Legend of The Young Master

Chapter 202: Experiment

Xilai looked at Wuyi and spoke, "Why don't you try to use Qi to get the herbal wash again."

"I'd be able to do more, but I lack energy," said Wuyi, scratching. "Herbal wash, please?"

Xilai looked out from the tapestry. "Nice new window," he said. "If the Qi around here is insufficient, get your power elsewhere. You know how."

"From the fort array?" Wuyi asked.

"How about the sun? The righteous or demonic Qi—everything is just energy. I think you know that already. If you already understand, you should know some sources are limited and some sources are unlimited. The sun, for example, is a good source of energy. The celestial bodies at night are also good sources of energy."

"How am I supposed to use the sun?" Wuyi said. "I know of no cultivation method that grants energy from the sun."

Xilai wasn't looking at him. He was looking out over the fields. "Do you trust me, boy?"

Wuyi looked at the tall, proud figure. "Not really," he said. "Not to give me my herbal wash, anyway."

Xilai barked a laugh. "Fair enough. Fair enough. Do you trust me as a mentor in cultivation?"

Wuyi thought for a long few heartbeats. "I think so, you must have half a step in the Qi lord realm, seeing how you faced Luding's attacks and managed to survive," he said.

The old Xilai nodded and ripped the tapestry off its hooks so that the afternoon sun fell right on the tub. "It is said that large sects have cultivation methods to use celestial energies, even if you don't have one. Concentrate on the energy of the sun, use the absorption technique I shared to move the energy, and take the herbal wash. With the sun.

Do it." He held the herbal wash where it could be seen.

Wuyi felt the sun against his bare skin like a faint weight. He held up a wet hand and let the sun lick it. Coming from the desert, he had a close relationship with the sun, especially in summers. Wuyi found it amusing, taking energy from the sun like solar panels.

He decided to try it without the help of his cheat. He concentrated his mind on the Qi around him, filtering the shining Qi by the sun. Xilai's words sounded in his mind, "Don't store it. Take the Qi, move it through your channels, and then reach out to the herbal wash with the energy."

He tried to take in the energy. It was not an easy task as Xilai made it sound. But with his concentration, Wuyi was able to pull a tiny strand of energy. He let it enter his channels, then he revolved it around and used that tiny strand to reach out to the herbal wash.

For a fraction of a heartbeat, he'd had it, and then revulsion set in. It was like a gag reflex. The herbal wash didn't move.

"Try harder," Xilai said.

"You could just give me the herbal wash, and we could do this when I'm dressed." Wuyi felt very much at a disadvantage.

Xilai narrowed his eyes. "Cast."

Wuyi tried again. He let the sun kiss him. He drank in— And spat up, narrowly avoiding his bath. "No," he said.

"Better," Xilai said. "Very good indeed. May I tell you what I admire in you, Young Master?"

"You're going to try flattery now?" asked Wuyi.

"It's not that you are not afraid of anything, because, as far as I can see, you are afraid of everything." Xilai crossed his arms. "It's that you overcome that fear every time." He nodded. "Now seize the power of the sun and cast."

He let the sun caress him. He felt the power of it, which was rich, like good cheese—thicker than the general Qi around, and more intense.

And then something in his mind slammed shut. "Damn it," Xilai said. "Again."

Wuyi took a deep breath and tried again. He could feel the power. And he wanted it. To touch the sun— To touch the sun was to be righteous.

I am the child of hate. I was made to be the destroyer. Can I ever harness the power of the sun?

The bathwater was warm, and the sun was warm. He pushed his revulsion down and reached for it. He thought of touching the sun. Of fiery beast in the sun. Standing in the sun—

Just for a moment, he connected again. The sun falling on his hand was a conductor, and his skin drank in raw power like a sponge. And then he gagged on it again. He coughed, physically, and the herbal wash, halfway across the room, fell to the floor.

"Ah-HA!" roared the old man.

"I can't do it," said Wuyi.

"You just did it," Xilai said. He picked up the herbal wash and handed it to the young man in the bath. "There is no limit, boy. There are no rules. You can tap the sun. For a long time, you will resist it—something in you will resist.

But by heavens, boy, you just reached out and tapped the sun in its purest form. I know men who take the Qi from water, from the air."

His water was cooling, and Wuyi began to wash himself. It grew cooler, too fast. The old man had used some cooling Qi on his bath.

"You old hag," Wuyi said to the old man.

"Best do something about it," Xilai laughed.

Wuyi went into his sacred chamber. He touched the wall; he was done playing with the old man. He could feel the bath getting colder.

"The bastard old man," he said.

But still, Wuyi did not take help from statues this time. He absorbed the energy of the sun, moved it to the chamber wall.The speed at which the energy of the sun was being absorbed tripled, and the chamber wall started absorbing it. He thought the wall might get hot, but it stayed the same.

Wuyi chanted, "Calidam aquam mihi præpara."

The water was warm. Then warmer. Verging on hot.

Xilai laughed aloud. "Well done!" he said.

Wuyi lay back in the bath, tired. Amazed. "I had help," he said, to cover his confusion. "Old man, that shouldn't have been possible. How did you know I could use the sun more efficiently?"

Xilai shook his head. "I have theories. No proof." He rubbed his neck.

"Whatever you have, try to keep me out of your theories." Wuyi was washing himself shamelessly.

"I managed a few of my experiments," Xilai said.

"Like what?" asked Wuyi.

"I am not sure if you are a child of heaven or it's your bloodline, but I feel I can get you to master any Qi. If I help you reach your potential, Luding is nothing," Xilai said smugly. "I knew you could do it."

Wuyi shook his head. He ought to be angry. But he felt— He felt it was true. With the chamber, he was not limited to Qi energies, indeed.

The statues of Shadow and Valor had Shadow and Valor Qi, and Harmony, Knowledge, and Light had their own types of Qi. So far, he was tied to those types of Qi energies. Valor was flame type but it was for attacking, not for heating the bath. His sacred chamber was different from the statues; it could absorb any type of Qi.

And by the amount of Qi from the sun that the chamber had absorbed and then sent out, it was obvious the chamber had kept some of that Qi, just like the statues, to strengthen itself.

"What if you were wrong?"

Xilai shrugged. "It was unlikely. This old man lacks in many things, but when it comes to knowledge, this old man is second to none." He rubbed his hands together in glee. "Last night, I visited the conscious space of the Pavilion Mistress," he said.

"You sound like a boy bragging about his first kiss," Wuyi said.

Xilai laughed. "You are quick. She used to come around to our rooms – oh, in those days she was the very embodiment of what a woman should be." He shook his head. "It's funny how you are never too old to be young. But I'm not here to bandy tales of lust and love, lad. I witnessed various methods of how energy can be shared.

Be it demonic or righteous, as you see, Qi is Qi. It all depends on techniques. These ancient techniques could change the world."

"I like the world fine as it is," Baijian said from the doorway. "Look at you trying to change the righteous path. When you two demonics are done having your bloody rites, sacrificing babes and eating them or whatever heathen thing you do, I'm ready with the day's muster."

Wuyi was still lying in the hot water, unmoving. "Did you come to find me just to experiment on me? Or did you have another motive, old man?"

"Luding is planning to attack us. Directly." The old man was trying to put the tapestry back over the opening. For a man of such power, he was curiously inept at the task. "Last night he learned he could overcome our defenses. Now he'll come."

Baijian came over, pushed him out of the way, and reached the corners out to tug them over heavy iron spikes driven into the end beams of the floor above.

"Really?" Wuyi asked. "How do you know?"