I close the book I just finished reading and massage my forehead wearily. Nothing in this world makes sense. It's impossible for a world like this to exist naturally, at least according to the rules I understand. Just for starters, this world, if the books are to be believed, is flat.
And not flat in the medieval sense, but flat because there are people who have reached the edge. According to the Empire's records, if you sail east, you eventually come to an invisible wall that lets nothing through and through which only the sky can be seen.
How on earth can there be an invisible, impenetrable wall surrounding the world? If this is the case, we would be like one of those dioramas that are built and then placed inside a glass case.
And not only that, but the system of measuring time is just as suspicious. It turns out that the year has 364 days divided into 13 months of 28 lunar days each, which in turn are traditionally divided into 4 periods of 7 days each. And I'm sure that if there were a system for measuring hours, each day would have exactly 24 hours.
And when it comes to the climate, everything is even crazier. I hadn't realized it, but since I was reborn here, I haven't seen any snow. What's more, the temperature hardly varies throughout the year, and it turns out that this is all because we are on the Eastern continent. Because it turns out that climates are divided by continents. The Northern continent is frozen, the Southern continent is a desert, the Western continent is a jungle, and ours has a temperate climate.
And there are no variations throughout the year. From what I've been able to gather, only the mysterious central continent has something resembling seasons. But that's just conjecture, since I've found practically nothing about that continent.
And if we talk about what the continents are like, only the one I live on has an almost impossible geography and configuration. Several inland seas, countless mountain ranges with peaks almost as high as Everest, almost all of which, for some strange reason, are claimed by the famous Sects. Forbidden areas which, as I understand it, are full of wild beasts and entering them can lead to death, lots of city-states, even if they are not called that, and a few empires here and there.
The distances are too great. The vast amounts of uninhabited land and the geography make travel even more difficult, and even so, from what I can gather from the context, there is trade.
And that's what frustrates me the most. All these books are clearly censored to avoid telling certain things, including what the famous Celestial Rift is. So I can only guess that everything that isn't in the books is related to cultivation.
I look up at the stairs leading to the second floor, stairs that the librarians made it very clear to me that even with the emperor's pass, I can only access when I turn eight, by order of the emperor.
It all comes down to cultivation. And I'm afraid it's going to take me another three years or so to access that information, so my view of the world right now is reduced to the idea that we live in a living diorama that is enclosed in a bell jar for who knows what reason.
I call Lianhua to pick me up, as I don't think I can get anything else out of the library, having read almost everything that interests me in the two months that Xueshi Wenxue has been missing, enslaved to making and teaching about the abacus, according to what I've been told.
Lianhua picks me up and we leave the library, but as we walk out, I can't help but have one last thought about the world.
At least I haven't read anything about elephants and a turtle.
As the maids and Lianhua remove the elaborate ceremonial costume I wore during my fifth birthday celebration, I can't help but think that I've been in this world for five years now with my new identity.
Apart from the fact that I am a girl and the classes on things I already know, it hasn't actually been that bad. Being able to see and participate in person in the dynamics of a new and unknown society, despite being so similar to China, would be the wet dream of any archaeologist or sociologist.
And even more so with the extrapolation that all the adults I know have superhuman physical abilities. Just the two conditions I see every day, namely perfect skin and greater strength that seems to be independent of gender, make social dynamics very different. For example, there are female soldiers to guard the harems, and many of the functions that in ancient China were relegated to eunuchs are here almost all performed by women.
And this is only in the small bubble in which I live, as I eagerly await the day when I can finally move around wherever I want, even if it is with help, and see for myself how these changes can affect a society.
The maids finish changing me and I ask Lianhua to take me to my study and bring me all the books I have been given.
Because it seems that both the subject of the abacus and the reward for it must have spread throughout the court, so everyone thought that the best gift they could give me was a book. And although few people still seem to come to my birthdays, if they all bring you books, you end up with quite a collection.
Several maids bring the books and I begin to look through them, after which I tell them to divide them into three groups, those I have already read, those that do not interest me, and those I want to keep.
The mountain of books is shrinking at a good pace when, as I review one of them and turn the first few pages, suddenly both the text and the font change, and to my amazement, I read Introduction to Cultivation: Tempering the Body.
I swallow hard and look through the book again. Yes, the first five pages are a story about a monk, but suddenly it cuts off and another text appears. Another text about what I've always wanted to know.
I close the book and don't give it to Lianhua, but leave it on the table under Lianhua's curious gaze.
"I found the story in this book interesting”, I say. "I think I'll read it tonight before bed."
"As you wish, Zhāohuán Wen “, she replies, knowing my habits.
I quickly finish sorting the rest of the books, but my mind is more focused on the book I've set aside than on the task at hand, and when I'm done, I quickly grab the book I've set aside.
"Lianhua, help the maids put the books away. You know how I like them arranged. But first, take me to my room. I want to read this book in peace”, I say as I grab it tightly.
Lianhua lifts me up and takes me to my room, where I tell her to put me on the bed. After settling me in with some pillows to make me more comfortable, she leaves the room to help the maids put the books away.
Once I am alone, I look at the book with mixed feelings. On the one hand, it may answer many of the questions I have, but on the other hand, I still remember the appearance of my stepbrother, thanks to cultivation.
After hesitating for several minutes, I finally make up my mind and open the book to start reading.
After a while, I begin to regret it. For starters, the book assumes that you know what Qi is. Then it starts telling some mystical nonsense about feeling the energy of heaven and earth around you.
Slowly and with difficulty, I finish reading the dense text, and after closing it, I close my eyes and, thanks to my Blessing, I can easily reread the text while summarizing what I have learned.
For now, Body Tempering, as the text calls it, is only the first step on the path of cultivation. And what are the next steps? The text says that it is not necessary to know until you have completed the first step. At this point, I think that hiding information about cultivation is done on purpose to frustrate people.
According to what I have read, in order to temper the body, you have to feel the Qi around you through some meditation and mnemonic techniques included in the text and then, in some magical way, attract it to your body to absorb it. This causes the various parts of your body to become saturated with Qi, changing them and making them more effective.
All of this would seem absurd to me if I hadn't seen people performing superhuman feats with my own eyes, but the text even divides the tempering of the body into five phases:
Skin Tempering: The first step. When completed, the skin gains resistance to piercing or cutting damage. In addition, any imperfections in the skin are eliminated.
Muscle Tempering: The second step. When completed, it increases both the current strength and potential strength of the cultivator. The book also indicates that this step has a flaw, if you use all your strength to the maximum, you run the risk of breaking your tendons or bones if you have not yet tempered them, as they will not be able to withstand the strain of your new strength.
Tempering of Bones and tendons: Third step. When completed, it increases the hardness of the cultivator's bones and tendons, making them very difficult to break, either by external forces or by your own strength.
Tempering of the nerves: Fourth step. Upon completion of this step, the cultivator increases their reaction speed and coordination by a small margin.
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Tempering of the Entrails and veins: Final step. In this step, the cultivator makes all their internal organs more resistant to both damage and various diseases.
In addition, and to my great frustration, the text indicates that when you finish, you will feel the doors closed in your body, whatever they may be, as it says nothing more, in keeping with my mother's custom.
But the most interesting thing is that, according to the book, when you finish tempering your body, your maximum lifespan increases by fifty years. And with that, the mystery of my father's appearance and why I have such older half-siblings is solved. That is, knowing the real age of my father, or my mother, for that matter.
After reviewing the text several times in my mind and checking that I haven't missed anything important, I decide to put into practice the meditation techniques in the book to try to feel the Qi.
I am supposed to sit in the lotus position to meditate, but after glancing at my legs and considering the difficulty of the task, I decide that it is best to simply try sitting down.
I lean back on the pillows Lianhua has placed so I can sit on the bed and close my eyes, using the mnemonics in the book to try to feel the Qi.
At first, I feel nothing but boredom, but just as I am about to give up on the futile task, I sense something strange around me.
I focus on what I'm feeling, and suddenly it's as if I'm seeing my surroundings. I see the room only as a blur, but around me, in what I estimate to be a radius of about a meter, I see much more clearly what I can only describe as specks. The ones farther away are very difficult to see, but the ones closest to me are easily visible.
I am fascinated by what I am seeing and feeling, totally overwhelmed by the galaxy of specks surrounding me, but after observing them for a while, I see that they are not static. Some of them move as if attracted by something, but most of them gradually move in the same direction, as if they were part of a kind of cosmic river.
As I look at the specks and concentrate on them, I realize that they all give me different sensations. Most of them, and those closest to me, give me no sensation at all, but one in particular, which is near a plant in my room, gives me a sensation that I cannot describe.
Finally, I focus on one of the specks that doesn't give me any sensation and that is closest to me, and I try to move it toward me as the book instructs. It's difficult, the sensation is like trying to grasp water with my hand and it slips away from me all the time, but with persistence, I finally manage to grab it and begin to pull it toward me.
I'm about to try to absorb the speck when suddenly the image of my stepbrother on the stretcher pops into my mind, and as I lose my concentration, the speck slips out of my virtual hand.
Realizing what I was about to do and the possible consequences, I suddenly come to my senses and curse myself for not understanding it sooner.
A trap, the book is a damn trap.
Secretly give a book on a subject that adults don't want you to know about to a girl who clearly loves to learn about everything, and what happens is inevitable, she's going to try to do what the book says.
And with a certain amount of fear, I realize that they have tried to kill me. It's not a murderer with a knife, or poison in my food. But if they had succeeded, I would most likely have ended up like my stepbrother, and that would have been certain death.
And where there's one attempt, there may be more, especially if they realize they've failed. The best thing I can do is tell my mother.
I open my eyes, grab the book, and pull the rope they have placed next to my bed so I can call the servants when I want something. After a moment, one appears. I tell her to call Lianhua, that she must come immediately.
The servant leaves and Lianhua appears immediately, asking me “What is so urgent, Zhāohuán Wen?
"Take me to my mother quickly, I need to talk to her urgently”, I say.
Lianhua lifts me out of bed, looking curiously at the book I'm clutching tightly, and we leave the room. In the hallway, she asks a servant where my mother is, and as usual, she is in the courtyard, painting, I suppose.
We arrive at the courtyard where my mother is with Fei Yi Lingxi and several maids, but to my surprise, she is not painting, but playing Ma Diao Pai, a card game that surprised me the first time I saw it, as there are records of it in my previous world.
She looks at me as I enter, and before I can speak, I say “Mother, we need to talk."
I see her rubbing her brow with a tired look, and I feel a pang of guilt. The only other time I've burst in with those words, it ended up blowing things out of proportion, even though it had a happy ending.
"Leave me alone with my daughter”, she exclaims without my needing to say anything else as she claps her hands and stares at the maids.
When they all get up to carry out her orders, she continues speaking and says “Not you, Lingxi, stay."
We wait for the maids to leave while Lianhua sits me down in the chair my mother has for me in the courtyard.
When we are alone, she looks at me and, after a sigh, asks “What now, Wen? What have you come up with now?"
"This time it's not my doing! Someone slipped this book into my birthday presents”, I say as I place the book on the table.
"So?" she asks, looking at the book curiously.
"Read it. You can skip everything until page five if you want”, I say.
My mother picks up the book and starts reading the first page, but quickly turns to where I told her to, and after starting to read the page, she becomes serious and quickly turns the pages, skimming over what it says.
We all remain silent while she finishes reading, and when she closes the book, she looks at me seriously as she begins her interrogation "I guess you've read the book."
A statement, not a question. My mother knows me too well, so I answer “Yes, Mom."
"And I also suppose you've tried the meditation techniques in the book even though you know I've forbidden people to tell you about cultivation”, she continues.
"Yes, Mother”, I reply. Indeed, she knows me too well.
"At least you told me right away. Thank goodness it's the first time and you haven't been able to get very far. Wen, I forbid you..." She continues talking, but I interrupt her, because it's better to tell her everything, as that's the only way I'll be able to get answers.
"Mother, I've already seen the Qi!" I exclaim to interrupt her.
My mother suddenly falls silent at what I've said and looks at me in surprise, and I see the same surprised faces on both Fei Yi Lingxi and Lianhua.
"You say you've seen the Qi?" she asks me.
"Yes, Mother”, I reply.
"Impossible, it's your first attempt. That would mean..." She suddenly stops and asks me. "Would you be able to do it here?"
"I can try, but I don't know if I'll succeed”, I reply.
"Try it. Lianhua, help Wen get into the lotus position”, my mother says.
I raise my hand to stop Lianhua and say “No need, I did it sitting on the bed."
My mother is not surprised and then sighs as she says “I don't know why I'm surprised anymore. Go ahead, Wen."
I close my eyes, and this time it is easier for me to enter the state where I see the specks of Qi around me. I notice that in addition to the neutral specks, the specks that give me the same feeling as the one next to the plant are more abundant. I stay in that state for a little while, without trying to grab any specks, and then I come out of it by opening my eyes.
When I open my eyes, I see three people staring at me, and then my mother seems to sum up what everyone present is thinking when she exclaims “And indeed, she is capable of doing it, not only on her first attempt, but also while simply sitting in a chair. This is simply absurd."
I don't know how to feel when I hear her words, but my mother continues talking.
"Now, this is serious. Have you done anything else besides visualizing the Qi? And be honest, young lady”, she says, in an even more serious tone than before.
Since I know what she means, I quickly reply “I was able to grab a speck of Qi, but I haven't absorbed it, if that's what you're afraid of."
Closing her eyes for a moment, I can almost read her thoughts as she tells herself that of course her daughter is capable of moving Qi on her first attempt, despite how absurd it sounds, but she doesn't say anything to me.
Seeing that she doesn't say anything, I quickly seize the moment to ask the big mystery “But why are we not supposed to be able to do it until we're eight years old?
My mother sighs again and looks at me as she answers “It's too early, but now that you know how to absorb Qi, I'd better tell you the consequences before you do something foolish."
"The reality is that in order to start cultivating without risk, you first have to create an organ called the protodantian”, my mother begins to tell me. "The protodantian forms naturally when exposed to Qi. The higher the density of Qi in the area, the faster it is created."
She pauses for a moment and then continues “In the area where we live, the concentration is not very high, so the protodantian is created between the ages of five and eight, which is the latest age at which it can form."
"And that's why your father has ordered that his children cannot cultivate until they are eight years old”, she continues with her explanation. "Protodantian is responsible for regulating the Qi in your body, and if you cultivate without it, the Qi you have absorbed becomes uncontrolled, causing the parts that have been infused to become deformed."
She sighs for a moment and continues “That's what happened to a brother you had who ignored all the rules and started cultivating. His Qi went out of control, causing him to die."
Hearing this, I shudder as I remember the look on my stepbrother's face when they took me to the trial of the consort named Fei Zhi, although I realize that she is not telling me the whole truth about my stepbrother so as not to worry me further.
"You also have to take another issue into account, and that's important because it directly affects you when you start cultivating”, she continues, but those words make me pay even more attention to what he's saying.
"A protodantian is only capable of regulating a limited amount of Qi, which increases as it grows over time. If you absorb more Qi than it is capable of regulating, you will have the same problem as if you did not have the protodantian”, she continues to explain as I give her my full attention.
"That is something you must avoid at all costs”, she continues, staring at me intently. "There is a rule that says you can only increase one temper per year, and it is a safety measure for this reason. And accelerating cultivation doesn't help much either, since as a general rule, your protodantian will not finish growing into a full dantian until you are twelve years old."
"And the next step in cultivation cannot be taken without having the dantian already formed”, she finishes telling me.
"I'm sure you have a lot of questions right now, but I'm sorry to say that I'm not going to tell you any more”, she says, further increasing my frustration. "I've only told you this so that you don't do something crazy and decide to do something that you'll regret when it's too late."
Seeing the serious look on my mother's face, I finally bite my tongue and reply “Okay, Mother."
"Now I'm going to tell you what we're going to do. I'm keeping this book and I'll talk to the necessary people about how it came into your possession”, she tells me. "You're going back to your room. I would tell you to give up growing it, but I know you won't be able to do that, so I'm just asking you not to start tempering your body. If you feel tempted, remember that you had a brother who died as a result of what could happen to you. Whatever you think, it's something that happens more often than you think, especially when someone thinks it won't happen to them or their child."
I say nothing, but I shudder as I remember his appearance, promising myself to do as my mother says so that I don't end up like that.
My mother continues to look at Fei Yi Lingxi and Lianhua. "As for you two, this conversation never happened. Understood?"
"Understood, Guifei Xiang”, they both reply in unison.
She looks at me again and asks me in a more relaxed tone “Are you willing to at least grant me this one request, Wen?"
I look at her and can see in her eyes that she is genuinely concerned about me, so I quickly try to reassure her. "Don't worry, Mother, I know what I have to do."
A smile suddenly appears on her face and she replies “Knowing you, I don't know if those words reassure me or worry me even more, but I will trust you."
She gets up, grabbing the book from the table, and says to Fei Yi Lingxi “Lingxi, come with me. The sooner we take care of this book, the better for everyone."
And with those words, I watch them leave the courtyard, leaving me alone with Lianhua. I could go back to my room, but for now I prefer to stay here in the courtyard, reflecting on everything my mother has said to me and enjoying a moment of tranquility.
