"Already?" Breaker asked indignantly. "After two weeks?"

Luna shrugged. "Like I told Rix, I have a bit of an advantage. My bloodline means I have an easy time seeing mana, and apparently that translates to qi as well." Though she was trying to keep a neutral expression, Rix could see a little pride bleeding through onto her face.

Breaker stared at her for several seconds before shaking his head. "Clearly I underestimated you."

They were deep in the Fractured Realm. Having both ranked up, they were now in the Peak Whisper part of the Shadow Runner quadrant. Given the way the Fractured Realm was structured, the area they were in now was massive, to the point where he didn't expect that they'd run into any other Shadow Runners if they didn't want to. Nonetheless, Breaker had reiterated that he'd hear them if they came and would be able to flee in time.

The Peak Whisper zone did come with a warning. When they'd ranked up, the Shadow Runners had told them to avoid pushing right to the furthest outskirts. As with everywhere else in the realm, the difference in fade difficulty wasn't completely binary. At the borders between zones, there was some bleed-over.

But in this case that meant Spark-tier fades.

Rix would have to fight one eventually, as it was one of the requirements to rank up to Spark, but from what the Shadow Runners explained, everybody avoided that risk until they had to. They were apparently a significant step up — more than just fighting a rank up like he'd done a few times in the past. For now, Rix was happy to follow their advice.

He, Luna, and Breaker had chosen a new spot to call their home base. Rix thought perhaps it had once been farmland. Lots of densely packed plants of uniform height, though they were no crops he recognised. Like everything else in this place, their exact nature changed suddenly and completely at seemingly arbitrary locations. To one side, they were surrounded by fields of tall spindly blue stalks. To the other, it was all squat yellow plants with wilting leaves like giant hands.

Every so often, they'd stumble across the remains of some kind of structure, though they were in even worse condition than the ruins they'd used before. It was within one of those mounds of stone that they currently stood.

Breaker turned his attention to Rix. "I don't suppose you, too, had any miraculous overnight breakthroughs?"

He shook his head. "Not miraculous, no. Slow and steady for me."

Breaker nodded. "Show me your progress."

Rix nodded, then closing his eyes, he summoned the image of the bridge, crystallising its details before aiming it outward to let qi flow in. The whole process happened almost instantly. He held the technique for a count of sixty, then released.

"Is that as long as you can hold it?" Breaker asked.

Rix shook his head. "I can do a little over two minutes."

Breaker nodded. "Good enough." He cleared his throat. "Well then, I believe I need to rearrange today's lesson plan. Kai Luna, you will come with me and learn about the Breath Bridge. We must teach you how to gather the qi you can now sense so you can begin the arduous process of opening your meridians. Zao Rixian, you will stay here and continue working on your gathering technique." He shot Rix a smile. "But perhaps after that I will teach you about the next step, as I promised. We can't have you giving up your lead entirely, now can we?"

Luna raised her eyebrows in challenge as she was led away, but Rix just laughed. Today was the day he'd begin learning to grow his qi. He'd been looking forward to this ever since Breaker mentioned it. It would be the first true step forward in actually gaining more power as a cultivator.

And the first step towards opening his Mountain Gate.

With that thought in mind, it was difficult to focus on the Breath Bridge, but he did his best. Soon enough, the others returned, with Luna looking more than a little frustrated.

"How'd it go?" he asked, unable to entirely hide the glimmer of satisfaction in his voice.

"Oh, wonderful," she deadpanned, as she slumped down onto the ground. "Sitting, now with added thinking."

"She's having difficulty with the abstraction," Breaker explained, his tone academic. "Much like you did."

"For a bit," Rix clarified.

Luna let out a sigh. "I understand bridges," she insisted. "They're bleeding stone and wood and rope. They have weight. But when I try to make one in my mind, it's just... nothing. Empty words."

"It takes time," Rix said. Then, unable to resist, "For some people."

Luna shot him a withering look. He did feel a little bad because he understood her position. It had felt silly to him too. But at the same time, the reversal was satisfying enough that he couldn't help but revel in it a little.

"How about we let Kai Luna take a break and I'll teach you both about the next step: growing your qi pool."

This novel's true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there.

Rix nodded eagerly.

"This will mostly be for Zao Rixian, but," he inclined his head to Luna, "you should listen carefully nonetheless. Who knows when you might need this lesson?"

Luna still looked grumpy, but she nodded.

"Do you remember my earlier metaphor?" Breaker asked Rix. "About how tight leather cannot stretch?"

Rix nodded.

"Well, we can continue to use that framework. While relaxed, your dantian can safely expand, though the process is uncomfortable. You're currently at maximum qi capacity, yes?"

Rix nodded.

"Okay, I want you to use the Breath Bridge to draw more in, but this time, pay attention to what happens."

Rix closed his eyes and summoned the visualisation. The bridge snapped into his mind's eye, sharp and clear. A moment later, qi flowed into him. But, of course, because he was already full, it simply bled outwards before dissipating completely.

"The excess just escaped, same as always," he said.

"Escaped how?" Breaker asked, in that way that said he was trying to prompt Rix to consider the situation more deeply.

Rix's brows knitted together. "I guess it was pushed out into my meridians before disappearing? Maybe it was expelled through my skin?"

Breaker nodded. "Exactly. Your body naturally releases excess qi to relieve strain in your dantian when it's full. It's like a pressure valve. To grow your capacity, we need to mentally override the reflex and stop that release from happening, at least temporarily."

Luna groaned. "If this involves any more imaginary architecture, I swear by the ancients I'm going to start screaming, and I won't stop until dinner."

Rix suppressed a smile. "You aren't great with being bad at things, are you?"

She narrowed her eyes. "I'm not bad at things. This thing is bad at making sense."

Breaker's eyes crinkled ever so slightly in amusement. "Most people can do this without any visualisations. You simply seal off your meridians, which stops the flow. I don't know if such a thing is possible with your System-granted spiritual network, Kai Luna, but perhaps you can experiment. It might make this process easier for when you eventually…come to terms with the Breath Bridge and develop the necessary pathways."

He turned to Rix. "For you, Zao Rixian, you should be able to do this right now. Allow a trickle of extra qi into your dantian using the Breath Bridge, then close off your meridians. Be warned, it is uncomfortable. My master likened it to stretching a muscle to increase flexibility. Above all else, you must stay relaxed. To tense up is to risk damage."

Rix nodded. He felt a small flutter of trepidation at the thought of damaging himself, but he'd been doing it that way for years with seemingly no ill effect.

Closing his eyes, he summoned the Breath Bridge again, and qi flowed into him like a cold mountain stream. As usual, he felt it hit his dantian and begin spilling out throughout his network. This time, however, he shifted his attention to his channels. While Breaker's suggestion of 'sealing' them sounded simple enough, it wasn't immediately clear how to actually do it. He knew his meridians didn't have physical form. If you were to slice open his arm, you wouldn't find them running alongside his veins. Thus, any kind of physical analogy for how to control them didn't perfectly match up. It wasn't like there was a muscle he could tighten to stop the flow.

But perhaps he was thinking about it the wrong way. If qi responded to the Breath Bridge — something that was entirely mental — perhaps meridians responded similarly. On impulse, he focused on a meridian and simply willed it to close, not by visualising a physical barrier, but by projecting a clear command: stop.

To his astonishment, the qi flow sputtered, then stopped entirely. It was like discovering he could speak a language he didn't know he understood. One by one, he directed this same command to each pathway, finding that the more assured his intent, the more readily the meridians complied. It wasn't about technique or visualisation at all. It was simply about authority.

When the final channel sealed, the sensation hit him immediately. His dantian, accustomed to releasing pressure automatically, now had no way to disperse the incoming qi. The resulting buildup was uncomfortable, like a limb stretched just beyond its normal range. Not quite pain, but the clear warning that pain would follow if he pushed much further.

He cut off the Breath Bridge, ending the flow, but still he held his mental commands in place, keeping his dantian in that slightly overfull state. It hummed with a persistent tension, like a bowstring drawn too far.

"Good, now sit with it," he heard Breaker say.

Rix did his best, but the pressure was already building. He could feel his body's urge to release growing with every passing second. It was like holding his breath, his mind at war with his body's base protective instincts.

A few moments later, he broke. His channels snapped open and the excess qi shot out and vented into the surrounding air. He opened his eyes and exhaled sharply, realising he'd been holding his breath. Despite the relatively short exercise, his brow was slick with sweat.

"A good first attempt," said Breaker.

"That was harder than I was expecting," Rix replied. Even now, with his network unfettered, his dantian still ached from the effort. It was a strange sensation, like a bruise that existed somewhere between flesh and spirit.

The older man inclined his head. "Cultivation is not an easy path. It is an endless trial of the self." He looked between the two of them, his expression growing serious. "To be swept up in the daily struggles is to set yourself up for failure. What burns as fire today will seem but a candle's flicker against the infernos that await. While talent and providence can carry you some of the way, it is ultimately will and dedication that decide your true ceiling, or lack thereof."

Rix shared a look with Luna. As with him, the speech seemed to have instilled a certain kind of determination in her. All signs of her childish frustration had vanished, at least for now. It wasn't that they weren't aware of the value of hard work, but sometimes it was good to be reminded.

Breaker instructed Luna to keep pursuing the Breath Bridge, however 'made up' it felt. For Rix, he assigned a combination exercise of summoning the Breath Bridge as quickly as possible, then holding his excess qi until his resistance broke before repeating.

For the remainder of their cultivation period, that's exactly what they did. Adding the retention technique to the Breath Bridge made the whole sequence much tougher. The ache in his dantian grew with each repetition, sapping his focus and weakening his will. Still, he persisted as best he could.

There was no discernible change in his qi. Breaker said that would come with time. The first day was simply about adjusting to the rigours of the technique.

"That will do for now," Breaker said. "We must begin your System training shortly if you are to maintain your progress."

Rix let the Breath Bridge go with a groan. It felt like he'd been at it for far longer than just a few hours. There was a rawness in his stomach that he'd never experienced before.

Break continued: "I do think that—" The man's thought was interrupted as he suddenly glanced skyward, then shot to his feet.

"What is it?" Rix asked.

Breaker's expression turned grave. "An entropy event."

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.