Channeling her Qi into her head, slowly and controlled, her eyes tightly closed, focusing solely on her internal world, she did not see anything, but she could clearly feel it: Qi was penetrating every fiber of her being, strengthening her whole body. By now it was like her lifeblood for her: if you were to remove the Qi, she did not know what would happen to her, but it would not be fun at all.

Shi Shi had not returned even the next day, but Kou was not much concerned about that. The woman did not expect her to come, so why should she be here? She probably was somewhere improving trials to make some poor disciple’s life as miserable as she could...

And so, she had all day to herself. Nobody came in and out to interrupt her, there were no distractions, it was just her and nature.

Kou, as she continued to slowly gather Qi and channel it into her head, fell into a trance-like state. Nothing else was important, just the Qi and herself. This time she found it almost laughably easy to free up the meridian in her head. She could feel how her Qi was flowing quicker and more naturally now; how her head and soul were so much better supplied with Qi.

This was bliss! And this weird trance-like state did not leave her after she opened the meridian - it stayed with her for attuning it to the light Qi she gathered every day at noon. She even made some progress in her normal cultivation; it was like an invisible hand was holding her hand, guiding her to the right step.

Her mind was empty and solely focused on cultivation!

She slowly reached out for a Meridian in her chest. Energy flew into her body, slowly making its way forward. She had opened two Meridians in succession before, but she had quickly understood that this was not a thing that was common or would be repeatable easily again.

But even that went by like a charm, with no problems. Her mind was focused, and her Qi was gentle and moved with her will, slowly opening up a chest Meridian that she left, for now, unattuned. As she had no art to use it for, she would use it for both Darkness and Light, and so it was better to keep it neutral to mitigate the wastage of Qi.

As this trance continued, she felt her energy scratch at the gate that would lead her into the second realm. She was just short of it when suddenly...

It stopped! This amazing feeling was gone. Her mind was back to normal and she immediately felt awful. She was so hungry! She had not felt as hungry as she was now for many, many months. Her throat was dry, and she felt like she would dry out if she didn't get her hands on some water.

Her whole body was shaking, and when she finally opened her eyes - they were rather dry, too - in front of her was Shi Shi, with a half amused half angry expression on her face. She had shaken her out of this state! The first reaction in Kou was somewhat angry. Why would this woman drag her out of this intoxicating cultivation paradise?

"Don't look at me like that, girl. In your current state, you can't just sit there for 2 days straight. You should be thanking me for shaking you up. Now drink this you probably are completely dry."

Shi Shi handed her a gourd filled with spirit water. Kou had no time to express any anger as her body reacted quicker than her mind did. Her hands gripped the gourd and she downed the water inside in one go, leaving her somewhat refreshed. Her eyes also gained some clearness back. As unfortunate as it was, Shi Shi was right: she could not sit around and do nothing but cultivate.

"What were you even thinking girl... What happened? Explain."

And so, Kou explained. How she wanted to do "Closed Door Cultivation,” and how she thought Shi Shi's home was the best for it. How she had packed all her things and told all her friends that she would be gone to cultivate for a while, and came here just to find nobody.

How she made her spot with all the blankets and sat down to cultivate.

"I made some progress with the art I was training to Master yesterday... and today, I wanted to... open a Meridian and do some basic cultivation. I somehow... felt at peace all of a sudden. My mind became blank and everything that was there was cultivation. Everything I did seemed so easy. When I had a problem opening meridians before, this time I opened two without problems. I could feel the Qi inside me so clearly. I could even feel the threshold I needed to reach to step into the next realm clearly."

She blinked slightly; saying it herself like this, it sounded surreal.

Shi Shi stared at her for a moment before she chuckled "To enter enlightenment at such tender age - and so weak - is quite something I'd suppose. Now I almost feel bad for shaking you awake." With a flick of her sleeve a still-hot meat skewer appeared in her hand. She coaxed Kou with it like a puppy and got the girl to obediently sit down and listen while devouring the skewer.

"Enlightenment does not come to everyone, and it might so come once or twice in someone's life. It is a state of mind and being someone can bring themselves into. Most of the time, it happens when someone realizes a problem or finds a solution to something. They get enlightened by it and make great progress on whatever they were working on."

She pulled out another meat skewer to coax Kou into her own lap while she sat down, her arms wrapping around the small girl that immediately came over to nom on the next piece of meat while her tummy was growling like a grown bear.

"That was what you just experienced. Some people think it is a higher being or spirit that takes an interest in you and guides you. Others think it is the wisdom of past lives that shines through into your soul. There are many different explanations, but the most common would be that it is a state of being you can enter yourself with discipline and hard work."

She reached up and started to gently rub Kou's ears. Kou did still feel rather weird about this closeness, and she also felt weird about it how easy it was for Shi Shi to coax her into her lap. She felt like a curious kitten with this old woman, and while it indeed felt... warm and comfortable… there was still this nagging in the back of her head not to trust anybody too deeply.

Shi Shi closed her eyes slowly and felt into the small bundle on her lap. Yes, the child was just half a step away from stepping into the second realm. A day or two of cultivation would be enough to prepare for a breakthrough.

"Once you enter the second realm you will probably have a tail like me." Dropping that bombshell on Kou while she was eating might not be the best idea as the little girl almost choked herself to death. Shi Shi laughingly clapped her on the back.

"What? Did you think you would only get the ears? You have faithfully cultivated the technique I gave you. You even found yourself a Light art to cultivate. This cultivation technique is an heirloom of our line and it stimulates your essence; it helps you to awaken further and further as you grow."

Shi Shi continued to pat the little girl on her lap. "Where I come from, the thing you call awakening and the first realm are still the same. There is no difference for us between the two. We also call our realms differently. You know the people here made up ranks to feel better about themselves. Where I come from, there is the first realm - It's called Qi gathering - the second realm, Qi foundation building, and then, just like here, Core Formation. The first and second realm fall under Qi gathering, and the third and fourth are Qi foundation.

"Once you leave this backwater empire you better remember this. You don't want to be laughed at, after all. The world of cultivation is so much bigger than just core formation.

"Anyway... Once you reach the middle of Qi gathering or the Red Realm, you will grow a tail. You will grow another one once you reach the middle of Qi foundation or the fourth realm. You will also gain one when you reach core formation."

Kou looked at Shi Shi. The woman had 3 tails. "Does that mean you are in core formation?" She tilted her head slowly to side. That would make Shi Shi one of the most powerful people in the empire!

Shi Shi shook her head slightly. "No. I'm actually only at the very peak of the third realm, but I was in Core formation before, and even further up, but I lost those tails long ago. These two will stay as I'm technically still in core formation, but my core is fractured. I've grown too old. Don't worry about it."

Shi Shi avoided any more questions as to why she was how she was. This was not the time to talk about this after all.

"As you gain tails you will gain powers from your bloodline. These function differently from arts. You have full control over your bloodline power, and while it also consumes Qi its strength is fully dependent on how thick your bloodline is."

"As to what power you will gain, we will see. There are a few different variations to be had and not everyone gets the same kind of power. Once you break through, we will have to find out and train it properly, so it's quite good that you have told your little friends that you would be gone for a while."

Shi Shi looked down at the girl. She was wobbling back and forth in a seemingly excited manner. It was uncharacteristically cute for her so Shi Shi smiled once more. "Are you so excited about it?"

Kou blinked in a deadpan way and looked up to, her nodding slightly. "Yes... I also really need to go to the toilet, can you let me go?"