Chapter 21 - Master Guansho’s Tome Also Includes A Long Encyclopedia of Martial Spirits & More (Li Kang’s Journey Back To Checkov’s Spirit Chakra Enhancing Hot Springs)

Now moving at high speed through the forestland away from the Suhn Clan River Valley, Li Kang considered what it meant to be a Meridian Crystallization stage 1 cultivator. He could feel his ki cycling constantly, his meridians powerfully utilizing the ki energy, and his ki channels felt solid in a way that he hadn't yet experienced. 

Each leap forwards propelled him over the ground at breakneck speeds. It had taken a little bit of adjusting but fortunately Li Kang's athletic disposition put him at an advantage when it came to mastering his new abilities. He could feel his muscles contracting with an astounding level of control. It was as though he had individual control over each of his muscle fibers.

Truly, no one on the Jangchi continent had ever seen a Meridian Crystallization level cultivator like Li Kang. In fact, he must be the most powerful cultivator without a martial spirit on the continent! Li Kang knew that the only path upwards was by gaining a martial spirit, hence why he was currently leaving the rubble of the Suhn Clan behind and making his way back the the healing pools where his journey had begun with the acquisition of his first grade one heavenly treasure, the dagger of avarice. He recalled the entry in Master Guansho's tome about the healing pools, which had mentioned water with the ability to attract martial spirits, and water with the power to weaken them and assist in their capture, though no healing pool hot spring system would have both types. He wondered which would be found in his caves. Either would be a fortuitous acquisition, Li Kang decided. 

On his way back through the forest he stopped for the tent and gear that he had noticed during his hunting in the forest. This will be essential to the next stage of my journey, he thought. Then he continued on. Reaching the hidden pools much more quickly than he had the first time, Li Kang offered a brief prayer of thanks to the magnificent spirit carp that populated the pool. Before he'd left last time he had set up a ki rune that aided the circulation of ki around the pools to make it easier for the carp to absorb. As the ki was naturally occurring, it wasn't taking any power from the pools and served to enrich the carp, aiding their growth and development. He was happy to see that the fish were even more prodigiously sized and healthy looking than before.

Relieving himself of his gear, he sat down in a lotus pose and pulled Master Guansho's tome out from his robes. Quickly flipping through the different sections, he searched for the Martial Spirit Encyclopedia. Let's see, Li Kang thought as he paged through the book. Making money by drawing 'spirit arrays' on pieces of parchment and then selling them for bank at the auction house generating a shocking 1,000,000,000% profit, no… Mastering the art of thinking 10 steps ahead of your opponent so that he says 'impossible' in the middle of the fight... no… Aha! Martial Spirits A to Z. 

Turning to the correct section, Li Kang analyzed the contents. Fortunately, Master Guansho had organized the martial spirits by affinity. As Li Kang had conflicting affinities for both dark and light spirits, he would need to be careful with which type of spirit he attempted to bond. He flipped to the section on unique, powerful dark spirits to see if any also had light affinity. Ah, here's one that looks promising, he thought, scanning an entry at the bottom of the right page.

Mephisto the Torturer: Affinity: Dark Spirit. 

Power Classification: Jade 5 Heavenly Gates 

Description: Affinity for Light

Aha! An affinity for light! Li Kang flipped to the next page to read the rest of the entry. 

…ly torturing his victims for thousands of years, breaking their minds while he sustains their life force with ki energy. Many spirit wielders have attempted to bind this powerful spirit but none have succeeded, instead finding themselves trapped in his dungeons. This spirit is speculated to grant the power to make your foes go insane.

No, this isn't going to work. Li Kang thought to himself. For one, Mephisto the Torturer doesn't even have a Light affinity and for two, fuck that. He was coming to find out that the more powerful martial spirits could even have personalities of their own, especially ancient ones that had enough power to gain some autonomy. This added another layer of complexity to his efforts to bind a powerful one. How had his father bound a Jade Six Heavenly Gates martial spirit at fourteen?

Li Kang sighed and returned the book to his robes. I'll take a break from researching and check out the alignment of the healing pool. Recalling that the cave system could have only West aligned pools that attract martial spirits or East aligned pools that repel them, he flared his ki sight and took in the different signatures from the pools. The main pool was North aligned, providing cultivators with rejuvenating energy. Two smaller pools off to the side with no carp in them proved to be South aligned based on the aura of danger he could see swirling around on their surface. Venturing further inside the cave system, he found that most of the pools were North aligned. He did take note of one South aligned pool that would be large enough to fit his body in, in case he had need of it for a strengthening ritual in the future.

Finally, all the way at the bottom of the system, he found a pool with a different ki signature. The ki rose in wavy red and blue lines from the pool, radiating outwards. To test which alignment the pool had, he cycled a small amount of ki energy into his palm and dropped it in the pool. The energy was immediately rejected from the pool and dissipated.

Ho ho, how fortuitous. It's an Eastern aligned pool! Though Li Kang hadn't dared hope, he knew that the Eastern aligned chakra spring water would aid him much more greatly than Western aligned chakra spring water would. As it had the ability to weaken a martial spirit during the bonding process, this would aid his solo bonding and allow him a much greater chance to bond a powerful martial spirit!

Li Kang brought out some vials that he had taken from the Suhn Clan during his trip down to the Suhn Clan River Valley and filled them with the precious chakra spring water. When they were carefully stowed in his pack, he made his was back up to his camp on the first level of the cave system.

Pulling Master Guansho's tome back out, he returned to his studies. Disappointingly, a perusal of the powerful dark and light aligned spirits listed didn't turn up any with both affinities. If it was easy to find one with a conflicting nature, my clan wouldn't have cast me out in the first place, Li Kang thought ruefully. 

As he reached the end of the section, the header on the next page caught his eye. 

Unaligned and Unclassified Spirits - Known Spirits and Locations

Excitedly, Li Kang began scouring the text. While there wasn't much information listed on the specifics of these spirits, there were locations where powerful spirits had been sighted or sensed. He just needed to find a location considered too dangerous to have been plundered by the major clans in the area, that also had both light and dark affinity. An entry near the bottom of the page he was reading caught his eye:

The Buried Cathedral: Affinity: Light and Dark

Location: Northern Jangchi Continent - Upper Wang Mountain Region

Danger Level: Extremely High

Spirits Sighted: Multiple Jade 7 Heavenly Gates level spirits sensed in these ruins

Li Kang thought to himself. It's possible to make it there, I'll just have to consider my options. Maybe I could make it to Port Nir and use the services of a Gate Master. With a plan brewing, Li Kang made up his mind. The Buried Cathedral would be the next step on his journey to climb the ladder of destiny!