Zhou slithered through the reeds of the swamp , his body still injured by the cat's claws but the pain was being soothed by the petal lingering in his scales.
His mind still a bit perplexed by the word 'Qi' . His stomach growled once ,more even though it hadn't even been that long since he ate the frog.
Zhou stuck his tongue out , looking for prey and feeling for the vibrations in the ground for prey , but to his dismay . No food or prey in site.
So as not to waste the strength he has , Zhou slithered back to the small hole he found before and sat still within in. There was something strangely ... calming about the stillness and tranquility.
Then -- Zhou felt it , the "Ball" in his abdomen , it was definitely there but there was an anomaly
It was leaking a Blue warmth ,
Could this be ... qi?
Those words felt alien in his mind , but it fit. The girl had spoken it , and now he understood --at least a little , that this bluish warmth , this essence, was qi
Zhou came to another realization, if that blue warmth was qi , then the "Ball" in my body is my source of strength .
Another strange word entered his mind "Dantian" he didn't know why , just like he didn't know how he thought of his name , but he will refer to the "Ball" as a Dantian from now on.
The Dantian was leaking , and every leak caused him to grow weaker and more vulnerable . His body was still. The fight with the cat not only drained him in flesh but damaged his Dantian.
The Dantian pulsed weakly, and Zhou realized why it was leaking.
The cat's claws had not only torn his flesh but also shaken something deeper inside him, the strike had cracked his fragile core, leaving it unstable each pulse spilled precious qi into the air, draining his strength little by little.
It wasn't just hunger that made him weak—it was the wound to his very source of power.
Yet he felt that even this inconvenience had a purpose . As the qi left his body . He clearly felt it pass through pathways , like hidden tunnels under his scales
His Instincts screamed at him to follow them , to try and use them
So he did.
He coiled his body tightly ,trying to move the Qi in his dantian , especially the one leaking out , but to no avail
However , rather than letting it bring him down , Zhou steeled himself and continued trying
And then--something changed
The Qi obeyed--even just for a fragile second , it obeyed
He hissed in shock and that break in concentration broke his control over his Qi.
He closed his eyes again , this time more deliberate and started reversing the flow of qi. Rather than it flowing out of the body , Zhou wanted it to flow into the body.
His tried doing this but this caused his Qi to go rampant and wild , causing unbearable pain . Zhou shrieked and thrashed about inside the dirt hole.
Reversing the flow of qi without proper experience and control is dangerous , but it isnt impossible as that is how qi gathering techniques are made but his Dantian is too small and far too weak
Suddenly-- The petal flared up from under his scales , calming the rampaging qi . Zhou had resigned himself to ever doing that any time soon.
After scraping that idea ,for now, Zhou sharpened his focus and deepened his coil , he took his time , slowly guiding the Qi into the nearest pathway on his scales
Then-- a spark occured on the surface of the skin , it was caused by the qi , he guided through the pathways.
This discovery made him hiss in anticipation as this means as long as Zhou can map out every path way in his body and where it leads to , he will be able to fire Qi from the body.
He realized forcing qi outward made sparks—his first true attack
While the earlier discovery is quite enough but he felt he was missing something , then-- it clicked , what about moving Qi inside his body to enhance it.
How would that work?
Another thought arose again , Zhou had an interesting idea. If expelling qi from the body uses the medium of the pathways then keeping qi in the body means blocking the pathways? .
Without any delay , immediately he made that connection , he slowly guided Qi to the pathways and instead of expelling it in a qi burst,. He guided the qi in his dantian to the other parts of his body like his muscles, Fangs and every other part
Guiding qi into his muscles made them tighten with strength—his second discovery
Zhou hissed weakly, his body sagging against the dirt walls of the hole. His Dantian was empty. Hollow. The warmth that had filled him only moments ago was gone, leaving behind nothing but fatigue.
He understood now. His strength was not endless. Every spark, every attempt to guide qi, drained the fragile well inside him. Without prey, without essence to refill it, he was powerless.
The realization made his hunger roar louder than ever. His stomach twisted, his fangs ached, and the ball in his belly pulsed faintly, whispering again: More… devour more…
Zhou coiled tighter, forcing himself to stay still. He wanted to rush out, to hunt, to tear into the first living thing he could find. But his body was weak, his wounds still raw. If he wasted what little strength he had left, he might not survive the next fight.
So he waited.
The swamp outside was alive with faint sounds—the drip of water, the buzz of insects, the distant croak of frogs. His tongue flicked, tasting the air that drifted into the hole. Nothing close. Nothing easy.
He closed his eyes again, focusing on the emptiness in his Dantian. It was small, fragile, cracked from the cat's strike. But it was there. His source of strength. His core.
He thought of the sparks that had sparked across his scales. His first attack. He thought of the way his muscles had tightened when qi flowed into them. His second discovery. These were not just accidents. They were the beginning of something greater.
But without qi, they were nothing.
Zhou hissed softly, a sound of frustration and determination. He needed prey. He needed essence. Only then could he refill his Dantian, only then could he grow stronger.
The hunger gnawed at him, but beneath it was something new. A thought. A plan.
He would not waste qi recklessly again. He would map the pathways slowly, carefully, when his Dantian was full. He would refine his control, little by little, until the sparks became lightning and the strength in his muscles became unshakable.
For now, he would endure.
The petal's faint warmth still lingered in his scales, soothing his wounds. It was not enough to heal him fully, but it kept him alive. Perhaps that was the girl's intention all along—to give him just enough to survive, but not enough to grow complacent.
Zhou's tongue flicked again. This time, he caught it. A faint scent. Warm. Alive. Prey.
His coils tightened with anticipation. His Dantian was empty, but soon, it would not be.
He slid out of the hole, silent and patient, his body low against the swamp floor. The hunger raged, the Dantian pulsed, and his instincts whispered the same thing over and over.
Devour. Grow. Survive.