2 Journey of a Thousand Miles

After leaving the captain at the docks, the father, Huli Weilong, spoke with a few of the townspeople before returning home. When he got home, his daughter was looking at him expectantly, waiting for news. Chuckling at her, he waved both children to the small table in the room. "Children, as you've heard, the first ship to arrive here in years has finally landed. I spoke with the captain and he informed me that the military has decided to offer me a pension and an apartment in Myhrrwar. Before making a decision I wanted to speak with both of you. Feng'er, what do you think?"

Fenglong paused for a moment at this, looking to his sister. After some thought he sighed and said, "We would both be better off there. We can't even begin breaking through our cultivation here." In response his father grinned and his sister tipped her head a little inquisitively. He had never shown interest in cultivation before .

The next morning they had all their things packed up. Everything fit in a single chest that their father carried on his shoulder. Even if his cultivation base was destroyed, he still had the physical strength that was given through such great work. After leaving the house they passed a number of the townsfolk, some of whom handed them some dried foods and even a few copper coins. One older man, whom Weilong had spoken to before returning home the previous night, gave him a silver coin and a serviceable short sword. "In accordance with our agreement, this is what I owe you for purchasing your property. Safe travels my friend, and may fate smile upon your family again." The old Canis seemed to smile from deep within his eyes as he bade them farewell and a safe journey.

After that interaction, the rest of the town's people stood on either side of the road and watched them go. Once on the ship they were informed by the captain that they would be onboard for 4 days during the trip back to the tip of the Cradle, and once they reached the outpost there they would have to wait a few days before they could get on a traveler's ship back to the central cities. They proceeded below decks to put their things in their cabin and discovered there were only two sleeping hammocks in this space. "Well, this is to be expected," said their father, "this is a military vessel and not a traveler's ship. You two should be able to fit in the top one together, so I'll sleep down here."

After an extremely boring few days where they only got to leave the cabin for meals, the two children were bursting with energy and nowhere to use it. At last Fenglong decided to ask his father about cultivation and started to learn how to manipulate the Heavenly Qi around him to try and break through the meridians and circulate it within the body. As they were talking and learning, Yun felt like she had a bit of inspiration and sat down in the corner to focus on it. A few minutes later, as she felt she had drifted into a wonderous state, she felt something was different as she pushed against her meridians gates with the Heavenly Qi. Suddenly a muffled cracking noise sounded from within her body, just loudly enough for her father's acute hearing to catch it from across the small cabin, before her eyes snapped open and a slight twinkle played across them for an instant. Her father patted Fenglong on the shoulder as he walked over to examine his daughter, noticing the startled look in her eyes he gave her a calming hand on the head as he crouched down and used his spirit to inspect her meridians. To his great surprise she had not only broken through the first gates, but also the second gates in some of her meridians! She had directly advanced from an inborn adept at Perfect Qi Forging to the half-step Second Change Meridian Opening, leaving her only 4 more sets of gates to completely break through before Heavenly Qi could nourish every part of her body and circulate to the empty center where she would form her Neidan. As he expressed his pride towards his daughter for her insight and ability, he also informed her that she would need to spend a little time running the Heavenly Qi in and out of those newly opened channels to let them be nourished and grow, preventing them from breaking under the strain of the Heavenly Qi as she tried to break through the next gate.

A day later the ship made port at the outpost, the newly rebuilt Cora Sylverwar. All the buildings were obviously new and it looked like there had recently been a battle nearby, as there were many damaged plants and charred places. The militia helped the family get set up in a small house set aside for officers to use and informed them that it would be another two days before the next traveler vessel came through that could take them back to Myhrrwar. They were much more comfortable here and their father left to go talk to the soldiers about how things were going with the new outpost. That night he came back with a gleam in his eyes that both children thought looked a little suspicious. "Papa," Yun asked, "why do you look like you've gotten some kind of idea?"

"Well, my little one, because I've gotten something I was after. Your brother has said he'd like to start cultivating too, and one of the soldiers had a leftover Meridian pill he gave me. So in a little bit I'll help your brother break through to the First Change to have a better chance of joining a school when we arrive in Myhrrwar."

After a few more days the traveller ship showed up, ready to take them back to the central river that runs past Myhrrwar. As expected, Fenglong had already broken through his first gates and officially stepped into the First Change. He and his sister sat back to back on the ship, using the Heavenly Qi to help develop their meridians.

After what felt like ages they both came out of their meditation and stretched their muscles and aches out. Almost as if on queue, both of their stomachs growled loudly and their father chuckled as he got up from the hammock. "The young truly dont know time when cultivating, do they?" he helped them both up and took them to get some food. While they were eating they found out that it had been 3 whole days since they got on the boat. With a little check their father told them they had stabilized their realm and could move on to try to break through the next gate. They still had another 15 days before they would reach the next port, so if they were lucky they could break through and stabilize before reaching their new home.

Over the next two weeks they did more than just break through one time, they both broke through twice, bringing Yun up to a Four Change Meridian Opening and breaking through the crucial Small Success of the third stage, and bringing Fenglong up to a Third Change, or Small Success Meridian Opening. As they had both broken through the first great barrier while on the journey, the crew of the traveller ship they were on decided to have a small party for them in celebration the last night on-board. They cooked up all the perishables they had and invited everyone on the ship to join in and congratulate the two youngsters on their great success in taking the first steps into the world of the powerful. The next day they finally arrived in port and learned why the name of their new home was Myrhhwar, or Market; the whole town was dedicated to the trading of goods. The center of the town was a massive market where you could find just about anything you needed, and all of the living spaces were arranged around this huge central market in a massive circle, with major passageways radiating out like spokes on a wheel. The main thoroughfare had constant traffic rolling through with large carts bringing goods to and from the market to the port, and on the opposite side of the city to the main road through the woods to the north, where those goods would go to the nearby outposts and cities to become part of their markets and improve the life of their people.