In the center of this confluence, Huang Jin plied his trade. The interweaving chalk lines of a sophisticated formation wound about his furnace, siphoning qi from several stones set at strategic intervals. The qi batteries contained more life energy- far more- than his small and flawed body could tolerate, much of it in the high-density jing state. Therefore, he made no attempt to absorb it. He concentrated on directing the power to the chalk lines, and applied steady concentration to keep it moving.
Within the furnace, great changes were taking place. The qi drew into the prepared pill molds, packing down layer-by-layer and element-by-element and forming something like a crystalline pattern. A slurry of cunningly-chosen ingredients caused the qi to coalesce in a chain reaction, like freezing water forming a snowflake around a mote of dust.
The process was anything but automatic. Adjustments and analyses had to be made in second-by-second increments. Without the glowing circle of the Zodiac Ritual Formation, the task might have been hopeless; with that support, Huang Jin managed steadily. The Zodiac enforced balance and suppressed entropy within the affected area, all while sharing the intense energy burden twelve ways.
At last, the furnace cooled and the energy settled.
“It’s done!” cried the prince, allowing his companions to relax their vigil. The vibrant glow settled and faded, the chalk lines on the floor the only sign that anything of relevance had taken place.
Next, he took the mold from the furnace and carefully examined the product. The Advanced-level Perfect-Balance Spirit Refining Pills still retained some heat from their creation, but they appeared to be properly formed. He blew a soft breath to cool them, one final blessing- not technically necessary, but he felt the gesture added an additional personal touch. After all, these were for his own sister. Then, he removed the pills from their housing and placed them into their prepared glass bottle.
Paws padded on the alchemy shed’s wooden floor as the Zodiac began filing in, eager to see what they had helped create. Rabbit came bounding in first; even before gaining the capacity for rational thought, she’d had an interest in such things. Huang Jin knelt down and presented the bottle to her. Dog came sniffing next, and then the others.
Baoshi seemed even more energetic than usual as he floated in and took his turn inspecting the product. He appeared slightly larger, too… his ‘father’ would have to measure him again. Even split thirteen ways, the Zodiac and their Master exposed themselves to vast quantities of qi, and could not help but absorb some of what passed over and through them. Dragons were known to be exceptionally attuned to qi. Perhaps absorbing so much of it accelerated the little one’s growth?
Another matter for further investigation. For now, the most urgent task had been completed: the Princess’ commission. This was the second of the two required bottles. Only the delivery remained.
Not that finishing one task meant the end of work. It had been nearly two weeks since the nightmarish research project had been completed, and as always the days since then had been packed. Given the resource demands of his planned soul-damaging weapon, he would only get one chance at creating it. The materials and methodology had to be perfect. This also meant honing his understanding of the Sword to its maximum extent, a grave undertaking in its own right.
For the last two weeks, he’d been obsessing over potential designs and methods for his final project. Tomorrow, he would head to Songying to deliver the Princess’ commission. Today, he decided to relax a little and seek a new perspective by watching the Zodiac go about their own routines.
After completing their work in the formation, and joining Huang Jin in celebrating the result, they dispersed to partake in their own activities. Dog and Tiger took stances on either side of a patch of earth cleared of grass by constant activity. Ox rested his great bulk just outside of this dirt field, content to watch the bout. Rabbit… well, there was no ‘observing’ her usual activities, because she liked to stay close whenever Huang Jin wasn’t sequestered away in a delicate crafting space. Dragon floated about, keen to observe the coming match.
Horse bolted off just as soon as his duty had been fulfilled, as was his wont. Most likely, none of the Zodiac knew the prairie chamber or the woods around the cabin like Horse did; he simply loved running around in aimless laps.
As for Pig, Monkey, and the four less-communicative beasts… they wandered off a bit less energetically. Pig and Monkey headed for the library. They had both shared in their Master’s burden, and Monkey still couldn’t bear to look him in the eye for long, but that could not wholly suppress their curiosity. Neither could hold themselves back with such a treasure trove of faraway knowledge at their paw/trotter tips.
With the cliques thus dispersed, Huang Jin settled down to watch Dog and Tiger trade pointers. Out of nowhere, the two animals flew at each other, and in an instant the scene became a hurricane of fur and frantic action. Lunges, feints, leaps, false retreats, and underhanded wrestling assaults; all wrapped up in an indistinct blur of motion. A tiger was already a creature of surpassing strength and surprising speed, and dogs could be as vicious and reactive as any creature… but the prince could never have imagined such a brawl among his companions.
On and on they went, and their Master had to carefully train his senses to track their movement. Dog demonstrated an abundance of low cunning, while Tiger kept his claws carefully retracted throughout. In the end, Dog managed to find purchase on the larger animal’s back and clamped his jaws around Tiger’s neck.
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The loose skin and thick fur in that region would be proof against any hold, if both animals were mundane. But repeated use of the Zodiac Formation uplifted all of the participants, and by now both Tiger and Dog were nearing Huang Jin’s level. Dog’s enhanced body projected enough power to overcome his opponent’s natural defenses. After a brief struggle, Tiger flopped over sideways, conceding defeat.
Then, they both rose, checked each other, and resumed their stances. Again they flew at each other.
The exchanges stunned Huang Jin. He had no experience with such sudden, ferocious violence… and that was a problem. He could make sense of their movements, with some effort, but had trouble imagining himself there between them.
Spirit beasts enjoyed certain advantages over human practitioners. Their bodies processed qi near-automatically, meaning their growth did not rely on meditation; their ‘path’ lay plain before them, a biological reality. Humans needed to seek some ideal, attach themselves to a greater concept or field of study. Thus, it made sense that the Zodiac would grow quickly.
But Huang Jin had been in the ninth Stage of the Students’ Realm for years, darn it, and already his animal companions were catching up! They remained around three stages behind him, but even at that level their combat prowess was sobering. The Bacteroides Lebes Spiritus presented a way forward for his cultivation, but he had barely begun to traverse the vast expanse between Realms. His lesson at the temple had been a step in the right direction. Now, he’d need to go further if he wanted to set foot into the violent world outside of the Master’s cabin.
Dog and Tiger provided a fine example. The time for contenting himself with stances, forms, and forge-craft had passed; now, he needed real combat practice.
Almost instinctively, the prince drew his eyes up to Ox’s horns, high above his head. They gleamed like honed iron in the simulated sunlight… like two long, curved swords. “Hey, Ox?”
The gigantic spirit beast tore his eyes from the unfolding battle to look down at Huang Jin. Once he had Ox’s full attention, the prince went on. “You used to wrestle the other bulls all the time, didn’t you?”
Ox cocked his head just a little. He clearly had some inkling as to where this was going.
“I don’t suppose you’d be willing to spar with me, sometime?”
Tiger and Dog stopped short mid-wrestle, jerking their heads toward the conversation. Rabbit and Dragon both did the same; Huang Jin could feel their gazes. He tried not to let his attention falter, instead staring up at his largest companion and batting his eyelashes.
Slowly, Ox replied.
“Sure.” The prince shrugged. “But your qi density is closest to mine, out of all of us. And your horns could easily stand up to a practice blade!” If not shatter it outright. The Ironhorn Oxen were roughly equivalent to an eighth or ninth Stage Student-Realm cultivator, and Ox in particular was the strongest of his breed. He might beat the rest of them to the Advanced Realm, if they continued using the Zodiac Formation at the current rate.
Ox remained bewildered.
Huang Jin shook his head. “I don’t mean it as a way of deciding hierarchy! That’s not why Dog or Tiger do it. Right, you two?” The two in question rapidly shook their heads in agreement, just as stunned by the invitation as Ox. “You see? It’s as the Master’s favorite book says: ‘As iron sharpens iron, so one person sharpens another.’”
“And next it says, ‘The one who guards a fig tree will eat its fruit, and whoever guards their master will be honored.’ Also quite relevant to the situation.” The Master herself joined in, appearing next to Huang Jin under Ox’s shadow as if she’d been there the whole time.
Her student shifted his focus onto her. “There’s something of guardianship in aiding someone in their practice, I should think! I know Ox would never hurt me. Though, it would be even better if you would give me some extra combat lessons, Master.”
She gave him a low sort of look. “Nothin’ doin’. If you want to learn how to fight, you can pick that up anywhere in the world. I’ve taught you my version of the basics, for the benefit of your advancement as a smith. That’s all you’re getting from me on the subject! Teaching time is precious, and I intend to impart only that which you can learn nowhere else on Earth.”
“Oh. Then, you think expanding my martial efforts would be a waste?”
“Not exactly. Add it to your routine, if you like, but remember that there are only so many hours in a day, and only so many days until you’re needed back. Remember why you want to go so hard on the Sword stuff.”
Huang Jin summarized the why with another proverb from the Mishlei Shelomoh: “‘The crucible for silver and the furnace for gold, but people are tested by their praise.’” His current goal was to impress. It gave him pause for thought; through his craft, he could accomplish incredible feats even now. But with his body in its current state, no amount of training would make him praiseworthy on the martial front.
After a moment of uneasy silence, he quoted yet another line. “‘Though you grind a fool in a mortar, grinding them like grain with a pestle, you will not remove their folly from them.’ Thank you, Master… you might have just saved me from going on another wild tangent.”
“Hey, the wild tangents have served you well so far. If being a little more fighty will help, and your beasts are willing to aid you, you should go for it. But only a little!”
“Only a little.” The prince gave Ox another hopeful look, and with an air of resignation the spirit beast inclined his head in agreement.
After that, Dog and Tiger resumed their activity; Ox and the prince could inaugurate their own efforts later. For some reason, the Mishlei Shelomoh lingered in Huang Jin’s mind as he watched and mentally prepared.
It was an odd book among the three thousand; most of the Master’s materials were from her beloved Golden Age of Mass Media, or written by her own hand later after the Age of Mortals had ended. Meanwhile, the Mishlei Shelomoh, or Proverbs of Solomon, came from a time near the beginning of the Age of Mortals. The Master’s love for the book might have been born from her love for the eponymous Solomon, as she’d mentioned once being among his many wives.
However, that wasn’t why the book lingered in Huang Jin’s subconscious now. Something like a bubble rose in the prince’s mind. One last quote came from his mouth, this one so quiet that the Zodiac’s tumult drowned it out. Only Rabbit reacted, twitching an ear and then turning to him with worry in her eyes. “‘Be wise, my son, and bring joy to my heart; then I can answer anyone who treats me with contempt.’”
Right. He needed to focus. Prince Yulong Huang Jin, son of Great Emperor Yulong Yongyou Zhe, had much that he needed to accomplish. Today, practice. Tomorrow, the delivery. The day after… the next phase would begin.