Da Shan laid in his room as the moonlight poured in through his window. He held his hand up and looked at it in the dim light.

“The finger really is shorter.”

His throat, parched from a lack of water, made his voice raspier and more sinister than usual. Da Shan was the type to keep his cards hidden, today had made him very tired. He revealed a lot of his strength today, a revelation that no doubt the Chancellor had heard of — though he probably wasn’t surprised at this paltry display of might. Before his cultivation started declining, he was quite the fearsome figure and in his younger days he made quite a number of violent and foolish mistakes, younger being a relative term for someone over 700. Now, in exchange for "immortality", his strength was sinking. Every Longevity Pill he took sucked away at his vigour. His skin and flesh had become fully mortal and weak — a side effect of his new cultivation method. He was little more than a mortal at the peak strength attainable, his time on the lower ranks of power had opened his eyes to the fragility of life and how little strength each grade truly represented.

Bullets eh? Truly a deadly concept. He doubted the Cultivator Cabals would let this invention slide, heads would roll and an extermination would take place. He turned his head and stared at the ceiling. He shut his eyes and listened to the peaceful sounds of the night, sounds he might never hear again. The chirp of crickets continued and the soft sound of hooting owls was occasionally heard and the faint buzz of flies filled his ears. It's good to be alive. It was a peaceful night, a peace that would end tonight.

Whether I live or die, at least the secret will be out tonight. Da Shan glanced at the moon and frowned. It’s almost time… better head out.

Da Shan got up from the bed and held his hand to the moonlight as if trying to grasp it. He drew his katana from his kimono and caressed the blade softly, “Good by old friend, well done.” He kissed the blade and whispered, “I love you Katherine.” The cold steel glittered in the dull light and a tear fell down Da Shan’s face as he hung his blade on a couple empty hooks above his bed. He took a couple steps away from the bed and hesitated, he whirled around and lunged — grabbing his blade from the rack and clutching it to his chest — tears poured down his face and he sobbed quietly to himself. After a few moments of incessant blubbering, Da Shan put the sword back on the rack and then turned around. He wiped his face and slapped his cheeks repeatedly.

“Crying over a sword, stupid me.”

Da Shan wiped his face again. Blew his nose. And walked out of the room.

He snuck out of the red brick dormitory and made his way to the bridge behind the forest. It was a dingy rope bridge, it was missing planks and the ropes that held it up were moss-covered and frayed. A small stream ran under the bridge, though the bridge didn’t span an overly deep chasm, it was after all, only about eight feet off the ground. Da Shan reached the clearing before the bridge and looked at the forest beyond the bridge, with both anticipation and trepidation.

It’s almost time.

He looked to the moon in the night sky, it was a clear night. All the stars glittered in the dome above, seeming to hang from invisible threads. The warm air seemed to swell with delight and the scent of grass drifted into his nose. Da Shan took a deep breath and walked on the bridge, and stopped halfway.

He looked around, then said, “Come out Ed.”

“How’d you know I was here?” Ed seemed to melt out of the shadows, his black skin and dark kimono aiding him in camouflage.

“It was a guess.”

Ed’s face reddened. “Let’s get on with this Da Da, my wife needs my love.”

Da Shan paused for a moment. Ed gave him a look and then asked, "What is it Da Da?"

"Ed I have something to ask of you, but I think you might find it weird."

Ed brayed a laugh that was so loud Da Shan's ears hurt, "Da Da, everything about you is weird."

"Ah, I see."

"Though in general," Ed rubbed his chin thoughtfully and continued, "You've never asked me to do anything weird, well, except for meeting you on some rope bridge, in the middle of the night, that you've secretly named. That excepted, nothing you've done has been weird... though that could be because you haven't done much... Anyways, ask away!"

“If it’s not weird… I’d like to watch your nighttime activities.”

Ed backed up and clutched his kimono tightly, obscuring the view of his formerly exposed chest, “That’s pretty weird Da Da.”

“Well… I don’t even know how… you know — being a Eunuch and all — you’d go about doing… stuff.”

Ed’s eyes rolled in the darkness, “Of course… you’d be wanting to see me naked.”

“Ed… it’s not like that… my interest is wholly scientific!”

“Mhmmm… yeah… I’m sure.” Ed suddenly backed up farther than before, “Don’t tell me this is the reason you called me to the bridge tonight?! This is the favor you wanted! Friggin’ keep the five stones!”

“Please Ed, don’t be —”

“You stay away man! You want to watch me and my wife, you pervert!”

“ED!”

“…”

“I have another matter to talk with you about tonight.”

“You do?”

“I do.”

“Can I keep my clothes on?”

“Yeah.”

“Okay… sounds good… I was just… checking… let’s begin.”

“Alright.”

Da Shan hopped into one of the gaping holes in the bridge and landed directly in the stream below with a splash. Ed looked on with bewilderment. Da Shan waded through the shallow water, flipping over a few sizeable rocks, a small frown interrupting his neutral expression.

“Which rock is it,” he muttered to himself.

“Need a hand?”

“Sure! Ah, no. I just found it. Come down though.”

Ed hopped down with a splash and waded to Da Shan’s side and followed his eyes to a medium sized rock.

“You ready?”

Ed rolled his eyes, “No need to be so mysterious… just tell me what I’m doing already.”

Da Shan moved the rock with a cry of exertion, exposing a bronze keyhole in the streambed. Ed’s eyes went wide, “That doesn't look natural.”

"It isn't, I made it."

"How long's it been there?"

“A few hundred years, give or take.”

Da Shan produced the bronze key that he took from Paul’s pillow and clicked the key in place, lifting a hidden hatch. Beneath the hatch was an oversized handle, Da Shan gripped the handle and grunted, “I’ll need some help Ed.”

Ed got down on his knees in the water and grabbed the rest of the handle, and after a series of grunts and groans they were no closer to moving the handle. After a particularly large heave and ho Ed and Da Shan collapsed into the stream in exhaustion, and let the cool water lap over them. Da Shan's blank facial expression was downcast and pensive. Ed seemed to be in great confusion.

“Da Shan…”

“Yeah Ed.”

“Why is there a handle, under a hatch, under a rock, under the bridge.”

“…”

“Da Shan?”

“…”

“Don’t be so friggin’ mysterious, or I’m out.”

Da Shan sighed and sat up in the stream.

“My secret room is here…”

“If it’s your own damn room why’d you make it so secure you couldn’t even get back in!”

“I didn’t make it that secure! But I haven’t visited in the past 100 years and my cultivation has declined… so…”

“Not only do you not cultivate everyday, your lack of cultivation makes you weaker? What is up with you?” Ed narrowed his eyes and regarded Da Shan with a look of pity, “Are you broken?”

Da Shan paused and sat up. Ed sat up too. Da Shan looked his friend in the eye, looked down, fiddled with his disfigured finger and then after a sigh spoke.

“I can’t cultivate anymore Ed… I broke my body.”

Ed staggered, stunned.

“… How?... When?”

“About 400 years ago… but I was already doomed because of my cultivation method…” Like a stream, words and secrets long hidden spilled out of Da Shan’s mouth, “When I became a cultivator… I was 72 and uh… I was duped by a guy named Elder Quan and joined a devil sect by mistake.”

“… By mistake? One does not simply join a devil sect by mistake.”

“I was young and stupid.”

“How young?”

“I was 72.”

“… I suppose for a cultivator young can be a… relative term.”

“I was duped Ed… my cultivation method turned me into cattle for the Elder… he was going to harvest my organs and drain out the vigour… the cultivation method he gave allowed him to do that. He was dealing with the same problem I am now, except he chose the devilish method.”

“Of harvesting organs… So, you discovered it was devilish on an… operating table?”

“It’s complicated… But in the end, I killed him — with the help of a friend… we killed them all.”

“Damn.”

“We paid a heavy price though… my wife… I watched her die and my daughter —” Da Shan stopped talking at this point. His face was impassable he continued, “— my cultivation method sucked at my longevity… I found a method to convert my vigour into vitality and extended my life. So, by alternating between pills and my method… I’ve essentially become… immortal…”

Ed whistled and then rubbed his head. He contemplated for a moment and then asked, “But… if your cultivation method — based on what you’re telling me — increases your vigour?”

Ed let the question hang, Da Shan nodded. Ed continued.

“So you cultivate to gain vigour… but that sucks away your vitality, decreasing your longevity… then you take pills to gain back lost longevity and to replenish your vitality you use another cultivation method?”

“That’s right.”

“Which is a secret I take it?”

Da Shan nodded and smiled, “My own personal invention.”

Ed rubbed his temples with irritation and began to think out loud, “I see… so let me see if I’ve got this right… You can’t advance your vigour passed a certain point — thus gaining strength or whatever the benefits are that you use your vigour for — unless you improve on your conversion rate or get better pills.”

“Essentially… yeah.”

"Being a Psyker is so much easier."

"Some say so."

“… Now there’s one thing I never got… what’s the difference between vitality and vigour?”

“Ah! In Anatomical Cultivation, the potential strength your muscles can use is called vigour. Someone who benches 100 has more vigour than someone who benches 50. Vitality is the regeneration rate of your cells, so a mortal who is 70 who benches 100 has the same vigour as a youth who benches 100 — but the old guy has less vitality. Longevity is how long your soul can inhabit your body… vitality and longevity often work hand in hand, but not always.”

“Ah, I see.”

“Longevity pills only give you longevity, at the cost of a bit of vigour… But they do not give vitality… so you can be a guy in a fragile body who lives a long time… but you’ll probably die relatively —”

“I don’t need a full lecture man… I’m a cultivator too, just a Psyker, never had to worry ‘bout no vigour, vitality stuff.”

Da Shan nodded in agreement and then his eyes shone brightly, “…Wow… we’re sharing so many secrets tonight,” Da Shan grinned and giggled like a school girl at a slumber party, his long hair — ironically — taking away any sense of femininity from the scene due to its obscene greasiness.

“Give it a rest Da Shan… so why don’t you just take more Longevity Pills?”

Da Shan flinched, “I’m almost immune to your Premium Longevity Pills. I don’t have the money to get better pills, besides, eventually I’ll become immune to those too… in here…” He gestured to the handle. “Is the solution to my problem —” At this point Da Shan’s eyes sparkled, “The key to infinite power!”

Ed's eyes widened and he raised his hands with caution, “Calm down, you’re acting like a crazy man.”

“I’ll be a dead man at this rate.” Da Shan narrowed his eyes and set his face. Before Ed could react, Da Shan’s hand swooped into his pocket and he popped a pill in his mouth. Da Shan felt his vision narrow and a tunnel of rage consume him. Ed saw the veins on Da Shan’s body protrude and jumped back a safe distance, watching the unfolding scene with a mixture of shock and awe.

Da Shan howled at the moon, “I will not die here today!”

With a roar Da Shan gripped the handle and ripped it from the ground, tearing a hole in the concrete hatch that both men were unable to open previously. Da Shan screamed as he smashed the concrete to bits with his bear hands, shredding the skin on his fingers. His blood sprinkled on Ed as he went berserk, pounding the concrete door in the riverbed to oblivion. Before Da Shan’s fingers were worn to the bone, he suddenly straightened and went taunt. Then, as if a timer had expired, he collapsed into a heap on the stream, blood pouring from shrapnel wounds and his muscles spasming from overexertion.

A few minutes later Da Shan opened his eyes to see Ed peering over at him, worry etched on his face, seeing Da Shan’s eyes open, the look of concern vanished — replaced by a smarmy grin, “You’ve been holding out on me… Vigour Max Pills? Premium stuff. How long you had those?”

“Couple hundred years.”

“… You really are 708, aren’t you?”

“706.”

“… You’re not getting your manual back.”

“708 it is.”

“You’re not gunna thank me for using some expensive Cell Regeneration pills on your hands? And for using my definitely not cheap and definitely extremely expensive lotion on your damaged muscles.” Ed rubbed his fingers together in the universal gesture for money while grinning like a loan shark.

Da Shan looked down and noticed his hands, there were stains of blood on his arms and clothes, but in general the skin was healthy and fresh. Ed glanced down, seeing Da Shan’s puzzlement he supplemented his earlier comment, “Ya shredded them pounding the concrete like an ape, I sprinkled some pills on you to heal you up. And I want compensation”

Da Shan looked at his friend, a rare look of warmth broke his usually neutral expression. “Thanks my friend.” Without hesitation Da Shan pulled a heavy pouch of Ducats from his pocket and tossed them to Ed.

Catching the gold Ed's face contorted with discomfort, as if the money was a poisonous snake about to bite him, “Ah, don’t mention it.” Ed mumbled under his breath in a voice too quiet for Da Shan to hear, “I need better friends.”

“What was that?”

“Don’t worry ‘bout it.”

“Alright then,” With a flip Da Shan was back on his feet, “Let’s go.” With a hop he bounded into the newly opened hole. Ed jumped in after him and both men landed waist deep in a massive pool of water, and the water level certainly wasn’t going down.

“Mind putting a shield up, this is filling up with water pretty fast.”

“Ah no problem.” Ed closed his eyes and the water pouring down into the hole ceased and the water on the ground turned into orbs of liquid that ascended out of the hole — as if in zero gravity. A few moments later Ed opened his eyes. Da Shan looked impressed.

“You move water so well… were you a Dam Technician?”

“Flood Control.”

“Whoa… thought you were only Lieutenant Grade.”

“Understudy, but my control is exceptionally high.”

“How high?”

“Exceptionally.”

“Ah, I see.”

Both men looked at the expansive cavern that ran under the stream, a pillar of white light seemed to stream through their newly minted hole. Beyond where the moonlight shone — in the dim black — there was the outline of a massive door. Da Shan walked through the darkness to the stone door. Ed followed. With a turn of the handle the door opened with a series of creaks and groans that resembled a small child sneaking down the stairs. Ed felt like they were breaking into a place, with all this mock secrecy and the mysterious airs Da Shan was putting on. But that did not stop him from being blown away at what he saw. Ed walked in, amazement evident on his face, the room wasn’t overly large, but it was still huge for a room that was clearly carved out of stone. The score marks on the stone showed it was the work of a sword. Inside the room, scrolls, parchments, papers, chests and shelves were piled high and piled wide. Longevity pills were everywhere and bizarre diagrams of the human body. Though it was an amazing thing, this place also gave him the shivers. The thoguht of some 700 year old man digging under a riverbed to make a secret room like this, it wasn't exactly a pleasant feeling. Especially if the digger was someone named Da Shan, but what's amazing is amazing. Ed let the amazement creep into his voice as he asked, “You made this?”

“With Kathrine’s help.”

“Your… wife?”

“The next closest thing in my life.”

“… Ah… I see… Well… we'll just leave that one there... um... what do we do now?”

“Hehehe! Hehehe! Hehehe! So here is my secret method!” Da Shan dashed around the room and emptied the chests on the floor with a clatter, pills upon pills spilled out from the chests and scattered on the floor. “Before I sealed this room I concocted all these pills and —”

“These are the lowest grade of Blood Clotting Pills… I can piss these out.”

“Ed, if you will stop interrupting.”

“No I won’t Da Shan! You’ve gone insane! These pills are just oral band aids! This is what you put in your hundreds-year-old secret stash?!”

“Ed if you please…”

Ed huffed and puffed and rubbed his head with such angst, Da Shan feared his hair would never grow back. Ed gruffly responded, “Keep going.”

“So, after a lot of calculations I’ve figured out how to fix my body. I need to remake it… there will be a lot of blood… so I need a lot of pills.”

“Oh… why didn’t you have something of higher grade?”

“The same reason I have a secret room, anything I buy or sell and anywhere I go… it can be traced… but what I make in secret… Hehehe… I’m untraceable… incognito baby!”

“You do know that being incognito does not erase your presence.”

“What are you talking about?”

“I don’t know… it just came out.”

“Ah, very good then. I need you to crush these pills into powder and sprinkle them on me whenever I bleed out.”

“Wait… you’re doing it now?”

“Of course! I need to reform my body tonight and I plan on increasing all my aptitudes. I need to be smarter, faster and stronger…” He then added in a quiet voice, “So that I can get my revenge.”

“What was that?”

“I need to start over. I started cultivating at 72, as a result my maximum potential was limited. Especially with this wonky cultivation method I got. After I discovered this vigour, vitality and longevity cycle, I found the absolute limit of my strength... AND IT’S NOT ENOUGH!” Da Shan slammed his hand against the wall, “I can’t take revenge like this… I’m too weak.” Da Shan turned and regarded Ed coolly, but his eyes glittered with a fanaticism that frightened Ed, “I need a new body. I need to break free to the higher grades... I need to kill them with my bare hands!” Da Shan turned from Ed and proceeded to uncork the pill pottles and dump their contents into a mortar and pestle he found, he motioned to Ed to start grinding as he moved away to find another mortar and pestle. But Ed was not happy.

“This is crazy… how are you supposed to remake your body and not die?!”

“I will die! But then, I’m coming back baby.” Da Shan pulled a tome from his pocket and tossed it to Ed. “It’s all in there, the Tome of Rebirth and Rejuvenation: How to Be a New You After 200 Years! A truly great volume.”

Ed opened it and frowned, “The last hundred pages are missing.”

“Ah, that’s just the appendix! No one reads the appendix.”

Ed’s frown turned into a scowl, “This is insane… you’re gambling your life on some unknown book, from who knows where — light untold — this is what you’ve been working on for the passed 200 years?”

“400 years actually, the title has a scribal error, most of the pages say 400 years and my calculations support this reading. I got the book from Elder Quan, after I killed him… obviously, it was his secret goal!”

Ed hissed in anger, “Damn elf-skin… how can you trust such a book!”

Da Shan’s eyes went wild and flew across the room and gripped Ed’s kimono without warning, clutching tightly, “It’s the only hope I have left!” Seeing Ed's frightened eyes and his own extreme behaviour he released his friend. Letting Ed gather himsel,f he stopped briefly, looked at the ground awkwardly, and continued, “For the past 400 years I’ve been following the vigour, vitality, longevity cycle… as the book orders.” Ed’s face bore an expression of marked displeasure and he looked as if he was about to speak, but Da Shan continued, “Now I need to take a couple pills and the process will begin… I will reconstitute this body of mediocrity into the body of a prodigy! I will cultivate all the arts! All of them! But to get there I need to survive tonight... there is a high chance II might die from blood loss, so I need you to sprinkle the pills on me if it's looking bad.”

“I won’t do it… you are my friend, I can't support this.”

“Ed… if you won’t help me I’ll do it anyways and I'll die for sure in the process.”

"Frig, not if I chain you up!"

"Try me."

Ed's eyes locked with Da Shan's, his bald head wrinkled with displeasure and sorrow. Ed's gaze softened and in a reluctant voice he spoke.

“… I… I’ll… I’ll help you.”

“Good.”

“So… when does this book say to begin?”

“At midnight on the Summer Solstice… so in a couple minutes.”

“Wait. At the Summer Solstice?”

“Yes, something about the saturation of solar energy, ya-da, ya-da. The book had a couple chapters on that, but, nothing important. I started my cultivation cycling 400 years ago on the Summer Solstice and so now… today… today is the day. If I miss the timeframe, apparently I’ll just expire and die after midnight.”

“But… the solstice is tomorrow.”

“…”

“…”

“Lying elf-skin! No it isn’t Ed, don’t mess with me like this!”

“You damn knave, you think I’m kidding?! Look!” Ed pulled out his Bloodreader and showed Da Shan the calendar. Da Shan took the machine and his neutral face flashed to an expression of rage… but it was just a flash.

“Fine! We return tomorrow! Tomorrow is the day… the destined day.”

“Hey Da Da…”

“Yeah?”

“What if you didn’t begin practising your method on the Summer Solstice 400 years ago, what if you had the day wrong?”

Da Shan turned his face away, “There was a note on that in the appendix… but I’m sure I didn’t mess up.”

“…”

“…”

“Da Da…”

“WHAT?!”

“I think you should find another way.”

“Ed… this is the only way… there is no other way to make someone with low potential into someone with high potential… the best you can do is maximize that potential. The only way to get a new potential is to be a new you… get a new body.”

“This sounds like a very bad idea Da Da… and that book it’s —”

“I’ll have no more of this conversation.” His words were harsh and fast, but then Da Shan’s voice softened, “I know you’re just worried for me old friend, but see all these diagrams… this is the product of all my research on this cultivation method. I have reconstructed the appendix as best I could… and the theory behind it is correct. I have been around for 705 years. I may make the occasional mistake, but I am still quite the old dog.”

“I just hope you don’t become a dead dog old friend... and it's 708.”

“Ah, age is just a number and don’t worry about it. I’ll see you tomorrow then, uh… can you leave your shield up… so that we don’t have to —”

“Done, it should hold. Wouldn't want to have to swim into this place.”

“Good and thank you.”

“Don't mention it, see you tomorrow then.”

“See you tomorrow.”