Jia was still reeling a bit after her joint meditation experience with Rika. Eui had rushed off to explain things to her mother and Rika was discussing something with Hayakawa while Narae continued her practice, but Jia was just...processing. Just like when she had first discovered joint cultivation with Eui by accident, a part of Rika had been left behind. That part was giving her a lot of confusing things to think about. Unfortunately, she didn’t have the wherewithal to work through it at the moment—besides which, Rika was trying to get her attention.

“Jia? Jia!”

She shook her head and blinked up at Rika.

“Um, sorry—I was lost in my own thoughts, there.”

Rika chuckled goodnaturedly.

“Well, good to know I’m not the only one who feels weird after that. Anyway, I was talking to Hayakawa, and I just realized that after that session, I’m pretty sure I’m ready to break through to the third stage—I mean...I can still almost remember doing it.”

Jia’s eyes widened.

“Oh! Right, you’ve probably got a whole bunch of our memories stuck in your head now, haven’t you? Too bad the most crucial part of the process isn’t something I can actually remember clearly.”

Hayakawa stepped in, arms crossed.

“That’s actually what we were discussing. It’s been a long time, but you might recall that we once had a...disagreement regarding third-stage breakthroughs in body cultivation.”

Jia frowned as she recalled the memory. Their master, Ienaga Yumi, had revealed to them the secret of her own ascension to the xiantian realm—a forbidden ritual that had involved the sacrifice of a spirit and the creation of ki homunculus to transfer her mind into—and Hayakawa had been upset that Master Ienaga couldn’t teach it to them. As Yoshika, Jia had gotten into a shouting match with Hayakawa after suggesting that her own cultivation method would not suffer the typical bottleneck that body cultivators experienced at the peak of the third stage.

“Uh, yes. I do remember that.”

Hayakawa nodded solemnly.

“I didn’t believe you at the time, and I have to admit that I struggle to believe it even now. However, Rika’s memories corroborate your story. I’ve been hesitant about unified cultivation because of my lack of talent in the other disciplines, but if it truly is the only way to reach xiantian without...that, then I find myself forced to reconsider its merits.”

Jia chuckled.

“Rika, you get one peek into our minds and you start spilling all our secrets?”

She waved her hands urgently as her words elicited pained grimaces from Rika and Hayakawa.

“That was a joke! Sorry! It wasn’t really a secret—we told you about it before, remember?”

Rika let out a relieved sigh.

“Kami, you scared me. I thought I’d really fucked up for a second there. Anyway, I was thinking that I should try to break through before we meet the queen.”

Hayakawa nodded.

“I agree. I would likewise like to begin on the path of unified cultivation, if you would be willing to show me how.”

Jia scratched her head.

“I mean—I don’t mind, but doesn’t a breakthrough take months sometimes? Also, when Eui and I did it, we got hit by a tribulation that Jianmo said should definitely have killed us. We only barely survived because of Eui’s healing and my lightning affinity.”

Rika grinned.

“Yeah, but you guys weren’t expecting it. If we know it’s coming, we can prepare for it, right?”

Jia frowned uneasily.

“Maybe...I’m still pretty worried. It’s your choice, I guess—and I’ll help as much as I can—just, be careful, alright?”

“Of course!”

Normally, Rika’s confident grin might be reassuring, but Jia now knew that part of that confidence came from an urge to always look forward in an effort to forget about the past. Still, she wasn’t going to press—Rika had to break through eventually, and she’d been stuck at her current bottleneck for a while. Hayakawa’s voice cut through her distracted thoughts.

“And my request? I’ll understand if you need more time to think about it.”

Jia shook her head—she needed to stop letting her mind wander like that.

“No, it’s fine. I’m pretty sure I can teach you how to unify your cultivation. We’ll need to do some extra preparation so you don’t end up like Ja Yun, though. Also, I want you to teach me Weightless Fist.”

Hayakawa blinked at her, then laughed.

“You drive a hard bargain, Miss Lee. Although I probably would have taught you anyway if you had simply asked, I accept your terms.”

Jia sighed.

“You can just call me Jia already. I’m getting sick of the formality.”

Hayakawa Kaede paused, and Jia could practically see the internal struggle. Before Jia could tell her not to hurt herself, she nodded resolutely.

“Very well...Jia. In private, you may also refer to me as Kaede. In public, I’ll have to ask you to continue as you have...at least until I can overthrow my father.”

Jia froze, eyes wide as saucers. If she’d been drinking something she would have certainly spit it out.

“W-what?! What happened to what you were saying about exile?”

Hayakawa shrugged.

“I’ve given it some thought. I’d rather not throw myself on the whims of my father’s mercy. I have always intended to surpass him, but now I believe that I can see a path towards realizing that dream—thanks to you. Besides, I think I can better aid our goals as the leader of my country.”

Jia looked up at Hayakawa’s face—full of dread determination—and nodded.

“Right, um...good luck with that.”

“Thank you. In the meantime, I should return to teaching your sister. Apparently she thought she could get away with slacking while I wasn’t looking.”

Narae, who had indeed slowed her practice swings significantly, shot the group a panicked glance and began to swing her wooden sword at double speed. Hayakawa shouted as she approached.

“It’s too late for that now! A hundred more swings—I don’t tolerate laziness!”

“Noooo!”

Days began to blur past once Yoshika had settled into her new home with her family and friends. After the incident with the simulacrum, her parents were given a proper introduction and explanation about Yoshika and her nature. They didn’t entirely understand, but they were supportive, nonetheless. They were especially confused about Heian at first, but her charms quickly won them over and they soon warmed up to their new ‘granddaughter.’

Without much else to do while they waited for word from the palace, Yoshika and friends immersed themselves in training. Ja Yun made swift progress with spiritual techniques, but lagged behind in martial arts despite her enthusiasm for the discipline. Her neutrally aligned soul made training using Yoshika’s manuals a little bit strange—but Yoshika had years of experience experimenting with those techniques, and was able to help walk her through some of them.

Narae picked up Hayakawa’s Weightless Fist incredibly quickly—much faster than Yoshika herself, who struggled with the technique’s poor compatibility with her affinity. Much to Jia’s consternation, Narae also took to the spiritual arts of Body Lightening and the Path of Heavenly Ascension. Before so much as a month had elapsed and while still in her first stage of cultivation, Jia’s little sister had managed to combine her techniques into an ability that made Jia quake with envy.

“Hahaha! Look! Mom, Jia, look!”

Lee Narae zipped back and forth across the courtyard, hovering a few feet above the ground as Heian chased after her in cat form. Jia could barely believe it. Flight was supposed to be exceptionally difficult to accomplish—even as Yoshika it was prohibitively expensive for her to fly for more than a few minutes, and Jia couldn’t do it at all by herself. Eui could only manage a few seconds. Yet here was Narae, in the first stage, flitting about the yard like it was nothing. She’d been doing it for hours. Lee Jung applauded, beaming proudly at her daughter without even appreciating how impossible the display was.

“Don’t fly too high, honey! I don’t want you to get hurt!”

“Okay!”

Narae didn’t seem to appreciate it either. Jia desperately tried to keep the bitterness out of her voice as she spoke to Kaede.

“How is this possible?”

“I’m not entirely certain, myself. It’s...not particularly combat worthy. Watch—Lee Narae! Strike your big sister with everything you have!”

Jia watched as her little sister instantly changed direction, seemingly ignoring her momentum entirely to rocket towards Jia at a dangerous speed. Jia held her hands up to catch Narae, but it turned out to be unnecessary as her little sister flipped around and slammed into Jia feet first with all the force of a gentle breeze. Jia blinked, nonplussed as her little sister bounced off of her, spinning off into the air and giggling profusely when Heian took the opportunity to pounce—tackling her out of the air harmlessly. Kaede shook her head and sighed.

“For the record, she could do the same to Lee Jung with about the same result. I have no idea how she’s doing it, but my best guess is that she’s mixed her techniques together somehow into...whatever this is. She’s entirely incapable of increasing the weight of her attacks, however.”

Jia scratched her cheek awkwardly. That wasn’t exactly ideal for combat, but it certainly looked fun.

“Maybe she’ll learn later. She’s still in the first stage, after all. Plenty of room for improvement. Besides, this is already incredible. How are you and Rika doing?”

Kaede hummed thoughtfully before responding.

“I think Rika is nearly ready to attempt her breakthrough. Are you confident in your barrier formation?”

Jia grimaced. When she wasn’t busy getting completely upstaged by her talented little sister, she’d been hard at work using Dae’s soul sight formation in order to try to complete the barrier spell that Do Hye had used to protect the academy from collateral damage resulting from her tribulation. She’d made a lot of progress but...

“No, not really. It’s getting close—and it can even work as a functional barrier now—but I don’t think it’s going to be enough to withstand a tribulation’s lightning bolt. Besides, Rika needs to be able to create it herself or it will just make things worse.”

Kaede nodded.

“You’ll likely have more time to work on it. We’re expecting to hear from the palace soon, and depending on when our first audience is to be held, we may not have time to make the attempt.”

“What about you? When are you planning to unify your cultivation?”

“After the audience. I may need to show my strength, so I will wait for now.”

Jia frowned.

“That’s a familiar excuse. Eunae and Dae said the same things before the academy tournament.”

Kaede raised an eyebrow, looking askance at Jia.

“Were they wrong? Princess Seong and Hyeong Daesung presented a formidable challenge during our last confrontation.”

Jia shrugged.

“Probably not. I’m just saying that there will always be a reason to hold onto the strength you have now at the expense of your future potential. Sometimes you just have to take a risk.”

Kaede regarded her archly for a moment.

“Perhaps. Though I think you could afford to be a little more risk-averse, Jia. Either way, I’ve made my decision.”

That was Kaede for ‘I will not accept any further arguments,’ so Jia dropped it there. After only a few more days, Kaede’s prediction turned out to be spot on, and they received their summons. Kaede had been expecting a schedule for an audience weeks or even months later, but when they received the letter, their audience turned out to be much sooner than anticipated.

In only one week, they’d be meeting the Queen of Goryeo, Seong Eunhee.