Earth: The Dojo
Riku sat in agonizing concentration, her brow beaded with sweat as she tried to manifest the tiniest micro-explosion. Even moving the thin, wispy strands of Qi available in the lower Refining stage was an uphill battle. Trying to force those wisps to take on a volatile Fire affinity was like trying to handle nitroglycerin.
Previously, she had used Varek's basic cultivation techniques to clear her meridians, but the results on Earth had been dismal. Now, with the Qi in the atmosphere thickening, the process felt more fluid. As she meditated, the ambient energy rushed into her, slowly expanding the capacity of her small, parched Dantian.
"Try to move the Qi through your major meridians now," Master Kurosaki's voice drifted through her concentration. "These are the highways linking your vital organs. Which one can you feel?"
"My left lung," Riku gritted out. "It's the only one open enough to push even a trickle of gas through."
"Good. In the very center of that passage, guide the Qi into a compressed ball," Kurosaki instructed. "You must convert it into your own internal Fire Qi. Only your own fire essence is safe; any external energy will scorch you from the inside out. The more compressed the gaseous Qi, the better the detonation. Remember: only tiny amounts at a time. This may take weeks or months of practice, even for an SSS-tier talent. Again, Riku."
Across the mat, Master Kurosaki turned to Tim. "Tim, come sit. Your Space affinity is an incredible gift, but I fear practicing it now may cause a violent reaction with your Void affinity. I must research the interactions between the Void and Time before we proceed with spatial arts."
Kurosaki gestured for Tim to begin a different exercise. "For now, I will teach you a Water technique superior to your current 'Flowing Stream.' It involves inserting circular currents into the flow. Think of it like cleaning a surface—you don't just spray water; you use small, circular motions to scrub away the grime. These micro-vortexes will greatly increase your refinement speed."
Tim closed his eyes, visualizing his meridians and trying to manage his Qi flow not as a lazy river, but as a series of high-velocity scrubbers.
The Cargo Hold
Meanwhile, in the dim, sweet-smelling hold of the flying Ark, Lia sat awake while Varek and Kira snoozed among the crates of Crimson Flowers. She pulled the mysterious orb from her tunic, watching the mists swirl within its surface.
Leech, she thought, reaching out to the dark presence in her chest. "Noodle." It was a silly nickname, but the shadow worm responded with a ripple of recognition. It emerged from the black mark on her chest—a slick, fleshy substance of shadow.
"I need you to be my mask again," Lia whispered.
The creature obeyed, sliding over her face and gently forming to its contours. Dozens of eyes formed on the surface—all of them squinted shut except for three. Instantly, Lia's vision fractured into three distinct realms: she saw the world through the lens of Shadow, Water, and Void. Shadow and Water were blurry, as if she were opening her eyes underwater. Void was crystal clear, but what was there to see in the void?
When she looked at the artifact through the mask, her breath hitched. She could not see it in any of the eyes. It existed in the physical world, yet it was invisible to these other realities. She could see that everything else had some reflection in the other realms—be it the shadow of an item in the Shadow world or currents swirling in the shape of an object in the endless watery depths of the Water realm. Nothing had a connection to the Void; this was the place in-between.
There has to be a secret, she thought. How can reality, which is the meeting point of all realms, show the object when it doesn't show in the other realms? I am sure if I understood the Daos of other realms, I could open more of the mask's eyes. Even then, I think the artifact would not have an attachment to them either, Lia deduced.
"Master Kurosaki," Tim asked in the dojo, voicing Lia's internal curiosity. "Do all artifacts connect via Qi like a storage ring? I have something that I am sure is an artifact, but it won't take my energy."
Kurosaki looked surprised. "A Qi connection is standard for everything up to the Nascent Soul level. Items with grades beyond that can sometimes require soul connections. These items are spirit artifacts and are sentient."
"I don't think it's sentient," Tim replied.
"Then there is one more way," Kurosaki said, his face darkening. "A method from the archaic era. It is dangerous and carries a heavy cost. It involves a drop of your Dantian's True Blood."
"What is True Blood?" Tim asked.
"It is the bridge between your physical flesh and your spiritual Dantian," Kurosaki explained. "It is the 'key' to your house. If you give an object a drop of True Blood, it can interact with your Dantian freely, bypassing all defenses. But it takes months to recover a single drop. You will be fatigued; your Dantian may only operate at 85% capacity."
"Teach me," Tim replied with conviction.
Kurosaki sighed. "Concentrate on the outer edges of your Qi pool. Squeeze your stomach while pushing your Qi toward the upper side of the Dantian with as much force as you can. Then, strike exactly three fingers down from your sternum while contracting your core."
In the cargo hold, Lia followed the instructions perfectly. She felt a sharp, internal pressure—a sickening snap—and coughed. A mouthful of crimson followed, but in the center of the mess was a single, heavy drop of glowing blood.
She held the orb up and spat the drop onto it. The orb shimmered as the blood rolled across its surface. For a long, heart-sinking minute, nothing happened.
"What a waste," Lia whispered, her head spinning from the sudden drain of energy.
Then, the orb pulsed. The blood was suddenly absorbed, vanishing into the mist. Lia sat up, eyes wide, waiting for a revelation, a transformation, or a surge of power.
Nothing.
"Shit," she hissed, slumping back against the crates. "A total dud. I damaged myself for a paperweight."
The exhaustion hit her intensely. Kurosaki was right; the True Blood loss was devastating. She looked around the hard floor of the cargo hold. She needed sleep, and she needed it now. She looked at Kira, then at Varek.
Ah, both suitable pillows, she thought. Kira's body was slim and beautiful, but Varek's body would feel really good with her head on his chest. She crawled toward Varek, using his broad chest as a pillow.
Earth: The Dojo
Back on Earth, Riku opened her eyes. She saw Lia's cute sleeping face resting against Varek's chest. He wrapped his arms around Lia, and in her sleep, Lia snuggled in closer. A slow, triumphant grin spread across Riku's face as she watched Tim—still lost in meditation—unaware of what his female self had just done.
Lia's defenses are eroding, Riku thought. She chose Varek. She chose Varek to protect her while she slept.
A sudden chill of self-realization washed over her. She was enjoying this too much. Varek's dominant, predatory mindset wasn't just staying in the Cultivation World; it was bleeding into her life on Earth.
Lia slept peacefully against Varek's chest when the orb started to glow more brightly and slowly sank into Lia's body towards her Dantian, disappearing completely.