As he walked back towards where they camped Luo just thought of one thing "Master, the world, no, the galaxy itself, they traveled it didn't they? How big is it? Is there anything more than the galaxy? Jeez, I even thought the world is big, and now I know that even this is just a fleetingly small piece. I wonder if anyone else on this planet knows?"
"I would doubt that Luo. It's hard to experience what you have not seen for yourself. That is why peeking into the mysteries of the Dao is hard. Even I haven't seen it all."
"Well, the puts things into perspective. But then again, all of that will come when it will come. For now, since I can't do anything about it, I might as well not think about it now."
"Good disciple."
He returned to the camp and tired by mental fatigue he slept like a baby, snoring the night away.
Come morning, Hua woke him up with a shove. "Come on, wake up, I can't take a second more of your snoring." Luo woke up with drool on his face just when master Fu Rah came near the fire. She saw his face and her expression darkened as she said "If you don't clean yourself up in half an incense sticks time, there will be no tomorrow for you!"
Luo immediately got up like a bolt and washed up at the pond. Sect master Fu rah's expression was too scary.
After a while they had breakfast and broke camp, making sure to remove traces of it as much as they could. Master Fu Rah set a breakneck pace, at least break-neck for Luo and Hua. They were heaving as they tried to keep up. She kept this pace up for as much as they could handle and after just another short break she would make them run again.
2 days later, they reached the outer gate of their sect. She then removed her black robes and donned a few accessories, a jade pin like a zither running through her hair bun which she made just now. She transformed from a hellish commander to the graceful beauty that Luo saw on the first day in the sect in about 5 minutes.
She looked at Luo and Hua who were stunned by her change and she said "What? Is there something on my face? And you have to change as well."
She then sighed and muttered under her breath " Haah, boys, they always drag their feet if you don't lead them by their ears."
As they entered the sect, everyone greeted them and master Fu Lin and the old librarian Ren Cho, followed by Pan Hua, came up to them. Fu Lin was wearing a dress with wildflowers printed on it and was looking well rested.
Ren Cho was playing with his flowing white beard and nodded towards the sect master who then nodded back.
Meanwhile Fu Lin came in and hugged Fu Rah and said 'You came back safely aunt Fu Rah. We had gotten reports that Luo and Hua had gotten up till the 9th floor of the Royal Library. When we didn't hear back from you before we got these reports, we thought you had been attacked. What happened?"
Fu Rah pinched Fu Lin's ears and said "How many times have I told you not to call me aunt Fu Rah."
"I'm sorry aun– sect master. I'm sorry" Fu Lin rubbed her ears with her head down like a petulant child.
Fu Rah then cleared her throat and directed them to walk towards her chambers. "Pan Hua, while we go there, go and bring all of the documents that need to be reviewed by me. I'm sure there are a lot of them by now. Haaah."
They retired to her chambers and Fu rah settled on her chair and lit up a pipe and took a long drag out of it and then let out the smoke slowly. Hua looked at her like that and blushed a little. Luo kicked him in the leg to remind him of the place.
Fu Rah then addressed Fu Lin and Ren Cho "It is true that they went to the 9th floor, both of them. Even I was surprised. That Xiao Wu from the heavenly dragon sect, even though he just made it to the 6th floor. There was another girl there, Su Cui from the Flying Tiger sect who went to the 7th level but that's about it.
And to make things more interesting , Hua Geming here actually picked up the Clap and Thundering slash technique created by our ancestor Fu Rang. It's an amazing sword technique that also combines elements of music and has the intent of Thunder Qi mixed in it."
Master Fu Lin was surprised "You mean the master Fu Rang who was the sect master a few generations ago when the Ancient Zither abode was at its peak? That's awesome. Hua , if you comprehend that technique to the peak then you will be someone in your own league."
Fu Rah clapped her pipe to dust the ash and as she refilled the pipe she said "Fu Lin, if that has got you excited, you should check what Luo got out of there. Hah!, When he headed towards the artefacts section instead of a cultivation manual I couldn't help but be shocked at the gamble he had taken. Luo, show her the artefact."
Luo brought out the Phantasmal spirit crystal and handed it to master Fu Lin. "Master try pouring in a bit of your Qi into the crystal." Fu Lin nodded and poured her Qi into the crystal. The crystal stole a fifth of her Qi before she just left it.
"Wha..What is this? It just sucked my Qi dry." Fu Lin said exasperated.
Ren Cho interjected and took the crystal into his hands and examined it, "That is the Phantasmal Spirit crystal if I'm not wrong. Hmmm, yes it is. It is an artefact that was sealed by the king Liu Xue, some 100 years ago or so. It has a history even before he used it in a crisis.
It appears in history sometimes in the hands of a villain and sometimes in the hands of a righteous hero, but it always changes the tide for the side that holds it and knows how to use it. Which is why Liu Xue had it sealed in the Library. For it to appear here, whether it is fortune or misfortune, only time will tell."
"Yeah, yeah, of course it will be the fortune of the Ancient Zither abode. I have felt that our sect has been on the decline because we get bullied a lot and we don't answer for it a lot because most of the people that join here have an artistic temperament and don't bother with things like power plays and such. But it has gotten to a point where I can't ignore it anymore. And I can say for sure that this crystal of his might just trigger something that has been lying dormant.
I bet the other sects will find out about this soon enough and things will start to get escalated before long."
"What do we do then sect master Fu Rah?" Fu Lin asked her.
"Only one thing to be done. I am going to make monsters of these 2 boys in the upcoming months. Ren Cho, I leave the sect master duties up to you. Fu Lin you will also accompany us and also bring those friends of theirs, I feel like they could shine too with this opportunity."
"Yes ma'am."
"Alright everyone, dismissed. Go enjoy for a couple of days. I will wrap a few things up here and we will begin your training. Don't forget boys that you still have to ask me for one thing to be personally trained in, so think on it now and ask me in the training session."
Luo and Hua made their way to the dorms. Ren Cho did not leave and neither did Fu Lin. Fu rah looked at them and asked "What's the matter? Still have something to say?"
Fu Lin spoke up "Master, it was I who came upon Luo while he was looking for jade slips for the summer competition. I had checked his aptitude then and it was much more than he showed in the competition itself. Because in the competition he did not show the nature of his Qi. When I had tested it, the testing crystal showed his Qi nature to be the purest of Yang Qi.
Not to mention that he learnt the soul cultivation technique by remembering it all. He also learnt a few basic runes, something that even I have not had insights into as it is a very complex subject. He thinks that he just wrote a few simple runes, but there are very few people who even achieve that.
On top of it, he chose the Zither as his instrument, meaning he is willing to learn Zither techniques as well. He will most likely become the foundation of the young generation of our sect. I believe we should nurture him well."
"Firstly, I agree to all of that whole heartedly. I plan to nurture both Luo and Hua to a great extent. They are already fast friends which is also good. Also, let me ask you someth–"
Fu Lin interrupted Fu Rah and said "Why Hua as well? Is he that good too?"
Fu Rah was a bit irritated at being interrupted but replied anyway "Yes Hua is equally good. Like I said, we had to fight Pu Kuh, a True foundation cultivator and Xiao Wu when we were coming back. Hua mostly played around with Xiao Wu, a potential inner disciple of the Heavenly dragon sect as if it was child's play to handle him.
He was even using reverse bladed techniques. After Luo goaded him, he even showed signs of using the Clap and Thundering slash technique, something he had just perused for a while before showing signs of using Thunder Qi and the slash itself. Do you get the meaning? He might seem like an idiot but he's actually brilliant in understanding the underlying principles in regards to cultivation techniques and he understands them instinctually, not by logic. If you look at that itself, there is no limit to how much he can grow.
Bu Fu Lin, coming back to my question, did you say that Luo uses Yang Qi?"
"Yes master, it was a very pure Yang Qi."
"That can't be. I saw him handle a true foundation realm cultivator with some Qi stones, I think. He threw 2 of them, one after the other and you know what happened? They exploded. Of Course the attack happened aided by mine so I couldn't see too much, but still, if they exploded it can only mean one thing–"
"That there were two different Qi in each stone and both were used by him. But how can that be." Fu Lin suddenly chimed.
Fu Rah's eyebrow started twitching with irritation. "Ye..Yes. Also, I saw that he used something similar to Poison Qi on the cultivator and Poison Qi usually falls under the branch of Yin Qi."
"Wow, how much is he hiding?" Fu Lin exclaimed.
"I don't think he is hiding anything. Just take a hypothesis of mine. What if he had cultivated his body and Qi both and his Qi happened to be a bit special, something that shows the aspects of both Yang and the Yin? And what if all of the rest of things, the runes, the memorization of techniques, what if all of these things could be attributed to his own mental prowess? Doesn't that explain everything?"
Fu Lin put on a puzzled expression and said "Yes that would explain a lot but how can someone have both the Yang and the Yin Qi both?"
This time Ren Cho chimed in and said "It is possible. At least I have seen it. I have seen it, but only in artifacts and weapons. And in the heavenly Dao, nothing is impossible. If it seems impossible, that is just proof of your own ignorance."
Fu Rah just said one thing "Damn. So it's safe to say that he has both Yang and Yin Qi. That boy will be even more of a monster than I thought. Well, it's just a matter of clearing it up with him when we meet."