7 – Qi Deviation? What’s that?
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Pain. My muscles were in pain. The new instructor was a pain. This training camp was a pain.

But it was more interesting than real life. Maybe endorphin made me felt better. Maybe doing something new was better than mundane jobs. Maybe the refreshing vibe after circulating qi after a rough training was satisfying. Well, I didn't really know myself. I hadn't had a chance to exercise much. My life routine was indoor, and I felt tired after everything was done. But in here, there's a magical stamina replenishment.

I went back into my room. This was the favorite part of the day, experimenting about qi.

About what Elle said, one was to become one with nature, and another one was her hint. This way of speaking was similar to duality where 2 parts were opposing polar. It was easy. If good existed, evil also existed.

The answer was to consume nature.

I was skeptical about Elle's intent. What and why did she want to tell me this?  However, it was worth trying out.

But this was strange. It had a resemblance to philosophy in other martial arts books I had read. Did I miss something important? Did Wind Pagoda's also have something similar? It was possible that their teaching wasn't written down in the book I had. Did knight codes affect how they train aura?

Let's took a look at the bigger picture, Canary. What did philosophy, mantra, codes, and whatever it was— these puzzle pieces have in common?— Their purpose was to set a state of mind.

If the mind was important, also why did the teaching point towards the way of life and nature in general? Was it a reason why we cultivated? What were the differences when the goal was the same, to become stronger? Did it mean that I missed 3 variables? Did the first sensation I felt after obtaining qi mean there was qi in nature too and I cultivated from them? Were differences in each person's qi 

I had so many questions.

For now, let's try to connect all variables based on those questions.

...

Having the focus was for maintaining the breath, and possibly the state of mind.

Breaths were for moving qi.

The circulation path was used to deliver qi to parts of the body.

The flow direction was, maybe about how we used qi to interact with body mechanism, but I thought it also related to the state of mind. 

Environments determined the source we cultivated.

And the last thing, the state of mind might be how we used qi we obtained from nature.

...

Everything made sense.

To prove my hypothesis, I had to test it. First, would try to compare cultivating outside, the area with more abundant in qi.

The concrete side of Elle's hint also indicated the emphasis on nature. To absorb nature— what if I ate grass's qi then cultivated it, was it different from cultivating without consuming? I saw a post about a magical pill that increased qi, but would grass's qi do the same? On the abstract side, would focusing on something affect the cultivation?

It seemed that my mind was in disarray. I had to go out and proved it.

The weather outside was perfect to chill out, breezy, a little cold. I relied on my sense to find the best place to cultivate and stumbled on a hillock with a tree on the top. I sat down. 

As I pulled the grass's qi out, stared at them.

For the progress of science, there had to be a sacrifice. I had internal bleeding and organ failure before, eating grass's qi wouldn't make a difference in this shitty experience.

"gulp"

A green and earthy smell hit my nose as I put it in. It was bitter but manageable. I should have clean the dirt off. It wasn't far from my imagination, even though I had never eaten grass's qi before.

I quickly swallowed. If I kept it in my mouth longer, I would be the first one who wrote a grass's qi review in the GGQ forum.

As humans couldn't digest cellulose, I hoped the system didn't give me a weird message.

 

[The patrolling squires saw you ate grass.]

[Fame: -20]

 

God damn, I shouldn't jinx it and focus on cultivation instead.— I could feel qi inside glass clearly than before. It was time to use my qi to push it out and absorbed. It seemed not easy.

...

Nothing happed. Although I felt that I absorbed qi from grass's qi, it didn't push my qi stat up.

Was it about compatibility or the amount of qi inside the grass's qi was too low? If the amount of qi is considerably high for grass's qi, no one would buy a qi pill. Eating was a valid method, but the cultivation efficiency came from what the cultivator ate. Did consuming other living creature organs work too? I would like to try absorbing qi from a dragon one day if this game had one.

How about touching? Elle drained my qi by physical contact.

Using physical contact from the grass's qi where I sat, I extended circulation to consume their qi. As grass's qi entering, I felt more conflict compared to before. This meant the compatibility shouldn't be ignored.

It took time more than before, but it succeeded. The amount of qi, incompatibility, and physical contact method should be the cause of slow cultivation speed.

 

[You've learned unknown qi absorbing technique. The skill name will not appear on your skill list due to a lack of knowledge.]

Qi: 16/16

[VIT +1]

 

I moved my spot to see what happened to the grass's qi I sat on. They withered, but I wasn't sure if they were dead or not. 

If I compared this to real-world examples, righteous or normal cultivation was similar to a business that cared about environmental sustainability and demonic cultivation was similar to a business that didn't care about environmental sustainability. In case that the company cared too much about nature, the company wouldn't make a profit. On contrary, the company wouldn't have resources left, if they didn't give a shit about the environment. 

There should be a balance. This answered me why my mixed qi flow circulation worked like a charm.

I confirmed the statement before absorbing grass's qi with normal qi flow, but it appeared that reverse qi flow benefited in absorbing qi more.

Environment affects cultivation— checked.

The thoughts or state of mind related to how we used qi we obtained from nature— checked

The last thing to try was what qi I should get from. It wasn't hard to guess since Dorian recommended martial arts books about wind.

Comparing with business, again, and how the human body worked, inhaling meant we took from nature and exhaling meant we gave back to nature. Keeping that analogy, I should concentrate on qi in my lungs. Also, if I could extend the circulation circuit a bit like what I did with grass, why couldn't I pull more qi in the air?

This was weird. I couldn't imagine myself working on deduction in a game.

Yep, this was more effective! I was stupid to choose grass over the wind.

So, how did I push this further? How could I gather more qi? I could make a storm...

A storm, wind in general, was created by the difference in air pressures, low pressure inside but high pressure outside. 

If I could simulate a storm with dantians as the eye of the storm and qi circuit as a higher-pressure ring. Because cultivation and storm were not the same, the rest was to hold the pressure difference because qi would naturally get back to store in dantians...

If I could extend the range wouldn't it be invincible? I could pull qi from every living being who breathed. Wasn't that cheating? This type of power was like a villain in a story.

Now, it was time to apply the theory.

Started moving qi out of dantians. Not too much to break qi paths or damage my body. Then maintain this pressure difference.

Bingo! The qi flow became faster. My job other than pushing them out of dantians, I had to take more qi in. If it overloaded, I only had to trash them out.

I couldn't let myself lost in thought. This cultivation required more concentration than usual.

...

 

***

For a short moment, I lost consciousness. I didn't know why...

"cough cough

 

HP: 37/38

 

The blood came out. Had I done something wrong?

"That was close call... If I were late, I wouldn't be able to stop qi deviation in time." The culprit was Dorian.

Did he just karate chop my neck or something? I appreciated your goodwill, however! My qi experiment session was interrupted by YOU. I wanted to swear.

"T-thank you"

But I didn't.

"You should rest for today. Continuing may harm your body. If missy became an evil cultivator, I had no choice but to destroy your cultivation. Be careful next time." Dorian shook his head with disappointment before headed to his tent.

What the hell, Didn't you have to be open-minded as a teacher? Isn't destroying cultivation that I spent several days to train a bit harsh? Anyway, I should check the result.

'Status. Skill.'

 

Pandora
Titles: Self-taught Foundation Stage Martial Artist.

 

LVL: 3
HP: 37/37
QI: 19/19

 

STR: 22
DEX: 26
AGI: 20
VIT: 18
CON: 15

 

Unnamed Qi Cultivation Method: An unorthodox qi circulation invented by a young martial artist. While circulating qi, the amount of qi in your body improves. It also recovers your health and stamina. This skill was created by the player. The system cannot measure the skill rank and its effectiveness accurately.

 

There was no change in the skill description, but the increase of qi and stats was significant.

I should rest and prepare for tomorrow's training. 

 

***

10th day of rice porridge. Eating the same thing for a long time bored me, but there were no other choices. I had to eat to get enough energy for the upcoming training. 

I quickly finished my breakfast and went to the training dummy area.

“You're here, Panpan”

"Pandora, sir."

"Your stance and footwork are acceptable... today we will increase the difficulty."

Was it not difficult enough? I had been doing sprint and stop around 6 hours yesterday.

Yang started with walking in a square similar to what he demonstrated yesterday, but this time it was different. There were turning and alternating his feet mixing in his footwork. His movement was smooth. Each step didn't have a pause in motion as if he was dancing while keeping the upper body ready to attack at any moment. 

Because the dummy area was dirt without grass, his footsteps he left on the ground could be seen, but I couldn't recognize the path he was walking.

"This is Wind Pagoda's Four Wind Steps... Do it."

As he stopped he told me to start right away. Was this guy serious?

"Wait, I only saw it once. How can I replicate that!?"

"How disappointing... Kid these days." Yang shook his head.

The man pulled his sword out and carved a picture on the ground.

I didn't have better words to describe. The path he walked was like a circle, diamond, squares, and flower petals placing on the same center.

In case, you want to see a clear picture

Eoc7zLywYIQn3IbZiV0Hv5OH9ULDWTJ7PUhDntSIa69d0bqB4tI9oUnSkyxRwFtuIFFIapSupousDzg6FPFy4fqyYZWfphJ9OXtlg5aa9mhmQ7PlnNlkmCXAqxEjitPh6vq7VUyn

[collapse]

“This is complex...” I complained.

"If you can do this... you can alternate your footwork to be more complex. When you memorize the footwork we will move to... use footwork and hitting at the same time Shall we start?"

Yang sheathed his sword and brought the wooden stick out like he was ready to whip me at the moment I did something wrong. Following the picture seemed hard enough and he said that it could be more complex? 

I silently follow his instruction without arguing.

 

***

After spending 8 hours in the capsule, I logged out and decided to rant in the chat group.

The group name was changed again. I guessed it's Walter who did that.

 

3 Rankers and 1 Noob (Group)

 

Canary: Guyssssss I wanna die

Walter: What? Do you want me to give you a bus? 1 bitcoin.

Canary: @Walter Fuck off.

Canary: 11 days!

Canary: Stuck in the training camp for 11 days!

Walter: LMAO

Peter.: lol

Walter: Dumb

Remy: …

Canary: I've been working on footwork and hitting dummy for 4 days straight. My body is in pain. T T

Walter: I thought you're going to be a mage, but you learn qi?

Canary: I was forced. But I think tmr night I'll finish the quests.

Peter: If I remember it correctly, the minimum reward of both quests combined is 150 exp.

Canary: How much 150 worth.

Pong T: @Canary What's your current level

Canary: 4

Peter: Enough to push you to 7 or 8. But the value of exp from the quest is your activity during the quest will be accounted.

Canary: Are you telling me that if the reward was enough to make me level 7, the stats I would gain from 3 levels were be determined from what I was doing during the quest period?

Peter: Exactly. Training quest isn't bad, people would rather avoid it because it was a waste of stat points. Most GGQ players prefer to build a character with specialized stats and skills.

Canary: Is it a big deal? 

Peter: Not really, unless you want to go for a competitive build.

Peter: You don't have to worry about magic. You can learn in the first town. You can also ask me or Remy.

Walter: Pussies. Melee is the best.

Walter: @Canary What martial arts you're learning?

Canary: Wind Pagoda. Is it good?

Walter: I haven't fought with Wind Pagoda practitioner. Most rankers opt for aura build.

Canary: I don't see the difference.

Walter: Because most martial arts in GGQ are weapon-specific, aura art became more popular because of its flexibility.

Canary: I see.

Canary: I gtg working soon.

Canary: @Walter Wow, you're trying to be helpful. That's unusual.

Walter: Bitch. Because you're so noob that makes me cringed.

Walter: Let's have a drink. We haven't done that for a while.

Peter: Agreed.

Remy: VODKAAAAAA °<°!

Peter: WTF. Real men drink beer.

Canary: Anything is fine.

Canary: I'll have a day off next week. TTYL.

 

Next login, I would be free. I hoped...

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