I spent the morning working through various animal-style techniques.

  Monkey Steals Peaches created a mischievous blue monkey that could briefly confuse opponents. Bear Breaks the Mountain manifested a massive bear that could deliver crushing blows. Eagle Catches Fish produced a diving bird that attacked from above.

  Each manifestation lasted only seconds and drained significant blue sun energy. But they added unpredictability to otherwise straightforward techniques.

  "What about combining multiple animals?" I wondered.

  "Worth trying, but be careful with energy consumption," Azure warned.

  I decided to test it with a combination technique. First, I used Tiger Descends the Mountain while channeling blue sun energy. The familiar tiger form appeared, more solid than my other attempts. While it was still manifested, I immediately followed with Crane Spreads Wings.

  The crane appeared alongside the tiger. For about two seconds, I had both spirit animals active simultaneously. They even seemed aware of each other, the tiger prowling low while the crane circled high.

  "Energy drain is severe," Azure noted. "You're down to about forty percent blue sun reserves."

  He was right. I could feel the strain of maintaining multiple manifestations. But in a real fight, having two or three spirit animals attacking from different angles could overwhelm even experienced opponents.

  I took a break to meditate and restore my energy. While resting, I thought about non-animal techniques. Could I manifest other concepts?

  "What about elemental techniques?" I asked. "A lot of martial arts here reference natural forces."

  "The concept would need to be specific enough to take form," Azure said. "Vague ideas probably won't manifest properly."

  It was the spiritual aspect of qi that allowed for the manipulation of elements, and with the blue sun being more spiritual than physical, it might work.

  I stood and tried Thunderclap Palm, focusing on the moment lightning strikes. As I thrust my palm forward with blue sun energy, a bolt of blue electricity shot out. Not just energy shaped like lightning, but what seemed like actual electricity that left scorch marks on the stone wall.

  "Elemental manifestation confirmed," Azure said. "Though it seems less intelligent than the animal forms."

  That made sense. Animals had natural behaviors to draw from. Elements were more like forces that needed direction.

  I experimented with other elemental techniques. Flowing Water Fist created streams of liquid energy that could bind opponents. Mountain Stands Eternal manifested chunks of stone that provided temporary cover. Wind Blade Cuts All produced invisible slashes that lingered in the air.

  By late afternoon, I'd developed a decent arsenal of manifestation techniques. But I wanted to try one more thing.

  "What about human forms?" I asked. "Some techniques reference warriors or sages."

  "That could be more complex," Azure said. "Human consciousness, even temporary, might be harder to create."

  I decided to try with Immortal Points the Way, a guidance technique meant to show the correct path in combat. As I performed the pointing gesture with blue sun energy, I tried to manifest the concept of a wise teacher.

  The energy swirled and took shape, but the form was much less distinct than the animals. A vague humanoid outline appeared, translucent and flickering. It mirrored my pointing gesture for about a second before dissolving.

  "Seems like human manifestations are beyond current capability," Azure concluded.

  "Or maybe I just don't understand the concept well enough," I said. "The animals worked because I could envision their nature clearly."

  I spent the remaining time refining the techniques that worked best. The tiger remained my strongest manifestation, probably because of the emotional connection from that first desperate use. The dragon and snake were nearly as solid. The crane and eagle could maintain form for several seconds if I concentrated.

  The key was not trying to control the manifestations too directly. They seemed to work best when I created them with a clear purpose and let them act according to their nature. A tiger would hunt. A snake would strike. A crane would evade. It was more or less the same as what I had learned from Kal; blue sun cultivation really was like programming.

  By the evening of the third day, I felt as ready as I was going to get. I'd pushed Jinghui's body to Heaven-Breaking Realm. I'd learned to break reality in small but meaningful ways. I'd figured out how to manifest temporary spirit animals from martial techniques. And now my energy had recovered to hundred percent. I was ready.

  "Time's up," Azure said.

  I made my way to the temple's main entrance. The sun was setting, painting the sky in shades of orange and red. The thing was, I had no idea where Earth Fist Liu actually was. Or more importantly, which vessel he'd chosen.

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  "He could be anywhere in this world," I muttered, looking out at the temple grounds. "Could have picked someone from a completely different province for all we know."

  "The rules said you need to finish your battle before the timer reached zero," Azure reminded me. "But they never specified how you'd find each other."

  Good point. In a world this size, we could spend days just looking for each other. Unless...

  "Regular Martial Qi won't work as a beacon," I said, stepping outside the temple gates. "Everyone here uses it. He'd never be able to tell it was me."

  "But qi would stand out," Azure said, catching on to my thinking. "In this world, only otherworldly beings like you and Liu would recognize it."

  Exactly. I walked about fifty meters from the temple entrance, finding a clear spot on the road. No point damaging the temple grounds with what I was about to do.

  I sat down in lotus position and closed my eyes. Deep in my spiritual channels, beneath all the Martial Qi I'd been using, my original qi still flowed. It felt different here, foreign, like oil refusing to mix with water.

  I began drawing it out, letting it rise through my meridians. The energy felt cool compared to the hot, aggressive nature of Martial Qi. As it reached my skin, I could feel the world itself reacting with subtle rejection.

  "Careful," Azure warned. "Too much foreign energy and the realm might actively try to expel you again."

  "Just enough to be noticed," I said, releasing a steady stream of qi into the air around me.

  The effect was strange. Where Martial Qi would create visible distortions or pressure, my qi seemed to make reality itself uncomfortable. The air shimmered, not with heat but with wrongness. Small pebbles near me rolled away as if repelled. Even the dying sunlight seemed to bend slightly around my position.

  Disciples who'd been watching from the temple gates backed away further, their faces showing confusion and instinctive fear. They couldn't understand what they were sensing, but they knew it didn't belong.

  "It's working," Azure said. "The qi is spreading outward in waves. Any otherworldly being within several hundred li should sense this."

  I kept the output steady, not too strong but consistent. Like a lighthouse in fog, broadcasting my location to the only other person in this world who would understand the signal.

  Minutes passed. The sun sank lower, painting longer shadows across the ground. My qi continued to pulse outward in regular waves, each one carrying the message: I'm here. Come find me.

  "Think he'll understand?" I asked.

  "He'll recognize the challenge for what it is."

  More time passed. Full darkness was approaching, and I started wondering if maybe Liu had chosen a vessel too far away to sense my beacon. Or maybe he was having trouble controlling his vessel. Or maybe—

  "Master," Azure said quietly. "Something's approaching from the northeast. Fast."

  I opened my eyes but kept the qi beacon going. In the distance, I could sense a disturbance. Not Martial Qi, but something else. Something that made the local space-time shudder with each step.

  "He's coming," I said, standing up while maintaining the qi flow. "And whatever vessel he picked, it's powerful."

  The disturbance grew stronger. Closer. I could feel the earth itself trembling now, rhythmic impacts like a giant walking. But the spiritual signature was definitely Liu's otherworldly presence.

  "Any idea what kind of vessel would cause that effect?" I asked, letting the qi beacon fade and switching back to Martial Qi. Immediately, I felt more in harmony with the world around me.

  "Something big," Azure said unnecessarily. "Or something that's figured out how to break the law about how much force each step should generate."

  Great. Trust Earth Fist Liu to find the most straightforward way to abuse Heaven-Breaking techniques.

  The tremors stopped about two hundred meters away, just outside the range of my vision in the darkness. But I could feel him there, a knot of wrongness in the world's fabric just like me.

  A sound came from the darkness. Not quite a laugh, not quite a sigh. Something that made the hair on the back of my neck stand up.

  "Ke Yin." The voice was deep, unfamiliar. Definitely not Liu's original body. "I received your invitation."

  A figure stepped into the edge of the temple's torch light, and my whole body went rigid. I found myself looking up. And up. And up.

  "What the hell?" I took an involuntary step backward, my eyes widening. "Liu, what... what happened to you?"

  The shadows shifted, and more of the figure became visible. My brain struggled to process what I was seeing. This wasn't just picking a strong vessel. This was something else entirely. Something that shouldn't exist in this world of mortal martial arts.

  "Possessing a vessel proved... difficult," Earth Fist Liu said. "So, I decided to create my own."

  Comment below what kind of vessel you think Earth Fist Liu created!

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