Chapter 23 – Qi Tornedo

"Hmm, makes sense. By the way, I tried meditating for half an hour like you taught me, I can sense and absorb Qi from the air now."

Nyssa stopped, forcing me to join her too as we still held hands.

"You did what?"

"I practiced and managed to absorb Qi. I still can't absorb it passively like breathing," I added in embarrassment. It was hard to tell if she was angry that I skipped sleeping hours, shocked that I was such an amazing fast learner, or maybe I wasted time on the wrong technique.

"And you did that in half an hour?" Nyssa asked carefully.

"Yes, I set an alarm clock so I'd still have at least five hours of sleep. It's not a problem to function with five hours of sleep."

She walked again, pulling me after her toward a café nearby. I resolved myself to conform to society and pay the bill of our first date fully, no matter what she ordered. Okay, I also prayed she wouldn't order all the stuff you expect a spoiled princess to order.

"It's impressive how fast you figured it out on your own. Anyway, you should prioritize a full sleeping schedule since your body will change a lot. It's going to need all that sleep time to recover."

"So it was impressive. Hehe, does it mean I'm a genius?" My confidence shot up to the sky.

"Probably, but don't let it get to your head. My sisters and I were just as quick and more when we first cultivated," she pulled me back to reality. I was not discouraged; she cultivated with god knows what resources from the Immortal Realm.

We sat facing one another on a small table meant for two. It was round with just enough space for two plates, two cups, and one shared plate in the middle. Perhaps you could fit in another shared plate if you let some of it float in the air.

"Hello, here are our menus, please take your time to decide and call me whenever you're ready."

A young man welcomed us with a smile as we sat down. The place was neat and clean, its reputation preceding it as one of the more expensive places on campus. Luckily, it was still on campus, and the prices were reasonable.

'Hmm, let's see how I make her order the cheap stuff without realizing I'm just too poor,' I mused.

"No need," Nyssa crushed my hopes, "We want the Triple Chocolate Dream and the Mille-feuille cake. Also, I'd like to drink the Biscoff Blitz Milkshake, thanks."

"Of course," He nodded. "And for you?" He turned to me and I had no idea what to answer. The price already stood at 60 dollars, tip unincluded. My resolve only added up to a sum of fifty dollars, and I considered it generous.

"Uhm, I don't know the dishes here, I'd need a minute or two to skim through the menu," I delayed the decision, imaginary tears of blood flowing from my eyes. Who the hell takes so much sweet stuff? She'd die of diabetes! She will be the first immortal to die of diabetes!

"Give him the Caramel Cookie Caper. We will call you if we want more desserts," Nyssa made an expensive choice for me. Argh, I should've asked for coffee.

"Alright, no problem. The details were sent to our chef, you can add more dishes whenever you want," He smiled and theatrically tapped the 'send button' on his tablet once he finished taking our order.

"Um, Nyssa, about the order…" I mumbled.

"Oh, do you think two desserts won't be enough for us? Did you skip breakfast?" Nyssa raised her hand to call the waiter back, but I hurriedly shot mine to grab it and place it down.

"No, it's the other way around, Cutie. Isn't it too much sugar? How are we going to finish all that?"

"I always order two desserts when I'm alone," her phoenix eyes squinted, making it look like the bird stretched its majestic tail.

"You… you do, huh. Aiya, forget it, why are we here?" I put it behind me, ready to occupy my mind with stuff other than the 73-dollar bill awaiting me. It'd be 80 after tip, by the way.

"The way you learned to absorb the Qi will be a good basis for a better absorption technique. Close your eyes and lean toward me, there's no need to be in a meditating pose."

We both leaned on the table. My palms were facing up, soon felt Nyssa's soft skin as she placed hers on top of mine.

"Breathe, relax, enter meditation mode," she instructed and I followed. It was much easier to achieve after experiencing it twice, and when her palms touched me, the noise around us somehow dimmed. I might be just that romantic, but there was probably some weird technique in play.

"Mm, the green bubbles are all around me," I said once my connection with the Qi was renewed. The vibrant energy begged me to absorb it.

"Green bubbles? Never mind, visualize them however you like. Now, instead of making them rush to you, imagine them twirling around you. Don't absorb them yet, let the momentum build."

As always, I willed the Qi to follow my command and it did. There was a little tornado around me, and it affected the real world too. Tables were slightly shaking, people felt tensed, chairs moved, dishes fell off the tables, and plates shattered on the ground. I noticed none of it, concentrating on the task at hand.

"You're doing great, keep going, just like that," Her voice had some astonishment, prompting me to open one eye and take a look, only to find her blue eyes silently scolding me for taking risks. "Now imagine it converging to your body," she continued once I shut my eyes again.

The mini tornado of Qi slowly embedded itself in me, sending huge waves of Qi to my pores, all the way to my meridians.

"That's so effective!" I exclaimed and broke my meditation once the storm was contained within me entirely, "How much time passed?"

"Fifteen minutes," she answered, "The dishes are here, let's eat."

I looked around me, seeing the mess created and the panic among the people. We were the only couple acting normally as though nothing happened. "Umm, what happened here?"

"You happened," she shrugged, "I have no idea how you could create a storm of this velocity, but it was strong enough to knock over some plates. You should pay for all the losses, you know," she beckoned at the dishes spilled all over the floor. Pastas, pizzas, chocolates, desserts, and whatnot.

"Aha, ain't no way I can afford that," I answered blatantly. That shit was like a thousand bucks summed together. I pulled my hands off the table, seeing our food was secured by the hungry girl.

"Haha, eat with me."

She turned herself in with a soft giggle that told me she was teasing me. My cheeks reddened a bit, it was weird dating a rich girl who could do almost anything she wanted. I swore to myself to find a way to make some cash so I wouldn't have to rely on her in the future.

We shared the desserts together, splitting it like 10%-90% in her favor. Her sweet tooth was too strong, I wanted to throw up all that sugar after my third bite. When I tried to wash my mouth, the drink was just as sweet, rendering me unable to escape the sugar rush.

"Don't worry, I will cover it," Nyssa said when she called the waiter. It was awkward, but I could only accept it for now and aim to make more money later. The fact was that she was rich and I wasn't, and money simply played no factor in impressing her; she was given everything she wanted since birth.

No mortal could satisfy her with gifts. Not even an immortal could. And she chose me over all the mortals and immortals she could have picked.

"Thanks," I said and rewarded her with a slow caress of her hand.

At the end of our meal, I inspected my body, finding out I had twice as much Qi as I absorbed yesterday. While it seemed unrelated to my need to learn unconscious Qi absorption, the more I had, the easier it would be to get used to the sensation.

---

Two hours ago:

Two beauties, in fact, they were two of the greatest beauties of the city, even nationwide. One with long white hair that seemed like silver, her high cheekbones make her look like royalty. The other had a rounder face that kept her eternally adorable, and endless black curls adorned that cuteness.

"What the hell happened yesterday, why did the two of you stay behind for so long?" Marlene asked, her usually friendly face distorting in anger. Sparks ran through her skin like she was about to combust in flames.

"We just had fun and confessed our love to each other," Nyssa shrugged. "What, are you angry he chose me?"

"HE CAN'T CHOOSE, HE IS MINE!"