Chương 8: Cold Honey

By the time class finally started, Paike's anxiety from the previous night's dream had receded. That dreams could be as impactful as the waking world was a truth he had long been aware of. This, though, was his first time confronting it for myself. Waking from a veil of mist and mystery had occupied his mind for the rest of the morning. Paike had spent a decent amount of time staring at the token in his hand, thinking through a plan. So, when he walked through the door to the classroom building, he was focused.

Looking around, he was one of the first students in the room, but the seats filled up quickly over the next couple of minutes. Just before Elder Chu arrived, Liming dashed through the door and pushed past a couple of people to squeeze in beside him. She gave Paike a brilliant smile and subtly moved her hand to reveal her sleeve slightly. Within, he saw the flash of the jade token. She gave Paike a subtle wink, but before they had a chance to talk, Elder Chu arrived.

A swirl of shadow appeared first by the lectern, giving everyone a chance to stop talking. But surprisingly, not everyone did. There was a fair amount of whispering that persisted from the girls around their seats, and Paike could feel many eyes on the back of his head. Paike looked around, meeting several gazes directed at him, but there was a decent amount of curiosity in them. However, he also sensed a certain amount of hostility from some.

More than once, he even caught someone looking at his sister rather than him. He gave Liming a curious look, but her eyes were focused on Elder Chu's coalescing form. Only a faint redness high in her cheeks gave me any indication that something was off. He made out one half-sentence before Elder Chu's physical appearance fully materialized, creating a soft clap of air that silenced the room.

"---monster has a brother." That sentence sent a chill down his spine. Apparently, Paike's sister hadn't told him something. As far as he knew, she didn't really have a reputation. She was too young to have been involved in any significant inter-sect politics from their local sect. He'd have to question her about that comment after class. There was an hour or so break before physical cultivation started, so there would be time. He just had to make sure she didn't get out of his sight.

Elder Chu cleared her throat, and the last rustling of shifting students stilled. Unlike the odd shadowy form she'd taken in his dream, she was now dressed in a strange combination of graceful garb and rough-spun woolens. It looked like a laborer's tunic, one that extended well past her waist and down to mid-calf, where leggings took over. Her hair was pulled up into a bun. In her hand, she held a straw hat as if she had been out working the fields before bothering to come to the class.

No one dared to comment on her appearance, though.

"I'm glad to see many of you made the wise choice to come and attend the free lessons offered by the sect," Elder Chu said. Paike couldn't help but agree. Even with the support of his family, he might still benefit from their explanation. He was glad to see Guan Li had made it. Paike had considered waking him earlier but felt it would be rude. Still, there were several of the people he'd seen in his dream last night who weren't here.

Maybe they felt like going over the basics again wasn't valuable, or their families had some particular cultivation method they believed would be superior to the one taught at the sect. Han Sayian's absence was a notable example. The sect's method was very good for beginners, but eventually, it would need to be replaced. As far as his family was concerned, the Imperial Breath cultivation technique they would learn in these lessons was good enough for Ruby stage cultivation.

Maybe some highly specialized techniques some families practiced wouldn't benefit from it. Still, the Kong family always appreciated versatility in their disciples and members, leaving them to choose their own path. Elder Chu had just finished explaining the very basics, like what a dantian was and how to carve qi channels. She then went through the breathing techniques and cycling method of the Imperial Breath cultivation technique.

Paike did his best to follow along like all the students, but his qi just didn't move. He tried, and slowly, qi pushed into his dantian from the world around him. Nevertheless, the surface tension prevented it from fully entering. It was like pouring cold honey from a jar. Maybe in a few days, he would make some progress. However, compared to the flow that the elder described, it was heartbreaking. Frustrated, he continued to attempt this version of cultivation.

Despite the lack of progress, he was not willing to risk doing anything against the teacher's instructions with her right there to witness. He knew how to do it his way, greedily grabbing a glob of power all at once to digest later rather than seamlessly layering it into his spirit the way the technique she was teaching described. It would be a waste not to at least try to learn this technique. Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author.

It actually working was a long shot. He had hoped that it might miraculously fix his problems but knew that wasn't the case. Still, it was good to have confirmation. And besides, this wasn't the only thing they'd be learning in the class. That meant it was best to keep trying and stay on the teacher's good side for now. Elder Chu moved through the class, helping disciples. When she got to him, she looked at him, clicked her tongue, and moved on without saying a word. Paike felt a flush of shame run through him.

He wasn't even worth helping. Did she not think he was trying? Or worse, did she think this was all he could do? She should have known immediately by his age that something was wrong with him and that he was not worth her time. Still, he had dealt with the disappointment of his teachers for a very long time and didn't give up. Eventually, she called an end to the practice.

"Many of you have done quite well. Others require some work." He felt her eyes land on him, and he flinched slightly. Her eyes moved on in a heartbeat, and she continued without paying further attention to him.

"Tomorrow, we will be talking about how to carve and attune meridians and how to maintain your qi channels. And for some of you," she said to no one in particular, "About correcting mistakes made in carving your qi channels. We'll spend at least tomorrow on it and maybe the day after." Paike grimaced. He knew the qi channels he had carved in haste were not perfect. Hopefully, he could spend some time productively tomorrow fixing that.

It would take a long time to correct those mistakes at his current pace, but still, it was a good reason to come up tomorrow, not that he'd planned on missing anything. Any scrap of information like this could be useful. With that, Elder Chu dismissed them. She stayed behind, and several of the students up front rushed forward and formed a queue to ask her questions.

Paike didn't want to ask any of the questions on his mind, like why he was so slow and how he could get his qi to behave normally, not in front of everyone else. The elder likely wouldn't know anything more than he had been taught in the first place. So he and his sister simply left. As they were walking, he studied her from the side, from his peripheral vision. She was surprisingly quiet, which forced him to ask the question that had been on his mind since the beginning of class.

"What did you do to gain everyone's attention, little sister?" he asked. She flushed ever so slightly, to the point where if he hadn't spent so much time around her, he never would have noticed.

"Nothing much. I simply had a bit of a tussle when claiming my house."

"I thought you said you and your roommate cleaned up without much trouble?" Paike asked, confused. He was pretty sure she had explained that.

"It wasn't much trouble," Liming said, but she was being clearly evasive. Paike thought about pursuing it and then let it drop. If it had really come from that, she likely had just fought some people. And, seeing that she had won, it was probably okay. Technically, it was against the rules, but if she hadn't been reprimanded, then they might be looser than he had expected.

"If you need any help, just let me know."

"Okay. I know I can count on you," she responded with a smile. Paike felt a small bit of pride swell in him. For now, he'd be able to help his family for at least a little bit longer. Physical cultivation started somewhat similarly, except instead of in a classroom, they were all gathered around a training arena. Many sat in the amphitheater, some stretching or doing small warm-ups in the grassy field.

When Elder Ji arrived, he made it clear in the first several minutes that this would not be the same class as Elder Chu taught. The tall man clearly didn't have her grace.

"Line up!" He bellowed. And with that, the class started. He didn't give any lectures. They just started doing exercises without any explanation. Simple things like press-ups and also more complicated balance exercises, holding themselves in twisted positions, made his muscles burn. Paike was familiar with many of these exercises and flowed through them with ease, but it was clear that many of his fellow disciples were not so prepared. Many collapsed or gave up.

Those who did were immediately expelled from the class and told in no uncertain terms not to return tomorrow. Evidently, future classes would be held in the evenings rather than afternoons. This was to give them a chance to work through the lessons in the spiritual class before coming to the physical class. Elder Ji apparently didn't approve of distracted minds during his training. After several hours of grueling training, he found his sister and Guan Li at the water barrels. They each took a ladle and drank.

Guan Li had stripped off his shirt at one point, and his scrawny frame glistened with sweat. He was so skinny that Paike could count his ribs all the way up to his collarbone.

"Glad you made it," Paike said.

"Takes a little more than pain to stop me," Guan Li said with a smile.

"Yeah, well, hopefully, we learn some actual physical cultivation tomorrow," Paike said; he didn't mind as the exercises weren't too hard for him.

"Because, well, this can only help cultivators so much."

"I hope you're right."