Chapter 40
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He couldn't sleep. He felt as if he had been lying upon his bed a while, but to no avail. He wasn't overly hot and he wasn't too cold. He wasn't uncomfortable and it wasn't as if his mind was racing with many thoughts. If there was any restlessness at all, it seemed to emanate from his centre, as if he was having trouble digesting something sugary, perhaps?
A few minutes later, the feeling had worsened and he rose to a seating position and wondered if he needed to expend the excess energy. Using the light of the globe, he grabbed his glasses where he left them on the table and grabbed the broom to vigorously sweep. But although his arms quickly felt weary and his eyes heavy, that sensation within his gut would not be still. So he flopped onto the bed once more, removed his spectacles and covered his eyes shut with his arm. It was at this point, he had a revelation.
Placing the spectacles on to the table, he assumed a lotus position and closed his eyes, focusing upon the weird feeling and noting that it was indeed coming from his inner sea. The spiritual energy was usually moving lazy and in a clockwise rotation and resembled a mass of tiny stars all assembled closely together at the centre, but more hazy at the edges and it was the hazier light that he would send to circle through his network of meridians or out into the fire or cauldron. But although it's speckled consistency had not changed, it was moving all over the place, up and down, clockwise and anti-clockwise, contracting and expanding. It was the source of his discomfort.
Seeing as the only thing that he knew to do with this energy would be to make pills or cultivate, he chose the latter considering the late hour. It was harder to do, however, the turbulent sea did not want to be directed in a uniform manner through his meridians. So at first, it took all he had to force the sea to move clockwise along a stable point. There seemed to be so much more spiritual energy than he'd originally thought and it was still in a frenzy as he directed it, suddenly rushing through his meridians as if it took on a life of its own, each network of thin lines glowing hot as the energy filled them. He ground together his teeth as he felt a sweat break out upon his forehead, his concentration flickering due to the flaring pain. And after the swiftest circuit of his body was complete, the energy became even more rapid within his inner sea, spirialling, contracting, faster and faster until there was nothing but the fiercest speck of blinding light at the centre.
As if a dam had broken within him, the concerntrated speck of energy suddenly exploded, unable to maintain its purest form. It expanded outwards, pushing out of his skin into the air, seeming to dissolve all about him like sparks from a firework.
He gasped for air, pushed out of his inner sea, but unable to fathom what had just occurred. Had he experienced some sort of deviation? Would the cultivation of his body be set back again? He took a deep breath and focused on calming his racing heart before taking a glance inward. And there he watched, his lazy, spiralling energy continuing to swirl about a central point. The only difference seemed to be that the energy was brighter and less speckled and loose about the edges.
With a sigh, he let his head droop, not bothering to open his eyes. He figured he could wait until morning, check the diaries, see if there was any information about what had just happened to him.
His nose twitched. Ew. What was that disgusting smell? Was that coming from him? With a sigh, he placed his hand upon his knee, resigning himself to another bath as soon as possible. Squelch. He opened his eyes and tried to focus on what little he could see through narrowed eyes. His hands had turned blackish brown, appearing to be coated in something gross. Actually, so was his arms. He jumped off of the bed. So were the bass of his feet! He grimaced as he headed to where he kept the rags of cloth and basin of water for a quick morning wash and quickly used them. The water blackened quickly as he wiped his hands and face and feet, before hurrying to get his glasses so he could look over his body.
Not an inch had not been covered in the unpleasant substance. So he decided to jump into the now cold bath that he had been too lazy to empty the night before.
But opening the door, he came to see an odd sight. The sun was actually fairly high in the sky, not just peering over the horizon like he had assumed. And beneath it's warm rays and the shortened shadows of the tall trees was a tall and slightly arrogant man hovering over a shorter, dumpling of a man and a couple of his minions, all a little worse for wear.
Jin Li glanced over at him as the door unlatched and opened. He looked the smaller man over once and seeing him well enough, nodded. "I see you broke through to the secondary cultivation level," he said, almost amused by that gormless face. "I didn't know you had it in you."
"Huh?"
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He couldn't sleep. He felt as if he had been lying upon his bed a while, but to no avail. He wasn't overly hot and he wasn't too cold. He wasn't uncomfortable and it wasn't as if his mind was racing with many thoughts. If there was any restlessness at all, it seemed to emanate from his centre, as if he was having trouble digesting something sugary, perhaps?
A few minutes later, the feeling had worsened and he rose to a seating position and wondered if he needed to expend the excess energy. Using the light of the globe, he grabbed his glasses where he left them on the table and grabbed the broom to vigorously sweep. But although his arms quickly felt weary and his eyes heavy, that sensation within his gut would not be still. So he flopped onto the bed once more, removed his spectacles and covered his eyes shut with his arm. It was at this point, he had a revelation.
Placing the spectacles on to the table, he assumed a lotus position and closed his eyes, focusing upon the weird feeling and noting that it was indeed coming from his inner sea. The spiritual energy was usually moving lazy and in a clockwise rotation and resembled a mass of tiny stars all assembled closely together at the centre, but more hazy at the edges and it was the hazier light that he would send to circle through his network of meridians or out into the fire or cauldron. But although it's speckled consistency had not changed, it was moving all over the place, up and down, clockwise and anti-clockwise, contracting and expanding. It was the source of his discomfort.
Seeing as the only thing that he knew to do with this energy would be to make pills or cultivate, he chose the latter considering the late hour. It was harder to do, however, the turbulent sea did not want to be directed in a uniform manner through his meridians. So at first, it took all he had to force the sea to move clockwise along a stable point. There seemed to be so much more spiritual energy than he'd originally thought and it was still in a frenzy as he directed it, suddenly rushing through his meridians as if it took on a life of its own, each network of thin lines glowing hot as the energy filled them. He ground together his teeth as he felt a sweat break out upon his forehead, his concentration flickering due to the flaring pain. And after the swiftest circuit of his body was complete, the energy became even more rapid within his inner sea, spirialling, contracting, faster and faster until there was nothing but the fiercest speck of blinding light at the centre.
As if a dam had broken within him, the concerntrated speck of energy suddenly exploded, unable to maintain its purest form. It expanded outwards, pushing out of his skin into the air, seeming to dissolve all about him like sparks from a firework.
He gasped for air, pushed out of his inner sea, but unable to fathom what had just occurred. Had he experienced some sort of deviation? Would the cultivation of his body be set back again? He took a deep breath and focused on calming his racing heart before taking a glance inward. And there he watched, his lazy, spiralling energy continuing to swirl about a central point. The only difference seemed to be that the energy was brighter and less speckled and loose about the edges.
With a sigh, he let his head droop, not bothering to open his eyes. He figured he could wait until morning, check the diaries, see if there was any information about what had just happened to him.
His nose twitched. Ew. What was that disgusting smell? Was that coming from him? With a sigh, he placed his hand upon his knee, resigning himself to another bath as soon as possible. Squelch. He opened his eyes and tried to focus on what little he could see through narrowed eyes. His hands had turned blackish brown, appearing to be coated in something gross. Actually, so was his arms. He jumped off of the bed. So were the bass of his feet! He grimaced as he headed to where he kept the rags of cloth and basin of water for a quick morning wash and quickly used them. The water blackened quickly as he wiped his hands and face and feet, before hurrying to get his glasses so he could look over his body.
Not an inch had not been covered in the unpleasant substance. So he decided to jump into the now cold bath that he had been too lazy to empty the night before.
But opening the door, he came to see an odd sight. The sun was actually fairly high in the sky, not just peering over the horizon like he had assumed. And beneath it's warm rays and the shortened shadows of the tall trees was a tall and slightly arrogant man hovering over a shorter, dumpling of a man and a couple of his minions, all a little worse for wear.
Jin Li glanced over at him as the door unlatched and opened. He looked the smaller man over once and seeing him well enough, nodded. "I see you broke through to the secondary cultivation level," he said, almost amused by that gormless face. "I didn't know you had it in you."
"Huh?"
He couldn't sleep. He felt as if he had been lying upon his bed a while, but to no avail. He wasn't overly hot and he wasn't too cold. He wasn't uncomfortable and it wasn't as if his mind was racing with many thoughts. If there was any restlessness at all, it seemed to emanate from his centre, as if he was having trouble digesting something sugary, perhaps?A few minutes later, the feeling had worsened and he rose to a seating position and wondered if he needed to expend the excess energy. Using the light of the globe, he grabbed his glasses where he left them on the table and grabbed the broom to vigorously sweep. But although his arms quickly felt weary and his eyes heavy, that sensation within his gut would not be still. So he flopped onto the bed once more, removed his spectacles and covered his eyes shut with his arm. It was at this point, he had a revelation.Placing the spectacles on to the table, he assumed a lotus position and closed his eyes, focusing upon the weird feeling and noting that it was indeed coming from his inner sea. The spiritual energy was usually moving lazy and in a clockwise rotation and resembled a mass of tiny stars all assembled closely together at the centre, but more hazy at the edges and it was the hazier light that he would send to circle through his network of meridians or out into the fire or cauldron. But although it's speckled consistency had not changed, it was moving all over the place, up and down, clockwise and anti-clockwise, contracting and expanding. It was the source of his discomfort.Seeing as the only thing that he knew to do with this energy would be to make pills or cultivate, he chose the latter considering the late hour. It was harder to do, however, the turbulent sea did not want to be directed in a uniform manner through his meridians. So at first, it took all he had to force the sea to move clockwise along a stable point. There seemed to be so much more spiritual energy than he'd originally thought and it was still in a frenzy as he directed it, suddenly rushing through his meridians as if it took on a life of its own, each network of thin lines glowing hot as the energy filled them. He ground together his teeth as he felt a sweat break out upon his forehead, his concentration flickering due to the flaring pain. And after the swiftest circuit of his body was complete, the energy became even more rapid within his inner sea, spirialling, contracting, faster and faster until there was nothing but the fiercest speck of blinding light at the centre.As if a dam had broken within him, the concerntrated speck of energy suddenly exploded, unable to maintain its purest form. It expanded outwards, pushing out of his skin into the air, seeming to dissolve all about him like sparks from a firework.He gasped for air, pushed out of his inner sea, but unable to fathom what had just occurred. Had he experienced some sort of deviation? Would the cultivation of his body be set back again? He took a deep breath and focused on calming his racing heart before taking a glance inward. And there he watched, his lazy, spiralling energy continuing to swirl about a central point. The only difference seemed to be that the energy was brighter and less speckled and loose about the edges.With a sigh, he let his head droop, not bothering to open his eyes. He figured he could wait until morning, check the diaries, see if there was any information about what had just happened to him.His nose twitched. Ew. What was that disgusting smell? Was that coming from him? With a sigh, he placed his hand upon his knee, resigning himself to another bath as soon as possible. Squelch. He opened his eyes and tried to focus on what little he could see through narrowed eyes. His hands had turned blackish brown, appearing to be coated in something gross. Actually, so was his arms. He jumped off of the bed. So were the bass of his feet! He grimaced as he headed to where he kept the rags of cloth and basin of water for a quick morning wash and quickly used them. The water blackened quickly as he wiped his hands and face and feet, before hurrying to get his glasses so he could look over his body.Not an inch had not been covered in the unpleasant substance. So he decided to jump into the now cold bath that he had been too lazy to empty the night before.But opening the door, he came to see an odd sight. The sun was actually fairly high in the sky, not just peering over the horizon like he had assumed. And beneath it's warm rays and the shortened shadows of the tall trees was a tall and slightly arrogant man hovering over a shorter, dumpling of a man and a couple of his minions, all a little worse for wear.Jin Li glanced over at him as the door unlatched and opened. He looked the smaller man over once and seeing him well enough, nodded. "I see you broke through to the secondary cultivation level," he said, almost amused by that gormless face. "I didn't know you had it in you.""Huh?"
