Qi Like Tar

1 Li Feng

2 Wu Chen

3 Xia Jun

4 Kong Liming

5 Kong Paike

6 Mei Lingchi

7 Yue Mingli

8 Ren Shu

9 Han Siayan

...

"I still think it is unjust that I am ranked above you, brother," Liming pouted as he stared at the updated list.

They had this conversation several times since they had entered the sect, but Paike wasn't about to let her claim victory by virtue of his giving up the argument. "There hasn't been anything to demonstrate my being better than you."

"Other than you being a realm above me?" Liming shot back.

"They obviously aren't taking that into account." He argued. "Well, obviously, it's more than just combat strength as well. I have never seen Wu Chen fight or Yue Mingli, and still, they are moving up.

"Also, Mei Lingchi isn't a good enough combatant to be ranked as high as she is. There is clearly a criterion we don't understand."

Liming grumbled but gave in for now.

"Hey, I'm just happy to have moved up!" Guan Li said, pointing to where his name was on the 17th ranking.

"You've certainly come a long way," Paike congratulated his friend. "I don't see you stopping anytime soon. I'll have to stop teaching you everything I know and prepare for a challenge soon."

"I would never!" Guan Li said in mock offense. His look became a bit more serious, "If you aren't going to take Liming's spot, I don't think I can take yours."

"It's a bit different with us being siblings," Paike pointed out. He had expected some quip about Guan Li knowing things he hadn't taught him, not him giving honest consideration. Friends like him were rare. "I wouldn't blame you if it needed to happen. Especially if it was about a chance to get into the inner sect eventually."

"There has got to be a way for us to both make it without having to knock the other out." Guan Li said with a bit of an edge in his tone, totally ignoring the way out Paike was offering him.

The fourth member of their little group just looked sad. Paike wasn't sure how to comfort Yixin. Her ranking wasn't high, it wasn't terrible, but it wasn't moving either. He shot Liming a look, but she nodded as if she was already taking care of it. Paike wasn't sure how, but also didn't want to step into her plans if she didn't want him.

His sister was perfectly capable of handling this; if she wasn't, it was probably because she had a plan.

"Okay, we looked," Paike said after a few more moments. "Can we move on now? We have things to do."

***

"Are you sure it's okay if I come along?" Yixin asked for the third time as they walked deeper into the forest, "Are you sure I will not slow you down?"

"Brother is more than sufficient to keep you safe out here."

"Yeah, and we aren't so helpless either." Guan Li added, but Paike wasn't sure if that was in support or just because he had been left out.

"But I don't think I can stand being in a place for Topaz's to cultivate, I'm not that strong to endure it like you two." Yixin protested.

Paike felt that it was time to say something more about his plans. He wanted them to find a place to cultivate, but hadn't really explained more than that.

"We won't be trying to find a Topaz site. You probably would be okay even if we were, but it wouldn't be the best. I'm hoping I can use my better senses to help find a place ideal for Peak Ruby and use it to push you three." Paike explained.

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"Isn't that... uh, not useful for you?" Yixin asked, while looking down. Paike hadn't remembered her being this unconfident before; maybe not making it into the physical cultivation class had been more of a blow than he realized?

"Don't worry about me, I have a lot of work I can do anywhere with enough qi density. I still need to consolidate from my unexpected breakthrough for some time."

Paike wasn't exaggerating. There were a lot of things he needed to do. First, he needed to make sure everything was healing right. Second, he needed to refill his qi. Third, he needed to catch up on expanding it more, as he had missed out on how he had advanced out of Ruby. Fourth, he needed to fix whatever was going on with his physical cultivation that was messing with his channels. Fifth, he needed to actually progress his physical cultivation. Sixth...

The list went on and on. He hadn't even organized it all, and that was all before he could even think about pushing through the Topaz stages, which were all even harder from what he heard. And that was just the cultivation, not about learning new arts like he had talked with Li Feng about, or even training with the staff.

He was pulled from his thoughts by a question from his sister as he held a branch out of her way as she walked past.

"Did you manage to learn anything from Li Feng's breakthrough? I was too far away, and I don't think I got anything."

Paike shrugged. "It was very different from mine. I just reached the threshold, and my qi changed--"

Except that wasn't right. He hadn't even theoretically had enough qi to make the change. So how had that happened? He was pretty sure it had been the pressure that was the impetus that made the change, and then that had cascaded.

Slowly, he started to speak again. "I don't want to say too much, but I think they don't tell us everything about advancement for a reason, and I don't want to make it harder for saying what I think I just figured out..."

"Oh, just tell us, it can't hurt!" Liming said. Guan Li was nodding along, but Yixin was looking cautious.

Paike considered it, but honestly couldn't tell if there was any harm in it. He wasn't sure it was even true.

"Well," He started, "How were you told advancement worked?"

"I wasn't," Guan Li quipped. Paike found it hard to find that joke funny, so he just waited for a serious answer. It came from Liming.

"You expand your dantian as far as you can, then you gather enough qi until it reaches a tipping point and you move up."

"Okay, now that I consider that, that might not be the whole story. I see a few problems with that. Why do so many people never move past Ruby?" Paike prompted.

"Well, it's because they are lazy or don't push themselves hard enough to expand their talent," Liming said. "It gets hard to push it any further when you near Peak Ruby."

"What if I tell you I hadn't maxed out the size of my dantian before I advanced?"

"Well then..." Liming trailed off; it was Yixin who finished her thought. "Then enough qi isn't all you need?"

"Maybe," Paike said, "I think you need a certain amount. But I'm not sure what else, honestly, after seeing Li Feng advance, I'm even more confused."

"Well, I'm a bit lost. Can someone fill me in?" Guan Li asked.

"Sure, you know how in stories cultivators have some inspiration mid-fight that lets them advance so they can win?"

"Yeah, but those are just stories, that's not how it really works, Elder Chu said, advancing takes time and planning." Guan Li argued.

"We just watched it happen!" Liming sounded exasperated.

"Not really, he had to stop and prepare. In a real fight, he would have had to hold off, or he would be dead," Guan Li shot back. Paike ignored their bickering so he could get to his point.

"I think there is a crumb of truth in those stories. In the higher realms, we know there are insights that are needed to advance." Paike said. "Now I haven't heard of something like that for the lower realms, which is why I'm not sure I should be saying anything. If it were simple, I think our families would have told us. It's probably different for everyone."

"Cultivation is a path one walks alone." Liming quoted.

"Exactly," Paike said, "But I think there is something more than just the amount of qi that is needed. But I can't say exactly what. I'm sorry, but I don't know if there is something you should be looking for that would hurt your search for whatever it was."

He had some ideas, but he was also sure that if he was wrong, that would hurt them. What he said already might have been too much, but he had been thinking out loud as much as anything. And he didn't think he had said anything they couldn't have really figured out themselves after a little thought, once they saw Li Feng break through the way he had.

At this point, they made it rather far into the woods, and Paike started keeping watch for concentrations of qi. Spots like that were not uncommon around here. The sect maintained them, but it was for the disciples to risk going out and finding them. It was a bit cheating for him to be along as the beasts were still keeping their distance.

He spotted something and readjusted their course. Everyone else followed behind, lost in their own thoughts.

That lasted until they walked into a clearing so packed with qi that even the Ruby cultivators had no problem feeling it while not even meditating. In the center of the clearing was a single small sapling that radiated life power. It would work well with Liming's desired arts, and maybe Yixin would find a use as well.

Guan Li would make do. It was still better than their cultivation chamber for qi density.

"I think this will do," Paike said as he took a seat near the sapling.

"You never answered my original question," Liming said as she sat next to him, as they formed a square around the sapling.

"Huh," Paike said, opening his eyes.

"Did you learn anything from watching Li Feng's advancement?" Liming asked, "You just said it was different than yours."

"Oh, maybe. I was a realm above, so I don't think it was the same profound thing. But it did give me a few things I need to test. If they work, I'll let you know."

They lapsed back into silence.

I guess I'll have to add testing, splitting qi back into lower stages, to my already long list. Paike thought.

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