Yan Yun felt her Qi churn in her dantian, reflecting the conflicted state of her mind. For the first time in many years, Yan Yun had decided to run away from her sparring sessions and escape to her little hideout.

A part of her had been hoping, perhaps she’d find Lu Jie around, but much to her disappointment, the boy was nowhere to be seen and neither was his mysterious lover. Yan Yun wasn’t surprised, the two had only really been meeting every seven days, not visiting her little grove otherwise.

She’d continued to stroll leisurely through the grove, feeling a defiant sense of pleasure at having skipped a lesson for the first time when her attention had been caught by a familiar Qi tinged with the smell of spirit herbs.

A few moments of conflict later, Yan Yun had decided to follow the Qi, to try and see what Lu Jie was up to. She’d already ran away from her lessons, so she may as well have some fun while at it.

And that was how Yan Yun had found herself smack in the middle of the city, as people walked by around her, their eyes trailing her steps. By the way even the women stared at her as she walked, she assumed it wasn’t just because of her beauty.

Then the realisation hit her. She was wearing her spirit gown! Lightning crackled along her clothes, as Leiyu let out his Qi, shaking its head at her.

Yan Yun is too rebellious. Elder would be displeased. Yan Yun should read distinguished texts of the great Elders, and not those frivolous things she has picked up again. Leiyu is displeased.

Yan Yun held back a snort at her spirit’s words. Leiyu was far too haughty and stuck up about growing in strength.

You enjoy this far more than I do, Leiyu. Grandfather can eat his anger for a day, he should be busy with the sect and his own disciples anyways.

Yan Yun felt Leiyu’s dissatisfaction. Her thunder eagle spirit would prefer to fly freely across the plains and test its mettle against the wild spirits around these parts. Mostly it’d just be him traumatising the local spirits, and she wanted no part in that.

Yan Yun hurriedly suppressed her presence in the city. At her strength, even mundane people could sense the crackle of thunder permeating around her, causing little sparks to occur. She could do little about her clothes, but thankfully a single pulse of Qi had the extravagant design change to a much simpler outfit. Any cultivator would be able to sense the Qi present in it, but at least she wouldn’t stand out any more than she already did.

All this effort for a worthless outer sect boy. Peh, Leiyu is going to sleep.

Yan Yun felt Leiyu cut off his senses, as the arrogant ball of zapping feathers went to sleep in her Dantian. Yan Yun continued on her path, walking through the streets undeterred as she continued to follow Lu Jie’s Qi.

A short distance ahead, she noticed a gathering of people standing around a merchant who waved an amulet in his arm. His words made Yan Yun frown, the bold proclamations not standing up to the truth. The amulet could possibly hold a fourth realm cultivator, but it would also run out and break quickly if used too often.

Yan Yun paused when she saw Lu Jie walk up to the merchant before he took a stance. Qi pulsed around the boy, it’s movements not matching at all with the gentle herb tinged Qi she’d come to associate with him, but a heavier, more brutish method.

She frowned when she noticed his blow lacked any meaningful impact, his Qi expelled outwards to create a shockwave instead. Intentional? Yan Yun didn’t know, but it only made the boy more curious. Was he truly as terrible at the martial path as he let on?

Yan Yun continued to watch as Lu Jie walked behind the merchant stall. Perhaps he was working with the merchant to make the amulet seem better than it was by putting on a show? Yan Yun frowned as she continued to watch, she noticed a boy handing a single spirit stone to Lu Jie and she felt her suspicions confirming. She was about to walk up to him, when she paused as Lu Jie returned the spirit stone shaking his head. He stood there for a moment, saying something before he started to make his way further ahead.

Yan Yun felt confused, and decided to continue a bit further. A part of her told it was extremely beneath her, to be following a disciple from the sect through the city like this. Yet, Yan Yun had never cared about how people saw her much anyways. It was only her grandfather’s expectations that had kept her maintaining the facade of a prodigious young lady.

She saw Lu Jie stop in his tracks, for a moment, and she wondered if her presence had slipped out somehow. Her eyes followed his gaze, and Yan Yun felt her heart start to beat in excitement as she felt a faintly familiar Qi presence in the distance.

She’d just found his lover.

Yan Yun felt her excitement rising, as she saw Lu Jie head on in the side alley where his lover had been. Pushing down on her flaring Qi, she made sure she was making no noise, as she began to follow.

***

I felt a bit silly as I continued to follow behind Su Lin through the narrowing streets. The bustling city was turning more quiet as we walked away from the merchants and the carts and carriages and transitioned into quiet neighborhoods of people going about their daily lives with smaller shops that sat around watching the day pass.

I maintained my distance from Su Lin, trying to stay outside his sight as he walked by, stopping occasionally here and there. A few minutes of stalking almost had me bored and about to turn around and go on my day when I felt a very faint pulse of Qi from up ahead.

Returning my attention, I turned from the little corner I had been standing in to find Su Lin gone from my sight. I tried to sense for any cultivator with Qi nearby, but my senses showed nothing.

“Well damn, wonder if he felt me walking behind him or something,” I muttered to myself. It was a miracle that Labby hadn’t busted me yet, and a small check at my pouch showed that Labby had somehow fallen asleep.

Somewhat like an excited kid, ready to go on a trip, but then falls asleep there. It was adorable.

I looked back at the path where I’d come from when a realisation just dawned on me. I had no idea where I was, and how I was supposed to go back.

“Well… damn it,” I muttered, standing awkward as I glanced all around the place. I looked at a couple of people walking nearby, their eyes turning towards me. The moment I looked at any of them, they’d bow slightly before hurrying to be on their way.

Yeah, I wasn’t getting anything out of these people.

I shrugged, and resigned myself to some blind exploration and whatever punishment I may get to be late to my sect duties.

I vaguely tried to map the way the kid had told me to go, and where I may be. It wasn’t like I’d completely forgotten how I’d gotten here. I took a right turn, heading in what I hoped would be the alchemy shop I was told about.

Memories from Lu Jie’s home started to come forward as I made my way through the narrow alleyways. His home had been much smaller than this city, and the houses much widely spaced considering how it was a village. Yet something about the simple clothing and the lack of cultivators made those memories start to come forth.

All the more so because of that, it was difficult to ignore just how different cultivators were from regular people. I hadn’t realised it whatsoever, being among cultivators for all the while I’d been here, but my gait was far faster, my breath much steadier, and my presence much stronger than a regular person’s.

It hammered in the reality of what cultivation truly held as a promise, the rewards so great and tantalising that I could somehow understand why people chased so madly after it. Yet, if it was such a boon to cultivate, then why limit it to such a small number of people who could do that?

The question bothered me, and I wondered if perhaps, all these limitations to sect and talent, were just to hoard Qi? The idea that Qi was a finite resource hadn’t left my mind. Perhaps I was wrong, and Qi was only finite in the way the sun’s energy was finite. But if not, then limiting cultivation techniques to only those with a higher potential than others would make sense.

I of course disagreed with that practice. Far more can be done if such a resource was shared equally. Things that could never be done back home could be made feasible here. Death and disease didn’t necessarily have to be a concern, if everyone could simply cultivate and take alchemical pills.

The ideas began to jumble up. This wasn’t anything new that I’d just thought of, but these thoughts only became stronger the longer I stayed, and the more I learned about this world. I continued to walk through the streets, lost in my own thoughts of how I could spread cultivation to a larger number of people without bringing the world on my head when a sharp cold blade pressed against my neck, Qi pulsing its edge.

I felt myself be pushed against the wall as I turned around to see the face of my assailant. A rat-like face, and two crooked teeth stared back at me, as I watched my partner in crime.

“Lu Jie?” Su Lin murmured with his eyes wide with surprise.

I gulped, before I returned a smile as charming as a smile I could with a blade pressed against my neck.

“What a coincidence to see you here Su Lin,” I replied cheerfully, when something in the guy’s gaze told me that wasn’t going to work.

Well, shit.