Qi Like Tar

In a hurry, Paike pulled himself out of his trance while using half of his mind to keep his spiritual soul sealed. He clamped down hard on the tear, cutting off the qi oozing into his dantian and grimacing as the rest dispersed.

At the same instant, he looked up, checking to see if some threat had decided to come and attack him, even if he was on sect grounds while he was meditating. But there was no ancient spirit or some vicious beast, but rather a young boy, at least three years younger than him, but one that he recognized.

Paike rose to his feet, standing nearly a head taller than the Late Ruby cultivator before him. He offered him a small bow, which Li Feng returned.

"Li Feng," Paike greeted calmly.

"Kong Paike," Li Feng said in a stiff and formal tone.

"Is there something I can help you with? Why have you sought me out?" Paike asked.

Li Feng offered a slightly deeper bow.

"My apologies for interrupting your meditation. I come here to train most nights, and I have not seen you here before. I was not well aware you were fully recovered from your ordeal."

Paike had yet to get a read on the top-ranked newly initiated outer sect member. The only thing he knew from the family reports was that Li Feng was a prodigious swordsman, even by the standards of the Li clan. He was a prodigy in their Ethereal Dragonflame arts, which, unlike what it sounded like, did not actually produce flames but rather was integrated into their sword style.

"I wouldn't say I'm fully recovered," Paike said demurely, "but rather that what I need is time to meditate and train, to return to my former strength."

Li Feng nodded. "We always need to train and cultivate. You have surprised me, Kong Paike."

Paike raised an eyebrow at the smaller boy, and Li Feng continued to explain.

"My family thought you would be a weakling, a disappointment, a vulnerability to the Kong clan. But here you are, middle Ruby before almost anyone else. And I know your family does not let you train for any period before sending you off to the great sects, not after you've awakened."

Paike inclined his head in gratitude.

"Yet you seem to be doing quite well." Li Feng continued.

"I think spending extra time as a mortal helped me in ways that many cultivators would not understand."

Li Feng frowned. "That is certainly against common wisdom."

Paike wasn't about to spill all his secrets, but he felt that a little bit of insight was warranted for such a polite conversation.

"Many of the arts I learned training as a mortal carry over—strategies, tactics, physical conditioning have acted as a strong base for my cultivation. That and honing of the fundamentals of combat for years."

Li Feng took a half step back and bowed again.

"I thank you for your insights, Kong Paike. I'll be sure to meditate on them. Now, if you don't mind, may I use this arena to train? It will not disturb your meditation." Li Feng asked with exceeding politeness.

Paike gave a shallow bow. "I will be returning to meditating, so do not worry about me observing."

With that, the young boy turned on his heel and leaped down to the center, where he drew his sword in a fluid motion, holding it above his head for a full second.

Paike, though, stayed true to his words and just closed his eyes and began shoving qi back into himself. But he couldn't help but feel the qi be disturbed from the rapid whirlpool that Li Feng was causing. Qi moved around him like a hurricane with speed and fluidity that even water lacked.

It was all Paike could do to not be jealous.

Paike slowly sat back down with his eyes still closed. He released the hold he had on his daintian incision. It was several hours before his dantian felt as if it was bursting at the seams. With clumsy spiritual fingers, he stitched up the slit he had cut as best he could, going over it and over it again with ever finer threads, constantly reinforcing the breach.

When he felt that he could finally release the gash, the pressure of his full qi pressed against it, and he felt as if he were near advancement. He had gathered enough qi to be near the peak of Middle Ruby. However, he wasn't sure he could expand his dantian again until the wound had healed. Even then, he wasn't sure how he would go about doing that. If, in order to insert more qi into his body, he needed to rip it open again...

He supposed he could always try to find some higher-level qi, like last time. But that had been a harrowing experience he had no desire to repeat.

Paike took a tiny bit of qi from his dantian and flushed it through his qi channels, keeping them topped off and slowly moving, powering his body. He watched as his physical cultivation drank in the qi. Each thread he used to improve the physical aspect of his cultivation was practically vibrating by the time he had finished cycling all the way through.

And suddenly, he wished he had been back in his own cultivation chamber, because he was also ready to break through to the next minor stage of his physical cultivation. Here, he did not have the facilities to clean himself after the impurities would be forcibly purged from his skin and orifices. He clamped down on his body, stalling the breakthrough, but he knew he could only hold it off for so long. Sometime tomorrow, he would have to break through.

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Once he had determined that as much of his cultivation as possible was stable, he opened his eyes and stood up. He stretched his head from side to side, popping his neck and rolling his shoulders, which were slightly stiff from the hours he'd spent sitting on the cold grass in the middle of the night.

Standing, he noticed that the sky hadn't yet begun to lighten from the sun. But it couldn't be more than a few hours before sunrise. He had been cultivating for that long, at least.

Down in the arena, Li Feng still stood—though that wasn't the right word. Maybe more danced—with his blade, still training.

Paike cleared his throat and coughed, something that Li Feng would never have missed. Li Feng stopped, and Paike tensed his muscles slightly, testing the durability of his suppressed breakthrough, improved physical cultivation from the days he had spent working on it and perfecting it. His qi channels filled, and his dantian stretched taut. The patch was holding, and he could see it healing at a faster rate than it had back when he was an Early Ruby cultivator.

Paike bunched up slightly and launched himself from the highest ring of steps, made of grass around the amphitheater, and landed nearly 10 paces down in the sand pit in front of Li Feng. He rolled his shoulders, still feeling out his body.

"I'm surprised you're still here," Paike commented.

Li Feng lifted a single shoulder in a shrug. "I need even less sleep now. And practicing the sword is always important."

Paike wanted to ask about his training because he only felt qi flowing for parts of it rather than the whole thing, but he refrained. Instead, he gave a slight bow.

"And would you perhaps help this older brother shake some of his rust off?"

Li Feng’s face didn't change, but Paike could feel a tenseness about him as he returned the bow and stepped back, putting his sword in a sheath but leaving his hand on the hilt.

"I would be honored, Kong Paike."

There was a tense second before Li Feng acted first. In a flash, he darted forward. The three steps separated him as his sword swung right for Paike's throat.

Paike wasn't sure if he should be flattered by the respect shown to him. Li Feng was going all out, at full speed, in their first encounter in a supposedly non-lethal spar. Or maybe he should be worried that the young boy actually meant him harm.

Regardless, though, he was able to pull his arm up in time in a boxer's block, slapping aside the sword like he would block a hook.

His angle wasn’t perfect, so the edge dragged across his skin as the sword was deflected. The cut it left on his arm was shallow, as the tiled mesh under his skin deflected it with little issue. There was no qi involved in the attack, so he used none in his block.

The sword whirled around, coming at him from a slightly different angle, and Paike leaned back slightly, the sword passing a few finger-widths above his nose as he looked upwards. Using his leg as a counterbalance, he let one foot snake out and hook behind Li Feng's outstretched leg as he lunged, flicking the boy's knee up.

Li Feng hopped up on one leg, regaining his balance. Still, Paike straightened and rotated his hips, his fist flying at the off-balance boy, who released the sword with one hand to catch Paike's fist in his palm. Li Feng displayed a freakish amount of talent as he spun on one leg, his other leg flicking out and using the momentum of Paike's own punch. The spin finished with him landing a kick on Paike's exposed ribs.

Paike grunted but was otherwise unaffected. The higher level of cultivation allowed Li Feng more speed and power than his otherwise much smaller body suggested. Still, it was only a minor stage of difference, and Paike was much bigger. So instead of just rolling with the blow, he caught the kick and spun, still holding on. Li Feng was completely helpless and was lifted off the ground. After half a turn, Paike let go, tossing him nearly a dozen paces into the sand.

Li Feng spun in the air and landed on his feet, his sword held vertically in front of him in a guard position. Paike, though, hadn't followed up.

"A fascinating exchange," Li Feng commented. "You were truly underestimated by everyone. How are you ranked so low?"

"So low?" Paike asked. "I'm in the top ten."

"You should be number two," Li Feng said. "Not seven. That coward, Zhao Liantian, was knocked down a few rankings, but they didn't raise you after you defeated her. Do you not feel slighted by that?"

Paike shook his head. “As long as I'm in the top ten, I don't particularly care." He paused, remembering his family’s expectations, and added. “Though I might look to move into the top five soon.”

Li Feng shook his head as he clearly didn't understand. "Truly strange."

He darted forward, and Paike moved to match him this time. Paike struck first, Li Feng catching his fist on the flat of his blade, bracing with one forearm above, on the blade itself, while the other held the hilt. In response, he snapped a kick at Paike's knee.

Paike lifted his leg slightly, allowing it to push his leg away without really disrupting his stance. He ducked low, his arms reaching for Li Feng's legs as if he was about to go for a takedown. But Li Feng's sword slashed from above, forcing him to abort halfway through and roll.

As he rolled past and behind Li Feng, he caught Li Feng by his ankle, but Li Feng kicked at his fingers. Paike only managed to make him stumble before he had spun around, and Paike was back on his feet, and they began to circle each other.

"For someone who I've only seen fight with the staff, you do rather well without a weapon. Why do you let something like that hinder you when clearly your talents lie unarmed?" Li Feng asked.

Paike shrugged. "Reach. Force multiplier. The possibility of being able to fight multiple different styles is always beneficial."

Li Feng shook his head. "A scattering of your focus. A cultivator needs to be locked in. There should be no distractions, no spreading of your talent. Everything honed to perfection or not bothered with at all."

Paike snorted. "I see why the Li clan is thought of as it is amongst my family."

"Oh? How is that?"

"Strong duelists. In specific situations, they are the best, but ultimately not a threat unless faced one on one," Paike said. It was respectful, if slightly dismissive, and Li Feng could only shake his head.

"If you can't rely on your own sword, what can you rely on?” Li Feng shot back, before they clashed again.

“It is abnormal that you practice sword without your techniques," Paike commented after another close exchange where Li Feng came out slightly ahead, a small cut forming under Paike's eye from a barely dodged strike.

"Of course I do. From the sword comes everything. The beauty of the blade, the dance, that is where our inspiration comes from. How else do you form techniques to take the imperial majesty of a dragon and infuse it into your sword?" Li Feng asked. "Should you not do the same with your fists?"

Paike shook his head. "You are such an idealist."

They clashed again and again before neither felt the need to speak again.

"I may be an idealist," Li Feng said, "but I do not lack focus. You don't have a clear goal, and that will be your end. I might fail, but I will never be lost."

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