Runes • Rifles • Reincarnation
49. Dragon Ascending, Tiger Descending

“Still, you can't leave,” Chen Ai Yun said, her voice calm yet firm, as Jin Shu stared at the moving dot on the Soul Jade representing his mother.

Now that he understood there was a valid reason for her insistence, he was no longer so quick to anger. Still, he needed to know why.

“Why? Even though it's far, I can make it,” he said with full confidence.

“I don't doubt that. However, let me ask you something.” She set the jade down and pointed to a different spot on the map. “Do you know this place?”

Jin Shu studied the map briefly, quickly recognizing the familiar area. “Of course. That's Black Mountain City.”

“Uh-huh. And how long did it take to get here?” she asked, her tone patient—gentle, almost like a teacher instructing a child.

“Three days,” he replied plainly.

“That was with you and Fan Biyu?”

He nodded, though confusion lingered as he tried to figure out where this was going.

“How long do you think it would have taken Fan Biyu alone?”

Jin Shu’s brow furrowed. What is she asking?

“Three days,” he answered, more certain this time. “The boat ride alone took three days, so it couldn’t be any shorter.”

“Wrong,” she said matter-of-factly. “One day. That’s all it would have taken her.”

“Impossible!”

“It is not,” Chen Ai Yun replied evenly, rising from her seat. She pointed toward the far side of the courtyard. “Run there.”

Jin Shu glanced in the direction she indicated, only now taking the time to look around. It was his first real observation of the courtyard. Before, he'd been too distracted by everything else to notice.

Now, the sight stunned him.

The courtyard was massive, unlike anything he'd ever seen.

Where they currently sat was a small alcove shaded by the wide, blooming branches of a plum blossom tree, with a table nestled beneath. Beyond that, the courtyard stretched out like another world entirely.

The scale alone was staggering—large enough to hold three or four entire football stadiums, not just the fields but the surrounding arenas too. That being just the small corner he could see.

Small artificial mountains rose like miniature peaks, waterfalls cascading into crystal-clear pools below. A bamboo forest swayed gently in the breeze, and further on, he could make out several large dwellings. Toward the far edge, an expansive garden sprawled across what looked like an acre of farmland.

The beauty alone was enough to take his breath away. The sheer scale floored him.

He then belatedly realized it was morning. It was night when I was choked unconscious, he thought, suddenly aware of the shift in time. How long was I out?

Following her finger, his gaze landed on the furthest artificial mountain, where the courtyard wall seamlessly blended into the scenery. Judging by sight alone, he estimated the distance to be about five hundred meters—nearly half a kilometer.

He glanced back at Chen Ai Yun, who regarded him with a calm smile. “Run there? To the mountain?”

She nodded.

He sighed, still not understanding how this related to Fan Biyu traveling what had to be tens, if not hundreds, of miles in a single day.

Before starting, he recalled what Nano had told him the day before about using his qi effectively. This might be the perfect opportunity to experiment.

He took off at a brisk jog, focusing on moving his qi smoothly through his body. Gradually, he increased his speed, letting the qi surge from his dantian into his legs. To his surprise, it flowed more easily than before—likely the result of his recent breakthrough.

Before long, his pace picked up, his speed climbing higher and higher. By the time he reached the mountain, he hadn’t even broken a sweat.

“How long was that?” he quietly asked Nano.

“55 seconds.”

“Oh, pretty good. And that wasn’t even my fastest.”

Turning around, Jin Shu took in more of the scenery. He was struck again by the sheer scale of the place—calling it a courtyard felt ridiculous. It had its own ecosystem, complete with small animals bounding freely between the grass and trees.

Determined, he looked back at the plum blossom tree in the distance. “Alright, I’m pushing myself this time.”

With that, he took off in a dead sprint.

When he reached the starting point, Nano’s voice sounded calmly in his mind. “40.3 seconds.”

Pleased, Jin Shu looked up at Chen Ai Yun with a proud grin. “How was that, Aunt Chen?”

She chuckled softly, her expression as serene as ever. “It was okay. It seems you have begun to use your qi properly. However, that’s it.”

His eyes narrowed. “That’s it? That was pretty good, no?”

“For someone who’s never cultivated properly, it was,” Chen Ai Yun said with a nod. “However, even our weakest ten-year-old 3rd Stage Body Realm disciple could make that run in under fifty seconds.”

Jin Shu gaped at her. “A ten-year-old?”

“Uh-huh.” She shook her head slightly. “Well, to be fair, there’s a caveat—they would need to have gained initial mastery of our exclusive movement technique.”

“So, you’re saying I’m too slow?”

“Yes, but only because you’ve never trained in a movement technique.”

He thought for a moment, then asked, “Couldn’t you lend me Xiao Tian?”

Her expression immediately turned grave. She shook her head firmly. “Absolutely not! The Demon Mountains are home to Adept, Master, and possibly even higher Realm aerial spirit beasts. Let alone the dangers beyond them.”

Jin Shu flinched, startled. “Really?”

“Yes. Now, back to the topic at hand.” Chen Ai Yun retrieved a scroll from her space ring and handed it to Jin Shu. “This is a movement technique. You will stay here until you master it. Then, and only then, can we talk about you leaving—assuming your mother hasn’t returned by then.”

Jin Shu accepted the scroll, his gaze falling on the elegant characters written across its surface: Dragon Ascending, Tiger Descending Steps.

Curiosity piqued, he unfurled the scroll and began to read, his eyes tracing each line carefully.

‘The Dragon ascends the mountain as the Tiger descends.

When the two rivals meet, a great battle ensues. The heavens and earth tremble before their might.

The Dragon commands the clouds.

The Tiger commands the winds.

Together they bring the Storm of Life—destructive to unnatural forces, life-giving to the natural forces of the world.’

He paused, frowning slightly as he tried to grasp the deeper meaning behind the poetic language.

‘To embody these principles into your steps is to go against your own nature. To split yourself into the Dragon—calm, insightful, steadying. And the Tiger—violent, forceful, rushing.

Inaction begets Action as Action begets Inaction.

When mastered, you will shake the world without movement and reach the edge of the world with a single step.’

Jin Shu’s brows furrowed as he skimmed the rest of the scroll, his mind lingering on the introduction. Its cryptic principles felt both profound and frustratingly elusive.

How am I supposed to split myself like that? he wondered, barely registering the practical instructions further down the page.

When he reached the end of the scroll, Jin Shu found himself compelled to reread the introduction. The practice detailed later in the scroll didn’t align with the philosophy in the opening lines.

The instructions described splitting one’s qi into two strands, each flowing in reverse on either side of the body. When the two strands met in the center, they would create a burst of energy that allowed for instantaneous movement. While impressive in concept, it didn’t reflect the deeper principles outlined in the introduction.

Frowning, Jin Shu reread both sections multiple times, studying the text carefully. That’s when he noticed something odd—the handwriting in the introduction and the practice sections weren't the same. They had been written by two different people.

Lowering the scroll, he glanced up at Chen Ai Yun. “Aunt, was this technique created by two people?”

“No,” she replied, shaking her head. “But you must have noticed the difference between the introduction and the practical instructions, yes?”

“Yeah,” he said, nodding. “They don’t match—and the handwriting is different.” He turned the scroll to show her, pointing at the subtle variations.

“Uh-huh,” she confirmed with a nod. “That’s because no one has been able to fully grasp the principles in the introduction. It was deemed impossible to truly split yourself into two distinct personas.”

Her words struck him like lightning. Two personas…? But don’t I have three?

Jin Shu closed his eyes, turning his focus inward. His consciousness shifted to the strange space within his soul, where two nearly identical figures stood side by side. One was a rash, hot-headed sixteen-year-old young master, and the other was a calm, collected twenty-seven-year-old ex-soldier.

Aside from their differences in age, temperament, and dress, the two looked eerily alike.

“Could you both possess our body simultaneously?” Jin Shu asked them.

The two figures exchanged glances, then shrugged.

“Ah, right,” he muttered inwardly. “How would you two know something I don’t...”

But even as he said it, a flicker of hope sparked in his mind. Perhaps this seemingly impossible technique wasn’t impossible for him. If the key was splitting himself into two distinct personas, then he might already have what others lacked.

His grip on the scroll tightened as a quiet determination began to take root. I’ll figure it out.