Qi Concentration

Liu Ming floated silently in a sea of black. His only thoughts being to gather Qi. Absorb as much as possible. Become more powerful to crush those who have wronged him. The black abyss slowly began to fill with a white mist.

Old man Lian had been watching over Liu Ming for the past few days, keeping an eye on his condition. He had left his wife to work at the stalls, which she hadn't minded.

Old man Lian saw something peculiar at the edge of his vision. He looked over to see Liu Ming taking in small amounts of Qi. It was almost imperceptible, but he was doing it. Old man Lian approached Liu Ming, whose eyes were fluttering lightly under his eyelids, and bent down to assess his condition. "Unbelievable..." Old man Lian muttered to himself.

'He's achieved the elementary level of Qi Concentration. But how?' Old man Lian thought to himself, looking over Liu Ming's body for the umpteenth time. 'He's actually achieved this stage of Qi absorption, to be able to gather Qi passively. He isn't proficient, but who is when they first learn something. What's scary is that the Qi he's absorbing is getting larger, however, in small increments.' Old man Lian smiled. He then proceeded to go back to his seat and continue absorbing the surrounding Qi.

***

A few days pass by silently at the Foreign Affairs office. Yan Bao was getting worried over the absence of her sl... worker, even though she would never truly admit it. Tea waited silently each day for Liu Ming to return, but to no avail. Tea, also had to shoulder the full responsibilities of both her and Liu Ming. Even if she had nothing better to do, it was still nice to have more free time.

Tea sat silently at the window of the office, staring out at the trees, and various other flora in the garden across the street. Yan Bao came out of the back room and saw Tea sitting at the window. She clicked her tongue disapprovingly, seeing her other worker lazing about. "Hey, come here, I have a job for you." She said, waking Tea from her thoughts.

Tea stood up from her seat and walked over to Yan Bao, awaiting patiently for her instruction. "Here, this is a list of books I need from the library down the road. Tell them Yan Bao sent you and they should let you take the books with you. Here's some money for when you're done with your task. Go browse the stalls and get something to eat, and get your mind off of that dumba**." Yan Bao handed Tea a small list of books, and shooed her out of the office.

Tea began making her way to the library.

***

Liu Ming awoke with sweat beads running down his face. His eyes flicked from side to side, trying to determine where he was. His torso suddenly cramped, causing him to let out a small moan.

Old man Lian woke up from his Qi absorption and walked lightly over to Liu Ming after standing up. Liu Ming saw the old man walking towards him.

'Wasn't that the old man who worked the stall I landed in front of?' He thought to himself. The pain in his torso started to throb violently. "Hey, take it easy, boy. You're alright." Old man Lian attempted to comfort Liu Ming, and started injecting Qi to soothe his body.

Liu Ming's torso began to slowly stop hurting as intensely and settled at a small modicum of pain that was easily tolerable. His breathing also slowed by a large margin. "How'd you do that?" Liu Ming asked, quite curious as to what happened.

Old man Lian chuckled lightly. "By injecting small amounts of Qi into the core of your cells it energizes them, causing somewhat of a healing factor to occur. Your cell growth speeds up to an incredible pace, however, the downside is that your body will be absolutely drained once the Qi injection is finished working its way through your cells." The old man's explanation was concise and to the point, not adding or neglecting any details that weren't needed.

Liu Ming nodded his head lightly. "Where am I?" Liu Ming's voice was hoarse from dehydration. "We are at my home, of course. You've been asleep for 4 days now." Liu Ming's brows furrowed.

"Oh I'm so dead, she's going to kill me." Liu Ming said, thinking about Yan Bao's possible reaction to his sudden absence. Old man Lian chuckled. "Now, since you're awake, can you tell me if you feel any different, besides the pain of course." He said.

Liu Ming looked at himself, observing his core and Qi. He didn't notice anything until he saw his core's Qi reserves filling up by an extremely tiny amount. "Huh?!" Liu Ming was confused as to why he was gaining Qi without meditating. Old man Lian gave a hearty laugh at Liu Ming's reaction. "Boy, you're quite lucky. Not many people have the ability that you currently possess, as it's not generally known. Your body is naturally gaining Qi, while the amount may be small now, you can train yourself to absorb an excessive amount of Qi without having to do anything."

Liu Ming wondered at his new found skill. There was something actually like this? "This passive ability is called Qi Concentration, which is ironic because no concentration is needed to use this ability. Very few people, other than myself, and various elders and patriarchs of high end sects can use this ability." Old man Lian explained. "The benefits of this skill at higher levels is apparent. If you're off exploring and manage to expend all of your Qi you can quickly absorb more as it compounds on your ability to gather Qi manually, essentially doubling your Qi absorption manually. However, what I just explained is only possible at the peak stage of Qi Concentration. At your stage, the elementary stage, you gain at most one percent more Qi." Liu Ming looked down at his core.

Old man Lian continued explaining, "The only part about this skill, however, is that no one quite knows how to move onto the next stage, it is only based on luck that you gain the inspiration to do so. I, myself, am currently at the late stage of Qi Concentration. And as to why you have unlocked this ability, well, that is a mystery indeed." Liu Ming nodded, he was in awe at this elders knowledge and ability. To somehow manage to get to the late stage of a skill with no known way of upgrading is a tremendous feat!

"Now, boy, I know what I said a few days ago, but after seeing you spawn this lucky chance I wish to train you. How does that sound?" The old man's eyebrows lifted, waiting for a response. Liu Ming thought about the offer for a moment. He coughed, "Will I be living here with you, or will I stay at where I was at?" Liu Ming wasn't sure what benefits, besides a teacher, this would bring.

Old man Lian pondered the question, "Hmm, if you need lodging I can, of course, provide. But if you already have somewhere to stay I would suggest staying there." Liu Ming nodded. "When exactly should I come? Is it everyday, or will I come every other day? …"

Liu Ming and Old Man Lian discussed what would happen over the course of a few weeks before being sent off to the adventurers guild, which is where Liu Ming wished to go.

***

Tea walked at a slow pace towards the market. She decided that she would buy some food to share with Liu Ming. Tea tugged her cloak's hood down a little further in order to cover her face better. After all, these past few weeks of hiding would be a waste of someone from her old master's friend group recognized her. Not only would she be captured and re enlisted within the ranks of the numerous underground slave shops, she would be brutally raped and beat as well.

The thoughts caused Tea to shudder in fear.

Tea passed by a group of children sparring with wooden swords. Their giggles made her smile. 'Well let me go over to that shop, the food looks delicious!' She thought to herself.

The stall was a medium sized bun stall. Steamed buns were delicious. (1) The stall was operated by an old lady, old man Lian's wife to be exact. "Oh, hello. Would you like some buns?" The old lady gave a smile. Tea nodded, "I'll take 12."

Tea silently thought to herself. 'Even if they aren't fresh, he should enjoy them, right?' She blushed lightly. She heard an awkward cough behind her. Turning around she saw a young man with crutches. He coughed lightly, "H-hey Tea."

***

After gaining some kind of mobility back, Liu Ming decided it was time to go back to his room. He was absolutely dreading facing Yan Bao. He shuddered, even the beasts in the wild were less scary than that woman.

"I suppose you're hungry, right? Do you think you can handle solid food?" Old man Lian asked. Liu Ming nodded. "Here is a pair of crutches my wife made for you while you were asleep." Old man Lian handed Liu Ming a pair of carved crutches. They were beautiful, even if they were for hurt legs. Liu Ming had torn multiple leg muscles in his tumble in a bid to stop himself.

"Tell her I said thank you." Liu Ming said with appreciation. "Tell her yourself, we are going to mine and her stall for some steamed buns." Old man Lian said, giving a light laugh.

The duo left the confines of the house and crossed the yard. Liu Ming marveled at the Qi concentration in the air. It was so thick. There was more Qi in this yard than was in most of the confines of the city. Training here would be amazing, which, luckily, he was!

After exiting the garden they headed in the direction of Liu Ming's previous beatdown, and old man Lian's stall. A short trip later they arrived at their destination. Liu Ming was panting from the movement of his swollen body, but he kept up with old man Lian's pace nonetheless.

Liu Ming spotted a familiar cloak purchasing buns from old man Lian's wife. 'Oh, well isn't that a coincidence?' He thought to himself. He coughed awkwardly behind her, trying to gain her attention. Tea turned around, with red cheeks.

Liu Ming coughed again, "H-hey Tea."

(1) Omg I want some right now.