Cultivation is Creation

Taking a deep breath, I gathered qi into my right hand. Unlike the dense, almost syrupy consistency of the red sun's energy, qi felt lighter, more responsive. It flowed like water rather than honey, which made it both easier and harder to work with.

Easier because it moved more readily to my will. Harder because it didn't want to stay in place.

I began tracing the Protection Barrier formation in the air, trying to weave the qi into the patterns I'd learned. The outer circle came first, my finger leaving a faint trail of spiritual energy. But before I could complete it, the beginning started to fade.

"Hmm." I watched the qi dissipate. "That's annoying."

"Perhaps try it on the ground first?" Azure suggested. "The earth might help stabilize the energy pattern."

That made sense. After all, most formation masters started with physical mediums before moving to pure energy manipulation. I knelt and began tracing the pattern on the ground, this time channeling qi more deliberately.

The outer circle took shape, glowing with a soft white light. I added the three foundation triangles at precise 120-degree intervals, making sure each line was exact. The connecting lines came last, creating the paths for energy flow.

The qi didn't immediately dissipate like it had in the air, but I wasn’t sure for how long it would last.

"Not bad," Azure commented. "Though you might want to adjust the angle of the northwest triangle slightly. It's off by about 0.4 degrees."

I made the correction, feeling the formation's energy flow smooth out. "The ground definitely helps. It's like... having training wheels."

"Azure," I asked as I studied my handiwork, "what else did those books say about formation weaving? I only skimmed that section."

"The key difference isn't just in the medium used, but in how the qi is bound into stable patterns."

"Like programming with energy instead of chalk?" I suggested.

"Similar concept. When using physical tools, the medium itself helps maintain the formation's structure. With pure qi manipulation, you need to create what the texts call 'resonance anchors' - points where the energy pattern is self-sustaining."

I nodded slowly. "So it's not enough to just draw the lines, I need to make them... stick?"

"The books describe two main techniques: Energy Layering and Pattern Locking. Energy Layering involves creating multiple 'sheets' of qi that reinforce each other. Pattern Locking uses specific resonance frequencies to make the qi naturally want to maintain its shape."

"Right." I sat back, breaking it down into steps. "So first, draw the formation. Then layer the energy to give it structure. Finally, lock the pattern so it holds its shape."

"That's the basic process, yes."

I tried again, this time focusing on building layers of qi as I drew each line. It was like... painting with watercolors, each stroke adding depth and substance. The formation took shape more slowly, but the lines glowed with a steadier light.

Still dissipated after about thirty seconds, though.

"The resonance," Azure suggested. "Try adjusting the qi's frequency as you layer it."

The next attempt lasted almost a minute before fading. The one after that made it to two minutes but the energy flow was uneven. The fourth try created a nice stable pattern, but it collapsed as soon as I tried to activate it.

It took another four attempts before I started to get a feel for the proper resonance. It was like... tuning an instrument, but with qi instead of strings. Too high, and the energy became unstable. Too low, and it wouldn't hold its shape.

Finally, on my thirteenth try, everything clicked. The qi flowed smoothly into the pattern, the layers reinforced each other naturally, and the resonance locked everything into place. The formation glowed with a steady white light.

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I sat back, grinning. "Now that's more like it."

"Shall we test it?" Azure asked.

I nodded. "Yggy? Want to do the honors? Maybe ten percent power?"

The vine uncoiled from where it had been watching, it manifested thorns that looked perfectly designed for testing barrier strength.

The first strike hit like a hammer, sending ripples through the barrier's energy field. The second and third came in quick succession, testing different points of the formation. The fourth found a weak spot in one of the connecting lines, and the whole thing shattered.

"Four hits," I nodded, actually quite pleased. "Not bad for a first success. Should be enough to handle third-stage attacks, at least briefly."

With that confidence boost, I moved on to the Light Formation. The experience from the Protection Barrier made this one easier - I already had a better feel for the energy layering and resonance locking.

The pattern was simpler too - a central core for focusing qi, radiating lines for distribution, and an outer circle for containment. It only took three attempts to get it right, and when I activated it, the formation cast a steady blue-white light across the practice area.

"Efficient," Azure commented. "Though the color is a bit... distinctive."

I shrugged. "We can work on that later. For now, I'm more interested in the Qi Gathering Circle."

This formation fascinated me for several reasons. As I drew the nested circles and inward-spiraling lines, I watched qi literally flow through the World Tree Sutra's pathways into my inner world, then concentrate in the formation's center.

"Azure," I said slowly, an idea forming, "if qi can enter my inner world... and this formation can gather and concentrate it..."

"You're thinking about qi storage," Azure finished my thought. "For use in the Two Suns' world."

"Exactly. If we could store qi here, then no more burning through soul essence for basic techniques."

Azure's form flickered slightly, the way it always did when it was trying to figure out how to tell me something was impossible without hurting my feelings. "That sounds good in theory, but there's a small problem, Master."

"Oh?" I raised an eyebrow. "What's wrong with my brilliant plan?"

"There are no rank one qi storage formations in any of the books we just read."

I frowned. "Why not? It seems like such a basic and useful thing to have."

"Because," Azure explained, "qi storage formations would incorporate aspects from qi gathering formations which makes them more difficult to draw. But the bigger issue is that they require a constant stream of qi to stay active. In fast-paced situations like battle, this would be the cultivator channeling directly into their formations. For long-term situations, spirit stones are used as power sources."

"Ah." I deflated slightly. "Which means until I can store spirit stones in my inner world, my plan to have hundreds of storage formations will have to wait."

"Don't forget just how expensive that would be," Azure added with a smile. "You'll have to wait until you're rich too."

I sighed, looking around at the practice area we'd set up. The ground was covered in the fading remnants of my previous attempts at qi-woven formations. "Just out of curiosity, what level are qi storage formations anyway?"

"That would be something that level three practitioners learn," Azure replied. "Along with elemental manipulation and more complex qi circuits."

"Well then," I straightened up, "we might as well try to breakthrough to level two. I meet the requirements to begin learning level two formations, at least."

"While you do meet the requirements to learn level two formations, you'll only be considered a level two formation practitioner when you can create your own level two formation."

I remembered reading about that. Since there were infinite possible designs for formations, to progress to the next level, a practitioner had to create their own version of an existing formation type. It wasn't enough to just copy what others had done – you had to demonstrate true understanding by innovating.

As for how plagiarism was detected in this world... well, I wasn't sure, but I doubted I'd be able to get away with it with Elder Chen Yong. Despite his perpetually drunk appearance, the elder seemed to know his stuff.

Not that I would try to cheat my way up the levels anyway – I wasn't learning formations for status or recognition. I wanted to truly understand this fascinating system of communicating with spiritual energy, its potential was…limitless.

"So," Azure's voice broke through my thoughts, "which formation would you like to level up?"

I considered each of the three formations I knew. The Light Formation was probably the simplest – its basic purpose was just to create illumination. Making it dynamic would mostly involve adding the ability to adjust brightness or maybe change colors. Not particularly useful.

The Qi Gathering Circle was more complex and more useful. A dynamic version could possibly adjust its gathering range or focus on specific types of spiritual energy. But something about it felt... incomplete. Like I was missing some fundamental understanding of how qi gathering worked.

That left the Protection Barrier. I smiled as I remembered Hong Yue testing my barrier. The massive bear's demonstration had actually taught me a lot about the formation's strengths and weaknesses. The way she'd systematically probed for weak points, how the barrier had responded to different types of strikes...

"The Protection Barrier," I decided. "It's the one I understand best, both in terms of its structure and its practical application. Plus, having a more advanced defensive formation seems like it would be particularly useful given... well, everything."

"A sensible choice," Azure agreed. "The books actually had three different examples of level two protection barriers. Would you like to see them?"

"Show me."

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