Quantum Cultivation by Jace Kang (simple e reader TXT) 📕

“I got pushed back.”

“No, what happened to me? Specifically, my feet?”

Ken gave a sheepish grin. “I don’t know.”

“You fell back onto your heels,” Aya said. “You even went back two millimeters.”

So exact. “Very observant.”

Aya beamed.

Ryu held up three fingers. “Newton’s Third Law of Motion. When I exert force on Kentaro, equal force is exerted on me. In this case, enough pressure to push me back. In the end, I can’t transfer as much power into my push…or strike.”

“Koralas’ Law,” Siena said. “That’s what we call it.”

Whoever Koralas was. Ryu dug his feet into the ground. “When I push from this stance, I don’t lose as much force from being pushed back. That’s rooting.”

“That’s simple,” Kentaro said.

“That’s the first aspect.  The second is alignment. Alignment relates to the stance I’ve been teaching you.” Ryu sank into a low horse stance. “Your joints act as springs, both to absorb and generate power. Line your joints up in the correct kinetic chain and relax your muscles to maximize your potential.”

“This applies to the physical world.” Aya threw her hands up. “How can it help with the Qi from Cultivation?”

“I’m glad you asked. The more aligned your joints, the more smoothly your Qi will flow. That’s why the stance is so important.” He glared at Siena.

She had the sense to look demure, though it was probably part of her act to get him into bed again.

It was working. Still, the lesson wasn’t over.  He took another step toward Kentaro, dropped into his stance, aligned his joints, and pushed.

Kentaro sailed ten feet through the air, landed on his butt and rolled head over heels another ten feet.

“That’s Rooting, Alignment, and finally Linkage,” Ryu said. “With your body acting as a conduit to the ground with the first two concepts, Linkage is how you connect to your opponent. In this case, I released the energy slowly enough for it to be a push.”

“What happens if you do it quickly?” Kentaro called as he staggered back.

Ryu whipped his arm. “Do you learn about elastic collisions? Impulse?”

Kentaro swirled his foot on the ground. “It’s been a long time.”

“The shorter the time you transfer your strike’s momentum,” Aya said, “the more it will hurt.”

The girl always had a textbook definition. She was either very smart, or was somehow cheating. “What does that mean?” he asked.

Now it was Aya’s turn to be embarrassed. “I’m not sure, really.”

“Come, Ken-kun.” Ryu beckoned Kentaro over. When he got close enough, Ryu snapped a palm into the boy’s shoulder.

His knees buckled, and he crumpled to the ground. “Ow!”

“It didn’t hurt that much, did it?” Ryu asked.

Kentaro rubbed the spot. “Not really, but I felt it.” He pulled his shirt back, revealing a red handprint.

“I didn’t want to hurt you, so I pulled back and kept the penetration shallow.” Ryu held up his palm.

“You’d better not pull back and penetrate shallowly with me.” Siena looked up through her lashes.

Ryu swallowed hard, but then got back to the lesson. “If you can do these things, then Cultivation comes easier. Back to the lesson.”

After just a few tries Siena mimicked the Tofu-Kozo’s body movements perfectly, down to the timing of her root with the rapid barrage of strikes. On the surface, it looked fine, but Ryu had to make tiny adjustments to her stance.

Aya was practicing her Taiji, and her form looked perfect as well. It was an amazing accomplishment, given how physically underdeveloped she was, which was a testament to her intelligence…or at least the wiring in her brain.  While Kentaro picked things up more slowly, his Xingyi forms looked better and better, the motions more coordinated.

Then he formed drills, creating fixed patterns to pit Siena’s newly-learned Thunder Fist techniques first against some motions from Yang Taiji with Aya, and then against the Xingyi Water Form with Kentaro.

After an hour of practice, which left Aya panting for breath but the others begging for more, Ryu called for a break.

“Why do you think we are doing this?”

“To fight the Tofu-Kozo!” Kentaro and Aya blurted out.

Had it been that obvious? Ryu grinned. “Now, we spar.”

“Spar?” all three said in unison, with different levels of enthusiasm.

He nodded. “Fixed patterns are a basis for learning combat, but in a real fight, nobody follows a script. We’re going to use what we learned today, and your goal is to touch your partner’s chest. A strike with anything other than the techniques of your respective styles won’t count.”

The three looked among each other.

“Who spars with whom?” Aya asked.

Ryu looked between them. Ken was so competitive, and he had a significant size advantage over Aya. Though the latter had picked the techniques up quickly, she would be no match for him.

“First,” Ryu said, “Siena against Ken-kun, you against me.”

Aya’s face brightened, and both pairs squared off and settled into stances.

Ryu placed his fist into his palm and bowed his head. “Please teach me.”

“What?” Lowering her hands, Aya cocked her head. “I thought you were teaching me!”

“It’s a customary greeting in the World of Rivers and Lakes. A way of saluting before a duel.”

“Duel?”

“Or a practice like this.”

“Oh.” Aya imitated his motion. “Please teach me.”

Mimicking the Tofu-Kozo’s Thunder Fist Form, Ryu launched the style’s Forking Fists at quarter speed. Aya responded with Wave Hands Like Clouds, redirecting his attacks with sweeps of her arms. He intentionally overextended himself, and she used the Six Sealing, Four Closing technique to capture his arm and throw him to the ground.

He rolled with the momentum and popped back to his feet, then turned and reengaged at half speed with Whirlwind Punches. She kept pace, Stepping Back with Whirling Palms, dodging into the space between his attacks before countering with the shove of a