Chapter 101: The Shape of Qi

Elder Song grimaced at him in annoyance. "No."

Paike suppressed a smile and gave an apologetic shrug. "It has seemed rather volatile in my experience."

"So you say." Elder Song said, but Paike thought she was seeing the humor as well.

"Were you able to learn anything from it, at least?" He asked.

"I was." Elder Song's mood lightened considerably as she began to recount her theories. Paike was able to follow most of what she said, but didn't have much to contribute. There was still so much background knowledge he was missing.

It did feel like she was trying to make sure he understood, but she could only do so much. He didn't mind.

Most of what she thought about it concerned how the intrinsic properties of qi worked and how they could be influenced. Paike argued that it wouldn't make them intrinsic if they could be influenced. This sidetracked them for quite a while, but they eventually circled back to what she had originally come for.

Elder Song produced a set of rings of various sizes, each with a distinct qi feel throughout the metal.

"I was only able to guess at what your tolerances actually are, so I hope there is enough granularity to actually measure you. Since you hypothesized the viscosity property, I have been able to confirm its existence, both in my qi and that of others." Elder Song said as she began setting up the experiment.

"It wasn't just a hypothesis," Paike objected. "I knew it existed from experience; just because you didn't believe me at first didn't mean I didn't know. That's like a blind man telling you they were able to verify the existence of the sun."

"When I was your age, we thought there were 10 different suns that were dragged across the sky, so if you had told me there was only one, I would have asked for proof."

"Just how old are you?" Paike said. "I've heard of that myth, and we haven't believed that for over ten thousand years. There is no way you were my age back then."

He was just able to see the curl of Elder Song's mouth from the side as she ignored him and adjusted the rings.

"Start with the largest rings with the lowest concentration of qi. Then move to the higher concentration before moving up in size." She ordered.

He started as commanded.

"Are you testing the interaction of qi as well?" Paike asked. "I'm not sure how that would affect viscosity."

"I think I was noticing drag from when qi was near other qi that wasn't aligned with my own while testing it. I haven't been able to verify."

"So that is your qi aspect?"

"No, unattuned. Getting that set up actually took me the larger part of preparing this. I'm hoping the effect will be more pronounced with you."

"I haven't noticed anything like that before," Paike said. "I also don't understand the proposed mechanism. You think that qi in proximity to other qi would exert a force passively?"

"Not quite. I think it might have something to do with qi moving near other qi. Also, only certain elements or aspects might interact in that way."

"Do you have any idea how they would line up? I'm struggling to see why this would happen?"

"Not yet." Elder Song huffed. "I'm taking a page out of your book. I noticed something, and I'm trying to explore it even if I don't understand it yet."

A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

"I take offense to that." Paike joked.

"Quite down, boy, and move your qi."

Paike complied, and they worked in silence for some time as Elder Song took notes, and he started to have to force the qi through the smaller rings. Each time he moved down in size, it took more effort until he was eventually unable to make any progress at all.

"Interesting. It appears that despite how much your qi factor is above average, it seems that viscosity doesn't scale linearly with it. I'll need to do some math, but it might be logarithmic or something like one-half power." Elder Song mused.

"Does this affect your existing equations?" Paike asked.

"No, not really, but it gives me a whole new set of values to test. If I can take this and derive it from the qi factor and other properties, it wouldn't be an intrinsic factor, as you first proposed. However, I think learning the mechanism might give me further insight into the underlying nature of qi." Elder Song said, excited about all the work ahead of her.

"I've been thinking about that a little while we worked. If qi is made up of smaller particles forming larger particles, then maybe you think there is some internal friction?" Paike asked, thinking about the vibrating particles during his collision experiments. If it wasn't a perfect sphere, as he had assumed because of the small bits of Ruby qi making it up, there might be rough edges to catch on other bits of qi. Like rocks rubbing against each other instead of polished marble.

"Maybe, maybe." Elder Song said. "It would be hard to guess why that seems to change with someone's qi factor."

"Unless their qi factor is actually dependent on how their qi particles form," Paike said.

"Yes!" Elder Song exclaimed, "That would then explain how people have different qi factors, but then you introduce all sorts of complications." She got progressively less excited as she listed all the ways it would conflict with other observations.

"I still think it is connected." Paike insisted.

"I agree, though it might be the other way around. How you advance and combine the qi is determined partly by other properties. It would explain the individual paths of cultivation and a variety of variations in outcomes within the same families and techniques." Elder Song said. "Either way, I think it will need much more testing and data. Still an excellent idea. That you even considered breaking them apart.... What do you think would happen if you tried to break Ruby particles apart?"

Paike paused to think. "There are two possibilities that I could see. First, and maybe the most likely? The qi particles are atomic at the Ruby level and can't be further divided. It would be the base particle, and all others are variations in its amount and organization. I wonder if there are some dead ends if someone makes a certain type of Topaz particle that just isn't possible to combine further?"

"Hmmm, maybe," Elder Song pondered. "There are cases where I have heard someone being unsatisfied with their foundations and tearing them down and being able to make progress further after dropping a realm or two. It is rare, but you hear of it every century or two. But don't get distracted. What was the second option you were thinking of?"

"Well, there is some particle of qi that we can not detect, or maybe many types. It is only a total guess, but I would think that awakening would be the gathering of such particles to create that first ignition."

"Awakening is typically seen as bringing qi into one's dantian for the first time." Elder Song commented.

"I don't think that was how it happened for me." Paike was honestly not sure if it was the case, but with how much trouble he had gathering qi after he first awakened, he was very skeptical.

"Oh, how else were you special?" Elder Song challenged.

Paike considered whether he should just tell her about his troubles with qi gathering; she already knew many of his cultivation secrets. She had even helped him understand much of why it was different from others. It didn't really make sense to keep more from her for no reason, especially if understanding more would help them both learn how qi and the spiritual world actually worked.

So he started to tell her. How he had awakened and struggled to gather any qi. She was a good enough listener that even though she didn't pry into how he had eventually managed it, he did tell her about how he ripped his dantian right before the trail of the stairs.

This drew a gasp from her, but she didn't interrupt as he continued to lay out what he was doing now.

"Oh, you poor boy."

The sympathy made his skin crawl. Even his own family would never say such a thing. He was to be strong, but that mindset made him weak. Paike could not wallow in pity; he would forge his path no matter what stood in his way.

His family had given him every tool he ever needed, and he loved them for that.

What they didn't do was pity. He agreed with them when they said it would only weigh him down.

Still, he didn't say any of this to the kind old lady in front of him. It was rare for anyone who climbed as far as she did to have any humanity left, let alone any sympathy. He just gave her a teasing smile. "I see your age is catching up to you."

She swatted him on the arm. It was so light he barely felt it. "That is where those scars on your dantian came from. I thought they were stretch marks."

"No, not all of them, I guess. It has been a good way to expand my dantian slowly, though."

Elder Song just rolled her eyes at him.