Qi Like Tar

Unlike the others, Paike didn't start to meditate as he sat on the edge of the group. He hadn't been explicitly told, even though it was heavily implied. But he was going to take that leeway and use it while he could.

It wasn't hard for him to believe that he would gain more from watching the echoes of qi from the clashes of middle realm cultivators honestly fighting.

He might be able to get some from his family to show him their techniques. If they had time and thought he deserved it. However, that would be very different.

It was unlikely that they would show him any technique that was too powerful or that they wanted to keep hidden. They also would be unwilling to waste a lot of qi, so they would use the lowest power possible. He would also be seeing them close up instead of at a distance.

That wasn't to say he wouldn't ask for that when he got the chance; that would still be invaluable, but in a different way. A much different way.

Because more than anything, there wouldn't be any of the desperate intent he would feel even in the echoes of qi that shone in his sight even through the thick wooden doors.

As he had learned over the past month, mindset and intent matter more than he had been taught. As he watched, he could read the difference in intent in the workings.

He was pretty sure he could see the raw ferocity in some of them that was coming from the weakened Elder Ji. They were less frequent, which followed as his focus was on physical cultivation, so more of his qi would be dedicated to that.

The rest came from Elder Chu, and there was something lacking. Not that she was less skilled, but rather her attempt to delay and capture rather than kill was coming through.

Without him being injured, it was unlikely she could employ such a strategy. But if she could hold out long enough for help, the elders could work together and get Elder Ji the help he needed.

Paike found himself buoyed by that choice. It would not have been uncommon for the elders not to bother. With how many were in danger, it would have been acceptable, if not encouraged, to try and eliminate the threat.

While a fifth realm elder was valuable to the empire, there were many scions of important families and clans here. If any were killed, their own powerful elders might come for retribution. It was that exact cycle of violence the grand sect system had been introduced to avoid.

Here, if anyone was hurt, injured, or killed, it was a matter among the younger generation and could limit what the elders would do.

That Elder Ji might be suffering from a barbarian curse would do little to help him if things did go bad. And that his fellow elders were helping was a relief. Elder Ji deserved better for his service to the empire than to be put down like a wild ancient spirit.

After watching for some time, Paike was able to pick out the workings of a third combatant. He hadn't been able to tell at first, but the other elder he had seen streaking through the sky must have joined the fight sometime.

As he watched, he could feel his instinctual understanding of the rules that governed qi deepen. He was picking up such a long list of tricks to try, ways that he might control techniques beyond their basic activation. How to tailor them to his need.

It might have been hubris, but he was pretty sure he was also seeing things the elders were doing wrong.

He had a unique perspective. His qi took longer to move, and that was even when it reached top speed. It wasn't as fast as others' qi, even when it was just nudged. This let him see things that others didn't.

Places where, if a little more attention was given, they could accelerate their qi a bit more and have something hit harder. Wasted focus moving the qi in a straight line when curving it would have been better.

Even as he noted what felt like would have been better, a voice in his head yelled at him for overestimating himself.

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There was no way that these elders didn't know they could accelerate their qi beyond its base movement with some effort. There had to be a reason why they didn't. He just didn't know why. How dare he think he knew more? How was he, just a failure with delusions of grandeur, ready to judge his better? So looked.

But he didn't think he was wrong. The dissonance between what he felt and what he knew was causing such turbulence in his mind that he shifted from where he sat.

So he started over. Looking at each echo and reconstituting the motions of qi that would cause it. They were only fractions of the technique, but he found he wasn't wrong.

Maybe he didn't understand how their qi worked, and he was just that different. But that wasn't it.

The improvements were minor, he told himself, and that helped. Maybe they were just focused on other things and left these imperfections for later, when they were at a higher stage and had the time.

That helped, and he was able to accept that he was right. Their techniques were not perfect, and he might be able to improve in some ways.

He didn't start right away, but there was so much more to test. The qi around him was thin, and he wasn't about to spend his now when he was waiting and didn't want to have to gather more qi soon.

He almost missed a fourth combatant joining the fight, but this time he saw their initial contribution. If he was reading the echoes of qi right, the working was intended to move the battle further away.

Throughout his focus, core disciples brought more and more outer set disciples into the group until all two hundred of the new admitted were accounted for. He assumed the disciples from previous years were gathered elsewhere. The core disciples then gathered some outside and others standing over their charges.

However, each time they opened the doors to let more in, Paike got an even better view of the qi, for which he was grateful.

***

After several hours, the fight had moved to the other side of the mountain. He was no longer able to see anything but the slightest pulse, and that was it.

The qi had also run out in the building. No one wanted to spend their resources to boost it with everyone else sucking it in, so the children couldn't cultivate anymore. But that was fine, as most of the danger had passed.

"Stay in the compound and don't wander off." Was the order they were given as they were released to go back to their homes for the night.

Paike gathered up the papers strewn around him with all his notes. He had eventually given in and started writing it down as he was struggling to keep everything in his head.

No one else would be able to understand anything. It was all single words and 2D representations of the qi flows scribbled down in wavy lines and knots. It looked like gibberish. A few times he caught the core disciples sharing knowing smiles, but none of them stopped him.

He supposed they had seen something like this before, so it was not nearly as profound to them as it was to him.

After he gathered his stack of papers, he stood up. Guan Li and his sister were coming out of their meditation and joined him seconds later.

"Did you make any progress?" Guan Li asked their little group.

"Not really," Liming admitted. "I was too nervous to really focus, and there wasn't much qi available."

"Right?" Guan Li agreed. "I ended up just going back over my physical cultivation again. I'm thoroughly getting sick of that though. I'm not sure how Paike has been able to do nothing but that for days in a row."

Paike shrugged. "Didn't bother me."

The conversation continued as they left, and eventually they all split as they headed home. Actually taking advantage of their new house, Paike got some real sleep. Before he drifted off, he couldn't help but wonder what happened to Elder Ji in the end. And would they have class tomorrow?

***

The next day, he was not alone in showing up for the class, but there was a note pinned to a tree that said the class was suspended until further notice.

There was no explanation of how long that might be, if they were looking for a new instructor, or anything.

Students gathered around in small groups. Paike was slightly surprised when Li Feng walked over to join him, Liming Guan, Lik Mi, Lixain, and Zhang Shuyin.

"Greetings, may I intrude?" Li Feng asked with a bow.

"Of course," Liming answered before anyone else could.

They were the largest group by far; it appeared they were the only ones who had kept to their original teams from the obstacle course that felt like it was not that long ago.

"Do you have any plans now that class will not be happening?" Li Feng asked politely.

Paike had been intending on suggesting that at least Liming join him back at the nexus of qi they had found in the woods. She could use some time to focus, but he wasn't sure about inviting everyone here, let alone Li Feng. Not that he didn't really like the boy, but sharing a resource like that was too much now. And Yixin wasn't even here.

That the four of them found it together meant something to him, even if it was impossible to claim ownership.

"We have not made any concrete plans," Paike said as he looked around at his friends. "Did you have something in mind?"

"Yes actually," Li Feng answered without hesitation. "I've been offered a task and could use some more help in completing it. Would you all be interested in assisting me and a few others?"

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