Chapter 86: A Real Cultivator

They ended up making a key of sorts, but only after deciding that, instead of just locking with the latch across from it, they would also lock with the ones above and below. The key had to be inserted into the dantian at the top of these interlocking hardened qi sections.

Creating the constructs was almost as hard as coming up with the design. It required Paike to blend his physical cultivation with his spiritual cultivation in ways he hadn’t heard of before. But they were able to get some tiny objects to keep their shape and rigidity in his spirit.

He attached them on the side of his dantian, in careful rows that mimicked the tiny bits of solid qi that Guan Li was carefully maintaining in the real world. Guan Li ran the key down and the series of interlocking latches untied. He then pulled the key back up, twisted the key, and detached it.

In its wake, all the latches redid themselves. It was quite efficient. There was only one real lock at the top; the rest of the design was just on the latches around it.

Paike mirrored his actions on his own spirit, and everything worked as intended. Right now, it only caused a slight crease in his dantian as he had left the membrane uncut. There was no need to rush to set everything up while he was trying to keep his spirit in one piece.

For once he was afforded the luxury of time, and he was taking advantage of it. After several more tests, there wasn't anything for it but to give it a shot.

There were two things he was concerned about right away. First, that the latching objects themselves would end up being too weak and would break when he tried to close it up. Second, he worried that the attachment points to the dantian were not strong enough.

He had done his best to mitigate these by spreading the forces across many attachment points. He thought it was pretty strong, but obviously hadn't been able to determine how strong. Maybe it was something he could see if Elder Song could help with.

His more lasting concerns were many. Would these constructs last? Or maybe the dantian would heal around them. He was hoping this was something he could reuse even if he had to make a new cut each time. However, if everything held, he might be able to get the cut to heal open.

"Ready?" Guan Li asked. He was intently curious, and Paike couldn't blame him. He was also dying to know if this worked the way they thought it would.

He took the ambient qi and formed the sharpest blade he could. Then he braced for the pain. With a decisive slash, he split his spirit. He waited for a second, breath held.

Everything stayed in place.

While they had been setting this up, he had spent a small fraction of his attention on gathering as much qi as he could into an orbit around him. Now he focused fully on pushing it to its maximum speed.

It took a few moments for the qi to accelerate. He wished he could have done this first, but he wasn't going to risk losing control of that while trying to perform a delicate surgery on his spirit at the same time.

He started to bring the leading end of the qi closer in. As it came closer, its speed increased. Thanks to Elder Song, he now had an explanation of why this was the case. He thought that slowing down an object would pull it in closer. This was the case for something that was self-propelled. However, he thought this effect had something to do with preservation of angular momentum, or the qi equivalent.

It would take more sessions for him to be fully confident in all these strange theories. Physics was still confusing enough to have it all dumped in his head at once. Especially when combined with the spiritual world of qi, which seemed to invalidate roughly a third of the concepts.

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As the qi entered his dantian, he felt reinvigorated. But he didn't lose focus as it spun into a tightly rotating ball.

That ball kept growing as he pulled harder on his qi. It continued to grow until it was pressing up against the sides of his dantian.

He then took the key and ran it up the series of latches. One by one they locked. There was a slightly tugging sensation as they, every so slightly, stretched his spirit.

Despite all his fears, everything held.

He finished and removed the key. Every latch held with one above and below it. He poked at it, and the line flexed inward slightly before springing back to the previous position. It wasn't as free of movement as the rest of his dantian, but it wasn't an inflexible hatch he was first considering.

This could handle the natural movement of his spirit and not snap.

He checked the anchor points. They also held firm. Slightly tugging on them increased the slight stretching feeling, but didn't cause a flare-up of any pain like he had expected.

The qi in his dantian brushed past in a constant flow, but there was no turbulence caused by the slightly different surface.

The edges of the cut were slightly held open as they were folded in every so slightly. He didn't know if that would heal properly, but now didn't seem to be a good time to introduce more complications.

So he took a tiny thread of qi from his dantian and bled off its inertia until it was still. He then carefully stitched the two severed ends together as close as he could get them. This was the same process he had done several times before. Maybe after a few more times gathering qi with this method, he would consider leaving it open longer, but for now it would heal into another white scar.

By now his dantian was crossed with them, and he made another note to look into that, either by asking an elder or trying to find something in a library about them. It could be important even if it didn't seem urgent compared to everything else he was working on.

Slowly, Paike opened his eyes. It had worked. There was no need to panic; nothing had gone wrong. To his total surprise, it had simply gone without a hitch. He let out a slow breath and felt a smile creep onto his face.

"Success?" Guan Li asked.

"Success!" Paike cheered. Guan Li let out a whoop before getting himself under control.

"Congratulations. I don't think I know how much this means to you, but I'm glad to be of help." Guan Li said.

"I couldn't have done it without you," Paike admitted. "Both from your idea and the inspiration to push myself to try new things."

The conversation was getting a bit too real, so Guan Li changed the topic. "Are you ready to head out and face the sect?"

"As much as I'll ever be," Paike answered. He was still thinking about how he may repay Guan Li. Seeing his crazy technique for gathering qi that night out in the woods by the qi nexus had changed everything for him.

Paike had thought he was already taking risks by gathering qi through a hole he ripped in his dantian. However, seeing Guan Li make up his own methods using untested theories of qi made him realize how overly cautious he had been. Paike had been telling himself that he was a true cultivator, taking the risks he was, but it was a kind lie. A real cultivator didn't shy away from necessary risks.

With all his disadvantages, he couldn't play it safe like others. He had been resigned to falling behind, but now he was not just pushing harder to keep up. He was getting ahead.

Things like developing new arts, or free from qi workings, were the thing of myth. Something that one wouldn't even dream of. Unless they never knew better, like Guan Li. Paike might not have been a natural cultivator, but he wasn't going to let that stop him. If a young boy like Guan Li could do it, what excuse did he have to not at least try?

"I'm ready," Paike answered. He would make sure they made it to the qi nexus tonight, or something better. It was the least he could do.

The two of them left the house and strode down the central streets. Guan Li had been advocating sneaking out and getting to the compound where they could meet up with his sister.

Paike knew that would be a mistake. It might work for Guan Li on his own, or if they were only going to be gone for a bit. But he had things to do, and acting weak would just put a target on his back.

Besides, his staff thumped on the cobblestones next to him, and his spirit was near bursting with qi. He was confident like he had never felt before. Could anyone in the outer sect challenge him anymore?