"From now on you will refer to me inside this household as Lady Quanxi, Master Quanxi or Shifu" Qing She told Zhang Jian as they entered the house. Even in her disguise, which made her appear as a delicate and fragile, her stern face burrowed a unsettling image into Zhang Jian's memory.
"Yes Master Quanxi, so what's the plan? when are we starting the lessons?" Zhang Jian said trying not to grin at Qing She's alias. They entered the house and a servant came to greet 'Lady Quanxi'
"Prepare a room for this boy, he's my apprentice." And she sent off the lady. "Little Snake, get used to your new home. We will be stationed here for at least a few months, until Ruan Xie makes his next move. Your lessons start tomorrow." Qing She, or Quanxi, left Zhang Jian to himself.
Zhang Jian moving the sliding door open, his new room was much more spacious and fresh. The other side of the room opened out into the veranda, which meant fresh air! Zhang Jian felt like a prisoner seeing daylight for the first time.
In one corner, the servants were filling up a bookrack with books. When they were done Zhang Jian got comfortable in his bed, he slid the veranda door open and noticed that it was beginning to rain.
"What a pleasant surprise, today must be my lucky day."
The next week was filled with grueling and painful drills.
"Please... huff.. I cant... huff.." Zhang Jian struggled with the pushups, shirtless and sweaty, 'Master Quanxi' sat on his back and weighed down on him.
Even though she was disguised, the weight of a 7 footer was on Zhang Jian's back. "No dinner for the next week if you quit now." Quanxi sat on his back cross-legged. Even though she looked like a completely different person, dressed more modestly, she still had that demeanor of power.
"Too... huff.. Cruel.." Zhang Jian was about to pass out, in fact he did pass out. Zhang Jian woke up in his bed, it seems one of the servants had put robes on him while Zhang Jian was out.
Every day for the past week, from morning till night, Zhang Jian has had to repeat an endless amount of drills. No learning, just drills. Every muscle in his body was sore, it ached when he moved and even when he didn't move, it just hurt regardless.
Zhang Jian trudged to the dinning hall, where Lady Quanxi sat at a small table waiting for him. In the short time that Zhang Jian travelled with Qing She, he was under the impression that she was a person who listened to power and did as she pleased.
It was natural to be slightly put off by how mannered and modest 'lady Quanxi' behaved. "You certainly took your time sleeping." Quanxi's voice was still the same, which added to Zhang Jian's unease. Zhang Jian sat down and served himself "Tell me again why I have to keep doing these drills?"
"In traditional education, they let the students attempt to cultivate on their own and miserably fail. This is to prove a point that its impossible to refine your own Spirit without refining your body." Quanxi put down her bowl, she was done with her food "So to answer your question: you can try to refine your Spirit, but don't expect any success whatsoever."
Zhang Jian thought about it for a second, he doesn't exactly know how a person refines their own Spirit "but how does one refine their own Spirit? how does that relate to the physical fitness of a Spirit master?"
"The Spirit behaves, for the most part, like a muscle. 'Refining a Spirit' simply means to allow the Spirit to grow, by compressing or stretching the Spirit, the Spirit can grow into the missing space. There are many other ways of Cultivation, but so far this is the baseline for all Spirit cultivation across the world." While she said this, Zhang Jian ate his food as quickly as possible while keeping an ear out for what Quanxi was saying.
"And I would need physical strength to compress and stretch my Spirit?" Zhang Jian said with rice on his mouth, the guy was in a rush to finish his food. "The short answer is yes, there's an entire branch of science dedicated to studying this phenomena. I could get you a few books from the library if you are interested."
Just then, a question that he's had since his childhood on this world, flashed across his mind "What separates a mortal from a Spirit master? Why cant they Refine their own Spirits?" Quanxi was surprised by his question, most apprentices that she's taken in have only cared about strength and power.
None so far have actually question why or how the world actually works, which brought great disappointment in her eyes. "A Spirit manifests in every living being in the world, including animals and mortals. But a mortal is found to have 1/10th the Spirit of a Spirit master, rendering them unable to awaken at all. This is the same with animals and such."
Zhang Jian was nearly done with his food, he brooded over the answer for a little while "Is there any way to increase a Mortals Spirit essence?" Quanxi got up slowly and dusted herself off "There is, but that would require killing them and reaping their Spirits. Refining Spirits can only be done inside the body of a Spirit master, any and all Spirits inside the Spirit Master belong to that Spirit Master."
"If you have anymore questions, as me tomorrow. Your drills will continue I'm afraid, but we will mix in a few other lessons as well." Quanxi said, looking down on the eating Zhang Jian before leaving the room.
"I wonder how Zhang Feng is holding up, he must have gotten the letter I sent him by now." Zhang Jian thought as he finished his food and went off to his room.
...
Ruan Xie made his rounds around the sect, there was a lot to look after. Everywhere he went, people bowed and cowered in fear, if anyone were to catch his gaze they might actually pass out.
"How are the Jackals holding up?" Ruan Xie asked coldly, the man whose designation was tending to the Jackals raised his head slightly "They are well fed and lively my Lord." he trembled as he spoke.
"sometimes, I wish people spoke to me normally.." Ruan Xie thought to himself. It was pretty easy holding up the façade that he was the original, nobody ever bothers him unless its something very important.
Once he finished his rounds, Ruan Xie was halted by a general in his army, Mo Jiao. "My lord! may I have a word with you?" Ruan Xie did not like this guy, he was a bootlicker for authority and Mo Jiao did not hide it.
It reminded him of the guys at his workplace back on earth "Do not waste my time, what is it now General Mo Jiao?" Ruan Xie glared at him, instilling fear and reminding Mo Jiao where he stands. "The communications have come back, the Princess has agreed to go over the details of your deal." he said very quickly, as if there was more.
"And at the same time we have located Zhang Jian, found his history, turns out he is a criminal from his clan, the rat ran away from his village and is now holed up in Qingyun. There is more my Lord."
This intrigued Ruan Xie deeply, but he did not want to hear it from this brownnoser. "I want a report on my desk by sundown, the next time you bother me in person it'll be your flesh that's fed to the Jackals. Now get out of my sight." He stared at Mo Jiao, who sheepishly excused himself.
"Zhang Jian, every time I find new information about you, the more you remind me of the Masked Man." Ruan Xie felt scared, but he was going to kill that boy and rid himself of the fear, once and for all.