Qi Like Tar

Paike would have liked to spend more time planning than they did, but Liming informed him of some recent developments regarding the physical cultivation class.

Apparently, a notice had been posted outlining the sect's plans to replace Elder Ji. He would be out of commission for only a short while by the standards of the elders, but it was at least for the rest of their term in the outer sect. Some of them might still be in the inner sect when he returned, but only if they chose to stay around a lot longer, as Taka had.

The physical cultivation class was going to be split into two sections. First was the one for Ruby cultivators. There were no older disciples who qualified for the class that was still in Ruby, so it was the same as before but with Paike and Li Feng excluded.

Apparently, there were a few of the leftover cultivators from previous years who were still allowed into the physical cultivation class. Elder Ji had continued teaching them on a weekly basis, even after they failed to get into the inner sect at the last opportunity.

The sect wouldn't continue this practice. Instead, they would wait a month or so for a few more to join, then start a class for all Topaz cultivators who met the qualifications.

Paike found it interesting that they split the physical cultivation classes based on spiritual advancement rather than physical cultivation level. Since physical cultivation wasn't as standard, it did make some sense. Also, spiritual level did correlate with physical cultivation level rather well, so in some ways it was the better predictor of physical ability.

All this ended up meaning that Paike was effectively excused from the formal physical cultivation class for the month. This worked out rather well for him. It gave him some time to focus on the truly important tasks he had, such as not getting expelled by failing to get his battle trance fully under control.

At the same time, he was a bit miffed to lose the help when he actually could use some advice on how to progress his physical cultivation now that he had reached its second realm. Realistically, he could easily pause it for a month and not lose much, but that rubbed him the wrong way. He would have to look into it a bit if he ever had some free time or felt the need.

"I will talk to Li Feng, and with or without his participation, we will start operations tomorrow," Paike confirmed his tasks from their discussion as they finished their tea.

Liming gave them both a thankful smile as she stood up. "Thank you both so much for your support."

"Of course, little sister," Paike said as he waved the two of them out.

He stayed behind to settle the tab and also to do a little thinking. He had just agreed to fight several Middle Topaz cultivators even though he was just into Early Topaz himself. Anyone else would see that as unbelievably arrogant. He was flattered that his sister and friend had such faith in him that neither seemed to doubt his ability to pull it off.

He did think he could win. The odds seemed crazy, but he had several advantages and a history of fighting up that made him think he could pull it off.

That wasn't to say there was something he could do to improve his chances. For example, in the altercation this morning, he found himself missing his newest technique. But in not wanting to kill a bunch of children, he had done things the harder way.

Unfortunately, it was also one of his best offensive weapons. His only other options were just martial arts, or a repurposed, yet slow-moving shield. That only worked up close and with more planning than was ideal. It helped a lot, but it was situational.

Best if he solidified his new technique into something he could properly control. So instead of leaving, he ordered more tea and started thinking about the Acknowledgment of Worldly Matters. It was a three-technique art that all used the same meridian.

What he wanted to do was essentially expand it to a four-technique art that all used a single meridian. That was pretty rare at this age, but it wasn't like he was planning on publishing it or teaching it to anyone. It would just be for him. No one else would even find it useful anyway.

He started by going over every twist and turn, every pattern and timing of the other three techniques in that art. After several cross-references with all his notes with Guan Li, he was pretty sure he understood the purpose of most things. The only ones he wasn't totally sure about were how they interacted with the meridian. But that, as it was, was something both he and Guan Li needed to look into more, but that was a much more complicated field of study.

Once he had those settled down, he started going over the improvised technique he had made in his desperation. To his surprise, it didn't seem nearly as bad as he had figured.

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He actually didn't have to make many foundational changes. That was because, in essence, it was a simple effect he wanted. All he really ended up doing was adding a few features that made it easier to control the power of the swing and the size of the hammer's head.

Paike paid for the room he left and headed to a training ground that was out of the way. A few cultivators were there, but no one bothered him.

Taking a few practice tries, he refined the technique over the next little while. By the time he was satisfied, he could hit nearly twice as hard as what sent the Bloodjade Ant flying and cracked its carapace, and on the other end he could spread the impact out enough that it was unlike the break even a mortal's bones even as it knocked them off their feet.

He was actually rather proud of its outcome. It ended up fitting the rest of the art rather well. He thought he had preserved the author's original intent as well. It was something more for someone getting through the world with their mind on something else rather than pure combat. It wasn't pacifist by any stretch, but there were non-lethal options.

Now he just had to think of a fitting name.

Paike would freely admit that he wasn't the best at naming things. He might be able to chalk that up to a lack of experience, but his childhood pet had been a small fish in a bowl, lovingly named Fish. Now Fish had been a good fish, as much as a fish could be good or bad.

He had gotten enough teasing for the name over the years he hadn't named Fish 2 when Fish had passed on. Instead, he had gotten a few of his favorite family members to name it. Which had been a mistake, as he had learned when they had settled on Fish 2.

If he hadn't gotten any of them to help him with naming it, it was actually what he would have chosen. Not that he would have admitted that to anyone. For the rest of Fish 2's life, he always had the excuse that he hadn't named it, which had been an excellent way to deflect the jokes from his extended family.

Luckily, this art had a naming scheme he could follow. It was blank in His blank. The first blank was an adjective that started with a U. The second blank was some noun.

Unquestionable? Maybe. He could also go with unforgiving or unrelenting. Those were options. But what about the noun? It wasn't something like his goals or her convictions. This was him actually enacting his will on the world rather than letting it pass him by.

So what was he doing? He wasn't trying to crush his enemies. In fact, he had designed the attacks to discipline children. Sure, the older outer sect cultivators were a year or two older than those of his year, but they were likely all still years younger than him. Children still not fully grown. Not that he was fully grown either, but there was a huge difference between 15 and 12.

Really, what he was doing was a rebuke to children who needed to be taught a lesson about power and how hard they could push.

If he was going to use rebuke as the noun, then he thought Unforgiving in His Rebuke would do nicely.

Having settled his newest technique in his arsenal. He left the training grounds to go and search for Li Feng.

***

He wouldn't consider them quite friends. Paike had a lot of respect for the boy. His dedication to his craft, his attitude, capability, and honor were all commendable. Maybe a deeply respected acquaintance.

There was certainly a possible future where they did become friends, but Paike wasn't certain that was the best outcome. They were very different, and he didn't think he could have the same joking, sometimes serious relationship he had with something like Guan Li.

But you didn't need everyone to be your friend. Even if he did want to spend more time with Li Feng, he wasn't sure that made them friends, or maybe it would eventually. He wouldn't worry about it.

He checked all the training grounds and didn't find the boy using any of them. Paike had put the odds at about 50/50 that he would find Li Feng practicing the sword.

The more likely option was that he was off exploring the forest looking for some challenge. If that was the case, then Paike didn't have any chance to find him, so he headed back to the housing compound.

When he got there, he saw the forming of a crowd and sighed. What was it with cultivators and trying to knock down his house?

But as he got closer, he found that they were not surrounding the house he shared with Guan Li, but were instead gathering in front of Li Feng's.

The younger boy stood in front of his house, a calm expression and his hand on the hilt of his sword.

Paike shouldered his way through the growing crowd until he reached his own door, where he chased a pair of watchers from his own stoop. From there he leaned against the door and watched the proceedings.

An arrogant boy was standing in front of Li Feng. Paike could feel that he was one of those at Middle Topaz; he wasn't sure which of the two boys led a faction, but he was certain it wasn't one of the loners, judging by the crowd that had formed.

"The nicest houses in the newcomers section are reserved for those who follow me, Peng Yu!" The boy, Peng Yu called, speaking more to the crowd than to Li Feng. "And as you have declined to become one of my officers, I have to evict you so that one of my loyal followers can be properly rewarded."

Paike was glad that he had made it home. He imagined that they would likely have come for his house next, but he also figured that forcing the occupants out was more the point than just taking the houses, or they could have done it while they were away.

Li Feng was unmoved. "No."

Stifling a snort of amusement, Paike watched as the leader boy reddened. This really couldn't be going any better for him.

"What do you mean no? Are you challenging my authority?"

Li Feng didn't even bother to answer. He just stood there as if he had no better place to be. For all purposes, it looked like he was just relaxing and enjoying the day. Everyone else who just happened to be gathering around was none of his concern.

The crowd rippled in discomfort, and Paike decided to step in. Not that Li Feng needed help, but rather he wanted to move it along. Plus it might help get Li Feng on his side if he lent a hand now.

"I think he has made it clear he has no respect for you!" Paike called as he pushed through the crowd. He stopped between Li Feng and the Middle Topaz cultivator. "What are you going to do about it?"

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