The Laws of Cultivation: Qi = MC^2

“There are four fundamental forces in nature,” I said, walking around the room with four fingers held out.

Lightning check? Clear. No heavenly tribulations from that.

“The first is the force that keeps us tethered to the ground. Gravity. It is what governs the movement of celestial bodies and the formation of planets and life.”

Labby squeaked, and I saw confused looks all around the room.

“You really don’t need to worry about it for now. I may be completely wrong here as well, this is all knowledge I gained from back home. Gravity is still real and the reason why things don’t fall into the sky is all you need to know,” I said, closing one finger.

Secondary lightning? Check. Labby was still following the explanation.

“The second one and third are Weak and Strong nuclear forces. It’s what helps the formation of nuclei that allows for every complex elements to exist, and not just be randomly floating around as Hydrogen particles,” I said, closing two more fingers

I was followed once more by confused expressions all around. This time I saw Liuxiang turn to face me.

“What would this ha-ii-dero-jin be, Senior?” Liuxiang spoke, carefully pronouncing each syllable.

“It’s the lightest element in the universe, and the simplest. It’s commonly found as an invisible highly flammable gas that makes a popping noise if you burn it in small amounts,” I replied, and got a nod. I noted Su Lin already drifting off.

“How is any of this related to lightning Qi? I doubt you know more than the Yan clan would on how to bend lightning with its decades of archives,” Yan Yun spoke, staring at me in surprise.

“Oh yes. Definitely. My knowledge of lightning Qi is by all means vastly inferior. Yet lightning does not exist just as Qi does it? Thunder and lightning are both things found in nature, outside of the influence of Qi. And that is governed by the fourth force, electromagnetic force,” I said, closing my last remaining finger.

“I’ll be fairly surprised if people knew more about lightning,” I said, and then paused as I realised that I’d missed a very important force.

“Actually, there’s one more force in this world. It’s the force of-”

Qi swirled with the sound of crashing thunder, vibrating angrily around me as I began to sense the turbulence of a heavenly tribulation beginning to rise. Wide eyes stared in front of me, at the second coming of the tribulation and I coughed.

“I think I’m going to skip that one,” I said, receiving eager nods from all present.

“Just what did you learn? No. Don’t tell me. I’m being foolish. I wish to live a while longer,” Yan Yun muttered, shaking her head in exasperation.

I rubbed the back of my head, feeling a bit embarrassed and guilty. “Sorry about that, I wanted to test if it was a once and done kind of thing or if the tribulation would come again if I tried to share the information. The Heavens are relentless though,” I said, looking up for a moment.

I know it was a bit cliche to defy the heavens and what not. But try having the literal world sparking your ass every time you tried to talk about some specific things. It was like having a world wide surveillance system that could bypass all security.

I shuddered at the thought, looking back down. At least conventional science seemed to be okay, so the only issue was secrets of cultivation and so on. Very well.

I coughed, “Alright. So, I have this hypothesis on the nature of Energy and how Qi interacts with different forms of it. But before we get to that, electromagnetic force first. So, electromagnetic force is the force that originates from charged particles. Everything, when broken down small enough, is composed of these charged particles and they are what create electricity.”

“Master, then how come Labby doesn’t feel anything when touching everything around her?” Labby asked and I smiled.

“Good question! It’s because there are two types of charges around. Positive and negative, Yin and yang if you will, and these charges are almost always in balance with one another, nullifying each other. It’s a bit more complicated than that, but that’s the basic gist of it,” I said, as Labby squeaked.

“Then… how does this balance break?” Yan Yun asked, and I turned to see an eager curiosity reflected in her eyes. The science magic was working!

“Have you ever rubbed a particularly wollen cloth with another? Or touched a piece of metal on a hot and dry day? A lot of reasons can serve to create an imbalance. The charges want to correct this imbalance. The positive or Yang, seeks the negative or Yin, and versa. And when they cannot find a way to meet, they accumulate, waiting for something that will allow them to combine and neutralize. And the earth is the biggest neutraliser we have. It is why the lightning from the sky strikes down, seeking earth,” I said, and I saw Yan Yun’s eyes widen.

I continued ahead. “Metal is a very good conductor of electricity. And so, if you have a long metal rod high up in the sky, it will provide an easier path for lightning to follow to meet the earth. And thus, nothing will be struck by lightning besides that metal rod.”

“That makes… no sense? Why would it…? But then swords are a bad idea around Lightning cultivators…” Yan Yun muttered blankly.

“Labby doesn’t understand either, Master,” Labby muttered quietly.

I turned towards Liuxiang. “Liuxiang, your needles are metal right? Silver from what I saw, but I’m guessing here.”

“Senior would be right. These needles are made of silver, to detect the Yi poison Qi in the bodies during the process of healing,” Liuxiang said, and I nodded.

“Can you give me one?” I asked, and Liuxiang took one of the silver pins from his hair and threw it at me. I grabbed the pin, turning back to face my class.

“Silver is one of the best conductors of lightning. It allows for it to pass easily towards wherever it may wish to go,” I said, and threw the silver into the ground, embedded it.

“Labby, try to shoot some lightning at me by passing it near the silver pin,” I said Labby who stared at me hesitantly. “Don’t worry, I’ll be okay. You won’t hit me, but if you want, be gentle,” I said, receiving a squeak from Labby.

Arcs of purple arced around Labby, before they shot towards my feet. The lightning crackled heading towards me when the arc bent towards the silver embedded in the ground hitting the head of the pin instead.

“Labby’s lightning… moved on it’s own?” Labby said, confused.

“I don’t believe that, let me try,” Yan Yun spoke, standing up. Lightning Qi gathered in her core and I tried not to gulp nervously. With a stomp of her feet an arc of lightning shot towards me at high speeds.

I almost jumped back but kept my composure as the lightning arced to hit the silver pin instead. Risking injury in the name of science eh? Professor Walter Lewin would be proud.

“I don’t- what did you do?” Yan Yun asked in surprise. I saw Su Lin shift nearby, it seems I had his attention now.

“Nothing,” I replied with a smile. “It is the nature of lightning to follow metal. I think lightning cultivators are probably already aware of that, with swords and metal objects, even if they don’t really know how it works.”

“That’s not true. Swords and metals are not good against lightning cultivators because they can gather the lightning which can backfire on the wielder. I’ve never heard of the lightning just… vanishing,” Yan Yun said.

“This one is surprised as well. Metal can attract lightning, but it cannot erase it. How did this one’s silver pin do that?” Liuxiang asked.

“Like I said. The earth is one of the best neutralisers here. Lightning seeks earth, and balance. It always seeks earth. The difference is this time, instead of my own body, I provided lightning a different path to get to earth, an easier path that it gladly picked over me,” I said with a smile, as Yan Yun took her seat back again and I wondered if a lightning rod would work on a heavenly tribulation. Something to be tested.

“Labby understands! Maybe…” Labby squeaked and I laughed.

“It’s alright, there’s a lot of it to cover in just a single day. We can do this every so often,” I said looking around and feeling an oddly content emotion fill me. I imagined a class full of willing people, prepared to listen as I told them about the mysteries of the world and my heart swelled with delight at the thought. I took a moment, before moving to the next topic.

“So, that is lightning. A bundle of positive and negative charges. Positive repels positive and attracts negative. The two seek harmony in being together. The movement of these charges, and vibration are what cause lightning to be formed. But what about Qi?” I said, looking around.

“Lightning Qi, is one of the purest expressions of Yang Qi. It is fire honed to it’s best. Energy at its purest form. Raw power and strength that can tear through almost everything,” Yan Yun spoke smoothly, as if she’d memorised the words by heart.

“Hmm, tell me something. Is Labby’s lighting Yang Qi?” I asked Yan Yun, and she turned to look at Labby.

“Perhaps… I cannot say,” she admitted after a while, and I nodded, quite surprised. I hadn’t expected her to admit not knowing something this easily.

“Lightning is two faceted. Positive and Negative. I see no reason why Lightning Qi would be one. There is Yin and there is Yang. The imbalance and difference in these two aspects is what causes lightning. Labby had started with Yang, but her Qi had turned pure Yin when she broke through to the second realm, reflecting her Lunar Path,” I said, as Labby squeaked happily.

“Yang and Yin… an imbalance among the two?” Yan Yun muttered as lightning crackled around her hand, and she frowned.

I extended my hand in front of me, pouring a swirling ball of Qi above my hand, which I carefully ignited forming a floating ball of fire. The eyes within the room turned towards me.

“Yer a fire cultivator?” Su Lin asked in shock.

“Nope. This is plain and old regular Qi. Or whatever my Qi’s nature is, I’m not sure yet. Do you know how alchemists can light the flames under their cauldrons? They don't use fire Qi, do they?” I said, when Liuxiang spoke up.

“The formation etched within the cauldron is what generates the flames. Alchemists can light things on fire, not… gather flames like Senior is,” Liuxiang said, and I shook my head.

“You’re partially right. The formations I don’t know about, but I suspect they only automate what a human does. Thing with fire is, it needs something to burn. Fire Qi, as I’ve tested and experimented with it, takes the form of fire on it’s own, but my Qi doesn’t. So to cause a fire, I need to burn something,” I said.

“What is Senior burning?” Liuxiang asked, likely knowing I wanted someone to ask me that and I smiled.

“My Qi. I’m burning my own Qi,” I said.

“Master is burning Qi?” Labby asked, confused.

“Yup. While I was making the fire pill, I realised that not only was the flow of Qi important to crafting the pill, it would also help in forming concentrated areas of Qi that can be ignited by providing heat. I’m just doing what the spirit formations do, but manually. Can’t really do it with water and earth yet though, haven’t mastered water and earth bending yet,” I said, as stunned silence filled the room. I continued on.

“Energy is energy. Even mass is only another form of energy,” I paused as I sensed the Heavenly Qi begin to rumble around me. That was a no go huh?

“And that’s why, the nature of Qi is guided by the cultivator. The energy all around us has all forms of Qi present in it. The heavenly chi as well. But cultivators only gather one form, to fill their dantians. Which makes sense, conflicting energies can go wrong. But this doesn’t mean that one form cannot imitate another.”

I found blank eye blinks coming my way and started to laugh.

“I think that’s enough for one day. There’s so much to cover! I can’t do it in one day, this takes years to learn,” I said, smiling.

“Years you learned… from who? I-I’ve never heard of any of this?” Yan Yun muttered as she looked at me, and my smile started to slip.

“My home had a lot of great people, who discovered the mysteries of the world and created many books to explain them, and share their discoveries with all,” I said, feeling a quiet pain in my chest at the words.

“Your home… is a quiet farming village Lu Jie. Are there such great secrets buried there?” Yan Yun asked, and I shook my head quietly.

I opened my mouth to speak, when a loud crash interrupted me.

“It’s time to pay up old woman!” a voice screamed. I saw Su Lin’s eyes widen as he shot out of the room. I saw Zhang try to get up as well when Liuxiang grabbed him by the shoulder.

“You shouldn’t be moving about. This one will go,” he said, turning towards me, and I nodded as Labby returned to my dantian and we walked out.

The door stood knocked down as Su Lin and his brothers stood near the entrance, against tall and burly ruffians. My eyes drifted, before spotting Zou Chen standing a bit further back amongst the men.

The thugs event again? It’s almost as if someone was intentionally sending all these problems my way to make my life harder.

The heavens really were ruthless.