Stopping at the message center to pick up the new mediations and then home to feed Bai, Yu was surprised to find on her bed two bags, one small and red and one brown and about the size of an adult’s head. Accompanying them was a tightly folded note on her pillow. Yu’s eyebrows rose as she read it.

Disciple,

You will find two bags of pills with this note. The red bag contains the pills that will stretch your formation pathways. You are to use one opposite your meridian cleansing day. They are extraordinarily expensive and difficult to make so do not misplace or misuse them. That said, I encourage you to test their efficacy based on different factors. For example, does the effect differ if used when Qi is full or empty? Use your judgment and report to me on your results each week.

The second bag is a reward. I am quite pleased with how you killed those Bao cultivators without being found out, especially since you used stepping to do it. It is good that finally got that out of your system. Your first kill has been long overdue. The voids were still sloppy by the way. But back on topic. Your actions during the fight alone are not worthy of reward. What was truly impressive was how you placed the blame on the Gui clan. Despite being without evidence, the bickering fools were prepared to believe it. Even the Gui are convinced it was them, although they do not know who specifically and they are not pressing to find out. Well done. The pills in the brown bag are the same standard replenishment pills you used when practicing stepping last week. Now that you have these, you have no excuses. You must be able to directly step from your room to the breakthrough room in short order. I will not give you a specific deadline, but it must be soon. I am confident you will not disappoint me.

Keep the pills in the bags until you take one as the bags are enchanted to keep the pills as fresh as possible.

Your Master

My “reward” is more hard work. Of course it is.

Shaking her head, Yu burned the note with her silver fire, put the two bags in her ring, and headed to lunch with the girls. Before entering the dining hall, Yu stopped at the ranking column and touched her badge to it. A black Sign came up asking if she wanted to challenge and whom. Yu chose to challenge the highest available number to her, the individual at rank 24,000 named Zaoshang Xingren. Thankfully there was still time to challenge on Day 2 so she did, wanting to get it over with. Then she headed in for lunch and told the girls about her challenge. They obviously would go to cheer her on.

Fire Qi classes were great, especially since she finally had a Fire Mana skill. Her teacher was thrilled. After a Fire Affinity dinner, Yu told Elder Ting she needed to skip her time today due to work her master required of her, which the elder accepted without question. She then took Bai for a run and romp. They both had a good time then she told him what she had to do for the evening and asked him to hang with the girls again. Apparently it was Lu’s turn to play so Yu thanked her and said she had to head out to work for her master.

Yu walked around until she could just see the training center with breakthrough rooms. She walked around until she found an area nobody was near and was hidden by foliage, created a void, and stepped. She appeared inside the breakthrough room with a slight stumble from the drain and immediately looked around. After confirming it was empty, she took her robe and outer clothing off, went into the meditation room, lit the incense provided with the meditation method, and meditated using the new techniques that would supposedly help to focus her mind and control her emotions.

She had received two meditation methods which she was expected to use daily. Interestingly, the first had nothing to do with Qi. The weird process seemed to create illusions in Yu’s mind of herself in certain difficult situations. She was supposed to breathe in a certain pattern while inhaling the smoke from the specially provided incense. While doing that, she would enter the illusions and mentally use non-violent methods of handling whatever was shown. For some reason that weird breathing pattern – or maybe it was the incense – prevented Yu from lying to herself. It had sounded easy initially, but Yu found herself repeatedly battling her first reactions. Was she really supposed to just calmly walk away when a blue-haired cultivator slapped her face? Or sedately talk through a situation while a berserk white-haired disciple kept swinging a sword at her?

In short, Yu failed miserably. The entire episode was an exercise in frustration. Going through the process three times as instructed, each attempt resulted in her reverting to violence to solve whatever challenge her mind threw in front of her. Yu figured she was missing something but would figure it out at some point. She hoped.

The second set of instructions were easier to follow. The method described was a strange amalgamation of meditation and mantra. Unlike the normal mantras, this one could not be held within her mindscape, so Yu had to actively use it along with a particular breathing method. The way it worked was it flowed Qi throughout her body in a way that calmed its environment Qi absorption rate. It didn’t stop it, just slowed it down a bit, which should, according to the core sect healer’s instructions, “buy some time.” That was fine with Yu. Slowing her changes was fine with her. She would use both meditations every evening and maybe feel more herself. There were meditation rooms on the same floor as the bathing area of the dormitory, so she could use the incense there and not risk giving her roommates delusions.

After two hours of meditation, Yu proceeded to prepare a bath, cleanse her sixth meridian, shower off the filth, recover in the bath, eat a meal that was miraculously waiting for her yet again, and lay in the softest bed she had ever known.

***

The new Water Warrior instructor was not a Bao, but that did not stop Bao Meimei from giving Yu looks that could kill while holding the cast over her shattered wrist. Yu stared right back and gave as good as she got with glares. She was done being passive with that family. Yu just had to make sure she kept it personal and away from the politics, which was a weird perspective.

Argue with imperial nobles and make sure it’s as personal as possible. Right… This will end well…

The new teacher wasn’t terribly interested in the class, but he did answer questions and provide helpful advice on visualizing Water Qi. Over lunch with the girls, the talk was Yu’s challenge and the Bao/Gui fight. After a normal Earth class, Yu ate an Earth Affinity dinner and then walked with the girls to the arena. While her suitemates sat in the audience area, Yu sat closer in the participant rows. She quickly found Gui De and the Bao disciple sitting apart from each other but glaring with enough heat to hurt.

After a few more minutes of people shuffling in, a roar sounded and the one-eyed Elder Guang stepped onto the center stage. “Challenge night will now commence. Audience members are reminded that interfering is in no way permitted and will be punished severely. Otherwise, let us begin.”

Remembering her first time there and the interfering Bao elder, Yu looked up at the elder boxes. The glass had been replaced, but Yu could not see any movement inside.

Elder Guang called, “Before the ranking bouts, there are two honor duels this evening. The first is between Gui De and Bao Bo. Please approach the center circle.” Yu figured that with Bao Meimei out of commission (thanks to Yu), Bao Bo was taking over as the resident nitwit.

Both boys left their outer robes at their seats and hopped down and into the view of everyone watching. Looking around, Yu figured there were only a few hundred people there, many times fewer than in their Welcoming.

Elder Guang looked at them both and spoke clearly for everyone to hear. “Honor duels are not to be fought lightly. No sect healers will be provided, and no quarter may be given. This is a fight until one of you is unconscious or knocked off the platform. Before we begin, will either of you withdraw?” Glaring at each other, both boys shook their heads. “Fine. There is no time limit. The agreed-to terms are weaponless combat with Qi skills, is that correct?” They both nodded once and the elder proceeded.

Yu reflected that she had fought both and defeated both in Martial Training class. The Bao boy she had even knocked out once but she never managed to find out his name. Both were competent with their weapons but she had not seen either in her Fire or Water classes meaning they were likely receiving private tutoring for their Qi skills. Yu didn’t even know whether they were Warriors or Mages. It would be interesting to see how it panned out.

***

Gui De was the twelfth prince of the 73rd Gui Empire and son to the Emperor and a favored concubine. And he was doing his duty. De didn’t actually hate his opponent. Bao Bo wasn’t that bad… for a Bao. But both of them were following the orders of their families and clans. As his obligation demanded, De was going to fight the imperial noble in front of him, and only one of them would be whole in body and face when it was over.

De lit himself with the special red Fire Qi of his bloodline. His royal father had passed to him the scorching “imperial flames” of the royal line. Those scarlet flames were hot enough to burn through steel, even if his were dimmer and cooler than many of his brothers’ and a sisters’.

Across form him, De watched as six bubbles of water formed around Bao Bo, each as large as a fist. He wasn’t familiar with Water Mage skills so he did not know the grade or power, but he did see that Bo had relatively good control of the skill. It wasn’t perfect as they wabbled and each contained many air bubbles inside of them, but it was good skill execution for a youth their age. If De had to guess, he would say it was a grade 2 rather than 1.

The irregular balls of water began to slow rotate around his opponent like heavenly bodies. De nodded, confirming what his clan had told him: Bo had been well trained in Qi skills, despite the Bao clan’s general approach, which was trickery and political machinations. That meant De would have to actually work for this. And those watching would see the advantages, training, and power of imperials.

Done watching, he called upon his own Qi and flames appeared on the bottom of his feet and back and he charged. Being a Fire Warrior, rather than a Mage, meant he had to get in close. De was well aware that at the lower stages of cultivation, when Warriors battled Mages, the conflicts were often one-sided and usually short-lived. Either the Warrior got close enough fast enough to strike directly, or he didn’t. De was a Fire Warrior, and a good one for his age; or at least his trainers had told him so. But the imbalance between a Warrior and a Mage was one of the reasons Mages made up seventy-nine of the top one hundred outer sect disciples. The ability to control the field of battle was what offered such an advantage to Mages. And that is what Bo was trying to do.

Bo’s face turned to one of strained concentration as two of the six balls separated from his orbit and slowly moved in front of him. As De approached quickly, the spheres began flattening and widening to create a rough rectangle as tall as him and twice as wide. He knew Bo was attempting to create a barrier between them to give himself time. But it was just too slow.

Thanks to his Flaming Acceleration skill, De arrived just before the barrier fully solidified. He flattened his hand like a blade created a solid extension made of his red flames from his fingers. It extended his range by two hand-lengths and be swept it in an upward motion, slicing the barrier in half with a hiss of steam. He leaped through the break in the barrier while lighting himself on fire, causing more of the water barrier to be evaporated as it touched his flames.

De’s vision was obscured for a moment as the steam surrounded him, but with a burst of fire from his back he was thrust forward through it. He stumbled slightly as he landed having sent a bit too much Qi through his back, but he continued his run forward as he righted himself. De saw Bo backing up quickly, two of the remaining four water balls separating from him.

De heard two splashes behind him as Bo’s face showed concern and extreme strain. His concentration was clearly insufficient to control four balls at once. De formed a saber in his right hand out of fire and, finally having reached close enough, leaped at his opponent. Bo dodged to the side with a spin as one of the balls morphed into a pointed lance of clear blue liquid. With a swipe of his hand, he sent it at De just as he was sweeping his summoned saber to the right. The two weapons collided and more steam formed with a loud hiss. De was temporarily blind, surrounded by steam so he once again charged through it ready to strike out again. However, his opponent was no longer there.

Scanning the area, De saw a flicker to his right and barely saw another spear of water heading towards him. Reacting on instinct, De swept his sword up and layered himself in flames. Another hiss of sound followed and yet again De was blinded by steam. Then Da jerked forward as he was hit from behind by more water. This created yet more blinding steam.

De ground his teeth as he growled to himself. And this was why Mages were so difficult to fight as a Warrior. Battlefield control his trainers had called it. As a water mage, De could wield a skill that used the steam as a version of sight and continue to attack from range while De was stuck inside the cloud, blind as Elder Guang’s eye.

Stumbling again at another strike, this one hard enough to hurt as well as create yet more steam, De knew he had only one option. He crouched low and leaped straight into the air, using fire from the bottom of his feet to give him even more height. He quickly passed through the now-thick layer of steam and above the battle circle. In the breaths of time he floated above the battle, he saw not only the circle covered in steam, but also Bo leaning over on his knees toward the right, clearly straining and drained of Qi. Unlike De, Bo had used his much of his power nearly constantly their entire battle. De had used on a small fraction, which was good because he would need most his remaining to do what he intended, because he knew if he fell back into the steam and was blinding again, the battle was over.

So De used a third of his remaining Qi to send a burst of fire from his feet and rose higher and into the air. The he turned his body using another burst from his left arm so he was facing his opponent who had just looked up at him. De grinned at the widening of his eyes and gaping of his mouth. Another burst of Qi, this one about a quarter of his remaining from his feet and back and he was launched like an arrow down towards the shocked Bo.

De formed a warhammer in his right hand as he sped downward. De saw his opponent sweep his hands down as the single remaining ball of water formed another flat surface, but this one horizontal and near the ground. De knew was he was doing, but grinned as it was too late. De using almost his entire remaining poll of Qi to create a flood of fire before him with his free left hand and chest, pushing him just enough to slow down. The pressure was immense but he fought through the pain and swung his warhammer.

Just as the head of the hammer was about to strike, Bo was stepping on the water and he… slid backward on it. De had expected him to attempt to use it as a board to spring from. But he was wrong and his hammer swept a finger’s length just short of the Bao’s chest, but he could not remove his leg in time. A crack resounded as Bo’s thigh bone broke.

De smiled widely just as he crashed into the ground, releasing the hammer and the Qi. It was then that he felt pain in his own legs as his one of the bones in his left shin cracked, causing it to collapse out from under him. His momentum carried him forward and he rolled, bouncing and crashing again and again into the ground. A sudden push slammed into his leg and his speed increased. The pain from before was bad, but this new pain shocked him and it was all he could think of as he realized, all of a sudden, there was no ground beneath him. Then he landed on the floor of the stadium with a crunch and clatter.

“Winner of this honor dual is Bao Bo,” called the familiar growling voice of Elder Guang.