13 Sealing (1/2)

I still didn't know why my soul had shattered, so I didn't want to be risky. I also had a new image in my head. While a burette was precise, it lacked the ability to let out a large volume of qi.

Now that I had seen father's raging aura, I knew a burette just wouldn't cut it. Instead, I wanted to form a large tank, with a ring of outlets at the bottom.

This time I didn't force my soul into a new shape too quickly. I pictured a gentle hand, smoothing over the rough facets of the sphere.

To my surprise, a golden wire frame hand formed out of my qi and acted according to my will. I hadn't seen this before. Had opening more channels to my eyes let me see it?

I proceeded with caution, only making a move when qi spilled over the edge of my soul. Despite its crystalline look, the surface of my soul was soft and easy to mould.

I smoothed over five seams, then stopped. I removed my concentration and there was a pinging sound.

I felt butterflies in my stomach, remembering the last time I heard that sound. My soul vibrated, and my heart shook with it.

After a few seconds, the ringing stopped. I breathed a sigh of relief and took a look. The changes had stuck. Notably, the level of qi had gone down.

Apparently, each change to the shape of my soul required qi in steps. First, I had to use my qi to make a change. Then, I needed more to stabilise the new structure.

I realised that father was probably trying to stabilise my soul back then. But his qi wasn't compatible with mine, and all it did was make me sick.

Still it seemed strange. How did father know he had to stabilise my soul? Was he aware of this technique?

Part of me was angry at the book for not explaining this process better. But at least I learned some lessons from my mistakes.

I needed more qi to continue, so I formed a needle and punctured a hole near the bottom of my soul. Seam by seam, I worked my way around the sphere.

Now, all that was left was a puddle of qi at the bottom of a beautifully smooth sphere. The night was still young, so I performed some light meditation to bolster my qi recovery.

I had finished exploring all the new channels in my eyes and arms, so I ventured to my lungs. Hours passed by as I travelled through a small section. I didn't expect them to be so intricate.

My qi had recovered, so I went to start shaping again. I was about to start to extrude the sphere into a cylinder, when I had a thought. Why should I bother?

A sphere is more efficient at storage than a cylinder. A cylinder was just easier to make when my soul was a disc. In a weird way, this whole ordeal had cut out some unnecessary steps.

I spent the rest of the night forming valves. I varied them in size to control the follow of qi and placed them in a ring just above the base.

Hopefully, this meant I would never run out of qi while practising, as there was always a tiny reserve at the bottom.

When the valves were all finished, I had one final step left. Sealing the container.

Up until now, my source of qi was the steady stream that trickled into my soul. The second page explained that this was the natural qi created by my body.

This trickle of qi could be improved by body cultivation techniques. I had touched on this with my light meditation. But the Soul Becoming World technique taught a different way.

In a sealed space, the qi would multiply, as if trying to burst its container. The more qi in your soul, the more you could generate.