Rix spent a few moments contemplating if this was even a good idea. Breaker had said mana was basically filtered qi. Theoretically there should be some functional overlap, but that didn't mean the two resources would be compatible. Who knew how the System would react to being fed something alien. There was some chance it would only cause him further injury.

But Rix had sworn to do everything in his power to grow stronger. He didn't have the luxury of walking the safe path. If there was a chance this could aid his quest, he had no choice but to try it.

He briefly considered if he should wait to consult Breaker, but for all the man's grand knowledge, the actual functional details of the System were something he seemed to have little grasp of. He spoke in vague generalities about the similarities, yet knew nothing of the System's attributes or the way its techniques were wielded. Rix suspected the elder would simply be guessing at any answer he gave.

Beyond that, the elder only barely tolerated the time they already lost to pursuing System power. Anything that was a distraction from their cultivation was typically met with a harsh rebuke.

No, if Rix wanted to explore this, he needed to do it unguided.

The next question was, how to actually go about it. Despite their shared origin, his two power systems couldn't be more disparate. The Martial Path was clear and codified: he had a defined mana pool of 360, and a specific cost to use something like [Force Hammer]. Cultivation, on the other hand, was far more opaque. There was nothing offering guidance or quantification. It was innately less precise. What was the qi equivalent of 30 mana?

"I'm going to test it with [Force Hammer]," he said to Luna, moving over towards the training dummy.

She nodded and followed, her expression eager.

He didn't have a lot of qi to play with. While he'd refilled a token amount over dinner, he was far from having a full pool. Just going by feel, he thought he probably had enough for a couple of techniques, though that was assuming the resources were roughly equal in potency.

With a sense of uncertainty settling in his gut, he called up the technique shape for [Force Hammer] in his mind and cycled the foreign qi towards it. As his qi hit the shape, there was another moment of resistance, but he now knew how to push through that. With another exertion of mental force, qi breached through and flowed into the technique.

Rix braced himself, but nothing happened. There was no sudden rebellion from the System in his mind. The shape continued to lie dormant.

So far, so good.

He continued, slowly feeding more qi into the shape while monitoring his spiritual network for signs of distress. Nothing felt amiss, but at the same time, the technique still hadn't reacted. As far as [Force Hammer] was concerned, his qi might as well not have existed.

Soon, the shape felt about as full as it normally did when it activated. When used as the System intended, the process was automatic. He conjured the technique, shoved his mana into it, and when it hit the right threshold it fired instantly, prompting him with the correct movement and sending all that power to pool at the tip of his staff, ready to be unleashed. But since it didn't seem to see qi as a valid input, right now, the System apparently didn't think the technique was ready.

One side of his mouth curled downwards. He'd been hoping for some reaction.

Already, it was becoming difficult to hold the qi and technique shape in place. The normal process was almost instant. There was no time to strain or struggle. This, on the other hand, was akin to holding a heavy bowl above his head while it was slowly filled with water.

But he had one further idea. His jaw tense, his back straight, he once again reached into his dantian, this time seizing his mana. Unlike his qi, it flowed willingly up and into the technique.

The moment the first drop entered the shape, [Force Hammer] snapped into place.

Rix knew instantly this felt different. The power that surged down his arms felt far wilder than ever before. It bucked like a rutting deer, roiling and roaring its way to the tip of his weapon.

He felt a brief flash of concern. Though the technique had fired, [Force Hammer] was a technique of two parts. It wouldn't complete until he finished the appropriate movement, and if he elected not to, it would simply fizzle out after a moment. He still had the opportunity to abort.

But Rix hadn't come this far to back out now.

Hoisting his staff high, he brought it crashing down on the dummy. [Force Hammer] fired with a thunderous crack, its silver arc far wider and brighter than he'd ever seen it before. The effect on his target was staggering. Though the dummy's mana fortification stopped it from actually shattering, its entire form splintered with innumerable cracks. Had it not been enchanted, it would have broken into a thousand pieces. So great was the force that the armless wooden man was actually driven down at least a foot into the soil.

But it wasn't the only thing to suffer. As the technique completed, something sharp and painful radiated through his mind. He could only describe it as a sense of psychic backlash, like a hot knife being driven into his skull. His knees buckled, but Luna's hand shot out to steady him

"Are you okay?" she asked.

He winced, blinking rapidly several times. "I think so." The pain was already fading, though there was still an echo of it bouncing around his head.

She watched him for several beats, looking vaguely concerned, before turning her attention back to the dummy. "Bleeding hells," she said. It was already stitching itself back together, but the devastation was still evident even now.

"Bleeding hells indeed," Rix agreed. He glanced around. Several sets of eyes had turned toward them, drawn by the sudden, sharp sound. While attracting attention wasn't ideal, he didn't think it had been anything so unusual as to be dangerous. Someone would have to have been watching intently at that exact moment and also familiar with [Force Hammer] and his power level to see any significant anomaly. Judging by the way people were already returning to their training, he suspected he'd gotten away with it.

You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.

Despite the spike of pain and his lack of subtlety, he was unable to stop a smile spreading across his lips. The result had far exceeded his expectations. He'd just been hoping that perhaps his two resources were interchangeable, but it seemed like qi actually enhanced System techniques, albeit while exacting a toll in return.

"Seems like it works, then," Luna said.

Rix nodded. "Sort of." He reached up to massage his temple. "The technique didn't exactly like being fed something it wasn't expecting. Hurt like hells for a few moments. It might make it difficult to use in the middle of a fight." He surveyed the dummy once more. "That said, there might not be any more fight if I land one of those on someone."

Luna followed his gaze and gave a bemused shake of her head. "You're not wrong. It sounds like maybe I need to get thrown back into solitary again just so I can break my own network a bit."

Rix laughed. "Let me play with it a bit more before you risk catastrophic spiritual injury."

His mind was already working through ways he could experiment with his new capabilities. It seemed like mana acted as a sort of key. Qi had indeed counted as 'filling' the technique, but the System didn't actually fire unless it detected mana in the shape too. That opened some interesting possibilities. This time, he'd only used roughly the same amount of qi as he typically did mana. But what would it look like if he poured his entire qi pool into a single [Force Hammer]? He suspected the psychic backlash from that would be crippling, if not lethal, but at the same time, what kind of devastation could he wreak?

It was probably not a great idea to deploy any of these tricks in the arena. In the prison, he and his techniques were a known quantity, and if he was suddenly destroying Peak Sparks with a single attack, someone would start asking questions. But the same wouldn't be true out in the real world.

For now, he was excited. A new world of possibilities had opened for him. He simply had to work out how to leverage them.

***

The next day was a dive day, and while Rix didn't feel one hundred percent, a night of real sleep had done him an immense amount of good. It still hurt to use his spiritual network, but he could handle a little pain. There was too much to do to wait any longer.

Breaker would likely be beside himself. He'd been expecting them over a week ago, and they'd had no way to let him know they'd been in solitary.

Rix had initially been concerned that the man might not be able to find them again at all. While the realm they would be diving from the Cauldron was the same one as before, the location within that realm would be different. The Sparks needed Spark-tier fades to continue to climb and they would use a different portal to get there. That portal could have led to an area adjacent to where the Whispers dove, but it could also have been hundreds or thousands of miles away. Fractured Realms were vast, arcane places, and the methods the corporations used to determine those locations were a mystery to Rix.

Fortunately, Breaker knew the Cauldron diving spot too. He'd searched every corner of the realm when looking for a cultivator to help him, and he said there were only two spots where people gathered. He'd promised to meet them there. He would not be happy with the delay, but there was little they could do.

At breakfast, Karn ran them through the situation in the realm. "Like I said yesterday, things work differently up here," he said, halfheartedly poking his bowl of congee. Even after just two meals, Rix could already tell the food up here was even less inspiring than what had been on offer in the Farm. Whoever was in charge of the kitchen clearly didn't care as much as Tolson.

"There are two main things to know," Karn continued. "First, the tether doesn't enforce any kind of range limit for your rank. The dive zone is twenty miles in all directions from the portal, and even though you're both only Low Sparks, you can go anywhere within that zone."

"Does that mean the fades are all the same strength?" asked Rix.

Karn gave a wry smile. "Not at all. They still get stronger the further out you go. The prison just isn't holding your hand anymore."

"The difference in inmate power levels up here is much broader than in the playpen," chimed in Tali. "So, it makes less sense to limit you to a specific rank of fades."

Karn nodded. "I'm at Peak Spark, and there are a bunch of Mid Sparks in here that would break me like kindling."

"Bleeding corporate monsters," Tali said, with a shake of her head.

Conversely, Karn just looked resigned. "It's Spiritlock's position that, at this point, if people want to dive deeper and fetch better treasures, well, that's just fine by them."

"You're expected to have a handle on your own power by now," added Tali. "For you, that just means play it smart and don't push beyond your limits."

Luna grinned. "Got it. Straight to the far edge it is."

Rix chuckled. He liked that it wasn't quite so structured. It would give them more options, though he still wanted to play it safe to start.

"What's the second thing we need to know?" he asked.

Karn's lips drew into a thin line. "It's much more of a free-for-all up here. Unlike Wing, we don't have the muscle to lay claim to an entire section of the realm. We dive in the western half, along with most of the other small groups."

"That implies the eastern half is owned," said Luna

Karn nodded. "The Pattern Faithful. They're even bigger up here."

"What's their deal?" asked Rix. He vaguely knew the group from his time in the Farm. They'd been the third group that owned a quadrant, alongside the Shadow Runners and the Iron Hand. But he'd had almost nothing to do with them or their members.

Karn hesitated. "They're…interesting."

"Fucking nutjobs is what they are," added Tali. "They worship the System like it's a living thing that's going to spring to life and save us all from entropy." She made a face. "They creep me out."

"Not all of them are like that," said Karn. "Yeah, they're a church, but they're also the only group that offers real opportunity to keep progressing your Path once you get out of this place." He addressed Rix and Luna again. "They actually have an organisation out in Cloudpiercer, and a lot of people who join in here transition over once they get out. They have their own library of techniques, their own realm, everything. I get why people join. If your corp won't take you back, you don't exactly have a lot of options out there."

It made sense to Rix. If he hadn't had Wellspring to fall back on, he'd probably have been tempted himself.

"Anyway, they may be the biggest group, but they're also not looking for trouble," Karn continued. "Steer clear of their zone and you won't have any problems."

Rix nodded. Seemed simple enough.

The journey down to the dive site felt familiar. Though the Farm and the Cauldron shared certain staff, the Divemaster here was new — a ratty man with sharp eyes and a pinched face. Despite his appearance, he seemed relatively benign. He just asked if they had any questions, and then ushered them through the portal.

Stepping through, Rix found himself in the strangest forest he'd ever seen. All around him, stretching off into the dim yellow distance, was a sea of giant mushrooms. They varied dramatically in height, some rising up to his knees or waist, while others towered over him like the great oaks of the woods outside Cloudpiercer Citadel.

"Damn," said Luna, gazing out into the realm.

Next to her, Tali grinned. "Pretty impressive, right?"

The fungus wasn't uniform in variety either. They ran the full spectrum of colour and shape. To Rix's left, a towering blue flat mushroom loomed over them, its cap almost acting like a natural roof. To his right stood something narrow and conical that glowed with a faint green bioluminescence. It was, perhaps, the strangest environment they'd been in yet.

"You two want an escort for your first day?" asked Karn.

Rix and Luna shared a look. "We'll be okay," he replied. The sooner they were alone, the sooner they'd be able to find Breaker.

"Suit yourselves," their new leader replied, before he and Tali began jogging off into the realm.

Around them, several other divers were eyeing them with curiosity, but nobody seemed outwardly hostile. It seemed like their Shadow Runner affiliation would, indeed, provide some element of protection.

Without further ado, they set off into the realm.

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