The Laws of Cultivation: Qi = MC^2

I walked through the village of Taizhou, which was now a lot emptier. Not every villager had moved to the city; some still remained, looking after their homes and working. But most of those who remained were people who were under my sect, or had work related to it and could get the necessary security all the way out here. Almost everyone else had moved to the city, in fear of the demonic beasts, leaving the village silent and still.

It had snowed last night, covering the village in a sheen of white. I could sense the life throughout this place, trying to preserve whatever warmth it could, snuggled underneath the embrace of the earth.

Spirit animals roamed around, some noticing my presence and walking closer. Many had gone into hibernation, knowing the threat the demonic beasts that winter represented.

There was a strange kind of beauty in this landscape, even within harsh winters. I was more aware now than ever before of how life persevered, how it maintained, and how it kept going, no matter what, biding its time, waiting for the snow to melt, the warmth to return alongside spring, and then from a sleeping embrace within the earth, life would return once more, taking roots, and the cycle of life and death would begin anew. Quite poetic, certainly, but in a world like this, more meaningful than just the beauty, with a prophetic nature to it as well.

The winter had come, the demonic beasts had not; something had clearly altered their movements, and I did not like the possibilities that I foresaw.

My stroll took me to the cave, where I immediately sensed the miasma swirling inside, feeling my presence. Ash rushed out, jumping and pushing me to the ground as the giant wolf began to lick my face and ground with a powerful rumble, excited to see me.

I laughed, brushing Ash's fur as I slowly rose back onto my feet. "I missed you too, friend," I said, making sure to give some well-deserved scratches and belly rubs to my giant demon wolf.

At the edge of my senses, I felt the presence of some others as well, fear and worry in their form, looking at me or Ash from a distance, their Gu swirling within their bodies, ready to prepare for the threat of an attack.

I glanced towards Ash in surprise. "Your friends?" I asked.

I walked closer and saw two wolf pups growling, their guards up. The pups stepped back fearfully at my approach and I simply looked at them in fascination. I stopped as Ash moved closer, and with a growl brought the two pups to me.

They looked up at me in both fear and respect, cowering themselves to the ground, to act subservient, and to show that they did not pose any threat to me.

I smiled, bending down on my knees, and I gently caressed one of the pups. The creature was confused at first but soon began to enjoy the sensation. I made sure to give his brother the same amount of affection as well, and soon, the two pups were climbing up onto me, asking for more.

The commotion drew attention, as Yin felt not just my presence and walked out to the entrance. "Elder Jie, you should have informed me that you were going to visit, so I could have come to greet you."

"You really don't need to. And I have talked to you about calling me an elder before; it makes me sound like some kind of old man," I replied to him as I pulled my attention away from the pups and began to head inside.

This was my big secret. The demonic spirit herb garden that I had formed somewhat by accident, which had now become a lab for developing and researching miasma, Gu and more about the demonic creatures as a whole.

After Yin had learned and helped with the development of the process of creating Alchemy, she had been one of the few people I could trust and believed had the ability to make something of this place. She could use it to understand our opponents better, and perhaps find better ways to create more Gu nukes or other weapons using these herbs.

"So, how has your research been going? I hope Qiao Ying has been providing you with all the texts that you require and have asked of him," I asked

"Yes, I've received the materials. So far, we have been working on learning more about these demonic spirit herbs and how they can survive miasma when it is intense as it stifles life itself, and we are also trying to improve our understanding and capabilities of forming alchemical pills with these," Yin said, glancing back at me as she led me into the little chamber that we had created.

A third of the room was a counter with all sorts of little devices and facilities: a burner, some glassware that had been rather difficult to source, and other items set within the cave itself next to rows of bookshelves filled with all kinds of information and research that previously had been on demons and demonic beasts, all of which had been marked as classified texts and burned away by the empire, but clearly some had remained, which had been rather difficult to find and get my hands on.

I walked up to what looked like some kind of prototype, with porcelain utensils, all containing certain demonic spirit herbs, alongside regular plants and growths. The Gu seemed to corrupt whatever it touched; any soil it filled became transparent, unable to sustain life. It could also escalate and increase the aging process. But curiously enough, it did not always kill what it touched.

"I'd like to show you this experiment, one that I learned from watching something you did," Yin said. She walked up to the bowl of demonic herbs and carefully picked one up with metal tongs and placed it on an empty plate.

Afterwards, she took another plant, a regular one, and set it next to the demonic before adding a little bit of water onto the plate and some soil. I watched, waiting for something to happen. As a few seconds passed without much change, I asked, "Is something the matter?"

Yin shook her head. "Just watch; it's starting," she said. I saw the plants begin to move first, withering as if turning sick. But then the demonic herb began to change the color of the earth that it sat on, slowly seeping into the regular plant. Its leaves began to gain bright red spots, purple veins running up its body, and within moments, the plant had turned into a demonic-looking herb as well.

“Does that always happen?” I asked.

"Not always. Some plants die, but it happens often enough that out of every 10, roughly 4 change, becoming something entirely new. Suitable to an environment filled with miasma," Yan replied.

"We've been looking at the demonic beasts as well. Besides the wolves, there have been other creatures coming up from further within the cave, seeking the Gu present. It has taken us some time to get used to their presence, but Ash keeps them in check, and we eventually managed to do some tests. These creatures all have gained the ability to channel miasma in contained manners, so that it does not corrupt their bodies and does not kill them, as we see with most creatures. There is an entirely new kind of life that seems to thrive and exist in these environments. Learning to grow in an atmosphere filled with death," Yan said, showing me a bundle of mushrooms growing within the cave.

"It's fascinating, but it's also been teaching us a little about how these creatures control miasma within them. The biggest factor seems to be the altered pathways. Unlike normal Qi pathways, they are reinforced, a form of dark mark that prevents the flow from escaping into other parts of the body. And Ash's breed has also learned how to contain miasma within their bodies, which proves vital in these demonic beasts' abilities to control it. To totally understand how it works, I have brought the topic up with Qiao Ying before, but we do know that something within the Gu itself changes them. These beasts had to adapt to miasma-filled environments, and Qiao Ying suggested that perhaps they'd simply developed new techniques to be able to survive with miasma within their bodies, eventually turning them into demonic beasts. The difference seems to be in whether the creatures have been corrupted by the miasma or not. The beasts use it in a controlled manner. All the demons from the books I have learned are creatures of death and Gu, that are not truly living, more just corpses that can walk and cause decay," Yan said, her expression darkening.

I frowned, remembering the deathless. But another word came to my mind as well. “undead,” I said, looking at her.

"Undead… That would be an apt way to describe creatures that are not alive yet not dead, since they’re a defiance of nature itself,” she nodded, as if pleased at the existence of the word. “I certainly felt curious and wanted to try something of my own, but I'm afraid I don't quite have the courage to experiment on a demon,” Yin added.

I laughed. The idea itself was a little funny, especially coming from someone as esteemed as Yan, with her gentle nature. Yet more than anyone else, she seemed to have taken to what I taught. Having spent hours and hours reading through my notes. Perhaps it made her feel more connected to her grandfather. Perhaps it was simply her upbringing that she was better able to understand all these concepts.

"But there's one more thing…" Yan said, glancing sideways. "It seems that, if these creatures go a long time without having sufficient miasma or Gu in the environment, they start to lose the ability to contain it at all, and eventually revert to regular beasts. Their body still rejects Qi, but neither are they able to conduct Gu anymore."

"So, they revert to a modified state? Is that what you're saying?" I asked.

"As far as I know, but it seems like it. We found one creature who was in that state, and rather than being able to reabsorb Gu and become normal again, it instead suffered from exposure to miasma as it could no longer control it and eventually perished," Yan said, a sad expression on her face. "We tried giving it Qi, but that only seemed to hurt the creature more."

"That's a pity," I said, thinking over her words. Perhaps that was part of the reason why the demons did not attack unless it was winter. It could be one of the reasons, and certainly a big part of why the empire's war existed. Currently, demons surely outnumbered cultivators by one to ten.

"We are also trying to work on the aforementioned weapon and have tried to merge all kinds of different Qi and Gu using herbs and different methods. We did gain some insight into how we could make the reaction more violent and get more energy for the weapon that you have described, but any attempts at the formation of Chi have failed, as the Qi and Gu simply annihilated each other and fizzled out of existence. It seems to be some other missing component that is required for the formation of Chi, or perhaps it can only occur within a living spirit, though I have doubts about that idea because Chi exists here in this world. And yet, it refused to form when I brought Qi and Gu together and tried to make more," she said, her voice a mix of frustration and curiosity.

That makes me feel that there's a part of the flow that I'm missing. I understood the duality of early Chi. It was the very first law I discovered of cultivation itself. Yet that law simply broke Chi into Qi and Gu, it did not create it but something else had instead. Back when my spirit had merged with Lu Jie's, when our souls had become one again, something else had also been at play.

I put my hand on her shoulder, as the feeling of pride filled my heart. Perhaps this was what the old man felt while teaching me. Although I'd never been a very fervent disciple, unlike Yin.

I gave Yin a smile, "Great work so far.”

Yin gave me a bow, and I nodded, before turning my attention to Ash. An idea began to form in my mind. There was something I wanted to test out.

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