Chapter 99: Attachment Theory

It was more than a little hard to understand their reactions, but Paike was satisfied with the outcome.

Guan Li just looked amused. "What did you expect?"

"The lackeys who previously fought with me, and I can't imagine my reputation has spread that much in the last few days while I have been sequestered." Paike pointed out.

"I don't think it's your reputation. They probably didn't have any clue who you were." Guan Li said. "A Middle Topaz cultivator came up to them and didn't look pleased. That's going to scare them."

"You may have a point." Paike conceded. He looked down at the two girls standing in front of them, looking more than a little nervous. He should probably put them at ease.

"I hear you are my sister's friends." Paike started, and he congratulated himself as he saw them both relax.

"Are you Kong Paike!" The girl who had been helped up asked, excitement beaming in her eyes. The intensity almost made him back up a step.

"I am." Paike didn't understand what was happening, but he started to feel a little uncomfortable.

"Your sister is so cool!" She said, stepping forward, "And you look just like her, the way she-- hurrk."

The other girl had grabbed her by the collar and pulled her back as she tried to take another step forward. She hissed something in the excited girl's ear, but Paike had no problem understanding what she was saying. "Can't you feel that he is Middle Topaz! Show some respect."

Releasing her friend, she turned to Paike and bowed, "This one is Mei Lian, this is Shen Ru."

"It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance," Paike said, returning her bow to the proper depth; he had not forgotten his manners even after so much time away from the family court.

Shen Ru hurriedly bowed as well. "It is an honor to meet you."

"We have to be going; please give Liming our greetings and tell her that she will have our unwavering support!" Mei Lian said before dragging Shen Ru down the street.

"I don't think I know what just happened," Paike told Guan Li.

"What happened?" A voice asked from behind them. Paike turned and saw Liming walking up to them.

"Apparently, Mei Lian and Shen Ru wanted me to tell you that you have their unwavering support?" Paike said, still thoroughly confused, but willing to pass along the message.

"Hmmmm? Really?" Liming said, a flicker of surprise on her face. "Well, that's good. Thank you for passing that news along."

Paike didn't know if that was news; it sounded a lot more like a greeting than anything, but it wasn't important. "Of course. How have things been the last few days?"

He checked on her cultivation, but she was still Ruby.

"Progress," She answered with a smile. "I think I understand what I need, and I'm very close."

"I'm glad to hear it." Paike hoped she was actually correct, but wasn't going to gainsay her to her face in front of people. "Did Taka's story help?"

Liming's face wrinkled in displeasure. "I think so. How about you? Did your lesson go well?"

"Well enough that I don't think I will need any more," Paike stated. "I may still go to one more to test everything, but I believe I'm out of danger."

Liming let out an exclamation of pure joy before composing herself. "That is very good news, brother. But I sense you have other news as well; that is why I came over. I wanted to see which of the unaffiliated Middle Topaz cultivators had stopped by the compound, whether they were open to a working alliance, and who to find. I can't believe my own brother didn't tell me he was going to break through."

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"Um, sorry about that?" Paike said as he rubbed the back of his head; he supposed that she had vanished on her right after insisting that she could count on him for help. "Guan Li tells me things are going well?"

"In a way. Things are holding for now, but I only have so much time."

"Do you want me to see if Li Feng is willing to act early?" Paike asked. "We might not even need him now."

"No, there is no point. If I can't hold things, it won't be worth it. You would only get tied down, which counters the entire point of me taking over instead of one of you."

"I don't think that is the point," Paike said. "You are taking over because you wanted to."

"Yes, that is," Liming said, but Paike didn't really think she was telling the truth.

"Weren't you angry at them?" Paike asked.

"I am, and many are. It's only because of how you are that you don't see it." Liming said.

Paike turned to Guan Li, who shrugged. He clearly didn't understand either.

"Neither of you, I guess," Liming said with a sigh. "There is a reason why so many are siding with me even before I reach Topaz. The others are monopolizing the resources in such a way that you can't even buy them out."

"Isn't that the point of the sect?" Paike asked. "To make sure everyone gets a shot?"

"And by being here, we all get a shot, but they also see this as a test. They want the best to succeed." Liming argued.

That still seemed to be the point of the sect to Paike: the strongest got the resources, and you couldn't use family wealth too much to get an advantage. To assume that family wealth would play no role was naive. Still, someone like Guan Li might never have learned anything about cultivation without the sect, and that was worth making sure everyone got here instead of being trained only by the families.

Losing the first three years of a cultivator's training seemed like a big deal. Still, to any cultivator who was going to be worth something to the family, it was practically nothing in their lifespan. But it made all the difference for those who didn't have a family, as they could form alliances they otherwise wouldn't have access to.

"Your sense of justice is always interesting, Liming," Guan Li said, joining the conversation. "I don't think this feels any different than the streets. If anything, it is much fairer; why would you expect it to be any different than it is now?"

Paike was glad that he didn't have to say anything.

Liming opened and closed her mouth a few times. "You know what? I don't think this is worth explaining to either of you. I'm just glad for your help, speaking of that..."

She trailed off, looking over Paike's shoulder.

He turned and saw a familiar cloud swooping low, much too low to be a natural cloud.

Paike gave a bow as an old woman walked down the stairway made of clouds that extended to the ground.

"Boy, you were not at your house, and I had to come looking for you!" Elder Song chastised him. "We don't have time for delays; I have research to do!"

"Apologies, Elder," Paike said, keeping it formal in front of others. "I was just out to restock son supplies."

He held up a finger to forestall her protest about time and turned to introduce his companions. "This is my younger sister, Kong Liming."

Elder Song nodded, and Liming gave a respectful bow. "It is a pleasure to meet you, Elder Song."

"It is always interesting to meet a Kong of his line." Elder Song said, clearly referring to Father.

"And this is my roommate that I told you about, Guan LI," Paike finished his introductions. He could tell that Elder Song didn't really care at first, but it was a good sign that she trusted him enough to hear him out. Both Liming and Guan Li were likely to be someone eventually. While she didn't seem very interested in politics compared to some, Mother always told him about the power of an introduction.

The empire was a very small place at the top. There might be hundreds of families, but when you lived for thousands of years, it was pretty much impossible not to know most of them. Therefore, getting to know those who may join your ranks early was a large boon, as it didn't happen very often. Making these connections was also a favor, a small one in this case, but Paike wanted to give a little back to the elder who had already taught him so much.

"Ah, the natural cultivator. I will be keeping my eyes on you," Elder Song told Guan Li. He didn't know what to say, but at least bowed properly. Spending time with them clearly was influencing him a bit.

"My apologies, it seems that I'm needed. I will finish this conversation later, sister." Paike told her. "See you later, Guan Li."

He turned to walk up the stairs made of clouds next to Elder Song. As they started to pull away, he began to fill her in on some of the discoveries he had made in the last week. There were a lot of things he hadn't told her about, such as how he gathered qi by opening his dantian, so he had to keep some things private. He wanted to tell her about the attachment points to close up the dantian but it would have to wait. Now that he had a solution, he felt less reason to keep that to himself.

He told her about the increased momentum he had gained in his physical cultivation and his particle experiments.

She listened with rapt attention to his explanations and didn't press for more details when he was obviously keeping some things private. However, she did change directions.

"Even though you say you had the qi factor you did before your encounter, this spirit has caught my attention. And I think understanding your attachment might be important in deciphering the rest of your enigma."