Lizi came early in the morning like clockwork, waking Anji up and helping her to get dressed. She prepared food for the day and did the menial chores as Yan Ping tested Anji’s mental sums.
"What is two times four?"
"How about three times eight?"
Anji tried her best not to peek behind her. The charts with the right answer were right there. However, after calculations with the help of her fingers and counter pebbles that were now repurposed, Anji eventually got the correct answer.
It took a long time, but at least Anji understood the basic concept of multiplication. All she needed now was time to fully memorise all the timetables for single digits and then learn how to use the abacus for double-digit calculations.
"It’s good enough," Yan Ping acknowledged. "How did you learn to remember or count them?"
Grinning, Anji explained proudly that it was due to her new ability to parallel think.
"At first, it was difficult," she admitted. "I kept losing track of which number I was counting. After adding the same number several times, I would lose the number of sets I’ve counted or misremember the new total calculated, causing the numbers to become wrong. I’ve tried memorising them, but as the number grows bigger, they become a big puddle of confusion." For original chapters go to novèlfire.net
Nodding, Yan Ping agreed. They have a different method of teaching matrix calculations at the Mystical Qilin Sect. However, she wanted to know if Anji had any better solutions. She had been monitoring her student’s progress closely all of yesterday despite recuperating. Anji learned how to design a method of charging up a spell instead of activating it by storing up the energy required in it within her body. She used a qi circulation technique that most advanced spell casters employed for group spells. In doing so, she finally overcame her bottleneck limits and successfully activated her first spell, even if it only produced a teaspoonful of water.
This morning, while Lizi was busy cleaning up and preparing food, Anji discovered a new way to use placeholders for memory retrieval while in the bath. The idea was inspired by Lizi’s offhanded comment about leaving a towel on the table and telling Anji not to put it away so she could remember to take in the laundry later when she was done sweeping the hut. The girl quickly adopted that idea, using her pebble counters to act as the second set of counters so she could reduce the number of things she had to remember in her head while adding the numbers from her fingers to find the sum of a multiplication quiz.
"It’s a good method that works for now," Yan Ping approved. "It shows that you understand the repeated steps of adding the same number according to the number of times they are repeated. With time, you’d be able to remember the answers without counting them. You’d use an abacus to assist you with bigger and more complex calculations when you come to the Mystical Qilin Sect. Today, we will finally work on your new Meridian channel. Which Meridian Path do you think we’ll be cultivating today?"
If Anji followed the five-elemental theory, the next Meridian Path they would examine would be the Yang Ming Meridian, the opposite of the Tai Yin Meridian. However, if her shifu wanted to establish a full-body circulatory network, it would most likely become the Tai Yin Meridian in her feet instead.
That was a great logical response. Ordinarily, Yan Ping would also go with either option. However, Anji was different. She was a prodigy who did not need to follow the conventional steps. If anything, the girl could forge her own regular Meridian pathways with little guidance. However, the Eight Extraordinary Meridians were different. The first was the most crucial, and Yan Ping needed to guide Anji through that personally. Once the Du Meridian, in charge of regulating the brain and nervous system, was established, Anji’s ability to control her own energy channels would increase, allowing her to independently cultivate the rest of her meridian pathways.
"It’s a good answer, but you can establish them yourself. We will look into establishing your extraordinary meridian’s root today, starting from the Governor Vessel. Twenty-eight acupoints run along your spinal cord, involving your brain and nervous system. As it is a delicate place, shifu will be doing the guiding. Your job is to receive the energy guidance and focus on regulating it within your capacity. Continue meditating during the lesson, and let me know whenever you need a break. I will establish the meridian pathway one acupoint at a time, which could take several days to finish mapping the entire Governor Vessel. You might feel nauseous throughout or even dizzy."
According to the books she read, the Governor Vessel was a key meridian pathway known as the core of cultivation. It was the meridian most connected to the golden core and the centre of life energy distribution in the body. The supporting polar opposite of the Governor Vessel was the Conception Vessel, but they were essentially two different sides of the same coin. In most cultivation sequences, they were one of the last stages of cultivation as it required a high level of control and mastery over energy.
"Shifu," Anji expressed her concern. "Anji thinks that might be too difficult. I’ve barely understood my body’s limits and energy control. If anything goes wrong, shifu will sustain severe internal injuries."
Not expecting Anji to know about the risks involved, Yan Ping remained silent for a while. Truthfully, her student was not wrong. It was a plan with a high risk. However, she had her circumstances for taking this risk. After learning that it would take her several decades to recover to her original cultivation base, Yan Ping knew that bidding time would not work. Even if she helped Anji rebuild all her main meridians, she would still have to help Anji build the eight extraordinary meridians. She could not put this off because of the core and valve spell’s durability. If Yan Ping delayed it too long, she had to redo those spells to ensure its safety. However, those were spells that she could only cast when she was at the Supreme Core level. Unless Anji was willing to wait several decades, if she did not die because of an exploding golden core, Yan Ping did not have a better alternative.
"It’s a risk I’ve decided to take," Yan Ping told Anji. "Shifu has reasons to take this risk, so I hope you will also do your best. It would be unfortunate if I sustained injuries, but they won’t be fatal."
Even if the injuries were not fatal, Anji could not help but worry for her teacher. She had barely stepped into the world of cultivation, and the starting line was already rough. She would rather be the one getting injured than her shifu. However, the prophet seemed to have made up her mind. No matter what Anji said, Yan Ping did not seem like someone who would change her mind.
"Anji will never forget this kindness shifu has shown me," she said, bending and kneeling on the floor to kowtow deeply in respect and gratitude.
Receiving the weight of her students’ feelings, Yan Ping nodded and told Anji that they would begin after lunch. Lizi, who was waiting outside the door to enter, bit her bottom lip. Although the people at the Celestial Dragon Sect already knew of Yan Ping’s risky plans, they couldn’t do anything to stop her. They were truly indebted to the blind prophet.