Chapter 122: Time Begins to Matter

Serena brought the Decennial's preliminary schedule to Edwin's house one morning. Joe was finishing breakfast when she placed the notice beside his plate. The royal administration had confirmed the tournament dates, along with the registration period, eligibility examinations, and the preliminary selections that would determine who could compete at the national level. He unfolded the paper and read through the requirements. The tournament remained two years and five months away, but registration would begin considerably earlier. Candidates needed verified cultivation records, and those who intended to compete through the kingdom's selection system would have to complete several administrative procedures before receiving permission to participate.

"Two years and five months," Joe observed. "I thought they would announce the schedule closer to the tournament."

"The larger families have been preparing for years. The announcement gives everyone else a definite timetable," Serena replied. "Some households will use it to arrange instructors and medicines, while others will decide whether their candidates have any realistic chance of qualifying."

Joe examined the registration requirements again. His age presented no difficulty, but his public cultivation remained at Internal Organ II. Privately, he had already accumulated more than half his Acquired Energy reservoir. Serena watched him finish reading before raising the issue.

"Your second Internal Organ cycle attracted attention because of how quickly you completed it. Now that the Decennial has a confirmed date, people will begin measuring your progress against the other candidates. You should consider when to complete your third cycle publicly."

"I have enough time," Joe answered. "Rushing the examination simply because they announced a schedule would accomplish nothing. Besides, the speculation about my constitution already gives people a reason to expect another improvement."

"It does, but expectations can become inconvenient when you don't satisfy them. Your first cycle took considerably longer than your second, and people are waiting to see whether the third follows the same pattern. I wouldn't leave them waiting indefinitely."

Joe understood her concern. The explanation they had allowed others to develop about his unusual progress remained plausible only while his public cultivation followed a reasonable sequence. He folded the notice and placed it beside his plate.

"I'll arrange the examination when the timing makes sense. My current training doesn't need to change because other people have started counting the months."

Serena accepted the decision. She had several business matters waiting for her, and Joe had already made it clear that he intended to participate in the Decennial. After she left, he returned to his training room. The announcement had not changed his priorities, but it provided a useful reminder that his public cultivation would eventually need to catch up with his private achievements. He could continue concealing his true strength for some time, although maintaining the difference would become increasingly difficult as the competition approached. For now, the spiritual-remnant medicine allowed him to devote most of his attention to cultivation.

Ferrow's purchasing arrangements supplied materials whenever the associated alchemical workshops produced suitable remnants. Lysa inspected the incoming stock, Tomas prepared the usable ingredients, and Maren maintained the processing records and medicinal carriers. Joe performed the critical treatment himself, leaving the remaining production work to the employees. The arrangement had reduced his involvement to a few scheduled sessions each week. Serena managed the business, Ferrow handled purchasing and distribution, and Corvin's household continued receiving its reserved allocation.

Joe had little reason to interfere with an operation that already provided sufficient income and medicinal resources. His recent Foundation breakthrough had also removed an inconvenience from his daily training. Return to Nature no longer required him to alternate between separate methods of stillness and movement. His body maintained the coordination he had developed through years of practice, adjusting naturally as his posture and activity changed.

Joe had initially tested the attainment repeatedly to confirm that it remained dependable. After several days, he recognized that those tests served more to satisfy his curiosity than to preserve the achievement. No Regression had always protected genuine progress once he established it. The same principle now applied to Return to Nature. Joe had earned the attainment through training and understanding, and he no longer needed to worry that a period of ordinary activity would undo it. That did not eliminate the value of further practice. Unfamiliar movements still required training, and he could continue learning how to apply his integrated Foundation under more demanding conditions. Nevertheless, he could concentrate on those applications without repeatedly returning to the problem he had already solved. His Acquired cultivation benefited immediately.

The concentrated medicine replenished Blood Energy efficiently, and Return to Nature allowed him to assimilate more of its nourishment without the interruptions that had previously accompanied changes in bodily coordination.

Joe could maintain demanding refinement sessions without consuming the expensive quantities of conventional medicine that had troubled him earlier. The work itself remained substantial. His ninefold tempering had created an unusually large and refined foundation, and the resulting Acquired reservoir required considerably more energy than an ordinary practitioner's. However, he finally possessed enough nourishment to sustain the effort his cultivation demanded.

During the following weeks, Acquired Energy advanced steadily through the sixties. Joe increased his refinement only when his physical condition allowed it, maintaining sufficient recovery between demanding sessions rather than consuming stronger medicines merely to force additional training. Each successful session added more to his reservoir than the time spent would have suggested. He had grown accustomed to that advantage over the years and rarely stopped to examine it unless the results differed from his expectations. He concentrated on performing the work correctly and ensuring that sufficient resources remained available for the next session. His medicinal research progressed more slowly.

At the end of the previous month, Joe had prepared an experimental medicine intended to provide steady nourishment throughout the body. Unlike his spiritual-remnant preparation, which primarily replenished Blood Energy, the new formula combined ordinary medicinal ingredients whose effects lasted for different periods. He hoped to maintain the body's condition during prolonged cultivation without relying on repeated doses of powerful restoratives. The initial results were encouraging but incomplete.

The medicine released nourishment gradually and caused little discomfort at the concentration he selected. It also maintained his Blood Energy reserves reasonably well during moderate activity. However, the following day's observations revealed differences that his immediate measurements had missed. His muscles recovered quickly, but certain connective structures remained less responsive after prolonged movement. Another formulation nourished the organs effectively while increasing the burden on circulation. Neither preparation caused serious difficulty, yet Joe could identify the uneven recovery through his control over the body. He began recording those relationships rather than evaluating each formula solely by how much nourishment it supplied.

The next several experiments produced mixed results. Increasing one supporting ingredient improved immediate recovery but left him restless during the following night. Reducing it removed that problem, although the preparation then failed to sustain its effect for the intended duration.

Joe reviewed his medicinal books and compared the responses with the sections concerning adverse reactions. He had studied poisonous substances during his medical education, primarily to recognize harmful exposure and understand how physicians treated patients who consumed unsuitable ingredients. His new experiments gave those lessons a more immediate application.

A substance that supported recovery at one concentration could become harmful when the body received more than it could tolerate. Even ordinary medicines could interfere with circulation, digestion, or other bodily functions when used incorrectly.

Joe began expanding his notes on medicinal toxicity, including how physicians distinguished the effects of a harmful ingredient from those of an unsuitable preparation. He also reviewed the principles behind established antidotes, although he had no reason to develop poisons or test dangerous substances himself. The subject belonged naturally within Medicine and Alchemy. Understanding why a preparation caused harm helped him determine how to avoid the same problem in his own formulas. He recorded several questions for later investigation and returned to his nourishing medicine. The research did not produce an immediate breakthrough, but it steadily improved his understanding of how different medicinal effects interacted.

In the evenings, Joe continued practicing calligraphy. He had reached Perfection in the technical discipline some time earlier, and the skill no longer demanded much conscious effort. His characters remained accurate regardless of whether he wrote quickly or slowly, and he could reproduce different styles without repeatedly correcting his brushwork. Originally, he had begun practicing because the activity interested him and provided a pleasant change from cultivation. He still found it relaxing, particularly after days spent measuring medicinal ingredients and recording experimental results.

One evening, he copied a familiar passage from his introductory manual before examining the finished page. The characters were technically excellent. Their proportions, balance, and spacing required no correction, yet Joe found the writing less satisfying than a piece he remembered seeing at one of Serena's gatherings. Master Deren had explained that exceptional calligraphy involved more than accurate technique. At the time, Joe had concentrated on understanding the profession and its connection to talisman-making. He now considered the distinction more carefully.

The Qi Refiners who produced talismans needed precise brushwork because their spiritual energy had to follow the intended patterns. Good calligraphy therefore supported talisman-making, but the reverse was not necessarily true. A calligrapher could master the brush without possessing the spiritual energy required to produce talismans. The artistic quality of the writing also depended on something different from spiritual power.

Joe looked again at the passage he had copied. He understood every character and could reproduce its structure perfectly, but he had spent the exercise concentrating on execution. He had given little attention to the meaning he intended to express. He put the manual aside and took another sheet of paper. This time, he wrote about Green Hollow. He had not visited the village for some time, but its familiar roads, fields, and houses remained clear in his memory. He remembered the narrow paths he had walked as a child, the people who had helped him learn, and the years when reaching Ashbourne had seemed a distant possibility.

Joe allowed those memories to remain in his mind while writing. The resulting characters differed slightly from his earlier work. His brushwork retained its accuracy, but he noticed changes in the pressure and movement that he had not deliberately planned. He studied the page after the ink dried. It was not necessarily better calligraphy. He could not yet identify a consistent improvement, and one experiment offered little reason to conclude that he understood the higher artistic attainment Deren had described. Nevertheless, he had found a direction worth exploring. Technical Perfection allowed him to express whatever his hand intended. He now needed to learn how to carry the meaning and feeling behind the words into the writing itself.

Joe put away the finished sheets and returned to the practice the following evening. He made no attempt to force a breakthrough. The work remained enjoyable, and he had enough other responsibilities without turning every quiet activity into another demanding pursuit.

Several days later, Serena invited him to a dinner hosted by a family with two promising Decennial candidates. Joe initially showed little interest until she mentioned that several experienced physicians would attend.

"One treated military martial artists for years," Serena explained. "Another works with several families whose practitioners have reached Acquired. I thought you might want to speak with them about your medicinal research."

"I would. Particularly if they've treated practitioners attempting Innate."

"The second physician has some experience with those cases. I can introduce you, but I don't know how much he'll be willing to discuss."

Joe accepted the invitation. The gathering took place at a residence in Ashbourne's northern residential district. Several guests belonged to households already supporting candidates for the Decennial, and conversation frequently turned toward training arrangements, instructors, and cultivation expenses.

Joe greeted the people Serena introduced him to and spent some time listening to their discussions. He learned that several families had secured experienced instructors for periods extending beyond a year, while others were purchasing medicines in advance of anticipated price increases.

The information reinforced his understanding of why their own preparation had attracted customers so quickly.

Later in the evening, Serena introduced him to Physician Harven. Harven was an older man who maintained appointments with several wealthy families. His experience included Internal Organ recovery, prolonged Acquired cultivation, and the treatment of practitioners who had spent years attempting to reach Innate. He recognized Joe's name immediately.

"You're responsible for the recovery medicine Ferrow distributes," Harven said. "I've treated two men who use it. Both have responded well, although I suspect some customers misunderstand what they're purchasing."

Joe became interested. "Have you observed any difficulties with the preparation?"

"Nothing serious at the approved concentration. It restores Blood Energy efficiently, and the men I've examined tolerate it well. My concern is what practitioners decide to do once they feel recovered."

Joe understood the distinction, but he wanted to hear Harven's experience.

"Our trials established faster replenishment," he replied. "We didn't claim that the medicine allowed more frequent Internal Organ tempering."

"Your reports were careful enough. Patients are less careful when an expensive medicine makes them feel better." Harven set down his cup. "A practitioner may replenish Blood Energy before the organs have finished adapting to the previous session. If he begins another demanding tempering immediately, the medicine hasn't necessarily protected him from the consequences."

Joe recalled his recent experiments with sustained nourishment. His body could recover energy faster than some of its physical structures completed their adaptation.

"What do you examine before allowing another session?" he asked.

"Circulation, digestion, sleep, and the body's response to ordinary exertion. The signs differ between practitioners, which is why I rely on previous records whenever possible. Someone can feel perfectly healthy while deeper adaptation remains unfinished."

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Joe considered the explanation. "Then a medicine that produces faster recovery isn't necessarily the one that best supports repeated cultivation."

"Precisely. The strongest immediate effect can sometimes conceal a slower problem. With experienced practitioners, I prefer steady recovery that leaves the body properly prepared for the next session."

The conversation continued for some time. Harven described the difficulties he had encountered when treating Acquired practitioners who repeatedly approached the Innate bottleneck. Their problems varied, but many accumulated strain through years of unsuccessful attempts. Some relied too heavily on restorative medicines and resumed demanding cultivation before their bodies had fully adapted. Others maintained excellent energy reserves while particular tissues or organs responded poorly to repeated exertion.

Harven had no special formula capable of producing an Innate breakthrough. His work concerned preserving a practitioner's condition while that person continued attempting the transformation. Joe asked about the limits of medicinal support and the signs that recovery had become inadequate. Harven answered from his experience, distinguishing what he had observed from explanations he could not verify.

By the end of their conversation, Joe had several pages of notes. He had approached his sustained-nourishment experiments with the intention of supporting the entire body evenly. Harven's observations suggested that equal nourishment was not necessarily the correct objective. Different structures recovered at different rates, and maintaining their coordination mattered more than forcing every part of the body to respond identically.

Joe would need to consider those differences when developing a medicine intended to support prolonged cultivation. The Decennial continued dominating conversations throughout the evening. Several guests discussed the likely national candidates, including young practitioners who had already reached Acquired.

An older gentleman eventually asked Joe about his own cultivation. "I heard your second Internal Organ cycle was unusually fast, Mr. Vale. Have you begun approaching the completion of your third?"

"I'm making good progress," Joe answered. "If my current training continues without difficulty, I expect to arrange another examination soon."

"Then we may see you reach Acquired before the Decennial. Your constitution has certainly attracted enough interest."

Joe accepted the observation without making a prediction. The man seemed satisfied and returned to discussing other candidates. Serena approached him later, after the guests had begun moving toward the dining room.

"You handled that well," she remarked. "And I meant what I said earlier about your public cultivation. Now that people expect you to complete Internal III relatively quickly, delaying too long will only invite more questions."

"I know. I'll arrange it within the next few weeks."

"That should be reasonable. I'll ask the examination office about available appointments."

Joe agreed. He had already completed far more Internal Organ tempering than his public records showed, so the assessment would require careful presentation rather than additional cultivation. He preferred to finish the matter before public interest increased further.

Three weeks later, Joe underwent the examination for Internal Organ III. The physicians reviewed his previous records, examined the condition of his organs, and observed a controlled cultivation session. Joe displayed the strength and circulation appropriate to the completion of a third Internal Organ cycle while concealing the deeper refinement his body had already undergone. The examination required greater care than his earlier assessments. His true cultivation had advanced considerably, and he needed to ensure that the physicians observed a consistent result rather than unexplained signs of a higher realm. Breath Control and Disguise allowed him to maintain the appropriate outward condition.

The senior physician reviewed the measurements before completing the report. "Your third cycle has progressed even faster than your second," he observed. "Have you experienced any unusual discomfort or difficulty recovering between sessions?"

"No. My recovery has remained consistent, and I haven't noticed any problems during ordinary training."

The physician continued examining the records. "Your organs have adapted exceptionally well. The result supports the possibility that your constitution responds unusually favorably to repeated tempering, although we would need far more evidence to establish the cause."

Joe accepted the assessment. He had no intention of encouraging further investigation, but neither did he need to argue against a conclusion the examining physician had reached independently. The office issued the official confirmation the following afternoon.

Joe Vale, nineteen years old, had completed Internal Organ III.

The news spread through the circles that followed promising young martial practitioners. His advancement did not attract the attention reserved for someone entering Acquired, but it strengthened the growing belief that his unusual constitution allowed him to progress faster after each successful tempering.

Internal Organ III also mattered because it established the conventional foundation required to begin forming Acquired Energy.

For the first time, interested households could reasonably discuss when Joe might reach Acquired rather than whether he would ever complete the necessary Internal Organ cultivation. Serena brought him three invitations before the end of the week.

"Two families want you to attend private gatherings, and the third invitation comes from a household connected to the development program," she explained. "You don't need to accept all of them, but I'd recommend attending at least one."

Joe examined the invitations. "I received fewer of these when I completed my second cycle. Is Internal III really that much more significant?"

"Not by itself. The important difference is that people now consider you a plausible Acquired candidate before the Decennial. Your earlier progress was interesting, but they couldn't be certain you would reach the necessary stage in time."

Joe understood. His public advancement had changed other people's expectations without changing his true cultivation. He selected one invitation and returned the others to Serena.

Several days later, Prince Corvin encountered him at a small supper. The prince had already heard about the examination. He acknowledged Joe's greeting and congratulated him before asking about his plans.

"Internal Organ III at nineteen is a respectable achievement, Vale, particularly with the speed of your previous cycles. Have you considered how long you may need to reach Acquired?"

"I've considered it, Your Highness, but I don't have enough information to offer a reliable date. Completing Internal Organs doesn't tell me exactly how my body will respond to forming Acquired Energy."

Corvin appeared satisfied with the answer. During their earlier conversations, he had repeatedly encouraged Joe to distinguish genuine knowledge from optimistic predictions.

"That's sensible. Some young practitioners begin announcing breakthrough dates before they understand the difficulties involved. The Decennial gives you a useful deadline, but I wouldn't advise forcing your cultivation simply to satisfy other people's expectations."

"I intend to prepare properly. There's still enough time."

"There is, provided you use it well." Corvin considered him briefly before continuing. "My physician also reports that your medicine has improved his recovery arrangements. We've seen the same Blood Energy replenishment benefits as the original trials, although he wants more observations before making any claims about Acquired advancement."

Joe welcomed the confirmation. Corvin's physician had access to excellent cultivation records and could compare the medicine against preparations unavailable to most ordinary practitioners.

"If he identifies any difficulties, I'd appreciate receiving the details," Joe replied. "The commercial formula has remained stable, but longer-term observations could help us understand where it performs well and where its limitations remain."

"I'll have him send his findings through Serena. The medicine has proved useful enough that I intend to maintain my household's allocation."

Corvin moved on to greet another guest after their discussion. Joe remained at the gathering for a while longer before returning home. His public cultivation had advanced another stage, and his relationship with the prince continued developing without requiring either of them to make commitments beyond their existing arrangements. Privately, Joe's progress remained far greater. By the time Ashbourne had finished discussing his Internal Organ III assessment, his Acquired Energy had already passed seventy percent. The concentrated medicine continued supplying sufficient nourishment, and Return to Nature helped him maintain efficient circulation throughout demanding refinement. His body could support the growing reserve without significant difficulty because the repeated tempering of his earlier realms had prepared it for the task.

Joe monitored his progress carefully but saw no reason to slow down. His talents rewarded properly performed cultivation, and he had finally removed most of the resource shortages that previously limited how much useful work he could complete.

Within the following weeks, his Acquired reservoir reached seventy-nine percent. The pace would have seemed extraordinary to anyone aware of his true condition, particularly given the unusual size and quality of the reservoir he had developed. Joe continued recording the results privately while maintaining the public appearance of someone preparing to form Acquired Energy for the first time. The difference required increasing care, but it remained manageable.

Meanwhile, his pharmaceutical research continued. Harven's observations had changed how Joe evaluated sustained-nourishment medicines. Instead of measuring only the immediate replenishment of Blood Energy, he examined how different bodily systems recovered over the following day. He recorded changes in movement, circulation, digestion, and the condition of tissues that had undergone demanding cultivation. He also paid closer attention to delayed discomfort and other adverse responses, drawing on the toxicological principles he had recently reviewed.

The work helped him distinguish a preparation that merely reduced fatigue from one that supported sustained recovery. His strongest spiritual-remnant medicine remained superior for rapidly replenishing Blood Energy. The new formula served a different purpose, and Joe did not expect it to replace the preparation already supporting his Acquired cultivation. He wanted a medicine that maintained the body's condition over time, particularly during periods when intensive training placed different demands on muscles, organs, and circulation. The later variations became more balanced. They provided less immediate nourishment than his concentrated restorative, but his body remained comfortable for longer periods afterward. He still encountered inconsistencies between preparations, and several adjustments required additional testing before he accepted them.

Joe continued the work without rushing. During the same period, he returned to his calligraphy several evenings each week. He practiced familiar characters, copied passages, and occasionally wrote without a model. The technical quality of his work remained consistent, but he began paying more attention to what he wanted the writing to convey.

On some evenings, he recalled particular places or experiences before taking up the brush. On others, he concentrated on the meaning of a passage rather than its individual characters. He could not always distinguish the results from ordinary variations in style. Nevertheless, certain pieces seemed to carry more of his intention than others, even when their technical execution differed very little. He kept those sheets rather than discarding them. There was no need to decide whether the work represented progress toward the attainment Deren had described. Joe had spent enough years training difficult skills to understand that an uncertain result required more observation.

Near the end of the second month, Serena brought an unexpected report from Ferrow. One of his merchants had encountered a recovery medicine being sold in the southern markets. The seller claimed that its effects resembled those of Joe's preparation, although the price was considerably lower.

At first, Ferrow had dismissed the report. Other restorative medicines already existed, and the success of a new product naturally encouraged merchants to describe their own stock in favorable terms. The matter became more interesting when his employee returned with a description of the container.

"The vial closely resembles ours," Serena explained, placing the report beside Joe's medicinal notes. "The shape is nearly identical, and they've used a similar seal. Ferrow hasn't obtained a reliable sample yet, but one of his people has seen the medicine being offered through a merchant who supplies several aristocratic households."

Joe read the description. "Has anyone compared the contents with our preparation?"

"Not yet. The seller claims the medicine comes from damaged spiritual materials, but that information is already circulating among merchants. Ferrow wants to know whether we should intervene before customers begin confusing the products."

"There's nothing to intervene in until we understand what they're selling," Joe replied. "Using a similar container doesn't establish that they've reproduced our medicine. If they're making claims about its effects, their customers will eventually ask for evidence."

Serena agreed, although she remained concerned about the resemblance between the packaging.

"Ferrow also mentioned that the merchant has dealings with families connected to the Fifth Prince's maternal relatives. I don't know whether that means anything. Those families purchase medicines from several suppliers, and the relationship could be entirely ordinary."

Joe considered the information without drawing a conclusion. Corvin's Fifth Brother possessed stronger aristocratic connections, and the medicine business had become a useful asset within Corvin's own circle. A competing preparation might therefore have political consequences, particularly if someone intended to weaken the value of Corvin's exclusive access. However, merchants regularly supplied households with competing interests. An indirect commercial connection did not establish that the Fifth Prince knew about the product, much less that he had arranged its production.

"Have Ferrow obtain samples through ordinary purchases," Joe instructed. "He should record where they came from and whether different sellers provide the same medicine. Once we have the contents, I can determine whether the preparation resembles ours."

"I'll tell him. Until then, I'll keep our existing distribution unchanged."

Joe agreed. Their medicine had undergone supervised trials, and its production standards remained consistent. A cheaper product with similar packaging did not alter those facts. Serena collected the report and returned to the business.

Joe considered the matter briefly before setting it aside. Competitors could purchase damaged spiritual materials and attempt to recover their nourishment, just as he had done. The difficult part lay in neutralizing the remaining attributes while preserving enough usable energy to justify the process. He had spent months developing that method, and even now the final treatment required his personal attention. Someone might eventually discover another workable approach. For the moment, he didn't assume that the merchant's claims represented such an achievement. He returned to cultivation.

By the time he reached nineteen years and eight months, the mornings had begun growing cooler. Ashbourne's merchants adjusted their displays for the changing season, and several of the city's larger households had already begun making arrangements for the next stage of Decennial preparations.

Joe noticed the seasonal changes mainly because they affected the hours available for outdoor training. His private cultivation had advanced considerably during the same period.

One evening, after completing another refinement session, he opened his panel.

Joe Vale

Age: 19

Acquired Energy — Lv.1 / 86%

Foundation — Return to Nature

Alchemy — Lv.1 / 84%

Fourteen percent remained.

Joe examined the figure before closing the panel. The final portion still represented substantial work, particularly given the size of his reservoir, but Acquired completion no longer seemed distant.

The resources that had once restricted his training were now sufficient for his needs. Ferrow's purchasing arrangements supplied suitable remnants, his alchemical process converted them into usable nourishment, and his body absorbed the concentrated preparation efficiently.

The remaining work depended on cultivation itself.

Joe knew that reaching Acquired completion would not automatically grant him Innate. The Greyspine manual described a transformation that differed fundamentally from accumulating martial energy, and he had not yet experienced the bottleneck.

Nevertheless, he wanted to approach it with the strongest preparation he could reasonably develop.

That evening, he returned to his experimental nourishing formula.

The latest version maintained his physical condition more evenly than the first. Its effects lasted longer, and he observed fewer differences between muscular recovery, organ response, and circulation during the following day.

The improvement remained limited. It did not strengthen his Acquired Energy directly or alter the structure of his body. It simply provided steadier nourishment during prolonged activity.

Joe considered that useful.

His next problem would likely involve supporting the body through repeated attempts at a transformation he did not yet understand completely. The medicine could not accomplish that transformation for him, but it might help him maintain the condition needed to continue making those attempts.

He recorded the latest results and reviewed the relevant passages of the Greyspine manual.

Serena had also left him another Decennial notice earlier that afternoon. The confirmed schedule now placed the tournament two years and three months away.

Joe's name had begun appearing in discussions of promising candidates, although his public Internal Organ III cultivation remained modest compared with those who had already reached Acquired.

He expected that assessment to change over the coming year.

For now, he was more concerned with the fourteen percent remaining in his private reservoir and the unanswered questions waiting beyond it.

He put away the manual after completing his notes. Before sleeping, he spent a short time practicing calligraphy, writing a passage he remembered from his childhood without consulting the model he had used previously. The characters came easily. His hand no longer required attention to maintain their structure, leaving him free to consider the memory that had prompted him to write. When he finished, Joe examined the page. The writing remained technically precise, but what interested him was the difference between reproducing familiar characters and expressing the thought that had led him to choose them. He placed the sheet with the other pieces he had kept. The higher attainment remained beyond him, although he had begun understanding what his technical Perfection lacked.

Joe cleaned his brush, closed the inkstone, and returned to the training room. The Decennial was approaching, his public reputation was growing, and the medicine business had begun attracting competitors. None of those developments required him to abandon the work already before him. He settled into cultivation, allowing his body to establish its natural coordination. Acquired completion remained his immediate objective. Everything beyond it could wait until he had earned the right to attempt the next realm.