Chapter 93: Find It Yourself

Paike was pretty sure that he could feel something different about her cultivation session this time, but it didn't appear to make the leap she needed.

Liming was quiet and looked more defeated than he had seen her this whole week as the sun rose.

"When is your meeting?" She asked eventually, breaking the silence that had hung over them for the walk back to the sect compound.

"In a few hours." Paike said, "But we need to leave soonish to make it in time. Have you gone to one of the sect-protected villages yet?"

"No, most don't do that until a few months in," Liming said.

Of course she was correct. Once the disciples had run through the easy stages of Ruby, they started looking for missions with regularity. They needed those sect points once they reached their first bottlenecks. However, this early in the year, all the disciples had only been cultivating for so long, and none would be truly stuck yet.

"Well, there is a nice tea house that I think you might enjoy if you want to just go there now."

"Fine," She relented.

The little establishment was the same as it had been the last several times. The same young woman served him tea and was just as respectful. Liming eyed her suspiciously for the first few minutes but was seemingly assured by something. Paike didn't pretend to understand; his sister could be odd sometimes.

They had a little while to relax and drink tea while they waited. That seemed to do the trick, and as they chatted about nothing but little things from back home, he saw Liming start to relax for the first time this week.

It didn't last. When the door opened to reveal their brother, she was tense and ready to flee.

It seemed that Taka wasn't ready for the appearance either. He stood in the doorway, blocking the staff from entering as he stared.

Paike shifted as two of his siblings locked gazes. Liming looked like she was facing down a predator, and Taka looked confused and taken aback.

"Liming," he finally got out. "You have grown so much; you look like a little lady now."

That got him moving again as he took a seat at the table, letting a few pots of tea be served.

"Brother," Paike welcomed, but there was no conversation until they were alone again.

"Sister," Taka started. "I need to--"

She didn't let him finish. "I'm not here to listen to what you have to say. Paike said you wanted to see me. Well, I want something from you first."

Taka had gotten over his reactions at this point and inclined his head, not speaking and letting her finish making her demands.

"Tell me everything about your breakthrough from Ruby," Liming demanded.

She obviously didn't have to explain why she wanted that. It was obvious to anyone who could feel her cultivation. What she was asking for was more than a little rude to anyone not family; even then, it was still seen as a gift from the one telling the story.

Taka took it in stride. Paike didn't know what his brother was expecting to happen, but Taka was the more socially adept of the twins and didn't show any disappointment or anything of the like. He simply launched into the tale.

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"When I had been in the outer sect for nearly four months, there still had been no one who had made it to Topaz yet. I was not the first to make it to Peak Ruby, but rather the tenth, if I recalled. I was still ranked highly but had fallen from first after a few setbacks."

Taka's face was held neutral. Not in a rigid or forced manner. Anyone who hadn't known him deeply would have thought he just didn't care. But Paike recognized his expression.

This was his brother's deepest expression of shock. A tightly controlled reaction that let him think and plan behind the mask. When he wasn't surprised or caught off guard, there was no need for such a clumsy mask when he was capable of displaying any emotion that he wanted. It was only when he was figuring out how to react that Paike ever saw this.

"When I reached the point in Peak Ruby that I felt I had a chance of breaking through, at first I isolated myself. I spent all my time trying to force a bit more qi into my dantian and trigger that point of transformation that we hear so much about.

"However, it wasn't coming; no matter how much I strained, I just couldn't get the leverage I needed."

Paike was captivated. This was nothing like what he had experienced. Why would he be so different? Maybe it had something to do with how he gathered qi, but that didn't quite line up with his experiences. Certainly it should have helped him get the amount he needed, but he hadn't expanded his dantian to the size required until after he was already in Topaz. Perhaps he could say that he was able to trigger the reaction half outside his dantian as it was open at the time, and somehow that had triggered the change in his own cultivation.

None of that was a sufficiently satisfactory explanation for his curiosity. Beyond that, he wasn't sure what had prevented Taka, or Liming, from taking that step. He knew that some people had trouble with it, but he had never really considered why. He always thought it was a power or time issue, nothing more.

"That was when I started looking at what the others around me were lacking. I watched my rivals, and for each one, I found them lacking. I spent time categorizing their flaws and weaknesses. Once I knew them as well as I knew myself, I challenged each one and beat them in a way that left no doubt as to who was superior.

"When I was done with my final challenge, I sat down and pulled on the qi. It entered me, and I was Topaz."

Liming frowned. "There are no revelations required for the lower realms of cultivation."

"So people say," Taka said. "I don't think of it as a revelation or any kind. I don't think there is only one way. There is certainly no pithy phrase or personal motto needed. But there is some hurdle besides just an amount of qi needed to trigger the change in yourself. I don't know why the elders do not tell people; I'm sure they know exactly what it is, but you must find it yourself. Almost no one knows that they are looking for something, and many already have it when they are ready to advance."

Liming was quiet for some time, and no one spoke. Paike didn't interrupt, but he did see a change in Taka as his brother settled into a plan. The patient looked; the look that overtook his face made Paike think back to their childhood, when he was trying to get one of their instructors to give them the afternoon off.

Eventually Liming just stood up, nodded to Paike, and headed to the door.

Taka reached out after her. "Wait!"

She turned, fixing him with a cold stare.

"Aren't you going to stay and listen to what I have to say? I wanted to talk to you," Taka said in a very reasonable voice. Despite the composed expression, Paike could tell that Liming's sudden exit had taken him off guard.

"I don't owe you my time," Liming said as she closed the door behind her. His brother sat back down from where he had half-risen from his seat in an effort to stop her.

He let out a defeated sigh and looked to Paike. "Do you think it's hopeless?"

Paike shrugged. "I'm not sure. It was surprising to me that she was willing to be in the same room as you."

"This is worse than I feared."

"What did you expect?" Paike asked; he was honestly curious about how his twin thought things would go, and he hoped he would get an answer.

"Maybe she would attack me or something, but where is her fire?" Taka asked with a defeated expression.

"Is that what you are worried about?" Paike asked, taken aback that his brother wasn't more concerned about the harsh reaction he had gotten from their sister. There wasn't much of a stronger rebuke she could have given.

"Of course. I always thought her passion was what set her apart from the typical cultivator. It would keep her going when everyone else has given up and failed."

"I don't think that is something you need to worry about. Her fire hasn't faded; I just think she has given up on you." Paike said.

"Well, that's good!" Taka said as he clapped his hands on the table and stood up. "Shall we get started then?"