Cultivation is Creation

"I wanted to introduce you to someone."

Elder Chen Yong raised an eyebrow, his hand pausing halfway through reaching for another bottle of spiritual wine. "Oh? And who might that be?"

I took a deep breath. "Yggy? Would you like to come out and meet my Master, Elder Chen Yong?"

For a moment, nothing happened.

I could feel Yggy's presence through our soul bond, a mix of excitement and sudden shyness. After days of practically begging to explore outside my inner world, now that the moment had arrived, the vine was having second thoughts.

"It's okay," I encouraged mentally. "Elder Chen Yong is... well, he's mostly harmless. When he's not throwing formations at people for 'testing purposes.'"

That got a ripple of amusement through our bond, and finally, I felt Yggy make its decision. A shimmer of green light appeared beside me, coalescing into a familiar form. The vine materialized slowly, almost hesitantly, its leaves rustling softly as it oriented itself in the physical world.

Elder Chen Yong's reaction was... not quite what I expected. Instead of surprise or shock, his eyes lit up. He leaned forward in his chair, nearly falling out of it in his enthusiasm, and began muttering rapid observations.

"Fascinating structure... unique energy signature... Is that a touch of demonic qi? No, no, something else... reddish energy, but different..." He squinted, then his eyes widened. "And there! Just a hint of that blue energy of yours, but integrated differently..."

I nodded slowly. That made sense. Yggy was originally an experiment by Elder Molric. He mainly used red sun energy in the creation process – he was a Skybound cultivator, after all. The blue energy aspects were more... experimental. As for how he got access to that, I didn’t want to know…

"Mmm," Elder Chen hummed thoughtfully, still studying Yggy with intense focus. "No cultivation system of its own... being powered entirely through the soul bond. Very efficient design, though it must put quite a strain on your energy reserves."

It seemed that the elder mistook Yggy and me sharing access to the energy of the two suns to Yggy being powered by the soul bond. Without a large red sun in the sky for Yggy to draw energy from, it had to rely on the miniature red sun in my inner world.

The shared access was something I'd been increasingly aware of lately, my capacity for red sun energy wasn't exactly known for its size. In a prolonged battle, having both of us drawing from the same pool could become problematic.

"Master," Azure's voice chimed in my mind, "remember how some of Elder Molric's other creations were learning to weave runes? Perhaps Yggy could develop similar capabilities."

Now that was an interesting thought. I'd been considering this possibility ever since the battle with the Queen Wasp where I realized just how much I relied on the Two Sun’s magic system.

But if Yggy could learn to weave its own runes, it would give me more flexibility in combat. I could focus on qi-based techniques while Yggy handled the solar energies. Not that I'd abandon using the suns' power entirely – the Blink Step rune had become too integral to my fighting style – but having options was always good.

While I was lost in thought, something unexpected was happening. Yggy, apparently having gotten over its initial shyness, had begun to warm up to Elder Chen. The vine was now curiously extending tendrils toward the various wine bottles scattered around the room and began examining their labels.

"Careful with those," Elder Chen warned, though his tone was more amused than concerned. "Some of these vintages can pack quite a punch, even for a spiritual being."

Yggy quickly withdrew its tendrils, sending me an impression that roughly translated to 'I wasn't going to drink any... probably.'

As curious as I was on finding out what effect drinking spiritual wine would have on a being that ran on a different energy system, I had no intention of dealing with a drunk vine…or worse.

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"That's wise, Master," Azure commented. "Until we're sure qi isn't poisonous to Yggy, we should be careful."

Azure was right. Despite qi being everywhere in the cultivation world and Yggy not showing an adverse reaction to it thus far, that was a different situation to allowing a large concentrated amount into its body.

Hurting Yggy wasn't worth satisfying my curiosity.

"So," Elder Chen Yong said, "what can your little friend here do? Besides having impeccable taste in wine, of course."

I looked at Yggy. "Want to show him, buddy?"

The vine perked up immediately. In a flash, it extended upward, demonstrating its ability to rapidly change size and shape. Tendrils whipped through the air, weaving complex patterns that showed off both its control and combat potential.

Then the more impressive displays. Yggy demonstrated how it could harden its exterior, creating armor-like plates that could absorb quite a bit of impact. It showed how it could divide into a number of separately controlled segments, each able to attack or defend on its own.

Throughout the demonstration, Elder Chen Yong's face had become increasingly impressed. "Remarkable intelligence," he muttered, rubbing his chin thoughtfully. "The amount of independent judgment, the tactical sense. I hadn't been looking forward to babysitting brats when I finally get around to creating my own advanced beings, but seeing this." He reached out to gently pat one of Yggy's leaves. "Maybe it wouldn't be so bad after all."

Yggy preened under the praise, its leaves rustling with obvious pleasure. Through our link, I could feel its delight at being recognized not just as a weapon or a pet, but as an intelligent being.

"Where did you find it?" Elder Chen Yong asked.

When I didn't say a word, he laughed and waved his hand at me. "OK, I didn't figure you'd say anything anyway. You like playing the paranoid private guy." He grew more somber. "Just be careful, boy. If you've stolen another cultivator's creation, things won't end well."

"There was no stealing involved," I said firmly, though inwardly I had to suppress a wince. Elder Molric might beg to differ on that point. The old Skybound had seemed genuinely hurt when Yggy chose me over him. Though really, what did he expect after experimenting on the poor thing for who knows how long?

"Whoever created this being," Elder Chen Yong mused, "they clearly possessed remarkable skill. The integration of different energy types, the level of autonomous intelligence, the efficiency of the design... truly masterful work."

I held back a smile, knowing that Elder Molric would have loved to hear those compliments. For all his faults, the man was first and foremost a researcher, and recognition of his work would have meant everything to him. It was sad that he didn’t get any in his own world.

There was something I needed to clarify. "So... no one is going to try to kill me and try take Yggy away from me?"

Elder Chen's expression grew serious. "Those of us in the Life Realm might be interested in studying such an artificial being, hoping to comprehend something that could help with our own creations. But forcefully taking it?" He shook his head. "There's no need. Plenty of artificial beings are available for purchase if you know where to look."

That made sense, actually. Someone at my level wouldn't have access to such markets, but higher-level cultivators undoubtedly had their own secret trading networks for cultivation resources of that caliber. Why risk a fight when you could just buy what you needed?

"Speaking of studying things..." Elder Chen's eyes took on that familiar gleam. "Now that I've met your fascinating friend here, perhaps we could get back to examining that blue energy of yours?"

I couldn't help but smile. Some things never changed. "Alright, alright. Yggy? Time to head back inside."

The vine gave one last affectionate pat to a nearby wine bottle, then dissolved back into green light, returning to my inner world. I could feel its satisfaction – it had shown off its abilities and gotten praise from a powerful cultivator. All in all, a successful first outing.

I closed my eyes and reached for the familiar presence of the blue sun. As its energy filled me, I opened my eyes to find Elder Chen Yong completely still, his wine bottle forgotten in his hand as he stared with an intensity I'd rarely seen from him before.

There were no maniac observations, no drunken ramblings, just silence.

When the energy finally faded, the elder looked like he might actually faint. "Master?" I asked, concerned. "Are you alright?"

He nodded slowly, his face pale. "I... I need to go into closed door cultivation. Immediately." He stood up, swaying slightly. "Continue your studies. The guild library has excellent resources. I'll... I'll contact you when I'm done."

Before I could respond, reality twisted around me, and I found myself standing in the Outer Sect area, completely alone.

"Well," Azure said after a moment of silence, "that was dramatic."

I nodded, absently turning my new guild badge over in my hands as I considered everything that had happened. Something about the blue sun’s energy had profoundly affected Elder Chen Yong – enough to send the Formation Master into immediate seclusion. I wasn't sure if that was a good thing or not.

"Master, at least we have guild access now," Azure said. "That should help with our formation studies whilst the elder cultivates."

"Yes, but I can't help but wonder what he saw this time that affected him so strongly." I glanced up at the sky, where I knew the blue sun would be shining in another world. "Whatever it was, I hope it doesn't cause too many problems."

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