Fates parallel vol 2, p.26
Fates Parallel Vol. 2, page 26
Jia had been particularly interested in bringing Eunae and Dae with her—she knew that the Qin group were wary of them, and their presence would hopefully prevent anyone from starting trouble. She felt a little bit bad about using her friends that way, but Eunae knew the score and didn’t mind it, and Dae—well, she’d have to make it up to him later.
The group received a few strange glances as they took their seats in the large, multi-tiered lecture hall, but were otherwise undisturbed. Scanning the small crowd, Jia spotted Zheng Long and Han Yu sitting together near the front, eyeing her warily, but didn’t see any sign of Yan Yue. She spotted Xin Wei—well, she spotted Guan Yi, but it was Xin Wei who met her gaze. With a wide grin, Xin Wei approached her group, dragging Guan Yi along behind him.
"Well well, if it isn’t our very own Miss Lee Jia, and you’ve brought the entire entourage! To what do we owe the pleasure?"
Lee Jia rolled her eyes—she was long used to Xin’s odd attempts to antagonize people.
"Obviously we’re here to learn about herbalism. That is the point of the class, isn’t it?"
"True enough! Where’s your token Qin member? Don’t tell me you’ve ended yet another scion of the Yan family!"
That drew more than a few looks from the Qin disciples, and Jia had to force herself to stay composed.
"Xin, you should know better than to joke about something like that. Yue is doing just fine, and I doubt that she would appreciate such distasteful jests at the expense of her late brother."
The stares shifted towards Xin, and even Guan seemed to be eyeing him with a disapproving look—or as disapproving as his expressionless face could manage, at any rate. For better or worse, interacting with Xin had taught Jia to speak his language—though she still hated the little games he constantly played.
"Ahaha, you’re right. Forgive me, that was in poor taste. Allow us to make up for it by taking her place as the Qin representatives in your little study group."
Jia sighed and shook her head. Every conversation with Xin was like a little battle—it was exhausting.
"I’m happy to tolerate you for the sake of a friend like Guan Yi, Xin. Despite your implications, I don’t pick my friends based on ethnicity."
Xin pointedly eyed the group she had arrived with, which was entirely half-spirits with the exception of Rika.
"Just a coincidence, then."
Jia didn’t really have a retort as the two took their seats, but Guan Yi came to her rescue.
"Do not mind Xin, Miss Lee. He is simply jealous, and worries that you have replaced him with someone more tolerable—sadly, not a very high bar to set."
Xin made a sour face at Guan and scoffed.
"Why do you always take her side? What do I pay you for, Stoneface?"
"You do not pay me, Xin—we are friends. And I take her side because your reactions amuse me. Also, you keep calling me Stoneface."
Guan Yi earned the nickname with a perfect deadpan as Xin grumbled about being ganged up on. Moments later, Yan Hao entered the lecture hall and stood before the podium. His round features didn’t seem to hold him back any, and he moved with a sort of grace that belied his size. He had a permanent, kind smile on his face that gave a sort of jolly impression. His eyes settled on Jia’s group as he addressed the class.
"Oh my! It seems we’ve got some new additions, how lovely! I must warn that while I won’t turn anyone away, my lessons won’t be of much use to those who have not awakened their souls."
Jia wondered if she should tell him that her group consisted entirely of omnidisciplinary cultivators. Dae was already taking notes, while Eui and Rika seemed mostly uninterested. It was Eunae who stood and bowed deeply before addressing Yan Hao.
"We appreciate your candor, esteemed elder. However, all of us have practiced Elder Qin’s foundation building technique and successfully awakened our qi. I do not believe we will have any trouble following the lesson."
Yan Hao’s face lit up with a wide grin and he applauded enthusiastically.
"Lovely! Lovely! My, the other nations certainly held nothing back with the talents they sent here, eh? Take note, class! That’s the kind of effort each and every one of you should aspire to! Well, in that case, let’s begin with a quick review, shall we?"
Jia was shocked by just how amiable Yan Hao was. With the sole exception of Guan Yi, every person she’d met from Qin seemed to have an air of snobbish superiority that colored everything they did and said. She didn’t get any of that from Yan Hao, who seemed genuinely pleased and enthusiastic about teaching a group of foreign students. It was a stark contrast to Qin Zhao, who had only begrudgingly taught them anything, and then thrown them away at the first opportunity.
The review portion of the lesson was simple enough to follow—Yan Hao explained that alchemy and herbalism had once been separate disciplines that had inevitably grown until they overlapped and then eclipsed each other. In theory, herbalism was the study of immortal grade plants and the medicines that could be created from them, while alchemy focused on the creation of pills and elixirs.
Alchemy was once distinct from herbalism in that it would use things such as unique minerals, mana stones, or the organs of magical beasts. Over the centuries, the practitioners of each discipline spent so much time comparing notes and collaborating that any half-decent alchemist became an equally skilled herbalist and vice versa. Now, the two were generally considered to be one and the same.
"We are distinct from mortal druggists and doctors in that—as with all things in the realm of immortal practitioners—our craft is defined by our cultivation. The power, insight, and intent of the alchemist is as important as the materials he uses to create his elixirs. A young apprentice could follow his master’s recipe with complete perfection, and still fail to recreate it."
This was the same place where things always seemed to get complicated with cultivation. Even having experienced it herself, she still had a hard time understanding it. Mana, qi, ki, essence—whatever you wanted to call it—was a strange thing. It reshaped anything it touched, and was reshaped in turn.
There were a lot of terms used—insight, understanding, intent—but they all generally seemed to refer to the same concept. The nature of spiritual essence changed depending on how it was perceived. That was why meditation was such a crucial part of cultivation—one had to cultivate not only the essence itself, but one’s understanding of it. Magical beasts cultivated by instinct alone, without thought or feeling to guide them, but plants or minerals?
"Well, they don’t cultivate at all—not really! They can gather qi, but they don’t do anything with it. Yet, plants and minerals which have gathered a great deal of qi can be powerful indeed! In fact, controlling access to such materials is half the reason why the great sects choose to headquarter themselves high atop the mountain peaks!
"Because such materials gather large quantities of qi without refining it, their effects and potency can be shaped greatly by the cultivator who works with them. There are patterns, of course—these things are not wholly without form—but as with the techniques we practice, their ultimate expression will depend upon the cultivator."
The lesson from that point on mostly focused on some of the more specific techniques for breaking down, mixing, and empowering elixirs and medicines from the materials that one collected. Yan Hao’s lessons were succinct and insightful, and also completely incongruous with the image that Lee Jia had built up of him from Yan Yue’s descriptions and her previous experience with the people of Qin.
The last point in the lesson was actually extremely interesting to Lee Jia, as it was pertinent to her immediate future.
"The mountain here has never been formally named, but it’s colloquially referred to as the Forbidden Peak because no nation has ever managed to hold control of it for any appreciable length of time. Indeed, one primary impetus of our alliance was to establish a foothold here, so that we might split the treasures of the mountain three ways instead of simply denying its benefits to each other. The Forbidden Peak is an incredibly potent locus of spiritual energy—in Goryeo, I believe the mages call it a ‘leyline nexus’, isn’t that right Mister Hyeong?"
Dae looked up from his notes, surprised that he had been addressed, and chuckled nervously.
"Ahehe, y-yes, that’s right. Mount Geumji is considered to be the most powerful known leyline nexus on the continent—eh, that’s just the Goryeon name for it, by the way. I’m sure you just meant that it hadn’t been formally named in Qin."
Yan Hao nodded along happily, apparently unperturbed at being corrected.
"Just so! Just so! With such a powerful confluence of spiritual energy, there may be all manner of rare and valuable materials just waiting to be reaped. That said, great treasure is often married to even greater danger. There may be powerful beasts, elementals, or even spirits enjoying the benefits of the Forbidden Peak. As such, disciples are currently not allowed to go beyond the base of the mountain, though I understand that special dispensation can be granted.
"Should you obtain such dispensation, be sure to keep a sharp eye out for any interesting plants or other materials—and an even sharper eye for dangerous beasts! I’d love to work with some of you to see what wonders we might create from such powerful reagents."
After the lesson had ended, Lee Jia found herself simultaneously intrigued and disappointed by the experience. Zheng Long and Han Yu had just completely ignored them, and she was more confused about Yan Hao’s motives now than she had been before. At the same time, she was very interested in the kinds of benefits she might be able to gain from collecting materials on the mountain peak.
She had avoided any cultivation aids or elixirs so far—they reminded her too much of the drugs that gangsters used to deal in back home—but if the resources on the mountain peak were so valuable, then wouldn’t it be foolish not to make the best use of them that she could? She resolved to learn as much as she could about alchemy in the future.
For that matter, she recalled that she had yet to attend any of Do Hye’s lessons—mostly a conscious choice, as the study of formations was a long-term endeavor and she was in desperate need of short-term gains. Still, it was another aspect in which she was lacking, and something she would need to work on sooner or later—after the mountain trip, she decided.
As Jia pondered how else she might prepare for anything that might occur during the upcoming trip, she once again recalled the unusual technique that she had discovered in a dream. She had been dismissive of it at first, but she still recalled it so vividly, even though the original dream was long forgotten. Besides, after her experience with Yue’s techniques, Jia was inclined to take dreams much more seriously.
She burned with curiosity about the technique, and the fact that Yan Yue had told her she should avoid it almost made her want to practice it just out of spite. If anything happened on the mountain trip, she was going to need every last advantage she could possibly get.
Lee Jia nodded as she confirmed her own internal checklist—by next week she would master her new memory technique, learn how to resist spiritual and mental attacks, and follow the steps that had come to her in a dream.
How hard could it be?
26. Questions
Jia sat alone in her bedroom, eyes closed as she focused on her meditation. Opening her meridians by herself was an unfamiliar experience for Jia. She hadn’t really done it since her practice for helping Eui awaken, and afterwards she had always practiced joint meditation with Eui. It has been convenient to do so, since they were both technically practicing the same spiritual art, even if it expressed itself in wildly different forms for each of them.
For this, even if she had still been connected with Eui, she felt that she would have had to do it alone. Still, she strongly felt the lack of Eui’s presence. Each slip in concentration was more dire, each mistake more costly without Eui there to bolster her focus. As a result, the meditation was much slower than Jia would have liked.
She had nothing better to do, though. She was taking a short break from practicing the memory technique—Eui had threatened to ban her from snacking if she didn’t—so in the meantime, she was attempting to begin the first steps of the strange technique she learned in a dream—she needed a better name for it.
When she thought about it, the word ‘steps’ came to her mind unbidden. Following the steps of something? Following something through shadows? It would be a lot easier if she knew what the technique actually did. She winced in pain as her concentration slipped and she decided to just go with the first thing that came to mind and stop distracting herself with it.
"Steps of the Stalker it is..."
Theoretically, opening the meridians was the easiest part. All she had to do was follow the path prescribed by the technique—she’d done it before, with Tranquility of the Verdant Marsh. However, there were two problems that she faced now. First, her spiritual art was something she learned from a manual, with precise instructions. Her memories from the dream were more vague, and she had to feel her way along as she went. Second, the path that the dream prescribed was much more complex than her previous technique had been.
As she slowly dug her way through the labyrinthine pathways of her soul, she wondered if there was any end to it. The pathway she carved into her meridians seemed to just go on and on, looping back on itself and creating more and more complex branches. For just a moment, she felt sick with uncertainty—was she a fool? Was she just mindlessly wasting her cultivation potential on a simple dream? She shook it off quickly. The compulsion to practice the technique felt too certain—too real to have just been some flight of whimsy. She had to believe it would lead to something.
She was snapped out of her meditation by a gentle hand shaking her shoulder. Jia quickly withdrew her qi and blinked up at Eui.
"Hm? What’s going on? Why’d you wake me up?"
Eui crossed her arms with a huff and shook her head.
"Nice try, but you weren’t sleeping, Jia. This isn’t what I had in mind when I told you to take a break."
Jia shrugged, though she felt a little bit guilty.
"I wasn’t practicing the memory technique."
"I know, but still..."
Eui sighed.
"Anyway, Eunae’s here for your next staring contest."
Jia frowned in confusion.
"I thought she wasn’t coming over until the day after tomorrow."
"It is the day after tomorrow. You’ve been meditating for like thirty hours."
"What!? But it only felt like—oh ancestors damn it! There’s only five days left!"
Jia cursed furiously. She’d lost an entire day! She had forgotten how easy it was to get caught up in meditation—separating oneself from the outside meant a total loss of any concept of time. Would she even complete the technique in time at this rate? She’d have to worry about it later. Eunae was already waiting for her in the living room when Jia rushed out—well, it wasn’t like they had any other rooms to wait in.
"Sorry! I got caught up in meditation—I hope I didn’t keep you waiting too long."
Eunae smiled and shook her head.
"Not at all, Jia. Had I known you were in the middle of such intensive training, I would have postponed."
Eui scoffed as she flopped down on the couch next to Jia and crossed her arms grumpily.
"She’d have clawed my eyes out if I let her miss an appointment."
"I wouldn’t have been—that angry."
Jia pouted in protest, and Eunae covered her mouth to giggle.
"I see. Well then, shall we begin?"
"Actually, I wanted to try using a technique I’ve been practicing, to see if it helps."
"Jia!"
Eui’s tone was warning as she interjected, and Eunae looked between them in confusion as Jia crossed her arms and frowned.
"Tsk, I took a break like you said—a thirty hour break! We don’t have time to take things slow!"
Eui huffed and threw her arms up in frustration.
"Fine! Do whatever you want! I’m not helping clean up the mess."
Eui stood abruptly and stormed off, slamming the bedroom door behind her. Jia was a bit stunned—she hadn’t expected Eui to be so upset, and now she began to worry if there was something else bothering her.
"U-um, should I come back later?"
Eunae was sitting stiffly and staring at her lap, clearly a bit awkward. Jia sighed and shook her head. She’d worry about Eui later.
"No, sorry about that. Let’s continue. I have a new technique that might help, but it’s a bit—difficult, so bear with me, alright?"
Eunae hesitated, casting a glance towards the door that Eui had left through, but nodded.
"Alright, what do you need me to do?"
"I’ll close my eyes as I start the technique, you just get ready to meet my eyes as soon as I open them, okay?"
Eunae nodded, and Jia closed her eyes to focus on the memory technique—which also needed a better name, now that she thought of it. She decided to go with Absolute Awareness. She had made significant strides in the technique over the last few days—ok, more like a few tiny steps forward. She still got an unbearable migraine when she used it, and her nose still bled—but she could bear with the sensory overload a little better and control her actions, and the bleeding was slightly less profuse. It was progress.
As Jia circulated her essence and focused her domain inward, she felt the familiar pressure building in her head and the flood of information overwhelming her senses. Knowing she only had less than a minute of time, she quickly opened her eyes to meet Eunae’s gaze.
Almost immediately, the flood of sensation vanished. The headache was still there, and her nose had already begun bleeding, but none of that mattered. She would bear a thousand times worse if it meant that Eunae would—
