Aimless Ascension

Energy coursed through her body in a chaotic charge as Xiaolin gasped. She almost didn't have time to transform the worldly energy into Qi. It could've been disastrous for anyone else.

Mortals cycle the energy through their meridians and transform them into Qi, and only then would they have a full grasp over them. However, with the inconsiderable amount of Qi she possessed, circulating all the energy through the meridians and transforming them became terribly burdensome.

The healthy ratio was 10:1 for Qi to worldly energy. Xiaolin broke the rule the moment she began. She had no problem until it was 4:1, but she couldn't handle anymore currently.

Xiaolin had to limit her absorption of energy in the end, decreasing her chances of a breakthrough yet again. She smiled ruefully and continued on with the process.

Gale was watching everything across from her on the couch. He was completely oblivious to the occurrence inside her body. The sheer amount of energy she absorbed, if it were any other mortal, would probably burst into a muddle of bloody sap within a minute.

Her constitution, though faulty, kept her alive through the process of discharging energy, keeping only the amount she could handle.

"Don't force yourself," Gale advised eventually, "it might cause something drastic."

He didn't see any way for her to advance the way she was practising, to be honest. The amount of Qi she accumulated would eventually drop when she goes over a certain threshold, rendering all her effort futile. The process would leave her at ground zero.

If only her constitution didn't have this drastic effect, she would be a true monster in the martial world, but the universe wouldn't allow such existence, hence the flaw.

If only they could find a way to bypass the flaw. . .

Actually, Gale had found three ways, though two of them were out of his depth, leaving only the option with artificial fate-lock. However, she couldn't fuse with a fate-lock in her current state without getting heavily injured.

Xiaolin spent another hour cycling, getting nowhere. In the end, she collapsed on the floor, wincing. She might even cry if she was alone.

"From what I see, you won't be able to advance the way you're practising." Gale broke the silence. "A large amount of energy sure helps, but it can't bypass the flaw of your constitution." Gale paused for a moment, considering. "You can try with some pure crystal. Although I'm not sure if it, pure crystal can increase the transform speed by three or four-fold easily."

Xiaolin rolled to sit back up. Her robe was soaked in sweat and her skin had a hue of redness after all the effort she exerted in vain. "Senior, didn't you say pure crystal is poisonous to anyone below iron?"

"I did," Gale said, "but that anyone didn't seem to include you. Your constitution's flaw leaves you at the base of spirit art no matter how hard you practice, however, it still has one particular effect that you aren't aware of."

Xiaolin gave a quizzical look.

"Tell me, have you ever been afflicted with any spirit poisoning or affliction?"

Xiaolin thought, tilting her head. Eventually, she shook her head. "Not that I'm aware of."

"That's probably because your body releases all those spirit poisons as it does with energy," Gale said. "I'm not a hundred percent certain about this, but there is a pattern to how anatomy works, mundane or magical.

"If you don't mind, I would like you to do a small test."

"What test?" Xiaolin sat straighter, pushing away her fatigue.

Gale thought for a moment about how to phrase it right. "Basically, I'll inject you with a slow-working poison and see if you need an antidote or not." Xiaolin bit her lips thoughtfully as Gale added. "The poison will be nothing too serious, of course. If you don't want to, that's fine too."

"Okay," Xiaolin said after a while.

"Are you sure?"

Xiaolin nodded.

"Alright, let me get some non-fetal spirit drugs. Actually, I have one in mind. It only causes hallucination as a side effect and helps sleep."

After several minutes, when Xiaolin recovered slightly from her exhaustion, they proceeded with the experiment. Gale gave her a couple of drops of liquid drugs and told her to do nothing.

Gale kept his palm in contact with her, inspecting if there was any change. Time passed as Xiaolin started to grow sleepy. Unconsciously, she leaned on Gale and muttered something incoherent.

"Father!" she muttered as her figure lurched from her spot. She blinked multiple times and stared at Gale who was frowning at her.

"It didn't even last two minutes," Gale said. "For any normal mortal, this would give them a terrible headache. They would sleep for a dozen of hours even in the worst environment."

"I do feel sleepy, Senior."

"But you aren't sleeping," Gale said. "My intuition was right. Your body does take in all kinds of spirit elements, though to a limited value—the exact amount you can handle and releases the rest. This doesn't mean you're immune to all spirit poisoning, however. Anything strong and quick working can kill you like the rest of us, so don't try anything stupid."

Xiaolin nodded. She felt foreign energy invading her body as Gale relieved her of all the sleepy vibe she was getting. It didn't even last a moment after he withdrew his Qi.

"What about the pure crystal?"

"You can take it to a marginal degree," Gale gave the verdict. "Unfortunately, I don't have any pure crystal with me. Perhaps I can buy a few small beads from Shi Fan."

"Senior," Xiaolin chimed, feeling guilty, "you don't have to go that far for me. If it really helps, I don't mind using the marks I have."

"I don't think you have enough wealth to afford it," Gale told her. Xiaolin looked troubled hearing him out. "You can always borrow money from me. Honestly, I'm curious what you'd grow into when you advance."

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Weirdly, both farming and xianxia power systems are termed as cultivation.

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