"Please forgive this idiotic junior, Senior!"
Shitori, the once holier than though Senjutsu Master now laid prostrate on the tightly packed soil. His head rubbing itself into the ground itself as he pleaded with the enigmatic man before him. Having his entire worldview completely shattered in one single interaction was quite frightening to say the least. While he wasn't fully sure if the man was actually the Heavenly Demon, he was still ALOT more powerful than even his master ever was.
"It's good to be suspicious." Iori said, standing across from the bowing old man. Not feeling weird in the slightest of seeing a cultivator look-alike in such a position. It was normal in novels for weaker cultivators to bow to absolute existences like him.
'Maybe my head is getting too big…'
He thought, taking in the sound of rustling leaves as they were bombarded by a gentle breeze. Even if this new age he found himself in wasn't what he expected, it was still infinitely better than staying cooped up in that cave.
"No, Senior!" He exclaimed into the ground, uncaring at the dirt that now completely covered his previously pristine white beard," I have aired by not recognizing Senior! Please punish me as you see fit but please do not take your wrath out onto my school!"
'What kind of monster does he think I am?'
Now Iori felt a bit insulted, sure he had killed a lot of Corpse Refiners, Devils, Angels, Priests, Magicians, Fallen Angel, Valkyries, Yo- Okay. He could see why the man was so concerned.
"I am not so petty to take my anger out on unrelated parties," He lied easily enough," Then think of my questioning as your punishment."
"Thank you Senior!" Shitori bowed a couple more times, thoroughly covering his kimono in dirt," This idiotic junior will answer anything! This junior is not worthy of your mercy!"
"If we're going to talk," Iori stated, sliding a strand of Ki into a nearby plant. Accelerating it's growth to a visible degree and in a blink, a thick vine sprouted out of the ground. Like a king on his throne, he sat on the newly grown plant, using it's split off branches as an armrest. "Take a seat. Bowing a scraping is good in moderation."
"O-Of course Senior!" Shitori replied, stuttering under the terrifying display of power and hurriedly took a seat across from the man.
"First," The immortal started," Your Mountain Shattering Sect's technique, Heavy Ki. I must admit it does somewhat interest me. Showcase it."
"Yes Senior!" He replied excitedly, shooting back up to his feet with child like giddiness despite his old appearance. His feet practically glided across the clearing as a single nearby boulder became the target of this sacrifice. As he moved, he 'grabbed' the ambient Ki itself before tunneling said energy into a small jade trinket that hung conspicuously from his waist. There the life energy twisted and curled as it raced through the intricate patterns inlaid in the jade surface, making it emit a low hum that filled the air with sound of boulders crashing against one another.
Then, the jade piece 'spat' out a string of Ki so twisted and constrained that it seem to have grown 'heavier', slowly it inched itself across his body like a snail. Until eventually, his fists were completely encased in this heavier Ki.
With a loud exhale, Shitori struck out from a few feet away. It was like a mountain had collapsed, rocks and boulders tumbling down to unleash a natural disaster on the unsuspecting villagers from below.
The Ki shot out as quick as lightning and instead of passing harmlessly through the boulder, it collided with the stone as though it had mass of it's own. Crashing, the boulder stood steady for a few beats before falling under the inevitable. Shooting out fragmented pieces of earth as the energy was thoroughly expended.
Huffing slighting, Shitori had a small smile over his face. Pride and giddiness at being the first of his school to showcase their vaunted 'Heavy Ki' Technique to this Ancient Practitioner. He would be telling this story to all of his elders and soak in their jealousy. And judging from the grandmaster's silence, he had properly shocked the monstrous human.
"That was our Mountain Shattering School's prized technique." He said proudly, puffing his chest out," It was made by our founder after he witnesses a landslide that destroyed his village! In order to appease his loved one's grievances, he spent over 20 years repeatedly punching the mountain in a haze of grief and anger. It's stated the he would've continued striking the piece of nature that took his family away until one day, his Ki struck out with enough force to actually break apart a piece of stone. That's when he honed the technique until eventually, with a single blow he brought the mountain down to it's knees. After that he traveled the lands halting many landslides and acquired a following that wished to learn this technique of his. So in his twilight years, he created a School and taught 'Heavy Ki' to 5 of his followers. Before he died, the school was still in it's infancy but afterwards his story exploded out across the globe! Many people from all around the world wished to learn this revolutionary technique! And that's how our school became the most-"
"Why do you use that jade slip?"
Iori asked, not really paying mind to the man's prideful spiel. Frankly, if he wasn't the one monologueing then he tended not to pay attention. Bad habit he knew.
"Uh," The old man was stunned for a moment, looking like a kite with its string cut. Maybe the immortal would've felt bad if he didn't look like a chastised puppy in that moment. An old man really shouldn't make such a face. "Well Senior, our founder wasn't human. He was an Zashiki Warashi and like all Yokai, didn't require a focus to manipulate Ki."
'WHAT?!' Iori could barely keep the surprise off his face,' What the hell is he talking about?! All living things are capable of manipulating Ki!'
"As you know," Shitori didn't seem to recognize the immortal's growing horror," Humans aren't as blessed as Yokai, so to supplement that all school use these jade slips etched with differing patterns that allows Ki to be forcefully shaped in that motion. It's theorized that Ancient Practitioners did this too, but despite our effort all mentions of those techniques were scrubbed out the history books. But I can only image how many jade slips were required for Corpse Refiners, maybe they embedded jade into their puppet's skulls?"
But the youthful looking man was beyond listening at this point, his mind withdrawing from the outside world as the old man went on and on about differing theories on Ancient techniques.
'How badly did they strip Senjutsu?!' He thought, picking at the vine that seem to mirror his mood,' Jade slips?! Whose bright idea was it to make it jade?! That was an expensive stone back in the day, I can't imagine how much it costs nowadays! Not only did they neuter the arts but also put giant paywall right on entry!'