Mingzhi stepped out of the hut, blinking in the morning sunlight. He felt different today. He felt heavy, solid, as if gravity had shaken hands with him and agreed to a partnership.

  Chen Rou stood by the garden fence, clutching her blue cultivation manual. She looked up at him, her eyes red-rimmed from a sleepless night of failure. But as she watched him walk, her brow furrowed.

  "Ming'er," she asked, tilting her head. "Why are you barefoot?"

  Mingzhi paused. He looked down at his bare feet, caked with the dried mud of the field.

  "Ah," he said, keeping his face perfectly serious. "I have formed my Seed. I am one with the earth now. Shoes sever the connection between man and nature."

  Rou blinked. Her mouth opened slightly. "Really? Is that... is seed forming really that magical?"

  Mingzhi held the pose for two seconds longer, then cracked a grin. "No. I just forgot them inside because I was excited."

  Rou let out a startled laugh, the tension in her shoulders breaking. "You idiot. I thought you had ascended or something."

  "Give me a second," Mingzhi laughed, ducking back inside.

  He grabbed his worn straw sandals. As he tied them on, stood up and went out.

  "Now," Rou asked while tilting her head. "Will you tell me why exactly were you barefoot?"

  Mingzhi’s expression turned serious. "Do you remember when I told you, after I failed to form the seed, that I had some insights?"

  "Yes."

  "This was one of them. My problem with seed forming was mainly the lack of Qi and where is Earth Qi densest? Not in the air, but on the ground. So I used my feet to absorb more."

  "Wow" she said. "It sounds logical."

  "We will spend some time outside," Mingzhi said. "Did you bring a snack? We might be there for a while."

  Rou brightened. She reached into her sash and pulled out a small, pale-yellow fruit. "I brought Moon-Pears! My father bought them in the city. They have a trace of Spirit Qi."

  She offered one to Mingzhi.

  "Mingzhi," the Spirit whispered, sounding disdainful. "Do not ingest that. It is ninety-nine percent cellulose and water. The 'trace' of Qi is barely sufficient to feed a beetle. Why is she offering you chaff? Is this a mortal insult?"

  "It's a gift, " Mingzhi thought back, suppressing a smile. "Be nice."

  "Thanks, Rou'er," he said aloud, taking the pear. He took a bite. It was sweet and crisp. "It's delicious."

  "Now let’s get down to business," He looked at her seriously. "Do you have Water Spirit Stones? Or Crystals?"

  Rou nodded. "My father gave me a pouch. Nine High-Grade, seven Mid-Grade, and twelve Low-Grade stones. He wanted to make sure I had enough."

  Mingzhi whistled. "Your father doesn't mess around."

  "Why?" Rou asked. "If I can't handle the thin air, won't the stones just make it worse?"

  "Not if we use them right," Mingzhi said. "Listen, Rou. Most people form a Low-Quality Seed. It’s loose, like a slush ball. It breaks easily."

  "Seed quality?" she asked.

  "Yes, the denser, more refined and bigger the seed, the better the quality."

  He stopped walking and looked her in the eye.

  "You... you have the potential for a Perfect Seed. A solid sphere of compressed power. The problem isn't that you have too much power; it's that you don't have enough pressure to hold it together. You need to drown the flood until it has no choice but to become a solid."

  Rou gasped, her eyes wide. "A Perfect Seed?"

  "You are a genius," Mingzhi stated simply. "You just need better control."

  "So," Mingzhi said as they walked. "Tell me exactly what happened last night. Walk me through the failure."

  Rou sighed, kicking a pebble. "I sat in my room. I used the Flowing River Manual my father bought. I started to pull the Water Qi..."

  "And?"

  "And it didn't trickle," she said, frustration creeping into her voice. "It flooded. It was like opening a dam. The Qi rushed into my Dantian so fast I couldn't compress it. It just swirled around and around until it hurt, and then... poof. It exploded outward. I spent half the night coughing up water."

  "Even in your room?" Mingzhi asked. "The Water Qi there is thin."

  "That's the problem!" Rou threw her hands up. "If I can't control it when it's thin, how am I supposed to cultivate?"

  "It’s because of lack of resistance," Mingzhi said. "There is close to zero resistance. The water moves too fast for you to catch."

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  "Spirit, you heard her. She failed because the flow was too strong. Where is the best place for a Water cultivator to form a seed?"

  "The environment dictates the intake," the Spirit’s scholarly voice replied. "If her internal flow is turbulent, she requires an external environment that is fluid yet constant. A river. Preferably moving water, not stagnant."

  "Got it."

  Mingzhi started walking . "Okay. Let's go."

  "Where?" Rou asked.

  "First we need to pick up the Spirit Stones from your house, then look for the perfect cultivating spot."

  After they got the stones, they began to walk toward the path that led upstream, away from the village and toward the foothills of the East Warden.

  They continued walking. The path grew steeper, winding alongside the Green River as it narrowed and quickened, flowing down from the mountain.

  After two sticks of incense worth of walking, the Spirit spoke up.

  "Halt, Mingzhi."

  Mingzhi stopped. "Here?"

  "To your left. Down the embankment. The river bends around a cluster of limestone rocks. The spray from the small waterfall creates a highly saturated mist. The Water Qi density is optimal."

  Mingzhi led Rou down the slope.

  It was a beautiful spot. The river cascaded over a series of mossy steps, creating a curtain of white foam before settling into a crystal-clear, shallow pool. The air was cool and damp, filled with the roar of the water.

  "This is it," Mingzhi said. "Take off your shoes."

  Rou hesitated for a second, glancing at him, but then nodded. She sat on a rock and unlaced her silk shoes, placing them neatly on a dry stone. She rolled up her trousers to her knees, revealing pale, slender calves, she figured out why he said that.

  Mingzhi did the same, kicking off his sandals.

  "Into the water," Mingzhi said, wading in. The water was freezing, biting at his skin, but his Earth Seed made him feel stable, like a pylon driven into the riverbed.

  Rou stepped in gingerly. She shivered. "It’s cold!"

  "Good," Mingzhi said. "Cold focuses the mind. Stand there. Where the water is knee-deep."

  She waded out to the center of the pool. The current pushed against her legs, but she stood firm.

  "Okay," Mingzhi said, standing a few feet away. "Show me. Try to run your manual. I need to see the failure."

  Rou took a deep breath. She closed her eyes and started her technique.

  The air around her changed instantly. The mist from the waterfall seemed to gravitate toward her. A faint blue light began to glow around her body.

  "Remarkable suction," the Spirit noted. "She is a living vortex."

  "Compress it!" Mingzhi called out over the roar of the river.

  Rou frowned. Her hands trembled. The blue light around her intensified, swirling faster and faster. The water in the river around her legs began to churn, agitated by her leaking Qi.

  "I... I can't hold it!" Rou cried out, her voice panicked. "It's spinning too fast!"

  "Don't fight it!" Mingzhi shouted. "Guide it!"

  She tried. She really tried. But the Flowing River Manual was too crude. It was designed for average talents who needed to scoop water with a bucket. Rou was trying to scoop a tsunami with a spoon.

  BOOM.

  The energy lost cohesion.

  It exploded outward from her Dantian.

  A blast of water—actual river water, mixed with condensed Qi—erupted from her position.

  SPLASH.

  It hit Mingzhi square in the chest.

  It wasn't an attack; it was just a splash. But because of the Qi, it hit with the force of a heavy wave. Mingzhi was knocked backward, splashing into the river, soaked from head to toe.

  He sat up in the water, sputtering, wiping wet hair out of his eyes.

  Rou opened her eyes, horrified. "Ming'er! Are you okay?"

  Mingzhi sat there, dripping wet, looking like a drowned rat.

  "Terrifying," the Spirit’s voice deadpanned in his head.

  Mingzhi coughed, spitting out river water. "I'm fine," he groaned, standing up. "Just... use less force next time."

  Rou rushed over, splashing more water everywhere. "I'm so sorry! I told you! It just... bursts!"

  "She is a natural disaster in a dress. If she sneezes during cultivation, she might flood the valley." the Spirit added.

  Mingzhi held up a hand to stop her. "It’s not your fault. It’s the manual."

  He waded back to the bank, ringing out his sleeves.

  "Spirit," he thought. "The Flowing River Manual. Is it good?"

  "Its Grade is Low Quality," the Spirit replied, sounding offended by the technique's existence. "It utilizes a 'Channeling' method. It tries to force the water into a line. For her constitution, this is incorrect. She does not need a channel; she needs an Ocean."

  "Do we have something better?"

  "I’m searching the Water Technique Archives and filtering for her case... found the best one."

  "Technique: 'The Moon-Tide Scripture'. Origin: The Lunar Palace of the Eastern Sea. It does not force the water; it uses a rhythmic cycle, like the tides, to compress the energy gently over time. It is a perfect match."

  Mingzhi smiled. He climbed out of the water and sat on a dry rock.

  "Rou," he called out. "Come here."

  She waded over, looking miserable. "Maybe I'm not cut out for this, Ming'er. Maybe my constitution is a curse."

  "Sit," Mingzhi said.

  She sat next to him, shivering slightly in her wet clothes.

  "The book your father bought," Mingzhi said gently. "It’s not the best for talents like you."

  Rou blinked. "It cost ten silver taels!"

  "It’s a spoon," Mingzhi said. "You need a bucket. Listen to me. I have a better technique here, an old one. It’s called the Moon-Tide Scripture."

  Rou looked at him, skeptical. "A better manual?"

  "Just trust me," Mingzhi said, his eyes intense. "Close your eyes. Listen to the words."

  He began to recite the chant the Spirit was feeding him.

  "The ocean breathes. It does not rush. It rises... and it falls."

  "Inhale the tide. Hold the crest. Exhale the foam."

  Rou closed her eyes. She listened. The words were strange, poetic, far more complex than the blunt instructions of the Wang family’s manuals.

  "Visualize your Dantian not as a pot," Mingzhi guided, his voice soft against the roar of the waterfall. "Visualize it as a bay. Let the water flow in... and then let it settle. Don't push. Just let it rise."

  Rou’s breathing slowed. The blue light around her body returned, but this time, it wasn't a chaotic swirl. It was a gentle pulse. In... Out... In... Out.

  The water in the river around her feet stopped churning. It calmed, rippling in time with her breath.

  Mingzhi watched her, amazed. She learns so fast. I had to build an array and use the Spirit’s help. She just listens and does it.

  "Her comprehension is high," the Spirit admitted. "However, the Seed formation requires a Catalyst. The Moon-Tide Scripture is slow. If she relies only on ambient Qi, it will take weeks to fill her 'Bay'."

  "She has the stones," Mingzhi thought. "And she has me."

  He looked at Rou. She was deep in a trance, a look of peace on her face for the first time in days.

  "Rou," he whispered. "Keep breathing. I'm going to comprehend something, then help you."

  "How?" she murmured, her eyes still closed.

  "I'm going to be the shore," Mingzhi said. "I'm going to hold the water so it can get deep."

  He turned to the Spirit. "Okay. How do I do this?"

  "You must use your Earth Qi," the Spirit instructed. "Earth restrains Water. Place your hand on her back, over the Dantian. Project your Qi into her meridians. Do not attack; just create a shell. A dam. Block the exits so her level can rise. Do not overexert yourself. Your Seed is newborn. You will assist me — not replace me.”

  Mingzhi nodded. He immersed in comprehending the technique.

  He closed his eyes. He summoned his own Seed—the heavy, stone-colored Heart in his gut.

  Thump.

  He pushed a stream of Earth Qi out of his hand and practiced.

  They sat there together by the river, soaked and shivering, each doing their own training. The trash boy building the walls, and the genius girl controlling the ocean.