Qi Like Tar

"I think I need to hear more about it, but I'm interested," responded Paike to Li Feng's offer.

He really did need to earn sect points somehow, and of all the outer sect disciples he knew besides his sister or roommate, Li Feng might be the only one he would trust enough for something like this. Besides he didn’t think that he could count on the points he would have gotten for whatever Elder Ji wanted him to do anymore.

"Of course," Li Feng said, not seemingly offended at all. Though he did look at the others to gauge their interest as well. When they all nodded or otherwise indicated they wouldn't mind hearing him out, he started to explain.

"There was a sect mission posted this morning offering very high rewards for sect points and for materials."

Typically, one would be wary of such a thing. Often, rewards that were too high meant there was trouble attached to the mission. The grand sects, though, were a bit more careful; if the rewards were irregularly high, an explanation of why was included. This cut down on the number of people going on dangerous missions unprepared.

Since all the missions were for the sect, dangerous missions that were known to be dangerous ahead of time also didn't get mixed in with the regular missions. That was a common problem out of the sect, but less of a concern here. The elders and senior disciples wanted to continue being allowed to issue missions, so they typically complied.

"Part of the requirements was that there were no fewer than eight people and one of at least Peak Ruby." Li Feng explained.

"Who are the other two?" Paike asked. His group was five, and Li Feng made six, but the way he was talking made it sound like they already had a group together.

"Xai Jun and Wu Chen."

"I heard that Wu Chen was a non-combatant. Why bring him along?" Liming asked.

"He is actually the key to this idea." Li Feng said, "Wu Chen is a talented alchemist, and the mission involves identifying some ingredients, so we do need him.

"Besides, while he is not focused on combat, it would be a poor idea to assume he could not fight. Simply, he prefers to avoid it as it is a costly endeavor."

That made sense to Paike. Alchemists were not known for being weak like some types of crafters. Many times, they were able to fight up stages rather successfully. However, their method of fighting involved using their products, which were often hard to replace, so they weren't likely to fight unless they had to or if they were looking for ingredients.

Li Feng gave them a copy of the mission request, and they agreed to meet tomorrow morning when they would normally have class. If class was still canceled, they would embark on the mission.

On the walk back, Paike started to consider what he needed to do to prepare. The rest of the day gave him time to take care of a few things before they left again.

He was still doing well on qi, as there hadn't been many expenditures over the past few days. Just correcting his mistakes in physical cultivation wasn't that qi-intensive. His dantian was also healing nicely. There was a scar, but for the first time since he had joined the sect, it didn't feel weak or tender. In a couple of days, he could start testing how the scarred spiritual flesh compared to the unmarred parts.

Since he didn't need to gather qi in preparation, he could consider spending some of it to push his physical cultivation to the next stage. Still, there were just a couple more things he wanted to get done first. Besides, if he spent all his qi on that, refilling his dantian would undo all the waiting he had done to let it heal for testing.

So for the first time in a while, he didn't actually have any pressing cultivation tasks. At least ones that were time-sensitive; getting enough sect points for his next lesson on battle trances was more important. So this worked out fortuitously.

He would need to make sure his house was safe while he was gone this time. Last time he was gone for the night, he had been reduced to ruins. He didn't want to be picking through rubble again, so it was time to make an example.

After they split off from the girls, Paike put his plan into motion.

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"Guan Li, are you ready for a chance at revenge for our house?"

His younger friend gave a smile that sent shivers down Paike's back. "I've just been waiting for you to let me know how we can do it within the rules."

Paike was glad that Guan Li was considering cultivator rules. Doing things the wrong way would make him stand out in not a good way. Learning the culture would help prevent unnecessary feuds from forming, but this was one time that he probably didn't need to.

"Well, since they attacked first, there isn't really anything to worry about on that front," Paike said. "If anything, the more brutal and callous we are, the better. This is more about sending a message to others than recovering the staff or even revenge."

"Maybe to you." Guan Li said. "I just don't like people breaking my stuff."

"Good, that's the right attitude, keep it," Paike said as they started toward a street in the second row of houses. They were nice, nicer than their first house, but not as good as the one they were in now.

They stopped in front of the one the Ling kid was using.

Somehow it seemed that everyone was aware of what was going on. Paike had assumed that no one really knew or cared what happened to his previous dwelling. However, judging by the number of observers they had gathered, this wasn't the case.

It must have spread over the past few days who had done it, though Paike hadn't heard anyone say it in his hearing. But someone must have seen the attack.

The first part of his plan was simple.

They stood outside of the house for about a minute, giving the occupants plenty of time to come out and confront them, which was more courtesy and honor than they had given him.

That they had destroyed their house while Paike and Guan Li were away likely hadn't won them any friends.

After a little waiting, Guan Li started to get impatient. "How long do we need to wait?"

Paike shrugged, "You can probably go get them now if you want."

Guan Li smiled and seemed to shimmer in the air. Paike watched as qi poured out of him and into the shadows. They seemed to swallow him, but Paike could see that they just helped hide him.

By the time he was in the shade of the houses, the shadows made it nearly impossible for him to be seen. Opening the door, he vanished.

Paike didn't need to wait long before two boys were dragged from the house, tied hand and foot. Over one shoulder, Guan Li carried a familiar staff.

"That was quick," Paike commented.

Guan Li delivered a kick to one of the boy's ribs. "They didn't put up much of a fight. They were still too busy arguing about what to do to notice my entrance."

That was remarkably sloppy. Guan Li might have been hard to see, but it wasn't like he had gone through the window or something. He literally opened their front door. That was a neat bit of showmanship for their audience.

Paike reached down, and without even needing to pump qi through his channels, he lifted the Ling boy by the collar of his robes.

Even though the boy was large, only a bit smaller than Paike, it wasn't hard. He was Topaz, and this boy was not. Paike remembered him doing something to make the earth shake in the trail, but none of that might seemed to be left in his scared expression.

"I think you might have been able to knock down my house," Paike said. "However, were you stupid enough to do it without backing?"

The fear in the boy's eyes told him that he was.

"That is a shame," Paike pitched his voice so the gathering crowd could all hear without trouble.

Now that Guan Li was able to show off a bit, it was his turn to hammer it home that the two of them were not worth the trouble. Their skills complemented each other; they were dangerous in their own right.

Paike dropped the boy. With his hands tied behind his back and attached to his ankles, there wasn't any way for him to catch himself. Only an ungraceful flail managed to avoid landing on his face and likely breaking a nose.

Taking hold of a little amount of his spinning qi, Paike directed it through a meridian; it formed a shield in his hand, and he let it grow to about the size of his head.

"I think this is only fair," he said before he released the shield. With some of his new insights, he watched as the qi stopped spinning and ripped away from his hand.

It traveled from one corner of the building to the other, taking out several supporting walls on the inside as it went.

Architecture and engineering were not among the things the Kong family bothered to teach their members, so Paike probably could have been a bit more efficient with his target choices. However, he was right in his assumption that if one took out enough walls, it would come down.

The roof caved in slightly after the first one, but it didn't quite feel enough, so he spent a touch more qi and sent a second shield on a different path through the house.

That did the trick, and the house was as ruined as theirs had been. Neither shield had moved very fast. Even a relatively unprepared cultivator could have easily dodged them. He saw one do it easily on the other side of the house, where the cultivator hadn't been aware of the current conflict.

However, buildings didn't dodge, and what the shields lacked in speed they made up for in inevitability. The stone walls did nothing to slow them down. He had been careful to line them up so that after they left the house, there was plenty of road so he didn't hit anything that he didn't intend to.

Paike looked down at the two boys before addressing the crowd that had fully gathered.

"Leave them be; they will get out eventually. I think they need time to reflect on their actions."

The crowd began to disperse with no one making a move to interfere.

Paike might actually have time to finish up those improvements in the physical cultivation that he wanted to. He had expected that to take longer.

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