A young man stood in his cultivation cave abode, his eyes sparkling with enlightenment. In his left hand a flame flickered as his right hand flashed incantation signs. This young man was Xiao Shan!
He was practicing the fire phoenix technique. He had acquired the complete technique from the cultivation pavilion and was following the proper practice method.
"So this is how it is. Start with a small flame then work up to shape it, increasing size and heat..." Xiao Shan looked at the flickering flame in his palm as it sputtered out, taking with it nearly half of his spiritual reserves.
He sighed. According to the jade slip, the technique required a precise sequence of meridian activation. Instead of weaving his energy into the flame, he was bursting it all out, wasting it.
"I need to control the flow, and also the meridians... meridians..." He stood pensive. If only he had a teacher to help fill in the gaps.
He shook his head. "I guess with practice I will get the hang of it better." But before he could try again, a familiar voice drifted through the stone door.
"Junior brother Xiao Shan, are you at your cave?" called the voice from outside.
Xiao Shan immediately opened the door to his cultivation cave, revealing a large young man. His broad shoulders covered the light from the entrance, and his thick sword-like eyebrows gave him a spirited look. This young man was Da He!
"Senior brother! Please come in." Xiao Shan brought Da He into his cave abode for some tea and to chat.
"Not bad!" said Da He with a hearty laugh as he looked around in the cave. "I heard you caused quite a ruckus on the examination." He looked at Xiao Shan, clearly interested to know the details, his eyes brimming with interest.
"Senior brother I..."
"Just brother is fine. We are both outer disciples and we are even at the same level of cultivation," interrupted Da He.
"Speaking of cultivation," he said as he rubbed his chin, "how did you get into the Bao family?"
"Eh?" Xiao Shan was confused with the question.
"Did you get hitched to one of the daughters of Elder Yan?" said Da He as he raised his eyebrows up and down, his interest peaking.
Xiao Shan was flabbergasted. He was not sure where this was coming from. "Senior brother, you misunderstand this..."
"That is fine, everybody has secrets," said Da He, looking away from Xiao Shan dejectedly. He cast a side glance from the corner of his eye. "I heard that you and Bao Tie..."
"No! I have no idea!" shouted Xiao Shan, his face getting red from embarrassment.
Da He gave a raucous laugh. "Fine, fine, I was just teasing," he said while waving his hand.
As his laugh quieted down, he turned to look at Xiao Shan, taking a big gulp of the tea, then seemed to scan the silent room one more time.
Xiao Shan was going to ask about cultivation techniques when suddenly Da He tapped his bag of holding and an octagonal compass appeared on the table.
Da He touched the compass and poured some spiritual energy in, flashing some hand signs to activate the treasure. The compass then floated in the air, emitting a soft glow covering Xiao Shan.
Xiao Shan felt as if a gentle wave of water passed through him, a cold but comfortable sensation. After a few breaths of time, the compass seemingly deactivated and returned to Da He's bag.
"I mean no harm brother. I borrowed this treasure which can detect any control spells," said Da He with a serious face.
Xiao Shan paused for a moment, but caught on. The implications were tense. "And?"
"Nothing..." Da He let out a relieved sigh.
"When I heard that you were taken by the Bao family I was surprised. They don't take people in like that. Usually it is slave servants," he paused for a moment.
"However, slaves usually have a special imprint with a control spell, and you are clear."
Xiao Shan breathed in cold air as he realized the implications. "Do they take slave servants from disciples?"
"It is a rumor. All their servants are cultivators. Have you seen one? They have a red tattoo which is known as the Bao family's enslaving technique."
Xiao Shan was surprised and pondered regarding previous encounters in Bao Yan's palace. He recalled a pale woman at Bao Yan's, but he did not recall any kind of markings on her. However, given her behavior, he started to suspect that maybe she was a slave.
A cold chill ran through Xiao Shan's spine, like a gust of winter.
Seeing Xiao Shan's expression, Da He took another big gulp of tea. "Don't get too hung up over that, brother."
"I speculate they picked you because of your talent. It is uncommon but it does happen," he said as he finished his tea.
"Talent?" replied Xiao Shan, puzzled as he felt his talent was mediocre at best. He also reasoned at some point that his struggles with the fire phoenix technique could be also his lack of talent.
"Yes, how long did it take you to reach the 3rd level of Qi condensation?" asked Da He.
Xiao Shan recalled. "Like two or three months..."
"It took me a couple of years, man. Sure I did laze around in the beginning, but even if I applied myself I would have had a hard time reaching this level in three months." Da He's eyes narrowed, making his gaze intense.
"Ah... well, it may be just pure luck brother. Right now I'm struggling with techniques," said Xiao Shan, sounding apologetic while serving another cup of tea.
"I just got the fire phoenix technique from the cultivation pavilion and I don't quite understand it."
"Fire phoenix? Didn't you know that technique already? I heard you used it in the examinations so I assumed they gave you the technique in advance," said Da He while taking a sip from the cup of tea.
"No, I imitated Bao Tie until it sort of worked, but my imitation is very poor as it uses all my spiritual energy," Xiao Shan explained while shaking his head.
"You imitated the technique?..." Da He dropped his cup of tea hearing Xiao Shan say that.
"Ah... well... that makes sense." Da He slapped his forehead, feeling shook.
Da He looked at Xiao Shan with a blank expression. "Must be nice being so talented..."
"Senior brother!" shouted Xiao Shan.
"I'm joking. Tell your brother what you don't understand and I may be able to give you some tips." Da He smiled.
Xiao Shan and Da He spoke until dawn.
Da He said goodbye to Xiao Shan. Before leaving he gifted him a stick of incense to help him with his cultivation.
Xiao Shan sat down and calmed himself. He reviewed all that he learned from Da He. He felt like he really was clueless before and a new door had been opened.
He took the incense stick and lighted it over an incense cauldron in his meditation room, then he started to cultivate.
He cleared his mind, focusing on getting the feeling for his inner consciousness pool, a concept that seemed abstract to him. But as Da He explained, he just had to imagine with the eye of his mind a pool of water where all the spiritual rivers in his body descend.
The incense helped Xiao Shan fall into a trance. As he meditated he slowly started to hear the sound of running water, a comfortable feeling of warmth.
As he opened his eyes he found himself standing on a small pool of water. Small rivers passed by to the horizon, feeding the small shallow pool. The water was crystal clear; however, the bottom could not be seen. Instead, a reflection of a blue sky seemed to reflect another pool.
Xiao Shan spent the night in this state, getting a feel for the experience and the rivers in his mind. Wandering in this state he found a whirlpool in a river. The whirlpool rotated gently, not disturbing the river course.
Xiao Shan's body then flashed a set of hand signs, a small flame forming in the air in front of him.
At this time in his inner consciousness, Xiao Shan could see the whirlpools start to rotate violently, draining the water from the river.
As the morning arrived, Xiao Shan stood meditating, keeping the flame in front of him.
Suddenly the flame flickered and disappeared. Xiao Shan opened his eyes.
"I understand!"
He flashed the incantation again. Spiritual energy gently poured a flickering flame, transforming its shape into that of a phoenix. The phoenix flapped its wings as it floated.
Xiao Shan spent several days practicing, alternating between cultivating to recover his spiritual energy and refining his control of the technique.
By the morning of the tenth day he opened the door to his cave. He stood panting while his body emitted steam as black liquid poured from his skin pores.
He flashed a single handed incantation and a fire phoenix the size of his head manifested in front. The phoenix seemed alive as it flapped its wings and gave a cry. The temperature of the area seemed to increase and plants around started to dry.
"Fourth level of Qi condensation. I did not expect to have a breakthrough while practicing the technique."