Currently Steven was telling Conny a longer version of the story on how they came to the Olava and the three passengers got more shocked the longer the story went. On the other hand the smile on YunYun's face grew as she watched Nick's back while paddling in the similar rhythm he did. It was only natural for her to feel proud of his feats, but the more she listened, the more she understood that everything he did was possible only because of the hard and unconventional training he did.
Nick was the same as her, just several times more crazy about practicing Qi and she wanted to experience life like this. It was easy and without any responsibilities, they were in the middle of nowhere and could practice all day round. His theory about 'practicing in everything you do' to her was like a rain on dried out soil.
Back at home she trained a lot, but mostly it was sword and Qi practices. The rest of the time was spent on other things which she found boring. But this boy freely did what he wanted, and even when he had to save them, he still practiced while doing it. For her it was unbelievable and beautiful at the same time.
And she didn't allow herself to think about the time in the river, because every time she did, her vision blurred and heart started to race wildly.
At one point, while listening to Steven's story, YunYun almost lost her paddle when she heard how Nick calmly conversed with a rank six beast, then rescued her cubs and even named her! In addition, he already had a rank six beast as a friend.
"We also have a couple of rank six existences on the continent. Do you want to befriend them as well?" YunYun seriously asked Nick who didn't even know how to comment on it.
A rank six was a legendary being and one should be happy to even be alive after encountering it. And here this girl wants him to casually meet 'a couple' of those?
"Do you want to hear about my Qi cultivation techniques?" Nick asked YunYun in hope to change the subject.
"Sure!" She was all smiles.
Clayton and Steven took over and, while Steven still continued his story, Nick and YunYun comfortably sat in the front of the boat and he explained his four Qi techniques and the ways he was applying them.
Their discussion continued for few hours and in the end Nick had to ask advice from the only Qi master in the group.
"Clayton, what's your opinion. YunYun wants to try out my Qi techniques, but I am afraid that it might in some way injure her since she had practiced her family legacy technique for several years."
Nick was concerned. No one knew the limits of Qi power, only that it was basically omnipotent in this world.
"Why would you even want to switch? I'm sure you have a premium technique." Clayton was confused. Actually he was certain of it, because he already knew her origins, in fact, Nick was the only one who didn't know and, to YunYun's pleasant surprise, didn't really care.
"You see, I'm not looking only at the way Nick does it, but what is even more important – from the Qi pathway mapping. The practical application of his techniques is much wider and way more effective than mine. Mine would be definitely stronger if we only consider the first part that is performed while sitting or in any other still position. But as soon as there is any other movement involved, his other two, sorry, three techniques are incomparable to anything I know." YunYun explained while Nick watched her in shock. She definitely was a Qi practice genius, but contrary to Zia, she understood what she did.
"Hmm, I don't think you can damage yourself, but just to be safe, do the first exercises when we are on a solid ground." Clayton replied after thinking carefully, "Be as it may, I'm not the best person to advise you. I became a Qi master long ago and don't even practice that much. For me like for the most in our family, it's a tradition to train, but we put our focus on other things and practicing Qi or meditating now and then is enough. Only on this trip I kind of have to and try to do it more, but for a mediocre Qi master like me it's almost impossible to improve."
"I'm hungry, can we cook something for lunch?" YunYun turned to Nick and tried to cheat her way onto solid ground.
"Hahaha, don't be in a rush. I'll tell you more details and explain the meditation technique I'm using as well. Master Marozzo thought that's the real reason why my Qi is thicker and has this weird color." Nick laughed and then lifted his palm. In the center of it formed a small whirlpool of dark blue mist.
"Hmpf! It's not weird, it's beautiful!" YunYun snorted and theatrically turned her head away.
The rest on the boat laughed along and the easygoing atmosphere echoed on the riverbanks.
They didn't see many villages and mostly on the both sides of the river there were only thick woods. It was decided to continue until late afternoon and make an early stop to have a good rest before continuing further.
Few hours later, after discovering a small meadow, they immediately got out and Nick started to cook while YunYun was already practicing 'her new' Qi technique. Conny and Steven stayed at the shore while the two other girls and Clayton made the sleeping arrangements.
After ten or so minutes YunYun opened her eyes and shared her experiences in bewildered voice.
"For some reason I feel ticklish all over and even a bit itchy."
"Your Qi pathways, same as the rest of your body, probably are used to a different Qi flow, therefore you feel that way. I don't think something bad can happen, but you really shouldn't switch techniques back and forth too often." Clayton gave his opinion.
"Do you also feel that way when you switch between your four techniques?" She asked Nick.
"Not really. In fact, I think they are the same technique, just with few nuances. Remember the small changes you have to adapt to when you walk or run? The main routes of Qi flow remain the same and there are only few alterations." He explained.
"Alright, give me the mapping of the second and the third techniques." YunYun seriously nodded.
'What the hell? She already learned the first? In order to not forget I repeated it for days until I managed to memorize, although I had to memorize the other two in addition to the meditation technique and the footwork at the same time.' Nick was a bit jealous of her talent, but still gladly explained the second and the third part.
Following that YunYun started to walk around and, after some time, to run from one side of the meadow to the other.
"This is really impressive." She came back with sparkling eyes, "As I thought, just the first part is not comparable to my old technique, but if you add the rest, the system as a whole is on another level. You don't feel tired at all when you run, right? And can run all day long?"
After seeing Nick nod, she excitedly asked for the nuances of the fourth technique. Nick sighed and explained to his best ability. Few minutes later Nick heard a loud splash behind him. He sighed again, shaking his head while YunYun was 'checking out' his fourth technique.
She came back all wet, but in a great mood.
"Did you really invent the fourth part yourself?"
"Mhm, I really like to dive. When we get back to Aurora you can come along, I think you'll love the reef." He reminisced about the leisure and careless days. He missed the other guys, but mostly he missed a bite of pizza after a long day of training.
"Nick, how do you think of all these things?" YunYun seriously asked.
"No idea, maybe I just think a lot?" He tried to joke his way out.
He was a bit different than her, not only because of his origin, but their talents were not really comparable. This girl in front of him grasped the four Qi techniques while he was cooking dinner. How could he compare to that? Her comprehension was out of this world!
'Wait! It's not her, it is me who is 'out' of this world! I've been thinking about everything with a mindset of a person who is not from here and therefore find it harder to understand the Qi! I manage to make up for it with innovations and hard work, but I've been doing it all wrong! I was thinking too much, literally!'
Nick grabbed YunYun's her hands in excitement.
"Tell me, how did you understand everything so fast!"
"No idea, I just did as you explained and felt how the Qi flows." She shrugged, not being able to understand his excitement.
She was a cultivation genius and multiple experts through the years have said that, but what she did just now was not that hard, at least not for her, and many people she knew could replicate it.
"Felt it, felt it …" Nick murmured to himself, "That was my mistake all along!"
Then he raised his head and looked at her with burning eyes, "Thank you! YunYun, you're the best!"
Afterwards he sat down on the spot where she practiced few minutes ago and before closing his eyes shouted: "Dinner is ready, don't wait for me!"
YunYun enjoyed how he looked at her just now and what he said made her heart beat faster, but she was baffled by his other actions. Still, she didn't care much and sat right next to him to practice like her fiance.
This was the first time when Nick was trying to feel the Qi. Of course, technically he 'felt' it before – it wasn't possible to practice without feeling it in his pathways and body, or feeling how he infused it in objects or even people. But this time he tried to feel it as a part of nature, as the beginning of everything or the foundation of everything.
He couldn't explain it at all, but the feeling he experienced was something new and it was thrilling as well. It was almost as a whole new world opened to him and he became a part of it. Understanding the technical side of Qi, it's characteristics and the nature was important, but more important was for a person to feel it as a part of them.
It was already dark when Nick got up and started to walk around the meadow just like YunYun did before, but while she did it for few minutes, he continued for almost an hour.
Suddenly his walking transformed in to dashing from one side to the other in a lightning speed. Others were not asleep yet and were conversing in whispers, trying to not disturb him and the still meditating YunYun, but they got shocked from the speed Nick showed. The three girls who almost had no Qi practice before barely could see afterimages and lost the ability to speak. Even Clayton began to ponder if he was capable of such speed.
Feeling the commotion around her, YunYun also opened her eyes, for them to widen even more as Nick's speed increased. But then he suddenly stopped and murmured something below his nose and slowly went over to the river.
What only Clayton, Steven and YunYun noticed, was that after the exercise Nick's breath was not even a little bit hurried and it seemed as if all this time instead of dashing around the meadow he has been leisurely sitting together with the rest.