My relationship and Core

We were now in the courtyard of the manor and were preparing ourselves. Zoe and me warmed up and stood against each others. I had my short spear and she had a gladius. She had began practicing with it while staying in the manor for the past year. That was a mean to escape her fears and distract herself.

We smiled, readied oursleves and went at it. She pounced at me and directed her gladius for my shin. I steped back and dodged her attack.

'Hiss... How deadly.' I narrowed my eyes while smiling.

Prior to our fight, I had to ask if she was a Qi Sensing stage cultivator too, I didn't want to be beaten too badly in front of a girl I was starting to like, right ? Anyway she told me she was, but she hadn't really progressed in the recent years. Because of that, we decided to prohibit the use of Martial Arts, we just used our insight towards weapons and our battles instincts.

Meanwhile our fight went on. Athe beginning, I didn't want to unleash all my strenght, but I was actually forced to, quickly. The strenght behind her attacks weren't that strong but the angles, the speed and the viciousness were very deadly. I couldn't help but be a bit surprised, not because a girl was that strong, I knew since the beginning that girls that survived in this world would be a force difficult to deal with. But I was surprised by her viciousness, I thought a bit and deduced it was just her trying to unleash all her anger and sadness. She wasn't trying to kill me, but to kill the Boss of the bandit and by unleashing all this rage, sadness and anger she could produce attacks quite vicious.

Her attacks twisted and lashed, sometimes like a whips others like a hammer. Then she would suddenly change her patern of attacks. She was trully excellent. I was clearly at a desadvantage for a long time, but little by little I comprehended something. I had to stop if I wanted to truly understand my Spear Qi. I could tell it was enlightement on Weapons Qi but couldn't just stop a fight meant to help Zoe, not me. I wanted her to release a bit of the burden she had carried during all this time. But if I was to stop in the middle and just comprehended my Weapon Qi, wasn't I just using her and not providing her help. I didn't want that so I persisted in our fight.

I focused myself and could ser her movement in slowmotion. I wasn't using Time Qi, but was in the Zone, the state the professionals athletes and sportmens were when they were so focused on their game, everything disapeared from the world, just leaving them and the game. I could understand what was happening and see the slowly advancing Zoe. I saw my hand shaking a bit and Spear Qi being released unintentionnaly. I tried my best to restrain it but doing so in a fight was really dangerous and taxing on my mental.

Also Zoe was the one attacking and I was forced in a defensive stance for quite a long time now. Seeing one of her attack going for my head, I narrowly dodge by tilting my head and jumped at her.

Since it was my first attack since a long time and she grew accustomed to attacking me without defending she let her guard drop. I came too close and startled her, she fell. Just before touching the floor I grabed her waist and I put my spear on her neck. Our eyes locked and we didn't say anything. After a moment I took a step back and sit down on the floor.

I took slow breath and reviewed our match in my head. My Spear Qi was gradually growing and it gaves me a piercing aura. I couldn't restrain it as I was understanding it so Zoe could see what was happening and was quite shocked. She herself had sensed a Sword Qi and was really good at the sword. The fact that I could fight against her using only insights and instincts and be on par with her as she used her insights on Swords Q was a proof of my talent. She sat down just in front of me and patiently waited.

One hour later a surge of Spear Qi exploded inside me and gave me deep understanding of my Spear Aura and Spear Qi. I knew I just sensed the Spear Qi but I was excited. Now every Qi I needed was sensed and I just needed to create an image, a base for my foundation in the Qi Core Creating. I also had to create a Gathering Qi Method that could support my numerous Qis, make them coexist and help each other.

I opened my eyes with happiness and looked strait at Zoe. I was thankfull that she gaves me the opportunity to sense the Spear Qi and she was thankfull I gave her a mean of distraction and release. We were looking in the eyes of each other and there was no words spoken. We stood up and went together inside. I was growing too fond of her, I sensed it.

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Later that day I entered seclusion to work on my Gathering Qi Method. Slowly an idea emerged but I needed to consolidate it and make it work.

I spend one month were I only spend some time with the Old man and Zoe during the meal. The president didn't say anything ether and just let me advance to the next stage. My relationship with Zoe was also deepening and we were also more intimate with each other. I didn't cross the line and kissed her or did anything I juged too soon. I knew she was still scared despite the tough front she desplayed. I didn't want to stress her so I just went at it slowly and steadily. Steady win the race as they say.

To gather Qi I drew a symbol everybody know of. It is a symbol representing the ying and the yang. The one black and white. I wasn't really the most knowledgeable about this symbol but I understood that it could be the base of my Gathering Qi Method. I first replaced the two little dots, white and black inside the drawing with respectively my Blood and Soul Qis. They represented my Body and my Soul, The first thing I had since my birth, the most important one. Even if I had to give up Qi Cultivation, if I was crippled, Body and Soul couldn't be taken away from me. After infusing these two Qis, I injected the Spacetime Qi in the two parts which enveloped my Blood and Soul Qi.These two parts which should have been white and black, contrasting with the two dots was deep blue with streaks of platinum. It was beautifull. I then created the edge of the drawing. I used my other Qis to create an edge and mixed them together. That was the hard part, I had to mix them and to do so needed an appropriate quantity for each of my Qis. The ratios were all differents and that took the most time of my months of seclusion.

After that, I had a drawing, a model imbued in my Qis. When I spun it, using my Natural Qi, the model drew the Qis from the atmosphere and I could absorb it easily. I created a vacuum and the surrounding Qis came inside of me, I was stunned as it was faster than I thought. I spend 2 hours drawing Qi inside of me and to refine it was actually constant. I was doing the second and the third level at the same time.

While the Qi was absorbed it divided itself between my differents Qis. 17 filaments were separated from a bigger source of Qi and flowed in the differents parts of my drawing. There was just a smal amount of left over Qi which didn't belong to any of my differents Qis. That could be Poison, Sword, Sealing, Healing, etc.. Qis, for exemple, each of them was one that I hadn't sensed yet and I couldn't absorb them without refining them yet. To refine them, I had to change their shape and intent to match the Qi I wanted them to become. Since I didn't want any impurity in my Gathering Qi Method, foundation and drawing I decided to just let this left over Qi goes out of my body and disperse. I didn't want any Qis I hadn't sensed in my foundation.

After the 2 hours I had to create my base, image and pass the Qi Core Creating Stage. I could stop for a short time and manually block the Qi inside of me but it required some concentration. If I had to fight at the same time, it would prove to be a real challenge.

I decided to stop for the day and went to see Zoe, I told her that I wanted to spend some time with her as I would be occupied for the next few days.

We talked and eated with the Old man. He already gave me his green light long ago. He knew I wasn't someone that could possibly just fall in love with anybody and then just forget them for someone else. In a world were these kind of mens were frequent I was proud to be a loyal and responsible one.

We were on the sofa joking around and we appreciated the time we had with each other. The more we talked and the more time passed, the more she drew close to me. Finally she was close enough that our shoulders came in contact. I waited for some times and opened my right arm so she could come close to me. She wasn't as reluctant as I tought she would be and put her head on my chest as she leaned on me. I put my right arm around her waist but didn't move it one bit. I just wanted her to feel protected nothing else.

" You know, I tought I would fear you the moment I saw your missing arm. Or at least I wouldn't be at ease. But your eyes... your eyes are so expressives and pures... Each time I look at them I see pure tenderness and gentlessness. I never once saw you look at me lustfully. I know you found me quite attractive since the first time we met, you stared blankly for several seconds after all." She chuckled gently.

I looked at her while a small smile was growing on my lips, and let her continue.

" But I didn't found anything repulsive at all. I was even more and more attracted by you. You clearly aren't the most handsome man in the world but to me you are. You make me feel at ease and you don't have any others thoughts when looking at me, you have that pure aura, I feel protected with you...I'm happy with you." She finished what she wanted to say and looked at me with love in her eyes. I looked the same way at her and kissed her on the lips.

I didn't need to say any words. She said it herself, my eyes are pure and extremely expressive, I was sure she could see my love for her through them. Like that our relation was made clear. After 2 months spend together she could be finally called my girlfriend.

We cuddled and kissed for several hours before I got back to my cultivation, I still had to create my base and Qi Core.

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I was sitting in the lotus position in my room with Osis protecting me. I was feeling extremely relaxed thanks to the time spend with Zoe. I slowly entered a meditative state where I could focus all my attention on my base and Qi Core.

The Qi Core was a new organ created to contain all the Qis you had. It was a storage room for it and it refined it when you cultivated and gathered Qi thanks to the base and the Qi Gathering Method.

The base was as the name suggested, the foundation of your Core. You had to create an image that you could rely on as your cultivation advanced. This image had to be profound but have room for improvement. It also needed to be somewhat plausible, you couldn't create something totally against the Natural laws. Exemple : a new organism, differents from Beasts, Human, Vegetal and Sentient Objects. That was impossible. If your base was in the contrary too simple, it would restrict your future advancement.

So you had to use your imagination to create something only you could understand and make sure you grasped everything about your image. The implementation of the differents Qis were something extremely important too. By implementing these Qis, you would augment your affinity for them later on.

For exemple if a swordsman focused in the Sword Qi and didn't sense any other Qis before having his Qi Core, it would be extremely difficult to implement Space Qi inside his strikes in the future.

I concentrated myself and started to create a tree in my Soul. The tree was created using my Spacetime Qi. It was completely deep blue with tiny little dots of platinum light in it. It ressembled the starry sky but was a bit colder. I infused the tree with my Natural Qi too, tying it to my life. It slowly grew.

The roots were deeply embeded into my Soul Sea and you couldn't see them anymore. But I knew that they were reaching easily 2 meters long . The trunk was as said before a starry cold sky and the branches were little by little being build. There weren't a lot of branches yet and their thickness was subpart. It clearly needed nourishment. These branches were all my differents Qis and their thickness was my depth in their understanding. 2 days quickly passed as my branches, trunk and roots finished growing.

There was now just the leaves to do. It was the most complicated to do. To do it I needed to use my Spacetime Qi and create a gate in form of leaves. These gates were filaments of Spacetime Qi I had spun untils it became like a rope and made it into a a leaf through 'sewing' these filaments. These leaves were gates to other dimensions. The problem was that since I didn't go to these dimensions I had no coordinate and Signature Aura to finish my gates. So I just left them like that, with the gates open to the void but no world to explore inside of them.

Signature Aura was a special aura that sentient beings of extrem power gaves. it was a mix of their power, minds, body and soul. Our planet, was a sentient being, and possessed her own Signature Aura.

I completed my Qi Core by puting in the trunk, the Qi Gathering Method and named my Core.

"From now on my core will be the Yggdrasil Core. The Progenitor of all Tree, The Ancestor of Worlds Trees, The bridge of Spacetime and The Vault of infinite Qis." I recited as I looked ar the sky.

After my ascencion to the next stage darks clouds filled with rain and lightning came in my direction. Rhumbling could be heard as the clouds came for me. For at least 500 kilometers, no sun could be seen and Beasts Qi were all kneeling in fear. The lightning gathered towards the center of the clouds, towards me, and a Golden Lightning Dragon appeared in the sky. It roared loudly, breaking the ears drum of coutless peoples and beasts. It then lunged at me.

I was afraid I had been too greedy and prepared to fight for my life but when my fist should have collided with the Dragon, It just passed through and filled me with Qis so pure I had to stop myself and active my Gathering Qi Method to prevent a Qi desorder to happen.