Chapter 0144

Bei Ting Mao knew Tempest was feeling better. If she had the strength to argue instead of crying out in pain, then she is definitely feeling better.

Still, Bei Ting Mao isn’t going to be used as a doormat, even by his group. Especially by his group. There were too many people trying to pull him down when he was reaching for the top and there were too many people pushing him down when he was at the bottom. He had too many people depending on him and no one to guide him when he was the prided genius of the Bei clan. He had no one to shield and protect him when he was the trash of the Bei clan.

He didn’t harbor any hopes about the people chosen by his spirits. It is too soon to truly trust any of them.

In the deepest recesses of his crippled heart lies a spark of hope, a hope that these people will be different from his clan. They were different. Bei Ting Mao had slowly begun to realize that perhaps he can trust these people with his back.

It doesn’t mean Tempest can vent her frustration onto him.

“I have experience and proficiency as a close combat fighter. I am confident in my ability -”

“Your experience and proficiency are dependants on using qi as a source of energy to power your attacks.” Tempest cut him off midway. She knew she hurt his pride but he needs someone to knock it into his head he is a mage now, not a melee fighter. “You can’t absorb qi until your dan tian is repaired.”

Bei Ting Mao shut his mouth. He realizes Tempest is right. His previous abilities are powered by qi, not mana. “I can use some qi.”

“You haven’t realized it yet?”

“Realize what?”

“Try circulating your qi.”

“Tempest.”

“Just do as I say,” Tempest ordered. Bei Ting Mao wanted to protest. He wasn’t her servant to be ordered about as she wished. He held his tongue and did as he was told. Tempest had her reasons.

As Bei Ting Mao circulated his qi throughout his body he realized there was something wrong. The qi was moving throughout his body but it wasn’t moving through his spirit veins. Instead, qi was circulating through his body via his blood vessels. Although he can effectively use the qi circulating through his blood vessels, the toll on his body is much harsher than when qi circulates through his body by way of his spirit veins.

“Finally realized it?” Tempest asked with a smug look.

“The qi isn’t circulating through my spirit vein but through my blood vessels instead.” Bei Ting Mao obediently reported.

“Do you understand now?” Tempest prodded. Trying to get them to recognize the problem on their own is very hard work.

Bei Ting Mao didn’t understand. It was obvious by the look on his face. The other members of the group didn’t understand the distinction except the somewhat medically inclined Graden, and Starm who seemed to know everything. They gave Bein Ting Mao and Tempest a pensive look but ultimately said nothing.

“Qi was never meant to circulate through the blood vessels. It was meant to circulate through the spirit vein. Mana was never meant to travel through spirit veins. It was meant to circulate through blood vessels. Yet you are circulating your qi through your blood vessels. Do you understand what will happen to you if you continue doing that?”

Bei Ting Mao paled at Tempest’s words. He barely survived only to have his dan tian destroyed. Being a mage is the only path left for him. If he were to cut off his path as a mage now, then there would be nothing left for him.

One can be prideful, but Bei Ting Mao had learned how to put aside his pride and ask for help. Bei Ting Mao gritted his teeth and humbled himself before Tempest. “Please enlighten me.”

“At your stage in cultivation, circulating qi through your blood vessels as you have been doing could burst your blood vessels. For cultivators whose spirit veins elements are the same as their affinities, they would lose the increase cultivation speed granted by the spirit veins. They would be like any other cultivators. In your case, since your dan tian is broken, once you burst your blood vessels your cultivation as a mage would essentially stop. You’d go back to being the trash everyone calls you. Well, that is until you learn how to circulate mana through your body and repair the damage. How long do you think that would take?”

Bei Ting Mao gritted his teeth at the bleak picture Tempest pictured. He didn’t know if Tempest spoke the truth or not but if she didn’t point it out, he wouldn’t have realized his blood vessels were damaged from the qi circulating through his body. “I might never recover from the damage.”

“Oh, you would. Your spirits love you too much to let you remain a cripple. It would take several years for your spirits to repair the damage, but they would do it. The power of the spirits is as limitless as you think. It takes a massive amount of energy on their part to heal you. If you continue to focus on cultivation qi instead of mana, your spirits might not be able to heal your wounds because it doesn’t have the mana to fuel their efforts.” Once Tempest started on her lecture, she couldn’t stop. “I know you are set in your ways, but your fighting style needs to be changed to suit your cultivation path. You can still charge into the fray and kill your way out, but you have to do that using mana. Mana, you hear me. Mages work off of mana while cultivators work off of qi. You need to ask your spirits to teach you some spells that suit your fighting style. Given your earth and metal elements, I’m sure you could come up with a fighting style that incorporates mana, qi, spells, and swordsmanship. It will shock the entire realm. Of course, the first step to your grand comeback is talking to your spirits. I know you men don’t like to talk about your problems. Ask a man about their health and they would say everything is fine. How are you feeling? Fine. How is your cultivation? Fine. Do you need help? No. Are you being bullied? No. You men never open up. You always have to act like a strong man. You can handle anything and everything life thrown your way without any help. Ha! Well, you better get rid of that mentality mister. As a mage, you have to go get in touch with your inner self -”

“I don’t want to interrupt this scintillating lecture, but mages have to get in touch with their spirits and not with their inner selves.” Someone had to interrupt Tempest when she was going on one of her strange lectures/rants and they were glad Graden was the one to do it.

“It wasn’t a lecture. It was me trying to enlighten him. Isn’t that right?”

Tempest put Bei Ting Mao on the spot. He can’t deny she was trying to enlighten him, but it was more of a lecture than enlightenment. If he refuses Tempest now, then in the future, the money grubber would hold it against him. Bei Ting Mao has already seen how greedy Tempest can be.

Tempest was selling her charms for 10 silvers apiece. Hannah destroyed 20 charms at most, yet the greedy little goblin charged her 600 silvers. It somehow jumped to 700 silvers in a day from interest and it jumped another 100 silvers to 800 silver due to compound interest. He didn’t want to piss her off. She’d start keeping an account in her mind and he’d end up owing her more than can make in a lifetime.

Bei Ting Mao weighs Tempest’s ire against his pride and immediately knew what to say. “Tempest had indeed enlightened me on the path of a mage. When we get back, I’ll have a serious talk with my spirits.”

Graden, who intercede on his behalf, “...”

Everyone else, “...