Chương 70: A Straw Hat Falls

It was three days that Elder Ji was gone. Each day, the students would sit and cultivate for the class instead of whatever challenge he could think of. No one skipped, though. It might have been tempting, as Paike often had to interrupt his own cultivation time at home, where he was working on the same thing, to make it to class. However, being gone on the day the elder returned would be especially stupid.

And that wasn't even considering if the elder's assistants were keeping attendance, which was something Paike doubted, but wasn't about to risk. Almost all his time during those three days was spent on his physical cultivation. With how many things the elder had given him to work on, he had a lot to fix before the elder returned. And while his talent for physical cultivation wasn't trash like his spiritual cultivation, he was no genius either. His constant work was paying off.

Physically, he felt significantly stronger. His channels were easily able to handle ramming his spinning qi through them, full force, without any issues or discomfort. This massively decreased the latency when enhancing his body. It still wasn't as fast as someone without his sluggish qi, but it no longer hindered him in a fight, allowing him to take the initiative more without as much anticipation.

He couldn't wait for a rematch with Li Feng now that he wouldn't have to predict the fight an extra step ahead to just keep up. There was still much he could work on, but he was also feeling the urge to advance. The temptation to say he had done enough and just push to the next stage was nipping at his heels. It was quite the unexpected feeling. On the surface, it bore some similarity to his need to awaken, but deeper down, it was nothing alike.

Instead of a cloying dread of the next day without his awakening, there was an impatience. It was as if he had gotten so used to the progress that he missed it. It had only been three days. The pressure was building, and soon he would break through, whether he wanted to or not. Though with the stack of books and the week's deadline for the reading assignment the elder had given Guan Li, Paike figured they didn't have much time. He wanted to avoid taking that time for granted and falling behind.

He already knew too much about what it was like to be behind. While cultivating was most of what he did those days, it wasn't the only thing. He did make time to look at the Ling boy that his sister had called out. She had been right. Which left him another thing to do. Paike was putting off dealing with that until Elder Ji returned. Just like he was putting off his spiritual cultivation, working on his battle trance, gathering sect points for his next lesson, exploring the forest, and so many other things.

But on the fourth day, the wait was over. The elder was waiting for them as the class concluded. Normally, he only arrived at the last minute, not wanting to waste his time on them. Today, he was studying each of them carefully as they entered the clearing. When they were all there, the elder pointed at three of the students, two boys and a girl.

"You three may go. I hope you find a more worthy use of your time, as clearly you decided not to spend it on this class." His dismissal was scathing. Paike noticed that none of the ones singled out were neither among the top performers nor at the very bottom of the class. Instead they were somewhere in the middle. The only one who seemed to make as much progress as he had was the girl who had failed the run first. She only got a couple of comments that seemed to motivate her more than anyone else.

She had advanced her physical cultivation twice, despite only being in Middle Ruby spiritually. One of the boys who had been dismissed turned red as the other two made to leave, their heads lowered in shame. However, before he could get a word of protest out, a wave of pressure washed out of the elder, quelling any dissent and sending him running out of the clearing after the other two. After they had gone, Paike felt the elder's attention return to the gathering of disciples.

"I am pleased to see that so many of you were diligent in your work. I was afraid that I would have to remove many more who were squandering their opportunity. Typically, around half are removed in years past; that seventeen of you remain is a credit to your year." This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings. The students all shifted nervously at this news. Paike was very glad that he had dedicated so much time to this.

This was exactly the sort of thing that he had feared, and he felt vindicated after three people had been removed. It was something he had to do anyway, so it wasn't that big of a sacrifice, just a shifting of priorities. That made Paike consider if his absence was a regular thing. Was it part of his curriculum every year? Or maybe just an easy way to get a vacation. Not that he would ever accuse Elder Ji of being lazy.

"While I was off driving the barbarians back into their mountains, I thought of a fun training exercise for you all." Elder Ji said with his usual stoic attitude. Though it did make Paike wonder if he could read minds. He knew that Elder Ji was connected to the imperial army, but he had assumed he was taking a leave to teach, not that he was still active.

"The barbarians are as uncivilized as the name would suggest. However, while their cultivation is not standardized as much as ours and they do not know nearly as much, I would not look down on their courage or grit." Elder Ji said. It almost sounded like he actually respected them. Barbarians' worth of respect was a novel concept. Stories always portrayed them as irredeemable.

"Their life on the fringes of the empire, in territory so rugged and worthless that the empire has not expanded into it solely because it would be a waste of resources to make it useful, has tempered them. A single one of their warriors is harder than any five of you put together.

"You have not known hardship. When you awakened, you were shipped off to this safe little playground to make friends and connections. To work through your baby years and teething troubles. You have support and guidance. You are protected and fed challenges calculated to push you to grow.

"It is no fault of your own. And grow you do. Some are rather fast. But it is made so that most of you survive. So rarely are you pushed to your true limits, or past them. That is what cultivation should be. Pushing past the possible and discovering that you can be more.

"The barbarians may know this, or maybe they don't. In some tribes, before their youths are awakened, they must kill a Ruby beast. Alone. At ten years of age. Many die. By the time they reach Mid Ruby, they have come close to death a hundred times. Not once with a safety net, no hope that an elder will come and save them.

"In this most recent battle, I fought nearly twenty cultivators two ranks below me at once. Never did a single one cower or flee. The fight should have been hopeless." At this, Elder Ji lifted his robe to the side, exposing his torso.

"Despite the battle being impossible, they pushed themselves to heights I had never before seen from their stage. They wounded me greatly." There was still an open gash running down from his arm to his waist. Paik was pretty sure he could see the bones of the elder's ribs in a few places. The edges of the flesh pulsed with putrid green and red blood that still oozed out. Elder Ji let the robe drop back into place, covering his wound.

"I'm not embarrassed to admit that I was injured. Such was their ferocity and drive. They fought to the very last, until I killed every one of them with no attempt to flee. Their determination is not something I know how to teach." The elder's calm and stoic demeanor was long gone. He wasn't exactly shouting, but he was more animated than Paike had ever seen someone of such a high realm. As the elder got worked up, the pressure he had used to drive off the one boy earlier began to reappear.

Paike took a half-step forward, moving slightly in front of his little sister. He hoped that his qi would work as a bulwark and shield her, even slightly.

"I don't know how to teach that." Elder Ji repeated, this time a little softer.

"But I'm going to damn well try." The disciples shifted nervously. This was starting to sound dangerous. The elder had been harsh in the past, but never had he sounded so ominous. His lessons had mostly just been giving them challenges and letting them learn for themselves. It had worked well enough that it was obvious the challenges were carefully chosen, so they had a lesson in themselves. This sounded... not like that.

"How is this lesson going to work? We are going to re-enact that battle. There aren't quite enough of you to do it exactly, so I will have to compensate a bit more...." The elder was sounding more and more off. Paike saw the same assistant who had been informing them of the elder's absence appear behind him with a worried look on her face.

"I will limit myself to Low Emerald. I think that is fair enough," Elder Ji removed his hands from his sleeves and balled them into fists.

"You are going to play the role of the barbarians. While fleeing, as I can't expect you to stand your ground as they did, you must give me an equivalent wound to stop me or drive me away before I put each and every one of you unconscious!" The last word came out in a roar, spittle flying as his eyes lit up. Paike began circulating his qi, ready to form a barrier in front of him and his sister. Not that it would do any good. Even if the elder limited himself to Low Emerald, his brother had already shown him the gap.

There was no way this was reasonable. It was as if the elder had gone mad. The pressure increased, and qi poured from the elder in waves. There was an implosion of the surrounding qi, and the elder launched forward. Paike started his barrier, certain it would not be in time. It looked like they were going to face one of the threats the elder had told them about. An insurmountable one that they would have to survive somehow. To prove they were beyond any limits. Or more likely, they would all die.

The elder's fist met his barrier, which didn't slow him down at all. It was as if it wasn't even there, no different from the air. Paike braced. A thunderous impact sent him staggering back. He looked down, expecting to see a hole blown in his chest. However, he found no damage. As he was looking back up, a straw hat tumbled past.