Qi Like Tar

Aside from the appearance, Paike couldn't detect any difference between his spiritual flesh and its scars. This made it rather difficult for him to decide where he should make the opening so he could assimilate more qi. Would it be better to cut the same area again, or some yet unmarked part?

If it were getting damaged, then repeatedly damaging the same area might have more lasting consequences. Or maybe it was better to have only one part weakened if the damage accumulated. Or maybe the structural differences in different parts of his dantian would be more of a problem.

There were many other things to consider, but the real issue was that he didn't, and couldn't, know without more testing. Considering that he couldn't detect any difference beyond its appearance and that he had never heard of the dantian scaring before, let alone of a way to heal the scars other than time, he was inclined not to worry too much about it.

It was very possible they weren't even scars now that he considered it. What if, when healing, it was changing the spiritual flesh to be infused in his aspected qi?

He was inclined to believe that. He had to take risks, and why should he stop now? Besides, eventually, it would be all scars or marks at this rate anyway.

So Paike chose an unmarked area and formed a razor with his qi. He barely flinched as he made the cut this time. He was just getting too used to it for it to bother him anymore. Though the pain was still intense. More so after advancing.

As he carefully made the cut as small as he could, he began spinning the qi around him into densely packed ropes that orbited his body. He pushed his will as hard as he could, slowly accelerating the qi as it spun. After a few revolutions, it was moving faster.

He kept pushing, holding the incision closed, now curious. He hadn't tried this before. Normally, he just moved his qi, and it moved at a constant pace.

This wasn't something he had ever heard of in all his reading or family lessons. Could others do the same? He would need to ask the others when he was done. Right now, he couldn't lose focus on holding his spirit together.

It couldn't compare to Liming's speed, but it wouldn't have been the slowest in the sect. Also, it didn't flow the way Li Feng's qi did. Far from it.

Rather, the impression Paike got was of a boulder hurtling through the air, not of flowing streams of air or water. He felt that was an apt metaphor for him. He was a stone tumbling down hill. If he tried to stop his cultivation, it would fall apart. All he could do was just keep running faster.

When Paike finished his little experiment and couldn't get his qi to move any faster, he finally began gently opening the incision he had made to allow the qi to enter. However, things did not go as planned.

When he tried to point the end of the rope of qi into the temporary entrance, he found it resisted. Rather than pivoting, the end of the rope continued in its orbit, just slightly bent. He leaned on it harder, bringing his will to bear.

The angle of the descent changed, but it still continued to orbit even as he pushed on it. It was like he was trying to steer an ox by leaning on its shoulder as it walked. It might move with him if he pushed hard enough, but it wouldn't stop and change direction instantly.

It took careful timing and loss of corrective pressure, but he eventually lined up the end of the rope of qi with the cut while it moved. It entered at an angle, but it didn't stop moving.

Once qi was brought into his dantian, it usually pooled and stayed still. Never had it entered this fast before.

It was lucky he hadn't succeeded in bringing the qi in directly and had to angle it in. The qi slammed into the inner wall of his dantian with enough force that he could feel blood welling up from behind his teeth.

But it was already curving from the orbit around him, and the wall helped it curve more. The more it curved, the tighter it spun, and the faster it moved still.

Paike frantically softened the angle at which the rest of the qi was coming in, even more, and the continuous impact lessened. It was less like standing under a waterfall now, more like a gentle stream.

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He knew from learning how to fight water cultivators that if water moved fast enough, it could cut like a blade. that if water was pushed too fast, it would ignore the bend in pipes and push through even steel. With enough time, the river would change course.

But water was heavy. Qi was not? It was a massless energy, but maybe this is where his analogy started to break down.

The qi in his dantian was spinning even faster as more and more of it accumulated. It took all his focus to prevent it from destroying him.

Before he knew it, the qi he had gathered was almost gone, but he was already full. He was able to readjust the flow so it stopped entering him. He pinched the cut closed and released his hold on the rest of the qi, which stopped orbiting him and began traveling straight into the clearing. He watched as it slowly dispirited and returned to normal. Before it reached the edge of the clearing, it had returned to normal.

Inside, the qi was his, but it was still moving. It was like water in a stirred pot, constantly swirling. As he carefully stitched himself closed, Paike pondered.

There had to be consequences for this. He had never heard of qi moving in a dantian like this. But there was no way this was something new to him. He would need to ask the elders about this. It was strange even for him, and this seemed to be a lasting effect, unlike all the other things he tried, which made him nervous.

Finally, he finished. Sadly, he didn't have access to the strange qi he had used to plaster a reinforcement to the stitches this time. He tried using his own qi, but it refused to stick after he let it be rather than hardening.

The spinning qi in his dantian put a different kind of pressure than just a full dantian did. He wasn't sure whether it was harder or easier on the spirit flesh, but he wasn't in immediate danger of getting hurt. He thought.

Finally finished, Paike opened his eyes.

The first thing he noticed was that a lot more time had passed than he thought. The sun had long since set, and it was a dark night, stars in the sky fully visible.

Guan Li and Yixin were both asleep in the grass. And Liming was leaning the sapling, keeping a watch.

Paike shifted his neck, but didn't find any stiffness. He shouldn't have; he was a cultivator now, and as a Topaz, he could sit for days without any ill effects. It was still hard to believe that, less than a month ago, he had been a mortal who might never awaken.

"Brother," Liming greeted.

"How long was that?" Paike asked, scanning the area with his eyes and spiritual sense. He didn't see any threats.

"Most of the night. It's almost dawn," she answered. "I'm taking the last watch."

It appeared that speeding up the qi had taken far longer than he had thought. It certainly hadn't helped him cultivate qi any faster. Paike stood up. "Do you mind if I test a few things before I take over?"

"Go ahead." Liming immediately said. "Did you advance again? I can't sense anything different."

"No, but I was inspired to try something new after watching Guan Li. I want to see what the consequences are." He said. It was time to see if this new method was just a waste of time.

It was also interesting to note that Liming couldn't sense the turmoil in his dantian. He hadn't expected her to be at a lower realm of cultivation, but it was still nice to confirm.

The first thing Paike tried was running his qi through his channels. It went off without a problem. The qi moved faster, putting more pressure on the curves in his channels. The wired interference with the crystallization of his physical cultivation pressing into the channels was still there, a bit more noticeable now, but it was all manageable. If anything, this was an improvement.

Next, he tried his first art. Directing the qi through his meridians was likewise as simple as it had been through his channels. There wasn't even any extra pressure on the swirls through his soul.

It manifested into the technique, a shield forming at the end of his hand. However, that is where the differences ended.

Compared to before, the shield grew rapidly. Between one breath and the next, it went from a pinprick to the size of his head and covered his whole body. It used proportionally the same amount of qi for its size, but with how fast it was growing, it would drain him dry quickly. If he wasn't careful, this would become a very quick hungry technique.

He throttled the amount of qi to as little as possible. He didn't want to release it yet; he wanted to keep the active connection for now instead of letting it hang in the air where he couldn't control it anymore. Because there was still something different that he wanted to investigate further.

The shield was spinning. Which was not at all what the technique was designed for, so it had to be a result of the qi's movement in his dantian being preserved even as it passed through his soul in the material world.

The outer edge was spinning faster as it grew, and when it touched the ground, it began digging a trench through the earth. Paike could feel it draw more of his qi to replace the parts of the shield as it wore away. And he gave it a trickle more.

There was a deep line carved in the earth in front of him, and he examined it closely as Liming looked on in surprise.

"What happened? That is new. Wait, no, that is your shield art? I don't remember it doing that before." Liming was clearly surprised, but he could also read on her face that she was impressed. He had to admit it was rather intimidating; the shield grew so much faster that it would vastly improve its usefulness in a fight. And it is becoming a spinning blade. Well, he looked forward to seeing what he could do with that.

"I think it's a consequence of how I gathered qi this time, but I'm still figuring that out," Paike answered, though the bulk of his attention was on the shield, measuring how much qi it used and what happened when he varied the amount. After a few more moments, he got enough and let it go.

But rather than simply hang in the air as he expected, the shield shot off into the forest. Leaving him and Liming to look after it, mouths hanging open.

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