“Knowing and understanding the three great treasures is knowing and understanding the future of your cultivation.”

  Grypha yawned, getting a glare from the core disciple giving the lecture. She couldn’t help it. She wanted to move, to explore the world, not to be lectured at. Sure, the view from here was gorgeous. The great tree that loomed over the twin sects was best viewed from the south and ‘the garden’, what they called a few rows of spiritual herbs surrounding dozens of rows of stone desks, was situated perfectly for watching the tree’s constant fall of leaves. Grypha could admit she preferred this to one of the other lecture halls, but that was the problem. She spent all of her time in lectures. She swore that if whoever had invented the concept were still alive, if they had reached immortality through the power of their own dull lessons, she would raise her sword against them.

  Impervious to her frustration, the core disciple continued. “You should all know of qi. It is the source of energy that drives us, and the bulk of a cultivator’s strength. The reason you’re here today is because you want more of it. You want enough of it to finish forming your four sets of kaerna and to complete the kaerna formation stage. Well too bad!” The core disciple swept their hand through the air. “Life isn’t that easy. The qi you’re looking for isn’t possible without a pill made of extremely valuable materials.”

  No, I’m not here because I want more qi, I’m here to learn how to gather spiritual herbs which you refuse to teach me…for the second evening. Grypha gritted her teeth. Lectures were not going to help her here. Why did no one in the sect ever opt to teach through practical experience? She looked longingly at the nearby spiritual herbs.

  The core disciple was in no rush, seeming to enjoy slowly walking around his little stage. “Forming kaerna is the essence of the kaerna formation stage, but we don’t form them at the ends of all twelve meridians. Why? The whole stage is a farce, a fake, useful only as a classification of strength, not of cultivation.” The disciple paused to wait, obviously hoping for a reaction to his strong statement. None came; this exact argument had already been presented by another core disciple in another lecture, earlier that same day. “We form our first four sets of kaerna so that we can combine them and breathe soul into the middle dantian.” The core disciple jabbed at an area near his stomach.

  Grypha breathed deeply, practicing a meditation technique elder Ming had shared with her to keep her focused and calm. Of course, it could only help dampen her irritation at hearing this same lecture twice so much. She decided to reflect on the previous lesson rather than truly listen.

  Dantian substantiation was the third stage of cultivation. To progress through it, Grypha would need to activate her middle, upper, and lower dantians. All of which required the merging of four kaerna. The dantians were often described as an ocean, brimming with one of the three treasures the core disciple had mentioned. The middle dantian, the first activated, was a sea of qi so deep that any cultivator with it at their disposal would have hundreds of times more qi than Grypha could store in her heart. They would also gain the ability to increase the amount of qi by slowly expanding the dantian. It made the formation of the remaining kaerna a somewhat simpler feat.

  For the diligent cultivator, they might be able to activate the upper dantian a few years later, gaining access to a sea of shen. Shen was spiritual knowledge and insight. Cultivators could use it to enter a trancelike state of focus and heightened understanding of the world around them. Rarely, a cultivator might find a degree of enlightenment when operating under the influence of their shen. Experts, especially those who cultivated yin qi, could also use it to lend weight to their techniques.

  The opening of the lower dantian, containing jing, was the last part of cultivation before the stages of immortality. Jing was one’s ‘self’, a force that stabilized you, keeping you…yourself. It was the most esoteric of the three treasures. A cultivator might tap into shen by accident from time to time, and they regularly used qi, but most kept away from jing. What little could be accessed before the activation of the lower dantian was finite, vulnerable, something to be protected unless someone wanted their very self to be altered.

  Stolen novel; please report.

  Grypha tuned back into the lecture but was disappointed to hear the core disciple still going on about the same old topics. Kaerna formation was hard, requiring qi to form, but for most people, they reached the limits of qi their body could naturally hold by the time they formed their first set of kaerna. Which left the use of valuable pills as the only fast way to reach further levels of cultivation. The ingredients for those pills though, were jealously hoarded by the great clans, making the kaerna formation stage something of a bottleneck for many.

  There was, of course, another way to go about forming kaerna. Which was ostensibly the reason Grypha was here and almost certainly the actual reason why her fellow disciples were here. Kaerna were the connection between the inner body and the outer world. In addition to the cultivator using large quantities of qi to form them, a cultivator who reached an impressive level of mastery in a discipline or skill might be able to call upon some of the world’s qi and form their kaerna as an extension of the knowledge of their craft, the insight into an aspect of the world acting as a foundation of sorts.

  The real reason Grypha was here wasn’t because of any interest in mastering herb gathering. She was here because her sponsor had off-handedly mentioned that valuable herbs could be found on the frontier. Grypha needed to learn of the sect’s plans in the frontier. If she didn’t, well, she doubted the Meiryu clan would continue treating her brother well. She couldn’t allow Lata to be hurt.

  “…there are few places where the herbs the sect needs can be found.”

  Grypha’s ears perked up. She wasn’t sure how, but the core disciple must have accidentally managed to steer himself towards actually talking about herb gathering.

  “Most herbs needed for kaerna formation pills grow in wild, dangerous areas. Make no mistake, herb gathering is a dangerous occupation, and more disciples die attempting to gather the herbs than survive long enough to gain some skill in the profession.” The core disciple grinned, and Grypha noticed for the first time that his teeth were unnaturally sharp. Coupled with the predatory look on his face, he looked like one of the sharks she’d seen cultivators hunting off the empire’s east coast. “You may, of course, walk away if you so desire. We have no need for those with no stomach for danger.”

  To Grypha’s shock all fifteen of her fellow disciples promptly stood up and left. On reflection though, it made a little sense. Most disciples joined the sect to cultivate their way to immortality. They wanted to live longer, not die young to some demonic beast. Grypha couldn’t understand them. What point was there in living long if you never truly lived. What was life without the occasional dance with death, at least that’s what her path told her.

  The core disciple hopped off his stage, rolling his shoulders, giving Grypha a hungry smile. “So, we have someone crazy enough to stay. Or were you just not paying attention.”

  Grypha shrugged. “I heard the end at least.”

  The fanged man rolled his eyes. “Yep, you’re crazy alright. Well, I can’t say I’m surprised. Anyone with the potential to be an accomplished herb gatherer would struggle to listen through all that repetitive nonsense.” He smiled at her teasingly. “I’m Rak Ulvax, in case you missed that part.”

  Grypha knew she was being teased, but she honestly hadn’t bothered learning the name before. Wait...Rak. Grypha’s hackles rose. Maybe she should have been paying more attention. The Rak were one of the great clans, and close allies to the Meiryu. Was this another spy, like her? It seemed too obvious. No, the opposite is likely true. The sects were constantly in a power struggle against the clans. If he’s here, and a core disciple too, then the sect has reason to trust him implicitly.

  Trying to keep her cool, Grypha moved her qi in a calming pattern, a mantra taught to those of the Bou tribe. “Why did you spend time on giving those lectures then?”

  Rak Ulvax looked at her evenly. “Those disciples who left, some will return. They’ll find few professions are willing to take students who only seek them out as a second choice. I was stalling.” He looked her in the eyes. “Am I so frightening, you need to calm yourself.”

  Grypha stepped back, thrown from her mantra. “How…”

  “Your breath.” Rak Ulvax looked at her. “Us core disciples have proven ourselves valuable to the sect, you know. Do you think we manage that by being mediocre cultivators.”

  “No.” Grypha matched his gaze. It was difficult. He was strong, he’d at least activated his middle dantian, maybe more besides. She wanted to look away.

  “Good.” The man grinned. “Then you won’t object to double lessons will you.”

  Grypha shook her head. Inward she groaned, but even deeper, she clenched a mental fist. Twice the lessons meant twice the opportunities to learn something she could use. This would be a significant opportunity to advance her true objective. She nodded her head. The only problem though…

  Rak Ulvax looked at her, sharp teeth on full display, his eyes were alert. Nobody normal, however advanced in cultivation, watched another’s breath so closely. This was a man to be wary of. Grypha couldn’t help but feel that if anyone were going to uncover her real motives, it would be this shark of a man.