"Many of us have spent thousands of years debating that, xiǎo yǒu," mused Yijing quietly, leaning on his stave and watching the Thousand Year Grass sway. "So far, all we can agree on is that we are Heaven's Balance to the ones that call themselves Cultivators. I would say"—he turned and spat meditatively—"that we are True Cultivators, where the Locusts are Consumers. We grow and cultivate"—he jabbed his stave at Chún—"what you call the treasures of Heaven and Earth. We strengthen Essence and are strengthened in turn."
He glanced towards the setting Golden Crow and said, "We can talk while you gather your flock."
Chún jumped at the lengthening shadows and the honks of the geese already gathering at the entrance to the pasture. He spun to collect his things. "Senior, it was barely the time of Soaring Crow… what happened?"
"Igniting Essence always takes time. Especially in the beginning—you will lose yourself." Yijing's tone became measured and instructive as he followed at an easy pace behind Chún. "Fortunately, you are talented. It was only a small Thousand Year Grass, so it was only a few shí."
Chún blinked, absorbing that even as he hurried after the flock, tapping his staff against the ground. "Only… a few shí…"
"So if you ignite Essence alone," Yijing continued, his voice sharpening, "start small. Make sure you are in a safe place where you will not be found. Do not attempt to ignite an Essence beyond your ability. You will either die of Essence drain or be immolated by overflow. And if you are cursed to escape that, you will overload and detonate when the ignition wave hits you."
Chún nearly missed a step. "Senior, how will this one know when an Essence is too large?" he panted, chasing the last of the flock together at the entrance and calling out the marching sound. "Yi, yi yi…" The geese bustled down the mountain trail with their usual cacophony.
"Do not attempt to ignite Essence any larger than what we did today until"—Yijing looked at him sternly—"you feel no effect from the ignition waves. Then only select Essence slightly larger. Repeat the process, and so on."
"The ignition wave—was that the ripple at the end?" clarified Chún, setting Yijing's head nodding in satisfaction.
"Good. A sensible head on those shoulders. Yes, that is the wave of Essence produced when the Essence ignites. Our bodies are purified and strengthened by it—it quite literally burns out the impurities in our bodies, tempering them and empowering them to channel and amplify larger amounts of Essence."
Chún thumped his herding staff on the ground thoughtfully as the flock continued down towards the village. Headed for their pen, where they knew warmth and food awaited, they needed little herding on the trip back. "And igniting—is like lighting a fire in the Essence?"
Yijing shook his head. "No, it is more like strengthening and adding to it. The spark is already there, but it is not large enough, yes? You said you heard chimes and saw the mist?"
Chún waved his staff at a few geese that seemed to be getting slightly rambunctious and grunted affirmatively.
"That happens naturally, especially in places like the mountain," answered the old man. "In certain places the energy of Heaven and Earth collects and becomes Essence. That spark was likely Earth Essence from the hollow, Water from the mists of the stream, and Fire—or Power itself—from the Golden Crow, as the Consumers insist on calling it."
Yijing thumped his staff again as they continued down the trail. "Over a long period of time, if nothing disturbs it, the Essence grows concentrated enough that it invokes the Dao Laws of the Essences that have collected—and creation itself—which in turn releases more Essence…"
His voice became softer, reverent, so that Chún had to concentrate to hear him. "One of our number says the universe itself was born from a single ignition of the Dao like that, and the Dao of Fire in the sky also… that the act of creation releases energy itself…"
He tapped his stave authoritatively. "We—you and I and others like us—are born with the ability to amplify the Essence. We channel it from around us and out to form the Dao Laws as guided by the spark. You heard the music strengthen as you followed it, yes? The Essence guided you in what was required for it to reach its Dao."
"Then this one did not make the Thousand Year Grass," Chún said thoughtfully. "It was always—no, the possibility was there. This one only fed it fuel… drawn from around me?"
Yijing smiled. "Yes, we draw the Essence in and concentrate it as we are guided—and then it feeds us, when the act of creation creates more Essence. In essence—hah—we balance consumption and creation."
"And each wave of Essence strengthens the energy of Heaven and Earth where it touches, creating more sparks… This one saw so many afterwards…"
"Yes, xiǎo yǒu. That was a small wave, as only a small treasure was born, so it would not have affected much—perhaps half a li, or so."
"But how is that different from Cul—forgive me, honoured Senior—Consumers?" Chún asked. "The tales say they temper their bodies with Essence and treasures, and they create artefacts and gather Essence with formations and—" Yijing's stave poked him sharply in the ribs. Chún snapped his mouth shut and rubbed his side sheepishly.
"Consumers do not temper their bodies with Essence directly," the old man snapped. "They consume it and try to hold it inside themselves in areas where Essence pools naturally in their bodies. The tempering is an after-effect, as they circulate Essence through their meridians artificially using techniques they have developed. They lose some back outward while they consume, but in the end there is always less than what was there to begin with. Any they retain or build themselves they hold tightly, and only release it to perform their techniques. Then they consume even more Essence to replenish what they lost."
Yijing shook his head wearily. "Artefacts and pills are the same—Essence resources are burned and forged to create something else. The only exceptions are Heavenly Tribulations, which release a great deal of Essence when a Consumer forces the formation of Dao. That is what they refer to as 'breaking through'. But these tribulations form naturally, and the Essence released is destructive.
"Once in a great while, a Consumer grows beyond consumption and grasps the Dao. At that point, they begin to produce Dao Laws naturally, and their tribulations become beneficial. These are World Stage existences and above—ones who begin to create worlds of their own, becoming true Cultivators who generate more Essence than they consume.
"But those are one in a thousand trillion Consumers. To reach that stage, they burn through countless treasures—enough Essence to create a universe."
Chún listened raptly as his new mentor continued sadly, "And for every Consumer who begins to create instead of consume, there are uncountable others burning through Essence treasures—consuming them as fast as they can seize or strip them from the world."
Yijing snorted and raised his voice. "And where do all these treasures—Essence Stones, Essence Beasts, Essence weapons, million-year Fruit of Beating the Other Consumer's Face into a Pig's Head—come from?" Here the old monk puffed his chest out like a peacock and adopted a sonorous, wise tone. "…From ancient treasure troves of Great Sects of the past. Great treasure gardens that exist forever. Caves of Essence. The bottoms of great pools. Or inside hundred-thousand-season beasts, of course…"
Then he lowered his voice and muttered out of the side of his mouth, peering around shiftily like a thief planning to rob someone. "Want to guess what they used to say a thousand years ago about where the treasures came from?"
Chún thought for a moment, then groaned quietly. "This one is enlightened, honoured elder—of course. They said the same."
"Hah—as did those before them, and those before that, and them lot behind those… and always, always, burning treasures. At times, yes, a Sect does collapse and remains hidden for a while. But treasures take time to gather. Most Sects do not simply vanish—they are conquered, and their resources plundered almost immediately. In truth, it is when the treasures run dry that most Sects begin to wither."
Chún's voice held a note of bewilderment. "And yet, with so many Consumers, there are always more treasures and secret lands… and you said it takes a long time for enough Essence to gather naturally to create treasures… how can they not see it, honoured elder?"
Yijing sighed. "Mostly it is because we hide."
As they reached the base of the mountain, Yijing stopped walking while the flock turned for home. "This old one will not follow you into the village, my friend. Tell the villagers you are leaving and come back to the Thousand Year Grass as the Golden Crow begins its flight. I will be waiting for you."
Chún swallowed heavily. "Honoured teacher." Dropping his staff, he knelt in the dust of the path and kowtowed three times. A light touch on his head made him look up, but only the lights of distant Dao greeted his eyes as the last of the light disappeared behind the mountain.
Looking upward, Chún felt tears run down his cheeks. "The Heavens have eyes," he whispered…
"…Treasures of Heaven, your Grandmother! The geese…!"
In the deepening twilight, a True Cultivator, a Balance of Heaven… runs after a flock of honking geese, the mountain echoing with their cries.