The Teacher clasped his hands behind his back, squaring his slouching shoulders.

“I will now discuss something largely recognized as the cycle of generation.”

Murmurs spread throughout the audience.

“Within this cycle, one element serves as the parent element- enriching, nourishing... strengthening. The parent element promotes the growth and development of the child element.”

He surveyed the crowd.

“Does this metaphor of relationships make sense? Good.” He nodded once.

“Now, observe!” The Teacher’s voice boomed across the martial arena. He extended both hands, palms facing upward.

“Wood feeds the fire.”

His left hand flashed red- a ball of flame spontaneously blossoming over the palm, its flames hungrily dancing. His right hand simultaneously flashed green- a floating hunk of light-brown wood appeared, granules of dirt flaking off.

Then he slowly brought the two together, upturning his right hand to float the wood into the center of the fire, which flashed a deeper red and grew to over two feet in height.

Some children exclaimed with delight, others with fear- this was such a bright and powerful fire! However, the fireplaces in their homes did not react this way when their mother or father added more wood. Perhaps this was a trick?

Some of the children were of noble birth and nearing the age of adulthood- they found this display boring and even bordering on an insult to their intelligence. What properly educated person didn’t know that wood fed fire and fire devoured wood? It was so apparent that they felt nothing but scorn and ridicule in their young hearts for this Old Man. Who was he to be tempting their younger peers with bright, flashy displays to appear profound and full of wisdom?

And for the first time in many lectures, some of the audience rudely stood in the middle of the Teacher’s words and left with their parents.

The parents ushered their children out of the martial arena with glowing smiles and heaping praises, distinctly proud of their children for seeing through the Old Man’s tricks. Some took the opportunity to explain that life would throw many swindlers into their paths, and if they weren’t ready or let their imaginations run too freely, disaster would befall them and their families.

The Teacher didn’t pay those leaving any attention, not so much as a glance in their direction as he continued the lecture. Instead, he would summon two elements in each hand and slowly combine them to show the reactions.

“Fire creates earth...Earth bears metal... Metal collects or purifies water... and water nourishes wood.”

The Teacher dismissed the final combination of elements with a swish of his sleeves.

“What I have just shown was the elemental generation cycle. Of course, this knowledge is well known; most of you have long been aware of these relationships. However, I was a visual learner in my youth and always found it helpful to see how the elements reacted with one another, rather than being told.”

The Teacher shrugged offhandedly.

“And so, this is how I have chosen to teach. And allow me to say this last thing I wish you to consider as the lecture continues.”

“You may know how something works, but do you know why it works?”

Lights seemed to go off some of the children’s minds.

Why did fire react to wood in such a manner? Why did wood absorb the water? The Teacher’s words were a massive wave washing over the audience as wonder and curiosity sparkled in the children’s eyes. There was so much to learn! How did it all work? Were those people who could fly able to control things like The Teacher?

The Old Man nodded once with satisfaction after seeing how his words affected his audience.

“Good. Now then, the controlling cycle: one element suppresses, dominates, or weakens another element- preventing it from achieving its full potential.”

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The teacher clapped his hands together.

“Think now, think now! Does anyone have an example of a controlling cycle element interaction?”

The audience was silent. Most were too afraid to speak. Others were flushed red from thinking of standing and speaking out in such a crowd, while others were bored and no longer paying attention.

“Ah? Truly no one? Very well, I shall complete this cycle and show examples of the interactions, but-” he held up a finger, “-someone must contribute to the lecture by answering any following questions I might have, or the lecture will end.”

He did not allow anyone to respond before diving into the explanation of the controlling cycle, holding out both palms once more and conjuring the elements with their respective flashes of color.

“A metallic knife can cut the wood into pieces, controlling its shape without destroying the intrinsic elemental Qi...”

“Wood can break the ground- consider tree roots...” Flash!

“Earth can soak up water- blocking its flow...” Flash!

“Water can control Fire- dousing a flame...” Flash!

“Fire can melt metal- steel in a furnace...” Flash!

The teacher clasped his hands behind his back, the most recent example of the fire and metal elements dissipating on the wind like some sort of ephemeral phantasm.

“What you have seen were examples of the elemental controlling cycle.”

“Next: the overwhelming cycle.” The Old Man flicked a sleeve and clasped his hands behind his back.

“The situation in which the parent elements are in excess! This stifles the relationship we just discussed in the cycle of generation.”

“Too much wood smothers fire.”

“Too much fire leaves no earth.”

“Too much earth hides metal, and so on- the idea, however, is extraordinarily powerful!”

The Teacher’s voice boomed as he passionately emphasized the importance of this cycle and how it held profound secrets and knowledge to those intuitive enough to grasp its underlying meaning.

“Every one of you should understand, or will come to understand, the phrase- ‘everything in moderation.’”

Hushed whispers erupted amongst the children as they deliberated excitedly with their peers, trying to figure out what the Teacher’s words could mean. The adults smirked or looked bored. Such a phrase was very common. They found no value in the Old Man’s words.

“Well,” The Teacher continued, “perhaps not everything in moderation- there are alchemical positive feedback essence cycles...” He started tangentially speaking before coming back to himself.

“Ah, ahem, but that field of study is for another day! Now then... where was I?” He cupped his chin- then nodded.

“Ah, yes, right- now we have something known as the weakening cycle. This topic within the elemental Qi cycle is incredibly fascinating and extensively studied.”

He started pacing back and forth across the martial stage.

“The weakening cycle is an imbalance within the controlling cycle, where that which is destroyed injures the destroyer.”

Hundreds of little eyebrows furrowed in the audience, and frowns abounded.

The Teacher stopped pacing and looked across the assembled children with a severe gleam in his eye.

“Do not think!” His shout was surprisingly mighty for such a frail-looking figure, and many were startled in their seats.

“Do not think- listen.” He softly urged, his voice somehow conveying both a sense of pleading melancholy and command.

“Listen here.” He placed a skinny hand over his heart. He started lecturing again without pause.

“The imbalance follows along the opposite route of the Qi cycle; each element can insult the one that normally restrains it. The reverse of the Qi cycle normally occurs when the balance is broken, especially when one element is insufficient.”

“Excess wood insults metal..."

"Excess metal insults fire..."

"Excess fire insults water..."

"Excess water insults earth..."

"Excess earth insults wood...”

He would stand still and extend both hands, summoning the respectively mentioned elements and showing their interactions. Finally, he dismissed the final pairing of earth and wood with flicks of his wrists.

“Earth can bury wood. Water washes away the earth. Fire evaporates water. And on, and on, and on- an endless cycle!”

“However,” he held up a finger, “-these are simply the unidirectional aspects of the elemental cycles.”

He lowered his hand and clasped his hands in front of him.

“I will now bring them all together.”

Murmurs erupted in the stands. Some adults showed vague interest as the Old Man was now discussing the elements outside their known interactions.

“The Sheng and Qi cycle forms a system that balances the universe. It functions to ensure that each element relates to another.”

Nearly every eye in the audience was glowing with confusion.

All except for one pair of eyes that glowed with relentless curiosity.

“Wood restrains earth, but at the same time, the earth promotes metal, which then restrains the wood. So in this instance, metal ensures that wood does not excessively restrain the earth.”

The Teacher started pacing again as he expounded on the intricacies of elemental interactions.

“Then, of course, there is the Qi and Wu cycle which represents the conflicting aspect: Wood can break the ground, but the earth can bury wood, too.”

“Earth can absorb water, but water can cover the land.”

“Water can extinguish a fire, but a fire might evaporate water.”

“Fire can melt metal, but metal might not melt before the fire is extinguished.”

“Metal can cut wood, but metal might become dull before breaking the wood.”

The Old Man stopped pacing.

“And finally, there is the Wu and Cheng cycle that simply comes back to the discussion of the overwhelming cycle, where if any of the elements are overabundant, they can disrupt the balance of the circle.”

The earlier confusion in the children’s eyes turned to enthusiasm! They understood! What a fantastic day this was. They wanted to run to their parents and excitedly talk about all the new things they had learned.

But then, their attention was once more stolen as the Teacher’s voice boomed out.