Qi cycled, first in a single cycle. Then in two. The essence of the world stirred around me, moving as if I was a part of the world itself. There was something different in this place. Unlike how I normally needed to hold Qi in my dantian and could only use my Qi, the Qi here moved to my will even when not within my dantian.

I let the world around me become a part of my circulation. Two circles, one into the other. Chasing an eternal cycle perpetually as they continued to suck more and more into themselves.

Something stirred around me, the world was pulsing in tune with my Qi. I reached out to that intangible mass of Qi I’d felt when forming my spirit herb garden. A vast array of Qi channels lit up in my senses, as the Qi within my core circulated.

My senses expanded, as I became a part of the world around me. It was a surreal experience, even more so than what I’d been facing so far. I could sense a vast cycle around me. The cycle of the world. The pulse that it took. A gentle wave stirring the pattern, before settling into the comforting rhythm once more.

Then came the crack. The dark, pungent veins that ran through the world. There was a taint here. A leech that was sucking the life from this inner world. A crack, leaking the Qi within.

The parasite’s roots were here. Within this world, the origin of the miasma began stepping from the abyss in front of me.

I breathed out, focusing myself. There was something I had in mind.

I reached out with my mind, to the intangible dark roots that plagues the world around me. And then, grabbing onto them, I pulled.

The world shuddered, as the roots tugged on the core of this place. The Qi stirred like water splashing within a rolling pot, turning turbulent. I calmed the swirling Qi, focusing once more, as I sank deeper into the cycle of Qi within my core.

I felt Qi surge within me, as I saw a vast cycle of Qi around me, with millions of motes of Qi connecting to one another in a complicated array, and I was just a tiny dot within it. Just a singular node attached to a big network of life. Yet, something was missing. The Qi didn’t react to my call. It didn’t move towards me. I wasn’t the anchor here. The world seemed to scoff at me, shrugging me off as the Qi from within me drifted deep under.

A vast presence, larger than any and all I’d ever sensed before. An all-encompassing presence, covering all under the sky together in its embrace. The essence swirled around me, it churned, it moved, it twisted.

It was arrogant to think I would be the center of this vast network of life. I sensed the world around me, like a living breathing array of Qi that moved within a cycle of its own. All I had was a mimicry, a copy of something far larger. Something that I’d found here, in nature today.

I saw the Qi of the world, of this world. As it circulated with me. I was a tiny dot, within a world not of my own. I stopped trying to be the anchor. This wasn’t my world, this was someone else’s and I had to work accordingly.

I let the Qi swirl, and move, and I let myself become a part of the world. The anchors shifted, the focal points changing as the Qi began to aid me once more.

I sensed the dark roots that spread through this world, trying to taint the circulation of life. The roots shifted, pulsating like a beating heart.

I guided the Qi, instead of commanding it, asking for its aid. The Qi obliged, as it swirled around the network. I felt it move through the dark roots, plunging through them, as the miasma began to hiss.

I continued pushing, as I began to pry the miasma from the world. One root at a time. A hissing wave of heat began to boil the water around me, and I felt a wave of heat pass over me. I kept going, cutting through each root, before long, I had reached the core.

I reached out, letting the Qi sink into the seed of miasma at the core filling it to the brim. Like an overripe balloon the seed exploded as the Qi within released itself in a flood. I sensed the energy returning to the chain of life, as the essence from the seed began to be channeled.

I felt the miasma surrounding me, as I felt some of it move into my core, being sucked in greedily.

The walls of the world broke, as I felt myself plunging into darkness. Many questions filled my mind, and I opened my mouth to speak when a strange dizziness assaulted me. I felt my eyes drooping as the world started to turn dark.

Within my core, at the edge of my awareness, a fuzzy shape formed. Qi swirled, alongside something else, as my dantian began to change, the Qi finally taking form.

A seed formed within my core.

***

I jerked awake, opening my eyes as I found myself sitting on the ground, with my clothes slightly wet from the water around me.

“Senior is awake?” I heard Liuxiang’s voice ask, and I blinked my eyes, trying to anchor myself. What had just happened?

“What- I- what happened?” I asked in a confused voice, as my memories began to jumble in my head.

“Senior had stood frozen, and this one had sensed that senior’s spirit wasn’t present. So this one had moved senior a bit behind,” Liuxiang spoke and I blinked. “This one must admit to being surprised. Senior managed to purge the core of the parasitic plant. This one managed to find some spirit lotuses that we needed as well, the one that survived,” Liuxiang said, holding out the beautiful lotus filled with a potent essence that tingled my nose.

I nodded gratefully, as I turned towards the lake to stare at the withered roots floating on the lake, the parasitic miasma flower now a withered black husk.

A chirp sounded out and my eyes went towards a turtle climbing out of the lake as it made its way towards me, before bumping its head.

I stared blankly, as I saw the green eyes looking up at me. “Is that… you?” I asked the turtle, receiving another chirp in reply.

Huh.

I stared at the much more normal sized turtle now, and found golden lines running across it’s back, like two joint chains of swirling circles formed on them. It… was oddly similar to the way I cultivated.

I clutched my head, feeling it buzz. Qi thrummed in my core as my mind felt unsettled, restless almost.

“Senior should rest. This one, still doesn’t know what exactly had happened. But this one has heard of trials of the spirit. Where only one’s mind and spirit goes through the trial, and no harm falls on the body. Such trials are often taxing on the spirit themselves,” Liuxiang spoke.

“They also forge the spirit. Zhi Zhu wants to be in one,” the spider said, with a chittering click.

I stared blankly, as the turtle walked closer, bumping its head against my hand. I gently rubbed his shell as the little guy climbed on my leg and seated himself calmly there.

“Are you feeling alright Labby?” I asked, sensing Labby stir awake.

“Labby’s head’s spinning,” she replied, squeaking as she did. I laughed, feeling oddly relieved as I sat down with two spirit animals. One of them, likely capable of crushing me with a thought.

“How did you shrink so much?” I asked the turtle, who stared at me blankly before letting out a light chirp. Not much of a talker huh?

“Spirits can change their bodies if need be. The old form was tainted by the miasma, and the spirit seems to have broken through while the corruption was being cleansed. It likely used the essence it gathered during its breakthrough to reforge its body,” Luxiang said and I nodded.

Well, that was another thing right on the top of my list to look into. All the mass had to have gone somewhere. Not to mention the inner world and the changes I’d felt in my core. Far too many things to look into.

“What about the villagers?” I asked, turning towards where they lay.

“Recovering. This one has removed the roots from their bodies and applied salves to their wounds and moved the person from near the collapsed entrance here as well. The son of the chief is conscious, the other three are still unconscious.”

Well, no one died in that case. I think I could call this a successful quest.

I picked myself up, carrying the turtle in my arms as I walked over to where the villagers were resting. I noticed the awake guy, likely the son of the village head.

“My eternal gratitude for saving us, cultivators,” the man said, bowing his head low. He looked to be young, not much older than me.

“It’s alright. We were doing a job. Are you alright?” I asked, noticing the balms of spirit herbs present on their injuries.

“I live yet, thanks to you.”

I nodded, taking a look around at the hacked away tree roots moving. The core was gone, but the parasitic plants were still around and likely spreading.

“We would need to report to the sect quickly as well, Senior. The presence of miasma is concerning,” Luxiang said, walking ahead as he picked up the unconscious villagers on his shoulder.

I helped the son of the chief up, still carrying the little turtle. “You want to come with me? This place isn’t exactly habitable anymore,” I asked the little guy and received a little head bump from it.

I was taking that as a yes.

I sensed some envy from Labby as she crackled with sparks and I shook my head. There was a lot to be done, and reports to be made, but I was glad to have gotten this over with. I smiled at the thought of being able to go through the upper floor of the library, feeling a spring to my step.

There were a lot of things to research and not nearly enough time to do them. It was time to make our way back.