Chapter 33: The Reed Steers the River

Chapter 33: The Reed Steers the River

Liming looked up and met his gaze with a beautifully innocent smile.

“Brother!” she explained, standing to greet him. He stopped in front of her and gave her a warm smile in return.

“I was close to breaking through, but I wasn’t sure I would make it today. Some minor conflicts yesterday gave me the inspiration I needed to push through,” Liming said, still smiling.

Paike scanned her up and down, looking for any sort of injury, but she was flawless. Even the hem of her robe didn’t have the slightest bit of dust on it.

“No trouble, I hope?” he asked.

She shook her head. “No. Yixin and I fended off a few challenges, but nothing we couldn’t handle. How about you?”

Paike rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. “Mmrph, Guan Li, and I suffered a bit of damage at home. One of the legacy disciples decided it was time to step in and teach me my place.”

With a worried expression settling on her face, Liming took several steps closer to him before patting his arms.

“Are you hurt?” she asked, closing her eyes, her hand pressed to the inside of his bare wrist. He could feel her qi wash over him, trying to dive into his body but unable to push his qi away.

“I don’t see any injuries,” she said, “but I can’t look inside past the skin.”

Paike gently shook her hand off of him. “I’m fine, don’t worry. Nothing a good night’s sleep didn’t fix. But congratulations,” he said again, changing the subject. “That’s incredibly fast. You’re certainly going to shoot up the rankings now.”

Liming smiled as she stepped back half a step. “Yes. Well, I was thinking maybe we could go celebrate.”

Paike raised an eyebrow at her. “Oh? How would my little sister like to celebrate her fantastic accomplishment? I heard some of the restaurants are still open.”

Liming gave him a slightly affronted look. “No? I’d like to do a little bit of testing and training and then stop by the library to pick up my next technique.”

Paike blinked, remembering. Though she still looked like his little sister, who had tagged along for as long as she could, she was a cultivator now and, in the eyes of many, an adult. At least as much an adult as any mortal ever could be. As immature as she acted sometimes, she was doing her best to grow up and to celebrate at a restaurant well; that was still something reasonable adults did. But she might not see it that way. Giving up, he shrugged.

“Sure, I’m more than happy to be your test dummy,” he said, holding his arms out wide, causing her to laugh as he spun around.

They spent some time testing as she used basic qi reinforcement to strike at him, both through his shield and without. They worked up a slight sheen of sweat, but a simple manipulation of qi from Liming pushed all the gunk from her body and robe in a second. Paike looked at her, surprised.

“What?” she said. “It’s something I saw Elder Sister Chuhan do. Just expel a thin mist of qi all around you with enough force for a few finger-widths, and it can push anything you don’t want off your body. Doesn’t really work in combat or against anything trying to resist it, but it helps the cultivator seem presentable.”

Paike frowned. How had he never heard of this? “So as long as you have a tiny bit of qi—”

Liming shook her head, interrupting him. “It takes a little bit more than a tiny bit. I wouldn’t want to do it anytime I think combat will happen, but if I need to look presentable or go into the library where I don’t want to be sweaty…”

Paike closed his eyes, focusing on the sluggish flow of his qi moving through his pathways. He tried to force a little bit out, but it did nothing more than bead up on his skin like ephemeral sweat. Grimacing, he wiped it with his hand, causing it to smear over his skin—only visible through his spiritual senses but uncomfortable nonetheless. He stepped forward, and some of it passed through him in an odd mist-like shower, and some of it came along with him.

He shook his head, and bits of sweat and qi were flung all over. Liming held up her hands, shielding her face, chiding him all the while for being gross.

Paike shrugged. “I’ll get the hang of it eventually,” he lied. That was not something he’d ever be practicing. If he really needed to start looking presentable for things, he figured he’d have to buy some sort of talisman made with someone else’s qi.