The next day, Chún decided to start firing the pottery first. He could do his exercise, chores, and everything else while the kiln was doing its job — he just had to make sure it was fed with enough fuel periodically.
A good night's sleep had worked wonders on his state of mind. He did wonder if he would ever not require sleep like the Consumers in the stories. So far, nightfall still brought fatigue without fail.
Stretching, he grabbed his loincloth — he was getting pretty good at weaving those — and headed out of his cave.
"Good morning, Mountain. Good morning, Your Highness," he greeted the Heaven and Earth Vine as he passed through the tunnel entrance and the screen of vine leaves.
The vines swayed in response; a large, ripe fruit fell toward him, which he caught reflexively.
"Thank you for breakfast!" Chún called back, waving an arm vaguely upward in thanks as he moved toward the fire pit.
"So how did the drying work out?" he sent up the link as he munched on the fruit, savouring the refreshing, slightly sweet juice.
"Only a couple of failures — a few got too hot and had water go to steam, cracking," replied his locus — sending him images through the link of clay drying too fast and breaking as the excess water turned to steam.
Chún squatted by the fire pit and began pulling out the dry pots, setting cracked ones aside. "There are five or six good ones here. That will do to start. The broken ones will help with the next batch." Carefully, he placed the intact pots into the temporary basket he had left there the previous night and piled the broken pottery beside the fire pit.
Humming softly to himself, small pulses of unfocused Essence rippled out with every note. He enjoyed the warm caress of the Golden Crow's feathers across his shoulders and the cool of the morning air as he worked.
Looking at the dried clay pots with his Essence Sense, he could still see strong Water and Earth patterns present. He nodded — just as expected. This was why it was necessary to make the clay glow red-hot before it became pottery.
Finishing up, he lifted the basket and walked carefully to the kiln, mindful not to jostle its contents. The trip took a little longer than usual, but he reached his small spot near the creek soon enough. After checking that the kiln was undisturbed, he set the basket down and began stacking mid-sized deadwood into the kiln over the clay bars at the entrance. Once the opening was filled — leaving only the gap beneath the clay grate — he built up the small fire pit in front with kindling and lit it with a spark of Fire Essence.
As the kindling caught, he moved to the side opening of the kiln — the firing chamber he had dug out when building it — and quickly placed the dry clay pots inside, pushing them as far back as he could reach. Smoke began to flow back through the kiln as heat took hold, drawing the fire into the heavier wood stacked above the clay bars.
Once the pots were placed, he resealed the side opening with the original mud plug. A few splashes of water into the old mud pit softened it enough to seal the gaps as smoke and heat briefly leaked out before the draw strengthened.
With the side entrance sealed, the kiln began drawing strongly through the chimney, rising heat pulling in oxygen and fanning the fire, which had now fully transferred from the small fire pit to the heavier wood inside.
"Mountain, watch the process, please. Make note of the changes inside the kiln as well as the pottery — we might be able to improve the design."
Chún opened his Essence Sense as he studied the kiln. Fire and Air Essence blasted through the construct, contained and concentrated by Earth Essence.
Walking around to the back, he peered down the chimney. He could just see some of the pottery, which meant they were in the right location.
Returning to the front, he fed more wood on top of the clay bars. They would become pottery themselves soon. He frowned, estimating the burn rate, chewing thoughtfully on his lower lip.
"Friend, let me know if the fire starts to need more fuel. I need to go and do the daily chores."
"Of course," replied his locus.
Satisfied, Chún ran back to the clearing to top up the stew pot with water, use the latrine, and water the vegetables and fruit plot — especially the two unusually fancy apple saplings that had pushed their heads up over the last couple of days, almost gleaming with Essence. The other plants had noticeably increased in growth and vitality as well, nourished by the Essence the small trees were fountaining into the air.
"I wonder what the apples will be like — maybe something worth selling," he mused.
"They would likely be considered a low-level Immortal's Fruit if you brought them off the Mountain," his locus replied.
"I thought those had to be peaches," Chún said. "I guess it's not an option."
"I am having to let increasing amounts of Essence pass through the connection back to Golden Crow in order to keep it from building up too fast here," the Mountain replied, "so they would not be impossible to explain."
Chún looked up. "Um? Will that not cause problems? The Culti—" He corrected himself. "The Consumers will notice."
The Mountain sent a shifting sensation through the link, the closest thing it had to a shrug."The situation has changed. I cannot be found by anything below World Level now. However, the old Mountain site still requires Essence to function — completely blocking the flow would be damaging to the planet and extremely noticeable."
The locus gave the impression of a sly smile.
"Two problems solving each other, as the old saying goes. I need somewhere to place the excess Essence, and an 'ordinary' Treasure Mountain is useful to explain any Beasts or Essence materialisation that might spill across dimensions for mortals or anyone else to notice.
"I also re-established the old obscuring, hiding, and spatial extension Dao that were present there prior to the battle, so anyone will have to work to get in — and they are unlikely to go looking for another hidden land if they succeed."
Chún's eyes widened as he jumped into the trees to practise Monkey Movement. "So there are two of you?"
His locus laughed. "No. I've just got a 'hand' or 'foot' still on Golden Crow Planet. This realm is not big enough to sustain itself with moisture, air, or heat yet, so I exchange those things — along with Essence — with the original site. I do not pull Essence in from Golden Crow anymore." The Mountain paused. "It has been half a shi. The kiln needs feeding."
"Right." Chún leapt back to his workshop in three bounds and fed the kiln larger deadwood. Checking with his Essence Sense and glancing down the chimney, he saw the clay beginning to glow a dull red, the Water Dao patterns thinning.
"That looks about right. I wonder what would happen with an Essence-worked kiln — Fire Essence-driven flames and Essence-imbued clay. Wish I could start on that now."
"We could probably start the Essence-built kiln now," offered his locus. "I can replicate what you did and reinforce the Dao patterns forming inside the ordinary kiln while it is in use. There is also a great deal of heat loss, since it is just mud. If I make it of the same stone as the fire pit and stew pot in the clearing, it will be much stronger, hotter, and heat more evenly and efficiently."
Chún tilted his right hand back and forth, considering. "I would need to dig out clay heavily imbued with Essence, make new pottery, and dry it against a Fire Essence-fuelled fire. That would take the rest of the day if I start now."
"I can raise the Essence kiln quickly," replied the Mountain. "As for drying the pots…"
A small pit lined in the same black stone as the fire pit in the Vine's clearing formed in Chún's workshop a few arm-spans from the kiln. Four layers of stone shelves shaped themselves around the sides, and a very bright, almost transparent flame rose from the centre.
Chún looked at it with his Essence Sense and quickly shut it off. The amount of Fire Essence pouring from the small opening beneath the flame was incandescent.
"Does that connect to one of the Nine Hells?" he joked nervously.
"You can put the clay on the shelves around the Fire Essence. They should all dry at the same rate. I will turn it off while you are standing in the pit."
"You did not need me to make that kiln at all," Chún realised belatedly.
"It was fascinating to observe directly. I have never seen it before. It was enjoyable."
"Do you even need me to make the pottery?" Chún demanded, a little annoyed.
"I struggle with such delicate work. Perhaps I will improve in time," his locus replied matter-of-factly. "I would suggest circulating your Essence through the clay as you work it. It should help it retain Dao characteristics more readily."
"Wait — like the staff and the cloak?" Chún asked. "They turned out a bit… well, I am not trying to make godly pots…"
The Mountain laughed. Chún swore he felt a faint shiver pass beneath his feet.
"Hardly godly. Your old staff is now the most powerful Treasure we possess, and it is only capable of stabilising this minor plane. It is not even close to Divine. Your current staff and cloak are several levels below that. Even the Silver Trees — and certainly the Heaven and Earth Vine — exceed them. When the Vine becomes a Five Elements Tree, it may rival a World Tree, and even then it would not be considered Divine — perhaps quasi-Divine."
Chún shrugged and picked up his basket, heading for the creek and the clay deposits. "I did not know. The cloak and staff feel very powerful to me."
"They are, by the standards of anyone below World Level cultivation," the Mountain replied. "But they were formed during a time of unusually high Essence flow. Unless you work the clay during another such ignition, it will not gain those characteristics. At most, it may retain Dao patterns more easily."
Chún nodded as he splashed across the creek toward the richest clay deposits along the bank. "Alright. I will try."
---
Being a little more practised meant that Chún got the clay out faster. This time he took the basket back to his 'workshop', then went back to the Vine's clearing to get the broken clay pots and his work stone.
Back at the 'workshop' he placed the clay lumps into the mud pit he had originally dug out to make his kiln, which reminded him to go and feed some more logs in. Looking down the chimney, he could see that the clay was glowing red now and the kiln was roaring like a dragon.
"Anything interesting happening in the kiln?" he asked his locus as he went back to the clay in the mud pit, letting Essence puddle through his fingers into the new Essence-heavy clay as he broke it down with kneading and water.
"Only clay left now — everything else got burnt out nicely, wood, plant matter and stuff. The water which is usually part of the clay is also leaving now, a bunch of crystals forming. All starting to melt together so that it is solid."
He blinked. "And that is all… ok?"
"Yes, that is how clay turns to ceramic."
"Oh. Well, this is nice and dough like now, time to knead the old dry clay into it this time… oh, wait," he paused as he grabbed his rock to start moulding the clay into a block, "the old clay is not Essence heavy, will that reduce the chances of retaining Dao?"
The Mountain was silent for a moment. "Not certain. It might. Also might help — balance and all that. Split your clay in half, add the dry clay to one and leave it out of the other. We can compare the products made with the different mixes afterwards."
"Good idea." Chún did as his locus suggested, pushing Essence through his hands the whole time he was kneading the clay, and soon had two lumps roughly the size of his head, glowing faintly with Essence.
The lumps needed to stiffen a bit, so he jumped into the new drying pit, put them on the shelves, and jumped back out again. "Turn on the Fire Essence please, friend."
The Fire appeared in the centre again, although it was clearly not as hot as before. Chún nodded approvingly. "Good idea, do not want to bake the clay." He walked over to the kiln and fed in the rest of his large deadwood.
"That should be sufficient — about two shi — let it die down after that," instructed his locus.
"Wash and lunch then."
Back after eating, Chún saw the kiln was not actively heating anymore, allowing it to gradually cool down. He knew the gradual part was important — he'd seen more than one apprentice beaten for opening a kiln too soon, destroying the pottery as it cooled too fast and shattered.
"Turn the Fire off, please." He jumped into the hot pit and retrieved the clay blocks, which now almost seemed pure Essence. He regarded them warily. "This is going to be interesting," he muttered.
"Yes," agreed his locus.
Rolling his eyes, he ignored the comment and went back to his work-stone and, like last time, used his fingers and a little water to shape lumps he broke off the blocks into pots, a few plates, and cups. He made sure to keep pushing Essence into the clay through his fingers the whole time.
After about a shi of work, the clay was used up. Looking at the pots, plates, and cups with Essence Sense, he could see that all the Essence patterns and Dao characters of Earth, Water, Life, and Fire were very strong, reinforced, and currently balanced.
"Wonder how that will change. Hope the fire does not completely kill the rest," he said quietly, rising to put the clay objects on the stone shelves. The Fire Essence reappeared as he leapt out.
"OK, time to hunt and gather."
---
Hunting was uneventful again, which Chún was thankful for. He still was not in the mood for more Essence-related craziness yet.
When he finally cornered a boar, he did not kill it outright. He drove it hard instead, keeping it moving until it could be herded back the way he wanted. By the time he reached the Vine's clearing — two or so shi later — the boar was still struggling.
Chún shoved into the clearing and stepped back.
The Heaven and Earth Vine answered. Tendrils slid, and the struggling ceased. A ripe fruit dropped near his feet. Then another.
"Fair trade," Chún muttered.
He was rewarded with the usual meat, pelt, and ivory while the rest vanished beneath the soil — as if the Vine understood exactly what he meant to keep, and what it did not care for.
More food and trade goods were always good, he thought happily, and he went about his usual process without rushing: planting gathered herbs and roots too small to eat in his garden plot, pressing damp soil around the roots with a careful palm. Everything else went to the stew pot.
Water in the stew pot. A scatter of herbs. Wild onions crushed under the flat of his knife. A drizzle of the oil and spice from the village — the smell rising warm and thick, clinging to the back of his throat as the pot began to murmur.
By the time the Golden Crow was going to his nest again, Chún decided an early night would be in order. He headed for his nightly bath — which he had become completely addicted to — and let the heat loosen his limbs while the food finished cooking.
When he climbed out of the naturally fed Essence-infused hot spring in his Immortal's Cave, steam trailing from his skin, the clearing already smelled like dinner.
He ate until the hollow in him was gone, then moved wearily back into the Vine-sheltered cavern and let himself sag onto his bedding with a long, satisfied exhale as the Silver Tree glowed softly with pale silvered light in echo of the daughter-light outside, setting the flecks of minerals in the walls and ceiling twinkling like stars themselves.
Tomorrow, he would open his kiln and see how the ordinary firing had gone. He could start the new firing in the Mountain's improved kiln as well.
Part of him wondered how long the calm could last — but he resolved, very firmly, to make the most of it.