Chapter 7: Learning New Skills

Following her return, Ki Jung settles back into her daily routine, but it isn’t the same. There is plenty for her to be upbeat about. She is earning money as a martial arts instructor. This alone make her happy. This income allows her to help her mother with the bills. Due to her excellent grades and SAT scores, she received a full-ride grant to attend the State University, which she intends to take advantage of. The university has accepted all her high school AP courses for credits. The credits she earned taking classes at the local community college transferred in full, as well. All said, her entire freshman year is already finished, other than the required Freshmen Orientation. Things appear to be going well. Except, they aren’t going as well as the facade she put up for everyone’s benefit would suggest.

Ki Jung still loves spending time at the dojo. It is a joy to work as an instructor. And, it feels good to be working out and sparring again. She continues to apply herself daily learning all that she can. Seeing her deeper understanding and use of the Pakchulbong style Qi-gong, Master Jamison, “Call me Tom,” provides her with a new manuscript. This one is known as Blessed Heart.

Blessed Heart differs from Pakchulbong in two significant ways. First, it is not combat-related, and it has a healing component. Secondly, it can only be performed while motionless. You may stand or sit. It doesn’t matter which you do. Just don’t practice it while moving as it will fail.

Ki Jung spends hours practicing Blessed Heart at home. She soon discovers that it not only heals, but it is a type of cultivation for some of the body’s internal systems. As one advances, it strengthens the circulatory and lymphatic systems. It washes away fatigue and toxins in the body. And, finally, it allows one to create or improve their Heart Dantian.

Practicing Blessed Heart for four hours a night allows her to feel fully refreshed and ready to greet the new day with only four hours of sleep.

Ki Jung cannot help but feel that there is still something missing. She does her best to ignore and deny the strong desire to return to the First Realm. The danger is a minor portion of what draws her. There is something about being in a life and death situation that ignites the spirit, after all. What she desires the most is to learn more spells, and to gain greater knowledge and understanding of her abilities. She feels, and is, limited in what she can do here. Whereas, in the Realms, she can reach new heights and become so much more. She also felt more alive there.

Eventually, Tom approaches her about the feeling of “wrongness” that radiates from her. It isn’t evil, just something not being right. All the instructors have noticed and how students of the dojo are starting to be affected by it.

Inviting her into his office, he gets straight to the heart of the matter, asking her what’s bothering her. She explains; he listens. He can’t argue with her thoughts and desires. Being the proud Master of such a prodigy, he provides her with three more manuscripts. They are Blessed Mind, Blessed Core, and the other is for Body Cultivation.

The Blessed Qi arts work together as a whole. Where Blessed Heart works on the heart, lungs, circulatory, and lymphatic systems, Blessed Mind works with the processes of the mind, and the limbic and nervous systems, and Blessed Core deals with the Root Dantian, renal, and gastrointestinal systems.

The practice of Body Cultivation leads to the improvement of the resiliency, flexibility, and overall strength of the physical form. The first step is Body like Stone, which is realized upon the opening of the first Qi-lock. The full evolutionary range is Stone, Copper, Iron, Titanium, Quartz, Topaz, Steel, and finally, Diamond. Those who have achieved Body Like Diamond are legends. The most diligent practitioners typically only achieve Body Like Quartz. Those who manage to achieve Body like Steel are often Monks in Shaolin monasteries, or in similar institutions with equally rigorous training.

Practicing body cultivation has a downside. Each breakthrough is excruciatingly painful. Tom makes sure that Ki Jung understands this and what the indicators are that alert one to the a breakthrough being imminent.

While the body is in the process of breaking through to the next state of Body Cultivation, the practitioner is weak and defenseless. It’s like being a crab when it molts. Master Tom instructs her to come to him when she’s nearing such a breakthrough.