“What’s the matter?” Akira asked, frowning.

  “My chakra,” Ishin choked out. “It’s aspected already. And I don’t know with what.”

  To Ishin’s surprise, his mother burst into laughter. “Oh, son,” she managed, calming down to a light chuckle. “There’s nothing wrong with your chakra. No, that’s just another consequence of your bloodline.”

  “My bloodline?” First, his bloodline had delayed his cultivation. Now, it had aspected his chakra with some unknown qi. What would be next?

  “Yes, son. Your bloodline.” Akira sat beside him on the floor. “Our bloodline is rather picky, but rest assured, I suffered the exact same thing. Your chakra is aspected with lightning qi.”

  Lightning qi? Ishin examined his chakra internally. Now that she said it, he realized his chakra was the same hue as the lightning that had struck him. Honestly, it made sense. If his bloodline required lightning to stimulate his chakra’s formation, it wasn’t hard to understand why it would be aspected in the process.

  Still, Ishin felt disappointed. Ever since his mother had told him he would finally form his chakra, he had dreamed of what to choose for its aspect. There were eight primary qi elements most new cultivators chose: water, fire, earth, wind, wood, metal, light, and darkness. These types of qi were the most prominent in heaven and earth, making them easier to cultivate.

  After careful consideration, Ishin had planned to aspect his chakra with wind qi. It was effective across all techniques and offered great versatility. Plus, his mother was famous for her wind qi—said to soar through the battlefield like a tempest. When he’d seen Akira summon a cyclone blade to carve open Sun Tiger corpses, that had sealed his decision.

  “I wanted wind,” Ishin admitted.

  Akira placed a hand on his shoulder. “That can be your next chakra, if you want.” Ishin looked into her eyes. “I know it’s not fair, son, but lightning qi has its advantages. Its destructive power is unmatched, and it’s excellent for movement techniques.”

  That much was true. Ishin had watched her kill the mother Sun Tiger effortlessly using lightning. And if his Immortal Path would be one of battle, having a powerful offensive qi would be a boon.

  But like all things under the heavens, there were trade-offs. Lightning qi was considered a minor qi aspect due to its scarcity. If a storm was present, it was plentiful, but outside of that, cultivation could prove difficult. It’s not like storms are even common in the Nine Striped Hills.

  He remembered then what Akira had said—that he’d be spending the rest of their time cultivating before returning home. Now he understood why.

  “Mother, how do I cultivate?”

  “Not wasting any time, are you?” Akira adjusted into a kneeling position before him. “First, you’ll need to open your third eye.”

  Ishin arched a brow. “I thought it automatically opened once I formed my chakra?”

  “You’ve gained the ability to open it, but you still need to open it to use it. After all, you’re not seeing through it right now, are you?”

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  That was true. “Then how do I do that?”

  “First, relax your eyes and your mind.” Ishin obeyed. “Now, focus on a single point in your mind. Try imagining a dot or something.”

  An indigo dot formed in his mind’s eye.

  “Good. Focus on that dot while continuing to relax your eyes and body. Make sure to breathe steadily. Your vision should begin to blur soon. Once that happens, move your imagined dot so it overlaps with your blurred vision. Then, pull lightly on the qi from your chakra.”

  Ishin followed her instructions. It took longer than expected to relax his eyes—his excitement made it difficult. Once his vision finally blurred, he spent another minute trying to align the imagined dot with the center of his sight. He even lost it once and had to start over. But eventually, he succeeded. Then, he channeled a small amount of qi to his sight.

  A vibrant flood of colors overwhelmed his vision.

  Ishin immediately snapped his eyes shut and turned to vomit to the side.

  “That often happens,” Akira said, handing him a waterskin. “It can be very overstimulating when you first look at the ambient qi of the world.”

  Ishin wiped his lips. “There was so much.” He took the waterskin and drank.

  “You’ll have to get used to it if you want to cultivate. The good news is that now that you’ve opened it once, you can do so again without needing your eyes. Just remember the sensation and focus on a single point. But be careful—using too much qi before your senses adjust will make you sick again.”

  That was useful to know. “I can use my third eye without my actual eyes?”

  “That’s why it’s called a third eye,” Akira said with a laugh. “Unlike your normal eyes, you can see in any direction with it, once you’ve practiced. If a cultivator tries to sneak up behind you, your third eye will catch it—unless they’re suppressing their chakra.”

  Ishin immediately began to imagine the possibilities. If his third eye could see that much, it would be invaluable. Learning to suppress my own chakra might be just as useful. But first, he had to master this new sense.

  “Continue practicing opening and closing your third eye. When you’re able to keep it open for more than ten minutes, I’ll teach you how to cultivate.”

  Akira stood.

  “Where are you going?” Ishin asked.

  “It’ll take you a while to manage keeping it open that long. Like you, I need lightning qi for my cultivation, so I’m going to take advantage of the opportunity.” She glanced at the vomit beside his bedroll. “But before you try again, clean that up.”

  For the rest of the day, Ishin focused on adjusting to his third eye. It was a gradual process. At first, he could only keep it open for a handful of seconds. The wave of vibrant colors was too much. He needed long breaks between attempts, often stretching into dozens of minutes. But over time, the breaks grew shorter, and he was able to keep it open longer.

  By the end of the first day, he managed to keep it open for a full minute through sheer will. During that attempt, he could finally parse the different streams of color. Strands of rich brown flowed below him, wisps of white hovered near the roof. Flickering specks of brilliant blue—like his own qi—danced around his head, while a more stable wave of azure blue drifted nearby. Sudden bursts of purple rings echoed around him at random. Many other hues and shapes filled his spiritual sight, but none as prominent as those.

  That night, when he finally stopped, his spirit and mind were numb. He welcomed sleep’s embrace.

  On the second day, Ishin woke with a splitting headache. The pain left him nearly paralyzed. He even abandoned attempts at drinking water. At noon, when the worst had passed, he resumed training. That night, he pushed himself hard—managing to hold his third eye open for three minutes before blacking out.

  This pattern of strain and progress continued for five days.

  At last, Ishin met his mother’s requirement. When he returned to Akira, who was cultivating near the passage of their shelter, she had demanded he prove it. The attempt drained him completely, but through sheer force of will, he succeeded.

  Afterward, he was too exhausted to move. Akira carried him back to his bedroll and promised, “Tomorrow, you will begin cultivating.”