Han Wei let his disciples recover from the excitement of the sparring matches with a full day of rest. Given the break-neck speed of their training the past few days, a day to themselves would help them to reset and ensure that they fully internalised the lessons learned.
He did catch both Lan Feng and Tie Zhu running through their usual training regimens as he left the courtyard. But he decided to say nothing.
If training as normal was what they wanted to do with their free time then he wouldn’t stop them. Not if it wasn’t causing them any problems at least. A healthy work-life balance looked very different in this world.
Han Wei adjusted the sleeves of his elder’s robes as he ascended the steps of the Technique Pavilion, the weight of his newfound responsibility pressing upon him. Taking on disciples had granted him a steady trickle of contribution points - enough to justify browsing the upper floors for techniques that might speed his recovery.
The lower three floors that he had free access to were vast, but the quality of the information rose exponentially with each floor. As did the dificulty in understanding it.
But he was certain that he would still be able to easily comprehend the techniques on the fourth floor even with his lowered cultivation base.
The library floors were roughly divided by the grouped cultivation realms with the ground floor containing basic fundamentals. So the fourth floor texts should be understandable by regular cultivators in the Foundation realms, never mind one with memories of the initial Golden Core realms.
The fourth floor of the library was quiet as Han Wei passed through, shelves of jade slips and aged scrolls lined the walls, their contents promising enlightenment - or ruin, if one chose poorly. Han Wei ran his fingers along the spines of the texts, his mind half-focused on the descriptions of cultivation methods.
Then - something pulled at him.
A flicker in his soul sense, like a whisper against his consciousness. He stilled, turning toward the eastern wall. To ordinary sight, it was unremarkable - smooth stone, carved with the sect’s insignia. But through the lens of his soul sight, the disruptions of the qi within the wall were forming a faint but unmistakable character:
Soul.
Han Wei’s breath caught. He glanced around, ensuring no one observed him, then stepped closer. The character shimmered, its brushstrokes uneven, as if hastily written. And there - a gap in one stroke, a discontinuity in the flow of qi.
Curious.
He hesitated only a moment before pressing a fingertip to the wall. Channeling a wisp of his own qi into his own fingernail, he traced the missing stroke allowing the strange disruptions he could see in its wake to complete the character.
The reaction was immediate.
The wall flared, the disguised formation unraveling in a ripple of golden light. Before him, the stone dissolved into mist, revealing a hidden alcove - a small reading room, untouched by time.
Han Wei stepped inside, his pulse quickening.
The chamber was modest, lit by an ever-glowing lantern that cast soft shadows over a low table, a stack of scrolls, a few roughly bound manuals, and - oddly - a zither of dark wood, its strings still taut despite the years. The air smelled of aged paper and faint incense, as though the room had been sealed away just yesterday.
He approached the table, carefully unrolling the first scroll. The text was dense, written in a flowing hand - notes on soul cultivation, theories on spiritual resonance, soul techniques, and more.
An inheritance.
Not an official sect legacy, but the private research of a past cultivator - one skilled enough to develop their own methods, yet had never gained the status to pass them on officially through the sect.
Han Wei exhaled slowly, marvelling at the find.
The formation had required a type of soul sense to access - something that he hadn’t even heard of existing before he gained it. The creator of this inheritance could have been a peerless genius in soul matters, or perhaps this soul sense could even be inborn?
A pang of guilt twisted in his chest. The original creator had likely intended for a true successor to find this. A soul cultivator, or at least someone with the same rare constitution. Was it right for him to plunder their secrets?
Should he leave this for someone else to find?
No. This was an opportunity he couldn’t afford to lose.
With careful reverence, Han Wei gathered the scrolls. He would study them, learn what he could - and once he had memorised them fully, he would restore this inheritance properly. Allowing a true successor to stumble across it in the future.
His fingers brushed the zither’s strings, a single, resonant note filling the chamber. He couldn’t detect any spirituality inherent in the instrument, but it was made with extremely high quality spiritual materials. It was clearly designed to channel techniques through.
Smiling faintly, Han Wei placed it carefully in his ring along with the scrolls.
With one last look, he activated the disguise formation once more as he stepped back into the library, the wall sealing shut behind him.
He spent the rest of the day trying to sift through the scrolls and manuals, but the totally alien basis to them made them difficult to comprehend. It seemed like the author chose to believe that it was not qi that left ripples in the soul energy that Han Wei could now see - but instead thought that the ripples of soul energy was what produced the qi in the first place.
It was a totally absurd belief, but Han Wei was experienced enough to know that an incorrect foundational belief could still build a powerful cultivation base. Some of the most powerful cultivators in the world cultivated Daos that seemed to contradict basic common sense.
He didn’t make much headway by the time the next day dawned and it was time once again to meet with his disciples. But he thought that with enough study this new understanding of soul energy could possibly help him to improve the slow cultivation speed of the Whispering Willow Soul Blossoming Sutra.
He was barely into the equivalent of the Meridian Clearing realm and could already feel his progression had slowed to a crawl.
Feeling in a philosophical mood when his disciples gathered before him once more, he decided that it was time to do things a little differently.
“Until now your training has been entirely practical. Even the more esoteric discussions we have had about your cultivation methods have all been to advance your skills or power.
“But now that you have proved to me that you are keeping roughly apace with your peers, I want to begin including some more theoretical knowledge into your studies. Each day we shall begin with questions.
“I’m certain that by now you have all encountered areas of the cultivation world that you don’t fully understand - I will do my best to clarify them for you.”
His disciples looked to each other uncertainly, before Xiao Lan’s usual blank mask came down and she started.
“Master, I don’t understand bottlenecks. No-one has been able to explain them to me.” She said it flatly and Han Wei suspected that admitting ignorance pained her.
“That is because they are nearly impossible to explain. A bottleneck is not one single phenomenon, but an infinite variety of situations, both internal and external, that restrict or completely stop the ability to cultivate. They are called bottlenecks, because, just like the neck of a bottle slows the pouring of liquid, so to can something slow your ability to advance.
“You cannot prepare for a bottleneck in advance except by ensuring that you cultivate a strong foundation for your cultivation. Do not skip steps, do not push beyond a pace that you can sustain, do not cultivate in areas of qi density that you cannot handle.
Love what you're reading? Discover and support the author on the platform they originally published on.
“When you face your first bottleneck you will know - and then you can ask me again. It is best not to worry about them otherwise.”
Xiao Lan digested this, and Tie Zhu took the opportunity to jump in.
“You said ‘foundation’, isn’t establishing a foundation one of the cultivation steps way ahead?” Han Wei sighed internally at the question - or rather at the answer to it.
“Unfortunately casual language is not precise when it comes to cultivation. I suspect due to the wide range of different cultivation paths and progressions across the world, as well as the need for metaphor and evocative speech in manuals.
“In casual terms, your foundation is your cultivation base. The ‘foundation’ upon which your future growth will depend for support. This is very different from the Foundation realms where you will build the basis for a Golden Core.
“Similarly your realm can be used to describe your strength, the level of society you inhabit, and even this world we are in.
“However, a cultivation realm technically refers to the major ‘cultivation levels’ such as Qi Gathering, Qi Refining, Meridian Opening, etc. whereas a minor realm are the three stages within the major realms: early, mid, and peak.
“But when I talk about the Foundation realms, I mean the three major realms Foundation Preparation, Foundation Building, and Foundation Consolidation all of which have three minor realms within.
“Language is often imprecise, and can lead you astray. But it can also lead you to deeper truths and understandings that cannot be fully explained in words. Always keep an open mind and try to interpret what the words mean rather than what they simply say.”
“Um, how many major realms actually are there?” Lan Feng looked nervous to ask his question - as if fearing censure for such a basic question.
“I do not know.” Answered Han Wei simply. “I know of nineteen, up to Soul Infusing which is the stage after the second great divide. After the nine Core realms.”
“What stage are you at, Master?” Tie Zhu asked innocently.
“Now that is a question that is not asked.” Replied Han Wei, trying to gentle his tone - though Tie Zhu flinched from the implied reprimand. “Once you have unlocked your spiritual senses then you will be able to tell the exact realm, both major and minor, of those below you. You will also learn to guess at the cultivation strength of those above you.
“Asking, however, is considered rude and also implies your own incompetence at not being able to tell. But be assured I take no offense from your question this time.”
All three disciples took some time to think after this. Likely concerned that their other questions might also be considered offensive. Xiao Lan once again took the lead.
“Master, I’ve heard it said that every sect has a different explanation for what qi actually is. What is yours?” Han Wei smiled at her question.
“We do not know. We know how it behaves, how to interact with it, even how to generate it within ourselves. But we are not certain what it is.
“Imagine our world is a sheet of loosely woven fabric that is stretched out through the center of a river. Water moves through the fabric as the river flows, existing within the fabric for only a moment before it moves onward in its journey.
“Some parts of the sheet are tightly woven and the water passes through at a slower rate. Some parts of the sheet are just a few threads stretched over a hole and water pours through quickly and easily.
“We exist on that sheet and capture qi as it passes by, cultivating with it. Once we cultivate it our minds, souls, and spirit bodies become more significant - they hang off the sheet like strands of unravelled thread absorbing qi that might never have passed through the sheet at all.
“We can build gathering arrays that hold on to qi as it passes through, temporarily increasing its density and making it seem like there is a faster flow. But we are just holding it back from its journey downstream.
“We can also build gathering arrays that work like funnels, forcing qi that would pass through a large area of the sheet into a small one.
“But none of this tells us what qi is. It is energy, but so is heat, light, and motion. It is fuel, but so is oil, food, and wood. The scriptures say that it existed before the heavens and the hells, that it existed before anything.
“I suspect there is no way of knowing what qi actually is unless one ascends to godhood - perhaps not even then.”
This time the quiet from his disciples was one of deep contemplation. Han Wei hoped that it was from them attempting to expand their view of qi and not just the sound of confusion.
Eventually Lan Feng spoke up.
“What is a martial cultivator? And how is it different from a normal cultivator?”
“Firstly, I wouldn’t imply that martial cultivators were not normal.” Han Wei let out a small smile to show he wasn’t telling him off.
“A martial cultivator is simply one who puts martial pursuits before all else. Let us take Elder Mei as a counter example: she is a well-known alchemy master and likely improving her ability to do alchemy is the main focus of her growth.
“I am certain that she is formidable in a fight and has not neglected martial training, but it is also likely that she incorporates her alchemy in her fighting style as it is her main strength.
“Nearly all cultivators take up a profession on their cultivation path. It provides them with a source of income while also diversifying their abilities. They can provide themselves with supplementary equipment, and even create new equipment to fit the circumstances on the fly.
“I myself am a proficient talisman artist. It is not my main focus, as you know I am a martial cultivator, but you saw me use a talisman of my own making to purge the qi from that demonic cultivator’s strike.
“An alchemist would likely have a selection of pills to help them recover from fights, an array specialist would have been able to set up a temporary cleansing formation, a spirit doctor could have directly neutralised the demonic qi with acupuncture, and a treasure refiner could perhaps have refined the energy into something useful.
“An immortal chef or spirit smith wouldn’t have a direct answer to the problem I admit, but you understand the idea.”
Han Wei paused for a moment to gather his thoughts and get back on track.
“A martial cultivator will support their martial arts with resources gained from their profession. A non-martial cultivator will use their martial arts proficiency to protect themselves as they pursue their profession.
“Their goal is to become a master at their art which would allow them to create treasures that are equal to their own level of cultivation rather than resources mostly suitable for the stage below - as most craftsmen can make.”
Lan Feng took a moment to process this before continuing.
“So if I became a spirit doctor or something, it wouldn’t matter that I’m not as good at combat?”
“You will always have to be able to defend yourself - that is the nature of our world. But, yes.
“If you became a respected spirit doctor no-one would think less of you for not being as proficient at martial arts and hiring a bodyguard for dangerous journeys.
“Until that time I will keep you training in the martial arts so that you have the best chance of surviving the difficulties the world will place on your path.”
Han Wei thought they would keep quiet and digest that for a time, but Tie Zhu surprised him by immediately asking his next question.
“What exactly is a saint? I’ve heard the term, but people use it to just mean ‘really good at something’. That’s not it right?” Tie Zhu asked thoughtfully.
“Mortals and the foolish often use the title of Saint casually and they should not. A true Saint is a cultivator that can move with their chosen Dao and manifest it in the world.
“A Sword Saint could use their sword to slice through a curse, while a Poetry Saint could compose their way out of the mightiest prison. A Song Saint might sing death on their enemies, and a Painter Saint might paint a hidden realm into existence.
“A Saint is respected by all cultivators, no matter their cultivation level, because they can do all of this without techniques. It is said that all the techniques we have today were originally derived from watching the movement of qi by the Saints as they reshaped the world around them with their Daos.
“It is not a title given lightly, and typically only managed by cultivators far above your level.”
“Is it possible for one of us to become a Saint?”
“Of course it is. It simply requires you to dedicate your life to a Dao and elevate your Dao to an art. As you might imagine few have the dedication required.”
Han Wei explained that finding a Dao wasn’t something he could give advice on as it was a matter of personal reflection and enlightenment and then their discussion fell into the more technical cultivation matter that he had expected from the start.
It was as Han Wei was trying to find a different way to describing how qi circulation bridged the physical and spiritual bodies that he found himself paraphrasing the explanation invented by the soul cultivator in the inheritance.
It struck him then how easily it fit in with the other explainations like it was simply describing the same object from a different angle.
Didn’t I just say that only gods understand qi?
What if the rest of our theories were as incomplete and flawed as the theory he came up with?
Han Wei paid his disciples only a fraction of his attention as he turned his mind inward and thought through the theories once more.
Both theories obviously cannot both be true - they contradict with each other too much. But, as neither are falsifiable, they could both be equally false…
Han Wei felt a moment of enlightenment flare within him and for a single moment he felt how small and incomplete his understanding of the world was. For a single moment he felt the gulf between heaven and earth.
There is so much that I don’t understand.