The Laws of Cultivation: Qi = MC^2

Lu Jie looked down at the body in his arms, holding his unconscious self from falling into the snow. Panic flared up in his mind, as he quickly put the body down, trying to make sure his other half’s heart was still beating. He could feel the faint beating inside his chest, a quiet thud that fought to preserve the remnants of life which still yet remained. Lu Jie looked sideways, towards the spirit.

“Can you do something?” he asked.

The spirit walked closer, taking a look as well. “He has succumbed to exhaustion and the effects of the poison. Unless removed soon from his body, he will not survive,” she said, in a matter of fact way, as if not just heralding his own death. “We were too slow.”

“That’s not helping,” Lu Jie growled. The spirit looked at him silently, a chilling cold present in her expression. Lu Jie took a breath, calming himself down. “Sorry. I’m just- I’m stressed. I can’t lose him. I can’t lose myself,” he said, looking down at the injured body, before his eyes went down to his own hands. Ultimately, he was just a construct, wasn’t he. What would happen if his original body were to die? Would he simply live on? He touched his own hand, and instead of mud, found skin. He brought up his hand to his chest, and within it, he heard another heart beating.

Thud. Thud. Thud.

Lu Jie’s eyes widened. This… wasn’t just a construct. He wasn’t just a construct. This body was alive. What Lu Jie had done had transcended merely breathing life into an inanimate object, it had created a brand new body. But… even if that was true. What was the point? Even if he had a living body to be in again, if he had to be incomplete once more, what meaning was there to it?

He turned to face the spirit. “Can you do something to slow the poison down?”

The spirit looked at him with an unchanging expression, but the barest flicker of her face told Lu Jie she was considering something. “I am ice. I do not know how to heal humans. The best I can do is freeze him to slow his death. But it won’t last long. You will need to calm our sister if you truly wish for him to survive.”

“Please do that. I’ll need him for your sister,” Lu Jie said.

Bai Jing nodded as she stepped closer to the body and Lu Jie watched as the spirit placed her hand on his chest, and the temperature suddenly plummeted all around him. Ice began to form everywhere, as the body began to turn pale, after a few moments, the light from the spirit faded, leaving the body cold and unmoving. Lu Jie moved closer and checked for a pulse again. For a long moment, there was nothing, and he worried the spirit had simply killed him, but then, he faintly heard the heartbeat once, ever so slowly.

“I have slowed his body down. The poison will move slower, giving us a few more hours. That is the best I can do,” the spirit said, looking at Lu Jie.

He gave her a nod. “Thank you.”

Grabbing the body, Lu Jie picked it up and put it onto his back to carry it with him. “We need to get back to the village. The Lord will know what to do.”

“We won’t be able to reach that far. Li Xue’s storm takes traveler’s astray. We will never reach our destination in time,” Bai Jing said.

Lu Jie cursed under his breath. “If I can calm your sister, will she be able to help me?”

“If she has calmed enough, she can clear the path for you at the very least,” Bai Jing said.

“Guess there’s no other option but to try,” Lu Jie said, grunting as he shifted the body on his back around before looking outside the cave. Taking a deep breath, he set out into the snow storm.

Harsh winds cut sharply at his body, and though this body was strong- far stronger than his own ever had been, with each pathway and meridian crafted to perfection in an ideal image of himself, it still wasn’t immune to the cold. Lu Jie found his limbs turning stiff against the freezing winds, strength being slowly sapped.

He continued using Chi to create a blanket of warm air around himself, but the harsh winds were far stronger, and he had limited energy to spare.

Lu Jie looked sideways, the spirit walking beside him with minimal effort, not bothered even by this extreme weather.

“Where is your sister?” Lu Jie asked, trying to fight against shivering from the cold.

“We are inside her right now,” Bai Jing replied smoothly.

“What?” Lu Jie blurted at the spirit.

“This storm, and the snow, they are my sister. She has returned to her base nature, to a winter storm. As she is now, I cannot reach her. You will need to call her back to awareness,” Bai Jing said.

“Okay, how do I do that?” Lu Jie asked.

“Her name is Li Xue. Call it, speak with enough power and she will listen,” Bai Jing said. “I will speak with you.”

Lu Jie nodded. Standing in the snow storm hurtling over him and ready to blow him away, he anchored his feet and closed his eyes. Chi swirled in his core. He felt the spirit’s aura swirling around as well.

Opening his eyes, he looked out into the storm, and spoke alongside the spirit.

“Li Xue!”

The words echoed throughout the snow fields, piercing the howling winds as they resonated across the area. Lu Jie waited and watched, trying to see if the storm would shift. The gusts of wind grew more frequent, the snow storm blowing back at them even harder, but no response came. Lu Jie channeled his spirit again, trying once more, this time putting everything he had.

The laws thrummed in his soul, and Lu Jie focused on the half ring of the Third Law inside of him. The Dissonance.

Channeling its power, the world around him rippled and the waves that traveled forth calmed the storm around him, creating a blanket of silence. From within it, Lu Jie let his aura expand, the dissonance reaching outwards and slowly tempering the snow storm. With all the Chi he could muster, he spoke once more.

“Li Xue! show yourself!”

The storm howled, and this time, something did appear. A giant ghastly, not entirely human figure of a woman appeared from within the storm, her eyes enraged with anger, and fang like teeth bared.

“Who summons us? Who dares try?” The spirit’s voice echoed, like the wind itself spoke, as the world began to freeze.

“Sister, it is I, Bai Jing. You are free now. We are free. Please, return to me,” the spirit said. For a moment, the storm calmed down, and Lu Jie saw rationality returning to the spirit’s eyes as she looked at Bai Jing.

“You need to stop this storm! The assassin is dead, you’re free!” Lu Jie shouted. The spirit’s eyes went to him as he spoke, anger returning to her face as the winds howled once more.

“Humans. It is always humans. You try to capture us, you try to tame winter. We will show you what we are. The darkest night that saps those who dare.”

The winds swirled, as all of a sudden, the temperature plummeted. Sharp gusts of wind hurtled against Lu Jie, nearly pushing him back through the snow. His skin dried and began to crack, his blood freezing before it could flow out of his skin, dropping like red crystals onto the ground.

“Listen to me! We’re not here to harm you!” Lu Jie shouted, but the spirit no longer seemed to be hearing. The winds howled with greater intensity than ever, as Lu Jie fell onto his knees. Cracks appeared on his skin, his body turning pale. If this continued, he would die as well from the cold, or his blood would freeze while still inside of him.

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“She is too enraged, you need to bring the Divine One. Only he can calm her down,” Bai Jing pleaded.

Lu Jie nodded, looking up at the storm. After a second of peering into the snowstorm, Lu Jie closed his eyes, reaching inside his spirit. The Third Law resonated, the hum in his soul rising.

“Xuanwu, I need your help,” Lu Jie spoke.

The Divine Beast’s power surged, like a tsunami that would drown the world. Power filled Lu Jie’s body, the world halting to regard his presence for a moment. Strength filled him, the Third Law ringing in his ears with a powerful huff as it channeled the torrents of power and held it inside of him. Bai Jing stepped back, as a powerful glow began to appear around Lu Jie, his eyes changing, and his aura glowing brightly.

Lu Jie clenched his fist, ready to channel the spirit, and use its power. But before he could, another surge came. Lu Jie’s eyes widened as the true weight of the divine beast’s spirit now began to flow into him. His spirit strained, the third law in his soul shivering as his body failed to hold onto the strength. Cracks appeared in his skin, light glowing from the seams as if he would explode into splinters.

Then, with an abrupt cut, he felt the power receding.

“You are not complete.”

Lu Jie fell to his knees, coughing out blood onto the ground. He collapsed in the snow, shivering and shaking as his body bled from having nearby been torn apart from the power of the Divine Beast. He felt his other half’s body lying on top of him, as the cold began to seep into his skin. It didn’t work. He wasn’t enough. He alone could not do it.

He saw the spirit crouching near him, displaying concern in her expression as she reached out. “Perhaps… I had been hasty in asking for help. I cannot be certain I can protect you from my sister, she is much greater than I am. But… I could try to take you to your people.”

Lu Jie looked at the spirit, finding grief and pain in her cold and inhuman eyes. He coughed once more, feeling his chest starting to ache from the cold as his heart struggled to beat.

“No,” he rasped, clawing at the snow as he pushed his shivering body to move. “It won’t be enough. I may survive… but he won’t. I need to do this,” Lu Jie said, slowly pushing himself up and onto his knees.

The spirit looked at him, her eyes going wide for a brief moment. “Perhaps this is not the correct time to ask this. But why do you call him separate from yourself? You are the same souls, are you not?”

Lu Jie looked at the spirit, slowly raising himself, before he gave her a strained smile. “We’re not the same. He’s… the one who did all this. I’m just the remnant who was too ignorant to do anything right,” he said, and saw confusion on the spirit’s face. “We were split apart as children, and I lived my life till an injury put me to sleep and brought him forward. We… reunited after that and became whole. Our memories combined, but I let him do everything. He’s the alchemist and the scientist. I’m merely a failed warrior.”

“So, you were once two. And then you became whole, sharing memories?” the spirit asked.

“Maybe we can have this conversation if we survive this storm,” Lu Jie said, pushing himself to stand back up.

“No, I think this is important. If… if you are one again. If you share all his memories. Then… how are you any different from him?”

“Because—“ Lu Jie paused. “Because…” he looked down at his own hands, and then at the spirit next to him.

“Why do you cling onto the line that divides you two, when you are the same soul, living in two halves?” the spirit asked.

The way she spoke the words it had no malice, merely curiosity, and yet the words stabbed Lu Jie through his spirit. Why was he… any different? Who was he… if not… Lu Jie? If not himself?

The Chi swirled all around him, flowing around him and his other half. Lu Jie felt the other half of his soul next to him, frozen, and dying, but present. “I…” he trailed off, before glancing towards the spirit. They did not exchange any words, but he gave her a nod, thanking her.

He had the answer now.

He closed his eyes, reaching out to the half. They had already been united in spirit. They had been joined and formed as one, one soul in two bodies. Twins. Immortal Twins, closer than any other, a bond deeper than blood that ran between the two of them. He called upon his other half, called upon him in both mind and body. Their bodies lit up with Chi, the energy that had formed the two of them now starting to blur the lines.

The two bodies began to flow into one another, as Lu Jie stood back up. The two halves of the Third Law, they reached towards one another. Like two pieces that longed for one another, Resonance and Dissonance fit together, as a powerful wave pulsed outwards from Lu Jie, and from the birth of their union, came Harmony.

Lu Jie’s body changed, his hair grew longer, turning white, as his body changed to take on a spirit-like appearance. The world crackled and thundered around him, as the Third Law manifested in full for the first time. They were in Harmony, after the longest time, they had true harmony.

Xuanwu shifted inside his soul, and the surge of power rose like a tsunami. The Third Law hummed, this time in its entirety. Harmony filled Lu Jie, as the Divine Beast’s spirit manifested in its entirety within him, shaking the world all around.

The answer, it was in his grasp, and he let it breathe out into the world.

“The Third Law of Cultivation: Harmony of Chi.”

And then with a shudder, I opened my eyes.

The wind howled, trying to push him back, but my presence reached out and stopped it in its tracks.

“Li Xue, cease your tantrums,” I spoke, carrying Xuanwu’s words and the storm ground to a halt.

The spirit appeared, her eyes still mad with rage, not recognizing who spoke. Rushing in, the storm howled with sharp winds as the spirit attacked, baring her claws. I moved with rapid speed, my hand grabbing the spirit by the throat as I flew into the skies, piercing the clouds within an instant. The world shivered and shook, as the sun shone all around them brightly. The spirit struggled trying to break free, but I simply gripped her tighter.

Li Xue roared, ice summoning all around her, ready to strike back when my aura flared outwards. The sensation was crushing as Li Xue found her body restrained entirely. Slowly, I pulled her closer, looking her in the eye.

“Stop trying, or I will end you.”

The spirit froze, the storm breaking apart as the Divine Beast of the North stood here, in all his might. After a moment, she gave a quiet nod, and I descended back down. I moved rapidly, the movement breaking apart the storm clouds as we slammed into the snow, melting it with a pulse of heat that traveled outwards. Slowly, I let go of Li Xue, as the spirit stumbled back. Bai Jing bowed her head deeply. Li Xue followed alongside her.

“Have you come to your senses at last?” I asked.

“Yes, my lord. Thank you for calming me. I did not know you had returned,”Li Xue spoke, fear mixing with joy in her heart.

“I am not your lord. But I speak for him. I understand your rage at being enslaved. But you have given out justice to the assassin. Do not continue this any longer. Or I will be forced to show you my wraith, instead.”

The spirit shivered. “As you say.”

I snorted, Xunawu’s spirit mixing into mine as the view I looked at the world changed. No longer was my perspective of a human, I was beyond that now. I looked around at the snowy landscape and then with a pulse of Chi that covered the entire land and reached out to the skies, the entire climate began to change, the snow rapidly melting as the sun began to appear.

Bai Jing walked closer and bowed her head deeply to me. “Thank you for helping me and my sister. We are in your debt.”

“We helped each other. There exists no debt between us,” I said, looking down at the spirit child.

The spirit looked up and gave me a nod. “Gratitude, then,”she said, bowing her head and I accepted her words.

“Gratitude, divine vessel. We would’ve done something unthinkable had you not brought us back to our senses,” Li Xue added as well.

“What do you intend to do now?”

The spirits looked at each other. “We will return to our home land, to the northern peaks where we come from. I have much to teach Bai Jing, and much to learn myself.”

“We eagerly await the return of a new lord to our home. The lands are in dire need of repair,” Bai Jing said. “It would’ve been unthinkable for our sister to fall for… such lowly tricks, had it not been done with trickery and deceit.”

“That is no excuse,” Li Xue said, clearly still angered by the events that had transpired. She turned to me and lowered her head. “I am deeply ashamed of the display I have shown. If you wish to punish me for bringing disgrace to your name, I will gladly accept.”

I watched the spirit impassively, not intending to do anything like that, but I knew that she had her pride, and I would need to do something about the wound that pride had taken.

“If you wish for a punishment, then it will be such. Return back home and guide your sister. Take care of the northern lands for us, till I can return.”

The sisters looked at me, with shock. After a moment, the two of them bowed their heads.

“As you say,” they spoke as one, and then a gust of wind blew around them, carrying them away.

“We greatly await your return, as our new Lord. Lu Jie,” the two spoke, their voice carried by a cold wind, before they were gone.

I watched the winter spirits move away, before glancing back in the direction of the village. Bit by bit, I could feel my strength fading, and I used the last of my remnant Chi to dash forward at a rapid speed, arriving close to the village.

I heard shouts in the distance, watching blurry figures pointing at me and rushing closer, but with that one last move, I was spent. My hair color returned to normal. The Third Law lost its shape as Harmony left my soul.

Letting out one last gasp, I felt the strength leaving my body, as my consciousness faded once more.

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