Chapter 32: Life 58, Age 20, Martial Disciple Peak
I spent years practicing what I learned from the inner sect disciple. I could have advanced to Martial Master in a short period of time, but the consistency and uniformity of my meridians never felt like it was enough. I wanted to push for perfection, but I kept falling short.
After years of effort, I couldn’t ignore the problem any longer. My fire affinity was simply too low to cultivate a Peak-Yellow Rank 2 technique. I thought that with enough practice, I could be able to surpass the limits of my affinity. That might indeed be possible, but how many more years would it take? How many more was I willing to spend?
I was better at forcibly moving qi around than when I first started cultivating, but even having practiced qi control skills for centuries, I still wasn’t able to exert the fine control needed for weaving a perfect meridian.
A low eight-star affinity was simply not high enough for the delicate work I was trying to do. A higher affinity would allow me to control qi with far more precision.
I had the credits I needed to boost it slightly, but I didn’t know if it would be enough. A peak nine-star affinity had been invaluable when attempting to reach Peak Disciple with pure qi while using a Peak-Yellow technique. To cultivate to the limit as a Martial Master I might need a peak eight-star affinity.
Paying for a peak eight-star affinity was going to be a problem, though.
I could rush up to Peak Master with a weak foundation, grab the credits, and then use them to boost my affinity. But… that felt like admitting defeat. There had to be another path forward. Other people in the world managed to reach Grandmaster in a single life. Shouldn’t it be possible for me to do the same?
Of course, they all had their own affinities and blessings to help them. Compared to them, I had started from a uniquely poor position. But at this point, my situation wasn’t so terrible. There had to be a path forward for me.
So, I needed to increase my affinity, but I didn’t have the credits to do so. What should I do?