The Heavenly Body

"Boy, What happened to you?"

Only a winter had passed and the boy was different. This was not the child he knew. The child's body was conditioned to the point he could see every muscle flex. He was sure the hermit was feeding the child something unorthodox.

It was a body now perfectly conditioned to absorb mana. He had to make Qing his disciple.

"Hey boy, are you interested in Martial arts?"

Qing's body grew goosebumps at the idea of learning new martial arts. The rotten old hermit held him, hostage, three days a week. Now, the Lumberjack also wants to hold him, hostage, too.

He rushed down the hill as the lumberjack continued to pester him to learn his martial arts.

"I don't want to learn martial arts,"

"You are learning martial arts so why not learn another?"

Qing gave that question a thought. If he's already learning a martial arts technique why not learn another? The rotten old man constantly refused to teach him weapons. Always talk about some random imaginary energy technique that absorbs mana "from the air."

"I will teach you a better technique to store mana,"

The Lumberjack and the hermit were both scammers in his eyes. From his understanding mana could not be absorbed from the air. Mana comes from the flesh. It's manifested when one puts their mind and will to it. Mana resides in a person's blood the symbol of their life.

Qing struggles to comprehend Lumberjack's request. If both of these great people are insisting mana could be absorbed from the air why not try to learn them?

"Mana comes from one body, and chi comes from the air."

"What if I told you Mana and Chi are the same things?"

This made questions arise in his head. He was sure that his mother noted that mana and chi were different fundamentally. If they were the same why didn't his mother use chi, but only mana?

"Fundamentally these two energies are the same," the Lumberjack noted to Qing.

"However, if your body, weak! It cannot handle two different flows of energy."

"Your body will go,"

The Lumberjack expands his hand.

"Boom,"

"But if you succeed, you will earn strength equivalent to a god,"

QIng thought about the risk. Was it better to continue learning from the rotten old hermit or rush it and learn from this technique from the Lumberjack?

"Let me ask my mother what she thinks,"

Qing was sure his mother knew what was best for him.

"Don't ask her, she's just a mage do you really think she could put this knowledge into application?"

"Mage just sit in the back lines,"

"You should be grateful if she could even tell the difference between wind and lighting ki,"

"Then who should I ask for advice?"

"Me"

The old hermit walked behind Qing.

"Go on, what techniques do you want to teach my disciple,"

Qing's body was not conditioned enough in his eyes to learn his techniques yet. It was too fragile and it would break at a moment's notice if Qing was careful enough.

Mana and ki were not to be mixed until one had an in-depth idea of both energies. That's why so many practitioners focused on only one of the energies leaving many with the potential to use both reluctant to use them.

"I want him to learn my orthodox techniques," the Lumberjack said with a firm determination.

"Reversed flow is now considered orthodox? Your techniques will limit his growth in my techniques."

"What's wrong with learning both techniques?" Qing questioned the two.

"Well, Qing my techniques use the natural flow of the energy in the world."

"The Savage here uses reverse flow. These two energies will clash with each other naturally when they're in your body,"

The Lumberjack looked at the hermit with smite but calmed himself reluctantly.

"If you're interested, Boy, you know where to meet me."

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Qing sat at the kitchen table, playing with his spoon. Using Mana was already hard for him. Why should he learn to use chi? It's pointless for him. The stories made the heroes focus solely on mana to produce aura. If learning more energies would only hinder him why should he learn to do more?

"Mom?"

…

…

His mother turned to face him. "What?" she asked, her tone gentle

"If I was offered to learn two more mysterious energies similar to mana would you approve?"

"There's no harm in doing so. Learning more could only broaden your horizons."

"But it might stun my growth as a hero."

Qing's mother pats Qing on his head. Even if it stuns his growth. He had her nothing would hurt if he learned more. Especially now, while his body was still getting adapted to mana learning more would harm him drastically.

"It doesn't hurt to learn more. Even if you do fail remember you got me, the best mage in the north,"

"But you're not the b..,"

Qing's mother puts a spoon with porridge into his mouth.

"Eat your porridge while it's still warm,"

His mother walked over to him and patted him gently on the head. "Even if it stuns your growth, you have me," she said reassuringly. "I'm the best mage in the north, and I'll always be here to guide you."

He figures if he going to learn martial arts he might as well expand his horizons and learn them both.

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The next day, Qing made his way to the forest. The Lumberjack was already waiting for him with Ning.

"I see you've made your decision, boy," he said with a grin.

He figured the young hero would come and learn both techniques. Even if his mother did know much about martial arts she knew about timing.

Qing nodded, feeling a mixture of excitement and nervousness.

"Hi, Ning,"

"Good. Today, we'll start with the basics. First, I'll teach you how I gather chi from the air."

"If your teaching him the basics again can I leave,"

Lumberjack slapped his head. He wanted his child to help guide Qing on how to get basic breathing down. It had been many years since he had learned breathing decades ago.

"Child, I need your help guiding the boy,"

"Well, tomorrow I get to have a break,"

Ning reluctantly instructed Qing on how to breathe in a way that allowed him to absorb chi from his surroundings. It was a strange sensation at first, It felt familiar to the way the hermit had taught him to breathe in the mountain, but all so slightly off.

The Lumberjack then moved and instructed him how to store and use the chi he had gathered.

"The breath is slightly different am I right?" The lumberjack noticed how Qing was getting the hang of breathing.

"I recommend you to close your eyes and focus on the flow of the energy,"

"Relax," Ning noted. Qing's whole body was stiff like a rock. It was all too tense and his muscles needed to relax.

"You don't stretch?"

Stretching is an important step in conditioning a body. Blindly exercising would result in imbalances in the body's muscle groups. Ning thought this was basic knowledge. Since, before they would race, Qing would stretch too. However, judging from his condition he forgot about the importance of stretching.

"Your whole body's energy is going to be in disarray."

Regardless Qing attempted to store the chi in his body. Qing concentrated, picturing the ball of light growing bigger and brighter with each inhale. He felt a warmth spreading through his body and a tingling sensation in his fingertips.

He saw two energies a dark mysterious energy came in invading the bright yellow energy in his core. Qing focused on storing the chi, he noticed the dark energy growing stronger and more intrusive. It was like a shadow creeping over the bright energy, threatening to engulf it.

Qing opened his eyes, alarmed by the sudden appearance of the dark energy.

"What's happening?" he asked, looking at Ning and the Lumberjack for answers.

"Concentrate!," the Lumberjack attempted to help Qing by using his mana to calm the Chi down.

As Qing concentrated on storing the chi, he felt a sudden shift in the energy within him. A dark, ominous energy began to swirl within him, invading the bright energy in his core. The two energies clashed with each other

The dark energy seemed to reverse the flow of the chi, making it unstable and unpredictable. It was like a shadow creeping over the bright energy, threatening to engulf it. Qing struggled to control the conflicting energies within him, trying to absorb and store them both.

The clash of energies created a tingling sensation in his body, making his muscles tense up and his heart race. Qing felt like he was losing control, the energies threatening to burst out of him like a violent storm. The Lumberjack continued guiding Qing's Chi in his body attempting to balance the two energies.

"May I be of assistance," the Hermit appeared in front of them.

"Yes,"

The Hermit nodded and stepped forward, placing a hand on Qing's chest. Qing felt a surge of energy flowing into him, like a cool breeze that calmed his mind and body. The Lumberjack had been stabilizing the dark reversal energy. The Hermit's touch seemed to stabilize the bright energy within him, and Qing felt the conflict, replaced by a sense of clarity and balance.

"Encase the two energies in mana now," The hermit ordered Qing.

Qing formed a barrier of mana around the two energies creating unity between the two energies with his mana.

The two energies within him become harmonious and balanced, allowing him to store and use store chi more effectively.