Qi Like Tar

Paike watched his friend walk back from his most recent challenge.

Guan Li had been entirely underrated when he first arrived at the sect. He had just awakened and had absolutely zero formal training in meditation or how to control his qi. He couldn't cycle it through even the barest and most basic of methods to reinforce himself. He might not have even known how to collect it in his dantian and use it as the simplest replenishment to power his ascension up the stairs. But ever since he had received the barest of assistance, he had flourished like no one else—like only a natural cultivator could.

He challenged a total of three people, winning each handily in a flash of shadows and speed. At some point, he acquired two knives that he would use to excellent effect. His opponents had no answer for his speed. The last fight was a bit more prolonged. Not because it was close but because his opponent had turtled up, hoping to just outlast Guan Li. Guan Li had to get a little creative to finish it off, but Paike was generally approving of his performance.

He had counseled Guan Li not to push any further right now, as he would already be struggling to regain his lost power before their physical cultivation lesson later in the day. Besides, getting into the top twenty was already a significant achievement, and there was still a lot of time left to go before there was any real reason to fight over a few spots.

Now, at least, he had the respect and a little bit of experience that would hopefully help keep him safe from trouble. Of course, he might still be challenged by more people, but, well, he needed to fight someone strong—not the weaklings he would have had to fight if he hadn't bothered climbing the ranks.

Paike was certain that at any moment, one of the many people staring at him this whole time would come over and challenge him to a duel. But they were content to just watch. Maybe it was because he was here with a friend, or maybe they weren't confident in winning. Or perhaps it was because he was here intentionally, and they were waiting to see if he would challenge Li Feng. Li Feng watched him off and on but mostly just lounged in the shadows at the top of the arena stands—if you could call it lounging. Li Feng was a very formal boy, and his slight lean was the equivalent of anyone else's slouch. But still, it was more relaxed than Paike had ever seen the boy.

Paike just left him alone, not really looking at him more than when his eyes happened to pass over the arena. When Guan Li finished recovering, Paike stood and stretched. His standing caused a ripple to go around the rings of the arena seating as everyone turned and looked his way. Paike blinked, not having been used to being such a center of attention. He stretched and looked around. The intelligent thing to do would be to walk away or sit down again. But he felt the weight of expectation palpable in the air. It was thick enough that he thought he could cut it with a knife.

And, well, he wasn't afraid of a good fight.

Looking around the arena, though, he didn't see anyone he wanted to challenge. Of the other top ten, only Li Feng was here, and, well, that wasn't going to happen. Maybe he should have waited until he had opened his next meridian and started learning his art. But that didn't seem to matter to him as he was striding down the aisles, hopping from one of the large benches to the next before he jumped into the empty arena. Spreading his arms, he turned around, looking at the crowd, waiting for someone to come down and challenge him.

He looked at Li Feng briefly. Li Feng cocked an eyebrow, and Paike shook his head subtly. Li Feng's slight tension went away as he relaxed again. No, Paike wasn't really looking to challenge himself, mostly just to relax a little bit. And, well, if he was going to be a big name, he wanted his name to be remembered. Also, now that he was down here with everyone staring at him, he was feeling slightly embarrassed. This was not how it was supposed to be. He was supposed to have challenged someone, or someone was supposed to challenge him.

He couldn't really challenge down the ranks. Well, he could, but that was usually looked down upon. Here, he was just here to accept all challenges. There was an awkward handful of moments when Paike thought he might have to leave the arena without anyone taking up his offer. That would be rather embarrassing, though he wouldn't be sure if it was more embarrassing for him or everyone else. But luckily, someone hopped down.

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Paike looked at the unassuming boy, not having recognized him from anywhere. Reaching out with his senses, he saw that he had just awakened. He was Early Ruby and still hadn't awakened physically, and the boy stepped forward and bowed.

"Master Kong, I would be honored if you would trade pointers with me."

In a softer voice, he added, "Please take it easy. I don't expect to win. I just want to learn something."

Paike felt a genuine smile blossom over his face. "Certainly," he said with a more shallow bow in answer. "Please, let me instruct you then."

*

The following twenty minutes brought Paike back to when he had just moved past all the other children in his lessons. When the next year of students joined the class and those who had still not awakened had to put them in their place.

After a few times it had changed for Paike again. The teacher stopped trying to get him to do the lessons, he started having him teach the new students, rather than just spar with them. After several years of this, Paike had gotten very good at instruction through sparring. All the while, he was learning to work on moves that he was practicing. It wasn't the same as using them in actual combat with someone who was actually in danger. He would have to spar with someone better for that.

But going against someone weaker was a great time to practice the moves he had just picked up, to see what would possibly be viable and what wouldn't. Of course, not everything that would work against newbies would work against an equal or better opponent, but, well, it was still useful. He worked on making small shields to catch each blow, seeing if he could get the timing just right so that he didn't have to absorb any of the force when blocking.

When he would bring his hand up to block a head kick, instead of trying to catch it on the hand or the wrist, which could potentially risk injuring his arm, he simply pushed out a small shield of qi and blocked it on that. And if he timed it right—which he was getting better at—he could catch it on that almost every time. This meant that he had to absorb almost no force. It was a little bit more complicated than just a straight block, but if it worked most of the time, he could potentially save breaking his wrist many times.

But even as they went back and forth, Paike worked his best to instruct the disciple in front of him. After realizing there were certain combinations of strikes that his opponent didn't know how to handle, he would throw them a couple of times, several times in slow motion. Occasionally, he even grabbed his opponent's wrists and moved them into the blocking pattern for that combo. With anyone else, he would have worried about this being disrespectful, but the way this disciple had approached him made him think that he would be more receptive—and he was.

Paike would need to learn this boy's name because he rarely made the same mistake twice, and only if Paike was correcting multiple things at the same time. The audience was something that Paike tuned out, but he could hear the dull noise roaring in the background, which was strange because he remembered them being relatively quiet during the actual bouts. Was it because this wasn't a serious bout that they were more interested in, or were they just talking?

He pushed those thoughts away, focusing on the combat. Eventually, the boy ran out of energy and was on one knee, his forearm braced on it as he panted on the ground, trying not to throw up. Paike stepped back and shook out his arms, which were a little tired, and his shoulders were a little sore from holding them up the entire time, but otherwise, he was relatively untouched. He took a deep breath and waited a handful of seconds for the other boy to recover before he stepped forward and held out his hand, offering some help.

The boy took it, and Paike heaved him to his feet. "You learn fast. What's your name?" Paike asked in a casual tone.

The disciple bowed low. "This one is known as Dao Hua, Master Kong. I hope I did not embarrass myself too much."

Paike smiled. "No, you learn quickly, as I said."

Looking up at the sun and over at Guan Li, Paike realized that he had to go.

"But keep practicing and come find me in a week. I'll give you another shot then," he said, clapping the boy on his shoulder hard enough to send him rocking just a tad. And as he turned, he smiled. That was satisfying. But now it was time for his own harsh lessons from Elder Ji, and he had to go make sure the rest of his team was okay and ready.

"Guan Li!" he called. "Ready to head out?"

The two bounded their way up the stairs and out of the amphitheater, and Paike saw Li Feng slip out the back as well. Breaking into a jog, they headed back to physical cultivation class, where this time, Paike promised himself they would do better this time.

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