Yin Hu took a deep breath. He could feel the touch of something otherworldly. It could only have been the Weapon Spirit herself. An open book, attempting to guide him to move and channel Qi in ways he had not even thought possible. Through his nose and then down his arm? Wasn’t the core around the sternum? Why would he flood any extra Qi down to his big toe to channel it in certain directions and through certain nodes? None of it made sense to him. Then again, he had never truly cultivated or used Qi before in any meaningful way. He also had the issue of probably not having enough Qi to start with. The spirit would have noticed right? Maybe he had just the bare minimum? Yin Hu wasn’t sure. His core and meridians seemed pretty dry and Qi deprived. He just hoped it wouldn’t affect him now. Otherwise he would need to bullshit his way through another difficult situation. Both girls were now wide awake. Staring. Watching and waiting for something incredible. He had to impress. He took another deep breath. Closed his eyes. Yin Hu felt the spirit reel back in shock. He followed its guide, memorizing the path as though he had done it a thousand times. He could feel it struggle and fight to keep hold of him. Something he couldn’t quite understand, was there something supernatural affecting it? Or was it something afflicting him and his usage of Qi?Did the broken system intervene?Yet, the process could not be stopped. He had started. An itch affected his meridians enough that he almost lost concentration. But it was something. More than he expected to feel other than abject failure. It gave him hope. He exhaled. The sword dropped. The spirit’s presence disappeared to his senses. Jun started to speak, but her voice was distant. Muffled shouting. Shui joined in a moment later. Yin Hu could not make out anything they were saying. Solely focused on making sure he followed the guide (...)