Yeah, I use a wrecking ball! And an umbrella! Got a problem with that?

Anyway, it’s not like I hate the sword or other… more orthodox weapons, but it’s just that I seem to have more talent when it comes to my primary weapons. I even have the wrecking ball intent! And it’s very strong too!

Of course, if I showed some measly sword technique for the foundation building and below, I would not shame my name, the problem would be that I might do it too well. If my master, God forgive, thought I was a genius of the Sword Path it would be a very tragic misunderstanding.

And if he found out that I broke away from the Sword Path, it’s not like he would scold or beat me… He would be very hurt though. Besides, he probably would scold and beat me too…

I and my fellow brothers and sisters could go far in testing master’s patience with mischief but when it came to the Sword…

“Master, I still feel very weak. Can this wait?”

Master looked at me with appraising eyes and nodded.

“Indeed, it’s too early for you to go out. Okay, let’s review your theoretical knowledge”

It must be said that master took educating us very seriously. Other elders in the sect weren’t as serious when it came to teaching their disciples but master put a lot of effort.

When we were young we felt it was a very annoying trait of his, but now I feel very grateful.

“Tell this old man how qi and the aura between Heavens and Earth are related as well as your insights into that relationship at your stage”

“Qi dwells within a human’s body, supported by one’s spirit. It develops as one immerses oneself in the aura between Heavens and Earth”

That should be the appropriate answer for a 10-year-old.

In reality, this answer is… somewhat correct, though there must be a lot of things said about both qi and the aura between Heavens and Earth.

Let’s start with the aura between Heavens and Earth:

The aura is a kind of field that is impossible to detect with mortal means and one needs advanced senses as well as spiritual roots to perceive it.

This field hides within it a lot of untapped potential and by interacting with the field, cultivators can cast magic, comprehend the nature of the Heavenly Path and, well, cultivate.

In the first place, to cultivate means to harvest power from the aura between heavens and earth.

Though we call it the aura between Heavens and Earth, it exists everywhere, even in the outer space, and has different intensity at different places under different circumstances. It can be affected quality and quantity-wise by various factors and become more or less suitable for various purposes.

A body of any living and non-living thing also has an effect on this field. It can be especially avidly observed inside said bodies. Various races have found ways to harvest the energy that can be generated by the field. The way it’s stored is quite complicated and has a lot to do with a cultivator’s spirit. Hm, a spirit, well, it’s also quite complicated to explain what it is and how it works. Basically, the reserves of one’s energy are measured by something called qi. Qi has wondrous uses, such as extending vitality or affecting the aura between Heavens and Earth in order to create phenomena or to strengthen a person’s body and many other uses. Though in order to control the qi, as well for other purposes, a cultivator needs something called a spirit root which can only be formed naturally and can never change. The spirit roots are also, as seen in their name, are related to the spirit, but it’s also quite complicated to explain.

…

Master tested me on many other questions, some were common knowledge, some needed some thinking and imagination to answer, for a child at my current stage at least, I also acted the way I was supposed to act and I think I acted well.

In the end, he explained some things I “didn’t understand” and gave me a few manuals to refer to as I do self-study.

I think I should tell master about my circumstances, I just need time to weigh the pros and cons of doing this. After all, without having a clear idea about my current situation and the circumstances at this time, it may lead to consequences I would prefer it didn’t lead to.

I should also contemplate on how I want to cultivate in the future.

*Master’s POV*

This old man’s name is Darien Kang. This old man is a cultivator at the early Nascent Soul stage and an elder of the Jade Peak sect. This old man also has four personal disciples.

Recently, this old man’s third disciple had a week-long fever that was related to incorrect cultivation of a sword art. It was this old man’s shortcoming as a teacher to let Oalus hurt himself during cultivation.

This old man has to admit that Oalus does have very little talent for the sword. His style is wild and unrestrained. He might be better suited for a sabre or a heavy whip or something like that. Still, as one of this old man’s disciples, he has to cultivate sword arts!

It was recently that he finally woke up. They say that sickness can change a person and this old man will have to agree.

When Oalus woke up, he behaved very differently from usual. Oalus was a very shy child, he didn’t speak much and kept to himself a lot. But when he woke up, he wasn’t as restrained and he felt much more confident in himself. He also tried to tease this old man. To be honest, this old man was quite relieved and content with this change. Oalus’ talent (apart from sword arts) is incredible and it would be a shame, no, a tragedy, if his insecurity dragged him down.

The strange thing was the change in his speech. He often said words and phrases that felt out of place, like things that were already out of style for hundreds of years already or things that this old man couldn’t understand altogether when this old man first heard them. Sometimes entire grammatical structures of sentences were mercilessly butchered by him and verbs and nouns were twisted in ways they really shouldn’t have been.

It’s a point of concern. Perhaps it has something to do with his fever.

If this old man didn’t know any better, this old man would suspect possession, but as a Nascent Soul expert, this old man is able to see whether there were changes in a person’s spirit or not.

This old man has also suspected if Oalus became a fool after the fever but this old man’s tests have shown that Oalus is fine and well from that point of view.

This old man can only hope that Oalus will not continue speaking in such a strange way otherwise this old man may die not in battle or under a tribulation, but out of shame!