Chapter 104: The Weak Force

"Let's see. What else?" Father mused as he flipped through Paike and Guan Li's notes. "Your letter included a note from Elder Song, right? Let's see, mortal physics? Is she still on that? Huh, we can talk about that later.

"Kiddo," He said to Liming, "Let me see your arts."

Father watched as he put her through his paces. He had feedback, but it was generally complimentary. "You have done quite well to make it to Topaz already. I look forward to how your coup goes. Good luck, and remember that your enemies will not forget, and they will learn if you let them, so don't."

Liming nodded nervously. Paike understood why she was uneasy, because it sounded a lot like Father was telling her to kill off her rivals. He was always ruthless to their enemies, but this was a school of sorts that might be taking it a bit too far. Paike chose to interpret it as a way to ensure they were not in a position to return that year, even though Father was from an older, bloodier time.

"Now, Guan Li," Father said, shifting his attention. "My son tells me you have been a good friend to our family, so I'll give you some advice. Instruction is wasted on you, of course, but never do anything that doesn't make complete sense to you. Follow your instincts; you are heaven-blessed, and while things might not work out, the only way you are going to succeed is on your own path. Also, stop holding back advancement. There is no such thing as a perfect foundation, and you will learn how to fix it later. I want to see you at Middle Topaz in at least two weeks. Your lack of advancement is holding your research back."

"I understand, sir," Guan Li said.

Father nodded. "We can talk more then if you can accomplish that."

He then turned to Paike. "Let's head out. We can talk as we go."

"Is there anything I should bring?" Paike asked as he grabbed his staff from the corner.

Father snatched it from his hands and spun it once as qi flashed over it, then handed it back with an approving nod. "Not bad. And no, I got supplies."

Paike trusted that. Father had always been conscious of his children's needs. Despite not needing to eat or sleep, he never forgot that they needed them, unlike many other cultivators his age.

He and Liming followed Father out while Guan Li went to cultivate. Paike dropped back to talk with Liming as they headed to the exit of the boys' housing.

"Are you going to be able to pull it off still?" He asked in a whisper. Father could hear, but he would pretend that he couldn't. It was just one of the many things he did to make sure his children could live some kind of normal life.

She nodded. "If I can get Li Feng to play his part and Guan Li to stop cultivating for a few hours, I can. I'll take your spot next to Li Feng, but I'll have to play a supporting role. It should still work."

"I can ask Father for more time?" Paike offered.

"No! You are going to go with him and learn everything you can." Liming insisted. "This sort of chance doesn't come often, and with everything you have been doing, you have earned it. Besides, maybe he can teach you some better habits that don't get you hurt all the time."

Paike highly doubted that would happen. He didn't even have an idea of what they were doing, or even if it would just be them.

Stolen novel; please report.

After they got back into the main compound, Father reached out and pulled Liming into a warm embrace that she returned instinctively. Father insisted on 'hugs' for farewells even though Paike had literally never seen nor heard of anyone else doing so. Despite how much Father tried, it hadn't caught on even in their family. Maybe couples did something like that outside of prying eyes, but it was far too intimate for anyone else.

Father then put his hand on Paike's shoulder, and they were zipping through the air.

Paike got his height from his father, but he was still growing, and Father still had nearly a head on him. Despite knowing this, Paike had gotten used to being the biggest person around. Even the elders weren't taller than him for the most part.

Being so easily moved around certainly made him feel like a kid again.

They landed in a clearing outside the outer sect, about halfway to the inner sect mountain. Father ambled to the forest and started picking up branches. Paike followed and helped. It wasn't a familiar task, but the idea was not new. Father often wanted to do things the slow way with his children.

The silence lasted a long moment as they gathered firewood together. Eventually, Father broached the subject he wanted to talk about.

"So, kiddo, I can see you have been a lot busier than you've let on to your sister or friend. Want to give me the rundown?"

Paike held nothing back. He told Father how he first gathered qi. The encounter with the ancient spirit. The strange changes in his physical cultivation that led to his battle trance. Then how he learned his arts and the strangeness of his qi. How he skipped a stage and how he fixed that. His staff and how he wasn't sure what to do with it.

Then how he learned form, first watching Guan Li and thinking he could do something new, and then the fight between elders and how he noticed mistakes they were making and tricks they were using.

Next was internal circulation and Elder Song's ideas of the qi factor and viscosity. He didn't even skip the disaster that almost killed him with his physical cultivation and how it was pumping his blood and qi.

He showed Father the set of latches on the side of his dantian which earned a chuckle. Paike continued to talk about expanding the art and his plans with Guan Li to build a meta art that incorporated everything. Then he talked about Elder Song's most recent visit and their theories.

Finally, he talked about his discovery with the qi particles.

Father had listened patiently as Paike rambled. It was hard to tell the story in order, as he kept wanting to give explanations he had only learned later, which pushed him to talk about how he figured those things out. Despite the chaotic explanation, not once did Father interrupt until he got to the qi particles.

"Damn it! A freaking particle accelerator?" Father explained, interspersing the odd curses only he used. "How did I not think of that? There was the Newtonian corollary, of course, but after I found the electromagnetic force for qi, I should have kept going!"

Father actually stamped his foot in frustration, leaving a small crater and smothering their small campfire in dirt. The flames never wavered, showing how real they really were.

"Sorry," Father apologized. "I got a little excited there."

He was still talking to himself softly, though. "I'm not sure I remember all the equations, though. Would this be the weak force or the strong force? Eh, it doesn't matter. I'll have to derive it from first principles anyway."

Paike wasn't sure he was supposed to hear that later part, but Father was clearly worked up. He didn't really understand it, though, so he let it go.

"Show me," Father demanded.

"I can only do it in my dantian so far," Paike warned. Father waved him off as if that didn't matter. It hadn't been possible for Elder Song to see, and she was in the sixth realm. However, this wasn't something that Paike had the slightest trouble accepting. His father was the most impressive, after all.

Paike sat down by the fake fire and started to meditate. He went through all the steps, separating out the smallest particles before accelerating them in opposite directions as fast as he could, gradually working them up to his top speed. With a crack, Paike slammed the two particles together and watched as a bunch of Ruby qi scattered off with extra energy.

"Fascinating," Father commented. "I was always able to break qi down from higher realms to where I was, but not going below. Softening my qi so it doesn't hurt others is different, but this is truly new."