Content Warning: Wuxia! If you are not a fan of the cultivation type novels this chapter may not be your cup of tea. Feel free to skip this chapter if you want.
I snap out of the slight daze I fell into when Skadi and Aurora rushed forward. A tiny shiver along my skin brings my attention to my arm, stretching out in front of me as if trying to reach for my team. Lowering it, I take a cautious step forward, causing Skadi's beautiful tails to wave like clouds made solid. Her unconscious action causes me to smile, which seems to release some of the tension that seemed to have built up.
My first few steps are slow, like trying to walk against a swift river, but the effect quickly disappears, making it seem like it was more mental than anything else. As I get closer, the air thickens, causing me to take long, slow yet deep breaths that fill my lungs fully. Each breath leaves a refreshing feeling that pulses through my body. Before long, I reach the edge of the crystalline water, causing me to pause in my advancement.
The distance between where the water starts and where the inner island begins is a little more than twice my height. I feel that I could easily jump that distance, but a feeling in my gut seems to warn me away from that action. Kneeling, I reach out and lightly touch the water, only to find that crystalline was a bit more literal than I thought. I can't feel any temperature from it, but it is as smooth as glass and nearly frictionless under my hand. It takes me a moment to realize that it is actually ice, crystal clear ice.
I stand back up, feeling that my caution was a little excessive, but then again, this is a weird place. I shake my head slightly, pushing the random thoughts out as I take my first step onto the crystalline surface. The instant my foot touches the ice, a storm of energy presses against me. My step forward falters slightly as I go to step back and catch myself, only to find I can't retreat as my back slams into something behind me. A quick glance back over my shoulder doesn't show any changes, yet I still can't move back.
Shaking my head again, and letting my thoughts clear, I face forward and take a strong step. The wind of energy blasts towards me once more as my foot meets the ice, but this time I brace for it. As I go to take another step, I realize that I am not slipping backwards, but every millimeter of progress is like trying to drag a boulder. Step by agonizing step, I inch closer to my waiting team, who watch me without a lick of worry.
After an unknown amount of time, I finally step off the clear ice and onto the snowy island in the center. I have to catch myself from falling as the headwind suddenly disappears and a sudden weight presses on my shoulders. I don't know if I am being tested, but I save myself from falling to my knees, if only by a hair, and continue my labors towards the center. The crunch of snow under my shoes is the only real sound, besides my steady breathing, as I make my way under the steadily increasing pressure. Between the thick air pushing against the wind and now pressure, the rhythm of my breathing shifts ever so slightly until I start to use my cultivation technique automatically.
After a few cycles, my aura starts to move in response to my breathing, which seems to cause all the pressure on my body to suddenly disappear. The change is so abrupt that I find myself face-first into the snow, mere inches from the Ice Stone. I push myself up from the snow, blowing a stray strand of hair out of my face as I notice my two team members laughing quietly. I send them a dirty look as I finish getting to my feet, only for the pressure to return as I stopped circling my technique. I close my eyes and let out a long breath before restarting the controlled rhythm.
Now that I am focusing, I notice that my internal energy and the pressure outside start to equalize as my technique finishes its first cycle, only for them to snap together the moment I hit the start of the next cycle. 'This would have been nice to know earlier,' I tell myself mentally, feeling like a fool for fighting my way through. I examine my aura for a few more moments and, on seeing no further changes, I decide to open my eyes again, making sure to keep with my rhythmic breaths.
In front of me sits the eye-catching center piece of the cavern, bathed in bright silver moonlight. The aquamarine-like stone spar rises from the ground like a cresting geyser frozen in time. Standing this close to it, the imperfections of the stone stand out against the seemingly smooth surface, revealing several little shelves that look almost like a seat. A gentle push against my back draws my attention away from the crystal to see Skadi pushing me forward with her tails.
"You want me to sit?" I ask my oldest partner. I see her nod at me just as I feel a gentle push on my thigh from a paw. Knowing that my team will not do anything to hurt me, I move closer to the huge crystal and find what looks like a divot just big enough for me to sit in. I sit down on the edge of the divot and lean against the body of the Ice Stone and realize that the shelf is deeper than I had thought, so I sit cross-legged on it instead of letting my feet dangle. As I settle into position, I take note of the sure amount of energy that seems to encase me from every direction except the front, as the stone seems to pulse in time with the cycles of my technique.
I gently close my eyes and allow myself to sink deep into my cultivation. The normal darkness that I come to associate with my inner world is absent, and instead I am greeted by a massive plane of white and blue. In the center of the plane sits a dull gray core, floating over top a small spire of crystal that looks to be nearly transparent aquamarine. I cast my mental self down towards the centerpiece, and when I arrive next to it, I can see thin blue tendrils coming off the top of the spire and seemingly flowing towards the core, only to wrap around it.
Nothing else seems to happen as I complete another cycle of my technique. I observe for another few cycles, noting the lack of change except for the cloud of energy surrounding the core to grow slightly thicker. I do note a slight feeling around where my core should sit, like being bloated, but that is only because I am actively looking for changes.
So far, I have just been letting my technique run passively, mainly trying to observe what is happening. For the first time since entering this hidden grotto, I actively attempt to take control of it, only for the core in front of me to pulse with a wild spike of energy, blasting me away from it. I land in the snow a few meters away with a quiet thump. When I grabbed the energy like I normally would, instead of feeling slippery, it was like trying to hold back a raging waterfall. I sit up to look at my core again, which still seems normal, except for there being less energy around it.
A slight huff escapes my lips. I know that I have been slacking on my training lately, but getting the Team Rocket treatment is ridiculous. I start to gently take control of my aura once more, allowing myself to exert more power as I feel it starting to slip again. It takes me longer than I want to admit to take full control of my raging aura, but eventually, it is willing to follow my commands once again. Once it is under my control, I am able to feel that there are two different streams of aura, one that feels tamed and one that rampages as it fights to escape my grasp.
Using the tame energy, I guide the two streams towards my core. Once the streams touch my core, a small suction effect appears, drawing in both streams slowly. I start to lessen my grip over my aura, causing the other energy to buck wildly and break the connection to my core. There is a small wompf from the center of the area, but no huge blast this time. I frown at the failure but set up the slow draw of energy once more.
I sit there in my inner world, letting time just tick away while I keep a mental hold on my aura as it slowly feeds into my core at a snail's pace. I watched my core for a while, but the lack of any change made it feel as if I was watching grass grow during the winter. Feeling as if I now have enough control over the current process, I start looking around my modified inner world. Everything around me looks to be a large flat plain of pure white snow. There is not a single imperfection on the surface, besides where I landed and around the spire where the energy exploded earlier. Surrounding the plain are a bunch of mountains or glaciers. It is hard to tell which from this distance, but the entire thing almost feels like the caldera of a super volcano. Above me is a clear blue sky without a single cloud or snowflake, but there is no sun despite being as bright as noon.
Finding nothing to keep me occupied, I turn back to my core, wondering if there is any reason to do this. It felt right at the time, but there is no proof that it is. As my eyes land on my core, I wonder if the white of the surrounding snow is playing tricks on me, as it is snow white instead of the dull gray that it was previously. I raise my eyebrow in interest as I move closer once more to examine the changes. As I watch once more, I find that my core pulses every so often with a nearly colorless light, which causes it to slowly shift colors.
Wondering if it is possible to increase the absorption rate, I start moving my aura around cautiously. Testing different points on my core doesn't seem to cause any changes to the flow, and neither does coating it. The coating actually nearly makes me lose control of my aura again, but I quickly get a handle on it before another explosion can occur. As I am pulling back the sheathing, I notice a small spike of increased absorption from energy being compressed, and on a closer inspection, when I try to repeat the process, I find that it is only the untamed energy that is being absorbed instead of my refined aura.
With that information, I start to play with different techniques to try to compress it. One idea is to try rotating it, almost like a whirlpool, but that actually made the suction worse, as the energy actually just dissipated before it reached the core. The next few attempts were things like attempting to create a press of sorts or trying to gather everything up and press it with my mental hands. I even tried some of those things they describe, yet don't describe, in wuxia novels, only for nothing to happen.
In my fumbling attempts to compress the energy, I end up doing something that I will come to realize is a very stupid thing to do. I pressed my core to the Ice Stone in my inner world. The next thing I know is the sound of something screeching and blinding pain.