How should you move.
How can you move?
Why should you move?
Spiritual Qi was naturally attracted to cultivator's body such that it only needed a small signal to know where to go.
Some attracted more Qi then other's but the same stayed true.
How then should one try to control the Qi already inside of them?
Yes the Qi was technically inside of them much like how blood was inside a person, yet they could not control the flow of blood either.
Aakriti paced back and forth on the stone platform watching the kids struggle to preform this task.
"Just remember the feeling of that first day, how did it feel when the stone's Qi entered your body?"
'How it felt?... Like the warmth of the sun had enveloved me like water' Bran Ai recalled the feeling back then.
It was not the first time he felt such warmth, it was the way that warmth pushed its way into his body that was new.
'It... Moved in my body, like a... A what?'
He couldn't describe the words with his current understanding, he did not know of tides, rivers or even about flowing water.
Trying to understand Qi without having anything similar to compare too was a fools errand but not impossible .
Bran Ai had to find a way to envision the flow of Qi with no other guidance then to remember how it entered his body.
If you stepped on a nail having it pierce into your foot could you remove it without touching it? One would need some sort of force to remove the nail.
The force to move Qi was simple.
It was not some physical activity like swinging his arms around or screaming, it was a mental activity.
Spiritual Qi chooses it's host it is not subservient to any being, that being said does the host have no say about it inhabitanting their body?
This is the great compromise of spiritual Qi, it will move according to the host's will as a tradeoff for having a place to stay.
As long as one willed the Qi to move, it will.
In the case of Bran Ai, he though of spiritual Qi as something warm or hot coursing through his body.
With the stone pressed to his head he thought of the that warmth.
Two numbers appeared in his mind.
Fifty-three and Sixteen.
He who had no understanding of numbers before this suddenly had an epiphany.
'I see, so that's what these are'
Elder Qez had no interest in watching this any longer he had come for another reason today.
"Wha-?" She looked in the elders direction only to regret it instantly.
The elder had privately sent her a message to not attract attention, had Aakriti been more mindful she shouldn't have shown any expression and simply found some sort of excuse to send of those fifty kids early.
It was for newly initiated cultivators to find a master, what would an elder need of fifty complete novices?
If one wanted to find a cultivator then just post it on the sect board, many eager hands would jump at the opportunity to work for an elder.
It was clear to Aakriti that the elder did not come seeking for a disciple today.
Fifty balls of Qi flew out covering those he deemed to be 'underperformers'.
With a single swing of his hand these fifty kids started levitating then suddenly pulled in the elders direction.
The spectators reacted quickly.
"What is the meaning of this!?"
"Who!? Elder Qez what are you doing?"
"!"
"Excuse my interruptions everyone, I am in a bit of a rush so I will be taking my leave now. If you have any complaints feel free to lodge a complaint on me to the punishment hall elder" Elder Qez did not wait for anyone to speak zooming into the distance along with fifty balls of light.
Bran Ai had his eyes closed, his mind looking into the contents of the information jade.
It explained about what the numbers he had been given in the test meant, each explanation directly entering his mind whether he understood it or not.
'So does this mean I am not doing good? It say's here that I have just entered the first stage of 'Qi gathering'? What does that mean for me exactly?'
Bran Ai kept reading further trying to grasp his situation.
'Sixteen strands of Qi means my body is higly impure... What does impure mean? The more impure my body is the slower the Qi gathering rate will be and the harder it becomes to achive breakthroughs'
Bran Ai did not have a clear understanding of the topics being presented to him, he felt there was a lack of knowledge that stopped him from fully grasping the finer details.
'A breakthrough? Break what? I get that I can't acquire Qi very quick but what does that have to do with this breakthrough?'
He did not stop here and simply moved on with the contents inside the jade.
'Fifty-three grains of sand is equivalent to one fifth of a low quality spiritual stone, it is enough to cast three low quality spells and can enhance the bodies strength for three minutes'
Bran Ai sighed inwardly, he doesn't get quite understand what any of this is.
What was a spell?
What was low quality about them?
What was a spiritual stone?
Enhance the body for three minutes, what does it mean?
Bran Ai opened his eyes, his mind pulled itself back from the jade stone.
Trees zoomed below him, the ice walls surrounding the sect and above the sect twisted left and right, he could hear no sound arround him.
The spectators were gone, the stone platform no longer before him, his surroundings had changed and only teal blue balls of light could be seen carrying children inside them.
Bran Ais mouth opened slightly.
He looked down only to see the ground that should have been below his feet was now suddenly gone, he was flying in the air without wings and even the air seemed to avoid him.
Bran Ai was unusually calm right now, he had wanted to scream out in shock but just couldn't find the energy to do it.
'What is it now, Where are we going? I can still move just fine so at least I know I'm not being kidnapped or something right? Who would want to kidnap me anyway?' Bran Ai at least had his reasoning intact still, he knew he was not someone one would consider 'valuable' so he had no reason to think it was something of the sort.
'It must be like when Aakriti used the stone to summon everyone that was late, was I too slow to read the information? Kinda like how I was slow to take in the Qi inside the stone? That must be it'
He looked at the other balls of light, the children inside those balls all had their separate reactions.
Calm, panic, shock, fear and the worst had passed out unable to keep their mind stable.
Bran Ai felt he should be in a similar situation as them but, he just couldn't find the energy for it.
He had nearly been digested alive by some carnivorous plant just yesterday having slept through it all for six days straight, he just couldn't keep up with what was going on right now.
'As long as I am alive, I can keep trying to have a good life' thinking so, he simply relaxed his body and fell asleep.
Elder Qez had rushed out from the disciple acceptance ceremony that the onlookers simply looked at each other not knowing what to do.
"Ah- Um... So the elder has informed me that he will take the bottom fifty children with him so..." Aakriti could not find the word right now.