I exhaled and opened my eyes. Around me, I could see the currents of qi drift by and flow along the air, coded by their colors.

Green qi was wood qi. Red qi was fire qi. Blue qi was water qi. Silver qi was metal qi. Golden qi was earth qi. These made up the basic five elements.

Ice from water. Lightning from metal. Life from wood. Wind from fire. Sand and rock from earth. Each of the basic five element could be further diversified into different types of elemental characteristics, depending on how much you proportion the yin and yang qi. Infuse yin qi into water and it turns into ice. Infuse yang qi into water and it evaporates into wind. Fill wood with yang qi and it becomes healing. Inject metal qi with yang qi and electricity would be produced. Of course, providing the opposite type of qi would produce another kind of elemental characteristic.

And each of these sub-branches would have a slightly different color from their main branch. The color wouldn"t be totally different, but it would descend into a darker shade or rise to a lighter hue, depending on the nature of the element.

Wood was the main branch, increasing the proportion of yang qi would turn it into healing qi. Increasing the proportion of yin qi would turn it into poisonous qi. Wood was a medium, verdant green, whereas venom was a dark, ominous green. Healing qi, on the other hand, was a soothing, light green that was a tad lighter than gra.s.s.

Water was a light blue, and ice was slightly darker, but other than their states being liquid and solid respectively, there wasn"t much difference between them. Infusing yang qi into water would turn it into colorless air, but there was a slight azure tinge that indicated the qi currents that infused the atmosphere with preternatural properties.

Fire qi was a bit different. Fire qi was mainly yang qi to begin with, so drastically increasing the proportion of yang qi for fire wouldn"t do much except create a stronger fire. However, apparently, if you could purify the brilliantly crimson fiery qi to almost 99.9% yang qi, you could theoretically produce a sacred flame or holy qi. However, such an existence was so legendary it was deemed a myth. At present, no one had heard of anyone who had successfully produced it.

On the other hand, increasing the proportion of yin qi in fire transformed it into a sinister element. Known as Ghost or Darkness element, it was a ghastly, shadowy elemental qi that was the complete opposite of fire. Many of the demonic sects were known for practicing dark/ghost techniques as well as poison techniques. In fact, the higher ends of yin qi infused into ghost or darkness element would outright transform it into demonic qi.

Metal qi was a strange one. While infusing metal qi with a higher proportion of yang qi would convert it into electricity or lightning qi, infusing it with a higher proportion of yin qi would apparently imbue the user with psychokinesis or psychic-like powers, allowing him to bend a spoon with just willpower alone, or upon reaching an advanced stage, levitate objects with his mind.

Earth qi, on the other hand, was more suited toward living creatures rather than actual elements. Infusing more yin qi would allow the user to shapeshift into various anthropomorphic magical beasts such as werewolves or the like. Infusing more yang qi, on the other hand, would allow the user to shapeshift into anthropomorphic dragon or Kirin type magical beasts. The legendary Sacred Creature Morph, or so I had heard.

All this I learned during theoretical cla.s.s, when Teacher Jiao was delivering a lesson on the various types of elemental qi. Apparently I was the only one who paid attention during theoretical cla.s.ses, as everyone else"s minds were far away. I didn"t blame them. With artificial qi, all anyone could think about these days were cultivating. The exception was Ban Zhang, who, being the cla.s.s representative, continued to pay attention in cla.s.s in order to set an example. The guy was a true role model, except that n.o.body was following his example.

"..."

As for me, I only had theoretical left, considering the lab wasn"t able to customize the proper artificial qi for me. So the only way I could compete with my cla.s.smates was through studying and academics. Perhaps I would find some theory that would allow me to compensate for my complete lack of qi.

Speaking of which, Bai Ning Xue refused artificial qi, right? I wonder how she is coping with the whole thing.

I sneakily glanced at Bai Ning Xue, who seated somewhere to the side. Unfortunately, it was hard not to look subtly, considering I was in the second row from the front.

"h.e.l.lo?"

I almost jolted upright when Teacher Jiao called out. He was looking frustrated as he tried to draw the cla.s.s"s attention back toward him.

"Anyone can tell me what the Eight Trigrams are?"

"Qian, Kun, Li, Kan, Gen, Dui, Zhen and Xun," I spoke up.

"The eight symbols used in cosmology to symbolize the fundamental principles of the universe," Ban Zhang added.

"Very good." Teacher Jiao nodded at our answers, and then scowled. "Fei Wu and Ban Zhang again. Can anyone other than Fei Wu or Ban Zhang give the answer?"

n.o.body replied. They were either too glued to their martial arts manuals, or were outright cultivating in cla.s.s. And by that I meant they were sitting cross-legged in their chairs and meditating, drawing qi into their bodies.

"OI!" Teacher Jiao bellowed. His eyes narrowed as he studied the inattentive students. Most of them continued doing whatever they wanted, and his frustration grew. He took a deep breath and suddenly unleashed his qi.

In a single second, everyone toppled over to the ground. Except me and Ban Zhang. I had no idea how Teacher Jiao was so precise with flexing his qi, but he controlled it so seamlessly that only the two of us were unaffected. Everyone was pinned onto the ground, heaving from shock and perspiring from the tremendous pressure.

"…"

I gulped, freezing in my seat as I was at a loss at what to do. As much as I wanted to help my cla.s.smates, there was very little I could do. Ban Zhang was facing a similar predicament, his expression frozen in fear. The two of us exchanged anxious glances, but we managed to somehow telepathically agree to stay still.

"Did you think I"m a pushover just because I only teach theory?" Teacher Jiao seethed, his voice low and soft, but somehow still clearly audible throughout the cla.s.sroom. Everyone trembled from the potent fury evident in his tone. "That you can just walk over my head because I don"t seem to know any martial arts?"

Personally, I always knew that Teacher Jiao was capable of martial arts. He had taught me how to use footwork techniques, after all. In fact, all the non-combat teachers and staff, despite teaching us theory, were all capable of martial arts. Teacher Yi Liao, for example, was a master from the Green Dragon Sect who perfected her healing.

It was the height of folly to a.s.sume otherwise.

"Now listen, the whole lot of you," Teacher Jiao growled through gritted teeth. "I don"t care what sect you"re from. I don"t care if you"re the most prized disciple in the sect, or the top martial arts student in the academy, or if you"re level 5 and are on the fast track to level 6. The moment you"re in my cla.s.sroom, you follow my rules. When I"m giving a lesson, you are to pay attention. If I catch you doing something else during cla.s.s, whether it"s cultivating techniques or learning your martial arts, I will punish you. And trust me, you will not like it."

He allowed his words to hang over the sprawled students before he finally relaxed. As if an ocean had just been lifted off their shoulders, the students in cla.s.s began gasping for air and sitting up, coughing and hacking.

"Is that understood?" Teacher Jiao after allowing the cla.s.s a few moments to catch their breaths. The students, including Qi Fu Ren, nodded frantically. Teacher Jiao then made a gesture, and they scrambled back to their seats.

Even Qi Fu Ren had gone pale, despite his usual defiant manner. I heard that he had adapted well to absorbing artificial qi and emerged one of the strongest yet again, thanks to his Four Star Const.i.tution, so it was amazing to see him brought low. But Bai Ning Xue had also been laid low, the first time I had ever seen her elegant and proud figure sprawled on the ground.

I never would have believed it if I hadn"t seen her lying prostrate with my very own eyes.

Wait, what"s even more amazing is how Teacher Jiao managed to subdue the entire cla.s.s with his qi aura alone…

Thinking about it, I realized how much more impressive the feat he pulled off was. Each student possessed at least a s.e.xagenary of artificial qi, which equaled sixty years of cultivation progress. Despite that enormous amount, almost forty students weren"t able to withstand the intimidating qi pressure from a single teacher.

Ah, right…the teachers and staff were among the first to receive artificial qi. They received a lot more than the students…

The teachers had volunteered to be guinea pigs for the artificial qi first, to ensure that there were no long-lasting side effects or problems. Only after nothing happened over a few months (the vacation period) and they confirmed that they were all right, then the laboratory was allowed to dispense artificial qi to the students.

I wouldn"t be surprised if the teachers, like Teacher Jiao for example, received anywhere between three to four s.e.xagenaries of artificial qi.

On the other hand, I also heard that artificial qi was incredibly expensive to synthesize, so the academy did not plan on producing more and distributing to all the martial artists in the Alliance. But to compromise and prevent the Martial Arts Alliance from declaring war and attacking Wu Ling Academy to plunder their technology and stocks of artificial qi, they agreed to provide the future generation, the young disciples – in other words, us – artificial qi. For the future and all that.

Fat hope that will help me, I thought bitterly. Despite being in the same generation, I couldn"t receive any artificial qi because the lab failed to customize a compatible sample for me. I had no choice but to live with what I had.

*

Wham!

I slid back a few meters after parrying Tu Zi Yi"s kick.

"Not yet!"

I glanced up and saw her leg descending toward me. Using Shadow Steps, I disappeared into a blur, and her foot smashed a crater into the ground.

Oh, wow…that"s one s.e.xagenary of artificial qi for you.

Tu Zi Yi had clearly grown much stronger ever since she absorbed the artificial qi. Without hesitation, she spun upward and snapped up with another kick, switching her stances without delay and moving fluidly. I moved my head slightly to avoid her kick, but I could feel the sonic boom blasting past my cheek and drawing a line of blood.

"Hu…"

I jumped back the moment Tu Zi Yi kicked, riding along the sudden burst of air to mitigate the worst of the impact. Even so, I was still sent skidding back.

"Hah!"

Tu Zi Yi was revolving around before smashing a kick into the place where I was standing seconds ago. Having kicked off with my footwork, I had rolled on the floor to avoid it, and managed to just barely scramble to my feet.

"Why can"t I hit you?"

Tu Zi Yi was getting frustrated. I almost scoffed at her stupid question. Why would I stand still and allow her to hit me? I wasn"t a m.a.s.o.c.h.i.s.t.

However, Tu Zi Yi was growing confident because of her increased power. Clearly, she was a lot stronger than before…tens of times stronger, in fact. She had never been able to unleash such destructive power before, but now she was easily pulverizing the reinforced concrete and material that const.i.tuted the training room.

Sighing, I rolled back to my feet and hopped back to keep my distance. My mind wandered to a few minutes ago, when Tu Zi Yi approached me to request for a sparring session. I saw no reason not to, even though I would be severely disadvantaged.

As it turned out…

"I want you to use all those Lunar Rabbit kicks that you created from watching the actual Lunar Rabbits!"

That was what she said, but she had been one-sidedly attacking me all this time and not giving me a chance to use them. I was getting confused.

Just when that memory slipped away, Tu Zi Yi looked up and studied me, her pretty face creased in a frown.

"…do you think my Lunar Rabbit techniques are now superior to your self-learned Lunar Rabbit kicks?"

"Huh?" I gaped at her. "How would I know?"

If we were basing it solely on superficial results, then quite clearly she was at an overwhelming advantage. The power and speed of her kicks were far above mine. While it did rankle somewhat that a girl was physically stronger than me, I had to accept that in this day and age, gender equality was paramount and there was no reason why a girl wouldn"t be physically stronger than me if she trained harder and more diligently.

Except that she really didn"t. It was the excess of artificial qi that was giving Tu Zi Yi the advantage. To be honest, it had nothing to do with gender. Guy or girl, the difference was going to lie in those artificially synthesized qi that was worth sixty years" cultivation. It was not a difference that I could overcome through biological differences or sheer hard work alone.

In fact, the only reason why I wasn"t lying on the floor right now was because of my experience, and also because Tu Zi Yi still hadn"t completely a.s.similated the artificial qi or perfected her techniques. I could still see the flaws in her movements and exploit them to calculate the optimal timing to pull back, dodge or retreat.

Is this the true essence of Heaven and Earth Formula? I wondered as I ducked under another swinging kick. Somehow, my qi senses were heightened more than ever, especially in an environment so rich in qi. Artificial qi, yes, but still…qi.

I could literally see the flows and currents of qi in the air. Not just in the air, but also in my opponent"s body somewhat. I could see where the cl.u.s.ters of qi were densest and the areas where they were the thinnest.

If I could just pinpoint a weak point…

"!"

I just barely managed to duck under a kick from Tu Zi Yi in time, only for her to flip her body in midair and strike me in my midriff. Fortunately, I managed to parry her kick, but the sheer power behind her blow sent me hurtling across the training room.

"Oof!"

I had to spin my body about to disperse the momentum and then slammed both my feet against the wall, cracking the reinforced material. With a deep breath, I sprang forward and answered with a kick of my own.

"!!"

Tu Zi Yi threw both her hands up in reflex and effortlessly blocked my kick. Despite putting all of my strength behind my attack, my pathetically tiny amount of qi dissipated harmlessly against her ma.s.sive qi defense. It was like a drop of water trying to attack a tidal wave. It just wasn"t going to happen no matter how much I tried.

Realizing that, Tu Zi Yi counterattacked with a kick. I tried my best to dodge in midair, but despite twisting to the utmost of my ability, Tu Zi Yi"s foot lightly connected. Even though it was just a graze, it was sufficient to send me flying upward into the ceiling of the training room. I crashed into the structure with a grunt and then fell back to the ground.

"Ah! Are you all right?"

Tu Zi Yi hurried over, but I waved her away.

"So are you satisfied now?" I asked bitterly. Despite Tu Zi Yi"s request, I had only executed a single kick in the entire duel. And then had my a.s.s practically kicked. If she was seeking to prove her superiority, then she had certainly achieved it.

"Ah, yes."

Tu Zi Yi didn"t bother to hide her delight as she nodded, pleased with her progress. Except that it wasn"t her progress. It was a cheat, a shortcut she received to artificially boost her strength to the peak of human ability.

A process that wasn"t available to me, at least not yet.

"Thank you very much!" Tu Zi Yi bowed. I merely nodded and turned to leave the room, not trusting myself to speak.

Yeah, it was clear that Tu Zi Yi never intended to learn from my improvised and self-learned Lunar Rabbit kicks. Her goal was to prove that her sect"s original Lunar Rabbit techniques were superior to my self-invented ones, and she decided to make use of this time when she was aware that the lab failed to customize any artificial qi compatible with mine, to defeat me. In other words, she was kicking me when I was down.

Funny. I would have thought that Qi Fu Ren would be the first to challenge me and beat me up, but he surprisingly hadn"t made any move toward me so far. I wondered why.

Well, no use worrying about that. I had more important things to worry about, such as surviving in Wu Ling Academy despite such an overwhelming disadvantage.

On the other hand, I managed to keep up with Tu Zi Yi"s movements and dodge all of her attacks. There might some hope of fighting back, after all.

Heaven and Earth Formula relied on me to come up with my own fighting style, ritual and form. So if I tailored what I had learned as the base to adapt myself to fighting spiritually superior foes, I might just be able to figure something out.

But how? How do I overcome such overwhelming differences?

Even if I could dodge, even if I could sense and "see" the color coded currents of various qi, it was pointless if I didn"t know how to put those into practice and make use of them in actual combat. Moreover, I just didn"t possess the strength to attack. Right now, it was akin to a normal person punching a brick wall.

I was more liable to hurt myself in attacking my opponents than leave a scratch on them.

But there has to be a way…

Gritting my teeth, I marched back toward my dorm while racking my brain for possible countermeasures against my newly powered up cla.s.smates.

*

As it turned out, a few weeks pa.s.sed and I still found myself at the bottom of the barrel. Unable to develop a perfect countermeasure, I somewhat ended up as the voluntary punching bag in my cla.s.s.

It wasn"t that I was a m.a.s.o.c.h.i.s.t who was greedy for physical punishment. To me, victories weren"t important. I was more interested in learning how to fight, and I wouldn"t stop sparring and fighting until I found a way to improve myself. Despite being constantly trounced in a one-sided battle, I was always jumping back up and eager to learn. Given time, I was gradually acclimatizing to the new climate and adapting to my cla.s.smates" superior spiritual strength.

Many of them were happy to fight me, as it felt good to beat up someone weaker than you. In a less sinister way, it helped them build up their confidence and self-esteem, knowing that there was at least one person below them. But the stressful and super-compet.i.tive environment often brought out the worst in them and they needed a way of letting off steam.

Of course, there was a substantial number of cla.s.smates who felt sorry for me, and felt that it was dishonorable one-sidedly thrashing a student many times weaker than them, an unfortunate cla.s.smate who was unable to receive artificial qi.

Tong Xue and Zhu Jiao belonged to the latter group, refusing to spar with me. Tang Qi Hong was also pretty upset when I asked her, and she even forbade her friend, Lian Rou, from dueling with me. So those four were out.

Ban Zhang fell somewhere in the middle. While he wasn"t happy to fight me because he wasn"t the type to bully the weak, he didn"t feel sorry for me to the extent where he would refuse a challenge from me. As long as it wasn"t an official match, anyway.

"Are you sure about this?" he asked me as we both took our positions in the training room. I took a deep breath and nodded.

"Yup. How about you? Are you ready?"

I did some warmups, stretching and flexing my arms and legs in preparation for the friendly sparring. Ban Zhang hesitated and looked away uncertainly for a moment.

"Hmm…" he paused, and then smiled nervously. "I honestly think it is unfair for us to fight now, you know?"

"Life is pretty unfair. No one is going to hold back because they pity me for not having any artificial qi."

"That is true." Ban Zhang nodded reluctantly at my valid point. "Including me, every student in this academy has received artificial qi. We all have about one s.e.xagenary"s worth of spiritual energy. Just like one of those legendary martial artists."

"I know that," I replied. "That won"t change my mind."

Ban Zhang gave me a look. "You"re no match for me, especially since the lab still hasn"t successfully customized artificial qi suitable for you."

"I know. That"s why I"m trying to learn how to fight against such an overwhelming disadvantage."

Seeing that Ban Zhang refused to move, I sprang forward with Jin and rushed at him with a Shadow Kick.

"Spiritual qi difference does exist," Ban Zhang coolly informed me as he effortlessly dodged my attack. "It might be the deciding factor…but that"s only when there"s a few years" difference. You and I have a s.e.xagenary of qi difference. That"s almost an absolute power difference."

"Like an ant against a dragon?"

"I wouldn"t put it that way," Ban Zhang chuckled as I swung another kick at him, dodging again. "Did you know that one s.e.xagenary of qi is achieved by cultivating spiritual energy for only 60 years?"

"I know."

"If it were not for this academy, achieving even one s.e.xagenary of qi would be considered a legend." Ban Zhang stepped back to avoid another of my kicks. "You…only had a year to cultivate qi like the rest of us. I don"t know what happened to you during your experience in Sen Lin Forest, but even if we take that miraculous encounter into account, you probably only have ten years" worth of qi cultivation at most."

"Still better than nothing," I replied defiantly with a smile.

"At this point, you still haven"t received any artificial qi from the academy, so you"re no match for any of the students here." Ban Zhang regarded me coolly. "That"s why I said it"s unfair for us to fight."

"I won"t know until I try!"

Gathering whatever qi I could into my leg, I launched a kick at Ban Zhang"s face. This time, Ban Zhang didn"t bother to dodge. He merely stood there firmly and allowed my foot to strike the side of his head.

Thunk!

"…eh?"

I froze when I realized that my foot hadn"t budged an inch despite colliding with Ban Zhang"s face. He merely grabbed my foot, and to my horror, I found that I couldn"t break free of his grip.

"Allow me to teach you the difference between us. The absolute power gap between someone with one s.e.xagenary of qi and someone who only has a year or so experience."

He reached out and grabbed my face, ensnaring my head before I could withdraw in panic. It also helped that he had my foot in an unbreakable grip and was yanking me forward.

I felt a tremendous shock rock through my head. My world split apart and tumbled over, and I fell to my rump, dizzy and disorientated. Coughing and heaving, I tried to stand, only to fall back to my knees.

"You shouldn"t be able to stand up," Ban Zhang informed me sympathetically. "I just shook your head and disrupted your equilibrium with Black Tortoise Heavy Shock Palm."

He turned away.

"Here, internal damage is a lot more crucial than physical damage. If you lack spiritual qi, you will not be able to adequately defend against spiritual qi attacks."

"…I see."

Despite my battered condition, I struggled to my feet, only to topple over again.

"I apologize for being heavy-handed, but I need to ensure that I got my point across." Ban Zhang knelt beside me while my vision was darkening. "Rest for a bit. Don"t worry, when you get up, I"ll treat you to Mapo tofu. I"m sure Zhu Jiao and Tong Xue would love to come along as well."

"I can"t eat spicy stuff…"

Those were the last words that left my mouth before I blacked out and completely lost consciousness.