Qi Condensing
A few weeks passed… And it finally happened.
Li Zian was sitting on the stone bed in the cultivation room, absorbing the rich spiritual energy and letting it rattle through his body, destroying his cells and recreate them.
It was obviously a painful process, but he was slowly growing used to it.
Then he felt something… strong. An immense power was building up inside of him, and his body felt hot all of a sudden.
Sweat rolled down his face, and he focused solely on cultivation. His body became stronger with every second, and bit by bit he got closer to what he felt was 'perfection'.
He advanced closer and felt a barrier in his cultivation. He frowned and absorbed more spiritual energy, but no matter how much he absorbed his body no longer became stronger.
He was at a standstill, and was upset, but then he realised what this was.
"I can break through! I've reached the peak of Body Training!" He said excitedly.
Li Shen frowned upon hearing these words but then closed his eyes and became even more determined to catch up.
Li Zian closed his eyes and concentrated, not minding his brother's attitude.
The spiritual energy in his body increased, but instead of attacking his cells he redirected it towards this strange barrier that blocked his cultivation.
And then he attacked the barrier. The spiritual qi twisted and transformed into countless shapes- arrows, swords, spears, dragons, beasts and warriors. The spiritual qi charged forwards and crashed into this barrier constantly, weakening it bit by bit.
He felt the barrier became weaker, and then launched an all-out assault.
Waves of spiritual energy crashed against the barrier, and cracks began to appear.
He smiled- he was so close; he was practically touching the Qi Condensing Realm.
More and more spiritual energy attacked, and the barrier cracked even more. He could feel the power contained inside, the overwhelming power he would acquire…
And this power felt good. He wanted it desperately and gathered up all the spiritual energy into a shape he was familiar with- a giant dragon, falling from above down upon the barrier.
The dragon smashed through the barrier, and a boom sounded throughout the villa grounds.
A wave of power burst out of Li Zian, knocking Li Shen off the stone bed and causing the cultivation room to shake violently.
Waves of spiritual energy burst out of him. No, this wasn't spiritual energy- this was qi.
Li Zian stood up slowly, and the burst of power faded away.
He clenched his fist and then opened it back up, looking down at his hand. His body felt different, as if it didn't belong to him.
He concentrated, focusing on his dantian. He went further and sensed his divine sea.
The divine sea: a massive subspace inside the dantian in which the qi was kept. His divine sea was rich from the breakthrough, and he felt like he could topple entire mountains.
He centred his consciousness on the divine sea and controlled the qi inside.
His eyes snapped open, and he watched as wisps of white energy appeared around him, flowing across his small body.
"This… This is qi."
The qi then faded, and he hastily emerged from the cultivation chamber beneath the villa.
Li Shen sulked, but not for long.
'I have to catch up… I need to protect him in the future. I can't do that now, so I need to grow up and be strong.'
He sat back down and continued his cultivation.
Li Zian arrived back in the villa, where he discovered his grandfather was standing proudly, nodding his head in satisfaction.
"The Qi Condensing Realm at the age of three. You are truly a supreme talent," he smiled.
"Will you teach me a technique now?" He asked eagerly.
"Impatient now, aren't we? Don't worry, I'll pass the technique on to you."
He flicked his sleeve, and a book appeared in his hand.
It was a manual with words painted onto its cover. The words read 'Rainfall Sword Style'.
"Rainfall Sword Style?" He said the name of the technique aloud.
"Indeed. Our Li family has three qi techniques of great power- they are the Azure Dragon Blade, Violet Mist Palm, and Rainfall Sword Style. The Rainfall Sword Style is what I learnt when I was young, and it is focused on the element of water and using it to cut through enemies swiftly and precisely."
It sounded simple, but also strong. Li Zian was interested.
His grandfather handed over the technique with a grin. "It has seven forms- I estimate you'll have learnt four of them by the time you turn ten. Practice this technique daily and you'll achieve great results."
Li Zian nodded and looked at the manual he held in his small hands. This… This is a technique. Although it was an ordinary book, he could feel the power of the words contained inside of it.
"Thank you, Grandfather!" He saluted, and the old man chuckled.
"I wish you luck," he smiled and suddenly his body vanished in the blink of an eye.
His parents both descended from the sky and landed outside the villa, running over to him and embracing him.
"You finally broke through!" His mother congratulated and hugged him tight.
"Yep."
"And now you can learn a technique. You're a true cultivator now!"
A true cultivator… He should feel ecstatic about this, but instead he felt a heavy burden fall upon his shoulders.
"Zian'er," his father spoke seriously. "The life of a cultivator is not simple. It is a path of blood, betrayal, regret and difficult choices. You will encounter many obstacles and will have to get past them. How you do so is up to you, but just know that this isn't an easy life."
"I know, father," he smiled.
He nodded. 'This kid, he's three years old but already so mature. It's bizarre, I'm so lucky to have such a prodigy for a son. When he turns ten, I'm sure he'll shake the world.'
--
A young boy stood in the woods, his black robes swaying in the wind and a sword in a sheathe hanging on his hip. He stood silently, listening to the wind passing by.
His black, shoulder-length hair waved in the wind, and he was at peace with the world around him, like a statue.
Then he abruptly moved. He turned his body, pushing his left leg back and his right leg forwards as he leaned forwards.
He gripped his sword tight and pulled It from the sheathe in a smooth motion.
The second the blade left the sheathe, countless water droplets began to materialise around the sword.
He drew the blade in a split second, and thousands of water droplets appeared all around it.
He took a large step forwards, pushing his feet through the ground.
He then twisted his body and swung in a horizontal arc.
The thousands of water droplets convened into a wave of concentrated water qi that flew forwards in a horizontal arc.
The wave soared forwards and smashed into the tree line at the edge of the clearing.
Three trees went down at once, and the wave of water qi continued storming forwards across the forest, ripping apart countless trees.
Once the wave of qi faded, fifteen trees lied on the ground, cut clean in half.
But the young boy didn't stop there. He pulled his sword back, and put his left leg forwards, turning his body sideways and pointing his sword straight forwards.
More water droplets appeared around the sword, and he thrust the blade forwards in the direction of some more trees.
The water droplets transformed into a beam that soared out from the sword tip, smashing through several trees at once and completely obliterating them.
And then the boy performed another move. Hundreds of thousands of water droplets appeared all around him, hovering in the air. They followed along with him when he walked towards the trees that were regenerating, and then he swung his blade.
And then he swung it again, and then again. With each slash of his sword, thousands of droplets transformed and flew forwards, cutting through trees one after another.
He continued walking forwards, until there were no water droplets left. All the trees in the area had been cut down, and the man breathed in harshly.
"Rainfall sword, form four; Soaring Water Wheels," He spoke softly in an immature voice.
Suddenly ten wheels of spiralling water appeared around him, and he pointed his sword at a small gathering of trees in the distance.
The ten water wheels soared forwards, spinning rapidly, and mowed down the forest, splitting apart every tree they touched until they ran out of qi and faded away.
"Finally… I've mastered the fourth form."
This young boy was none other than Li Zian.