The Laws of Cultivation: Qi = MC^2

I opened my eyes for the third time in the cave. I can’t say I felt too happy about being here for so long, but complaining about some stupid assassins wasn’t going to help me much either. The spirit sat nearby, a fire still burning near me, but it was distinctly starting to die. The temperature had plummeted far enough that a thin layer of ice covered the entire surface inside the cave now, and I wasn’t sure the presence of another winter spirit so near me was helping with things either.

“What has the Divine One said?” Bai Jing asked, showing a rare display of emotion as concern and hope lingered across her face.

“He’ll help us, but I need to do something first before he can,” I said, glancing sideways. The mini version of me was still running around, helping take care of me. There was a constant stream of Chi connecting it to me, but it was faint enough that it wouldn’t hurt me, even in my current state. “I need you two to gather some material for me. I need to upgrade the doll,” I said.

The spirit looked at me in confusion, before looking at mini me. Even my own doll looked confused as well. “How is this going to help us?”

“It’s what Xuanwu told me to do,” I replied, shrugging.

The spirit looked like she had things to say, but at my words she simply gave me a nod. “Consider it done.”

I nodded, grateful to both of them as the spirit and the doll headed out soon after with a list of items to procure for me. In the meantime I shuffled around looking for my pouch, before grabbing a needle from inside it. This next part was going to suck. I slowly crawled over to the pot they’d used to make something that looked like soup. I took the soup out in one of the wooden bowls lying around, grunting with each movement as I felt my wounds aching and starting to bleed once more. Even with a superhuman physique, this much bleeding was going to kill me sooner or later, and the poison was dulling my ability to use Chi to heal myself, leaving me with just a few good options.

After the pot was cleaned and cleared of the gunk, I transferred some clean water that was nearby in the water gourd I carried for the journey, pouring it in. Next, I grabbed a single strand of my hair, before cutting it clean and put it in the pot alongside the needle. After a moment of thought, I cut a few more strands and threw them in as well.

It was gross, but human hair was great for what I needed it to do, and this was the only good option I had available right now. It wouldn’t do the job completely, but it’d be enough for me to not be lying down and resting the entire time I was here, simply waiting to freeze to death.

After a few minutes of boiling, I replaced the water and repeated the process a few times, before I figured it was clean enough and grabbed the needle and strands of hair. Keeping them neatly in my hand to not get them dirty, I grabbed my cut up robes, pulling them off. My bandages had already gotten dirty from the blood and salves that’d been applied, and the clothes had never been too clean in the first place. Had I been a mortal, an infection likely would’ve killed me by now.

Pulling open the bandages slowly, I let the green paste covering my wounds remain as I grabbed the needle. Threading a strand of hair in, I tied a knot and took a deep breath. Pulsing my Chi around my wound, I numbed the area as best as I could, before I began to work. Stabbing my own skin felt painful and I was no surgeon, nor had I ever studied much biology beyond cursory interests.

So I drew blood and the work I did was messy. I occasionally stabbed myself too deep, worsening the situation, all while keeping one end of the thread grabbed between my teeth to stop it from falling. It was messy and patchwork, but after using up two strands, even with shaking hands, I got the job done. Raising my hand, I wiped sweat off my brow, before looking at the cut on my thigh and arm, and one on my back, and grimaced. Now to do it all over again.

***

By the time I was done, I felt exhausted, but I’d managed to get it done. I couldn’t do much about the wound on my back. I’d need to ask the spirit or mini me to help me out there, but most of my wounds were stitched close now and should not bleed again, unless I had to run about. And I really hoped I didn’t have to run about for a while. Looking at my torn up robes, I decided I might as well make use of the extra clothing. Tearing the sleeves and some parts of the chest, I managed to pull out enough clothing to make some fresh bandages. It was cold, and I didn’t want to leave myself exposed so I quickly wrapped the wounds back up, rubbing in some of the extra herbs and spirit grass I carried in my pouch after crushing them into paste.

I’d never had to survive a winter storm while injured from an assassin attack before, but I suppose I could check that off my bucket list now.

As I finally completed all my work, I saw figures moving in the storm. For a second, I remained wary, pulling my presence back to hide myself, just in case it was someone I would rather not meet, but a second later, I realized it was the spirit and the doll and relaxed.

My doll was shivering from the cold, apparently even being made of clay wasn’t helping in this weather, while the winter spirit looked perfectly normal. I guess that should simply be expected from a winter spirit.

“We found most of what you asked us of,” the spirit said, walking closer to me as it set down the bunch of items. There was a new pot, still not a cauldron but with more or less the right shape to be used. I would just need to reinforce it with Chi. It won’t be a perfect job, but these weren’t perfect conditions.

There was also spirit mud, or rather, spirit soil? Given that it was frozen solid, the doll had brought me a bunch of herbs filled with earth and water Qi as well. But there was one thing missing.

“You couldn’t find any spirit water herbs?” I asked.

“All water bodies are frozen solid, if there were any around, we could not seek them out,” the spirit replied.

Damn it. That made sense. I’d need to find some other way to get my hands on spirit water, or else I was stuck here without a way ahead.

“What do you require them for?” Bai Jing asked.

“Ah, well. I need to make some spirit water to use for adding onto this guy here to be able to make a proper twin that I can bond with,” I said.

The spirit looked at the doll, and then back at me. “Would this work, then?” she asked, raising her hand as a crystal clear shard of ice appeared on top.

I looked at it with wide eyes, before giving a nod. “I think so, yes,” I said, gently taking the shard, finding it extremely cold to the touch and almost burning my hand. Quickly, I put it into the pot I planned to use.

I nodded my head, looking at everything around me. I could do this. I just needed to get it right. I looked up at the spirit, before holding out my needle and the one strand of hair I had left. “Could you maybe use these to sew up the wound on my back. To make sure it won’t start bleeding again?”

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The spirit frowned as she saw the items but did not refuse as she picked them up and walked around. I pulled my robes down to allow her to work more easily. A second later, I realized why she may have felt weird, but it was too late to change things now, so I instead devoted my attention to the cauldron in front of me, and began to channel my Chi. My body was still incredibly weak, and there wasn’t much I could use of my Chi, but whatever I had, I began to channel it, slowly seeping it into the pot to create a makeshift cauldron.

Normally this process would be done during forging and would be permanent, but doing it this way still worked, the only drawback was that it was temporary and had to be done over and over again. Kinda like oiling and seasoning a cast iron skillet every time you use it. The layers would build up when done enough, and I knew the old man did this with some of his cauldrons, but I’d never been the type who wanted to bother with anything like that.

I sat with my legs crossed and began to process. The Chi flowed out and started to mingle with the pot. I slowly layered it out, coating the pot with it, letting it soak with the energy and absorb it into the layers. As I did, the spirit completed her work, and a moment later, I opened my eyes as well. A layer of Chi now swirled around the pot, and my makeshift cauldron was ready to be used.

“Thanks,” I said, pulling my robes back up as I looked at the spirit, who returned my needle back to me.

She simply nodded back, moving a little further away as she began to watch me work. I didn’t mind the attention, as I started the process. I took a deep breath in, and grabbed the frozen piece of ice and began to melt it.

Fire swirled around the pot, and I continued to raise the flames. The crystal remained solid, and so I sent pulses of Chi directly to it to melt it. After enough coaxing, slowly, bit by bit, the crystal began to melt, starting to form pure shimmering spirit water. And enough for my purposes. I couldn’t help but smile.

Taking the spirit mud, I skipped one step and directly added the mud into the pan, letting it mingle with the spirit water. Throwing in the herbs I began to leach out the impurities, as the herbs mixed, and the whole solution swirled.

Sweat covered my face, my attention strained and my body in pain from all the injuries, but I continued nonetheless.

After nearly thirty minutes of working with the mud, the process was finally done as I separated the impurities and condensed the mud down to a small sphere and set it aside.

The spirit perked up and walked closer. “Is it done? Are you ready to go?”

I smiled, a wry smile, as I looked at her and shook my head.

“Sorry. I need to do that at least fifty more times,” I said, and the spirit’s expression fell. Somehow, watching that made me both want to laugh and cry at the same time.

I feel you, Bai Jing. I really do.

***

I struggled to count how many days had passed since the assassin had attacked me. Six? Seven? I could no longer tell. The fire that used to burn in the cave was gone now, the cold outside too deadly to traverse and the snow had already buried any wood I could’ve found nearby that would be usable. If not for me melting the ice at the entrance every day I’m pretty sure this cave would’ve been buried under snow as well. I wondered how everyone else was doing. They would’ve most certainly tried searching for me once they woke up, and given the assassin was dead, I was reasonably sure they did wake up. But this weather was… difficult. Even someone like the Lord would struggle to find me.

I had found my hope growing about that impossible prospect, that by some miracle they would find me, but it was ultimately just my exhaustion speaking. I had given more than I had to give and now, only the bare remnants remained. I stood in front of a mud statue of myself now, as I slowly crafted and sculpted its pieces.

After the last batch of items had been obtained by the doll, and the spirit, I had pulled back the pieces of my own spirit from the doll, returning it to mud and began crafting it from the ground up again, little by little adding more of my Chi into it.

I didn’t really know where the strength came from that kept me moving. The cool had sunk into my bones now, the sleepless nights and the poison and injuries all draining me in a way that was almost like the world trying to remind me that I was still flesh and blood, still mortal. And that I too, could die. Perhaps I’d forgotten that, as my powers had grown rapidly. But not anymore.

With those thoughts in mind, I continued my work. They said art took the thoughts and feelings of the artist and portrayed it to the world. And if so, what did the version of myself that I was crafting have to say? My thoughts were all jumbled now, and even the spirit looked tired. I’d asked her a few times if she wanted to move on and look for the others, since it was most likely that I would die here.

She had told me she would remain till I died at the very least. Or till her sister returned to her.

That felt nice. I didn't really want to die both cold and alone. That would be a bit too sad.

My finger moved, crafting my sculpture’s eyes. Ideally, I would use a mirror, but I’d seen myself enough times. They said a person’s face is the one they see the most. Or at least, people with easy access to a mirror did. I wasn’t sure about the farmers here. But regardless, I knew myself, and I knew the image I wanted to craft.

Despite my exhausted and battered state as I lingered near the brink of death, my hands were firm and stable now, each motion shaping the lines of the sculpture, carving strands of hair, hands, the face. I moved with a grace that I don’t think I would be able to exhibit in any state but this one, where everything had gone beyond the point of exhaustion and had just turned numb, and my mind had given up on trying to force me to find a way to survive and had given in to the task I was dedicating myself to.

This was the last thing I might do, after all. I would rather not make it bad.

There was also a part of me that thought I wouldn’t die after all. The spirit this vessel would hold will still be me. A different part of me, but still my soul. So, in a way, even if I died in this body, I would live on.

And so, I continued, my hands moving like a master craftsman making the work of his lifetime. And the sculpture began to come to life. The Third Law resonated in my soul, and I could feel the resonance of energies bringing the sculpture and me closer and closer together. My hands moved across the face, sculpting the eyes. For a moment, I almost saw life in them.

My Chi flowed out, seeping into the sculpture as it formed a core, and pathways began to emerge. One by one, I imbued it with each element there was. Earth formed its body, water created blood, wood grew life into it, and metal formed the bones. And at last, white flames danced at my fingertips, borne from my very soul as I touched the forehead of the sculpture, imbuing it with life.

I felt the resonance, felt it take seed, and form something else. The second half began to form, the second half of the spirit ring. To my resonance, there came another, this time from the sculpture, and for a moment the boundaries between the two of us broke. Half of my soul flew into the sculpture, fire erupting around its body as wind swirled around us, and I saw the sculpture come to life, color forming and taking over, dark robes covering his body as the silvery flames of Chi birthed something anew. The second half within my life, the twin that I was born with, and have carried for most of my life.

Gu Jie— or I suppose that wasn’t correct anymore. Lu Jie stood in front of me now, slowly gaining consciousness. He looked down at himself, hands moving slowly as he clutched the fingers. There was confusion in his expression, and yet also… joy. Though we had become one, I had been the one in the driving seat. He had merely become a part of my soul, of my identity and memory, but I’d never been able to give him this. To give him life, and a body, to return what in many ways was rightfully his, just as much as it was mine.

“You did it,” Lu Jie spoke, in a reverential whisper. “We did it,” he added afterwards with a smile. I felt the second half of the Third Law shining in his soul. It was there now, the whole piece, everything I needed and more. And yet…

“This feels strange. I haven’t had a body in a while. And yet I’m whole. Do you think we’ll be able to—“

Lu Jie’s words paused midway. But I no longer had anything left to hear them with. I felt the last vestiges of my strength fade as I collapsed, caught by Lu Jie’s arms. The world looked blurry now as I looked up at him, a concern of worry on his face.

I tried to smile, but even that felt too much. Gently reaching out my arm… I touched his shoulder. “Sorry…” I rasped. “I’ll… be counting… on you…”

And with those words, the last remnants of energy faded from my battered body, as I was taken by darkness.

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