The range hood roared overhead as Jade Lin stood at the stove, wielding her spatula with practiced authority. The savory aroma of sauce-braised eggplant swirled through the kitchen on rolling waves of cooking smoke. I crouched in the corner of the balcony, attempting to peel potatoes with my meteorite iron cutting board. The moment a flicker of dark-gold sword qi surfaced, it sputtered out with a soft pfft, sending the potato rolling toward the floor drain and leaving behind a trail of scratches of varying depths.

"Ethan Lu! Ruin three more potatoes and you're eating them raw tonight!" Jade Lin's shout cut clean through the noise of the range hood. "And that business at Baizhen Pavilion yesterday — tell me the truth. Was that cultivation nonsense again?"

I shoved the cutting board into the laundry basin and plastered on my most ingratiating smile. "Honey, that was just business competition — giving those Baizhen Pavilion punks a little trip-up. Giving them a taste of their own medicine, you know?" The system panel flickered into view before my eyes:

Mission: Use sword qi to complete three home-cooked dishes, proving that cultivation does not interfere with household duties. Reward upon completion: Introduction to Basic Fire Control Art.

"Sure, keep spinning that story." Jade Lin tipped the eggplant into the wok; oil droplets spattered across her new apron. "River said your abs glow in the dark. Don't tell me you polished them up scrubbing the range hood?"

I snatched up the cutting board, drew a slow breath, and called up my spiritual energy. Sword qi coiled around my fingertips like threads of silk. I aimed at the green pepper on the chopping block and swept gently across it — the leaves disintegrated into powder, while the stem remained perfectly intact.

System Notice: Qi control failure. Concentration of spiritual energy too high.

"Dad! You turned the green pepper into pepper powder!" River burst in clutching his Ultraman card. "Old Zhang downstairs said you can split fire extinguishers in half. Is it true?"

Jade Lin spun around so fast she nearly dropped her spatula. I frantically kicked the vegetable dust under the refrigerator with my foot. "Don't go believing Old Zhang's tall tales — that was… that was a new-model kitchen pulverizer."

The System Elder's voice sneered from within the ring: "Idiot. Using sword qi to cut vegetables is like coaxing your wife into a shopping trip — you have to be gentle. Watch closely!" A semi-transparent holographic image of a little old man popped into existence. He concentrated a thread of pale-gold energy at his fingertip and drew it across a tomato as delicately as if threading an embroidery needle. The flesh parted into thin, even slices, not a single seed sent flying.

"That's it?" I tried to copy him — and sent the sword qi skidding sideways, shearing off a corner of the cutting board. Dark-gold runes flashed, and the wood shavings condensed mid-air into tiny sword-shaped fragments that hung suspended in place.

"Whoa! Dad can do magic!" River lunged for them, but the floating shapes dissolved into spiritual energy and vanished. Jade Lin rubbed her temple. "Alright, I'll admit you've got something going on. But tomorrow is River's parent-teacher conference, and if you so much as think about splitting a desk in front of his teacher —"

"I swear I won't split a thing!" I hastily stuffed the cutting board behind the clothes rack on the balcony. "I'll just tell them it's a nano-blade — a freebie from that culinary training course I signed up for."

Deep in the night, River slept soundly clutching his Ultraman pillow. Jade Lin sat in the living room with a face mask on. I settled cross-legged onto the bay window ledge and began circulating the Introduction to Basic Sword Riding Art. The yellowed pages grew warm against my palm, and the characters transformed into flowing light that drilled into the center of my brow: The essence of sword riding lies in the union of will and qi — not brute force… The Way of the Sword is boundless, the Sword Qi is scarce. Man and sword become one; two energies share a single source. Ride the sword with qi, and nothing can withstand you. The sword is born from the heart; the sword spirit answers in kind. Let qi flow into the blade, and the sword shall fly. Where the sword qi reaches, heaven and earth yield…

The System Elder materialized abruptly, cradling a bag of tomato-flavored Dicos potato chips. "Oh ho, starting on sword riding, are we? How about you get your sword qi under control first — cutting vegetables nearly sparked a sandstorm."

I couldn't be bothered responding to his mockery. I channeled spiritual energy into the meteorite iron cutting board. The dark-gold runes lit up, and the cutting board actually rose, hovering gently in the air — like a fallen leaf lifted on a breeze.

"Now that's interesting." The elder raised an eyebrow. "But right now this cutting board is nothing more than a sword fragment. Real sword riding requires a sword blank. Go poke around the wet market tomorrow morning — Old Wang mentioned that Li the fishmonger has a heirloom fish knife."

"Old Li? The one with the stall next to the Baizhen Pavilion outpost that time?" My gut tightened. "What if he's one of theirs?"

"Obviously — this wet market runs deep. Half the vendors have ties to the cultivation world." The elder shook chip crumbs onto my head. "That fish knife was forged from deep-sea black iron; it has a bit of spirit to it. Offer him some Qi Gathering Pill powder and he'll jump at the deal."

I clicked my tongue. Good lord — half the stalls connected to the cultivation world. The wet market really was a place where hidden dragons and crouching tigers lay low. Then again, considering I'd started cultivating myself, there wasn't much to be shocked about.

The following morning, I tucked half a Qi Gathering Pill's worth of powder into my pocket and made my way to Old Li's stall. He was blanching sea cucumbers, his apron embroidered with a strange fish whose scales shimmered with an inner light.

"Uncle Li, I hear you have a heirloom fish knife?" I lowered my voice and rubbed the powder between my palms, dispersing it into a fine mist. Old Li's eyes lit up instantly. Water vapor condensed into tiny beads on the lenses of his glasses. "Sharp eye, young man! But that knife is my —"

End of Chapter 12: Sword Qi and the Cutting Board