Without Qi - 344

With his meridians cleared and the correct cultivation technique, Tong's cultivation quickly soared as fast as possible, reaching the limit of speed set in place.

It took him a month to reach the core formation realm, but Tong felt as if he could cultivate faster. He asked Master Iroh, and received an answer.

"You are greatly talented, Tong, but the universe must have order. When you reach a certain speed of cultivation, the universe will naturally slow you down. It is what leads to balance. Luckily, it is not without its merits, but that will be for later." Master Iroh explained.

"Starting now, we will leave this cave and explore the world. You will begin to follow your own journey, and I will be there to guide you along the way." Master Iroh said.

"I understand, Master Iroh." Tong said with a bit of excitement. Despite being a cultivator, he had never spent such a large amount of time in one place.

The next day, after a few hours of cultivation, Master Iroh and Tong left the cave. 

"This area does not seem familiar. Where are we?" Tong asked.

"We are on the other side of the world right now. Although your bear race is not bad on the planetary scale, there are many places equal to it." Master Iroh said as he began to walk into the nearby forest.

Tong hurriedly ran and caught up to him. The forest was long and filled with tall grass, but Master Iroh seemed to have a built in map with him.

Along the way, it became clear that they were traveling the perfect path the entire time.

Tong looked at Master Iroh in admiration from behind. After nearly an hour of walking, Master Iroh stopped walking and looked ahead. 

Tong soon caught up and looked in the same direction. They were on the peak of a cliff, and in front of them was a long drop off.

"Did you make a wrong turn, Master Iroh?" Tong asked.

"Of course not. Look ahead." Master Iroh said while pointing.

Tong looked ahead, but all he could see was a large mountain.

"I see! You came to look at the view. It is beautiful." Tong exclaimed.

Master Iroh shook his head and chuckled.

"That would be a good reason, but it is not why we have come today. I have seen your talent, and have connected it to two aspects. One, your inner self. It is as if you have two souls in your body, but one is suppressed. Along our journey, I will teach you to not only resist that soul, but will even help you learn to control it for your own benefit." Master Iroh explained.

"The second aspect is heavily connected to Earth. It appears you have some sort of innate connection with it. I can guide you in some matters, but this will mostly be done by you. Look at that mountain, reach out to it, and connect with it." Master Iroh said.

Tong took in his words, and then did as he said. He crossed his legs and sat on the edge of the cliff while staring at the mountain.

It only took him a few seconds to feel a connection with the mountain. Curious as to how far he could push the connection, he tried to expand it to the surrounding land. 

After a moment, he felt a scene play in his head and jumped up, stumbling backwards in surprise.

Luckily, Master Iroh caught him before he fell down.

"What was that Master Iroh?" Tong asked.

"Do not rely on a teacher for everything. I can tell you that it is beneficial and not harmful, so try it again, but don't be startled this time." Master Iroh said as he pulled out a teapot and began to boil water.

Tong nodded and tried it again.

Soon, he saw the same scene, though seeing was not the correct way to explain it. He was seeing, but not with his eyes, with his mind.

Through his connection with the earth, he could essentially see what it saw, similar to a bats echolocation.

All around him for multiple miles, he felt as if everything was within his grasp.

"It holds a similar principle to divine sense." Master Iroh said from the side. "Due to many circumstances in the future, that will become less useful, but I can imagine that it will also have its own uses."

"It is incredible, Master Iroh!" Tong said.

"Indeed. Now try to control the earth." Master Iroh said.

Tong listened seriously and attempted to make the earth around him move, but was unsuccessful in doing so.

"Master Iroh, I can feel my connection, and I know that it CAN be moved, but it is not doing so no matter what I do." Tong said sadly.

Master Iroh had been observing him very carefully, and managed to sense a few things.

"Do not be impatient Tong. I can sense that the possibility is within you, but you cannot command the earth. The earth is but your companion. It will only move if willing. Try to do movements as you attempt to move your surroundings. Also, do not use Qi." Master Iroh said.

Tong doubted that anything would happen without using Qi, but he followed Master Iroh's suggestion.

He felt the earth and sensed it. He felt his connection, and then he instinctively lowered his stance and stomped on the ground. He was immediately balanced.

He then moved his right arm outwards, curving it upwards as he did so, and stomped his right foot.

As he completed the motion, a rough piece of the ground below him shot up, creating a long and thin pillar of earth.

Tong was surprised, and so was Master Iroh behind him. What Tong had done was something he had never seen before. Without Qi, he had just moved the earth without touching it. It wasn't as if the planet was sentient, but the ground had just moved.

Even Zhou Fan, who was watching from afar, was stunned. Although he could do such a thing, and so could Ying Xiong, they were perhaps the only two in the universe who could do so.

Doing something like that without any sort of QI required an entirely new comprehension of the universe, but they had both seen a boy in the core formation realm do it.