It had been a couple hours since Chao and his father left Huifen alone, and she’d still yet to fall asleep. Long Zan had said that the boy had given her a lot to think about, and she hadn’t even realized how true that was until she was left to her own thoughts.

As her mind was churning over the last couple day’s events, she found herself watching the fire as it dwindled. She was no expert, but the wood used was lasting far longer than common firewood should. That in itself wasn’t too strange since the owner of this cabin was at least in the sky realm, but it was just another example as to how paculiar this father and son pair was.

Her thoughts weren’t the only thing keeping her from being able to sleep. The greatest culprit was her current inability to use Heart of Ice. With it she could control her emotions with merciless effectiveness. She could focus on what she wanted when she wanted. In the hands of an undisciplined youth, after its mastery, they could become methodical cultivators and make great leaps in their cultivation levels in a short time.

She’d used it religiously for eight years, and now that she couldn’t for a time, she was being bombarded with the emotions that she could normally ignore. Even subtle things like the sense of wonder she felt while watching the fire was compounded because she was so unused to it. But there were far more ardent passions she was having to deal with.

The memory of her confrontation with the snow fox brought her anger and shame. Regardless of her standing and after all she’d been through, a single dire beast had brought her to this sorry state—with one swipe of its paw no less. What would her sisters of the Ice Phoenix Sect who looked up to her think if they found out?

The memory of their looks and cruel words from when she’d first arrived at the sect eight years ago still stung like fresh burns, but the wetness in her eyes wasn’t from bitterness. They were her pride. Many of the same girls now looked up to her with admiration and respect. Even though she was younger than most of them, they called her Lead Sister and came to her with questions about their cultivation and techniques. Her physique had once made her feel alone in the world, but through hard work, she’d earned a place for herself, and the curse of a young girl had become her glory.

Then, she thought of the young man who’d saved her. The feelings he alone stirred up made her feel like she was being dunked into an ocean of emotions all at once. She was furious at being save by a man with such a low cultivation, one who wielded illusions no less, but also full of gratitude and awe. He hadn’t faltered for an instant in facing a dire beast two large realms higher than he was. She remembered him using what she now knew were wind laws to blow her out of his path so he could face the snow fox without her getting in the way. She wanted to laugh. Then the way he’d been standing over her when she’d awoken and how he’d clumsily tried to help her was utterly embarrassing. Even after she’d found out he’d been the one who saved her and given him permission to help dress her wounds, she’d nearly lost herself when he’d touched her back. She’d hid it well, but she wanted to kill him just thinking about it. He was irksome beyond belief.

But then again, when she paired his touch with what happened next, she felt a strange sense of longing that was even more irritating. The young man with the little dragon in his palm and the way he looked up at her was a puzzle she wasn’t sure she had all the pieces to. He wasn’t a boy at all, and the liveliness she saw in his eyes had been seared into her memory. Even if she were to one day marry, besides his strange talent with the elements, he was the furthest thing from husband material she could imagine. He lacked confidence, could be a blooming idiot, and his cultivation was low even for an outer disciple of her sect. Not to mention that he trained both sword and spear of a yang martial cultivation yet used a general qi energy gathering method. Who’d even heard of such a convoluted mess? And yet somehow, he was capable of what no one else was…

He was courageous and loved cultivation in his own way. He should be in a large sect to make something of himself. Why his father, who was clearly an expert cultivator in his own right, would keep him here to waste his talent was vexing in the least. She almost wanted to take him with her. He’d be a boon to her sect, and even if his cultivation never exceeded the earth realm, she could imagine him becoming an exceptional instructor. Maybe even perfecting his own cultivation techniques that might one day be approved for others to make use of. At an earth realm, with some lucky chances, he could extend his life to a thousand years. She couldn’t even hope to imagine what he might invent in that time.

A chord resounded from outside the cabin, followed by the flutter of what sounded like the skillful strumming of a stringed instrument. It held a traditional twang that fit this countryside cabin well.

As the song got underway, it grabbed ahold of her unlike any music ever had. This wasn’t just because Heart of Ice was inactive. This music was flowing with power which penetrated her very being and forcibly injected sorrow into her soul.

She rolled over on her side because she had no other choice but to wrap herself in her arms. The tears that had already been flirting with her eyelids before now poured down her cheeks. Because she relied so much on using a cultivation technique to numb her emotions, she was the perfect victim for such an assault.

The door to the cabin opened, and she desperately tried to clear the wet from her eyes, but she was completely defenseless. She buried her face in her pillow.

“Here,” came the voice of Chao’s father.

She turned her head just enough to see an unremarkable handkerchief drooping down from above.

“Thank you,” she said. Her voice came at a whimper. She took the handkerchief and held it to her eyes for a moment before gaining partial control over her tear ducts.

A couple consecutive knocks came from the side of the bed, and she looked out from behind the cloth to see that Long Zan had placed a chair in front of her and sat down. It wasn’t uncomfortably close, but close enough for them to have a private chat.

“This should also help.” With a pulse from his hand, a gush of energy flew out and wrapped the space around them. Immediately, the sound was muted a great deal. “I thought you might be having difficulty, so I came to give you some company. The music should only last an hour.”

With the sound muffled, she found most of the power of the music had disappeared. “What is it?”

“Chao is luring the surrounding lingering spirits to cultivate his mother’s garden with their energy. The tune will change in a few minutes, and I’ll let you hear it. It’s a cheerful one.”

“His mother…” She stopped herself after remembering Chao’s reaction when she’d tried asking him.

Senior Zan didn’t wait for her to finish her question. He looked past her as if into the recess of his memories as he spoke. “She was the one that taught him to play and how to use the spiritual energy to cultivate the herbs.”

“Isn’t it dangerous?”

He chuckled. “Extremely, but not for him, and it wasn’t for his mother. He first joined her in the practice at the age of three. He’d already touched on the second law of fire then and would try his best to summon a spark in his lap while she played her pipa. When she died, he took over the practice and has been doing it ever since.”

“But, with all due respect, Senior, that can’t be right. A young child can’t even comprehend heaven’s laws, let alone use them. Either he’s an inconceivable genius or something…else.”

“You’re right. According to common wisdom and practice, not only should he not be capable of such a thing, but trying should have ended tragically in his crippling or death. But it’s not what you think. He’s an average human, just as his mother was. Even his physique is only extraordinary in how common it is. It’s the same for his talent and perception. Only his mental ability is above average, and though he’s brilliant in his own way, he’s far from what the outside world would consider a genius.”

“Then how?”

“Now that’s the question isn’t it…”

He didn’t give her a solid answer her for a long while. As Huifen studied him, even though he’d closed her off to the powerful music, she was still without Heart of Ice, and her emotions had been stirred into a tumult just minutes before. Despite the man’s plain dress, she felt that he was incredibly handsome. His son shared much of his good looks, but years of martial training had given the father a powerful frame and the pure masculinity that came from yang cultivation. He was—

She immediately diverted her eyes and stifled her musing. He was telling her of his son and dead wife, and yet she was having such thoughts. Though age wasn’t a big issue among cultivators because they could live hundreds or even thousands of years, she had already committed herself to a life without such passions.

It’s only for a few more days. You can do this.

Senior Zan chose that moment to respond. “His mother surrounded him with the elements and the use of laws before he’d even learned to walk. Her mother had done the same for her. When he Borrowed his first flame, he wasn’t even two. It took her three days to calm me down. She explained it to me then, and I didn’t really believe it, but after all these years, it can no longer be denied. He doesn’t know the laws through theory as the old monsters of this world do. As he watched his mother practice them day in and day out, he learned them through feel. To feel the elements themselves and his mother’s joy in using them. You’ve seen that look in his eyes, yes?”

She could hear the affection in his voice, and she was once again fighting back tears without knowing why they trying to fall down her face. “I have.”

“That is his genius and also the gift of his mother. He is out there now, tending the garden, not because it needs tending but because he’s spending time with the memory of her. But it’s not just a sorrowful practice. Listen.”

She hadn’t even noticed that the tune had changed, but Senior Zan had just pulled back his sound dampening barrier and the music crashed in on her. The entire world brightened as the new sound took her. Every trace of sorrow had disappeared, and elation filled her heart to the brim. She wiped another set of tears from her eyes, but these were different than before and matched the joy of the music. This was getting to be too much for her to handle, but she also didn’t want it to end.

A solemn grin spread across Senior Zan’s face. “What she shared with Chao more than anything else was her joy. She had a fanatical fascination for heaven’s laws, and she shared that with the boy whether he liked it or not. And not only did he like it, but he is his mother’s son.”

He sat forward in his chair and turned his eyes on her. “His mother was a beautiful woman in her own right, but only in a common sense. She didn’t have an exquisite physique or a genius’s cultivation level. But never in all my years have I found someone that enjoys cultivation for the pure joy of it as she did. Chao is the same. He doesn’t do it for power or revenge, riches or women, or even immortality. He cultivates because it’s fun to him and there’s nothing else he’d rather do.”

Huifen couldn’t help but to look at Senior Long like a child carried away by a well-told story. In truth, that’s exactly what she was, and with him, there were no illusions of her being anything else.

When he narrowed his eyes, she could only look up at him helplessly, unsure where he was going next. “Now let me ask you a question,” he said. “Your goal is the apex of the martial arts, yes? And I don’t mean that you want to become the Greatest Under Heaven in this small world, but in the greater divine realm…”

“Yes, Senior, it is.” She knew she couldn’t hide anything from him, so she didn’t try.

“Then I advise you to make a special effort to examine your heart and feelings while you are here. The Heart of Ice is a powerful technique, and it’s impossible to deny its usefulness. But at the same time, it’s a two-edged sword. With your talent and physique, I’d be surprised if it takes you ten years to ascend to the divine realm. Most of the bottlenecks that keep people from progressing shouldn’t even exist to you. Outside of disaster, the thing most likely to stop you from reaching the apex is your Heart of Ice technique.”

“I don’t understand,” she replied. She should have been offended, but she sensed no animosity from him.

“The intensity of your reaction to Chao’s music should be all the example you need to see how dangerous it is. You’ve traded emotional maturity for cultivation speed and meticulous self-control. Now, because of his sound laws, this music is abnormal, but don’t let that dissuade you from the truth. If used sparsely, Heart of Ice can be of great benefit, but what effect do you think it will have on you after decades, centuries, and even millennia… Not only will it numb your emotions, but it will eliminate your motivation to cultivate. Whether it’s by fate or, as my wife would’ve said, providence, you’ve arrived here and are unable to cultivate for a time. Take full advantage of it. I could just be an old man who’s full of hot air, or this could be a pivotal time that you look back fondly on thousands of years from now.”

“Why are you helping me? I haven’t even paid your son back for the debt I owe him, and yet you’re treating me with the same care as if I were family or your own disciple…”

“Does an old man need a reason?” He smiled as if he was remembering something. “I used to prescribe to the cultivator’s philosophy of paying back friends double and enemies tenfold. Then, I met Chao’s mother. If it weren’t for her lack of ambition and unwillingness to harm a soul, she could have had or accomplished anything, and no one could’ve stopped her in this tiny realm. And as for the divine realm, I would have loved to see what she could’ve accomplished… When we met, she was a lowly cultivation of a mid-tier earth realm who happily cultivated her garden, helped the local community, and practiced mercy and kindness rather than conquest and seeking the martial path. You could say she rubbed off on me. I also think this will be a good opportunity for Chao to learn a bit about the outside world. He’s the opposite of you in the sense that he also lacks ambition as his mother did, but if he were to live long enough, even after you lose all sense of motivation due to your Heart of Ice technique, he’d still be cultivating his mother’s garden and experimenting with the laws until the day he died.”

When Senior Zan didn’t continue, she didn’t speak. Even though what he was telling her went against everything she was taught, it sounded undeniable. She had her eyes set on a place far beyond what most Ice Phoenix Sect members would ever dare to reach for. Though she wouldn’t take his word for it, she would consider everything he said. If she were to ever reach the apex, she wouldn’t get there by being dragged there by others. She would stand alone. This was something she needed to figure out for herself.

“The last song is starting,” Senior Zan said. “It will help you get some sleep. Don’t fight it. Sleep will help your body heal as much as anything else.”

“Yes, senior,” she replied, her eyes were already turning heavy. The Enhanced song had change to that of a lullaby. The last thought she had as her consciousness faded was that of Chao’s childlike gaze as he had shown her what he could do. She couldn’t give up Heart of Ice after all it had done for her, but after seeing his joy, she wondered if it was possible to have both.

***

His fingers plucked the strings of his pipa with such familiarity that his attention was elsewhere, and yet he didn’t miss a note. Chao had gone through the motions of cultivating his mother’s garden, but his true focus was on the conversation between Huifen and his father.

With his forth-level sound laws, despite having the perceptions of a lower level nascent realm cultivator, there wasn’t a sound in many kilometers that could escape his notice if he didn’t want it to. Even through his father’s barrier, he hadn’t missed a word.

He simply funneled their voices through what he thought of as a sound tunnel and guided them to his ears.

It was Senior Sister’s sniffling that had drawn his attention, but they’d immediately started talking about him, so he found it difficult to pull away. The moment something private was brought up, he told himself that he had the integrity to stop listening and he even intended to. But once Father had begun speaking of Mother… Even now, his father rarely showed so much passion. He was certainly a different person from the lifeless man who’d been going through the motions after his mother’s death, but Chao knew there was something still missing. A piece of his father had died when she had.

Although Chao’s eyes had at first swollen while listening in, that state had long past. His father had said he had no ambition, and in front of Fairy Huifen no less. How could he say such a thing? How could she possibly like him if she thought so little of him?

Is that what he wanted? Her to think well of him? He’d been interested in girls before. There was even talk of him marrying Yu Sying. She was amongst the most beautiful girls his age in all the Redwood Aurora and would make an excellent wife, but he wasn’t as content as his father believed. Not that he’d done much to convince him of that. He’d been told at sixteen that he could go find a sect or profession, but he still hadn’t left, and his father didn’t push him.

If Huifen was the proposed marriage partner, then, he would’ve already accepted the idea and pursued her. But she wasn’t, nor was she interested in ever marrying. From her conversation with Father, her goal was the very apex of the martial arts. Maybe that’s what intrigued him so much about her. She had a heavenly beauty and a terrifying personality. She knew what she wanted and was even fighting sky realm dire beasts to get it.

But did he truly lack ambition? He’d always planned on joining a sect. It was just a question of when. His current goal was reaching large success with the third law of all his elements. Before leaving, all that was left was just to get lightning to that level… He hated to admit it, but maybe his father was right. He was content here. This place held the memory of his mother, and he could experiment here with the laws all he wanted. In many ways, it was a good life. But could he settle for good? Was Huifen settling for just good?

The beginnings of a new resolve started to settle in his heart and mind.

His father had said that he’d continue cultivating his garden even after Huifen lost all desire to go on. He’d have his motivations, but he’d still die, and Huifen would still be alive somewhere in the divine realm without him. In the end, it still sounded like her win and his loss.

His father had also said he’d be surprised if she didn’t ascend within ten years. It was like she was destined for greatness and he would remain a simple tinkerer of laws in the back country of the lower realms. That just didn’t sit right with him.