“He wants to make it available to all sides,” Cha Ming finished. “For science.”
“For science,” the others in the room echoed, almost religiously.
“I’m afraid I can’t do that,” Cha Ming said. “The right knowledge in the wrong hands is too dangerous.”
“We understand that,” Elder Gan said, “which is exactly why we limit people in our faction to those who at least have neutral merit glow.”
“Neutral?” Cha Ming quirked an eyebrow. “That’s much lower than the merit-glow threshold the Alabaster Group usually asks for.”
“Much lower, but we’ve had little choice,” Elder Gan said. “If we didn’t, we’d lose almost all our new members. It would only be a matter of time before our faction was relegated to a group of crabby old men. And women,” he added, looking to the two others.
“Who are you calling old?” Elder Xia said.
Cha Ming massaged his brow. He didn’t like revealing too many cards, but if things were truly so desperate for them in Haijing, it wouldn’t be long before they were forced out. And if they were, it was only a matter of time before the South had a substantial technological edge over them.
“I can help, but I have some conditions,” Cha Ming said finally.
“What are your conditions?” Elder Gan asked cautiously. “Our finances are rather limited.”
“I don’t need funding,” Cha Ming said. “Just assurances. And information.”
Elder Gan sighed in relief.
“Don’t be too excited. My conditions are that the bar be raised back up to a requirement for positive merit glow. In addition to any standard nondisclosure contracts, we’ll also need to amend the contracts and have them swear to never discuss dissolving their contracts with Zhou Li, whether directly or indirectly, nor to allow him to interfere with their karma.”
“What does Zhou Li have to do with nondisclosure contracts, exactly?” Cang Fuxi asked.
Now that Cha Ming got a better look at him, the seemingly argumentative man looked every inch a lawyer.
“Zhou Li cultivates fire and fate,” Cha Ming said. “He can burn karmic obligations, which is why I think he’s been so good at hiding. I don’t know what he can do from a distance, but at least we can stop his open and above-board meddling.”
Cang Fuxi hissed between his teeth. He evidently hadn’t thought of the possibility.
“Is that all?” Elder Gan asked.
“I have two more conditions,” Cha Ming said. “My second condition is that, since a war is brewing, any members must not seek employment with anyone from the Southern Alliance. If that’s too hard a pill to swallow, we don’t need them. I will not be divulging knowledge to aid my enemies.
“My last condition is that you help me find a seller for Waters of Life, a peak-demon bone relic, and Water Source Marrow. There’s no need to purchase them for me—I’ll do the buying myself. My information-gathering abilities are fairly limited, so I’ll need to lean on you for this.
“If you meet these requirements, I can gift our group my interpretation of peak grandmaster herbology, formation arts, as well as talisman arts. I’m also in the middle of comprehending an ancient inheritance. Should I succeed in obtaining it, I’ll be able to add comprehensive elder-level alchemical arts to the list.”
“We’ll have to think about it,” Elder Gan said hesitantly. “The formation arts are tempting, and so is the herbology. Still, it’s just too risky.”
Cha Ming shrugged. “You have my votes for now. In addition, I can take on some in-name and personal disciples. You also have my permission to approach my disciples and convince them to share their knowledge. However, the same conditions would apply for them as well. I will not be teaching them only to have others convince them to share knowledge with ill-meaning individuals.”
“We’ll consider it,” Elder Gan said. “Now, if you’ll excuse us, we have many other matters to discuss.”
“No need to rush,” Cha Ming said. “I’ll be in seclusion for a while. It could be weeks or even months.” He got up and left the meeting room, returning to his cultivation chamber. He had little desire for boards or meetings. As far as he was concerned, they were the least productive use of a man’s time.
On his way back, he summoned two balls of qi, one white and one black. He twirled them around playfully, just like he had when he’d been speaking to Zi Long. Then, using his transcendent soul, he nudged them together. He didn’t force the two to coexist; no, that was impossible. But the suggestion of what could be and what might be caused black and white to overlap for a short moment. And in that instance in time, that slice of reality, a wisp of violet smoke flew into the air just before the two spheres annihilated themselves.
“Illusory qi,” he whispered. He pondered chasing the idea, pondered replicating the phenomenon. But in that moment, he made a decision that would forever define his cultivation. His Dao was real, and his qi should be too. Zi Long was following a different path, and guiding his path was just as important as confirming his own.
Chapter 8: First, Master the Elements
Cha Ming appeared in a world of all-encompassing white and immediately headed toward the floating garden in the distance. He passed schools of flying fish and passed over nymph-tended woods bursting with medicinal plants. He reached the mountain plateau a short while later. There, Sun Wukong was busy executing a fearsome dance with his staff. The five elements hovered around the Monkey King, but now that Cha Ming looked closely, he noticed an imbalance. Earth was substantially stronger for the monkey, which made sense given the legends that he was born from stone. The strong earth focused the other four elements, centering them around a common purpose.
The dance reminded Cha Ming of his own fighting style in an abstract way. His water and earth techniques were strongest, followed by gold. Fire came next, and
