The Laws of Cultivation: Qi = MC^2

Labby raised her head, staring at the massive dragon rising from the pool of water in front of her. The Qi flowing through its scales smelled of unseen storms and thunder. It spoke to a deep inner desire within her Qi, to be let loose and run wild, like a fierce storm.

It was like watching a deity, and for a moment Labby almost felt the same reverence towards the dragon that she held for her Master.

In contrast, the dragon looked quite confused.

“What brings you to our lair, rat?” the dragon asked, its long serpentine body rising further out of the water, Labby struggled to see the Dragon’s face, until the massive creature lowered its head down to Labby’s level.

“Labby is trying to find her junior sister Twilight!” she squeaked at the massive dragon, crackling once with purple lightning.

“Junior sister you say,” the dragon uttered. It was only now that Labby realized the lack of any movement of the mouth when the dragon spoke. But rather than projecting its voice like she did, when the dragon spoke, the Qi all around her seemed to shudder, and give voice to its words.

“Ah, a bloodroot spirit. Foul creature of rot and decay. Why do you seek that one, little rat?” the dragon asked, turning towards Labby.

“Labby’s sister isn’t foul! And… Labby needs to find her. She got taken by a mean monster thing” Labby shouted at the dragon.

The massive creature looked down towards her, long whiskers flowing from its face. Water flowed around the dragon, a blob rising up to its face that began to reflect Twilight within it.

“You do not lie. A bloodroot fed on pure essence,” the dragon spoke. “She was taken by no monster, but the spirit of the trial. We see her, she is safe. Safer than any place on the Seventh Peak.”

The blob of water flowed down allowing Labby to take a better look. She saw Twilight sitting on a tree branch, a strange creature with glowing antlers standing nearby. Labby squealed happily to see her junior sister fine.

“Can you take Labby to her?”

With a silent plop, the blob of water dissipated, returning to the lake.

“Why should this great one give you anything? Tolerating your presence is honor enough to your Elders,” the dragon asked, its voice echoing throughout the cave.

Labby almost recoiled back at the power of the voice, but she held on. She stood silently, thinking over the dragon’s words.

“Great Dragon, Labby just finished the trial… shouldn’t there be a reward?” she asked the dragon hesitantly.

The dragon’s serpentine body swirled through the lakes as it rose further outside, looking down at her. “Your words are not without merit,” the dragon said.

“Squeak!” Labby replied in agreement.

“Unfortunately, we cannot bring you to your junior sister. She is not within the seventh peak anymore. And neither is your Master.”

“Where are they?” Labby asked, confused.

“In the line that separates our realm from those of the spirits. You should know of it child, the spirit realm is the domain of the lunar sisters,” the dragon said.

Labby let out an uneasy squeak. That did not sound good.

“Why is master in that place? And how can Labby get there?” Labby asked the dragon.

“The trial of spirits, that is where you stand. The trial brings each disciple to the locations they are most required at,” the water flowed up in streams of water, forming images. Labby saw a disciple with flames licking their clothes dancing among spirits of flame.

“A child of fire would be taken to the spirits of flames that live deep high above the peaks,” the dragon said, before the image changed once more.

“A child of water would be taken to the misty rivers that flow deep within the Seventh peak, to learn from the spirits directly,” Labby watched the disciple swimming underwater, moving currents through the river at their whim.

With a plop, the image collapsed.

“The trial is the foundation of the sect we preside over now, a great place of learning for those that know to seek. And today, it has brought you to us,” the dragon said, before looking down at the rat.

Labby looked back at the massive dragon, feeling her Qi unsettled within her core.

“There is a way to reach your master. But it would only serve to disrupt the trial that has been set out for him. Think carefully before you ask anything of us, child.”

Labby looked at the dragon, as her heart began to pound. Her Qi stirred inside her core. This was her chance.

“Labby… wishes to take a human form,” Labby spoke, crackling with lightning as she looked at the dragon.

A moment passed in silence, before a rumbling shake shook the cavern. Labby jumped in surprise, sniffing her nose, as she looked around. It took her a moment to realize the shake to be laughter from the dragon.

“A rat that desires to take a human form, it has been years since we have heard such a fascinating tale!” the dragon roared in laughter.

Labby thumped her feet angrily. “Labby will do it!” she shouted at the dragon, crackling.

The dragon paused at her words, and turned to face her with a serious gaze. “It is not in your nature, child. To do so would be to defy the order of our world. But when has that ever stopped those who were determined?” the dragon said, in a way that oddly made Labby think that the massive creature was smirking.

“Very well.” the dragon continued. “Then we shall teach you the path of the dragons. To take on a form beyond yours, you must first ascend like a carp scaling a waterfall. Ascend beyond heavens, and towards the court of the lunar sisters, and join them. If you can, you will be granted the form of your desires.”

“But… how? Labby cannot fly, and it is day outside. There is no moon.”

“Such narrow thinking from who twists the light of the moon, and coaxes the thunder into its form. The sun does not vanquish the moon child, it merely hides its presence with its gleaming brilliance. Yet the moon is still there, for those who reach out. And as far as flying goes, you have learned the tempest of the dragons have you not?” the dragon asked.

Labby squeaked out loud in surprise, before nodding her head. “Labby… has. But she’s not good at it,” she said. A moment later, she called upon the Qi around her. In a swirl, lightning Qi rose from her surroundings, as little strikes of purple lightning crackled down around her.

“You are no dragon, to master the art of dragons is not a simple feat. But to call that a tempest would be to call a flake of snow an avalanche,” the dragon scoffed. “One such as you cannot hope to achieve this, your nature is far too feeble for such.”

Labby looked up at the rising dragon, feeling her Qi swirling. “Labby will defy her nature then.”

Laughter echoed through the chamber once more. “A child of the moon, of course you would be pesky. The Blessing of the First Moon befits one such as you. A Path of new beginnings. It is a path well suited for such yearning. You tame a thunder few ever glimpse, a gentle one, yet just as ferocious. They believe it Yang to be thunder, forgetting that Balance must precede all things in nature,” the Dragon’s gaze rested on Labby, as Qi began to swirl around it.

“Let us show you the tempest of a dragon, child. It is a thing of fury, of rage, of the unbending strength of the storms that govern the skies,” the water in the lake shuddered and quaked at the dragon’s words.

“It is the dance of the dragons,” the dragon spoke, as Qi burst into a frenzy. Wind swept through the cavern, lifting Labby up into a swirling tornado. Water swirled around the dragon as the magnificent creature rose, swirling alongside the wind.

Thunder crackled on the wind, lightning gathering and striking down. The world began to shake under the might of the dragon, as it swirled in circles, rising like a storm.

“Our name is Shen Teng,”the dragon proclaimed, as rain poured down from the skies. The cavern began to crumble as the dragon continued to rise above.

“Watch our tempest. The tempest of the seventh dragon.”

The world flooded with water, a storm shaking everything as the dragon soared. Labby squeaked, crackling with lightning. She cycled her Qi, lunar lightning flooding her pathways as she pushed through the howling winds, towards the rising Dragon.

Rushing past the swirling rocks and water, Labby leapt atop the lashing tail of the dragon, and clung on for dear life.

With a burst of Qi, the world rippled around Labby, and she found her claws slipping from the scales of the dragon. Pouring Qi through her feet she kicked, and began to run up its tail. The dragon swirled, a hurricane of water following it all around.

With a burst, the dragon ascended, rising high into the sky. The wind rushed past Labby. She hung on for dear life, clinging onto the scales of the dragon.

“The heavens, it thunders!” the dragon roared into the sky, a boom of Qi rippling through the sky. Clouds gathered high above shimmering and rumbling as the dragon soared higher and higher up towards them.

Labby looked up, her eyes widening, as she felt the Chi of the world gathering all over. Heavenly Qi rumbled, golden lightning swirling through the clouds. Memories of her master’s breakthrough began to come to her, as her heart began to pound even further.

“Look at the skies, they stand in your path. Do you fear it?” the dragon asked, brilliant light rising from its scales. Swirling waters tore through the skies, swirling in a mesmerizing display.

Labby closed her eyes, trying her best not to fall off at the high speeds or look down at the ground flying further and further away from her. Little wisps of clouds began to touch her as the world began to grow more and more cold. The earth seemed to curve at its edges in the distance and Labby stared mesmerized.

“Do you fear it?”the Dragon asked once more.

A crashing bolt of lightning passed by the dragon, as the world was painted into dazzling gold. The Qi pouring outwards vibrated with strength and anger. It shuddered and raged with the might of crashing mountains.

“Hear it thunder, it rages against us for defying destiny. For defying fate. Hear its mighty roar. It tries to stop us from the throne that lies beyond it,” the dragon sang and Labby could hear the Heavens turn in anger at the words.

“Do you fear it?”the dragon boomed, its voice shaking the very air.

“Yes,” Labby squeaked out.

Laughter shook the dragon’s body, almost throwing Labby off to plunge to her death. She clung on as Qi gathered on the dragon’s scales. Like a rolling tide it welled up, flowing in streams of pure energy. The dragon’s curled once more into the skies, before looking up towards the heavens. With a resounding boom, the dragon roared.

“But has fear ever stopped a Dragon?”

“No!” Labby screamed with everything she had, and the dragon shot towards the sky in a frenzy of Qi.

Golden lightning poured down towards her, the strike of a tribulation from the heavens themselves. Labby saw the lightning head down onto the dragon, saw it crumble atop the antlers of the massive creature, yet it wasn’t enough. The lightning lashed towards her like a cracking whip.

“Squeak!” Labby shouted, as she churned her Qi and called upon the thunder around the world.

“Dragon’s Tempest!” she shouted, jumping towards the bolt of lightining. Purple arcs of lightning welled up around her body, shooting towards the heavenly tribulation. They struck the golden bolt, splintering further still.

Arcs of lightning struck Labby, coursing through her body. She felt her limbs go stiff as she slid down the tail of the dragon, falling down to earth.

Refusing to stop, Labby swirled midair, using her teeth to cling into the gap between the dragon’s scale, managing by a fraction of an inch.

Cycling her Qi, she fought through the injuries she had, grabbing on once more as they headed straight into the clouds of tribulation.

“The heaven rages, it rages at us who seek to defy destiny,” the dragon sang, its voice booming, and the world shuddered all around it.

“Let it rage all it wants, for it can never smother a dragon.”

The Qi sang around the dragon, as lightning welled up all around it. Bolts shot into the heavens, striking at the clouds. Labby watched Shen Teng open its maw, as a stream of water poured from it, into the skies. Rain and storm struck at the heavenly trial clouds, dissipating a little circlet.

“Hold on tight,” Shen Teng spoke, before shooting forwards like an arrow.

Labby squeaked loudly, as the dragon rushed into the sky, flying around the bolts of lightning that shot towards them. Shen Teng swam, twirling through the skies like a dancing carp scaling a waterfall.

“But a dragon is not mere pride. For we are creatures of both will and grace,” the dragon whispered in a soft voice, swimming through the skies past the dark clouds of Heavenly Qi.

“And nothing, not even the heavens can separate a true dragon from its sky,” the dragon said, as the clouds parted. Labby watched in awe at the blanket of clouds beneath her, and the shining sun high up in the sky, glowing brightly within a deep blue sky.

“Thus, the lesson ends, Child,” the dragon said, slowing down to a gentle swim through the calm skies. Labby looked down and saw a carpet of white and gray, with little peeks of the ground so far beneath her that she could barely fathom it. Her gaze traveled forward, towards the Azure-Jade empire. To the land she called home and the seven peaks that presided in it.

“It’s… so big,” Labby exclaimed, in awe. The mightiest of trees, the largest of sects. They were all but mere dots on the landscape in front of this sight.

“And so you see the nature of the world, from the sight of a Dragon. Even we are mere whispers of the tale that is the world. And it is precisely why a dragon is proud. For we can partake in this sight, and understand our place in the order of the world.”

Labby squeaked, nodding. She could understand, after seeing this sight.

Did her master know of this? Did he know of the vastness of the world? The way the trees looked like tiny motes of grass laid across the land. The way the world curves at the edges, leading to a darker sky further.

Labby’s gaze turned up and outwards, towards the blue sky, and the edges of darkness she sensed beyond. Wisps of something began to flow downwards, an energy she did not understand. Dark, but colorful. It was chaos personified and for a moment, she felt as if she was drowning in it.

“Do not look there, child. The primordial vastness is not kind to our kin,” the Dragon spoke, snapping her out of her daze.

Labby took in a breath, nodding.

“Now, do you understand the world better, child? And the task you are here to perform?” the Dragon asked.

Labby nodded once more.

“Very well, then close your eyes, and sense the moon. It lurks beyond sight, but it is there. Call for it, grasp upon the threads of the moon, and hone it into the lightning you wield. Then focus, and ask for an audience with the sisters of the moon,” the dragon said.

Labby closed her eyes as instructed as she began to focus on the lunar Qi. She let her senses spread outwards, trying to find any hints of it. A myriad of colors splashed in her senses, the world was full of chaos and Qi, and at a moment she felt as if she could reach out and touch all of them, yet the one she sought was not here.

She looked further, extended her reach even outward. She looked for the silver strands of light, of the moon that lurked within the bright sky.

A little strand of lunar Qi reached Labby, before one more and then another one more.

A few moments later, she was surrounded by silvery light flowing all around and into her. Never before had she felt a stronger connection to Lunar Qi and Labby relished in it, cycling her Qi over and over.

She felt one particular strand of lunar Qi beckoning her towards itself. Labby moved her senses closer, and she felt something shift within her core. As if she had moved a part of herself outside of her soul and granted it to the strand.

The strand shuddered and moved, shooting to the sky and then with a shudder, a burst of light made Labby open her eyes.

Eight figures loomed in front of her, eight faces she could recall from when she had first picked the path of the moon.

One of them stepped forward. A silver crescent moon was marked on the forehead, and clothes flowed around her body. She greeted Labby with a smile.

“Welcome, child. We have been waiting.”

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