“Senior, is… this… really… necessary?” Fan Zhong said through clenched teeth as struggled to push himself upward.

Beside him, Fan Yong was doing the same as they both attempted to do a simple push-up atop the hill that had served as a shelter for the group during the night. Physical training had been a staple for the both of them following the start of the war with the Wei clan and so it wasn’t the act itself that was causing them such trouble. Rather it was a combination of other factors.

From above tiny droplets of what seemed like water rained down on the young warriors in miniature rain storms as if they each had a stream of rain to themselves. Conversely, the clouds that had hung over the valley during the previous day were nowhere to be seen, and across rolling hills and thick forests lay the splendor of the sun. For Fan Zhong and his compatriot, however, the continuous fall of light rain had never left.

Indeed these raindrops stung like the practice stick that both of them had experienced from their mentors so many years ago. Focusing closely enough on each drop would reveal that they were actually tiny phantom swords being projected from small arrays of more stationary phantom weapons that formed overhead. Hundreds of these tiny arrays formed in the same shape that Xing Zheng had used in a larger form against Fan Shun and they constantly peppered the bare backs of Fan Zhong and Fan Yong.

Combine this with two of the movement impairing ‘master’s affection’ spell seals and it was easy to see why simple push-ups were giving the usually spry young warriors trouble. That morning they had awoken after collapsing in heaps at the top of the hill from exhaustion. To their surprise, it felt like that night had provided the best sleep each of them had in ages, with no nightmares or restlessness coming to either.

Around them, Xing Zheng had set up a comfortable pavilion tent with various runes glowing in the air to ward off the elements. Little White had curled around both of the young men, providing warm and soft bedding with his fur. With a snap of the old swordsman’s fingers, all the comfort had disappeared and he had announced that training would continue, smiling sweetly while telling them the name of the spell as it had been applied so they would ‘come to understand it better’.

“Indeed, it's incredibly important. Now, remember to think of not just your own movements when using that movement technique but all the movements of your body. The principles of your technique deal with the transfer of momentum between objects. Do you think that only your own movements cause motion? Feel it as you fall back to the earth from the top, then shift it in a cycle to rebound.” Xing Zheng’s tone was sagely and calm as he sat in a lotus position in front of the two, eyes closed in meditation.

For the dozenth time, Fan Zhong tried to imagine the shifting of earth as rocks moved into earth other, a landslide caused by the smallest pebble. For just a moment he let himself fall, feeling something in his mind and… deeper, shifting ever so slightly. The momentum fell to his hands wanting to push out into the earth, to slam him down with the weight of the heavens.

With sheer will he grabbed it, moving his body ever so slightly to match that falling and direct it back up in the esoteric way that had been imprinted into his mind by Fan Cheng. His memories of being taught the technique were hazy as if the entire process of learning to move his body to transfer momentum was something that had been engraved onto his soul rather than taught. Just as his face was about to meet the ground, gravity seemed to stop and Fan Zhong felt as if he was floating in a vast plain of nothingness, a slight breeze barely pushing him upward.

Outwardly this moment was so small it would barely be noticeable however, he felt it. Only slightly later he felt the impact of the ground much more clearly. Groaning with irritation, Fan Zhong once again strained his arms, trying to raise his weight under the increased ‘slowness’ of the spell that Xing Zheng had layered twice upon them. Fan Yong likewise grunted as he too hit the ground, simply lying there in defeat for a moment.

“Hmmm, good progress.” Xing Zheng commented, nodding his head as if to acknowledge his own words.

“What progress… Senior Zheng, your wisdom is obviously profound, however… Perhaps this level of training is too much for this simple one to understand?” Fan Yong turned his head, pleading entering his tone as he tried his best to smile at the older man.

Sighing with exasperation, Xing Zheng opened his eyes and looked at the two, taking a long moment before waving his hand in a casual blurring motion at them. Instantly the feeling of the stinging raindrops fell away and both of them could finally sit up. As they did so the old swordsman leveled an inquisitive gaze at the two of them before.

“Very well, let's discuss something more fundamental. Forgive any misunderstandings this old man has of the northern plains martial arts, I’ve not had much time to study the level of basic education you might’ve received.” Xing Zheng seemed slightly annoyed by his lack of understanding, the barest hint of this showing in his ever-calm expression.

“If you don’t mind, could you please explain what is meant by ‘northern plains’ and ‘short mountain region’? You’ve used these terms a few times, however, I’ve never heard of them.” Fan Zhong spoke up with an inquisitive tone, quickly hoping to take the initiative to sate his curiosity.

Ever since he had met the immortal, or ‘spirit cultivator’ as he had asked to be referred to, his mind had been constantly conjuring questions to ask the man. However, events had simply moved too fast and the last few days had moved by in a dreamlike fashion. Now that they were finally settling into a rhythm and had ample free time, these questions bubbled to the surface of Fan Zhong’s mind.

“Ahhh, these simply refer to the local names for parts of the Twisted Territories Lesser Region. For the most part, this area is split into four major areas: The northern plains border the nearby lesser region and make up the majority of the northern border. To the east are the rolling hill lands and the shoreline merchant cities that occupy parts of the Sea of Myriad swords.

In the west we have the Short Mountain Region known for collections of low mountains that are numerously spread out, this area has many local city-states, and this is also where my sect is located. Finally, we come to the central and southern regions taken up by the large Twisting Bowl Mountain Range, these mountains form an inwardly spiraling wall that from above looks like a spiral bowl or so I'm told.”

Xing Zheng paused at these last words looking up in thought, before continuing

“Thinking about it, since we have time, ask any questions you’d like and I’ll do my best to answer them. After all, who knows what you haven’t been taught better than yourselves?”

Fan Zhong took a moment to digest that information. Normally he had heard of city-states outside the valley and thought these were the norm everywhere. He had heard of some nearby city-states but hadn’t known that the majority of surrounding lands were plains. It seemed that the surrounding powers would most likely follow the plains clan style of the Deng clan rather than city-states. As he was thinking it over, movement stirred in the corner of Fan Zhong’s eyes and he saw Fan Yong’s brows furrow before he finally spoke.

“Senior Zheng, why is it that so many martial artists stay in the master realms? It seems that with the ability to live multiple centuries even untalented individuals could bridge the gap and advance to the spirit realms. However, practitioners at your level seem so rare that they’ve become legends in remote regions like this valley.” Fan Yong’s confusion grew as he spoke as if the feeling had been nagging at the back of his mind and was only now growing into a full thought.

“That… is a good question indeed, Junior Yong. However, to my understanding, many clans keep this information from their younger members as they fear it will cause them to stop progressing. My own master didn’t speak to me of this until I reached the master realm. Is this something you truly wish to know?” Xing Zheng spoke with sternness to his voice, all pretense of calm and casualness extinguished to be replaced by a deep seriousness.

Both young warriors shared a brief look, feelings of brotherhood and resolution passing before them faster than words could ever convey.

“Senior Xing Zheng,” Fan Zhong addressed the old swordsman with a burning resolve in his gaze “we absolutely must know. Please, instruct us.”

“Very well, to begin there is something I must make sure you understand first. Tell me, juniors, what is causing your bodies to move more poorly?” Xing Zheng returned a small, sad smile to both of them as he asked the question.

“My arms are heavier, they feel almost half again as heavy with only the one spell you left on us!” Fan Yong replied immediately, sure in his deduction.

“No, that's not it.” Fan Zhong said, shaking his head at his compatriot.

He was certain of it, the wording the old swordsman had used was specific. When speaking he had referred to their bodies as moving ‘poorly’ not slower or heavier. This was the key however, Fan Zhong simply couldn’t puzzle out what Xing Zheng had meant with this choice of words.

“Correct, Junior Zhong. If your body were simply half again as heavy, falling would have much more impact for example. As you could tell earlier falling down from a push-up left you with an injured pride not face. What the spell does is cause interference between your body, soul, and mind. Commonly, I’ve found many martial artists believe that advancing your arts by realm doesn’t increase one's physical capabilities until the Master realm, however, do you really think a mere mortal can move as fast as either of you?”

The old swordsman let the question linger and both of their eyes started to widen, having never considered this fact.

“What is truly going on, is the strengthening of the harmony between your mind, body, and spirit. The more inline these three are, the more capabilities your body can pull from the world around you, using the natural energies that make up your body. Now, this isn’t to say that one cannot specialize in one than the other, indeed many do. The importance of harmony comes with bringing them all to a baseline before focusing on your specialty.” Xing Zheng’s tone transitioned smoothly into his sagely mentor-like cadence as he spoke.

“Hmmm, that clears up a few things, senior; however, how does this relate to advancing through the Master realms?” Fan Zhong asked, his thoughts in chaos as some things became clear in his mind while others seemed to grow more obscured.

“It relates to when one enters those realms. For one to advance to the master realm it requires that you bring the supporting aspects of the trinity within your arts to supplement what you focus on. That is to align them so that they feed what you focus on, beginning the first step to set the path that you will follow all the way to immortality. Now comes the unnerving part, this process is largely fueled by how you see your arts and understand them.

Whether through the world around you, through music, or the shifting skies, however, one conceptualizes their own training that will be ingrained into their path at the Master realm. At this point, one uses mental energy to handle Qi. It is important to remember, whether you're an immortal or a mortal martial artist, that Qi is the energy of the world. No matter how much you refine it or condense it, that energy will never be entirely under your control.”

The old swordsman’s voice took on an even more serious tone than he had earlier, pressure built around him in the air to emphasize his words.

“If even for a moment, that Qi is let loose and not controlled by mental energy, it will rampage outward in chaotic patterns wreaking havoc on the previous wielder and the surroundings. This is important to understand when ascending to Grandmaster and beyond as to do so one must do something considered suicidal. Gather the energy of the world until it exceeds your ability to control the power with mental energy.”

Silence stretched on for a moment as the young warriors absorbed this information. The whistling of the wind could be heard in the early afternoon sun as various birds called from deep in the forests around them. After a minute of silence, Fan Zhong finally broke away from the spell that those words had set him under, speaking up in an almost desperate tone.

“Ridiculous! Senior, you just said that doing so would be suicide! There must be another way, no sane person would do that!” As he spoke a pleading tone entered his voice as he desperately wished that this was a cruel joke played by the immortal swordsman.

Fan Yong simply seemed too stunned to speak, as if someone had simply smacked him in the face so hard he still needed to recover from the blow.

“Ridiculous indeed, there are only two outcomes from this. The first is as you say, a very messy suicide that will most likely cause a rather violent explosion. However, if the mind, body, and spirit are in line then doing this will cause one to break through their boundaries, surging forth into a new realm. There are no concrete ways to do this and many clans or sects have various techniques they believe affect the results.”

Xing Zheng’s eyes seemed to turn cloudy for a moment, seeming to reminisce over some distant memories before continuing.

“To be clear with you though, the only concrete fact cultivators have been able to extract from this process is that bringing this trinity into harmony is based on deepening the understanding that one used to enter the master realm. This is what I mean when saying that moment sets your eventual path to immortality. Training helps and as well as study and meditation but, it's clear that one's foundational understanding of the world is the largest factor in determining success.

Evidence of this can be seen even in the earlier stages of advancement, those who take longer to progress or gain a better understanding of the world and how they view it build strong foundations. For instance, mental energy itself has varying degrees of potency, those with stronger foundations tend to have more powerful mental energy than those who advance quickly even when they are in the same realm.”

“So… you're saying that the path above the master realm is simply a path of repeated attempts at suicide?” Fan Yong’s voice was low and groggy as if he was waking from a great dream as he spoke.

“Not necessarily, it simply means that those who wish to advance must have a reason to do so strong enough that death pales in comparison. So you see, Junior Yong, there is a reason many of the mortal masters do not advance. In ancient legends the martial path had a different name, it was known as the path of the damned.” Xing Zheng’s voice took on a somber tone as he said the last words as if countless images flashed in his eyes at those words.

“Then… are the spirit realms also so dangerous? Does even ascension give no defense against such tribulations?” Fan Zhong asked, hoping to seize any hope he could about the higher realms of cultivation.

“Hmmm? Well, not entirely. Once you’ve ascended to Qi Condensation there is a period of relative calm where a cultivator continues to condense and refine their energy while raising their understanding of mind, body, and spirit. Spirit cultivation in particular is about remolding the body with those understandings and creating an ideal soul. Honestly, the details are a bit vague and would most likely confuse you rather than help. Suffice it to say spirit cultivators face even greater tribulation but only at the end of the spirit realms. Now, I think our lunch has arrived.” As the old swordsman, both young warriors heard a loud thudding noise behind them.

Standing there with a bloody maw set into a grin was Little White who had just dropped off the corpse of a large deer with deep bite marks on its neck.

“Good catch, now Sir White. Please keep the juniors company while I prepare the food. In the meantime, both of you finish five pushups. If you don’t…. Hehehe.” Xing Zheng’s voice took on a jovial tone and as he walked away his arm blurred out in several motions behind him.

What followed were two spell seals, with one landing on each young warrior’s chest, and a dispersed haze of phantom raindrops. That day Fan Zhong and Fan Yong didn’t eat until late into the night after finally finishing five push-ups. Earlier the next morning all of them woke up and continued their journey toward the Reclusive Mountain Sword Sect.

Along the way, Xing Zheng would stop them for training at least two to three hours a day, much to the chagrin of the young warriors. It seemed that although the old swordsman wasn’t taking them as disciples he fully intended for Fan Zhong and Fan Yong to live up to his physical standards in the least. Over the course of this journey, the older man also instructed Little White, conjuring small balls of water and having the spirit beast practice manipulating them back and forth.

At first, the wolf hadn’t known what to do and was repeatedly doused in water. Indeed it seemed that for all his mastery of minute amounts of water in the air Little White had difficulty manipulating the substance in large quantities and it took some time for him to be able to even stop the balls of water from falling. Fan Zhong had become intimately familiar with his companions' frustration as Xing Zheng had shown him how to use his limited control of mental energy to leave a spirit mark on Little White.

The technique came from a large sect known as the ‘Beast Tamer Sect’ and it allowed both Little White and him to feel the other's location as well as exchange general feelings. Direct communication was supposed to be possible after much time and deepening of the bond. However, as the two were now connected it allowed him to experience the entire process of Little White learning to hold the small ball of water and then move it before finally sending it back to the old swordsman.

When this happened the wave of joy and happiness felt through their bond was almost overwhelming and Fan Zhong almost missed a step at that time. Surprisingly Xing Zheng had been incredibly insightful when it came to the Fan clan palm style and with the addition to his physical training combining the movement techniques both young warriors had made great strides. Fan Zhong felt confident that he could move almost a tenth faster after only a week, with his understanding of how to react and fight greatly increasing as well.

This was astonishing to him as that amount of progress would’ve taken months of training alone. What shocked him, even more, was that Fan Yong progressed to the First-Grade realm within three weeks of their travels. The old swordsman had been full of praise for him, commenting on how his years spent at the Second-Grade realm had given him a solid basis for the advancement.

By Xing Zheng’s estimation Fan Yong’s mental energy was about half again as potent as most First-Grade martial artists and most likely far stronger than Fan Zhong’s when he had advanced. That had been a dreary day, however, as the mention of his advancement had sent the Young Master of the Fan clan into a brooding mood. Silence had stretched on for the next few days before he had been able to cool his head.

Like this, the group traveled and after a month they arrived at the foot of the Green Mist Mountain facing the gate of the Reclusive Mountain Sword Sect.