Chao did exactly as he said. He served them both large plates of streak strips and white sauce, then applied her new poultice and immediately started cultivating after lunch. He left her inside the house as he went to sit on his stump at the edge of the garden. He was sure to tell Huifen that she had free reign to do as she wished.

Sitting with his legs crossed, he started gathering energy through his meridians to circulate it in the prescribed method of his mother. He didn’t discriminate between types of qi as he baked under the sun and in the open air. The heaven and earth qi here did lean a little more toward yang than yin, but it wasn’t enough to restrict his laws.

His mother’s method was a gentle one. He drew energy in through his meridians by relying on the simple suction force caused when circulating it around his dantian. His dantian was little more than a grape-sized mass of energy that clung together a few centimeters below his navel. It had only begun to compress, and it would be many smaller realms before it would turn into the circulating solidified mass that made up the dantian of the earth realm.

Father had said that the method was basic but sufficient for the type of qi he cultivated. There were countless nuance methods for energy gathering, but many of those were based on the type of qi you cultivated. Fire was always a devouring force, so faster rotations were generally accepted as the best practice. Ice was gentle but tended to stagnate, so forcefully compressing it even in your meridians was common. Wind allowed both, and earth required slow and steady, with a focus on big bursts of energy all at once.

To truly be at his peak state, it would take Chao a couple days of cultivating, minimum, to reach it. He usually wasn’t this drained of energy either, but he only gathered energy at most two hours a day, so he was rarely at his peak. He knew that he was slowing his cultivation’s advancement, but any more would limit his progress with the laws.

He kept at it for his allotted two hours and was feeling energized when he stopped. It should be enough for him to show Huifen what he could do and help her practice the laws into the night if she felt so inclined.

When he returned to the house, he found her asleep. She’d been feeling so much better earlier that he was a little surprised, but he was glad she’d be able to make use of the time to recover further. He had the thought of returning to his energy cultivation when he decided to take a seat by the fireplace and work on a few of his current projects. He suspected she wouldn’t sleep long, so he’d be ready for her when she did wake up. The bed had also been pulled further away from the fire, so it was twice the distance than before. She must have been feeling much more comfortable now that she was clean and away from the fire’s heat.

When he heard her stir, it was nearly five hours later, and he hadn’t moved from his seat. He’d gotten carried away again. He didn’t rush over to her as he had before but let her get up in her own timing.

Her footsteps were as light as tiptoes as she came up from behind him. His father hadn’t returned yet, so it should be safe to transition into whatever she wanted to do next. He was to be her caretaker after all, so as long as his chores were done and he was with her, there should be no lectures for today.

“Have you been waiting for me?” she said abruptly.

Had his father told her to keep an eye on him as well? “Not entirely. There’re a few things I’ve been working out. How are you feeling?”

“Much better.” She sat down next to him. “It does look like you gathered a little energy, but you really should cultivate to your peak state after being as drained as you were this morning. The more energy you gather, the more pressure will build. If you don’t have a constant supply of it, then your newly forming dantian won’t be able to grow.”

“I know. In a few days, when you’re gone, I’ll be sure to do as you say. I’ll focus on efficiency only while you’re here.” He glanced at her and immediately noticed she wasn’t wearing the sweater. Her sleeveless arms were like pale tapestries for the flames of the fireplace to stroke with their lively tongues even if from afar. He immediately looked away, forgetting what he was going to say. Instead, he added, “If you’re too warm, we can move back or even go outside.”

“Where do you practice martial techniques?”

“Let me show you.”

***

She followed him in the opposite direction of the garden. Everything they had done up until now was on that side of the house, but he now led her to the opposite side, where there was one large building and a lot of open space. Because of the beam of energy surging out of the rectangular shape building that was large enough to be a cabin in its own right, she knew it to be their protective array formation.

Huifen didn’t ask Chao about it, but she knew how expensive it was to keep such an array powered. She’d come from a merchant family, and even they only had one for the storage of their rarest goods and family’s personal residence. Arrays were the things of sects and kingdom’s, not small farms. If Senior Long wasn’t at such a high cultivation level, its presence would have made her feel more nervous than being out in the middle of nowhere without one.

Nearby, the garden may have been enough for melee sparring, but beyond the array formation was an open field that showed the signs of energy scarring. Wooden stumps that were blasted flat poked up here and there, but their usefulness had long ago disappeared with the trees that once stood there. It was the big ditches of turned up dirt in the otherwise grassy area that were the true giveaway.

“This is where I normally practice,” Chao said. “There’s always the forest if you need a target, and far to the north, there’s a rocky area if you’re looking for a cliff face or boulders to practice on.”

“Very well,” she replied, finding it easier to return to her emotionless state where logic reigned now that she was starting to recover. “You said you practice Boundless Yang’s Sword and Spear?”

“Yes, Senior Sister. Father has taught me the first three techniques for both the sword and spear, so six in total. However, I can only consistently use the first two for either weapon because of the energy cost, but they can have a lot of variance with the addition of the laws. This martial art has twenty techniques in total, or ten with each weapon, so I’m still very much at the novice stages.”

It was common at his realm that he wouldn’t be able to practice any high-level techniques, but at his mention of Boundless Yang’s Sword and Spear having twenty in total, it seemed rather excessive. She could only think that it must blend the switching of weapons like she’d seen in his mortal forms earlier in the day into the techniques somehow…

He wore a weathered short sleeve martial tunic with matching off-white pants. Bowing to her, he proceeded to walk a short distance away before stopping and withdrawing his short sword from his storage ring.

“The first sword technique is called Yang Flaming Blade.”

At his words, she used her perceptions to watch energy shoot out from the meridians in his sword hand and flow through the sword toward its edge and point. The most basic red fire coated the double-edged sword. Without ceremony, he quickly dipped into a sloppy fighter’s stance. His sword hung loosely in his grip at his side. He didn’t even steady his breathing before slashing upward with a swift forward movement. Reaching the peak of the movement, he slashed downward before diverting its arch across his invisible opponent’s midsection to finish with a firm thrust. The flames faded as soon as he retracted his blade.

“It’s really just a weapon empowering technique that focuses on flames. Its main advantage is that it can be used for combination attacks.”

She didn’t comment on his sloppy form before launching his attacks. This wasn’t her sect, so she really shouldn’t expect him to be that disciplined. She’d save her comments until he was done with his demonstration.

“The next technique is call Yang Flame’s Explosive Edge. It’s the next logical progression of the first technique. Though it can also be used on a sword’s point, the blade’s advantage over other weapons is its cutting edge so it’s designed to be used that way.”

Energy flowed from his palm’s meridians and covered his swords edge again, but only on one side this time. Lowering his stance, he drew his sword arm back to join the foot on the same side of his body. A surge of energy from his front foot with the springiness of his leg itself launched him forward. As he neared his landing, his sword slashed down. Once reaching a maximum velocity of about neck height, the built up energy on his sword’s blade detonated.

Chao had veered off to the side as if preparing for his opponent’s counter. Huifen approved of this seemingly unimportant addition to the demonstration. A person should practice as if they were in a real fight.

He turned to her and held up his blade. The dissipated yang flames returned as he explained, “This concentration uses the same amount of energy from the first technique compressed into a smaller area. It works well along a blade’s length, but if you try to use it on its point, you actually have to use less, or it will explode too soon because of fire’s natural explosiveness. As for the third—” He swiped his blade, and the Yang Flames disappeared.

Turning away to give her a side profile once again, he fell into the same stance from before. “This is called Yang Flame’s Soaring Blade.”

A great surge of energy flowed through his arm and into his sword as he initiated a swift downward slash from an overhead position. A dense sword scar whipped forward and flew twenty meters before angling down to the ground and throwing up a shower of dirt and grass.

It was the first technique he’d shown that seemed to belong to a true cultivator. The first two were beginning moves that did have their place in combat even at the higher realms but would still be rarely used. The third, though, could be considered a basic energy attack. The only problem with it was that it seemed too basic. His aura hadn’t changed, and it was lacking the flare of the best cultivation techniques. She wasn’t familiar with Boundless Yang’s Sword and Spear, so she didn’t want to be too quick to judge it, but just like his forms from earlier in the day, they seemed lacking. She still held her tongue as he pulled out his spear. Even though this martial art covered both sword and spear, it was possible the spear techniques were superior and the sword was only used to supplement it. Chao was still young, so it could also be that he preferred spear to the sword as well. Her speculation gave her some hope, but she was quickly disappointed.

He called the first technique Yang Flame’s Thrust. He coated the spear’s point in red nascent fire and thrust out a number of times. It was almost identical to the martial art’s first sword technique. When he focused all his energy to his spear’s point on the second technique called Yang Flame’s Explosive Thrust, it was anticlimactic when he jabbed forward, and the flames exploded near the end of his thrust. Finally, Yang Flame’s Soaring Point was similar to the third sword Technique except it kept the energy to a single point.

He was breathing deeply when he turned to face her, resting against his spear that had its blunt end jabbed into the ground. “That’s the core of what I know of Boundless Yang’s Sword and Spear so far. What do you think?”

Approaching, she looked him in the eye, which diverted his gaze. “It is a good basic foundation, but where’s the flourish? Most martial arts have specific energy circulation methods for each technique that should affect your aura and further empower the technique. It looks like you're just coating your weapons in element specific energy.”

He lowered his head. “Well, that’s not too far from the truth. I can circulate energy as the method requires, but because I gather normal heaven and earth qi, I don’t get the benefits that would come with cultivating Yang Flames solely. Because of this, I close off meridians normally used to save energy.”

“I see.” She wouldn’t even ask about cultivation methods more appropriate to his energy gathering technique. His mother had been a hedge mage, which meant she didn’t use a standard martial art but developed her own. Perhaps that was his only real option…

“I have added my own flourishes, though, and I’m not limited as I would be if I just cultivated yang.” He grinned to himself without meeting her eye. “One of my favorites is adding wind to the backside of my blade.”

He quickly switched out his spear for his sword. Holding it up, he added a stream of turbulent air to the back of his blade. He then launched the same combination from before. It was fifty percent faster. It didn’t have the empowered cutting edge of flames, but if his blade were decent, it would probably be even more effective with the added speed. It was a passable upgrade.

“There’s…” he began to say. It looked like he was hesitating with what to show her. “There are also a few tricks I’ve developed with ice and earth, but the greatest advantage my laws give me is this.”

Holding up his sword, the red flames once again spread to the edges of his blade. Then, before her eyes, they changed color. The red flames turned orange. It was no illusion. She could see the change in energy flow and the heat—Huifen took a step back.

“These are the flames of an earth realm cultivator,” she said as she watched them with great interest. “This is possible because your Enhancement law?”

“Exactly right. Small success in Enhance lets me use earth realm fire without the large energy cost that would be necessary if I tried to forcefully use them at my realm.” He was quiet for a moment, and he dared a peek to examine her reaction. It was only then that he added, “And large success allows this.” The twinkle of gold suddenly filled the space between them as his Yang Flames technique was transformed.

Instinctively, Huifen threw up her defensive aura even though she was injured. It wasn’t necessary for long, because Chao’s flames dissipated as he lowered his sword. A thick sheen of sweat now clung to his brow.

“I can’t use them for more than a few seconds,” he said. “If I were at peak, I could use them for much longer or one energy attack, but after that, my energy would be mostly used up.”

She felt her control of her emotionless state quake. “Just to be able to summon sky realm fire at nascent is an amazing feat in and of itself. Thank you for showing me.” She bowed her head.

He immediately bowed deeply at the waist. “Long Chao response to Senior Sister. Please don’t. I’m unworthy of such praise.”

She shook her head. “You need to learn to accept praise with grace. Your humility is appropriate for your age, but your ability far outweighs it.”

“Thank you for your guidance, but far be it for me to display such pride. I know I am but a boy from the countryside who hasn’t even beheld a lesser sect’s outer walls, let alone those of the greater ones. I wouldn’t dare.”

“Do as you will, then.” Perhaps this excessive humility was for the best. He was a true glass cannon. She’d seen him use the fourth-level sound law that could fracture the wounds of a peak sky realm dire beast and now use sky realm level fire. What his father said was true. He was capable of unbelievable things, but just the overflow of energy from a higher realm cultivator might cripple or kill him.

Once again, she was considering bringing him to her Ice Phoenix Sect. They could certainly help him develop. And once he reached the sky realm, they’d probably jump at the chance to make him an elder even at the lower levels. She wasn’t sure if he’d ever be able to break into the overlord realm, but if he did, he’d be in the running for Greatest Under Heaven the very moment he did. Who knows what level his flames would reach with sufficient energy backing them? He’d still have some serious issues with defense, though, that he’d have to work out or he’d also become the shortest lived person to hold the position as well.

She glanced up at the sun’s placement in the sky before saying, “You will be cultivating your mother’s garden soon?”

His face lit up, and he was about to answer, but he seemed to realize something. He pursed his mouth to think and eventually said, “Not tonight. Let’s work on your water laws. If you can get a feel for them, then it should open you up to the rest of the first laws of the other elements because you’ll be able to compare the difference in how water compares to your ice laws. Even though they are very similar, there is a big enough distinction to give you exactly what you need.”

“You’re sure?” she said with a cocked look.

“Of course. I used a little more energy than I thought I would today, and the garden will be fine without it for a night. It also helps me better understand the laws by watching someone else use them.”

“Okay…” Was what he was saying true? She hadn’t known him long, but there was no denying how important cultivating the little garden was to him. It held the memory of his mother. She understood taking advantage of opportunities, so it was possible he just wanted to watch her as she developed her own laws. But there was another possibility that wasn’t any less evident. He just wanted to spend time with her, and his reasoning went beyond that of being a good host. She really shouldn’t encourage such things, but she did want his guidance to develop her own laws… She also knew his intentions were purer than the kind of male attention she was used to. He’d been an absolute gentleman—except when he played music for her last night. Did he have her fooled?

“We should probably practice outside tonight so that the flames of the fireplace don’t make it harder for you than necessary. I’ll get dinner ready, then get a place set up. If you want to try while I’m at it, there’s a bucket and well at the side of the garden. Help yourself.”

He was heading toward the house before she could object.