The Hidden Myth of Ji Dara

"That won't work…" Dara cut in because the conversation was interrupting his thought process;

"But how will we know if we haven't tried it yet?" Elder Min was not willing to back down as he wanted to claim an accolade for his idea;

"Tribe Leader is right, if we did that, not only will the sword we make become more brittle, but it might break, after all, glass is still glass and steel is still steel…" Elder Smith added;

"What are you thinking about, tribe leader?"

Elder Long asked as he seemed to be the one who easily suspects when Dara is thinking about something the rest of them know nothing about, and he was right because Dara looked up and chuckled in mixed amazement and compliment;

"I was just wondering why the sword strike took so much Qi from him…"

"Perhaps, it might be because the Qi Stones are not pure…" Elder Chen suggested;

"Or perhaps too pure…" Elder Wang added;

"I think it should be the latter because I hammered out as much impurity as possible from the product, so it should be considerably pure, and perhaps too pure…"

Elder Smith added, not because he was trying to boast, but because he was simply stating the fact, and everyone agreed because they witnessed the entire forging process…

"But that's not your conclusion is it, tribe leader?"

Elder Long spoke once again, and caught everyone by surprise when Dara nodded his head in concurrence…

Even Elder Lin was now feeling somehow that someone who Dara had barely known for three days now knew more about his thought process than her;

"So what do you think it is tribe leader, because one would be barely able to fight in battle after striking twice with this sword?"

The exhausted man who was still panting spoke as his partner who sparred with him earlier was thanking his stars that he wasn't the one who tested the new sword…

It wasn't like Dara did it on purpose, but the reason why he told the expert to test the sword was because they would obviously have the same power output, as no two people ever have the exact amount of power in their strikes, which when considering that they are testing weapons would be a major flaw in the results…

"I think it's because you didn't measure the amount of Qi you allowed it to take…"

Dara voiced his thoughts and everyone almost smacked their head in frustration; that was definitely the answer, and it was simple, but they felt so dumb being unable to think about such a simple explanation as those who didn't speak were counting themselves lucky, whilst they looked at Elder Long like he was some wise old man…

"But controlling Qi output is something one can do when they have begun using adequate cultivation technique, and we have none, because the only things we have are meridian opening techniques…"

"Those guards had none on them either…" Dara voice out to everyone…

It was simple, since nothing happened to the sword in the test, then that means there is nothing wrong with the sword, especially when it transmitted the exact amount of Qi it took from the man out of the sword strike…

Thus, where the problem laid was between the man himself, and the moment of Qi abruption, and Dara had figured it out astutely, but now, he was already thinking about the solution to the problem whilst the rest were still lamenting as their inadequacy to stay logical at all times…

"The sword is fantastic Elder Smith, and for that, along with your monthly stipend of One Qi Stone every six months, you will get a single bonus Qi Stone as soon as we return to the tribe…"  Dara complimented Elder Smith who got to his knees and bowed to Dara;

"You are the most generous, tribe leader… Three generations from today will wish you well for the magnanimity you have shown today…" Elder Smith was almost in tears as his beards trembled intensely…

Few months ago, his life was hanging on the balance of his usefulness, and since everything he held there was gone, he decided to forge a new path for himself by giving his all to the tribe…

He had previously been awarded as everyone related with him like he was part of their family, a level of closeness he never got even when he was at the village of sang, especially when considering his job description back then…

But here, he was also giving an Elder title, and a well respected one to boot...

He had yet to descend from his level of euphoria and happiness and now, he as being rewarded a Qi Stone again, and this wasn't the blank one, but a Qi Stone containing Peak Qi Sea stage worth of pure, untainted Qi…

They had previously agreed that everyone within the sect would be paid one Qi Stone based on the amount of time they are able to finish absorbing it without wasting a single ounce of it…

Then bonuses would be distributed to some people after completing a certain level of task and workload or done exceedingly well in some perspectives of their fields like the current Elder Smith…

"No, we have decided that people be rewarded for doing exceedingly well, and as a matter of fact, since everyone here have done something extraordinary over the course of our development, everyone will get a Qi Stone extra today…"

Dara added and everyone also thanked him; Elder Lin had been able to tend to the farm, den and fishery extremely diligently and that was excluding going out to gather new resources, and the normal services she rendered to Dara on some sweet nights…

Elder Min had been able to complete the expansion of not only the farm and the fishery but also complete the building of the training area, the library, the store and vault, so he was also deserving of a bonus reward…

Elder Wang, developed the locks to the store and vault, as well as the development of the smithy and other ideas he had imputed over time…

Elder Chen had been drilling not only the kids but other experts continuously and it was showing in the amount of workload they were able to do on daily basis; after all, stronger tribesmen means faster construction, farming and development of the tribe overall, and thus, he was also deserving of a bonus for his efforts…