... The events in the west are concerning indeed, but not for the reasons which you profess, dear Bond Sister.

Among the people of the west, the Red Garden had very few friends indeed. You are, of course, aware of our own history and the Sage’s war in the west, but you must understand that although the people beyond the Red Jungle might appear similar to us, the Thousand Princes do not regard those of the Red Garden as countrymen.

Just as the Sage warred and dealed to unite our peoples, so, too, did the one who is called both the Great Builder, the Great Breaker, or the Sorrowful Sage. He warred across the west a century or two before the Sage Emperor, but their conquest never reached the jungles nor the icy plateaus of the south.

I am not wholly certain that I understand the stories properly, as they seem odd to me. It seems that this man came to regard his conquests with sorrow and horror for some reason and ceased to expand. It is said that he built many great temples, libraries, and places of learning with his own two hands in the era that followed, and upon reaching the point of ascension, he shattered his throne, granting a single fragment to each of his thousand descendants. He then spoke a commandment that any who sought to hold more than one fragment would suffer an unending and terrible karma.

A fanciful tale, but it does serve as the source of the titular Thousand Princes, and indeed, it explains well why there are still a thousand of them! It is likely exaggerated to an extent, much like the tales of our Sage, and I suspect it has its roots in their older legends as well.

Did you know that the people of the west insist that the Nameless Father and Mother were originally one being, which split itself in twain to combat its loneliness and isolation? An interesting twist on the tale, wouldn’t you say?

But I am wandering, as is my wont. Suffice to say, the Red Garden did not and never has owned one of the throne fragments, which are quite real.

So, having assuaged your political concerns, dear Bond Sister, let us return to more academic matters. My efforts to charm Prince Vira Kerala have finally born fruit, and I was granted permission to speak to his scholars and read documents which do not hold secret knowledge. Here, I was finally able to study the foundations of their cultivation system, which I must say are fascinating.

Here again, I found evidence of the theme of division. The western people regard each individual as having been split from the same primal one-ness, and the eventual goal is to rejoin it. The world is damaged and incomplete, they say, and it is only in achieving oneness with the world that the being which became the Mother and Father can be restored. It is this restoration which will mark the end of this “kalpa” or cycle of existence. The world will end and be forged anew free of its flaws, and the godhead will split once again.

Quite quaint, I find. It reminds of the more religious approaches to cultivation which existed in the early Empire. The actual mechanics are far more fascinating.

Do you know that they truly do not have meridians? The guru regarded me as if I were mad when I described them, seeing carving such channels as an act of self-mutilation, akin to the acts of self-mortification which some of the southern princes practice and which other princes abhor. Instead, it seems that they rely wholly upon their chakras, which are… strange.

Three of them are roughly analogous to our dantians, but there are seven chakras in total, and all seven are cultivated from the beginning, rather than opening at different realms. I have found attempting their methods quite useless, but I do wonder if a cultivator not so far along the Path would have different results. However, I was able to make some of their simple techniques function with some modification.

I found techniques which focused upon the lower chakras less difficult. I am told my root chakra is quite well developed! Not that I haven’t seen some impressive sites myself in the courts of the Prince! The people of the Thousand Princes have some fascinating manuals and exercises.

I shall bring you a copy of the tome I have found on the subject. Perhaps you can teach one of those flimsy academic types you enjoy something interesting!

More seriously, each chakra seems to function somewhat like a giant meridian, allowing the use of techniques related to that chakra’s aspect. From the lowest to highest, the chakras are associated with a body part and a color. The Red Chakra is located at the base of the spine, the Orange at the root of the genitals, the Yellow at the navel, the Green at the heart, the Blue at the throat, the Indigo between the eyes, and the Violet or “Prism” above the crown of the head.

There are some parallels there, are there not?

However, the actual function of the chakras is strange to me. The Manipura Chakra, for example, is the chakra located in roughly the same region as the lower dantian and is cultivated through various breathing exercises and arts. Cultivation of this chakra improves the power of movement and visual techniques.

As you can probably theorize, the chakras serve the same function as meridians, but they split some things oddly. The Heart Chakra, for example, is associated with techniques which use the hands, as well as illusions and speech. It seems nonsensical to users of our system.

And while I earlier said that all chakras must be cultivated at once, this is at least slightly inaccurate. The seventh chakra, the Sahasrara which exists outside of the body and is wholly spiritual, seems to serve the same function of our higher dantians in allowing for the production of greater energies. However, it is also the gate through which all energy flows and becomes qi. Rather than opening a new organ, higher cultivation is simply a matter of refining the connection to the One and thus receiving access to Law.

I cannot say I care for the aspects of allowing the self to be subsumed for the whole, but it does make me think a bit. How much do we take the realm beyond for granted in our endless climb?

The things you muse on after a decade alone on a mountain peak! I think I may have grown a touch maudlin there.

In any case, by the time you receive this letter, Bond Sister, I will be on my way home.

Zheng Lu, King of Explorers