~~~
Two weeks have passed since Liu Jin was saved by Xiao Fang.
Two weeks have passed since Liu Jin and Xiao Fang last exchanged words.
No, perhaps even saying they exchanged words two weeks ago is an exaggeration. After all, Xiao Fang had done his best to ignore Liu Jin's presence, only deigning to direct one sentence to him at the end and only to affirm saving Liu Jin from Yun Han changed nothing between them. Since then, Liu Jin has seen Xiao Fang once or twice around the Xiao Sect's compound but had been unsure of how to approach him.
As the Xiao Sect’s young master, Xiao Fang is a distant existence to him at the best of times. With this incident hanging between them, Liu Jin can only feel their relationship has become more complicated.
As far as Liu Jin can remember, Xiao Fang has been an annoyance. The older boy never made a secret what he thought of him and his father. Even after Liu Jin started training with the Xiao Sect, Xiao Fang plainly told him he would never see him as a real disciple of the Sect.
Yet Xiao Fang had saved him from a situation that could have ended badly for him. At worst, he could have died back there.
Xiao Fang had gone as far as to proclaim him a member of the Xiao Sect in front of everyone.
Liu Jin does not understand what motivated Xiao Fang to do so, but he cannot deny that it happened. Even if he does not like it–and he really does not like it–he owes Xiao Fang a debt. To think someone so unpleasant had to save him… it is nothing short of humi-
"Focus!"
A single word from his father is all it takes to shake him out of his thoughts and back to his lessons.
Floating in front of Liu Jin are five different herbs that he is refining with his Qi. It is a simple exercise that Liu Jin has been doing for as long as his father has been teaching him. Refining ingredients is an important skill for a doctor to have. Once ingredients have been properly refined, they will show improved properties. Two doctors can use the same ingredients to make a medicine, but a medicine made with ingredients that have been refined will show better results than one made with ingredients that have not been refined at all.
Each ingredient was unique and required focus and concentration to properly refine. Liu Jin started learning by refining one ingredient at a time. The first time, it took him over an hour. He has, of course, gotten much better since then. Two years ago, Liu Jin first managed to refine two ingredients at the same time. Currently, five was his limit.
According to his father, a true master could refine any number of ingredients in a single breath, but Liu Jin is still far from that level.
On average, Liu Jin can refine five ingredients in sixty breaths. His personal best is only forty breaths. For someone his age, it is more than impressive. It is astounding. Liu Jin, however, does not know this. He can only outrageously compare himself to the standards of the great masters his father sometimes mentions.
Still, it is because he is not a great master that Liu Jin cannot allow his mind to wander during the exercise. Had his father not called out to him, he would have most likely lost control of the process, and the ingredients would have been ruined. Such an outcome cannot be allowed to happen.
Using Qi is not necessary to refine ingredients. Indeed, his father was able to refine ingredients without Qi for quite a few years before he taught Liu Jin how to do it. However, those other methods cannot compare with Qi when it comes to results and speed. That is why ever since he has been capable of it, Liu Jin has taken it upon himself to make sure the clinic is properly stocked with refined ingredients, one breath at a time.
"I am sorry, father," Liu Jin says once he has gotten the process back under control. "My mind will not wander anymore."
He does not say anything after that for he still hasn't finished refining the ingredients. A breath becomes five and five become twenty. By his fiftieth breath, Liu Jin has finished refining the ingredients and starts on the next set. Liu Jin repeats this process a total of ninety-nine times. The whole thing passes by in silence with him focusing under his father's watchful gaze. By the time Liu Jin finishes, his body is covered in a light sheen of sweat, and the sky has turned dark.
The fastest he managed to finish a set this time was forty-eight breaths.
Liu Jin frowns. His personal best of forty breaths is something he achieved at the beginning of the month. Since then, he only managed to replicate it once and has never once surpassed it.
"Father," Liu Jin speaks at last. "What am I doing wrong?"
"Your question is poorly phrased," Liu Jianguo replies. "If you were doing anything wrong, the process would not work, and the ingredients would be ruined. What you wish for is greater speed, and with that, I cannot help you."
His father does not say why he cannot help. It is obvious to the both of them. His father's ability to use Qi is ruined. For him, sensing the way Liu Jin manipulates Qi is impossible. Without that skill, there is no way for him to tell Liu Jin how to further improve his technique. That Liu Jianguo managed to teach his son how to refine ingredients in the first place is a testament to both his knowledge and his son's talent.
"As you accumulate experience, your speed and control should increase naturally," his father adds. "In fact, your improvement since the beginning of the month has been noticeable."
"I cannot claim credit for that, father. It was the venerable elder who cleared my meridians. Since then, I have had an easier time refining." It pains Liu Jin to admit it but without Old Jiang's help, he would probably still be stuck at sixty breaths, his previous record.
His father looks at him sharply the moment the words leave his mouth, and Liu Jin finds himself rooted to the spot for reasons completely unrelated to Qi. It strikes him, not for the first time, that the red eyes he and his father share can be quite intimidating.
"Master manipulated your meridians," Liu Jianguo states. There is not a single trace of doubt in voice.
"That is so," Liu Jin admits with a nod. He has no desire to hide things from his father. "Should he not have?"
"Should or should not are not things that matter to someone like him," his father scoffs. "Regardless, Master is brilliant, and he has no intention of harming you. I have no doubt that whatever he did to your meridians will only help you. However, you must not, under any circumstances, tell anyone what Master did."
Liu Jin blinks. "Is it truly that serious, father?"
"Son, how many people do you think possess the skill to open and close someone's meridians in an instant?"
Liu Jin mulls over the question for a while. Certainty, he has not heard of people capable of opening meridians so easily and quickly. However, Liu Jin does not know much of the world outside Eastern Port City. "Not many?" He guesses at last.
"That is an understatement,” his father replies. “To be able to open just one meridian like that is the sign of a true master. It is a feat most people will not see during their lifetimes, not even in the capital. Sects and Clans will kill to have such a person under their control. Master can open every single meridian and acupoint in a person's body in an instant. Do you understand what I mean, my son?"
Liu Jin does. When put like that, the implications are too clear to miss. Even at his young age, Liu Jin understands how important it is for Clans and Sects to gather resources that will help them reach higher levels of cultivation. His father's master is not just strong. He is someone people will go to war over.
"Is that related to his ailment?" Liu Jin asks after a while. Why does a man in the Emperor Realm hide his status and live in their simple house? Why was the man who taught his father dying in the middle of nowhere, desperately trying to make an antidote before he and Xiao Nan found him? The pieces are finally clicking in his mind.
"That is not for you to ask," his father replies, and the finality in his tone is enough for Liu Jin to drop that line of questioning.
"Did he teach you how to do it?" Liu Jin asks instead.
"Master taught me everything he could," His father says. It is not a real answer, but he is not denying the possibility. "Master is... Master is brilliant. Without a doubt, the best in the entire continent, and I would dare say he has no equal in this world. I have benefitted much from his teachings."
His father stops for a moment. An unfamiliar look crosses his face. A decision is made. "You could learn much from him."
This time, it is Liu Jin who stops. Time stops for him as he contemplates the magnitude of what his father just said.
"Do you think I should take his offer?" He asks at last.
It is true that the incident two weeks ago made him keenly aware of his own powerlessness once more. The memory is enough to make him clench his teeth. He knows becoming Old Jiang’s student can only help him grow. If he wants to get rid of his weakness, he needs but to take his offer.
However, his father is his master. He will not abandon him for mere power. Such a thing is unthinkable
"As your father, there are few things I could wish less," Liu Jianguo admits. "The knowledge master would bestow upon you comes with great danger. I have no doubt it will bring you no end of trouble. However, as a doctor, few things would make me prouder. There is no doubt in my mind you would only flourish under master's guidance. Meanwhile, you will only wither under mine. As the days go by, I become less and less capable of guiding you."
"Do not deny it!" His father says before Liu Jin can protest. "We both know it is true. The more you grow, the less I can help you. There is much I can still teach you. That is true. However, under my guidance, much of your potential is being squandered. If you had been under master's guidance this past month, you could have finished purifying each set in thirty breaths. Of that, there is no doubt in my mind."
To that, Liu Jin has nothing to say. He does not want to agree with his father's words, yet he cannot bring himself to disagree with them.
"It is your choice in the end, son," Liu Jianguo says. "Whether you wish to learn under master's guidance or not, the only one who can make such a choice is you."
Liu Jin is silent for a moment. He takes a long, calming breath.
"I will do it," Liu Jin replies at last. There is no doubt or hesitation in his voice. To him, his father will always be the greatest. That has not changed. Desire for power is not what guides his will.
As a doctor, few things would make me prouder.
Those words are enough for him. Liu Jin will make his father proud.
The next day, Liu Jin officially becomes Old Jiang's apprentice.
~~~