Quantum Cultivation by Jace Kang (simple e reader TXT) 📕

he was wearing was underwear and a uniform coat. “Nobody has to get hurt.”

The Peacekeepers reached for him, but he avoided their hands without even looking as he came to stand in between both sides, without a care in the world.

The tension melted from Ken’s shoulders. The master had only been taken prisoner because he didn’t want bystanders hurt; now, it was two opposing factions that both wanted to recapture him and do who knew what.  He was going to avoid their shots and let them shoot each other.

In a rattle of armor and swishing of cloth, both sides trained their weapons on him.

“What the—” the female Peacekeeper said.

“You!” the MoD officer said, squinting through the rain. “You’re coming with us. Hands on your head.”

Here it was, another superhuman display of martial ability about to unfold. Ken backed up, lest he get hit by a stray particle bolt.

Master Ryu sighed. He raised both open hands.

Ken gawked. Surrendering, just like that? After all it had taken to get him out of Peacekeeper Headquarters? He’d been serious about not wanting anyone to get hurt!

With a slow, deep inhalation, Master Ryu lowered his arms as he closed his fingers into fists.

Raindrops froze into sleet. The water on both Peacekeepers and military iced up. Shocktrooper visors frosted over. Though the ones in power armor could move, their plates crunched at the joints. The rest could only turn their heads.

“I…I can’t move,” one said.

Amazing.  With some effort, Ken was able to close his mouth.  To think, maybe one day he could do something similar. He looked over his shoulder back through the open doors.

The Elestrae stood just inside, eyes locked on Master Ryu as they huddled close and conferred among themselves. Their istrium jewelry was glowing.

Just what were they doing? Had they known about the standoff between the Peacekeepers and the Ministry of Defense? They had to, since they’d just passed through the cordon moments earlier.

Master Ryu followed his gaze to the aliens. He pressed his palms together and bowed his head, then turned to Ken. “Lead the way.”

Looking back, Ken confirmed the Elestrae weren’t following. He hurried south through the rain, with Master Ryu a step behind. With citizens now getting off work, the streets were packed with people. Enough had activated personal water evaporators to keep the rain off of everyone, at least until they made way and stared as he and Master Ryu hurried to the south.

This was bad.

Although the government had suppressed news of the fight earlier in the day, and nobody outside of firsthand witnesses knew of Master Ryu at all, he stood out like a beacon in the middle of a storm. Here was a man, standing a head above everyone else, and walking around barefoot, wearing only an ill-fitting jacket and underpants that might’ve belonged to a sumo wrestler from history books. Of course he would draw attention.

“I recognize this place.” Master Ryu pointed to Kyoto Station, a blocky silver monstrosity beneath the glittering skyscrapers. “The train station. It hasn’t even changed much.”

“On the outside, maybe.” Ken only knew what trains were because of the opening credits to Once Upon a Time in China, and no one had used one since the Onslaught. It was amazing to think that the building had remained so similar that Master Ryu was able to recognize it after eight centuries.

“What’s inside?”

“You have to see it to understand. We need to go in, anyway.” Ken scanned the area for Peacekeepers. Seeing none, he joined the moving, orderly lines of people filing briskly into the transport hub.

Chapter 8:

The Cultivator

W hatever else the boy said, the beings they’d encountered in Kyoto Central were fairies. Though Ryu hadn’t been able to discern their rank, he’d gotten a sense of their vast Cores. All three had enormous reserves, even more immense than the only fairy he’d encountered before: an impossibly beautiful woman with large eyes and pointed ears, she’d been head of a sect he’d tried to join a decade after he entered the World of Rivers and Lakes.

He shook the memories out of his head. How naïve he’d been in his youth, to think he’d ever have a chance of sleeping with a fairy! And here Kentaro was, taking the first steps of a similar journey.

Ryu turned back to Kyoto Station, now called Downtown Kyoto Transport Hub. So far, he’d seen levitating vehicles and people walking, but no trains or other types of mass transportation. Just how did people get around these days?

Once they cleared the doors, he halted. The line behind him jumbled up in a cacophony of annoyed babbling.

The soaring ceiling of gridded steel beams looked the same as he remembered eight hundred years ago. All similarities ended there.  Instead of ticket kiosks and passageways leading to train platforms, there were dozens upon dozens of archways stretched across the center of the vaulting hall.

XHumans in their flamboyant fashions disappeared as they walked through arches on one side of hall, while more people appeared in archways on the other side.

“Come along, Master.” Kentaro gave him a tug.

“What…what are those things?” Ryu said, resuming his walk.

“Folding space apertures.”

“Space…” Ryu stared so wide his forehead hurt. “You can go to other planets from here?”

Covering his mouth, Kentaro shook his head. “I guess that is possible in theory. However, this hub’s geothermal generators barely produce enough energy to open a portal to Shanghai long enough for a person to make it through.”

Geothermal? How fascinating. “There must be hundreds of people using the portals at once. That must expend a lot of power.”

Ken stared up for a moment. “It takes minimal energy for one person to jump a short distance, and