Chapter 254 - Qi Manipulation (1/2)
After Ba Guai was created, Buddha went back to Nirvana and wished Zero all the best for the final stages of his training. Hua Tuo couldn't help but be amused by Zero's cultivation base. Who would have thought that Zero would come up with such a weird guardian and an even stranger name to accompany it? Now the Sage God couldn't help but be curious about the kinds of names Zero would come up with for his Spiritual Attacks after Hua Tuo taught him how to manipulate his qi.
”Today, we celebrate,” Hua Tuo told Zero. ”We're going to Half Moon Village for a feast. Congratulations, Zero. You did well.”
The teenager blushed badly at the sincere compliment and stuttered his thanks. Still, a feast sounded fantastic so Zero told Zoe about it in his mindscape. The zashikiwarashi rejoiced and went to work immediately, not forgetting to congratulate Zero before she left.
The young village head decided that he will do his part and hunt a nice catch for the feast. Pity Hua Tuo didn't allow him to catch the spring guardian. A monster carp would make a good feast.
They arrived around late morning in the village. Zero reached into his inventory and pulled out five huge turtles from the Trigression Falls. After much debating with Hua Tuo, the physician finally relented and allowed Zero to sacrifice some cultivated turtles for the feast. Besides, eating cultivated turtle meat would mean that the villagers would all be qi nourished to some extent. Qin Yun in particular who was a cultivator would benefit the most from this boost.
Zoe welcomed Zero with a hug that went right through him. Zero chuckled and Hua Tuo thought that it might be a good time to teach Zero how to use his newly acquired ability.
While Zoe busied away, the physician pulled his student to the side.
”Next time you hug Zoe, try channelling qi through your body like a second skin.”
Zero blinked at that tip but nodded. He didn't know what qi does that magic cannot do but if Hua Tuo wanted him to have some hands-on practice to familiarise himself with it, Zero had nothing to lose.
Zoe was surprised when she felt someone touch her. The ghost turned around and saw that it was Zero who was hugging her from the back but with something strange acting as his aura that was probably what made it possible for physical contact. Usually, she could only interact with objects because it took too much energy to materialise and interact with people. Also, each time someone passed through her, Zoe would feel colder as they took away some of her energy. On busy days when she didn't have time to recharge, Qin Yun would come by to help her to replenish her energy with some qi. However, it was never warm like Zero's and the sudden change in temperature made the zashikiwarashi freeze in shock.
Hua Tuo smiled when Zoe eventually returned the hug warmly. The household ghost was sobbing too, too touched to do anything else. Zero had brought spring and summer back into her life with his newly gained gift and she couldn't be more thankful. Other than inviting her on his travels with that mindscape sharing contract, Zero had reminded her what the sun felt like,
Hua Tuo was satisfied after observing Zero's level of proficiency in qi manipulation. He left silently in search of the fox spirit to teach Zero about the different kinds of qi manipulation. There were some errands he had to attend to in heaven and it was inappropriate to drag his student there. Hence, the physician brought Zero back to Half Moon Village so they could play babysitters for a while.
After hearing Hua Tuo's request, Qin Yun nodded. The Sage God smiled and thanked the fox spirit before leaving the village discreetly. Zero was still preoccupied with the lab members who were keen to get his measurements for his trial weapon that they were tasked to create. In fact, it would take a good few hours before Zero had any spare time at all. The village was in a buzz with so many matters that they needed Zero to look into as the village head.
Zero took it upon himself to work hard from the gardens to the construction project. He even took some time to play with the children while checking up on Karris and Seff's health in Hua Tuo's place. The boy was kept busy the whole time while Zoe and Lovina worked up a huge sweat preparing for the feast. Everyone wanted to make it memorable and enjoyable to celebrate Zero's new breakthrough that Hua Tuo told them about. Zenobia had a feeling that the next time they saw Zero, it would be for a farewell feast when the young doctor had to travel for his adventures.
At the feast, Zero looked around and didn't see his teacher anywhere. In fact, Zero searched his map for Hua Tuo's whereabouts but it only showed him that Hua Tuo was no longer on Endow Hill. That made him worry a little until Qin Yun told him that his teacher had some jobs to take care off and entrusted her to teach him how to use qi now that he has a stable foundation.
”Cultivation can take a long time and it is an arduous path but I believe you don't need to follow what we cultivators do. I heard that you can mix magic and qi?”
Zero grinned. ”Yupp!”
Qin Yun smiled. Zero hasn't been slacking off in relaying messages to her from her village. She receives a letter from him once a week usually except for the past few weeks because of his sudden seclusion. While the fox spirit enjoyed reading what her sisters had to say, she enjoyed the little notes about Zero's progress and thoughts even more. To think that there will be a day someone would discover the solution to the mystery behind qi and mana simultaneous manipulation... Qin Yun was glad she lived for so long to see the day come true. Who knew that chaos energy from the void existed for this very purpose of harmonising qi and mana?
She made an agreement to start teaching Zero about qi manipulation right away after they tended to the medical garden tomorrow morning.
”Latitia says that some of the herbs you got from the abyss auction are growing well. However, Cleo is having some difficulty with the special seed that you requested for. It might be the lack of proper environment on Earth that makes it impossible to grow. She was also unable to determine the type of plant the seed belongs to.”
Zero was surprised to hear that. Perhaps he should take that seed to Tanya for investigation. Cleo was a dryad and there shouldn't be any plant that the spirit couldn't grow.
”I see, thanks for letting me know. I will see you tomorrow morning.”
Qin Yun smiled and urged Zero to join Clowis and the warriors for a hand wrestling match. So far, the most impressive match was Mitchnew holding her own against Tambolt. Dwarves were known for their strength and as an elf, Mitchnew was naturally at a disadvantage. However, the ex-assassin was doing well by defeating Tambolt and Grandma Moppo who was sipping ale in a corner, grumbling about getting on in her years.
Zero stood close to the wrestling match and watched out for anyone who was possibly injured. He cheered loudly when the two dragon descendants were made to pit against each other. Vrald was winning but Zero urged Gerald not to give up. With a strange twist of events, the golden-haired swordsman pinned his friend down hard enough to put a crack in the rock surface. Zero panicked a little but Vrald seemed to be injured apart from his bruised pride.
The feast progressed late into the night until everyone fell asleep from exhaustion or became dead drunk. Zero found himself cuddling up against Zenobia together with Leon, Rima and Jacqueline. Qin Yun was cleaning up some of the mess when she chanced upon the endearing sight. She couldn't help but be thankful to the teenager who'd given her a second chance at becoming a human again and went up to him to place a gentle kiss on his forehead. Zero didn't stir and Qin Yun continued cleaning the rest of the cave with Moona's help.
The next morning arrived too soon and Zero hurried to prepare hangover medicine for those who drank too much the night before. Nobody kept to the schedule and the village had a relaxed atmosphere hanging around it. Cleo and Qin Yun didn't take offence when Zero was tardy. He apologised and hurried along to help them with the garden while taking back that one seed that simply wouldn't grow. He knew where he'd gotten that seed and didn't think that it would actually grow at all. Still, it was worth a shot and Zero thanked the ladies.
The young doctor helped with harvesting the ready herbs and expressed his excitement at some of the rarer abyss herbs growing. Cleo and Latitia giggled at the teenager's behaviour. Zero hasn't really changed much since he was a boy and they were thankful for that.
After gardening, Qin Yun took Zero out of the village for a short training lecture and demonstration. Zero followed eagerly and the other villagers slowly settled back into their normal pace of life, busying away on their individual tasks.
When they were a good distance away from the village, Qin Yun stopped and had Zero sit down to watch her demonstrate what could be done with qi.
The teenager sat by the river bank and watched as Qin Yun gathered qi to her feet. She smiled and walked across the river surface without losing balance or getting wet. Zero was impressed with the water walking technique and Qin Yun made it more impressive by demonstrating that it was possible to create ice as she walked.
”The trick here is to use yin qi instead of yang qi that I was using earlier. Tang qi heats the water up and I was actually walking on a layer of steam. Ordinarily, that steam would have burnt the soles of my feet but I was circulating yin qi internally to counter the external yang qi. Likewise, I did the opposite for frost walking.”
Zero applauded and couldn't wait to try it out.
”You might want to change out of your clothes when you're practising water walking,” the fox spirit smiled and Zero agreed.
The first time Zero tried to circulate yang qi on the outside and yin on the inside, he misjudged the amount of qi required and was shot up into the air from the extreme heat. Qin Yun laughed at Zero's surprised expression and the boy quickly switched to magic to cushion his landing. Usually, beginner cultivators found it hard to maintain enough heat to properly walk on water. Most of them would sink into the river on their first attempt, getting wet. Zero was completely opposite and didn't know what moderation meant. Despite living for a very long time, this was the first time Qin Yun saw a beginner cultivator getting shot into the air by an explosion of steam trying to walk on water.
Zero groaned as he made his way back to the river. He'd been shot up quite high and landed a good twenty metres away from where he started. The shock still rattled him but the young doctor had an idea of which direction he should be working towards when it came to adjusting his control.
”How was it?” the lady asked, totally amused.
Zero groaned in embarrassment. ”I'll try toning it down this time,” he told her.
Zero was more cautious the second time he tried. He allowed the qi to circulate in one leg as he slowly placed it on the water surface, testing the stability of the foothold.