A thick black iron bar stood firmly over Vera's back, with golden engravings along its length.

  Vera was inside the Blade Master sect's grounds. Aspartese stood beside him; he screamed at Vera with a scowl on his face.

  Vera's qi entered the bar as he squatted to the ground; his brows were drenched in sweat.

  "ONE MORE REP!" Aspartese's coarse voice resounded through the empty fields.

  Vera's legs seared with heat. The fibres in his legs were on the verge of snapping. The veins in his neck bulged through his skin; thin lines of red formed over his chest as capillaries burst open.

  As he completed the rep, he immediately blocked the flow of his qi to the bar. In a moment's time the bar that weighed thousands of jin became as light as a feather.

  Dust plumed up as Vera dropped the bar onto the ground, his perspiration turning to mist even in the glaring heat.

  Between his gasps for air he managed to speak a few words.

  "Why... was... the... bar... so... heavy?" The blood rushing to his head left dark spots in his sight.

  Aspartese walked over to Vera. His hairy torso glistened under the sun.

  "Engravings. Master smiths can create sigils that use qi to activate the power of Law." Aspartese's thick palms patted Vera's back as he leant over, on the verge of puking over the training grounds.

  "How can you get tired so quickly, we still have multiple exercises remaining." He spoke while handing Vera a flask of salted water.

  A low thud echoed against the ground as Vera crumpled onto the dusty floor. Having drunk a few sips from the flask, Vera regained his composure.

  "Which heartless demon came up with this torture?" His mouth hung open, gobbling all the air he could.

  "You're quite the daredevil. To think you would insult the Fist Immortal so casually."

  Aspartese lifted Vera off the ground, dragging him to a padded bench at the right corner of the training grounds.

  "Why am I doing this? My physicality overwhelms most of those in my rank."

  Vera's lifeless legs left a trail in the ground as Aspartese dragged him around. His tone was thick with grievance as he spoke.

  "If you want to live uncrippled after using Point Compression in your body, this is necessary."

  Sweat splattered over the bench's leather covers as Vera was flung onto it. The afternoon glare blocked by Aspartese stood behind Vera.

  "Wouldn't it be better to comprehend Law now? I can always use fortification to reduce the impact of the compressed qi."

  Aspartese picked up another black iron bar off the floor and handed it to Vera.

  "Fortification can ease the damage from the stress in your muscles; it can't increase your ability to adapt to tension. Stop whining and press the bar." A dull clang resounded as he pressed his feet over the bench's supports, infusing his qi through it.

  At first the process of training was extremely exhaustive, but over time Vera grew used to it.

  Having completed a circuit that trained all major muscle groups, Vera's gruelling training session came to an end.

  The afternoon sun had retreated to a bed of clouds, its shine peering over a mountain on the horizon.

  With slouched shoulders Vera walked to the recruitment hall. On the other hand, Aspartese pranced as he led him to the hall; well aware of Vera's flesh piercing glare over his back.

  He is definitely doing this to irritate me.

  Despite the growing intensity of Vera's glare, Aspartese's smile only grew. His grin was mirrored on both his face and mind.

  You are so easy to irritate, young man!

  ...

  The stone-tiled path met its end as it reached a set of polished wooden steps.

  Vera had reached the reception hall.

  The glare in his eyes turned to dread as he entered.

  Chun and Sword Dog are going to be so mad. I told them I would be done by an hour past noon.

  But to his surprise, he found the hall to be empty; even Chang-yu, the attendant, wasn't there.

  Just then he heard a dull thud from the pavilion's inner courtyard.

  Thanks to the enhanced senses that came with his rank, he figured out the cause of the sound immediately. A quiet smile formed over his face.

  Attendant or not, Chang-yu was also a martial artist of the second rank. Within the walls of the courtyard, Chang-yu was teaching Chun the basics of swift sword techniques.

  Having trained with Elem, one of the best sword technicians in the Five Plains, he was able to assess Chang-yu's skill with the sword to some extent.

  I guess I was just a bad teacher...

  "Looks like your kid is sufficiently invested. Would you like to spend some time learning the Point Compression Law?"

  Vera walked up to the desk at the far end of the room and sat on the chair beside it. His body melted into the chair.

  "Sure... just give me a few minutes."

  Stolen novel; please report.

  Aspartese also pulled out a chair and sat down.

  The chair's legs creaked as his hefty body rested on it.

  "How was your first day of formal body refining?" He spoke as he threw the salted water flask over to Vera.

  "It felt a bit meaningless. While there is some room for growth, martial artist or not, the human body has its limits."

  Aspartese ripped out a piece of paper from a binder on the desk.

  A thin needle of fire qi extended from his fingertip, with which he wrote on the paper. After a few moments he folded the paper and threw it at Vera.

  A dull thwack sounded as the paper hit Vera's forehead and fell onto his chest.

  "What was that for?" he asked listlessly.

  "Buy the items I listed on that paper. You will need a specific type of cup for it to work; I'll arrange for Chang-yu to borrow it from the sect."

  Vera flailed his arm at Aspartese.

  "Just tell me where I can find it; I'll buy it on my own."

  Aspartese laughed at Vera.

  "Unless you have a few mountains of gold, you can forget about even renting it on your own."

  Vera's body was shocked stiff.

  "What kind of cup costs that much?!"

  "The kind that has engravings on it."

  Vera recalled his previous training session. Just about every piece of equipment in the training grounds was engraved.

  He even carelessly threw them on the ground when he was done.

  His face contorted into a grimace as he thought about how much it would cost to pay to use even one of those 'evil' bars.

  "Don't worry. I don't plan on charging you for the training sessions or the cup."

  Vera looked toward Aspartese, his slits over his eyes narrowing with suspicion.

  "Why are you doing so much for me? Being the branch manager, you don't even need to bother with handling my training."

  Perhaps it was his experience with Vast Heavens that made him so sensitive about Aspartese's 'support'. Goodwill without reason was the same as being held by the neck.

  When the debtor feels like it...

  Snap.

  Every day he was worried that Vast Heavens would appear in front of him. Not demanding, just taking what was owed to him.

  "You sure are distrusting! Which big shot entrapped you?" Aspartese responded, his grin stretching to the corners of his eyes.

  Nonetheless, the suspicion in Vera's eyes didn't dissipate.

  "Answer me seriously."

  At Vera's curt words, Aspartese sighed with exasperation; he leaned into his chair, his gaze meeting the bright lamplight over the ceiling.

  "Vera, you know I'm not from some big family, right?"

  "Hm..."

  "As I climbed to where I am, I befriended hundreds of grassroots warriors; some of them were even more talented than me."

  His palm rose to his eyes, blocking out the lamplight's shine.

  "Yet, I stand here today, alone... Out of myriad talented fighters I knew, only I got here alive." A hollow laugh escaped him.

  "Your monolithic innate capacity for qi and natural sense for battle are undoubtedly the best I have ever seen. Now that I am in a place where I can change the fate of those who have no backing, I want to do what I can."

  He shot back up from the chair, the slump in his body long gone.

  "Of course, once you get strong enough, I'll start off with using you to usurp the Blade Master's seat." His usual boisterous laughs filled the room.

  Vera glanced at Aspartese with a blank expression; there was a slight slant over his lips.

  Anyone could spew elaborate stories to convince him, but the silent redness in Aspartese's eyes couldn't be faked.

  A low screech permeated the room as Vera put the chair back against the desk. He walked over to the door at the inner courtyard.

  A cold breeze blew through as the door opened; Chun and Sword Dog ran out, and Chang-yu followed from behind.

  "Vera, you were late again!" Chun shouted, his head crashing into Vera's stomach.

  Sword Dog, unbothered by Chun's complaint, walked over to greet Aspartese.

  "Hm. I'm sorry, I'll buy you something from the market when we head back home." His gaze shifted to Chang-yu, who stood by the door.

  "Thanks for taking care of him when I was training."

  Leaning against the doorframe, she responded to Vera.

  "No need to thank me. Though I wouldn't mind you buying me dinner sometime."

  "Sure, call me when you're free. I'll be heading home now." His gaze met Chang-yu's as he rubbed the bump over Chun's head.

  Sword Dog, Chun, and Vera walked to the pavilion's door, their steps sounding across its hollow wooden floor.

  As Vera reached the entrance, he looked back at Aspartese.

  "I don't think I can study the Point Compression Law with you right now. If you're free later into the night, I'll be training at the base of the mountains to the west."

  Aspartese let out a loud laugh.

  "You sure are a demanding student. Sure, I'll see you there."

  ***

  From morning till evening, Vera could be found in the sect's training grounds. When his clothes were completely drenched in sweat, his physical training reached its end.

  From the training grounds he would head out to the recruitment hall to pick up Chun and Sword Dog.

  By this point the day bleeds into night; the moon gazed at them from the east.

  Some days he would cook dinner at home; other days they would eat at the dining hall at the Second Home inn.

  Come night, he trained with Aspartese at the base of the Mian Mountain range.

  Nearly a month had passed since his formal induction to the Blade Master sect. And tonight was another mountain range training session.

  A campfire crackled gently; its light created a gentle shadow over his face.

  He sat, in a lotus pose, a few paces away from Aspartese.

  "All five elements arise from the intertwining of Yin and Yang. Scholars claim that the myriad celestial bodies in the sky, even the one we live on, were all birthed by the two forces. At first all things were a small point, within that point was only Yin and Yang."

  Two lines of qi seeped through Aspartese's fingertips.

  One of the five elements formed by yang, the other formed by yin.

  The two lines coalesced into a circle, mimicking taiji.

  "All qi seeks stability. Both Yin and Yang on their own are unstable. But together they restrain each other, even at the cost of losing their power."

  The symbol of Taiji began revolving over its center. Gentle streams of wind started following its edges.

  "For an endless time they restrained each other. But a cycle of two could only hold for so long. When the balance between the two broke, our existence followed."

  The symbol of taiji shimmered in the air; a jade of overwhelming radiance and a tear of abyssal void.

  The symbol's revolutions grew in speed, their lines began blurring.

  The sound of glass cracking echoed through the silence of night.

  A blinding light engulfed the camp. What was once just black and white was now a symphony of vibrant colours.

  "Beyond the cycle of two existed one of five. And beyond the cycle of five exists the cycle of ten. The very cycle that forms every speck of dust in this world. Even now, there exists traces of pure Yang and Yin. It lives in the form of light and null." His words spoke of the axioms that guided all things. Following its immensity his reverent voice formed tremors in the air.

  The wind's quivering permeated Vera's body.

  He was a being born of pure Yang.

  He came from a world where everyone was something that couldn't be.

  Vera picked up a handful of earth. Jagged pebbles and fine mud slipped through his fingers.

  "Senior... could there be a world made purely of Yang?"

  A sharp breeze blew through the forest. The fire beside them flickered violently.

  "Maybe... But that couldn't happen on its own. Neither of the forces are stable enough to hold a physical form."

  The implication shook Vera. The mountain's cold breaths brushed over the hairs on his nape.

  Within the bloom of Taiji, millions of arrangements existed. Yet at its centre, the two forces chased each other.

  "An Immortal?"

  As far as Aspartese was concerned, they were just speculating.

  But the wind's cold grip was suffocating him.

  Are the heavens reacting to our words...?

  A cold sweat beaded over his forehead. A weak quiver clawed its way into his voice.

  "There is a story... known by all children in these lands. The twelve Divine Beasts and the Jade Emperor. For endless time he stood alone in his palace. As his boredom reached its zenith he created the twelve beasts to accompany him."

  Clouds rolled through the sky. The moon's visage was obscured; even its silhouette disappeared.

  Eerie.

  As though the wind became cold jagged claws.

  Aspartese's throat tightened.

  "Vera... did you get bored of my lecture? I know I was droning on for too long, but these details are important. We need to focus if we want to get through the basics tonight."

  The curiosity Vera had felt before became dread.

  He wanted to forget. As soon as possible.

  "Hm... I'm sorry. Let's get back to it."

  Leaves rustled silently. The campfire shone as it did before.

  Under clear skies, Vera and Aspartese spent the night speaking of the balance between Yin and Yang.

  Veracity.