As Jinhai calmly felt the water in the tub, Nie was preparing his golden needles. He dipped 12 of them in two porcelain bottles of different sizes, one which contained the Yang rich liquefied blood core of the Blue Fang snake, and the bigger one contained the Yin rich concentrated essence of the Azure Razor flower. To an untrained man this combination didn't spark anything, but to an apothecary who knew his basics it was definitely a link. The Azure Razor flower was often eaten by the Blue Fang snake and it was often found near it's nest, so Nie had specially choosen this as he hoped for some kind of synergy between these two types of Yin and Yang energies.
"Are you done? I'm being to get bored right now." quietly said Jinhai as he stared at the water in the tub.
"I'm ready"answered Nie as he headed to the Jinhai who was naked from the waist up. " Just to be sure you didn't forget, can you repeat the plan?"
"What, repeat the plan? Well....I don't really want to, so no."
"Jinhai, this is serious, if I make a mistake you will probably die. Do you want to die?"
"Then don't make a mistake." said Jinhai as he glanced Nie from the corner of his eye. He looked nervous like him and his hands somewhat shaking, but it didn't matter right now. " I believe in you Nie, just do your best...."
With those words Nie steeled his resolve and begun to insert the golden needles. Most of those dipped in the Azure Razor flower were put in his main Yang points which were on his belly, and the Yang needles in his chest. At first Nie didn't feel much , but only a couple of seconds later he begun to feel discomfort. His belly was on fire and his chest cold, but he didn't waste time and fully submerged in the water.
*Splash*
As Jinhai did that Nie immediately took a wide lid made of wood, closed the top of the tub, and finally passed an improvised snorkel made from bamboo from a hole on the top of the lid. Two seconds later two knocks from Jinhai that everything was going well made Nie sigh in relief, but he was still anxious. All those preparations and training would either result in success or failure, but Nie didn't have much more materials if it failed.
" I pray that you are successful, Jinhai. This is all in your hands now."
.........
Inside the lackluster sensory deprivation tank Jinhai was breathing hard as pain shoot through his body. The burning in his stomach had intensified , and the coldness in his chest had become suffocating, but he endured through it. ' Hmphhh.... this is nothing! If I'm really going to become a cultivator, this is nothing.'
Jinhai gritted his teeth and directed his senses to feel the rampant flow of Qi inside his body. Compared to the beginning the Qi had begun to flow through the meridians, and compared to normal he could clearly feel them. Maybe it was because he was straining them or maybe because of the sensory deprivation tank, but he could clearly discern it's path through his body. The Qi twisted and turned all around his limbs, torso and head , slowly but surely completing a full circle and when it did, Jinhai suddenly felt a feeling of refreshment. It was like nothing he had experienced before and he could only describe it like the perfect spring breeze, but he didn't dwell on the feeling as he had to concentrate the hardest right now.
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' Success, the Vital Qi had reached formation condition's. Now I only have to fix it to my Dantian.' though Jinhai as the two strands of Yin and Yang Qi met each other at a dead end. In usual circumstances one of the two would have fizzled out the other, but at an equilibrium neither could budge.....and that's where Jinhai's will came in. With the hardest he had ever strained himself he ordered the two types of energies to start a spiral dance in the cavity between him stomach and diaphragm, the Dantian.
The energies although reluctant and unloving of each other bended and slowly moved to Jinhai's will, slowly but surely forming a vortex. 'Ugh... it's hard, but it isn't impossible. I got this!' And so begun the long struggle of finally consolidating his Vital Qi. In the same time as the Yang and Yin Qi raged in his meridians because of the stimulus of the needles , Jinhai struggled to contain the Qi vortex in his Dantian. It was unruly, wanting to disperse and stop moving at any moment of weakness, but Jinhai gritted his teeth and finally the two energies made peace with each other and a new type of energy came into being.
The raging energies subsided and a more solid and stable source of energy manifested. It felt more denser and less volatile than either Yin or Yang Qi, and most importantly it was very easy to move and manipulate.
.............
Hours passed on the outside and Nie was beginning to feel restless. It had been a long time since Jinhai had begun his attempt at cultivation, and during all this time he hadn't made a sound or movement. The only indication of his wellbeing was the steady breathing through the bamboo pipe.
'It's taking a long time, much more than I predicted. Could it be that the amount of Qi in the needles was to little, or is the difficulty of forming the Vital Qi to hard? It could also be another reason, but I don't know....
Nie bit his lower lip as Jinhai continued his cultivation unknowing of the outside world; his only concern the consolidating of Vital Qi.
.............
The day passed and the morning sun rose slowly on the East. It shined it's golden rays on a certain village , on a certain building where a young man was staring with bloodshot eyes at a big wooden tub. It seemed like he hadn't slept in a long time as he intently stared at the tub, but a bang broke his concentration.
"Jinhai...." muttered Nie in surprise, and got ready to remove the lid on the tub when it shot up.
"Aaaaaaaa......" yelled the soaking wet Jinhai who had finally got out of the tub. He looked a little skinnier as when he had gotten in, but looked in good health otherwise. He immediately looked around and noticed Nie who was staring at him with wide eyes and nodded. That nod was the last straw as as soon as Nie registered it he also gave out a yell of victory.
"Yessssssssssss.....