Three people waited at the reference desk. Daniel walked past them to the computer sign-up sheet hanging on its clipboard by the terminals.
The slots were filled in pencil, names and times in different handwriting. He scanned down.
9:00 - 9:30: Reserved
9:30 - 10:00: Reserved
10:00 - 10:30: Available
10:30 - 11:00: Reserved
He wrote his name in the 10:00 slot. Thirty minutes. That would have to be enough.
The clock on the wall read 8:47 AM.
An hour to kill.
Daniel found a chair near the periodicals section, the upholstery worn smooth and vaguely sticky. He browsed the nearby shelves, pulling a few books on martial arts history. Anything that might mention qi or internal energy.
Most of what he found was useless. Coffee table books with glossy photos of monks in orange robes. A biography of Lau Ching-yee that focused on his movie career. One academic text about "Oriental body practices" that used words like "epistemological" and "somatic" without ever explaining what qi actually was.
He kept Henry's paper in his pocket, unfolding it every few minutes to squint at the URL. The handwriting seemed to get worse every time he looked at it. Was that a 3 or an 8? A lowercase L or a capital I?
Around him, the library filled slowly.
Students claimed tables, spreading textbooks and highlighters across the surfaces like they were staking territory.
An old man settled into a chair with a stack of Chinese newspapers, licking his thumb before turning each page.
A woman with two kids tried to keep them quiet, her whispered threats growing sharper each time one of them squirmed.
And a librarian with glasses on a beaded chain sorted returns with mechanical efficiency, barely glancing at spines before sliding them into the correct bins.
Daniel tried to read the Lau Ching-yee biography. Got through three pages about his childhood in Hong Kong before his eyes drifted back to the clock.
8:56.
He flipped to the index, looking for any mention of qi or chi. Found a single reference on page 247. Turned to it. Three sentences. Nothing useful.
The academic text was worse. Dense paragraphs about "embodied knowledge systems" and "phenomenological frameworks." Daniel read the same page twice without understanding a single sentence. The words slid off his brain like rain.
He closed the book. Stacked it with the others on the table beside him.
At 9:00, the computers booted up.
Six terminals along the back wall. Beige towers humming beneath the desks, CRT monitors flickering to life with that high-pitched whine only old electronics made.
People migrated toward them, claimed their reserved spots, logged on. The mechanical clicking of mice and keyboards filled the quiet hall. A strange new kind of library sound.
Daniel watched from his chair. Waited.
9:12. He pulled out the paper again. Studied each character. The smudged ink could be anything.
9:23. A student at terminal two hunt-and-pecked through what looked like a research paper, the keys clacking in irregular bursts. Daniel watched her backspace through an entire sentence, retype it, backspace again.
9:31. The old man with the newspapers had fallen asleep, head tilted back, mouth slightly open. One of the kids escaped his mother's grip and sprinted toward the stacks before she caught him by the collar.
9:41. A kid at terminal four was playing some kind of game, the speakers making tiny explosion sounds until the librarian glared him into putting on headphones.
What if the URL was wrong? What if Henry had copied it down incorrectly, or the site had moved, or the whole thing was just some elaborate joke? Daniel's leg bounced. He forced it to stop. Started bouncing again without noticing.
9:58. A college-aged kid at terminal three logged off, gathered his backpack, and left without looking back.
Daniel stood.
The chair was still warm when he sat down. The monitor glowed blue, then white, the Windows 95 desktop resolving into focus. The library had set a custom background, some generic image of books and reading glasses. Netscape Navigator icon in the corner, the lighthouse logo slightly pixelated.
He double-clicked.
The browser opened slowly, the Netscape logo animating in the corner. Meteors streaking across a starfield while the page loaded. Daniel clicked the address bar and carefully typed the URL from Henry's paper, double-checking each character against the smudged handwriting.
Hit Enter.
Somewhere in the building's guts, a modem dialed. That distinctive sound of a digital handshake. Screeches and beeps negotiating connection. Tick. Tick. Tick.
The page began to load.
Line by line.
Text appearing gradually, top to bottom, like a message being typed by an invisible hand.
DejaNews - Usenet Archive
Daniel let out a breath he hadn't realized he was holding. It worked. The URL was right.
He clicked "Browse Groups." Another page load, another wait. A search box appeared.
He typed: rec.martial-arts
Clicked search.
Waited.
The results populated slowly. Thread titles, post counts, last activity dates. A wall of text in organized chaos. Hundreds of conversations happening simultaneously, archived and searchable.
Strangers arguing about things Daniel had only ever wondered about alone.
He scrolled, looking for anything about qi or internal energy.
And there, buried among arguments about lineage disputes and style-versus-style debates, he found it.
Subject: Can anyone actually demonstrate qi? - 73 replies
This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author's consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.
Daniel clicked.
From:
Saw a demonstration in Hong Kong last month at a martial arts exhibition. Older gentleman, maybe 60s, broke three concrete blocks with his bare hand. No setup, no tricks, just one strike. The organizers said it was Iron Palm technique.
Is this real internal energy or just decades of conditioning? Can anyone here actually DO this or are we all just theorizing?
From:
Fake. Concrete blocks are pre-scored or low-grade. Stop spreading this mystical BS.
Nobody can "demonstrate" qi because it doesn't exist. Next you'll be asking if anyone can prove their chakras are aligned.
From:
IGNORANT FOOL! Have you even READ the classical texts?? The Inner Canon of the Yellow Emperor Chapter 12 EXPLICITLY explains how qi condenses in the palms through focused breathing and visualization! This is DOCUMENTED ANCIENT SCIENCE not magic tricks!!!
Iron Palm is REAL and has been practiced for CENTURIES. Maybe if you spent less time being a keyboard warrior and actually TRAINED you would understand!!!!
Daniel scrolled faster. The thread devolved from there. People arguing about ancient texts nobody had actually read, accusations of fraud, demands for video proof, someone posting a long excerpt from a book about fascia and bone density that had nothing to do with qi, someone else insisting all Chinese martial arts were useless compared to Western boxing.
Seventy-three replies. Maybe five of them substantive.
He kept scrolling.
From:
All you external stylists are missing the point. REAL martial arts aren't about breaking things. Martial arts are about spiritual development.
If you want to learn about qi, practice the Wuji Stance. Stand in horse stance, arms raised as if embracing the primordial void.
Make a mental image of power sinking from earth through your legs to your hands, focusing on the energy concentrating into your fingertips. Practice daily for 20-30 minutes.
This is how the ancient Taoists trained. Not circus tricks with fake blocks.
More arguing. Daniel rubbed his eyes. The monitor's glow was starting to give him a headache, that particular CRT flicker you didn't notice until you'd been staring too long.
He opened another thread in a new tab.
Subject: Best breathing technique for qi development? - 45 replies
This one was worse. Someone had posted instructions for the Microcosmic Orbit meditation.
A complicated pattern involving visualizing energy up the spine and down the front of the body through specific points.
The instructions were ten paragraphs long and included warnings about "qi deviation" and "damaging your meridians" if done incorrectly.
Half the replies said it was advanced and dangerous for beginners. The other half said it didn't work anyway, so what did it matter.
Daniel shifted in his chair, the plastic creaking beneath him. Checked the clock in the corner of the screen. Twenty-two minutes left.
He tabbed back to the first thread. Kept scrolling.
Subject: Palm qi ball - anyone feel it? - 31 replies
From:
Simple test to prove qi exists:
-
Rub your palms together vigorously for 30 seconds
-
Separate them slowly, about 6 inches apart
-
You'll feel magnetic resistance/pull between them
That's qi building between your palms. Try it. You'll feel it immediately.
The responses split predictably. Half claiming they'd felt it, half insisting it was just heat from friction, not magic.
Daniel sat back. This was useless. Too many voices, too many contradictions, no way to tell what was real and what was wishful thinking.
Wuji Stance, palm qi balls, microcosmic orbits, Iron Palm conditioning. Everyone claimed their method worked. Everyone insisted everyone else was wrong.
He almost logged off.
Then he noticed a post halfway down the original thread. No quote pyramid. No ALL CAPS. No walls of defensive text. Just a clean block of writing that stood out from the noise like a steady voice in a shouting crowd.
From:
Most of you talk, but none of you practice. If you're serious about understanding qi, I'll share what I know.
My great-grandfather preserved these methods through considerable hardship from the Qing Dynasty.
This is not theory. This is practice.
Basic Sensing Exercise:
Sit comfortably with your back straight. Feet flat on floor or legs crossed, whichever is sustainable for you.
Close your eyes. Breathe naturally for one minute to settle your mind and body.
Place your attention just below your ribs, center of your abdomen. In Chinese medicine this is called the dantian. Where qi gathers in the body. Think of it as a reservoir, or a second heart that circulates energy instead of blood.
Inhale deeply through your nose. As you breathe in, visualize a small point of warm light forming at that location. No larger than a bead.
Hold the breath for a count of three.
Exhale slowly through your mouth. As you breathe out, imagine the light glowing steadily, condensing, becoming slightly brighter.
Repeat this cycle for 10-15 minutes minimum. Set a timer if needed.
What to expect:
First attempts: likely nothing. This is normal. Do not be discouraged.
Do not force sensations. If you feel sharp pain, stop immediately and rest.
Results are subtle at first but become undeniable with consistent practice. Try it for one week before dismissing it.
Questions from serious practitioners welcome. I will not engage with mockery.
Daniel leaned forward, elbows on the desk.
The replies came fast.
From:
LMAO "my great-grandfather learned a secret technique" cool story bro. Let me guess, you also studied the Sword of Supreme Oneness and the Eighteen Arhat Golden Bell Body?
From:
"Visualize light" is just another way to say meditation. You're sitting quietly and convincing yourself the silence is mystical energy. Textbook pseudoscience.
Provide peer-reviewed double-blind studies proving qi exists or admit you're spreading unfalsifiable nonsense. The burden of proof is on YOU.
From:
Nice LARP. What's next, your "great-grandfather" also knew the five-point exploding heart technique?
Get a life dude.
From:
Serious question: How do I know if I'm doing the visualization correctly? Is there supposed to be a specific feeling, or is it just imagination?
From:
@WanderingTofu
The visualization is a tool to focus attention, not the goal itself. Think of it as giving your mind an anchor while your body learns to sense what is already there.
When the sensation comes, you will know it is not imagination. It has physical presence. Warmth, pressure, a sense of gathering or movement. Subtle, yes, but distinct from mental imagery.
If you feel pain, you are trying too hard. Let go of expectations. The practice is gentle, patient.
Consistency matters more than intensity. Fifteen minutes daily is better than one hour occasionally.
From:
"When the sensation comes, you will know it is not imagination"
Circular reasoning. "You'll know it's real when you feel it" is exactly what every scam artist and cult leader says. Unfalsifiable claims are worthless.
Still waiting on those peer-reviewed studies, "RisingPhoenix."
From:
@SkepticWarrior
Science has not yet developed methods to accurately measure what we are discussing. This does not mean it does not exist. It means current instruments are insufficient.
You can argue about evidence, or you can practice and discover for yourself. I have done the latter. You are welcome to do the same or not.
I will not debate further with those uninterested in actual practice.
From:
I just tried this exercise. I feel a very faint warmth near my stomach, so subtle I thought I was imagining it.
I don't know what this sensation is or what it means, but it is real and reproducible. Thank you for sharing this, RisingPhoenix72. I will continue practicing.
From:
Nice sock puppet account, RisingPhoenix. Did you forget to log out before praising yourself?
SilentMountain account created 3 days ago, only post is kissing your ass. Totally legit.
From:
LMAO caught red-handed running a sock puppet. Pathetic.
From:
I am not RisingPhoenix72. I created this account just to comment because it works. Believe what you want. I know what I experienced.
From:
@SilentMountain
Consistency is key. The sensation will grow stronger with practice. Do not rush.
To everyone else. I have shared what I know. Try it or don't. Mock it or don't. I will continue answering genuine questions from those seriously interested.
Daniel read the exchange three times.
RisingPhoenix72 never lost his temper. Never took the bait. Never engaged with the trolls beyond brief clarifications. He just calmly answered questions. Like a teacher who'd long since stopped caring. Learn? Then listen. If not, shut up.
The instructions were clear. The expectations realistic. No claims of flying or superhuman strength. No mystical language about ascending to immortality. Just: sit, breathe, focus, repeat.
And someone claimed it worked. SilentMountain, who was immediately accused of being a fake account.
Daniel checked the clock in the corner of the screen. Eighteen minutes left.
He scrolled through the rest of the thread, then the other discussions he'd opened. The Wuji Stance was too vague. Embrace the primordial void. What did that even mean? The palm qi ball seemed like a party trick. The Microcosmic Orbit was intimidating, all those warnings about permanent damage if you did it wrong.
RisingPhoenix72's method was simple. Beginner-appropriate. Low risk.
If it worked, great. If not, he'd waste fifteen minutes sitting quietly. There were worse ways to spend an evening.
Daniel clicked print.
Then, just in case, he printed the Wuji Stance instructions. The palm qi ball thread. Even the Microcosmic Orbit, though he had no intention of trying something that came with warnings about "qi deviation," whatever that meant.
The printer across the room whirred to life. Dot matrix, loud enough that the librarian looked up from her sorting. Daniel crossed to it, fed quarters into the slot by the paper tray. Ten cents a page. Six pages. Sixty cents.
Daniel folded the stack. Slipped it into his back pocket.
Two minutes left on his session.
He returned to the terminal, moved the mouse to log off. The screen asked if he was sure. He clicked yes.
The desktop returned. Then the login screen. Then the librarian was calling the next person's name.
Daniel stood and walked away from the terminal, the folded pages pressing against his leg with every step.