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

fingers and struck her foe.   Steam rose and sizzled, and it howled.

Over to the side, Aya was still tussling with her own opponent, more or less controlling him from the Turtle On Its Back position. Threading her arm under his in a Snake Slithers Under Branch technique, she turned its upper body into a less threatening position. Her form looked good, but sweat clung to her brow, and she looked even paler than normal. With its greater strength, it recovered.

It wriggled through her guard, and now straddled her. Her response was sluggish, as her energy was undoubtedly flagging. Her mouth opened in a silent scream, but nothing but a rasp came out.

Down on the bank, Master Ryu cried out.

Chapter 23:

The Cultivator

R yu landed on the riverbank, one fist to the ground, just behind the Kappa leader. It spun around, beak agape. In its hands…

Its walking stick. Runes were inscribed along its shaft, and power surged off of it.

Ryu reached out through the water vapor and wrapped his consciousness around the artifact. A Qi-Smith of at least Third Rank had carved and engraved it, layering in undeterminable martial powers.

If only he had his own staff to counter it.

At that moment, the Kappa’s own sense slithered over Ryu.

“You’re from back home,” it said.

Ryu shrugged. “Technically, I’m from here, but that’s a long story. About eight hundred years long.”

“A Fourth Rank Water Path practitioner, all by himself.” If a beak could form a grin, the Kappa’s would. It raised a hand, gesturing to its comrades.

When none came, it hazarded a glance over its shoulder. Teppin was making short work of one Shirikodamanuki, while the remaining four had continued up to the bridge.

The leader turned back to Ryu. “Well, nothing like a good challenge.” It pointed its walking stick at him.

The wood’s runes lit up as the Kappa’s Core connected to it. A web of water droplets shot out, sparkling in the moonlight. Launched by a Level Three weapon and reinforced by a Fourth Rank practitioner, they were too powerful for Ryu to disperse with Watershaping or evaporate with Fireshaping.

Instead, he leaned back under its trajectory.

It left him in a vulnerable position. The Kappa slammed the stick into Ryu’s legs. The augmented force of the artifact knocked his feet out from under him. He threw his weight back, hitting the sandy bank with his shoulders, then windmilled his feet up so he was standing again.

In that blink of an eye, the leader had planted the stick upright into the sand and closed the gap. He now reached out with both arms. Ryu redirected its hands with a rotation of his own, using the Lazy About Tying Coat technique from Chen Taiji. It would send a lesser opponent face-down into the earth, leaving them open for a double-palmed Buddha Warrior Pounds Mortar or Splashing Hands.

The Kappa wasn’t a lesser opponent. It transitioned smoothly, blending with Ryu’s shift, then winging back and sliding foot-first at his legs. When Ryu sidestepped, it hooked his ankle in the crook of his elbow, then whirled up, feet first, around his knee.

The smoothness of the technique took Ryu by surprise, forcing him to the ground to prevent the dislocation of his knee. He hit shoulders-first in the Ditang Fist falling technique. Already, though, he was playing the Kappa’s game, just as he’d warned the others to avoid doing.

In a deft move, the Kappa surged into the mount, hooking its legs around Ryu’s, squeezing its knees into his ribs. With its head coming closer, Ryu knocked the bowl on its head, but the Kappa’s Watershaping technique kept the water in. Its hands shot towards Ryu’s throat, and proved too slippery to redirect.  Its arms deftly slipped around his neck. Its bones dug into his carotid arteries.

The perfect technique would’ve cut the blood supply off to anyone in this world right now…

Except for Ryu.

Having Cultivated the Yin aspect of the Fire Path to the First Rank, his blood vessels were both supple and strong, refusing to bend to the Kappa’s pressure. Combined with his Iron Shirt from his First Rank in the Metal Path, he resisted the choke which would’ve knocked anyone else unconscious in four seconds.

It didn’t keep the Kappa leader from trying. Its limbs stretched and contorted with its Path’s special technique, creating more leverage. Even though Ryu remained safe from suffocation or an artery seal, it was nearly impossible to move. The pressure on his chest alone made it difficult to draw a breath.

Thankfully, he’d Cultivated the Yang aspect of the Fire Path, as well. Connecting with his Core, he channeled a blazing heat through his blood vessels.

The Kappa yelped as the flesh of its arm sizzled. Its grip loosened.

It was just enough for his Second Rank proficiency in the Earth Path to help him.  The First Rank Yin aspect had fortified his slow-twitch muscles, while the Yang aspect had enhanced his fast-twitch muscles. The combination of speed, power, and endurance was more than a match for a Kappa. With brute strength and quickness, the little gap created by his expression of Yang Fire allowed him to work free.

With the spinning windmill of Ditang Fist, he launched the Kappa off of him. He twisted and landed on his feet.

Like the Western superhero in movies from Ryu’s youth, the Kappa landed in a one-knee kneel, a dozen feet away, fist to the ground. It looked up and glared at Ryu. “You’re not just a Water Path Cultivator!”

“No.” Ryu grinned.

It pounded its fist into the sand.  The waters of the river surged out like blades.

Leaping and spinning, Ryu found the open spots between them. When his feet touched the ground, he rooted and flowed into a