(Author: Hello. Sorry about no Jade Immortal recently (a day or two?). I had a trail of thought and reached a cool event in The Necromancer King story of mine as well as college stuff. I will only write one chapter for each story a day now (maybe double release and one chapter if I get a sudden insight) starting tomorrow. This way my readers who enjoy both stories can enjoy my works. Anyway, to those who expressed concerns about element qi attributes: I did say that the only way a martial artist can fight on equal grounds with a mage capable of using all elemental magic is through spirit abilities. Hence, it doesn't matter what attribute it is, but you can't cultivate other types of qi. In other words, you gain versatility in exchange for power. Spirit abilities are not like qi techniques. No else one could use it unless they absorbed the spirit energy and were lucky enough to gain the same ability from the same type of magical beast. Spirit abilities are not something you learn or create. Spirit abilities are something luck and the ability to kill the magical beast grants you. Hopefully that is enough clarification. Enjoy.)

Chapter 15: Discovering Power

Zhuang sat down, took out his zither from his storage bag, and put it on his lap. He closed his eyes as he began to play and absorb the qi. Brown and golden element qi started rising from the corpse and entering his body, the corpse turning a dull grey as more qi was absorbed. Absorbing spirit energy was easy, but absorbing spirit energy from a corpse with different qi affinities was different. Absorbing the spirit energy also meant absorbing the corpse's qi.

Zhuang's meridians began shaking as his body tried to absorb the foreign qi. Zhuang bit his lip from the pain and yelled out loud as the light element qi was expelled from his body. Zhuang cursed in his mind as he remembered the words from his books. If the body could not contain and harmonize with the foreign qi, his spirit ability would not comprise of that element qi attribute.

"Not good," Shuang murmured as he stared up from his meal, his mouth dripping with snake blood. "Only one foreign remains. I wonder what spirit ability master will use with earth element qi?"

"Zhuang," Lingqi whispered as she held her hands to her chest.

"He'll be fine," Chang said. "My brother seems about done. Luckily the rabid ebony snakes use dark and poison element qi."

"WOW!" Zhao sighed as he felt power rush within him. "This feels amazing. So much power."

"What spirit ability did you get?" Mei asked as she helped him up.

"I could only absorb the dark element qi as it is my own element besides earth," Zhao said. "Since it is the same affinity as the one I already have, as I improve my cultivation of dark element qi, my spirit ability will evolve. I really have to thank Zhuang. Truly, I could never have known about spirit abilities unless I was in a top tier martial arts sect or a member of a high up noble house or clan."

"So what does it do bro?" Chang asked as he rushed to his older brother.

"I call it Void Skewer," Zhao grinned. "I can create spikes of dark element qi from anywhere on my body or weapon. This ability works great as I can use dark element qi on my shield while I bash my enemies. If an enemy slips past my shield, I can lean back and skewer them with spikes of darkness from my body."

"Wicked," Chang grinned. "You're truly like a dark paladin now. If only you had light element qi, many churches and religions would have hired you big time."

"Quiet down," Lingqi whispered. "Zhuang is still absorbing the earth element qi from the leader!"

"Chang! You have earth and fire element qi right? Help me absorb the earth element qi in my body by putting your hand on my back and regulating the earth element qi! Hurry!" Zhuang shouted as he coughed a little blood.

"Al, alright," Chang stuttered and quickly sat down behind Zhuang and put both hands on his back.

Everyone else watched as brown energy emanated Chang and slowly spread around Zhuang. Chang closed his eyes as he tried to control the flow of the earth element qi Zhuang absorbed, spreading it out and thinning it so that it would be easier to absorb. Zhuang grunted in pain as the earth element qi slowly entered his dantian, a statue of the rocky star hydra appearing as a small island formed in his realm of qi. The newly hatched dragon in his realm of qi, representing death qi, was ecstatic as the statue started rising and nine hydra heads formed.

Chang couldn't help regulate the qi any longer and fell on his back in exhaustion. Zhuang roared as the earth element qi, no longer constrained, rushed like a river into his dantian. His meridians had expanded, but was slightly closer to the dantian. Zhuang sighed in relief and rested his hands and head on the zither, sweat pouring all over his body.

"Master!" Shuang cried and flew to his master. "Did you succeed?"

"Yeah," Zhuang grinned. "However, I'll only be at half strength for a few days until I recover. Absorbing spirit energy is one thing but foreign element qi....I'll probably only risk it if I have the necessary tools to endure it without any damage."

"Let me heal you," Mei said as she walked toward him.

"No, doing so will actually worsen my condition," Zhuang said as he shook his head and stood up weakly. "Meridians are where the spirit energy flows in the body. They must heal naturally through constant meditation and cultivation. If you heal me now, my meridians will actually shrink to the size they were before and I would need to spend weeks if not months to recover. Qi and mana are both spirit energy, but have different properties and applications. QI and mana were not meant to be in the same body unless you're one of the Six or born with an exceptional body with special qualities that could harmonize both. It is a rare case but it is possible."

Zhuang stared at Lingqi and she realized he meant someone like Victor, the boy who killed her uncle. She nodded as she remembered the spirit talking to Victor. Victor wasn't a special case as he was one of the Six. However, Lingqi didn't know that the mage girl Zhuang killed was also a member of the Six as she never heard it talk. All she saw was Zhuang taking one look in the mage girl's direction before going berserk.

"Thank you Zhuang," Zhao said as he bowed on his knees to Zhuang. "Without you, I, a member of a lower tiered sect, would have never known about spirit abilities unless I met a kind expert who would tell me about it. May I ask what ability you gained?"

"It can't evolve like yours as it uses earth element qi, but it can get stronger as I increase my qi condensation levels," Zhuang sighed and motioned Zhao to stand. "I call it Gravity Pulse. I use the earth element qi to control gravity using my body as the center. I can attract and repulse anything within ten meters give or take a few inches. Using it requires no spirit energy as I have a martial body, but it will take me a long time to master as I am not used to earth element qi."

"So this is the benefit of a martial body," Zhao nodded with awe.

"Yeah. Spirit abilities cost no spirit energy, but you can't make it stronger or evolve it unless you break the bottleneck to the next qi condensation level. However, it is best to kill a magical beast with at least one qi affinity the same as your own as it has the potential to evolve and will be easier to master. The slight down side will be the lack of versatility as people can predict what effects your spirit ability will be based on your attributes. Spirit abilities are trump cards to those without a martial body. If you face an enemy with a martial body: run," Zhuang warned. "It's the same as fighting a mage as he or she could use any element, but without the mana cost."

"The path is clear and with one of us injured, it's best to get into the formation before another horde or party shows up," Lingqi said as she supported Zhuang. "I'm glad you're okay Zhuang. I was so worried."

"Ah, um, thanks," Zhuang stuttered and allowed Lingqi to walk him through the opening.

Shuang looked around and ate all the demonic cores except for the hydra core. Its master would probably eat it to improve his spirit energy and attunement to earth element qi. It carried the demonic core in its teeth as it quickly followed its master. As a magical beast, there were no drawbacks to eating any type of demonic core.

"I'm glad I'm a mage," Mei said silently as she was the last to enter the formation as she watched Chang help his brother walk through. "I don't have to pay any price to use any type of element."

Chapter 14: Horde Leader Main Page Chapter 16: Hidden Passageway