling, as if preparing himself to meet a great and unpredictable foe. Gritting his teeth, chiding himself for his non-masculinity, Li Mo Shang silently berated himself, before pressing the card against the lock, turning the door handle, and opening the door.
What was revealed to his sight was a massive room decorated entirely in frivolous, flashy colors, a young male huddled in a corner trembling with his head buried between his knees, and three young women chatting happily around a circular table in the center of the room. Upon noticing his arrival, three heads swiveled towards him, and six eyes filled with curiosity and vigilance gazed at Li Mo Shang's countenance.
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