The next day, standing in freezing cold water up to his neck while small blocks of ice sailed past him, Sparrow decided that Brother Han was crazy.

Brother Han stood a few feet in front of Sparrow, completely submerged in the water. He hadn’t come up for a breath in 10 minutes, but Sparrow wasn’t too worried about Brother Han. He was more focused on the headache that was splitting through his head, and on his body which had begun to shiver so much, he wondered if he was possessed.

Master Lee’s voice appeared in his head. Control your breathing in, out, peaks and valleys. Even as he shivered his ass off, Sparrow tried to slow his breathing.

His shivering stopped, his arms were even beginning to feel warm. Sparrow closed his eyes and listened to the sound of water trickling along beside him and the sound of his breath as it exited and entered his body.

At some point, he opened his eyes to find Brother Han gone. The shock of not seeing Brother Han in front of him caused the cold to bleed back into Sparrow’s body.

Suddenly he was shivering like crazy. He spun around and ran and tripped back to the shore, where he found Brother Han, sitting on a rock laughing.

‘That was amazing Sparrow.’ Brother Han said, ‘I have never met a seven-year-old who has mastered breathing that fast.’

Sparrow, on the other hand, wasn’t quite so happy.

‘I think I’ve just about frozen one of my balls off.’ he said as he shivered, ‘D-D-Do you have a sp-spare blanket?’

Brother Han shook his head, ‘I’ve got something better. Hold your arms out.’

Sparrow raised his shaking arms and Brother Han crouched, spread his hands out like windmills and then brought them together in a praying position. Fire sprang up the sides of Sparrow’s arms along his chest and coated his whole body.

Yet the fire didn’t burn, it warmed. Brother Han remained in the same stance until Sparrow’s whole body had warmed inside then Brother Han moved his hands apart, and the fire disappeared.

Sparrow’s jaw dropped, ‘What the hell, man? Why are you getting me to stand in freezing water when I could be making fire just by pushing my hands together?’

Brother Han laughed and crouched to meet Sparrow’s eyes, ‘One day Sparrow. One day. But for the moment you have a lot of cultivating ahead of you.’