Lind wondered if he had truly mastered his staff technique. He had tempered his elements and had some success against beasts, but as he was flying through the air before slamming into the training courtyard's walls, he believed he had not truly mastered it at all.
Protective formations activated to prevent any damage to the wall as Lind fell to the dirt once more. He was not severely injured but he definitely heard a crack when he fell just now. A quick look inside revealed his ribs had cracked but not broken. A pill popped into his hand and then his mouth as he could not freely use his elixirs yet.
His grade 3 elixir master status was not public, but it was public he was grade 3 at something. The Head Elder knew, thus it was confirmed it was not counterfeit. Lind was now in a strange place due to the edicts concerning his existence. The Head Elder had informed the other elders to treat Lind with the respect accorded an advanced profession but no one knew what he was grade 3 in.
The Sapphire Auction House had been through the roof when he submitted the elemental tempering elixirs. Mythra had actually offered her body then and there while Su had slapped her upside the head. Since Mythra had been let in on Lind's existence, she had wormed her way into being his liaison when she could.
Lady Su was not able to meet too often with him due to her status, but her grandfather pulled Lind aside after revealing his golden badge. There had been a lot of drinking that night. Lind was fairly certain he had to take an alchemic pill to save his liver.
After the process started on those vials, Lind had made a variety of grade 1 thru 3 of what he had created before. The Heavenly Maiden Sect had been receiving demands from the Alchemy Guild on their guest Elder, but even that power could only push so far. Unlike the Heavenly Maiden Sect, the Alchemy Guild was only a local power, relatively speaking.
Lind had learned there was something similar to the Sapphire Auction House for alchemy but it did not deign to lower itself below Sky Realm power. Lind wondered about it, but it made a bit of sense considering that alchemy was about diligence and comprehension.
Cultivators had better odds of reaching the Sky Realm than progressing in alchemy to the comparable level. A grade 4 alchemist was a spirit blessed existence that would be hoarded by the powers of the mortal realm if they could have one. The Alchemy Guild had a contract to promote such seeds to the Floating Isle immediately once confirmed.
Apparently most of the professions worked that way if a power like the Alchemy Guild existed, but the other professions did not have such a power in existence. Formation masters to weapon refiners were divided by many schools of thought so no single guild ruled over them all.
Lind slowly picked himself up after the pill did its work. The combat master Elder looked at Lind in approval but both felt he lacked severely in experience. The few missions Lind had accomplished had been more about being clever than direct combat. Lind had engaged in these lessons to build a better foundation and was glad he did. Following a technique in a vacuum was far different from learning how to hone it to his body.
"You are still too slow, Lind Frey. You are trying to think about the next move too much and slowing down your reaction time." Lind wanted to argue but the Elder had been helpful in his advice thus far in the last 2 months.
"Lind." A gentle voice carried across the dirt courtyard and the Elder bowed with respect to Qing as she smiled at them both. The Elder was in pristine black robes with a violet lotus on his right breast but Lind was disheveled and covered in dirt instead.
"End of the day already? We were just starting to have fun." Lind's sarcasm made both of his seniors smile but it meant he was in high spirits so they let it slide. Lind knew that meant the Crown Prince Ryu was still on his way. It mystified him why such a person would take the long way around to arrive, but Lind took the extra time.
"Any progress?" Qing's question made Lind wince. He could tell her he knew exactly what it felt like for all his bones to fracture, but he doubted that would be helpful. Lind covered how he had improved in actual combat with his staff and hand to hand combat.
"So you still get thrown around like that?" Lind's dark green eyes rolled to the back but he nodded as he could not deny it. Many of the other students were not unique in that, but Lind was the only one that had limited options. Lind could blend elements via his staff but his power was far lower than a cultivator that did such techniques directly.
"I can reproduce effects, but my comprehension is so much lower even with your help, Qing." Lind had truly made progress and seen improvement, but it was not as good as other cultivators. His cultivation was progressing now that he was in the low 6th tier, but tempering was crawling forward at a snail's pace. He had refused to use his own elixirs as it was not the elements alone but in relation to his harmony, thus he could not simply use the shortcut.
His foundation was phenomenally stable, but his elements were holding him back basically.
"You are still stuck on your other ideas then?" Qing smiled at him but there was concern in her pale eyes. Lind had tried to explain how his old world had a deeper understanding of the natural world than cultivators did. Qing had disproven that a bit, but she had been surprised at his ideas that were indeed more profound, but Lind's knowledge was not deep from his old life.
Lind was walking a unique path and it was not progressing as much as either liked, yet Lind persisted. He could not follow the path of other cultivators, but it did not invalidate all of what those before him learned.
It was culling the compromises cultivators made to make progress that Lind had to get rid of and add his Earth science to his ideas. Lind realized that while his knowledge was accurate, it did require the world to cooperate on its own rather than him doing things himself.
They reached their quarters to find a package sitting in front of his door once more. Qing smiled but did not move to allow Lind to collect it himself. It was something unexpected, however. It was not a puzzle this time, but an artifact. It was a piece of jade surrounded by a formation plate.
Lind looked concerned but Qing recognized what it was and smiled in her mind a bit deeper. Once they were inside she watched as Lind struggled to get the artifact to respond. His Eyes revealed the elements he needed, but no matter how much he pushed into it, nothing happened.
"Want some tea, Lind?" QIng had become closer to him, but Lind still felt nervous when she got a bit touchy. The barrier that had once been between them seemed to have largely vanished, but Qing still kept things professional when working on his heart demons. The progress made was more in terms of comprehension than breaking the shackles from them.
"Sure." Lind answered absent mindedly as he kept plucking away at the jade and its formation. Lind tried to use his World Touch to follow the flow of Qi, but it was like it vanished into the jade piece settled on the plate. Where was the Qi going?
Lind heard the clinic of a cup on its dish when he realized he had lost time. The tea helped clear his mind a bit, but did not bring any solutions. Lind was used to manipulating physical parts or aligning formations as part of the puzzles given, but this artifact was acting more like a complex puzzle itself.
Lind realized QIng had not said a word since making the tea and looked up to find her smirking at him. He scratched his cheek in embarrassment that he had basically ignored her while focusing on this artifact. Qing sat in her white robes across from him and looked beautiful to his eyes.
"Do you want a clue?" Qing smiled wider as she spoke and Lind realized she knew what this artifact was. He was tempted, but Lind did not concede yet. This was not like his cultivation or honing his techniques where guidance helped clear his mind from overthinking and getting stuck. This was a gift from Cyntilla. Lind wanted to figure it out.
Lind knew both women talked when he was out, but Qing did not relay a single message to him. He had no idea what Qing told Cyntilla but he knew they seemed to enjoy their company.
He looked over the formation plate and jade once more. They were one piece but the formation seemed to flow into the jade. Lind sunk his senses into the jade, yet it only left him further confused. There was no information or misaligned arrays, yet no amount of Qi seemed to work.
Cyntilla was not unaware of what was going on, and likely wanted him to remain out of her affairs in this instance, but Lind was stubborn. He knew trouble was coming and so did she, so what would she give him?
Lind then had a thought.
He looked at the formation one more and began to build it above the jade piece in the center. Lines slowly floated above the artifact as Lind studied it and suddenly realized he had been going about things the wrong way.
This was a puzzle! It was a cultivation puzzle, not a simple fill in the blank puzzle. It was not working because Lind was only trying to match elements to the arrays. Lind had to look at the tier as well and adjust as he made the Qi flow through it.
Lind carefully began to fill each array. His staff extended as he needed it to handle the multiple elements but Qing waved at him and Lind was stunned to see her push his staff away.
"Try without it. You relay on the tool too much, Lind." Qing was not wrong but Lind suffered backlash when using techniques beyond Tier 1 Soul Arts. Lind began again once the Qi dispersed and was stunned.
His harmony sang as Lind channeled multiple elements as easy as breathing. How was this possible? The moment Lind tried to figure it out, he suffered a backlash. The pain was minor but Lind could not grasp what was going on.
"This is not just a puzzle, Lind. This is an artifact that many sects employ when they have 5 elementals in their younger generation. It also works with 6 elementals, but they are hard to find. Even my own sect hardly has any available down here." Qing picked up the artifact and Lind was stunned as he watched her weave her few elements easily and Lind finally saw it.
The jade worked like a capacitor to give a cultivator leeway on their elements. It gave Lind a safety measure to really feel the elements flow in his own dantian rather than through the staff. Lind felt humbled. He had never realized how much cultivators had been studying the problem, but there were too few people to make it worthwhile as well.
Lind started over once his foundation was stable. His elements felt entirely different flowing into the artifact along the arrays. Things that had been impossible, were now becoming clear to Lind. His body seemed to let the puzzle fall away as he began to do something he had tried before.
Static electricity skyrocketed inside his room as Lind easily charged his body and the air around him. The smell of ozone increased as electrical discharge flowed around Lind's body. It was harmless but it looked impressive. Lind smiled wide. He understood! He finally understood!
His elemental cores thrummed and broke through to high tier 7. His staff extended and Lind finally saw the genius of his seniors that made it. He could finally complement his effects rather than relying on the staff alone!
"Please fight me Qing!" Lind's eyes burned with excitement as they ran out of his quarters to the nearest open training yard to let Lind hone this feeling.