Qi Like Tar

The elder turned and left, expecting Paike to follow. Which he did without question. You didn't ignore the command of a fifth realm or higher, elder or not.

He just locked the door behind him and hoped that Guan Li didn't worry too much

With a few quick steps, he caught up to the elder. He wanted to break the silence, but if she didn't want to talk, it would be rather rude. But he also knew next to nothing about her or what she wanted. He didn't even know her name.

He was trying to decide how to ask when she took the problem out of his hands.

"Speak," she commanded. "I can hear the questions rattling around in your skull from all the way down here."

"Sorry?" Paike wasn't sure whether she was actually offended or just one of those who enjoyed teasing people. It was an unfortunate habit many powerful cultivators developed.

Mother had explained it when he was young and wanted to know why some of his aunts and uncles enjoyed making their guests uncomfortable.

She explained how it wasn't like some of the weak cultivators outside their family would bully mortals to feel strong.

"When you get old enough and powerful enough, people don't treat you like a human. You are either an existential threat that could kill them with no consequences, a rival, or an underling. It is rare to find someone to treat you like a person. It is usually all family and friends from the beginning. But when you get old enough, they have all passed. If you are lucky, a few might have kept up."

Mother smiled sadly. "I'm trying. But maybe one of his kids can keep him company when I fall behind."

Only now that he was old enough to understand was she talking about millennia from now. His mother was very powerful. He didn't know her realm, but he wouldn't be surprised if she was at least sixth realm. Father, though, would be the Kong family's next eighth realm; everyone said so. It might be a problem if it ever looked like he would reach for the ninth without going into seclusion and ascending. The Emperor wouldn't allow for a challenge to his rule.

It also might explain why he had so many siblings.

"But why do they tease people like that when I know they aren't going to hurt them?" the young Paike asked his mother as she became lost in thought.

"It is part test, part callousness." Mother said, her smile returning. "If you are one of the very few who might see some humanity in us, we want to know. Most who are like that are lucky to have not been struck down for impertinence by less kind cultivators. So they are rare. If that is not the case, the implied threat will get our way much faster, speeding along an unpleasant interaction."

Paike wasn't sure what lesson he should have picked up from that. He might have been too young. But he always read it as being polite and making sure you have a good read on powerful people before you push their buttons. If you survive, they might find you interesting. Which was a mixed bag, and even then you have to survive first.

So it always paid to be overly polite. It served him well, but his twin had received the opposite lesson. The family had to smooth some battered egos when he was young, but it clearly worked out for him as he was in the inner sect. Perhaps Paike could learn something from that?

So, in a polite tone, he asked his first question. "I do not believe I have seen you before. May I get your name?"

She looked up at him, and before she spoke, he thought he caught a slight flash of amusement in the way her eyes wrinkled slightly. That she was showing any signs of age, at least in the fifth realm, meant she was truly ancient.

"Speak up," she snapped. "I can't hear you from all the way up there. I swear they make you taller every decade."

Paike now was very sure she was messing with him. Also, she was an elder; surely she wasn't going to just smite him if he called her on it.

Cupping his hands, he raised them to his mouth and shouted down at her. "What's your name?"

The elder jumped slightly, and he hid his smile from catching her off guard.

Reaching up, she cuffed his shoulder with the back of her hand. "Cut that out."

She sounded stern, but he could hear the laughter in her voice, and he relaxed slightly.

"Did your mother teach you not to yell at old ladies?" She asked, and Paike could see the smile, but he played along. Best to let the elders have their fun.

"Certainly, but I don't see any old ladies here," Paike said, stressing the old.

The elder huffed. "Flatterer."

After a moment, she finally interrupted herself. "I'm Elder Song; you can address me as that or just 'elder '; I don't care."

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"It's a pleasure to meet you, Elder Song." Paike said, "But I did have a few more questions, if you don't mind?"

She made a 'get one with it' gesture.

"You said Elder Ji said I would be interesting. What happened to him? No one has said anything."

That question seemed to catch her off guard. "I was sure you were going to ask what he said was interesting. I would have been very disappointed if you couldn't figure that out, as Ji said he had warned you I was coming."

Paike might object to the fact that he had been warned, but yes, he had guessed it was because he was spinning his qi before he was supposed to.

"I assume it was about internal circulation, as he called it. But I'm curious to know if he is alright."

"As he called it? What did you call it? I'm always curious to hear how people think of their own tricks, and often that is revealed in what they call it."

"I called it spinning my qi," Paike answered, not feeling any need to hide that.

"An imprecise name for certain, but we'll get into why later." Elder Song said. "As for Ji?" She waved her hand in a dismissive gesture. "He'll be fine in a few years. The wounds weren't too bad, despite everything; purging the poison will be the hard part."

"So Elder Chu was able to retrain him?"

"With some help, yes. But she has to recover as well. It certainly took a lot out of her. Ji is a powerful man. We were lucky he was out of control rather than actually working against us; even fighting as a beast, it took a lot of effort to pin him down. If he had been thinking I might have had to get involved as well."

There were a lot of implications in that answer; Paike filed them away for later. "I'm glad to hear he will be okay. I learned a lot from him, but it seems as if he will not be able to teach for a while. Do you know what the plans are for his classes?"

Elder Song shrugged. "No."

It was disappointing, but he still had so much he needed to work on. He would have to find some other way to work on physical cultivation on his own. Maybe he could find something in the library.

"Come on, ask. I know you have more questions."

Paike did. But most of them, like where are we going? What is your specialty? would be answered soon.

Besides, he felt that he had made a good impression so far and didn't want to ruin that by asking something too inane. He briefly considered asking her how she preferred her tea, but decided that might be a bit much. She answered his first question honestly, and he didn't want to waste this chance.

He also couldn't ask about cultivation secrets or advice. The offer to answer questions was clearly about his current situation.

"How much do you know about natural cultivators?" Paike asked after a beat.

Elder Song laughed out loud. "My, aren't you interesting. Why?"

"Well, my roommate is one, and now that I've observed him, I think my father might be one too, but no one said anything about that. Elder Ji had pretty much offered him a personal disciple position and now that..." Paike trailed off as Elder Song stopped.

"Kong. Age must be catching up with me." She muttered to herself in a tone Paike could barely hear.

Elder Song started walking again. This time she spoke loud enough that he had no problem hearing. "I don't know about your father. I don't see any harm in telling you, but no one knows. I don't think even he does."

Paike didn't push, but it made sense. He knew that Father married into the family. It wasn't as rare for male cultivators to marry into a family as it was for mortals, but he also never spoke of his own family. That could have been for many reasons, but they were likely not very powerful, or they died off. Maybe they had been mortals.

If he had come from a family that cultivated him, he might have awoken before he would have done so naturally, and his talent would have been hidden for a bit longer than Guan Li, who was instantly marked as special. That would explain how even Father couldn't be sure if he would have been.

It was hard, but not that important now in the grand scheme of things. Someone as powerful as Father and as inventive would always be respected, natural cultivator or not.

"Thank you," Paike said with a nod.

"About your friend." Edler Song continued, "I wouldn't expect Ji to be able to snatch him up, but I wouldn't worry. If he amounts to anything, he will not be short of offers."

Paike was less worried about that than he had been. He might have to see if there was anything he could do to tie Guan Li to his family. If they could actually help. Better to have him as a true friend than indebted to them, so he couldn't push too hard.

He thought of a few questions, but decided to wait. They walked for a few more minutes until they reached the edge of the compound.

Then Elder Song started walking up steps that formed out of mist at her feet. Paike hesitated for a second before he followed. The mist felt like stone under his weight.

They got a couple of stories about the ground before the mist leveled out into a cloud. Elder Song sank into a cross-legged position, and Paike followed just in time as the cloud they sat on started to move with a lurch.

After only a short flight, they approached another mountain top. It was a credit to their speed that it didn't take hours. If Paike had walked, the trek might have taken him most of the day.

They landed behind a private residence, and Paike realized this must be the inner peak. Technically, he wasn't allowed here, but he got the impression that Elder Song didn't care and no one was going to be able to make her.

A servant poured them tea around a small table under the shade of a small tree. After they each had taken a sip, Elder Song finally broke the long silence. "So how much do you know about mortal physics?"

Paike blinked and tilted his head in confusion. "Mortal physics?"

Elder Song let out a disappointed sigh. "What have your parents been teaching you? The study of motion and governing dynamics without qi?"

"Why without qi? It seems silly to ignore the most important and powerful force." Paike didn't understand.

"I can't even begin to explain all the ways that is wrong. Remind me to write to your Father about this." Elder Song said. Paike paled; he didn't want his family receiving negative feedback from an elder who was teaching him. That would reflect quite poorly.

"I was actually leaving my house to send him a letter," Paike volunteered. "I can mention it to him if you want?"

He hoped that he could maybe frame it right.

"Let me see." She demanded.

It was very rude to read someone's personal mail to their family. Even with codes that are a bit much. But when Paike handed the letter over, she just flipped it to the back and scrawled characters out for a little bit before handing it back. There wasn't any instruction to not read them or to actually send it. Apparently she just trusted him. He wasn't about to question it as he pocketed the letter again.

"Okay, so just like how mortals can calculate forces or momentum, which would make more sense if you knew what the way," She muttered the second part with more than a little amount of annoyance. "I'm working on a theory of how to do the same for qi."

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