I didn’t see Mei or SuYin at all the next week. They gave me the time I needed to digest my decision. The more I thought about it, the more I felt like it had been rash, but I wasn’t willing to go back and undo it. I would let it play out and see what happened.


    During this time, I began spending time studying the Martial Masters that visited the Pavilion. Whenever I had free time, I would stand on the second-floor balcony and watch the people below as they shopped. I wanted to understand cultivating as a Martial Master on a deeper level. So many of the Masters I had met were mentally unstable. This also affected Martial Disciples, like Gougou, but the problems seemed to increase by an order of magnitude among Masters. Why? More importantly, how could I fix it?


    The logic I had been told before was that it had to do with cultivating too fast. During my time in the sect, I had been repeatedly advised to progress slowly as a Master to ensure I stayed balanced. I wasn’t completely convinced of this, though. Why did cultivating faster cause people to become unbalanced? There should be a way to increase cultivation speed without risking such problems. I just had to find it. If the energy flows within a Disciple’s body were what contributed to their change in temperament, what did adding meridians to the body do to affect these flows?


    Day after day, I stood on the balcony and just watched as the world passed around me, but on the seventh day after our last meeting, Mei finally came to find me.


    “Alright,” she said, “stop just standing there. Come with me.”


    ---------------------------------------------------


    Mei led me up to a small meeting room on the seventh floor. It only contained a few mats spread out around the floor, but it had a large window with an impressive view overlooking the city below.


    When I entered, I saw SuYin already sitting on one of the mats. She looked nervous. Her eyes were staring at the ground, and she was twiddling her thumbs. When we stepped into the room, she looked up at us but then quickly lowered her eyes again.


    Mei gently touched my shoulder and guided me to sit near SuYin.


    “Fang,” she said, “I’ve told Yin what I know, but it would be best if you gave us more details.”


    I nodded slightly. “Have you tested your affinities?” I asked.


    “No, it would be better if we don’t make a big deal about this. Some people, like WuJing, will notice the change, but most won’t think twice about it if we don’t say anything.”


    I looked at Mei. “You should now have a mid seven-star water affinity and a mid eight-star wind affinity. SuYin,” I said turning to the other girl, “you should have a mid seven-star wood affinity.”


    “What?” both girls gasped at the news, but Mei kept speaking. “That is… higher than I would have expected…”


    I gave a small smile. “It’s what made the most sense under the circumstances.”


    “Yin,” Mei said in a firm tone, “never speak of this conversation. Forget about ever being tested before. You always had this affinity, right?”


    “Yes, Mei,” she said in a weak voice.


    I didn’t interrupt her, she knew what she was doing. I waited for her nod to continue.


    “I’ve given you both the best cultivation techniques I have for your affinities. The library might have better, but—”


    “No,” said Mei, cutting me off, “we will use the ones you already gave us. That is for the best, but I didn’t want us to begin until you were ready to guide us.”


    “Alright,” I said, accepting her judgment. “First, Mei, the technique I gave you will make you more pliant. You will feel the urge to follow other’s instructions and wishes. I’m sorry, but that’s the only decent water one I have. As long as you are careful in your cultivation, it shouldn’t become a problem though. Your blessing should override its effects, but if it doesn’t, we can look to minimize them after you reach Grandmaster.”


    “Grandmaster,” she said with a bright smile. “Don’t worry, this is the technique I’m supposed to cultivate, at least for now.”


    “SuYin,” I said, looking at the other girl, “yours will make you more adventurous. It might give you a wanderlust that urges you to go out and explore the world. I can see why this would be seen as valuable for wood qi practitioners since it will give you more exposure to a variety of plants, but you won’t have the same protections as Mei, so you will have to be extra careful to cultivate carefully. Otherwise, you might find yourself lost in the wilderness by this time next year.”


    “Yes… I… Thank you,” she stammered out.


    “If you are both happy with your techniques, let’s begin cultivating. It doesn’t matter where you want to start, but I would suggest an arm. It’s easier to visualize what’s going on there.”


    Both girls had already familiarized themselves with the techniques I had given them earlier, so they were able to immediately get started.


    Mei was quick at forming a qi filter and whirlpool. It seemed she had been practicing, but as I watched, the filter began to destabilize, and impurities flooded her body.


    “Stop!” I said, using my affinities to help cut off her cultivation. “You need practice with the filter. It wasn’t quite right, and that will cause you serious problems. Until your qi filter is absolutely perfect, don’t try to draw in any qi.”


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    “Yes… I see,” she said, “it’s difficult though. Working from a picture on a scroll… It’s not exactly clear where all the lines go or how to space them. It will take me time.”


    I thought about this problem. She needed practice with qi control, but with her affinity, cultivating a Yellow ranked technique shouldn’t pose any problem. She just needed a clearer picture of what to do.


    I held out my hand and began channeling qi. I used fire qi to create a large version of the filter she was supposed to make. With the insights I had gained from my enlightenment after creating my own technique, the filter I showed her was even better than the one recorded in the technique manual. I then created a second copy at the exact scale she should use. I had them both begin emitting a faint glow so they could be seen in normal vision.


    “Here,” I said, “this is what it should look like. Your qi vision hasn’t developed yet, so it may be hard to see details clearly, but hopefully, you can use this as a guide. Try to copy the smaller one exactly.”


    I looked over at SuYin. She seemed to be struggling. Unlike Mei, she didn’t quickly jump to create a filter. Instead, she was placing and removing qi over and over. If any bit of qi was even slightly out of place, she dispersed it and tried again.


    “One moment, SuYin,” I said, “use this instead.”


    Like with Mei, I used the insights I had gained to slightly enhance and alter the qi filter she was creating. SuYin only took one look at my creation before getting back to her work.


    It’s her memory, I realized. She has perfect visual-spatial memory. Unlike Mei, SuYin knew exactly how the filter was supposed to be put together after a single look. She needed practice to do it completely correctly, but she was able to easily identify any shortcomings in her work.


    “Don’t rush this. Take your time. Once you are confident in your filter, come find me, and I will help you begin cultivating. If you have any questions, just let me know.”


    ---------------------------------------------------


    Two weeks after our first session, SuYin was the first to seek me out for further help. The amount of time and energy they spent perfecting their qi filters before cultivating made me feel ashamed of how I behaved when I first started cultivating. I could only console myself with the fact that their situations were completely different from mine. They weren’t learning to do everything alone in a rotten shack.


    “Su… Fang,” she said when she saw me. She was still hunched and nervous, a world away from the bright young woman I met when I came here. “I’m ready to learn the next step.”


    I tried to smile gently at her, but I don’t think it worked. “Alright, come with me,” I said, guiding her to my apartment.


    Inside, I poured her a cup of tea as I began to speak. “With a solid filter, all you need to do is create the whirlpool and cycle your energy. I’ll help you with the location and precise direction of everything, but with your memory and eyesight, it shouldn’t be a problem.”


    She nodded without speaking.


    “Go ahead and begin.”


    She began to pull in the qi and form it into correct shapes.


    “Stop!” I said quickly. “The positioning isn’t right. Move it here.” I used a flicker of fire qi to indicate the correct positioning. It was only a fraction of a millimeter off, so it wouldn’t make too much difference, but why settle for substandard if you didn’t have to?


    She began working again.


    “Stop! Adjust the angle of the whirlpool,” I said, again demonstrating with my qi.


    She did as I instructed and began again. I worked her through several more small adjustments, but finally, everything was as close to perfect as my understanding would allow. Once everything was locked into place, I handed her a pill bottle.


    “This is a Basic Qi Gathering Pill,” I said, “it will give you a burst of additional qi, allowing you to smoothly break through in an instant. It might be a little hard to handle but just focus on maintaining your cultivation. I will handle any problems.”


    She silently took the bottle and swallowed the pill. Qi suddenly began pouring toward her arm several times faster than before. SuYin began sweating a bit, but she maintained everything perfectly. I was ready to step in and disperse the flow of qi, but it was unnecessary. After only a few minutes, the qi in her arm reached the saturation point.


    “Alright, you only get one chance at this. You need to form your qi into a sharp needle and stab directly here,” I said, creating a visible example with my qi. “Try to mimic the placement, shape, size, and angle of my needle exactly. If it’s a little off it’s okay, just do your best.”


    SuYin’s performance was perfect. She stabbed with her qi, opening her acupoint, and broke through to Martial Disciple 2.


    “Good job,” I said with a wide smile.


    “Thank you,” she replied in a quiet voice.


    I waited patiently for her to adjust to the changes in her body, expecting her to silently leave when she was ready, but she kept sitting there. After several minutes, I wasn’t sure what to do and became concerned.


    “SuYin…” I tried to begin.


    “Su… Fang,” she finally muttered, “I’m willing to be your woman.”


    That was not what I expected her to say.


    “SuYin,” I struggled to reply, “no, we cannot have that kind of relationship. I have… concerns that won’t allow it. I’m sorry.”


    She began to cry. “But, you’ve given me—”


    “No,” I said in a stern voice, “What I’ve given was given freely without obligation. Especially not one of… this… kind.”


    “I have to repay you,” she said, weeping, “and all I have to give is my body.”


    I wanted to slap the foolish girl for saying such a thing, but I had come to learn that this type of exchange wasn’t uncommon in this society.


    “Maybe in the past,” I allowed, “maybe, but not anymore. You are a cultivator now, and you have a world of possibilities in front of you.”


    I tried to see the situation from her perspective. The biggest problem was that she had no context to understand our relationship now. She was alone in my apartment, and I had given her a gift beyond value. For her, from her life experiences, this might only happen in a romantic relationship. I needed to give her a new lens to see this situation through, though a bit of self-interest also played into my final decision.


    “SuYin,” I began, “we won’t ever have that kind of relationship, but if you are willing, I will take you as my personal disciple. While my knowledge is limited, I will share it freely with you, and I can guarantee your advancement to Martial Grandmaster. Beyond cultivation, everything else depends on your own efforts. Will you accept me as your master?”


    “Master?” she asked. My question had shocked her out of her despondence. “But, I don’t know anything—”


    “All that matters is if you wish me to teach and guide you. I will provide as much help and protection as I can, though it will be limited. With current affinity, you could easily join the Verdant Fields Sect and find a superior teacher. That may be the better option, but if you wish, you can become my disciple.”


    “Yes!” she said. Hope seemed to well up inside her as she gave me a short bow. “I am willing.”


    Before I could stop her, SuYin kneeled down on the floor and kowtowed to me. “Master, I will follow your guidance. Please teach me.”


    I helped her back up to her feet. “As your Master, my first bit of guidance is to rest. Take some time and live as a cultivator. Go to the library and read some books about herbalism or wood qi techniques.” I handed her a large bag of coins. “Use these to buy techniques. If you need pills, just ask me directly.”


    “I can’t—”


    “It is my duty to provide for your studies. Take it to learn. This amount of money has no meaning to me anymore.”


    She gave me a deep bow but accepted the gold. Then, I guided her out of my room.


    I said goodbye to her as she walked away. Luckily, the hallway was pretty empty, so there weren’t many to see a tearful SuYin leaving my apartment. There were a couple of men at the far end, but they were looking the other way.