Primordial spark

Morning came.

Sunlight could not enter through the shutters as they were tightly locked in place. The only thing indicating the time of day was Dave's internal clock and the fact that he had woken up feeling rested. Lydia was up and about as well.

Their fire had gone out during the night, but residual heat had kept the small hut lukewarm instead of dropping to freezing temperatures. Dave used his backup lighter to make another fire in the hearth.

He waited until Li woke up.

They pulled open a shutter and looked outside.

It had stopped snowing overnight, however super-cooled rain had fallen and so everything was covered in a thick layer of transparent ice. The trees were glistening in the sunlight as their branches were being weighed down by a thick shell of beautiful ice.

The morning air had turned truly biting cold, with his skin tingling from even, short exposure.

Li looked stunned by the development.

They closed the shutter again and crowded around the hearth.

An hour or so of babbling at each other later, a knock at the door sounded.

Li opened the door and immediately kowtowed. Seeing this, Dave immediately followed, he was in a foreign land with no idea of their customs, misplaced pride could cost him dearly.

With his forehead pressed against the ground he did not see anything and he had only glimpsed the stranger's colorful clothing, before he had prostrated himself.

A single word rang out and Li stood up, so Dave followed.

The stranger was middle-aged looking and clothed in red robes. This stranger stared down Dave before looking at Lydia who was sitting behind Dave.

He talked a few sentences with Li, before turning to Dave and asking him something.

“Can't understand you, sorry. Do you speak English?” Dave tried.

The newcomer nodded before he pulled out a roll of square sticks, they sounded like rock as they knocked against each other, but were shiny. He selected one and handed Dave one end while holding onto the other.

Dave regained consciousness with a gasp.

“I am glad that you were correct about him not being slow. It would have been sad if he had died, when he has so much explaining to do.” The newcomer said from above him.

“Master Xun Ma, there was never any doubt, he picked up our language with surprising speed.” Li said.

“Listen up, weirdo, you can thank the sun emperor for your newfound ability to speak and write. Xun looked down on Dave.

He did not suddenly have the ability to understand every word, he now had a lexicon in his head that allowed him to quickly look up words and understand their meaning.

“Why are you and that wolf flooding the entire area with ice qi?” Xun inquired.

“We're... what?” Dave intelligently answered.

“I have never seen anyone in the body refining or for that matter, core formation, flood an area with this much qi.”

“Can you start from the top. What is qi?”

“The power of heaven and earth, found in all living creatures.”

“Are you saying that this cold is our doing?”

“Yes, without a doubt.”

“They ruined my harvest.” Li broke in.

“They will compensate you, do not worry.” Xun silenced him.

Li left to brew some tea for his guests.

“How do I stop this?” Dave asked.

“Once you reach qi refining it should enter your dantian instead of pooling in the surrounding area.”

“How do I accomplish that?”

“Just practice your cultivation technique and you will reach in naturally. It should not take long, considering all this qi you are exuding.”

“I don't understand, I don't have anything like that.” Dave said in desperation.

“No list of forms and description of how to move your qi? You have clearly entered body refining, so you must have cultivated somehow.”

“Oh, I think I do have something.” Dave remembered his new workout routine.

“Then all is well, otherwise I would have supplied you with one, for a price.”

“What about Lydia?”

“The wolf? What an odd name ly-dia is. Monstrous beasts typically establish a territory and bathe in its qi until they reach qi refining.”

“So what... I just keep her close, until everything stops being so damn cold?” Dave asked in incredulity.

“Yes, that would do it.”

Li returned and served them tea.

“Now for the important part. Where did you come from?” Xun asked while taking a sip of tea.

“Earth, I'm not sure where we are in relation to it.”

“The earth continent, I have never heard of it before.” Xun tilted his head to the side and rested it on his hand, with his elbow on the table.

“No, not a continent, a planet.”

“What is a planet?”

“A ball of matter flying through space.”

“That does not sound like a very habitable place. What is your name anyway? I never got that.”

“David or Dave.”

“Da-vid, another odd name and an odd face. How very odd you are.”

“Right back at you.”

Xun laughed and drank the rest of his tea.

“In my younger years I would have punished you for that, but right now you are far too interesting.

“How are you planning to have me compensate Li?”

“I was planning to have you refill spirit stones with ice qi. Normally it would be an arduous task only reserved for captured enemy cultivators, with the amount of qi you are exuding it will not be a problem for you.”

“Can I start now, I feel really useless.”

“You cannot, only whence you reach qi-gathering or qi-refining as some people call it. Same thing, really.”

“Then I better get to it.”

“I would like to take advantage of all this qi in the surrounding area, especially since it is fall right now. It would have been even better during summer, but I take what I can get.”

“Sure, but shouldn't you be asking Li for permission, since it's his house?”

“He is under my protection and as a cultivator he is beneath me. I'm asking you as a fellow cultivator.”

“Fine.”

Dave went through his workout routine and felt invigorated instead of exhausted, like he had back home on Earth.

After several repetitions Xun asked him to stop and rest, so he would not damage his body.

“I have never seen anyone advance that quickly in the body refining realm. You will be able to repay your debt within the month. However with great talent comes great envy, be careful. I would like you to join my sect, the Lone Mountain sect.”

“Sure, what kind of place is your sect?”

“We are a righteous sect and specialize in protecting the villages in our area of influence, which is also why I discovered this disturbance so quickly. My sect mainly rewards protection of mortals from beasts and evil cultivators.”

“Sounds like a nice place.”

“It truly is. We might not be a strong sect with our master merely being at the peak of core formation, but we take our duties seriously.” Xun said with pride in his voice.

Dave had to go outside for some more wood. The layer of ice on top of the snow made it possible to walk on top without leaving footprints. A very weird feeling.

Returning to the hut I placed the wood next to the fireplace.

“Do you have any idea why we're leaking ice qi?”

“You both likely have some kind of special physique, but I am not certain.”

“What does that mean?”

“You have some inborn ability that the heavens recognize, relating to ice qi or maybe yin. Typically it helps immensely with cultivation or martial arts.”

Dave went for another repetition with his cultivation technique.

Li came by with some food for them, a thick gruel made from smashed oats and some dark bread.

They all ate with gusto.