Qi Like Tar

Since the age of four, his family's training had been intensive. Paike had been drilling with instructors, family members, and fellow students for at least an hour or two each day. Even more when he reached eight and started to learn to sense qi. That was where childhood ended for the Kong family. If he wanted to be a full member, he was expected to pull his weight, and from then until his service to the emperor ended, that was all about training and getting stronger.

After all, his family was based on martial prowess, and the beginning of any good cultivator's techniques began with the real world. So, a solid grounding in hand-to-hand combat was a good place to start.

When he was ten and still not awakened, he started learning the art of the sword. These lessons had continued year after year, even though he hadn't awakened. But one thing he never really experienced at home or in training was any real danger. Everything was sparring and drilling; sparring was not live full-contact like the cultivators did. As a fragile mortal, even as the disciples from his age group awakened and went hard at each other, he was left hitting dummies and exchanging practiced combos.

Not to say that all this training was useless, but when he faced his first qi-powered attack, he didn't react with the aplomb and grace he had been trained to. Instead of using the power in his limbs to gracefully duck under the gout of flame and counterattack with some technique from a lower position, he threw his hands up in front of his face, shielding it from the heat of the fire.

The channels in his arms were only just developed. So naturally, he pushed his sluggish qi through his pathways with all his force as he blocked the attack. In front of him grew an undefined dispersed cloud of qi. It hung around his hands longer than he would have expected ambient qi to.

By any right, it should have had no effect. It wasn't even a proper technique, and clearly, despite the rather lackluster appearance of the Han scion's attack, it was a proper technique, likely one taught by his family. The fact that he'd produced it after the recent awakening was quite impressive. It showed the young boy had natural talent and potential—far more than Paike could ever hope for.

When he expelled the qi, it formed less of a cloud and more of a floating bubble. His qi somehow maintained its stubborn insistence on not moving gracefully through his channels, even as it exited his body. As long as it was still under his control, it refused to move with any alacrity.

The raging fire crashed into the bubble. Paike opened his eyes from the quick blink he had tried to shield his face and watched as the fire broiled off to the sides of him, dissipating harmlessly into the air. The bubble didn't pop as he had expected. He frowned, feeling the qi slowly evaporating from his control. Not from the actual heat, but from his opponent's qi bashing into his. But maybe, finally, his stunted cultivation was helping him. His qi refused to move even in the face of a hostile technique.

For a half-second, a smile tugged at his lips. Was he actually able to compete with a real cultivator? He woke years late and could barely do the most basic cultivation with days of concentration. What he got done in days would take most novices a couple of hours at most—unless he cheated and damaged himself by cultivating improperly like he had in the carriage.

Apparently, the answer was yes. Yes, he could compete, for now. But that moment of fleeting elation fell as the grains of qi still dissolving in his dantian sputtered out. Luckily, it appeared that his opponent also had a limited amount of reserves as well. Just as the fire started to break through Paike's improvised shield, the Han scion doubled over, his hands on his knees, gasping for breath, sweat marring the perfectly styled hair.

Paike heard gasps and whispers from the crowd.

"That defense, an impenetrable barrier technique, at Ruby stage," someone said in awe.

Paike frowned. Barrier? His bubble of uncontrolled qi could hardly be called such. But then again, those watching wouldn't have developed the sense to see the qi yet.

"Is that one of the new Kong prodigies?" another person whispered.

"No, that's their untalented son." More muttering from the crowd.

"To think that even he would be so powerful."

"Man, that family is somehow still underestimated."

The crowd was getting louder, but Paike tuned them out and lurched forward. The qi that had been empowering him. In its absence, the absolute exhaustion of running and then carrying his sister up the stairs took over. His lunge into striking range turned into a bit more of a stumble. Still, it got him in range of the boy straightening up. Remembering his lessons well, he twisted with his legs and channeled the force up through his hips, winding up a textbook-perfect hook right into the kid's gut.

Neither of them had qi reserves left, and this was an experience that Paike was extremely familiar with. With them only having the passive enhancements of a newly awakened cultivator, it would have been similar to talented mortals fighting. But Paike had a head of height, tens of kilograms of weight on his opponent, and several years more of hand-to-hand combat training. That being said, the hit sent the Han scion crumpling over his fist like a piece of wet parchment.

Paike looked down at his defeated foe, considering whether the fight was over. The boy didn't get up; he lay there gasping, and his cousin glared daggers at him. Paike turned his back and walked slowly back to his sister, who was smiling beatifically. She pressed her hands together and gave him a slight bow.

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"Thank you for defending my honor, brother," she said formally.

He returned the slight bow. "It was my pleasure, little sister."

They turned and walked away from the encounter and deeper into the crowd.

"I still have no idea who that was," Liming said to him.

Paike looked over at his little sister. "Really? I thought you were just riling them up for some reason. You really didn't recognize him?"

Liming shook her head. "No. Have I met him before? Should I know who he is?"

"No, you haven't met him, but you should definitely know who he is. That was Han Saiyan."

She blinked. "The heir to the dukedom?"

Paike nodded.

"...and you just kicked the shit out of him. I'm sure mother won't be too mad."

"Language, sister," Paike reminded her.

She smiled, covering her mouth. "Still, you guys are both cultivators at Early Ruby. If they complain about you being older and bigger, that would just look bad."

"Mhmm," Paike replied, "but I feel like that might have been a mistake."

"Did you really need to rile him up like that?"

"You heard what he said."

Liming stopped. "Yes, I guess I shouldn't blame you. I'm just frustrated that we had to deal with that right away."

"Well, judging based on how he acted," Paike countered, "I don't think there was any way we weren't going to have to deal with that eventually."

"True. True. And besides, when did you learn a barrier technique? I wouldn't have thought you would be able to manage that. That's not an art I recognize, at least not from the basic five," Liming asked.

Paike grimaced. It wasn't from the basic five. The family taught them during the first few realms simple but effective combat techniques that could be the staple of any fighting style. The set wasn't a full art, but it made for good building blocks of a comprehensive fighting style. He had only just seen the scrolls on them and the actual circulation paths last week when he had awoken.

Of course, he knew their names the entire time: Quick Step, Powerful Strike, Focused Recover, Masterful Block, and Qi Dart. Rather uninspired names, but usually by the second or third realm, family members had specialized in one or two. They truly made them their own, giving them much more interesting names and producing much more interesting effects.

But no, what he had done was closest to Block, but nothing similar to the enhanced limb meant to be blocking a projectile or countering an opponent's technique. Paike ran his hand through his hair, a nervous tic his mother, his teacher, had given up on trying to chastise him.

"Yeah. I don't know what happened. It was just instinct. I can't learn those moves as fast as you."

"Well, you clearly did something to block the attack," Liming said, frowning and ignoring the recognition he was giving her. "We'll have to practice that."

"Mmhmm," Paike grunted, not looking forward to being shown up by his sister in qi techniques. She was younger than him, but already she was halfway to the first stage of Ruby, and he was about as low in the realm as he could possibly be.

"Of course, sister. Though we should probably take the honored Elder's advice and select housing for ourselves."

"I suppose we must part, then," his sister said grumpily as she indicated a path to the clearly marked female outer sect housing.

Paike nodded. "Yeah. Try to make some friends, okay?" he said, nudging her with his elbow. She wouldn't have a problem. People would probably flock to her as she clearly had the support of their family name with no reservations.

Clearly Liming knew this as she gave an undignified snort. "Don't worry about me. I just don't want to see my big brother alone all the time."

Paike frowned. That was going to be an issue. Well, technically, all newly awakened cultivators were of similar standing. He was a bit older, and the difference between the average age of eleven or twelve and his fifteen years old was significant. He didn't really want to have to be rooming with someone too immature for too long. But, well, he'd have to see what his options were.

As they split up, Paike joined the stream of boys slowly trickling into the male outer sect housing. As he looked over the available housing options, he almost failed to notice someone approaching him.

Paike didn't react to the footsteps falling in next to him, as he sensed no ill intent. Curiously, he looked over and saw a young boy, someone much older than the average but still younger than him. He stood almost at a height with Paike, but where Paike was sturdy, with well-built muscles from years of training, this young man was thin, almost painfully so.

He had slightly sunken eyes and pinched cheeks. Still, from the gaunt face, the eyes looked out with unquestioning resolve and deep penetration that Paike recognized from some of his more ambitious family members—ones who only came back between assignments and never stayed for long.

"Might this one have a moment of your time?" the young boy asked.

"Certainly," Paike responded with as much joviality as he could muster. Making friends was going to be hard for him. Anyone who knew of his family might try to gain favor in some way, but at the same time, those who likely knew would also know who he was. And knowing what his age meant here, they likely wouldn't even bother. That doesn't mean that anyone who held a grudge against his family—and many did—wouldn't take it out on him. He was an easy target, after all, and well, here, the support was questionable at best.

"This one is Guan Li," the boy said.

"My name is Kong Paike," Paike introduced himself much more casually. "Mr. Guan, what can I do for you?"

The overly formal tone of Guan Li made Paike perk up and listen. The accent wasn't anything he recognized from any of the main provinces that fed into the sect. Still, the formal voice was clearly an affectation. Underneath it, he could sense a note of street talk. The young man didn't react to his family's name, so he assumed that he had either recognized him and still approached or he didn't actually know who Paike was, either could be useful.

"I was wondering if you wouldn't mind rooming with me. I saw the fight earlier, and you certainly know how to tussle, uh, exchange pointers, sir Kong," the boy said, slipping into a significantly less formal diction for a minute before catching himself.

Paike looked over and nodded slightly. "I wouldn't mind sharing a house as long as it was large enough for the two of us."

It was best to create alliances here. And if he wasn’t part of any family he might be a good asset to to snap up.

They had to pick one that they could defend. The larger the palace and the higher up the mountain it was positioned, the bigger the target on it. As it was, he was looking at one of the smallest ones that still had a cultivation chamber… but if he could get help defending it, well, that often opened up a lot more opportunities than having to do it himself.

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