Kael screamed at the top of his lungs as a wave of pain coursed through his arm. His screams became louder as the blood vessels in his arm filled with uncontrolled qi and blood. His fingers twisted involuntarily to the point of almost breaking the bone. Finally, he felt them rupture against the pressure, tinting his arm red. He rolled right, falling of the bed and hitting the wooden floor hard, sending another wave of pain—this time from his wounded leg—into his mind. Darkness started to fill his vision.

"Heavens! I told you to concentrate and not let blood circulate." Eztli yelled in his mind, preventing him from falling into unconsciousness.

Kael clenched his teeth and sat, looking at his right hand. It was a mess. His fingers remained cramped at weird angles. Trying to move them only caused them to tremble slightly. Sighing, he used his other hand to fix them. Fortunately, there was no pain, only numbness.

I did concentrate, Kael thought, turning to face an enraged Eztli. Too much in fact.

He sunk back into his memories. A moment ago, Eztli had taught him a special breathing technique and series of hand shapes that would allow him to feel and gather qi from the atmosphere. At first, he had wondered just how the hand shapes and sequence of breaths would help him. But after he had tried them out he had only felt them natural. Soon, he had managed to successfully pool the qi flow; at least enough for it to turn visible. It had been an enthralling sight.

The qi glowed in synchronized pulses that grew in intensity as he breathed deeply. After another short moment, he had gathered enough qi to form a ribbon—similar to the one that exited the Link stone—that swirled around him at his will. Eztli had even given an amazed praise at how quickly he had managed to gather and control it, but just as quickly, moved on to explain how to absorb it. He had even guided it with a strange energy.

Kael had asked him about it—for it was his second time seeing the strange energy—but had been met with instructions to worry about focusing on the pattern of qi travelling inside him. It had been weird at first, but the feeling soon grew so...intoxicating. It had sent him into a deeper state of mind that he had felt one with the qi. So much in fact, that he had visualized his own body as the qi flowed inside him; his blood, vessels and organs had become the only thing in his mind. Then Eztli's voice had beckoned him to encase a particle of blood in his index finger and burn it. And he had. That's when things had gone wrong.

The pain of burning that minuscule particle of blood had been so great that it shattered his focus—allowing the particle to circulate and spread the pain.

"This is a waste of time." Eztli said, sighing. "Even with me guiding you. You still managed to ruin it and almost destroy your hand in the process. You are on your ow-"

"Again." Kael found himself saying, his voice carried a firmness that even he didn’t know where it came from. "Please guide me again."

"Boy, do you know how valuable the energy I used was? I can't be using it for such useless things. Just use the herb they will give you to heal your leg. It will be less painful, for the both of us."

"Please, one more time. I was only caught off guard by the sudden pain. This time I will do it." Kael said. Also, I need another try to memorize the pattern…Kael thought. He was embarrassed to admit that had been so lost in the feeling that he had forgotten to pay attention.

Eztli fell silent. Kael could see the hesitation in his eyes, but suddenly it vanished and Eztli smiled. "One last time. Regardless if you succeed or fail, the herb will be mine not yours. That's the trade."

Kael hesitated for a moment. Using the herb would guarantee that he would be healed. As for the Blood Art…only by cultivating in it would he gain anything. It would be foolish to continue debating—the route was clear—but his mind kept returning to the moment when the qi flowed through him. It felt so...right. Like it was part of me...Kael thought, focusing on the feeling. The sensation spread through him again—embracing him—and his uncertainty vanished. This is right. If I fail, I'll just became a cripple. Taking a deep breath, he looked at Eztli and smiled.

"You got yourself a deal."

##

Eztli was momentarily shocked. In reality, he had expected the kid to take the easy way and choose the herb—that way he wouldn't have to use his soul again. But never, with his thousands of years of experience, would he have guessed that Kael would agree.

This foolish boy, Eztli thought, meeting Kael's eyes and smiled. Those eyes...there's not a hint of fear, just determination. Eztli's smile became wider. Well, if he wants to gift me a rare herb—for my cultivation—then I see no need to refuse him. Besides, if he succeeds it only benefits me and if he fails...well, that's just not my problem.

"All right. Begin gathering qi again. I'll guide it once it reaches a suitable level."

Kael nodded, closed his eyes, breathed and formed his hand patterns. Soon, ribbons of atmospheric qi swam around Kael like before, only this time they intertwined and merged—forming a bigger and more concentrated strand. The strand spun seven feet above Kael's head, elongating and growing until it formed a full circle. The circle's edges grew brighter than the center as qi merged with it. At the circle's center, a small sphere of qi started to form.

This kid...Eztli thought, his body trembling as he continued to stare. He's a fucking genius! It's only his second time performing the technique and he already intuitively started forming a Qi Whirlpool. Looks like my luck is good. He laughed.

A Qi Whirlpool, would enhance the flow of atmospheric qi and pool it into one point. There were Four Cycles to a Qi Whirlpool and only the best qi controllers could create one. The First Cycle—which Kael was currently in—consisted of forming the Base Ring. It was the largest ring in the entire structure. Its function was to condense the qi into a sphere.

The second Cycle needed one to create four rings underneath—each spinning in contrasting directions. This would cause a sliver of qi to branch out constantly from the sphere and break apart by the alternating forces—purifying it. The Third Cycle added three smaller rings underneath that spun faster. Their purpose was to reform the purified qi into a smaller and brighter sphere, right above the cultivator’s head. Finally, the Fourth Cycle would form one last ring that sat on the head like a crown. It was the smallest of the eight rings, but the most important. It would compress the sphere of purified qi even further—into one concise strand—and provide the most efficient point of entry.

Currently, Kael had only formed the Base Ring—and it could have been a fluke of the moment—but if he managed to consistently create it and add more rings...Eztli's mind wandered as he imagined his strength returning sooner. Calm down, Eztli told himself. There's no use to get ahead. If the kid can't refine blood then there's no point in him forming the whirlpool. Taking a deep breath, Eztli flared his soul energy and guided a strand from the sphere of qi into Kael.

The amount of energy was negligible to what Eztli was used to, but it was enough to form the refinement rune. One needed to circulate the qi in this particular pattern at least once before beginning to refine. Carefully using his soul, Eztli guided the qi to form the ancient rune created by Verne. If drawn on paper one would see only a few lines—their shape resembling a simple slug—but it was more complex than that. This was only the initial rune of a set.

Basing it on the Blood Slug, Verne had created a masterful runic art—the reason why it managed to reign over the Bloodverne. Each rune ingrained itself into its cultivator—although they remained invisible until one reached the peak—and merged perfectly. Eztli had seen it when he reached his exalted status. All runes served their own purpose and together they created a three-dimensional Blood Slug. The beauty and complexity laid in that, no matter which angle one looked at it from, the Blood Slug pattern remained the same. A true masterpiece.

Suddenly, Eztli lost control of the qi. Panicking, he flared more of his soul, but stopped dead in his track. He shook his head in disbelief. No. T-this...it can't be. How can he refine it so...perfectly? Kael had entered a deep meditative state and was guiding the qi masterfully. His speed was slow—nothing compared to him when he started cultivating—but it was only his second try and he was already encasing and burning cell after cell of blood. To top it off, Kael was healing his previously damaged blood vessels in the process; something only experienced cultivators could do for it required one to split their mind. Soon, his arm only had a few spots of red littered here and there.

Eztli returned to his senses and stared at Kael. Then, he noticed a strange red hue burning from within his core. Curious, Eztli used his soul to examine it; it was energy—unlike anything he had seen before. Interesting. Eztli thought as he looked at Kael. Really fucking interesting. He rushed his soul to go deeper into the strange stream, but was rejected. It’s like it has a mind of its own. That, or I’m far too weak to penetrate the energy. Either way, it’s very interesting.

This sect was in the middle of nowhere, yet there was an energy so strange that he couldn’t even guess its purpose. They also had formations beyond his knowledge—something almost impossible as he was the foremost researcher in the field. Then, to top it all off, there was that bastard with the dual soul and the kid with the remnant Bloodverne. Eztli smiled wickedly. Looks like once I regain my strength I will have a lot to do. All these pristine samples…He thought as part of his soul burned with an eagerness and excitement that had only burned when he had first stumbled upon the idea to create an immortal body. He itched to perform experiments and to understand. Calming himself, he hopped towards Kael. For now, I can't let this opportunity to cultivate go by. The kid's already doing most of the work. So I might as well start regaining my strength.

With that, he sat on Kael's lap and started stealing most of the qi that gathered in the center of the ring. Thankfully, the process of stealing didn't require much effort so it saved him from having to use his soul energy. Slowly, he absorbed it and formed the rune four times—for compounded effect—before he burned his blood; bringing back a long forgotten, but familiar pain.