The man laughed lightly, his deep voice echoing around the room, bouncing over the stone floors and hitting Rihanna with a deep chill.
"I was merely guessing...but from the looks on your face....I seem to have struck a spirit mine."
The man opened his eyes, and shifted his position, turning his body to face Rihanna. Still leaning against the giant pillows, he smiled languidly, looking more and more like a seductive fox.
"I noticed you have the Heaven-Earth Energy Accumulating Body.....and I happen to know that the Moon-Grave Sect leader is desperately searching for one little girl with the same physique who disappeared from the Su Clan. Such a little runt....and already have so many enemies....tsk! It would be such a waste if you got caught and used to death by the Sect Leader before I figure out a way to take out the Ancient Seed of Spirit Space.....a real waste of the ancient artifact."
Rihanna could feel her legs going weak, and she barely managed to catch herself from falling down. She grit her teeth, her mind running all over the place. What was this guy planning? Was he going to send her to the Sect Leader? Or was he going to cut her up to take out the artifact, and then throw her to the Sect Leader?!
"I have never seen a commoner expressing herself as beautifully as you do! Do you know your eyes cannot hide whatever you are thinking? He-he.....it is so entertaining watching so many different emotions flowing through those large eyes of yours. Strange.....because commoners are generally cowards who are overly cautious. They will never show their real feelings....much less their annoyance at a cultivator. Not a very safe thing to do, you know."
What was he driving at? Sometimes he seemed to be sympathetic, sometimes he was vicious, sometimes he seemed to be giving her advice, and yet his actions were positively psychotic!
"Wha....what do you want from me?"
"Hmph! Do you really think you can give me what I want? To me....you are like an ant. And I am an elephant. And an elephant never asks for anything from an ant....he simply crushes the ant and takes what he wants.....whether the ant likes it or not."
Rihanna shuddered at the sudden blood thirstiness spreading out from the man. The pressure he emanated was not something she could contest against....at all! She could barely breathe. Unable to control the shaking of her legs, she crumpled to the ground.
She was so....so weak! Nobody had made her feel this helpless, this inconsequential! Truly....before this man she was like an ant.....he could crush her merely by using his pressure....he didn't even need to raise a finger! The power of a cultivator was as shocking as it was merciless.
The pressure suddenly dispersed, and the man laughed mockingly. Chest heaving in sudden relief, Rihanna lay on prone on the floor, her still shivering limbs refusing to listen to her mind. Forcefully lifting her face, she looked at the man....right into his deep eyes.
A deep anger, triggered by her helplessness suddenly washed through every vein in her body. So what if he was more powerful, more stronger than her? No one had the right to look down on her....she had not given this right to anybody! Even if she was being crushed, she wanted to stare into his eyes.....look at him with all her might....till she breathed her last. Nothing and nobody could make her give in!
Something glowed in the man's eyes, as his eyes turned deeper, like vortexes wanting to suck in her very soul. After staring at each other for a while, the man broke the contest, once more returning to his previous position on the couch and closing his eyes.
"Don't worry. I don't want anything from you. I don't know why you want to return back to the place you had run away from. But....I have a feeling I might be able to watch a good show. Don't let me down, little girl. You can go now."
So saying he lapsed into total silence, broken only by the gentle sound of water lapping against the pool edges. Rihanna lay motionless for a moment longer. Then pulling herself up with much effort, she gave a stiff and trembling bow to the one on the couch, turned and walked out as fast as her body could carry her.
'I have to figure out a method for cultivation. Do you have any clue how I might be able to use the energy inside me?'
Rihanna lay prostrate on her own bed. Her limbs were still shivering from the impact of such heavy pressure of a high level cultivator. She still didn't know how to use her energy and cultivate....and had already made a pile of enemies! Her life seemed to be going more and more out of her own control, and the feeling was very scary. She was suddenly not very sure of her own plan of going over to the Su Clan. Would she be able to survive the test, or would the Su Clan eat her up whole, not even spitting out the bones?! She sighed helplessly, feeling a headache already starting.
'I do have an idea actually. Hmmm....till now you have focused on the energy that you absorb, and can also focus and guide that stream of energy to flow in the path you want it to follow. You have even successfully guided it out through your fingers. You just have not made any connections with any of the elements.....though you did absorb wind and water energy in the underground place. So we basically still don't know your elemental affinity. Why don't we go to the Morang grove at night and try to figure your elemental affinity. Once we know what elements you can control, it'll become easier to develop techniques.'
'Hmmm....that seem like a good plan. There is still some time, and I have already taken sick leave for the rest of the day. Might as well get some sleep. Wake me up once it is night.'
Rihanna tossed around on the bed, cringing in pain which still throbbed all over her body, trying to find a comfortable position. Then sank into a deep, dreamless sleep.
Once night descended on the Chen Clan, and all the servants, hosts and remaining guests, one by one, slumbered off, Rihanna awoke. Avoiding the patrolling guards, she slipped out of the Western Courtyard, and went deep inside the Morang grove.
Behind the Green Morang forest, at the backside of the large water reservoir, there a small rocky hill, with a deep pit running right into the ground. Perhaps it had held some ores at one point. Now it had been pretty much excavated out - only the deep pit remained. She wondered what lay at the other end of the pit for it to be still open. But there were no guards patrolling around this place. Whatever was inside, was either very well protected, or wasn't of much use.
No matter what the situation, for her this was a hidden trove, where she could practice in peace.
Relaxing her still aching muscles, she decided to go for a light physical warm-up to recharge her body. A healthy body leads to a healthy mind....so a light yoga-based warm-up should get her mind and concentration perked up!
After a while, she sat on the ground cross-legged, and closed her eyes to focus on the energy around her.
Little Purple told her to take it slow. True....too much anxiety and anticipation would never work during cultivation. She had realized this during her own sessions. She needed to let her mind be at peace to be able to make the energy flow smoothly inside her meridians. Any sort of stress often resulted in disrupted energy flow, ending in severe headaches.
So she simply sat, trying to feel the energy around her, connecting to the space, and letting her mind flow with the rhythm of the flowing energy. Soon she could feel the white mist of energy being pulled towards her body. Controlling the amount of energy entering her meridians, she let her mind regulate the flow in its usual pattern, slowly letting the thin streams of energy flow towards her dantian.
After a few times, the process started becoming smoother, as her concentration grew more profound.
'Try to see the color of the energy particles entering your body. This way we can find out what energy elements your body is attracting. Focus on the white mist, and you might be able to see the colors of the different energies.'
Rihanna exhaled deeply, and slowly started re-shifting her focus. The white cloud like soft bundle moved like undulating tide, swaying gently all around her. She turned her focus onto this white bundle of energy, trying to sense it more clearly.
'Silver...I think...no, I can see silver light particles....and blue....and golden.....I think there is also green and some red....'
'Hmmm.....okay.....now re-focus on the energy in your dantian, and as we have already practiced before, slowly let out a stream of energy through your fingers. Let it flow all around you. Let it touch the ground, the stones, the water in the small puddle next to the rock where you are sitting....let it come in contact with all the different elements in your vicinity. If you have an affinity with any particular element, then you might be able to feel a sense of familiarity and connection with that element.....be slow and gentle.....don't push too hard....don't try to make it happen....take your time over every element you touch with your energy.
Rihanna took a deep breath, and once more re-shifted her focus.
Gently....let it flow.....
If there is to be a connection, it will be made on its own.....
No one can force what is not to be....
And no one can stop what is meant to be....
As Rihanna slowly let out a stream of energy from her dantian to the outside, these impromptu lines flashed through her mind. Somewhere, at some point, in a life left far behind, in a different world.....someone had once said those lines to her.
Time was slowly blurring the faces, a new life was slowly fitting itself over the memories of the life already gone. Yet some memories remained....a hint of nostalgia, a sense of loneliness whilst standing amidst the crowd. A sense of belonging which she could not yet feel in this vast and exciting new world.
As the words flashed through her mind, a deep sense of sorrow and longing hit her unexpectedly, and she couldn't stop those waves of emotions from mingling into her stream of consciousness guiding the energy outflow, and a dark, sad aura full of helplessness and frustration mingled into her energy as it weaved its way out of her body and gushed out to wash over everything in her vicinity.