“So what do we do now, Grandpa?” Tian had climbed out of the pit, but was still moving very slowly. He tried to keep his eyes open, but anything more than a little sliver of light was overwhelming. The same with the noise- his fingers were practically glued to his ears.
He was naked, but he didn’t pay much attention to that. His clothes had never been much more than rags, and modesty wasn’t a word he was familiar with. The weather was generally hot, rainy, or hot and rainy. “Cold weather” was barely an abstract concept.
Mmm. I’m thinking you should join that sect. Whichever one it is that rules the big spiritual mountain overlooking the dump.
Tian blinked at that. “What’s a sect?”
I’m calling it a sect- it might be a temple or monastery or some other name for the same thing. Basically an organization that is built around a religious principle which they adhere to with varying degrees of seriousness. It ranges from “Be filial and other than that, go nuts” to “Anyone who doesn’t cultivate to Sainthood is a scrub.”
“Grandpa, I didn’t understand any of that.”
It’s a head scratcher for me too. Think of it as a kind of school, business and religious organization all rolled into one.
“But I don’t know what any of those things are either.”
I know. It’s a big part of why I want you to join. It’s time to get a grip on how to live with other humans.
“Rock throwers are bad.”
Yes, but it’s more complicated than that. Everything is. Would it make you feel a little better to know I’m going to use it as a way to get lots more energy and finesse you some opportunities you wouldn’t have otherwise? Sects are great for that- opportunities around every corner. Some offered to you, others you need to create. But they are definitely there.
“I guess that sounds good?”
For example, any random cultivation method an orthodox sect offers you is going to be, approximately, two hojillion times better than the crap one I plonked in your memories. Reason enough to go, right there.
“Well. That sounds good I guess?”
You want to get stronger, they provide means to get stronger. Listen, four key elements are required for cultivation: Land, Law, Money, People. If any of them are lacking, you can forget cultivating to immortality.
“What are those things?” Tian was pretty hungry, but he was afraid to eat anything. Given the way his other senses had improved, the smell and taste of roast snake might just kill him with pleasure.
Land- you need a place that is rich in pure qi for cultivation. Mountains attract a lot of it. Special cultivation grounds with special types of qi are excellent resources, but generally you want pure qi. This is the simplest requirement to understand and the hardest to acquire. Good cultivation lands have people or guardians, always. There is a tiny, tiny chance of finding an undefended hidden cultivation spot, but it is always somewhere awful. At the bottom of a deep ocean trench, for example, or a hollow geode floating in magma. Something like that.
Law- another way to talk about cultivation techniques. Cultivation techniques let you gather vital energy and qi and pile it up in your body to make you stronger and live longer. It does other stuff too, but focus on that for now. Think of it like eating magic air. In fact, let's compare it to hunting.
Right now you have a cultivation technique where after hunting for a night you catch a mosquito. A normal technique would have you hunt for an hour and catch a squirrel. A good method has you hunting for a minute and catching a fat rabbit. Some cultivation laws can give you special abilities too. Things like the ability to transform into an animal, to command flying swords, to run along rooftops and up walls as though you were weightless. To crush mountains with a pat of your hand. To rip open space with a thought. Normal meditation stuff.
“I thought you said there were a lot of ways to cultivate?”
Tons. But qi cultivation through meditation is the most common way around here, and theoretically it provides a direct-ish path to the pinnacle. Set that aside for now, and let's move on to money.
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“It’s the thing you give people to get stuff, right?” Tian was hazy on the concept.
Yes, it’s basically a way to keep track of time and labor, with a bunch of other things built into it. But mainly time and labor. Let’s take Tian Soup as an example. You kludged together a medicinal bath with some stuff you found in the wild. It took you a couple of weeks, all told, to get everything you needed, you had to risk your life repeatedly, you suffered unimaginable pain, and you still needed some good luck in the form of finding everything. The end product wound up working quite well for you, but you couldn’t say you got the full medicinal benefit out of all your ingredients.
“I… okay?”
Or you could find an alchemist, pharmacist, doctor, or even an experienced senior with a medicinal bath recipe and exchange some… I don’t know, spirit stones, celestial gold, sword marks, whatever they call the local currency, and have them put together a recipe for you. Someone else gets paid to gather the ingredients, to process them, to make sure you have a safe place for your bath. Then with the time you saved, you can do something else. Cultivate, forge a new weapon, study a new combat technique, whatever.
“I guess I can understand that.” Tian didn’t really, but he sort of got the idea. That was the problem with Grandpa’s explanations. Once he explained something, you would have a dozen more questions. What was a pharmacist? Or an alchemist?
Which brings us to comrades. It doesn’t matter if you have two armfuls of treasury bills if you can’t spend them anywhere. That means you need reliable people around you. People who will do what they promise. People who will protect you from rock throwers, and even help you throw rocks at other people. They can be people who you work for, who work for you, comrades by your side. A partner or partners who can accompany you on your journey through life. Teachers. Family. Pets, even. With good people, your cultivation journey will be much smoother, much safer, and infinitely more enjoyable.
“I can understand what you are saying, but I can’t really understand.” Tian waved his hands helplessly. How could he? He had done everything for himself for as long as he could remember.
Aren’t you and I people together?
Tian got very quiet for a while. Grandpa Jun chuckled and continued. That’s for later. Let's start with teaching you the difference between red and green, as well as how to pay attention to some sounds and let your hindbrain manage the rest.
They spent the rest of the day by the pond. Tian had to relearn how to use his body. Everything was unfamiliar, largely because they didn’t hurt. When they played Elbows, Knees and Toes, he could kick over his head now. He could twist his body so flexibly, he worried he was missing bones. Each breath he pulled in seemed to be four times the size of what he used to manage, and every exhale left his mouth like a javelin. And for some reason, smelled like lotuses.
The calisthenics and Gourmet were not neglected either, though they didn’t seem to be much help. It was more the sheer joy that came from being able to do them effortlessly. To reach a degree of perfection in his form that was impossible before. To stretch his body to the utmost limit of his reach, not the limit of burnt skin or short tendons.
The jumping games had become effortless too, his balance and accuracy reaching unprecedented heights. He pushed faster and faster, the little songs racing from his lips as his feet drew illusory paths over the dirt. Grandpa laughed and laughed.
How would you like to combine a jumping game with Elbows, Knees and Toes?
“Can we? That sounds fun.”
Oh yes we can! Come, make the marks where I tell you. This is going to be really interesting.
Grandpa Jun started marking out a much bigger set of circles and points, many of them up on trees or on branches stretching out over the pond. The game had suddenly become intensely three dimensional.
“Grandpa, do you really think this is possible? Those are way too high!”
Give it a try. Really push yourself.
Tian jumped up, aiming a kick at a branch ten feet above him. He spun in the air, bringing his leg up high, and his heel came down like a falling ax. The branch snapped in half. Tian landed on his ass in shock.
“How?”
You are a lot stronger now. A LOT stronger. Welcome to your new body, Tian. I think you are going to love it.
When Tian jumped up, kicked off one tree branch, flew across a five foot gap to another tree, kneed that tree in its stupid tree face, then did a backflip on the way back to a light, perfectly steady landing, he agreed. He really did love his new body.
The trek back from the mountain foothills was quite a bit shorter than the trip out. He was a lot faster, and no longer had to travel at night. The food situation remained crazy. He had to forage vegetables and greens, but meat delivered itself directly to him. Whether he wanted it or not.
“How come we keep getting attacked?” Tian lashed out against a screeching baboon. The baboon wasn’t anything nice- nearly the same size as Tian, but with brutal teeth and long claws. It was quite happy ripping open whatever part of Tian it could reach, which made kicking it an unpleasantly exciting thing to try. Punching it was worse. Despite that, Tian was clearly stronger and faster than the baboon. He was confident he would win this fight, even if he had to pay a small price to do it. But since it was obvious to him, it should have been obvious to the baboon.
The baboon screeched at Tian, its lips pulling back from its long canines. With an explosive leap, it jumped at his face with outstretched arms. Tian jumped wildly to the side, then once the baboon had just passed him, snapped backward with his elbow. The blow lacked refinement, but it had plenty of power. Ribs broke. The baboon screamed as it fell, and before it could rise, a tough little foot stomped down and broke its ankle. After that came the killing. Once his bloody hands dropped the rock on the ground, Tian collapsed.
He had gotten lucky. A couple of scrapes, but no real harm was done. He was just exhausted by the effort.
Grab the baboon and run! Hell, leave the baboon, just get your head down and run! NOW!
Tian was on his feet with an explosive jolt and ran as fast as he could.
Keep the sun at your back. Just run. Don’t worry about anything else, just run and keep running. You may be running for an hour or more!
“Why, Grandpa?” Tian asked. He couldn’t spend more than a breath for questions.
Baboons live in tribes, and they kill anyone who kills one of them. Baboons hold grudges forever. The baboon you killed screamed a lot before it died, so there were definitely more on the way, and probably not far away. Did you see the nose on that bastard? They have your scent now. So unless you want to test how you would do against two hundred furious baboons-
Tian got his head down and ran east. Two hundred baboons? No chance. He really liked his wonderful new body, and planned to keep it in one piece for a while. Having more people around to fight the baboons did sound good. And someone who could bring him roast meat. And if this is how strong he was without really cultivating, cultivation must be amazing. He would be a source of endless beatings for baboons, cats and rock throwers alike. Land, law, money, people. He was starting to see the value. He’d just have to go get them.