Life Giver

Casmir and his fellow students who had just begun cultivating were sat down while focusing on Qi drawing.

They drew in the grade 1.0 Qi energy in the air guiding into the backs of there heads and down their spines. As it collected into their cores, over time they noticed a mist forming, this mist then condensed into water which then condensed into a crystal.

It took them all between half an hour and an hour to fully form their cores, Casmir was the first to complete it.

This was because of his naturally perfect control over the Qi energy he absorbs through Qi drawing.

When people first begin to cultivate through Qi drawing, they differ in how efficient they are in collecting this Qi energy. Their initial ability at sensing and drawing in Qi energy often denotes their sensitivity to Qi energy however over the first few months of cultivation, everyone will naturally form a perfect control over Qi drawing.

One must remember that Qi drawing is a natural skill that cultivators develop, it cannot be directly controlled without a high level of understanding.

While Casmir was forming his Dantian, Elder Jing-Sheng spoke to Instructor Redfire.

"Redfire! You have some good seedlings this year.." the Elder said with a smile as he approached him.

Redfire nodded in agreement, "Yes, we have quite a few experienced cultivators this time. There are a few that I might even be able to take on this years outing."

The Elder laughed realising Redfire had misunderstood him.

"Haha, I don't mean them. I'm talking about that boy over there." He said pointing at Casmir who was cultivating a short distance away.

Redfire became a bit nervous, 'Why is he interested in Casmir? Wait... Jing-Sheng! Shit he doesn't know right..?' he thought.

The Elder didn't notice Redfire's thoughts, he simply explained what he had noticed earlier when Casmir cultivated for the first time.

Redfire was intrigue by this Elder discovery but he was also relieved that it was unrelated to Casmir's identity.

"A natural perfect control? That's pretty good, I will have to keep my eye on him."

Redfire then realised that this Elder might be interested in teaching Casmir, he quickly attempted to divert the Elder away from these thoughts.

"Oh but Elder, my sister, Bluefire, has decided to teach him some things. You don't need to trouble yourself, you know my sister's reputation."

Elder Jing-Sheng was surprised to here Bluefire had taken this boy as a student, she was normally very closed of and only interacted with students if she needed to.

Nonetheless he was happy that Casmir was under a good teacher.

"Oh? It's good to here she has taken on a new student, it might help her to get out more." The Elder said happily as all of his thoughts about Casmir faded away.

They both stood there quietly for a moment observing the students, this simply observation came as a form of relaxation to them.

"Well I'll be off then, I probably wont see you for a few months. I'm going to visit my Grand-daughter in the capital." He said with a happy smile.

An odd emotion passed through Redfire as he heard this, he glanced at Casmir for a moment before responding.

"I hope you have a good time Elder, I'm sure she'll be happy to see you." Redfire said with a smile as he saw the Elder off.

Soon afterwards Redfire noticed Casmir standing up, he waved at Casmir quietly calling him over so as to not disturb the other students.

"Is there a problem Casmir?" Redfire asked.

Casmir realised that he was the first to completely condense his core and explained this to Redfire.

"Ah, good. You're probably wondering why you are the first. It's because you have a natural perfect control over Qi drawing." Redfire explains quietly.

Casmir was confused, "What does that mean?" he asks.

"Well, simply put, everyone takes a few months to adapt to cultivation, during this time they are less efficient at condensing and refining their cores. However you have naturally adapted to cultivation meaning for the first few months your cultivation, you will be faster. It also indicates that you have good talent for Qi control, there are a few books describing this in greater detail in the library if you are curious."

Casmir nodded making a note of it in his head, he then looked around awkwardly for a moment before asking.

"Erm.. should I continue to cultivate or should I start training my qi control?"

Redfire was still lost in his thoughts about the Elder.

"Oh, you can cultivate for a little while longer, try to fill up your Dantian and get a feel for releasing Qi energy. Once everyone else has finished, I'll explain about training your control." Redfire said.

Casmir nodded sitting down where he was attempting to feel his Dantian and control it.

Unlike Qi drawing that is used to create a refine one's Dantian, filling up the Dantian with Qi energy was a very simple process, you simply needed to open up your Dantian and absorb any Qi energy directly into.

At the moment Casmir could only utilise Grade 1.0 Qi energy which was very abundant in the air, so Casmir simply tried to absorb any Qi energy around him.

It took Casmir nearly 15 minutes to fully absorb enough Qi energy to fill his Dantian, he then attempted to use his Qi in various ways. He tried flooding his body with Qi energy to strengthen it, releasing it through his hands creating light gusts of wind and even blowing it out of his mouth.

Casmir could feel the Qi energy as it circulated his body but the moment it left his body he lost control of it, he couldn't tell what had happened to it because it was invisible to him but he could guess that it simply dispersed back into the air.

Casmir stopped experimenting as he noticed that Redfire wanted the students to assemble again having finished creating their cores.

"Good work everyone, now that you've finished creating your cores, let me explain how to refine them. " Redfire said.

"You are all Grade 1.0 cultivators with cores made from concentrated Grade 1.0 Qi energy, in order to refine your core into a higher purity you need a catalyst. For you this would be a small amount of Grade 1.1 Qi energy, you need to draw this energy into the centre of your core forming a catalyst that your core will be refined by."

"Now I understand that most of you are unable to differentiate different grades of Qi energy at the moment, this is why the Academy offers pure Qi crystals at various Grades from 1.1 – 3.5."

"Using these crystals as the catalyst, you need to constantly flood your core with Grade 1.0 Qi energy using Qi drawing. As the pressure in your core increases the grade 1.1 catalyst transforms it's surrounding Grade 1.0 Qi energy into a purer form, Grade 1.1."

"This process is repeated again and again as you advance through each Grade with the exception being when you advance between whole grades, for example between Grade 1.5 and Grade 2.0 Qi energy."

"Any questions?" Redfire asked sternly.

A dozen hands raised themselves and a few other people even stepped forward eagerly.

Redfire smiled awkwardly seeing this, new students always required the most input and time. He spent a short period answering questions and clearing up the students viewpoints before moving on to training Qi flow control.

He organised the students so that they each had a few meter space between them, he then walked in front of them punching the ground where he stood.

Under the students sparkling eyes the patch of grass he was standing on suddenly raised a few meters into the air, it allowed all the students to see him.

"FOCUS NOW!" Redfire roared, all of the students who appeared dazed from his feet quickly recollected themselves.

Redfire began to move slowly, he explained every movement he made and the feeling one should achieve by completing it.

Despite not being of the beast path, as an Elemental, Redfire had a keen knowledge of their fundamentals, he accurately explained each move before ordering the students to follow his movements with him.

At first many of the students were clumsy, not putting in enough effort to maintain the correct poses and stretches. Each time Redfire noticed a student slacking, he would reprimand them loudly in front of the entire group.

Soon enough the students were so afraid of embarrassment that they dutifully followed his instructions. Over a few hours time they all learned the movements properly and even began to understand their benefits.

First, one brave student excited released some Qi energy, upon seeing Redfire not reprimand him he continued. Soon another student followed his example, then another and another, soon enough the entire group was exhorting themselves.

After a short period the students began to tire themselves, others ran out of Qi energy to use, they began to meditate in order to refuel themselves.

Redfire was pleased with the students taking initiative and would only reprimand those attempting to slack off.

As the hours passed Redfire brought the new students together one last time.

"You have all done well today, there is one last thing I need to explain to you, the Qi drawing limit. Every cultivator from the beast path has a natural limit to how long they can refine their cores for, it varies between races but is generally between 3-4 hours long."

This Qi drawing limit had baffled many scholars and angered many cultivators, it seemed to be part of some natural law that held back cultivators. Cultivators of other cultivation paths had similar limits or stumbling blocks that held them back, meaning that those of the beast path were not weaker.

However this limit imposed other consequences for cultivators of the Beast path, firstly, one's age determined one's strength much more clearly than in the other races.

Secondly, maintaining ones health was paramount to cultivating effectively.

Redfire continued, "This limit is also effected by your health, a cultivator who is ill, poisoned or even maimed, will have a drastically shorter limit. Even the lack of regular physical activity can effect this limit, you must all remember to maintain your health. Remember, do not be afraid to ask for help if you are ever sick, every day in which you fail to cultivate to your maximum potential is a day in which you have lessoned your future."

And thirdly, one's supporting skills and knowledge is equally important as ones cultivation Grade.

Redfire wouldn't directly tell them of this third consequence, it was important that they think for themselves and discover something that can help them on their own.

This was the end of today lesson's, Casmir and the the rest of the students looked exhausted but also excited at their new found cultivation.

Redfire watched them silently before shouting out, "YOU ARE DISMISSED!"

This would be the first but not the last time they heard this line.