Though it was deep into the night when he returned to his garden villa, Calvin rose well before dawn as was his habit. A few hours of sleep were more than enough to reinvigorate his mind and body and he’d long since found that he preferred early mornings on days he chose to sleep at all.
The world was simpler in the early hours of the morning, peaceful. Streets were quiet, nighttime predators were just settling in to sleep and daytime threats had not yet fully roused themselves. The only people awake then were those with a good reason to be, unlikely to hassle a young boy moving about with deliberate purpose, and there was plenty of time to take care of business before the scorching rays of the sun grew unbearable.
Though those original reasons for rising early no longer truly applied, it had long since become a habit that he had seen no reason to break. Even in the sect, few cultivators chose to be out and about until well after dawn. Morning meditation was a habit encouraged in all disciples, even those barely managing to make ends meet, so the vast majority of daily jobs and locations actually began or opened well after they might have in a mortal settlement.
Having veritably stuffed himself the night before, Calvin felt no need to eat, but he also knew himself well enough to guess that if he went down to his meditation room now, he would not be getting anything else done that day. Thus, he instead chose to start with some basic training.
In a small clearing behind his home, one of the few patches of land not dedicated to growing spiritual herbs, he practiced his martial arts. He began with those taught to him by the sect, what his Scroll classified as the Eight-Peaks Martial Arts (Outer Sect) method. For all that the method was only of Extremely Low quality, it wasn’t actually a bad method. Everything he’d heard actually suggested it was considered quite valuable and a not insignificant incentive to join the sect in the first place. Calvin had spent some time and a few contribution points browsing other martial arts methods recorded in the archives, particularly those of rival sects in the province, and he was inclined to agree.
Eight-Peaks Martial Arts, even the limited version taught to members of the Outer sect, was an extremely versatile method, usable by nearly any cultivator unlike many of the other options he’d seen. It could be used with or without a weapon, the techniques scaled such that they were useful from the very early stages of Gathering until the peak of Foundation, and it was at least partially compatible with the vast majority of qi affinities.
As far as he could tell its quality suffered primarily because of two things. Firstly, it was clearly—deliberately—incomplete. The method he’d been taught consisted of sixty-four stances and eight simple techniques, divided into eight groups that corresponded to the sect’s eight peaks—wood, fire, earth, metal, water, yin, yang, and taiji. The stances all worked seamlessly together, both within their groupings and outside of them, and were designed to be highly compatible with other methods, while the techniques were all simple things that could work with unaligned qi but worked best with their particular element. However, having watched duels between Inner and Core disciples, he suspected that the full method actually included five-hundred-and-twelve stances and sixty-four techniques, eight times as many as were taught in the Outer sect.
Secondly, unlike the Nine Rotating Gates method, the techniques of the Eight Peaks Martial Arts would not hold up nearly as well as his cultivation realm increased. Techniques like [The Gate Turns in Place] had myriad layers of depth, growing and evolving with his own strength and comprehension. Meanwhile the techniques included in the Eight Peaks Martial Art tended towards simplistic applications of qi such as the [Sheathed in Steel] technique Wallis had used in his spar with Lulu. It was by no means a bad technique, extremely efficient in its consumption of qi and useful for offense and defense both, but it was nothing special.
He also suspected—though he was much less certain of this than the first two points—that there was supposed to be a Foundation that paired with this method, the same way he had learned his Foundation from the Nine Rotating Gates method. If that was the case, it was probably only taught to a small selection of Core disciples and the personal students of Sect Elders. The exact nature of a cultivator’s Foundation was a closely guarded secret, and anything but the most basic information about how to construct one was heavily restricted. He had some tentative ideas of what such a Foundation might look like, but they were only theories. In many ways, truly designing a top-tier Foundation was the task of generations.
In some ways, the most valuable things he’d ever received from the Scroll was the Foundation contained within the Nine Gates method and the Knowledge Token that had taught him the correct way to assemble it. Otherwise, there was every chance he might have made a critical mistake and ended up like Mei and Jane.
In any case, while the Nine Rotating Gates was a vastly superior method, he did not at all consider practicing the Eight Peaks Martial Arts a waste of time. For one, he was extremely leery of using his primary method anywhere some senior may be watching. His efforts to uncover the origins and history of the method had gone absolutely nowhere, and he had no idea what might happen if someone recognized it in his hands. And of course it was also simply excellent training for both his body and spirit. Each stance had a specific way of moving your qi associated with it and many required extreme levels of fitness and precision to perform. To practice them was not merely to learn a single martial art, but a comprehensive exercise for the body and spirit alike.
Similarly, the techniques associated with each set of stances each trained a specific way of using qi. For example, the metal-associated technique sheathed the body or a weapon in a thin cladding of qi, offering protection and a small degree of physical enhancement. While it worked best when powered by metal-aligned qi, just about any element would work at least marginally well. The wood-technique meanwhile infused the physical body with qi, healing and strengthening it. Wood qi may be better at such things than other elements, but there were reasons why a cultivator of any attunement might want to flood their body with their qi.
Picking a peak at random—wood seemed as good a place to start as any—he began to go through the forms. His movements were slow and deliberate, the transition between each position as important as the position itself. His qi moved smoothly through his body and spirit in time with his muscles. Each time he assumed a position he held it for several breaths before moving on to the next, eyes closed and mind focused purely on the task at hand.
Wood suited him well. His qi flowed naturally in the patterns the stances required, and his body held them effortlessly. In some extremely abstract way the wood stances had always reminded him in the moment of some elements taught in the Nine Gates method, though he was never quite able to articulate to himself what that connection was.
From wood he moved on to yin. These stances had always been challenging for him, physically more so than in terms of qi control, requiring a level of flexibility and acrobatics that had frustrated him to no end when he’d first tried to learn them. Now, nearly five years of practice later and a full realm and a half beyond where he’d begun, they were not necessarily easy, but they no longer frustrated him nearly as much. He finished this set slightly faster than the first, some of the stances only stances in name and not truly suitable to be held for more than a moment at a time, and moved on to the next.
After yin he most frequently proceeded with yang or taiji, but today metal felt more appropriate. The stances associated with metal were sharp and precise, elegant in their simplicity and brutally effective when properly applied. Though far from his favorite, he had practiced this set of stances extensively with Wallis, helping his senior hone his specialty of choice. They’d even hired a sect trainer—a Core realm, metal-attuned cultivator—whose insights into the stances had propelled Wallis into the top hundred for a handful of months before he chose to let his rank decay.
And so he continued onward, moving steadily from set to set, peak to peak. When he finished his first run through, he began again, this time with water. He switched up his order, both of the peaks and within the sets of stances associated with them. He went faster now, not as quickly as he possibly could but faster than he ever could have as a Gathering realm cultivator. He focused on his breathing and his qi, ensuring that his control and clarity did not falter even for a moment.
The second run through was faster than the first, and when he was done he once again began a new cycle. This time he did not move faster, but instead supplemented the stances with the techniques associated with them. A silver sheen coated his hands and forearms as he moved through the metal stances. His body grew momentarily tougher and denser, his footsteps marking the ground, as he stomped through the earth stances. Wisps of mist trailed his limbs as he flowed through the water stances.
For the first time, he began to notice the minor differences he’d been looking for. When he reached the fire stances, he immediately noticed a flicker of violet beneath the orange flames that he was used to. It was so faint he might have disregarded it as a trick of the dawning light if he wasn’t looking for it already, but it was definitely there.
More surprisingly, he also noticed something while practicing the yang stances. The yang-aligned technique the sect taught was as basic as it came, with such a small demand for yang energy that even heavily yin-aligned women like Ariadne could use it with practice (though it would never be quite as effective as it could be for others). It was classified as a movement technique, briefly amplifying the force of a step or kick to propel the user forward, and incorporating it into the yang peak stances required an exacting degree of precision.
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For the first time in months, Calvin stumbled on a stance transition. His foot was in the wrong place, his weight too far forward. He switched from his intended stance to another, catching himself before he fell, but his mind raced as he tried to understand what had happened. He repeated the set, watching his actions closely, and once again stumbled during the transition. This time however, the culprit was clear. He’d used the same amount of qi, but had moved an extra quarter-inch than he’d intended.
Though it meant he’d need to do a lot more practice with the technique before he could trust it again, Calvin couldn’t stop grinning.
The sun was beginning to rise by the time he finished with the Eight Peaks Martial Arts. In the end he ran through all sixty-four stances six times in total; once more with the techniques, once as quickly as he could without them, and once slowly to cool down, more out of habit than necessity.
Knowing it would only be another hour or two before Mei and Jane arrived, he immediately transitioned to working on the Nine Rotating Gates method. While most of his time studying the method involved meditation, experimentation, and complex qi control, sometimes it was also important to put everything together and incorporate some physical training.
Thus he spent a brutally exhausting hour spinning in place like a top, honing one of the core techniques of the method. Though far less physically demanding than the vast majority of the stances, practicing Nine Gates techniques wore him out far faster than even the most intense stances taught by the sect. By the ten minute mark he was soaked in sweat and breathing heavily, and when he was finally done he collapsed onto the ground feeling like a wrung out dish towel, his muscles and spirit screaming at him in exhaustion. That was the difference between an Extremely Low quality method, and a Very High quality one. The level of precision, focus, and control required to execute two techniques meant for the same cultivation realm was simply incomparable.
On the surface, [The Gate Turns in Place] seemed like such a simple technique. The idea was to mimic the gates turning within his qi nodes, converting oncoming force into rotation to defend against and redirect attacks.
Of course that was a lot easier said than done. The trick he’d pulled against Lulu’s unprovoked aggression wasn’t all that far from the limits of what he could manage, and it had taken him years to reach that point. That was because the Nine Gates method wasn’t content to just have a technique designed to protect against physical force. Rather, the technique was supposed to work against (as far as he could tell) anything.
Fire? Just spin it away. Lightning? Just spin it away. Acid? Poison? Spiritual attacks? All of it could be converted into rotation and thus negated. It was meant to be an ultimate defense, a single technique capable of defending against any threat, not unlike the legendary [Sheltered by Eight Peaks] technique said to be passed down from Sect Master to Sect Master since times immemorial.
Well, in theory at least. Calvin definitely hadn’t gotten to that point yet. He was pretty sure he could mostly handle simple physical force at this point, as long as the attacker wasn’t too strong, but was in no way ready to try it against anything more exotic than a fist or weapon. Someday though. Someday.
The formation around the villa informed him that Mei had arrived just as he was wrapping up his practice, and by the time she made it around the back of the house he had managed to sit up and assume a meditative position––eyes closed, legs crossed, and hands on his knees. She stopped when she saw him, not wanting to disturb his meditation, and began to take a quiet step back when he opened his eyes.
“Good morning, Mei. You’re here a little early today.” The middle aged woman looked like she’d already been up for some time. There were grass stains on the knees of the dark gray ankle-length pants she wore under her open disciple’s robe, and her reddish-blonde hair was up in the rough ponytail she only ever pulled it into once she’d grown sufficiently irritated about it rubbing against her neck while she worked.
Seeing that he was already aware of her presence, she took another step forward into the clearing and bowed shallowly. “Good morning, senior brother. I plan to visit the archive this afternoon, so I’m doing my rounds a little earlier today. I hope that will not be an issue?”
Calvin waved his hand dismissively, focussing his qi to ensure it didn’t tremble from exhaustion. His arms felt like limp noodles, muscles tingling as they moved. “That’s alright. Just start out front today, okay? I need just a little longer. Is Jane also coming early?” He wanted to spend a few minutes cycling his qi to replenish his reserves a little and sooth his aching spirit before heading inside.
“Of course, senior brother. I’ll take care of the potted herbs before I leave, then. Jane should be by at the usual time later this afternoon.”
“Perfect. Thank you Mei. Anything else?”
“Nothing today. Some of the noon-star berries should be ready to harvest soon, however, perhaps as soon as tomorrow. Jane and I will both be here early to prepare if that is the case.”
“That’s good to hear.” He paused, suddenly thoughtful. Though he hadn’t initially been overly excited about the spiritual berries, they might actually prove to be significantly more useful than he’d suspected when he’d discussed what seeds to purchase with Mei and Jane. Originally they’d been chosen because the seeds were a one-time (if rather expensive) purchase and the bushes would last for several years, but weren’t noon-star berries supposed to be helpful to fire-attuned cultivators? He’d been planning to just sell them, but maybe he should look further into what exactly they were good for. “Store my share for me, okay? I don’t think I’m going to sell it right away.”
She nodded sharply. “Of course, senior brother.”
“Great. How are the Cloud Blossoms coming along?” The tiny white flowers were some of the most valuable herbs currently growing around his villa, and required a great deal of the two women’s attention. Their first crop the previous year had been extremely underwhelming, but they seemed to be growing better this time around. They were said to be extremely useful for cleansing impurities from already stabilized foundations and he was looking forward to seeing what all the fuss was about.
“They’re in bloom now, and the black dots from last year have not made a reappearance. I expect they’ll be ready for harvest sometime in the middle of next month, or perhaps early the month after. Certainly before the end of the quarter.” Mei smiled slyly. “Just in time for the Outer sect tournament.”
“Excellent. Thanks for the update, Mei.” No doubt she planned to trade her share to desperate disciples hoping for a last moment edge in the tournament at a significant markup. Calvin planned to use his own share, but appreciated the hustle. For all that her specialty was cultivating spiritual herbs, she was a shrewd woman. Perhaps she planned to become a merchant after she left the sect?
“It was no trouble, senior brother. I am always happy to have a client interested in my work. My apologies for disturbing your cultivation.” She bowed again and hurried off.
Calvin closed his eyes and let his awareness drift. A single Rotating Gate turned slowly in his central qi node, slowly yet relentlessly driving qi through his network of nodes and channels. Its wings dipped into the surface layers of the qi that filled the node, and as it turned it pushed new qi flowing in from throughout his foundation down, condensing it, even as old qi was cycled out into his channels.
The gate was starting to crack, its wings hazy and the encompassing structure beginning to sublimate back into the qi that had formed it, but Calvin was impressed by its longevity nonetheless. This was the first gate he’d formed properly since he’d reached the peak of the Foundation realm, using the small amount of boundary qi he’d condensed the day before, and it had lasted all the way through dinner, while he slept, and then had only required a tiny amount of maintenance in the morning and while he practiced [The Gate Turns in Place].
He had expected the gates to become easier to maintain once he stabilized his foundation following the path outlined in the Nine Gate method, but not by this much. The difference was practically night and day. Before the gates began to collapse the moment his attention lapsed, and certainly as soon as he fell asleep, but this one had barely lost any of its solidity overnight. Some of it could be explained by his greatly improved barrier qi, which had seen a qualitative difference after he’d formed his final qi channel, but he was pretty sure it was more than that.
The gate felt different, in a complicated, hard to define way that he struggled to pin down. Its structure seemed to resonate with his foundation, reinforced by the arrangement of channels and nodes even as it slowly refined them in turn. He felt he was finally starting to understand why this precise foundation was so well suited for a method such as the Rotating Gates, and intended to meditate further on the idea when time allowed. Perhaps that would help nudge his comprehension of the method closer to Very Low.
Focusing on the gate, Calvin guessed that it had another hour or two left before it would collapse fully, though it would lose a great deal of its effectiveness some time before that. That timeline would shrink to practically nothing if he tried to use any techniques, especially ones that drew on the gate itself. That was alright though. He had no intention of practicing any more techniques this morning, and would be able to condense some more barrier qi and reform it soon. Perhaps he’d even try to form and maintain two gates and see how long they lasted. He’d need to maintain a full set of nine of them for at least a few days, perhaps even weeks, when it came time to break through to the Core realm, so it was best to begin practicing early.
For now though, he turned his focus to gently cycling his qi through his abused channels and using the wood technique from the Eight Peaks Martial Arts method to sooth his aching muscles. In a little while he’d head down to his meditation room where the more abundant ambient qi would make the process faster and easier, but his body really didn’t like the idea of standing up right about now. He might have overdone things just the tiniest bit…
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