Troubles and More Troubles

"Damn, I lost again," I cursed as I processed the moves. This old man was a monster. I picked up the game of Go when I used to be head of the Lucid River, and I sucked at it at first, but after a few years of playing I managed to become the best in the whole city, people actually made travels just to come and play with me, yet this guy, he really bested me several times now.

"Yes…you lost." The man said, but his expressions weren't of someone who had just won. He looked perplexed.

"How long have you been playing?" he asked.

"A few years now."

"A few years… I've been honing my skills for hundreds of years, and I could say that among all my peers in this sect, rare are those who manage to play as long as you did against me. I'm impressed with your thinking process."

"It's just a game. Nothing to be so vexed about."

The old man shook his head, "You're using mortal moves against me. If you were to use your cultivation, this game would turn differently."

I frowned, "How is that even possible, to use cultivation in a game of go?"

"It's rather simple, you see, right now, you're using your brain, your mind, your mortal mind to play. Not the cultivator's mind, you're thinking process compared to mine is probably several times slower. But if you were to use a cultivator's mindset to play, you'll start seeing moves that you have not before and discover tricks you have not thought of before."

"I think I understand, but I have no idea on how to tap onto that thinking process."

"It's not something that can be taught, you'll have to figure it out on your own. It's a kind of talent, and when you're able to use it, you'll be able to see the world anew."

"Right, I'll keep it in mind. So how about another game?"

"Right, let's go again."

The old man began setting the small pieces and we started playing. As we went on, I thought about how he mentioned using the mindset of a cultivator. For me, right now, the proper move would be to barricade a group of his pieces and block his advance, that's the optimal move. If I were to do that, I'll still be on the defensive, unable to attack, and he will still have the upper hand…I need a move that could turn the tables.

---

As Shen Bao was thinking, he never noticed a green aura suddenly beginning to overlap and coalesces against his whole body. Elder Yun was taken aback but he had a bright smile on his face. Another person came from behind Shen Bao, it was the elder of the second floor of the Purple Cloud Pavilion.

Just as he was about to speak, Elder Yun gestured for him to stop. Whatever was happening with Shen Bao was something that he didn't need to be distracted from.

Yun decided it was time for him to make a move in retaliation to Shen Bao's seemingly reckless piece that was placed in an awkward position without any prior thought or current goal or purpose.

Yun continued playing, laying out a perfect offense, but Shen Bao was retaliating with a weak defense, Yun knew that Shen Bao was not someone weak at the game, as he had already played against him a few rounds before, so this weak gameplay was a prep for something. Yet Yun could never see what.

Shen Bao was still immersed in his own world, a strange feeling where whenever he moved a piece he would see almost all the corresponding moves that should follow, and whenever Yun would place his own pieces Shen Bao would figure out what the Elder wanted to do.

Shen Bao kept placing awkward pieces and stopping Yun's moves with defensive moves that seemed amateurish and unworthy of a good Go player. Yet one piece remained in the table that was still unused, it was the first piece that Shen Bao had placed. Yun was still pondering on how Shen Bao was going to use that piece and began dedicating defensive structures to hold off any pieces to be built around that one.

Since the game started, Shen Bao has been focused on the table and never lifted his head up, so when he did, Yun was shaken to his core. Shen Bao's only eye had a green lustrous light, almost like a shiny emerald in the depth of the night.

"They say that dragons never die…It's a lie!" and he slammed a piece where Yun never expected, stopping an impressive chain of pieces and at the same time switching the whole game.

The whole board changed and Yun's amazing offensive has completely been broken. Reading the table Yun began to laugh, there was no way for him to come back from this.

"I resign! You win."

"That was a good game!"

---

I looked at the table and smiled, the thinking process of a cultivator, it's rather addictive. If I were able to use this more often and in a specific situation I could come up with a great many tricks to help me cultivate. I can already see the benefits this could bring me.

Thinking at this frequency would mean that I could find the optimal way and method to circulate energy, find solutions out of problems and come on top in every single encounter or dilemma.

But there is one little inconvenience.

My head began to hurt like a motherfucker.

It spun as the world started turning white.

"Drink this," said Yun as he handed me a cup of tea.

A single sip is all I needed to clear my mind and chase the headache away.

"What's in this?"

"It's a mind southing recipe. Made of a special spiritual herb, it helps calm the mind and restore energy once drunk." Yun replied.

"Many thanks," I replied.

"No problem, tell me how was it? The first time you used your Mind's True Eye."

"The what now?"

"Mind's eye, Mind's True Eye, it has many names, but it mainly is a thinking process where you remove the limits imposed upon your mind to momentarily increase your intelligence."

"Well, it was painful, but I'm sure I'll be using it often."

"Good, I'll make you an order at the Pavilion so you can get the Mind Southing tea. You should use the Mind's Eye as often as possible, it too can be cultivated and can increase in potency and power. Some legends say that you could even see the future if your mind's eye is strong enough, but those are just myths. Now, how about another game?"

"Cough!" I heard a cough and turned to realize that the second-floor elder had been standing here for a while.

"Elder Zhang, why have you come here?"

"Well, you guys have been here for a while… and I got bored."

"Right, then come join us, you'd like a drag?" elder Yun said as he handed elder Zhang his pipe.

"Yeah, but don't dose it too much, I'm not that good with the Joyful Weed."

"Wuss," said Elder Yun jokingly and handed the old man his own pipe.

I also used mine, thankfully I learned how to control my poison Qi and used a small flame to light my own smoking pipe. The three of us continued chatting as the sun came down.

Days have gone by, and in them, I would always find time to meet up with Elder Yun and Elder Zhang, we play a few games of Go, talk about the cultivation world and the sect, and also practice cultivation. In these times I managed to reach the Peak of the middle level of Qi condensation.

My speed of cultivation was thankfully quite high, all thanks to the Joyful Weed's toxic nature which now I learned on how to dry. My only issue was where to put the herbs so no one would steal them, and Elder Yun offered to have my Herbs dried in his own abode.

The Poison God's book opened up a new page for me. But this one was rather aimed for knowledge, Spiritual Herbs. And a huge list of them, all of them rank from the ninth level to the seventh. Of which I have seen a small sum at the Spiritual Herb mountain of the Purple Cloud Sect, but the vast majority was so amazingly big that it would take a person ages just to memorize them.

But surprisingly, using the Mind's Eye proved to be extremely helpful. It took me two weeks to fully digest the knowledge on the ninth level Spiritual Herbs, their usage, origin, and method to transform them into a pill. The teachings of the Poison God is great as it shows the proper way to become an Alchemist, or as the proper name in the Poison God's book, a Receptarier.

Yet sadly I don't have the qualification, I need to at least be in the Core Formation level and have my core shape itself into a Dantian, which is like a gigantic battery where I could keep an even bigger portion of Poison Qi hidden and ready for use.

The best way to describe it would be that the Dantian is an elusive organ of sorts, it doesn't exist in the realm of the physical. But more on a spiritual level, it's an organ that connects all of the meridians and harnesses the energy that circulates through them and saves it inside it. Breaking through to higher levels of cultivation will require this Dantian to take several and different forms. Which I have no need to know of right now, as I still need to reach Foundation Building before I achieve Core formation.

Once I finished with my studies, I headed out, it should be time for me to hang out with Elder Yun and Elder Zhang. But just as I came out, a heavily beaten Meng Hao was unconscious at my doorsteps.

I crouched down and held his head from the back, "Hey, kid what's wrong?"

Meng Hao's eyes were out of focus but they locked onto me for a moment, "Signior Disciple Han…he…"

And immediately, the kid fell unconscious again.

"Shit." I cursed as I picked up the kid then took him to the pavilion.