HL: Chapter 26

"Again. This time, mix the Heaven Chi with the Flame Chi as it reaches your Ajna Chakra, not before and not after!" Demanded the Old Man.

Jackie growled and pushed himself up offa the ground, wiping his face down with the towel provided by his Uncle Li. They'd been at this for a couple hours already and Jackie hadta say that learning these high-level Chi Techniques ain't exactly his favorite type of training that he'd had so far. Least Sun Wukong'd made training fun, when he wasn't kicking Jackie's happy ass offa the side of Mount Meru, at least. The Old Man, though, had a distinct lack of anything even remotely resembling chill. Looking over at his Uncle Li, the asshole had a smirk on his face that really pissed Jackie off, but there ain't much he could do about it.

"What're you grinning at?" Questioned Jackie.

"You look ridiculous, nephew." Smirked Jackie's Uncle Li.

"Yeah? Lemme see you try this and we'll talk, Unc." Scoffed Jackie.

"Focus, Grandson!" Snapped the Old Man.

Jackie sighed and went back to training. You'd think learning shit from Sun Wukong himself would've prepped Jackie for drawing on Heaven Chi, but that ain't exactly the case. Heaven Chi was the sorta thing that was hard to keep hold of, normally the sole province of Gods and Demons. It don't like being mixed with lower order Chi, which Fire Chi definitely counted as, and the Qirin's Burning Gaze demanded be mixed with the Heaven Chi. The last seven times Jackie'd tried the Technique it wound up literally blowing up in his face.

The idea was pretty fucking simple on the face of it. The Heaven Chi focused the Fire Chi and filtered it into something more deadly. It was supposed to result in something like the sorta laser eyes that Big Blue out in Metropolis'd used back before he'd up and gotten himself put on ice during that fight with Doomsday. Jackie just ain't been able to get the hang of it so far and the technique'd generally failed on him in spectacular fucking fashion.

The first couple times, the Heaven Chi flat-out refused to mix with the Fire Chi, and forcing it to do so had resulted in Jackie fucking blinding himself and needing to down three different types of Chi Pills to see again. The next few times, Jackie tried coaxing it along, which worked, but it didn't stick that way when leaving outta Jackie's eyes. The last time, Jackie'd tried bottling the Chi up like he'd heard Babs talk about when she'd mentioned some plasma gun or something she'd come up against. That'd resulted in the latest explosion which'd blasted Jackie back on his ass.

It'd be one thing if the Old Man was any damn good at teaching, but he ain't. Jackie's Grandad ain't got the patience to be a good teacher and he ain't had much luck imparting shit that came natural to him on Jackie. It'd resulted in the Old Man getting frustrated that Jackie ain't able to pick this shit up from the brief demonstration he showed. That'd gotten Jackie frustrated more and more with each failure, much to his Uncle Li's amusement. This time, Jackie thought he'd figured it out, though. Instead of bottling the Chi up with leftover Heaven Chi, he'd try directing it. Like the Casaba Howitzer he'd read about in the School Library before deciding school ain't for him and dropping out.

He took a deep breath and drew in Heaven Chi, layering it like a lens and prism as he drew up fire Chi, mixing it at the Chakra Point between his eyes. The volatile mix wavered, but Jackie put his second part into motion, forming a sort of funnel outta leftover heaven Chi. It all took a couple moments but by the time he was ready to let fly, instead of literally blowing up in his face, the technique slipped into place perfectly, beams of holy light blazing outta his eyes and burning through the big rock that his Uncle Wen'd put in the middle of the Rock Garden he'd installed in their back yard. The twin holes his eyes'd burned through the boulder, which'd been shot through with Diamond, cause it was supposed to double as a training aid, were each only about the size of a quarter. It was enough to kill a guy, though, Jackie knew.

"Finally! I thought you would never get over your mental block!" Exclaimed the Old Man.

"You think being your Student's Easy, Old Man?" Queried Jackie.

"He's right, Pops. You're not exactly the best teacher, though seeing you blow yourself up like that was pretty entertaining, Nephew." Chuckled Jackie's Uncle Li.

"Bah, you two simply do not recognize expert teaching when you see it. What did I do to raise such an ungrateful brat? Jackie I understand, his upbringing was not what I would have chosen, but I had thought better of you, Li." Scoffed the Old Man.

"Hey! Quit making cracks at my Old Man! He did the best he could!" Protested Jackie.

"Besides, doesn't that mean you're just as bad a dad as you think the Kid's Old Man was, Pops?" Asked Jackie's Uncle Li.

"I'll thank you not to use my own phrasing against me, or would you care to cool off with a dip in the Koi pond?" Questioned the Old Man.

"Don't change the subject! Why do you keep making cracks at my Old Man anyway? He ain't exactly around to defend himself, you know?" Queried Jackie.

"Because it lights a fire under you, Grandson. You'll need it, judging by how difficult the Qirin's Burning Gaze was to learn." Huffed The Old Man.

"Hate to say it, Nephew, but he's right. You think mixing Heaven Chi with Fire Chi was bad? The next technique's gonna make you Mix Heaven Chi with Fire Chi and Rock Chi." Nodded Jackie's Uncle Li.

"You mean we're doing the Qirin's Heavenly Meteor Bombardment next?" Asked Jackie.

"Indeed. We can focus on the Qirin's Glorious Coat afterward. As they say, the best defense is a good offense." Intoned the Old Man.

Then the Old Man began to demonstrate for Jackie, using the Quirin's Flighty Leap to jump up High as Jackie used the Resplendent Crane Takes Flight to fly up and get a closer look. Jackie's Grandad drew in Heaven Chi and mixed it with Fire Chi, only this time, he seemed to use the Heaven Chi to compress the Fire Chi and drew up Rock Chi to add structure. The end result was some kinda flaming bludgeon that'd hit with all the power of a human-sized meteorite strike, proven when Jackie's Grandad Rocketed down toward the ground and destroyed a section of the lawn that was about twenty feet across.

Jackie tried to copy the Old Man, drawing in Heaven Chi and using it to compress Fire Chi, while pulling up Rock Chi. The technique seemed stable, but as he rocketed down to the ground, Jackie's shoes exploded from pressure and the flame burned his socks off and left a buncha third-degree burns on the soles of his feet. The explosion threw off his dive and he landed in the Koi pond, throwing up a pillar of water high into the air almost like somebody'd fired a battleship cannon into the sea.

The Koi pond'd been completely deprived of water from the impact, which'd left a buncha Koi flopping about without a home, right up till Jackie's Uncle Lu, who'd been on Standby to fix any damage with Magic, conjured a shitload of water to fill the pond back up. Jackie'd had to swim back to the edge 'cause of that, where his Uncle Li'd been waiting with Chi Pills and a shit-eating grin on his face.

"Nice job. At least you weren't wearing expensive shoes." Smirked Jackie's Uncle Li.

"Fuck off, Unc!" Snapped Jackie.

"Li, don't needle the Boy." Sighed Jackie's Uncle Lu, having just finished conjuring water to refill the Koi Pond.

"Yeah!" Huffed Jackie. Jackie's Uncle Li could only chuckle at that.

"Head's up, Nephew. Here comes the Old Man." Warned Jackie's Uncle Lu.

Jackie hauled himself outta the Koi pond, downed the Healing Chi Pill his Uncle Li had ready for him, and looked over to see the Old Man stomping toward them all with a frown on his face like he ain't never seen a guy fuck up before.

"I told you to do what I did! That was not what I did, Grandson! Again, and this time, try not to compress the Flame Chi so much!" Commanded the Old Man.

Jackie could only groan and get himself ready to try again. It'd take him several more tries and another couple hours to get the hang of it. By that point, though, daylight was already fading and The Old Man hadta leave to go to some sorta Business Meeting he was having in Gotham Proper. Apparently, he was trying to buy out some of Strader Pharmaceuticals Plants in Taiwan and Malaysia and hadta negotiate the final deal with Lloyd Waite. Jackie ain't too sure about the specifics, but he guessed Strader was getting its ass beat in the Asian Market by more established firms. Jackie was just glad that Booze was good business everywhere since he ain't really gotta worry about that sorta thing.

"That's enough for the time being. I have a meeting to get to. Someone has to ensure this family remains wealthy into the future." Sniffed the Old Man.

"I do all right for myself." Protested Jackie.

"He was talking about me, Nephew. Unlike everyone else in this family, I ain't managing a Family Company or starting my own." Scowled Jackie's Uncle Li.

"Not as funny when it's your turn to feel his ire, is it, Li?" Demanded Jackie's Uncle Lu.

"What can I say?" Shrugged Jackie's Uncle Li.

"You can dish it out but you ain't able to take it?" Supplied Jackie.

"Enough! Lu, fix the yard while I'm out. I tell you, when I have gone to the ancestors, I would shudder to think what will become of this family. Then I remember I have more filial sons and grandchildren." Complained the Old Man.

"You're functionally Immortal now, though. Boddhisatva don't age, remember?" Pointed out Jackie's Uncle Lu.

"Indeed." Smirked Jackie's Grandad before turning on his heel and stalking back into the Manor to get changed for his meeting. Jackie could only grumble at the turn of events that his life'd taken over the past couple days.

Sometimes, having family around just ain't worth the hassle, he supposed. . .

XXXX

Bixi marveled at the speed of the Cargo Vessel that he had booked passage to this America Country on. Truly, the Mortals had come far in the time he had spent asleep. Why, he knew some younger Dragons that could scarcely swim this fast! Truly this world had sights yet to show him that had come to pass while he'd slumbered away the centuries! If only he could say that the Crew of this vessel were as interesting. Unfortunately, though some of them spoke a proper language, most did not, and even the ones that did were far too busy to answer any of Bixi's questions about the machinery that made the vessel work as well as it did.

It was a shame, truly. Unfortunately, even the Captain only spoke a very little Mandarin and almost no Hokkien or Cantonese. Instead, the Man spoke a Language that Bixi recognized as the Language spoken in the lands of Mo-ho-la-cha that had been visited by the Monk Xuanzeng and whose traders had begun reaching ports throughout the Middle Kingdom by the time that Bixi had last set down to slumber. Unfortunately, Bixi had never learned the Language of the Brahmins and Kshatriyas there, nor the Vaishyas who came looking for Trade to the Middle Kingdom, but the Blood of the Dragon King made learning such languages all too simple. He simply needed to listen for long enough.

And so, that was how Bixi spent his time aboard the magnificent vessel that he traveled across the sea inside of, listening and learning the many languages of the crew. Learning Kannada, Hindi, Farsi, Arabic, Portuguese, Tagalog, Spanish, and English. Truly, the crew was quite diverse, as Bixi learned that there were men from four entirely separate continents aboard this ship. Some came from the lands of the Feathered Serpent, which he knew now was called Mexico, while others came from a land unknown to Bixi called Australia, and still, more came from the coast of a land to the far south of Po-Pa-Li, which he now knew was the Country of Mozambique on the Continent of Africa. He had also learned the proper term for Mo-ho-la-cha was Maharashtra and it was part of the Country of India. He learned all this and more simply by listening to the crew speak.

Aside from languages and locations, Bixi also learned much about various things, such as the recent arrival of beings who sounded quite like Boddhisatva, but who Bixi felt were not such beings. These so-called Superheroes were known to have many varied powers, truly a new Heroic Age had dawned upon the Mortal Plane. This was auspicious as Bixi understood that the reason Boddhisatva, the ones he was looking for, had not been sought out already was likely due to this. It meant that Bixi would likely be the first to test the new Boddhisatva who had roused him from his slumber.

By the time that the Cargo Vessel, the Trade Wind, had docked in port in Coast City, in the United States of America, which Bixi now knew was the official name for the nation he would disembark in, Bixi felt he was prepared for his trek across the country. It was simply unfortunate that Bixi had no real idea how large the country he was attempting to cross was. Thankfully, there were ways to do so that were closer to the ones he knew of, and Bixi simply had to purchase one of the interesting mechanical horses from a dealer that he found, a motorcycle it had been called. He left the dealer with a fistful of gold and set out to get the hang of his purchase. It took him some time to find out how to work the automaton, but when he finally did, he was racing away from Coast City.

As he rode on his mechanical steed east along the oddly paved road, Bixi watched a flash of green light erupt over the City behind him, met by another flare of Purple. Green he understood, it was the same light that the So-Called Dragon Lord Jong Li used during his attempt to place the Tuyuhun Pretender on the Throne of the Middle Kingdom. The Purple was new to him, however he did not turn around his conveyance to investigate.

It was no business of his and he had Boddhisatva to test at any rate, after all. . .

XXXX

AN: All right, so here we have the next chapter. We get Jackie training, a bit more interaction with his Uncles Lu and Li, along with his Grandad, and Bixi makes it to America. Jackie's Grandad can be a pretty harsh teacher, and it doesn't help that usually when he's had to teach it's either been people who've grown up in the Cultivation Families and thus have the formal education on Chi to be able to put his demonstration to better use or he's been able to lean on one of his sons to help out. Here, Lu is on duty to magically fix the lawn, while Li has decided to just engage in a bit of schadenfreude. In his mind, if he had to go through the Old Man being a shit teacher, Jackie does too.

Also, yes, that was Hal and Carol Ferris duking it out above Star City while Bixi rode away on his motorcycle. Carol became Star Sapphire and decided to fuck with Hal after he broke her heart again. Guy is also around, but he isn't intervening in Carol and Hal's fight. Knowing Guy, he's probably sitting on the sidelines and laughing at the shitshow that is Hal Jordan's Love Life. Honestly, Guy and Jackie's Uncle Li would probably get along pretty well. They've got similar shit-stirrer personality types.

At any rate, the next chapter will be more training and character interaction from Jackie, while Bixi finally closes in on Gotham. After that, we'll get a chapter seeing Bixi's Arrival from Jackie's POV.

Stay tuned. . .