"Well, if we have all the time in the world, do you mind if I ask you some questions?" Elaine asked. "You have opened my eyes to my lack of knowledge, and I can't make such a big decision with incorrect assumptions taught to me by the ignorant."
"Sure, go ahead," Mars said as neutrally as the void that surrounded them. Elaine took no offense to this disinterested and slightly condescending tone, as this was how Mars had spoken so far. Whether it was because they were clearly not human and lacked such insignificant things as emotions or Mars was doing it on purpose didn't matter. Elaine knew her place in this vast reality, and it was most certainly below this person before her.
What should I ask Mars first? Elaine pondered as she looked at the floating person before her. The researcher within her had a thousand and one questions she wanted to ask all at once, but many were just her musings on the vastness and big questions of reality.
Those can wait. What I need is all the information directly related to Qi and Daos. Oh! Also, the advantages and disadvantages of each affinity and, hmmm, how pocket realms work and such. How exciting!
"Stop thinking and start asking." Mars said, "Questions lead to answers, and those answers will lead to more questions. No need to bog yourself down in spiraling thoughts."
Elaine snapped out of her daze and realized that without the feeling of time passing, she could have been thinking for hours for all she knew. It wouldn't be the first time... but usually, the hunger pains or dimming light from the sun setting in her office would bring her back to reality.
"Sorry about that," Elaine gave an awkward smile, "As for my first question, you mentioned there is no time Qi out here in the void. What do you mean by that?"
"Time is a concept and, in a way, the underlying mechanism by which reality operates. Without time, things cannot move forward or backward. Organisms cannot be born and grow old. Rocks cannot be eroded away by a rushing river, and people cannot learn from the past." Mars said wistfully, "But the void lies outside of that. There is no reality here and, therefore, no need for time. Nothing grows or dies here. There are no passing seasons or celestial objects to provide sunlight during the day and moonlight by night. There is simply nothing here, including the passing of time."
"I see," Elaine pondered, "So do you not age mentally or physically?"
Mars's face reformed over the giant eye, and they gave her a small smile, "If I wish to grow stronger, learn new things about the reality of the heavens, and mature mentally as a being, I have to go over there," They pointed to the celestial fog containing the pocket realms lying between the layers of creation, "By drifting through that fog and absorbing the ambient Qi I grow. Whereas if I stay out here, I will remain stagnant in all ways."
Elaine looked out at the vastness of reality. She knew trying to cultivate all the different Qi types would be impossible as that would put her on the same level as the heavens, but if it was just something like time, then surely...
"So if time is the underlying mechanism of reality, wouldn't it be the best affinity to choose? With it, I could affect everything else—"
"No."
"No?" Elaine blinked, "Why not..."
"Do you understand what it means to understand a Dao and how it differs from Qi?" Mars asked.
Elaine did have some ideas, but she would much rather let Mars explain than look more foolish than she already felt. "I understand on a basic level, but could you explain it?"
"Since reality is woven together, there are no defined lines between things, and often concepts or Qi types begin to blend together." Mars spread out their arms, "Imagine a river. It's easy to look at one from afar, and a person may be able to understand what a river is at a surface level. But what about what lurks beneath the surface and the underlying mechanics of how a river flows? Gravity makes it move, bits of sediment and minerals dissolved in the water, its temperature, the plant life, and fish swimming within. All of these various parts are what makes that river what it is."
Despite there being nothing between Mars's arms, Elaine felt like she was hallucinating a river just by the vivid description. Was it because of the void robbing all her senses that made the imagery so real?
"In this example, the river would be a type of Qi, whereas the things that make up the river are the underlying Daos." Mars explained, "For someone to wield this river Qi, they would need to have some understanding of all that a river encompasses in order to command it."
"I see... so if someone only knew the Dao of, let's say, gravity, they could affect and understand the river Qi somewhat but ultimately be unable to wield it in its entirety and only affect that one part?" Elaine hypothesized.
Mars nodded, "Precisely. Imagine there is a vaguely defined pyramid of Qi's, with some lording over others. Those that encompass more Daos are higher up the pyramid but harder to cultivate and reach enlightenment in as when a cultivator tries to listen to the heaven's whispers, there will be many Daos attempting to impart their knowledge of reality at once. But this is just my theory and way of viewing things. As I said, reality is so woven together that such a defined hierarchy is impossible."
"So would you say something like Solar Qi sits higher than light Qi?" Elaine asked.
"Yes," Mars nodded, "Solar Qi encompasses many Daos, such as light, heat, radiation, life, and more. Whereas light Qi is much more focused on the light Dao part and what that entails. Another example would be how water Qi sits higher than ice or mist Qi, which are far more specialized."
Elaine rubbed her chin, "So what you are suggesting is that time Qi is a bad choice due to how high it's up the pyramid?"
"Yes, because to revert or fast forward time, even in a small area, requires an absolute understanding of everything and enough Qi to rewrite reality to a past or future state." Mars let out a very slight laugh, "Something like that lies in the realm of heaven and the gods, and even they might be under the stranglehold of times power."
Elaine's eyes widened, "Now that you put it like that, even if the gods had the power over time, it would be terrifying. I mean, if they wanted, they could put all of us in an endless loop or cycle! How would anyone even reach the higher planes if that happened? That wouldn't even be fair."
"Yeah... that would be terrible." Mars seemed to look away as if to avoid eye contact.
"O-Okay, I can see why you reacted like that now," Elaine nodded to herself and decided to ignore the void monster's odd behavior, "So if time Qi is the lord of all, I would assume affinities such as cosmic or divine are just below it? Would you recommend either?"
"I believe they are both far below time Qi in the number of Daos they encompass, but I certainly wouldn't recommend either. Divine Qi means to comprehend the divine laws of heaven. One of its main advantages is immunity to the void... which you sort of already have by cultivating void Qi."
"Interesting, what else can it do?" Elaine asked.
"Well, it would let you cultivate endlessly until the highest realm, and you would be able to also wield the powers of heaven to a degree. But..." Mars winced.
Elaine raised a brow, "So infinite cultivation potential and the ability to wield the power of the gods. What's the catch?"
Mars smiled faintly, "You would be enslaved to the heavens and under its constant watch and control. I know I said to play by its rules, but that's different from being enslaved to them. If the heavens commanded you to kill Ashlock, you would do so. If they wanted you dead, you would do so gladly. All for the glory of the heavens."
Elaine shuddered, "That sounds terrible."
"Why do you think we, as Worldwalkers, wish to escape heaven's rule?" Mars bared their teeth, "We don't even cultivate the divine, yet we are commanded by it to an extent."
"Never mind about Divine Qi, then. What's wrong with cosmic?"
"Ever heard the saying it's harder to create than destroy? Cosmic is what I would define as a creation type of Qi."
"A creation type? Don't they just absorb Qi and use it? What are they creating?" Elaine was fascinated. Knowledge of cosmic Qi was tightly guarded by the Starweaver family.
"Cosmic Qi comes from the distant stars so much like void Qi it requires formations to capture it in any significant amounts. Furthermore, it takes a truly stupendous amount of Qi to create a cosmos inside your soul and then even more to actually nurture and weaponize it."
"Qi intensive... got it. But even so, wouldn't cosmic plus void affinity make me a deadly force?" Elaine asked. Something about cultivating a literal cosmos inside her soul was fascinating, but she also shuddered at how many Daos she would have to comprehend on top of the many years she would have to spend diligently cultivating to keep up even with all the help from Ashlock.
"The reason I advise you against Cosmic affinity is that void Qi is already such a Qi-intensive affinity that if you had both void and cosmic, you would be a one-hit-wonder. Able to decimate a foe and then out of action for weeks to regain what you spent." Mars said casually, "Of course, if that is what you desire, blasting people with void-coated cosmic radiation is an attack that is nigh unstoppable."
"I see," Elaine muttered as she fell deep into thought. What did she want?
Seeing her thinking, Mars added, "In my opinion, it would be better for you to pick a simpler and easier-to-cultivate one that matches your personality and works well with void affinity."
"Alright," Elaine hummed as she pondered, "What makes void Qi so intensive, by the way? I understand creating a literal cosmos inside one's soul, but absolute nothingness? Why is cultivating it so hard?"
Mars looked off into the vast expanse of nothingness, "When you cultivate void Qi, you are effectively stripping all the Daos from reality and returning it to nothingness. Destruction is many times easier than creation, but even so, void Qi is closer to time on the pyramid than cosmic or divine. You only find it as 'easy' to cultivate as you do because you are a being born from the void. As a voidling, it's like breathing to you."
"So void is a destructive affinity?"
"The best there is," Mars said, "Turns out being able to deconstruct a carefully woven reality makes you rather powerful. Shields of any type are obliterated in equal measure. Travel is easy and instantaneous, as you can rip space apart. You can block anything and avoid all kinds of detection. But all of this comes at a significant cost. So your second affinity should be less Qi intensive if possible."
Elaine knew that significant cost that Mars spoke about well enough. After all, she was in her mid-twenties and still hadn't surpassed the first stage of the Soul Fire Realm despite her efforts. There were no whispers of heaven with void Qi to provide enlightenment, and the actual void Qi was rare and near impossible to cultivate without the help of vast and expensive Qi gathering formations.
So, I should pick a cheaper affinity. Perhaps something like fire, water, wind, or earth? Elaine thought for a while but didn't like the sound of any of them. She was allowed to pick anything in existence as her second affinity, so to go with something so basic and restrictive just because it was cheap felt wrong.
Something more mid-tier, then. One that has a few Daos to it but not so many that it's impossible to cultivate without the help of Ashlock's resources or a vast Qi-gathering array.
"Okay, I'm just going to think aloud, and feel free to offer any thoughts," Elaine said.
Mars gave her a nod, so she continued, "Void Qi, when utilized to its maximum potential, lets me basically kill anything as I can force my way through any defense, right? I can even travel instantly with Void Step, and I can technically block anything, so I have perfect attack, movement, and defense."
"Don't forget you can remain totally undetectable from spiritual sense," Mars said.
"Right, so I sort of have stealth as well..." Elaine tapped her chin, "So something like darkness or spatial affinity would be unnecessary as they are basically cheaper to use but a lesser version of void?"
"You can think of void as a more selfish version of those two," Mars mused, "Void may allow you to traverse great distances instantly, but you can't bring others with you or attack through portals. Whereas darkness Qi would let you blanket a room in total darkness that may aid your allies to escape, but you can't with void as that would be far too costly."
Elaine nodded, "Okay, so I need a mid-tier affinity encompassing a handful of Daos, which works well with the void and fits my fighting style."
"What is your fighting style?" Mars asked.
Elaine snorted, "I don't have one. I'm a researcher, not a fighter. I have done some training, but I am rather hopeless with the sword and get surrounded and overwhelmed easily. But I should get better with practice..."
"Not necessarily," Mars shook their head, "Practice does indeed close the gap between you and others, but imagine how your life will look in a million years as you stand on an upper realm battlefield facing down a prodigy sword god. No amount of practice will allow you to win in the end because you may be able to change your fleshy vessel, but you can never change your soul."
"Lack of talent, then?" Elaine sighed.
"Can't teach a fish to fly," Mars said flatly, "Even if you gave that fish the body of an eagle, its soul would always yearn for the cold ocean depths rather than the blue skies. Some things are ingrained in our soul and personality no matter how many years go by. A sword prodigy will have come out of the womb wanting to fight and die by the blade."
"So, what do you suggest?" Elaine asked. "Should I go and discover my fighting style first and come back?"
"No need. You already know deep down what you want. You just don't want to admit it."
Elaine gulped as she stared the human-looking void monster in the face. Mars was right... she hated it, but they were right, darn it. "I'm a coward!" Elaine shouted, "There, I said it. I don't want to fight. I would rather sit in the back and help where I can."
Mars grinned, showing their teeth, "There is more to fighting than clashing swords."
"What do you mean—"
Mars thrust a finger into her skull, and everything went black.
The vast reality she had been staring at in the void was gone, and now she was surrounded by nothingness.
"Where am I?" Elaine muttered as she desperately looked around.
"I isolated your mind from your body in a bubble of void Qi," Mars's voice rippled through the darkness from all directions. "Your body is right before me, staring off into space. I could ram a sword through your heart right now and end your pitiful existence."
"Please don't..."
An inhuman laugh rattled through her skull, "I won't, but do you see my point? Sometimes attacking the mind or soul is better than going for the flesh and bone."
Elaine felt reality return, and Mars drifted backward while lowering their hand.
"I didn't know my ignorance was so boundless," Elaine cursed, "I was told from an early age that mind-based affinities like dream Qi only worked on those far weaker, so few bother to cultivate them."
"That is true," Mars agreed, "But when paired with void Qi that can penetrate all defenses, even those around the mind and soul..."
Elaine suddenly had an idea for the affinity she wanted. Having her mind isolated, paired with the vivid imagery of the river from earlier, gave Elaine an affinity that seemed perfect. One that complemented the strengths of void Qi while bringing something new to the table. And best of all, she knew Ashlock had a grove of flowers that produced the Qi required for it.
"What about illusion Qi?" Elaine asked, "It's a mid-tier affinity that, when paired with the void, becomes something far better. The fact that void Qi lets me hide my presence would make it impossible to tell which version of me is real and which is fake. I could distract people, leaving them open to my Void Step and any further attack. It even lets me assist from the backlines in fights."
Elaine didn't mention her next idea, but if she reached the point where she could isolate someone's mind in a bubble of void. She could create a totally fake reality within that person's mind, and they would have no idea she had even done anything to them. That level of power... wasn't it close to the gods?
"A good choice... do you know the Daos such an affinity includes?" Mars asked.
Elaine shook her head.
"Come with me," Mars said as they grabbed Elaine's hand and led her toward the nearby celestial fog. Shards of pocket realms drifted past, but Elaine felt no draw to any of them, just like before. If anything, her soul wanted to return to the quiet void rather than stay here.
"The Daos an illusionist must understand to truly fool someone are light to create visual illusions," Mars reached into a nearby pocket realm and pulled free a tiny whisp of light that they held in their palm, "The Dao of sound and wind to trick someone's senses, the Dao of mind to trick their brain, the Dao of darkness to give contrast to the light, the Dao of spatial to bend reality and finally the Dao of nature to manipulate and even mirror a natural environment."
Elaine watched in awe as the whisps of various Daos were gathered and then merged together in Mars's hand. The result was translucent Qi that shimmered like a mirage.
"And this is illusion Qi." Mars said flatly as they showed it to Elaine, "The combination of many Daos involved in manipulating reality and people's minds. So what will it be? Do you choose this to be your second affinity?"
Elaine spent a good while staring at Mars's hand. She thought long and hard if there was another type of Qi she would prefer, but eventually, the excitement from all the scenarios she thought up won out. It truly felt like it fit her.
"I do."
Mars grinned, "This might hurt a little." They wasted no time and rammed the illusion Qi into Elaine's soul. She screamed. The pain was soul-wrenching, like someone had taken an axe to her very being and carved it in two.
"Sorry about this..."
Elaine could hardly hear Mars over her screaming from the pain of having her soul ripped apart, having a new affinity stuffed inside, and then her soul being put back together again. Once her soul had been reformed, she felt the illusion Qi begin to bloom and intertwine with the void of her soul.
"What did you do to me..." Elaine gasped as she felt her soul had shrunk drastically and she couldn't even summon any soul flames to her hand.
"Oh, I'm going to need you to cultivate from scratch again because otherwise, the void of your soul would reject the new illusion Qi. This way, it will be as if you were born with illusion Qi all along!" Mars said enthusiastically.
Elaine grunted in response and blacked out.
