I sat up and glanced around the darkness, half-expecting to see Ban Zhang hovering around me and checking if I was all right.

Nope, there was no sign of him at all. Instead, I was surrounded by darkness. Frowning, I tried to stand and reach out to turn the lights on.

There was nothing. What I initially took for to be a darkened room was actually empty s.p.a.ce. Even the floor – despite walking along something, there was no floor. It felt as if I was walking across empty s.p.a.ce.

Doesn"t this look familiar?

Yeah…it did. I recognized this place. It was definitely…

"Yo, my disciple."

"Master."

I looked up and found him waving at me from a distance. He was seated on what seemed like an invisible bed, which gave off a weird impression. Like he was floating cross-legged in midair. We certainly weren"t standing at the same level (or sitting, in Master"s case).

But for me to see him here, it must mean…

"Am I…dead?"

No way. Ban Zhang was my friend. He would never be ruthless enough to kill me. There must be some kind of mistake.

But then, he has one s.e.xagenary of artificial qi, which is a lot more than mine. Maybe he"s still not used to his new strength and was unable to precisely gauge and estimate the amount he needed, and failed to hold back?

In other words, Ban Zhang accidentally used more strength than was necessary and inadvertently killed me.

You"ve got to be kidding me!

To die in such a stupid manner, killed by my own friend…

"You"re not dead."

"Eh?"

I glanced up at Master, who was scowling at me in disapproval. He shook his head and gestured for me to draw closer.

"I"m just using this opportunity to teach you something new. I"ve heard about your circ.u.mstances from that old hag."

He must be referring to Grandma Meng. Wow, but that old lady really knew everything, didn"t she?

"You"ve a hard time, given how you"re up against opponents several times more powerful than you. What was it…they"ve an amount of qi equivalent to sixty years" worth of cultivation? Something like that, I believe."

I nodded. "That"s right."

"Hmph!" Master snorted. "What a load of bull. As if having more qi would automatically make you invincible."

"Well, I"ve been experiencing firsthand that it really is the case…"

Lowering my head, I muttered sullenly. Master chortled at that.

"Well, I won"t deny that having more qi would certainly give you an overwhelming advantage. But that"s not all there is to martial arts…especially for pract.i.tioners of the Heaven and Earth Sect." he studied me and grinned. "Looks like you not being able to receive or absorb any artificial qi is a great blessing in disguise."

"What do you mean?" I gaped at him. Master smirked and waved his hand, telling me to sit down. I glanced around, not sure where I could sit, but decided to trust in the weird interdimensional s.p.a.ce I was in and took a seat below him.

Once he caught me looking up at him from an inferior position, Master"s smile broadened. "Tell me, what"s the purpose of martial arts?"

"To learn how to fight? For self-defense?"

"Try harder," Master told me snappily. "If it"s as simple as learning how to fight, then why don"t we just strengthen our bodies and be faster and stronger? Why bother learning martial arts at all?"

"Uh…" I racked my brains and thought about it. Master got a little impatient when I wasn"t able to offer an answer in a few seconds.

"Why was martial arts created in the first place?" he gave a hint. Then glared at me before I opened my mouth. "Not just to fight, right?"

"Discipline?"

"No, I mean, yes, but why martial arts specifically? Why was martial arts created for fighting instead of relying on brute strength to win fights? How is martial arts used for self-defense? To overpower the enemy through sheer force?"

I suddenly understood. "Martial arts are a way for the weak to fight against the strong. To defend themselves from a superior opponent."

"Bingo!" Master clapped his hands in delight. "I knew you would figure that out. Now…if the essence of martial arts is to defend yourself from a stronger opponent, then don"t you think there"s something wrong with the approach of trying to grow stronger than your opponent by acc.u.mulating more qi than him?"

"Uh…yeah, maybe…"

I wasn"t certain if this line of reasoning was logical, but I decided to go along with it for now. However…

"But how do I overcome such an overwhelming difference in strength when I have so little qi comparatively?"

"That"s why you learn Heaven and Earth Formula. There are no strict forms and rituals, no concrete fighting style…because it"s a martial art that allows you to adapt to whatever martial techniques your enemies use."

I pushed my gla.s.ses up my nose as I studied Master. "So a style that"s based primarily on counters?"

"If that"s the style that suits you the most, yes." Master nodded. "But alternatively, Heaven and Earth Formula allows you to use your opponent"s strength against themselves. Counter hard with soft. Be flexible and supple."

"Something like tai qi?"

"Tai qi?" Master repeated incredulously. Oh, I forgot that there was no tai qi in this timeline. This world followed a parallel, alternate history with regards to martial arts. "Do you mean the ultimate principle?"

I guess that was one way of interpreting tai qi, so I merely laughed and shrugged.

"Oh, maybe. I guess?"

Master didn"t look satisfied with that vague answer, but he didn"t press further. Instead, he shook his head.

"Well, we don"t have time to waste. I"ll just tell you about that." he studied me and nodded, pleased. "Good, it seems like you"ve spent all this time developing a solid foundation with the Heaven and Earth Formula that I taught you. You"ll definitely be fine if you proceed at this rate." He smiled proudly. "In fact, it"s pretty impressive, given how little time you had to practice it. I can tell that you"ve worked really, really hard."

I couldn"t help but chuckle inwardly at his compliment. Oh, the irony. When I first got into the academy, there was quite a lot of people chasing me because they suspected that I had learned Heaven and Earth Formula even though I actually hadn"t. After proving that I didn"t, I somehow managed to learn Heaven and Earth Formula through a supernatural, miraculous – not to mention near-death – encounter, but no one had realized that this time, I really had learned Heaven and Earth Formula.

The people from the Iron Mountain Sect and the Dark Shadow Sect would most likely be screaming in rage if they learned of this. Not that I was going to tell them. They would make use of the currently superior amount of qi to force me to give away my knowledge of Heaven and Earth Formula. I couldn"t afford to let that happen.

"Thanks." I glanced down at my feet. "But what do I do now?"

"All you need to do for now is to listen, then practice when you regain consciousness."

I nodded and listened attentively. That was one of the only things I was good at. h.e.l.l, during that session in cla.s.s where Teacher Jiao blew up, I was among one of the only two – Ban Zhang being the other – who had paid attention in cla.s.s.

"When you wake up, get yourself a water filtering machine."

"A…water filter machine?" I blurted out without thinking. Now that was something I didn"t expect.

Master nodded. "That"s right. I want you to use it for image training."

"What kind of image training? What am I supposed to visualize?"

"Oho…" Master"s eyes widened. "You"re pretty sharp. You already know what image training is, huh?"

"Sort of…but…" I hesitated. "Imagining something in my head and then doing something with it in my mind. Sort of like shadow-boxing, but with an imagined enemy that I visualize inside my mind. Something like that?"

"Yes. But I don"t want you to visualize fighting or image an enemy. Using the coffee maker, I want you to use it to visualize your qi."

As he said that, I glanced at all the qi around me. Even within the dark, infinite, empty s.p.a.ce, I could still see wisps and currents of qi drifting around.

Master noticed my unusual reaction, and his smile spread out broader than ever.

"Ah…I see that you"ve already reached that stage, huh? Your progress is much faster than I originally antic.i.p.ated. I can scarcely believe that you can already perceive and "see" the qi in your surroundings."

"Isn"t that because of the Heaven and Earth Formula that you taught me?" I asked. Master grinned and nodded.

"Partly, but I thought you would need a few more months before you reach this stage. Nonetheless, this is good news."

"Thank you." I paused for a moment, and then tried to shift the topic back. "So what kind of image training am I supposed to do? Filter my qi?"

"Excellent!" Master reached out and slapped my shoulder with a hearty laugh. "Exactly! So you already figured it out!"

"It was just a guess…"

"A good one," Master a.s.sured me. "Now, with the water filtrating machine, you are to visualize your qi as water. Which is easy to do, considering your elemental affinity with ice. But I want you to imagine your qi like unrefined, tainted water. Heaven and Earth Formula"s breathing method and qi control techniques would be the filter. So filter your qi and turn it into purified drinking water. Can you manage that?"

"I"ll try, but no promises," I replied somewhat unconfidently. Master snorted, but he didn"t smack me for my lack of confidence.

"Now, answer this question. Why am I having you purify your qi?"

"The purer the qi, the more volatile the reaction from qi control and manipulation," I replied automatically, having learned that from Wu Ling Academy"s theoretical cla.s.ses. That was why I paid attention to Teacher Jiao. Martial arts weren"t solely about practical. Having a good grasp of theory was rewarding. "And if I were to apply that principle…"

"Exactly!" Master nodded, delighted with my answer. "Heaven and Earth Formula does not operate under the barbaric principle of "more qi equals more power"." He smiled at me. "Just like how only uranium with high purity is suitable for nuclear reactions, you can achieve stronger power with a small amount of pure spiritual energy."

"Correction." I held up my hand. "The type of uranium used in nuclear reactions is not purified uranium but enriched uranium. Uranium exists naturally with over 99% of it composing of the 238 isotope uranium, but scientists enrich uranium by increasing the proportion of the 235 isotope uranium because it is the only naturally occurring nuclide that can undergo nuclear fission with thermal neurons."

Master glared at me. "What are you, a nuclear physicist or something?"

"No," I corrected. "I"m a big fan of science fiction…uh, it"s a genre from the timeline I was from."

"I know that timeline, I"ve been there. That"s the reason why I even know about uranium in the first place. But that"s beside the point."

"You were saying that more qi doesn"t equal more power. But that"s not what I"m experiencing against my opponents so far."

"That"s right. The more you have, the harder it is to purify it." Master looked at me sternly. "Keep your eye on the currents of qi and manipulate them, bind them to your will and direct their flow. Purify your qi over and over again, then only will you be able to achieve great strength even with the tiny amount of qi you have."

"What about having more pure qi?" I asked.

"Ideally, that would be good, but…" Master smirked. "Can your body handle it?"

"I"ll have to train it, right?"

"Think about it." Master smacked my head. "How long can even the most st.u.r.dily built nuclear power plants last? And you remember what happened in f.u.kushima, right? How the metal rods were unable to withstand the heat when it was damaged. Now, imagine what would happen if your body gets injured during the fight, and you have all that latent purified qi energy stored inside you." he spread his hands to mime an explosion.

I gulped.

"Rather, Heaven and Earth Formula isn"t about acc.u.mulating or storing as much qi in your body as possible. It adjusts to your opponent. You can see all the qi currents around you. Tap into them, bend them to your will, and use them against your opponent"s will."

"Easier said than done," I muttered.

"Oh, it"s easy. Anyway, the first step and primary technique of Heaven and Earth Formula, Heaven and Earth Strike, relies on you succeeding in purifying your qi. No, not just your qi. Once you"ve reached the level where you"re able to draw upon all the qi in your surroundings and purify them in one go, you"ll be able to unleash all that volatile energy in a single strike, much like discharging the destructive power of a thermonuclear bomb." Master punched the air, but nothing happened. "Heaven and Earth Strike is easily one of the most powerful and destructive techniques in the whole martial arts world, the Jianghu. That is why all the sects covet the Heaven and Earth Formula. And the beauty of it is that you don"t even need a substantial amount of qi to utilize it. What you need is a mastery of all the elements and qi around you, to be able to manipulate and draw all the surrounding qi in the environment to the extent where it seems natural."

"Thus Heaven and Earth," I muttered. "To control and wield all the qi in the entirety of Heaven and Earth."

"Correct. But you"re still a few years too early to think about that, though."

I sighed. "So my qi still isn"t pure enough, huh?"

"Well, I"ve only just taught you the purification principle. That"s a given."

Then Master sighed.

"That said, I won"t lie to you. It will still be an uphill battle. It would be too naïve to pretend that having more qi is not an advantage. The decisive factor would lie in whose qi is more pure. And of course even if you have very little qi, if you manage to purify it, you might be able to bridge the distance a little. I used uranium as an example, but obviously uranium is one of the densest and most ma.s.sive element in the universe. So I won"t" deny that having more qi would give you or your opponent an advantage. There is a way to offset that advantage, though…if you master Heaven and Earth Formula, but I"m a little hesitant in teaching you that."

"Eh?" I protested. "Why not? Come on, Master, I"m going to need every advantage that I can get."

"I don"t want you to become overly reliant on that technique…in fact, that technique was what caused the Heaven and Earth Sect to get labeled demonic, and led to our persecution and downfall. Especially since the other masters and disciples showed no restraint…" Master closed his eyes and shook his head. "No, that technique will end in my generation."

"Then what am I supposed to learn?" I grumbled.

"Don"t worry about that," Master a.s.sured me as he lay an encouraging hand on my shoulder. "That"s why I"m teaching you the theory behind Heaven and Earth Strike."

I scratched my head as I watched Master. "So what exactly is Heaven and Earth Strike? I understand the principle, but is it a punch?"

"Silly boy." Master laughed. "I told you before, Heaven and Earth Formula doesn"t have any fixed forms or rituals or fighting style. You can apply Heaven and Earth Strike to anything. It can be a punch, it can be a kick, it can be a sword strike, and it can even be a thrust of a wooden staff. As long as you know the principle, you can apply it to anything."

"…yes, Master."

I nodded, overawed by the information I was receiving.

"One more thing." Master held up a finger. "Since I"m teaching you the basic, primary technique of Heaven and Earth Formula, I might as well tell you about the ultimate technique of Heaven and Earth Formula."

"Huh?"

"The moment you master Heaven and Earth Strike, you should be at the level where you can manipulate and direct the flow and current of the qi in your surroundings. But if you continue developing along that line, you"ll eventually reach the stage where you can draw and manipulate your opponent"s own qi and use it against him."

"What…?"

Visualize the clashing of qi as a storm, and at the point of collision, deliver a Heaven and Earth Strike right into the center. If you succeed, you"ll be able to redirect and use your opponent"s qi against him, causing a fatal backlash." Master"s smiled widened. "This is the principle of Heaven and Earth Reversal, the ultimate technique of Heaven and Earth Formula."

I stared at him, baffled. "I"m sorry, I"m afraid I don"t quite understand."

"You don"t have to." Master patted my head. "Worry about learning Heaven and Earth Strike first. There"s no point worrying about Heaven and Earth Reversal if you can"t even master Heaven and Earth Strike, which is the prerequisite to using Heaven and Earth Reversal."

"Yes, Master." I nodded.

"Well, that"s all I have for you." then he suddenly hesitated, as if realizing that he had forgotten something.

"What is it, Master?" I asked, noticing his troubled expression.

"No, it"s just…" Master shook his head and closed his eyes.

"Just what?"

"…well, there is one last aspect of Heaven and Earth Formula..." he broke off and shook his head, his eyes suddenly dark. "No, never mind. It"s nothing."

"No way! You can"t just leave me hanging!"

"I don"t know if you would want to learn it. It"s considered demonic…and cruel. It"s the reason why the Heaven and Earth Sect was persecuted by the so-called orthodox sects of the Martial Arts Alliance. They viewed this technique as monstrous." His gaze was dead serious. "Perhaps it is better if you don"t learn of this technique at all."

"Demonic?" I gulped. That did not sound good. "Okay…I"ll stay as far away from it as I can. Well, I doubt I"ll ever end up accidentally learning it, though.

"I hope that would be the case."

Master forced a smile, and then waved his hand to dismiss me.

"Okay, time for you to wake up. Remember to get that water filtration machine. It"ll help you greatly with your training."

I was about to rise to my feet when something occurred to me.

"Master, you said that Heaven and Earth Formula relies on drawing and manipulating the qi in the surrounding environment, directing its flow and using it. Isn"t it possible to use this method to absorb qi into your body?"

"No." Master shook his head. "The qi in the natural environment differs too much from the innate qi that a human body produces and stocks up. They are not compatible with each other. You can control the currents of the surrounding qi, but you can"t absorb it. The human body is not meant to store environmental qi – the innate qi it uses is completely different from the one freely available in the environment."

"So if I find a source of compatible qi, I will be able to absorb it?"

"Theoretically, yes." Master nodded. Then he looked a little stricken at my statement. "No, you can"t be thinking…"

"Compatible qi suitable for the human body…in other words, qi from another human…"

While musing to myself, I realized that Master had fallen into a resigned horror. At first, I was puzzled by his reticence, but then something clicked.

"Don"t tell me…"

"Seems like you"ve figured out, huh?" Master smiled sadly. "That is correct. That is the forbidden demonic technique of the Heaven and Earth Sect. absorbing and stealing the qi from other people. Because the technique made it easy for us to plunder qi from other people, the Heaven and Earth Sect members grew drunk on their l.u.s.t for power, rampaging and killing huge ma.s.ses of people while feeding off their qi."

"That"s…"

I couldn"t help but be horrified. Master, noticing my reaction, seemed to grow a bit sadder, his fingers clenching into fists.

"I know what that is. Atrocities. Ma.s.sacres. All committed in the name of martial arts and the domineering path of those in the Heaven and Earth Sect. but we went too far, and the orthodox sects all allied together to resist our tyranny." Master sighed wearily. "Looking back now, we really did a lot of unforgivable things. I don"t blame them for wanting to exterminate my sect."

"…"

I said nothing. There was absolutely nothing I could say to that. I was well aware that Heaven and Earth Sect was a demonic sect, and I knew that they weren"t innocent, but I didn"t realize the depth of their past atrocities.

How? Master seemed like such a good person, at least on the surface. It was extremely difficult for me to imagine him as a tyrannical demon, ma.s.sacring whole villages and robbing people of their spiritual power.

"That"s why I refuse to teach you this demonic technique," Master hissed. "It will end with my generation. I will not allow you to fall into the same demise that my generation did."

"Don"t worry," I a.s.sured him. "Even if you did teach me, I wouldn"t use it unless absolutely necessary."

I wasn"t naïve or delusional enough to deny the temptation that such a technique provided. I was only human, after all. If I had learned this technique, it would be difficult to resist the temptation to use it. After all, it gave me a chance to close in on the difference between me and my cla.s.smates by absorbing their vast amounts of qi and incorporating them into myself…

"Wait, that"s not right. What if their qi isn"t compatible with mine?"

"The nature of environmental qi is completely different from that of innate human qi," Master informed me. "Which is why it"s useless to try and absorb the surrounding qi. But innate human qi, even if incompatible, can still be absorbed and stored. That"s why the former masters and disciples of the Heaven and Earth Sect went around killing people and plundering their qi indiscriminately. They were more obsessed with quant.i.ty over quality."

"Can"t say I blame them," I muttered. Master gave me a dark look.

"But there lies the greatest weakness of this technique. The conflicts between opposing, incompatible qis would cause the pract.i.tioner to be incapacitated momentarily. He might take hours, sometimes days to a.s.similate all that qi and incorporate it into his own. It"s difficult, but definitely doable, but it consumes a lot of time. And time isn"t something we often have, especially when we"re persecuted and hunted down by orthodox martial artists."

"…I see."

I took a deep breath and nodded. So it wasn"t practical for people on the run or who were engaged in fighting daily.

"If you"re lucky enough to steal and a.s.similate innate human qi that is compatible and even of the same elemental affinity with you, however, the process will be faster. Sometimes to the point where it is immediate. But what are the chances of that?"

"Unlikely, especially if your enemies are people claiming to practice orthodox martial arts." I rubbed my chin as I replied.

"Exactly!" Master snapped his fingers. "Furthermore, having that much more qi means that it would be much harder to purify it. I told you earlier, didn"t I? Concentrate on purifying your qi instead of trying to get more of it."

"Yeah, yeah…" I sighed. "Then why did the earlier generation all relied on robbing other people"s qi?"

"That…" Master was at a loss for words, and then it was his turn to sigh. "I"ll admit that having more qi does give you an advantage. But even so, this is a shortcut and has its own risks. Unless you"re very sure you"ll be safe and that no one will hunt you right after you kill someone and absorb all of his qi, you"ll be in danger in the few days before you succeed in a.s.similating that qi, especially if it"s incompatible and of a different affinity."

"Ah…I see." I nodded in understanding.

"Anyway, don"t rely on it." he frowned. "Not that I"ll ever teach you to begin with, so I shouldn"t have to worry about this, but…"

It was obvious that he was disturbed by my questions.

Wanting to break the awkward atmosphere, I quickly rose to my feet and bowed gratefully to Master.

"Thank you for your lessons. I really learned a lot today!"

"No, it"s nothing. It"s lonely natural. You"re my disciple, after all." He then regarded me sternly. "I hope this is the last time I see you."

"You say that, but when I end up in a disadvantage and getting knocked into a near-death situation again, you"ll show up to teach me more new stuff." I snorted. "So much for saying that you taught me everything you knew."

Master gave me a strange look. "But I did teach you all this the last time you ended up here. In the old hag"s villa. I"m just here to remind you of what I taught you, since you indulged in a time skip and didn"t cover what you learned during the whole week."

"So this is more for the readers" benefit than for mine?" I asked. Master knocked my head.

"Idiot. I wouldn"t have bothered if you didn"t forget all about that! You were getting so obsessed with trying to find a way to get more qi, or to bridge the mountainous gap between you and your cla.s.smates that you"ve forgotten the lessons I taught you during that time!" After snapping, he calmed down. "And I forgot to tell you to buy a water filtration machine the last time around."

"Huh…"

"Now go. Don"t waste any time and begin reviewing everything I"ve taught you again. And don"t forget the water filtration machine!"

Master pushed me from behind, sending me sprawling forward into the infinite darkness. I flailed about in panic, trying to grab hold onto nothingness, before falling into the chasm for what seemed like forever.

And then I woke up.