Chapter 17 Qi

"Hahaha! I can already walk under the effects of the Forging Altar!" Xuan Jin laughed as he slowly moved his body. He had entered the Forging Altar again about a day ago, and had been training tirelessly since then.

"Pop!"

A hole formed in the barrier, but unlike usual the increased gravity of the Forging Altar didn't disappear. This caused Xuan Jin to raise a brow and he quickly turned to the opening.

As he suspected, it wasn't Iris who entered but rather Big Boar. "I am impressed with your progress kid." The man praised as he approached, his eyes scanning Xuan Jin.

"At your current rate the altar will be useless for you by tomorrow. Why don't you come out and rest and continue your training another day?" Big Boar tried to persuade.

Iris had informed him the second Jin entered the Forging Altar, in fact he was the one who activated it for him. On the other hand his daughter was largely opposed to this development insisting that the boy needed to rest.

'While the boy doesn't seem weary, its mostly due to Iris' Emerald Vitality. Its best for him to take some natural rest lest he forms hidden injuries.' He pondered standing before the shaky Xuan Jin.

"Thank you for your concern, but a wasted day is a day I can never get back, so I'd rather complete Body Forging." The boy replied, never losing focus on his current goal.

Hearing this, Big Boar knew he needed to try a different approach. "How about this. I already taught you about Vitality, but I don't know much about your dark flame. Why don't you teach me a bit about it if its not inconvenient for you." Big Boar requested.

"Dark flame? You mean Qi?" Xuan Jin was surprised. 'How could they form a tribe in the wilderness with no understanding of Qi. While Vitality is impressive, fundamentally its inferior to regular cultivation.' The boy simply couldn't understand.

"Yes, Qi or whatever you call it."

"...All right then, its only fair I tell you about Qi since you gave me information on Vitality." Xuan Jin finally acquiesced. The two then left the Forging Altar, and made their way to Big Boar's study.

Once they were there, Xuan Jin's expression turned serious. "So first lets begin with the fundamentals of Qi and how it compares to Vitality." He explained before emitting a strand of white Qi. Immediately Big Boar's eyes glinted with excitement.

"Qi and Vitality are very similar but fundamentally different. While Vitality is akin to Life Force, Qi can be considered the Breath of the World. Thus its complexity is a tad greater.

Unlike Vitality, Qi has multiple functions. It can form into fire or water, enhance your bodily strength, be used as armour, or even be shot out like a blast. The application are endless.

To do this one must allow their Qi to flow through their meridians...."

Over the course of an hour Xuan Jin gave a long and detailed explanation about Qi. Wherever Big Boar had difficulties he'd ask, and Jin would answer. By the end of it the Chieftain had no other questions, and his doubts about Qi were finally cleared up.

"Well that's about it. Unfortunately I don't have a cultivation technique I can provide you, as I only know my family's technique and its only useable by those with our bloodline." Xuan Jin finished up his explanation.

Naturally Big Boar felt a bit disappointed. But it was unlikely the boy would know a technique to provide them anyway, not to mention it was highly dangerous to practice a cultivation technique without the proper manual.

"All right then, you're quite the intelligent kid I must say." Big Boar smiled before looking out his window. It was already dark outside, and he had work to do.

Because of this Xuan Jin left the study and went to his room. Unfortunately the Forging Altar was already deactivated, Big Boar was preoccupied and Little Boar was no where to be found, so Jin set aside his Vitality training for now.

'While I have time I should recuperate some of my Xuan Qi. I've been burning through it lately and haven't cultivated at all.' The boy nodded to himself before sitting in a meditative posture.

After a few seconds he entered meditation, his breathing rhythmic. From the outside one would see a seasoned cultivator accumulating Qi, but from Xuan Jin's perspective at this moment, this wasn't the case.

Soon a minute passed, and his brows furrowed. 'Why is there no Qi? Or rather is there no Qi in the air? How is this possible?!' Jin thought, shocked at the development.

Normally in a minute he could gather enough Qi to put an Elder to shame, but now he couldn't even acquire a single strand. It was simply impossible considering Xuan Jin's talents, unless of course there was no ambient Qi.

Trying his best to sense, the boy soon confirmed his theory. 'What if its just my room?' With that thought he moved location, and tried the hallway. Unfortunately the result was the same. Then the backyard, to no avail, he even walked it to the Forging Altar but was only met with disappointment.

Returning back to his room, Xuan Jin was stumped by the predicament. 'This is bad, if I can't recuperate my Xuan Qi not only will I stagnate in these 5 years but I might even drop a Layer.' He thought, clearly rather panicked.

It was one thing for him to not cultivate for a week or two. After all he was still circulating his Qi. But to not cultivate at all for 5 years, or even replenish his Qi was simply suicidal.

Thus began the boy's intense pondering on how to cultivate his Qi in a place which simply had no Qi available.