Ishin stared up at the glass dome of the Cultivation Chamber. I’ll be able to choose any aspect of qi I want for my second chakra. He had internally debated this decision on the walk over. Between versatility, destructive power, ease of cultivation, and more besides, there were many important variables to consider.

  “Elder, we may select any aspect we wish?” Rhee asked carefully.

  “Any aspect that we can provide,” Elder Su answered. She stepped toward the thick metal doors and tapped a single knuckle against them. The doors slowly swung open with a low rumble. “The sect has gathered the necessary resources needed for most qi aspects, though there are admittedly some rather obscure aspects that even we cannot sponsor the cultivation of.”

  Obscure aspects? What aspects is she referring to?

  Elder Su led their group inside to a well-lit, polished entryway. A single servant dressed in red robes with a black obi stood behind a counter. She appeared to be in her later years, with dull gray hair tied into a tight tail and fine wrinkles at the corners of her eyes.

  “Greetings, Elder,” the servant offered with a bow. “How may this servant assist you?”

  “These are four new Outer Sect disciples. They need chambers to aspect their second chakras.”

  “Of course,” she replied with a bob of her head. “Which chambers would they like to utilize?”

  “Well?” Elder Su asked Ishin and his friends.

  “Ice, Elder,” Mei answered quickly.

  Her answer surprised Ishin. Mei’s first chakra was already aspected to ice qi. She’ll only be able to use ice techniques. Isn’t that foolish?

  “A wise choice,” Elder Su remarked. “And the rest of you?”

  Ishin’s brow furrowed. It’s wise? He now wanted to inspect Elder Su’s cultivation to see if all of her chakras were ice-aspected, but quickly thought better of it. It was possible that the attempt would overwhelm his spiritual sense, and he didn’t want to look foolish in front of the elder.

  He was now rethinking his original plan. But I can’t have another lightning-aspected chakra. After the challenges he had encountered cultivating just one lightning chakra, he refused to have two of them. He’d been lucky that pills for his exact qi aspect had been provided on Desolate Island, but he couldn’t count on that always being the case. Regardless of how powerful lightning qi was, Ishin knew he’d face a bottleneck if he doubled down on the aspect.

  “Is there a list of available qi aspects that we can choose from?” Long asked.

  “Of course,” Elder Su said. She gestured to the servant. “Bring them the catalog.”

  The servant quickly obeyed, handing each of them a neatly bound list showing the available aspect choices.

  Smart question, Long.

  Ishin reviewed the options. The list started with the eight primary qi elements, which wasn’t a surprise, but then more unique options were included.

  Mist, thunder, blood—of course they had lightning—lunar, poison, dream, crystal, acid… the choices went on. There were some aspects that Ishin had never heard of before, such as magma, along with some aspects of a darker nature that Ishin was hesitant to consider. I can’t believe they have access to death qi. He didn’t want to think about how the sect gathered enough of that.

  There were also some types of qi that Ishin didn’t even know could be aspects. Who would select ink qi? And how is radiant qi different than light qi?

  When he finished reviewing the four pages, he contemplated his options silently. I didn’t think there would be so many choices. He glanced at Long and Rhee. Rhee was still reading, while Long had crossed his arms, still deliberating.

  Mei and Elder Su both waited patiently, observing them. When Ishin’s eyes met Mei’s, she asked, “Is everything alright, Brother Ishin?”

  “Yes. I’m just thinking.”

  “Your deliberation shows wisdom,” Elder Su complimented. Her gaze drifted over to Long as well. “You should all think carefully before making a decision that will have a significant impact on your Immortal Paths.”

  “May we ask your advice, Elder?” Rhee asked, looking up from her copy of the catalog.

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  Shaking her head, Elder Su responded, “The choice is yours alone.”

  Ishin frowned at that, and Rhee’s scrunched face reflected her own surprise at the denial. She won’t help us? But why?

  “I’ve made my decision,” Long announced. He handed his catalog copy back to the servant.

  “Which aspect did you decide on?” Mei asked, eager.

  “Wind.”

  Mei tilted her head in contemplation. “Oh, I see. That makes sense. Actually, that’s a really good choice.”

  “I believe so too.”

  “What about you two?” Elder Su asked. “Have you decided yet?”

  Ishin glanced back down at the list a final time before answering. “I have, Elder.”

  “And?”

  “Water.”

  “Water?” Mei repeated.

  “An interesting choice,” Long commented.

  Ishin had originally settled on water during his journey to the Cultivation Chamber. Even after reviewing the large selection listed in the catalog, there hadn’t been one that proved a better fit. His decision was based on three factors: access to qi, flexibility, and alignment with his lightning qi.

  As one of the eight primary elements, it would be quite easy for him to find water qi to cultivate—bodies of water, moisture in the air, rain, even mist. Given that the Crimson Abyss Sect was located along the ocean coast, there was even more ambient water qi than normal. Additionally, as one of the most common aspects, he knew there would be a variety of water techniques he could learn. He still recalled witnessing Master Guoqiang using water techniques to effortlessly subdue the Iron Mantises. There was no doubt that water techniques were powerful.

  The last consideration had been how water qi could complement his lightning qi. Ishin clenched his fists, remembering how he’d accidentally electrocuted Ouyang Xue during the selection process to join the Exhibition Tournament team. Combining the two would drastically improve his destructive potential.

  Yes, water was clearly the right choice. Ishin had no doubt about it.

  “And you?” Elder Su asked Rhee.

  Everyone looked at the former prodigy of the Eight Oaths Resolve Martial School. Rhee tucked a strand of dirt-crusted hair behind her ear, eyes glancing at the list a final time. “Light.”

  Light?

  “You’re going to cultivate both light and darkness qi?” Mei asked. “That’s almost poetic.”

  Rhee’s eyes narrowed at the woman, and for a moment Ishin thought she would snap at Mei. The span of a breath passed. “I suppose it is,” she murmured.

  Is she biting her tongue because of Elder Su?

  Either way, Ishin was glad. But he also found the choice curious. She likely knows something I don’t.

  “Ice, wind, water, and light,” Elder Su summarized. “Fine choices.” To the servant, she commanded, “Bring them to their chambers.”

  “Right away, Elder.”

  The servant rang a small brass bell that rested on the counter. Four other servants in black robes emerged from a back door. “These attendants will escort you each to your assigned chambers.” The woman reached beneath her counter and withdrew four wooden tiles, handing one to each attendant. “You’ll each have four hours within the cultivation rooms. Please follow them.”

  “I’ll remain here until you are done,” Elder Su said. “Afterwards, I’ll escort you to your assigned house.”

  “Thank you, Elder,” Mei replied.

  They each followed an attendant through a door along the back of the room. A young man led Ishin through a dimly lit corridor for several minutes. Locked iron doors lined the hall, each marked with a symbol that Ishin didn’t recognize. He theorized that the symbols followed an internal system to denote the contents of each room while keeping it secret from visitors.

  A security contingency?

  The attendant eventually stopped in front of a metal door that looked like all the others, aside from a symbol consisting of three interlocking triangles and four circles in the door’s center. “Here you are, Honored Disciple,” the man said. He took the wooden tile and pressed it into an indentation on the right side of the door that Ishin hadn’t noticed. Upon the token being inserted, the metal door opened inward. “You are permitted four hours inside.”

  Ishin stepped into the room and found it filled with four circular pools of shimmering water, separated by white tiled flooring. Blue, glowing glass lanterns resided in the four corners of the room, providing the only lighting. Immediately upon stepping inside, Ishin could feel the increased moisture in the air beading against his skin. When he opened his third eye, he was stunned to find that over seventy-five percent of the ambient qi was water qi.

  “Is there anything I can assist you with before I leave you, Disciple?”

  “No. Thank you.” Ishin was still stunned by the room.

  “I will return to guide you out in four hours. If you need anything before then, just knock on the door.”

  With that, the attendant closed the door behind Ishin. From inside, he could hear the sound of the door sealing itself in place.

  Most likely that’s to keep the water qi inside. I’ve never heard of a room like this before. And the sect has so many of them. Incredible.

  Ishin made his way to the center of the room that rested between the four pools of water. He was tempted to dip a hand into the shimmering liquid, certain it wasn’t ordinary water, but he thought better of it.

  He took a seat on the cool tiled floor and opened his third eye, ready to cultivate. However, he quickly realized an oversight on his part.

  I don’t have a water-based cultivation technique.

  His Silent Storm technique was designed for lightning qi.

  A mistake on my part, Ishin thought as he began to shift his breathing into the proper pattern. But it’s the best I have.

  While not ideal, he found that the sheer quantity of water qi still allowed him to cultivate the needed amount. The Silent Storm technique made cultivating the qi more challenging and inefficient, gathering only a modicum of the available energy, but in this case quantity proved superior to quality. He could only imagine the results he might have achieved if he possessed a proper water cultivation method.

  When the door to the room opened four hours later, Ishin stood to greet the attendant, both of his aspected chakras glowing different shades of blue.