Chao did his best to not let on that he’d heard anything from Huifen’s conversation with his father. The old man had left them alone anyway, so they continued as they had the day before. When he saw her again, she was no longer dressed in the outfit he’d given her, but a well-fit dress as blue as ice that fully covered her arms and back. As expected, she seemed more attentive to him but also more distracted, as if often deep in thought.

He was able to disguise his behavior by simply smiling any time she looked to be noticing he was devising something. Such expressions were still uncomfortable for her, and after the one smile she’d given him, she hadn’t done so again. That didn’t mean she’d grown more distant. She was far more forgiving toward his awkward slipups and even his minor teasing. But to say he hadn’t been affected by the conversation she’d had with his father was as far from the truth the earth was from the sky.

His storage ring was tight on space, so there wasn’t much extra room for herbs, food, and water. He knew she could go without the same level of resources that he needed, so he was determined not to be a hindrance. He slowly gathered things into his ring.

That night would be the last normal one they’d have together before she left the following night. As they sat on the stumps in the garden as he played his happy tune, he said to her. “Tomorrow, you’ll start cultivating again. Will you return to using Heart of Ice immediately?”

“I will,” she replied. “It will help me regain focus for my energy gathering. I’ll probably experiment with it on and off while we practice laws. I haven’t forgotten what you’ve said about the importance of connecting emotions with the use of laws.”

“Can you promise me one thing?”

“What is it?”

“Sit with me again tomorrow while I cultivate the garden, and at least during this song, don’t use it.”

“You think to persuade me to stop using it?”

“No, but wouldn’t you think there was something wrong with me if I didn’t try reminding you of how fun life can be at every chance I get?”

“Okay, then. I promise.”

“Thank you.”

“For what?”

“For sharing so much of your time here with me while in your vulnerable state. I can’t say that I know what it’s like, but I know it has been difficult for you. I’m eternally grateful.”

She turned away and didn’t respond. A while later, she turned back as it she was going to say something but decided against it.

That night, he took full advantage of his time with her. Regardless of what happened tomorrow, it was unlikely they’d ever have time like this again, so he didn’t work on any of his own experiments but gave her his full attention.

In the morning, it was the first day he’d woken up that she wasn’t still asleep. He greeted her half expecting her to be a different person because of Heart of Ice, but her greeting was the same as always.

He went straight to his chores. The quicker he got to cultivation, the more heaven and earth qi he’d be able to absorb. He doubted she’d find the time to use his homemade shower today, but he filled it up anyway. The gesture meant a lot to him even if she didn’t notice.

When he arrived at the garden to cultivate, she’d already eaten breakfast without him and was sitting not too far away, lost in mediation. The water qi there was easier for her to absorb and convert into ice energy. She could use heaven and earth qi, but it was like placing damp logs on the fire when trying to use it with her fully formed ice dantian. They burned, but it was much less efficient. At least she had the option. Until Chao’s dantian was fully formed at the beginning stages of the earth realm, whatever kind of qi he absorbed would directly affect what kind of laws he could use. He could also sense the presence of an Ice Artifact that she was holding in her lap. The ice qi was richer around her, and her aura had already far surpassed his at his peak.

He sat down on his stump and began the process himself. He wanted to invite her to sit next to him, but he wouldn’t interrupt her.

Unlike before, when he’d found energy gathering boring, now that he had the need, he drank in the energy of the world like a starving child. He only had one remaining fear. That she would say no. He had to be ready to chase her down if he had to. Not that such a thing was possible if she really didn’t want him to. If she agreed with his father to abandon him, then what would he do? He was already determined to leave, but then where would he go? To the Ice Phoenix Sect and demand to join the outer sect? With his ice laws, he might just be able to pull it off, but not with his current cultivation. He’d need to be at the upper ranks of the nascent realm before they even considered him at his age…

During each meal, he packed more food away. Water was easier. He’d taken his fill from the well when filling Huifen’s shower. He’d already collected his herbs as well. They were simple things, really, that would help stave off hunger and exhaustion. He knew the trip to the Ice Phoenix Sect wasn’t a short one, and Huifen’s speed would far surpass his own. How could he not be ready to push himself?

He finished his cultivation later than normal, and Huifen was already eating lunch without him. He greeted her warmly, but she seemed more distant than normal. His mind was elsewhere, so he didn’t pry.

As they worked on their laws in the afternoon, something was obviously going on between them. They both noticed it, but neither said a word.

He really wasn’t sure how much she’d been using Heart of Ice throughout the day, but when the time came for them to cultivate the garden, he knew she would keep her promise when he played the upbeat tune to enliven the lingering spirits.

She sat with him as she always did, and he sheltered her from the first song. Unexpectedly, he was the one affected by it. It wasn’t the song itself that drove the sole tear from his eye, but it had prompted his pent-up emotions and given him just enough of a push. He wanted to hide it, but Huifen’s eyes seemed to be drawn to him with a magnetic force.

His grin shone back as he tried to play it off as nothing, but that flat look of hers saw right through him.

“Here it comes,” he said, changing song a bit early.

As the song started, she turned away to watch. There was a slight change in her expression. Her eyes narrowed, and the end of her nose twitched before returning to normal.

He watched her, trying to trace her outline into his memory. When she noticed and met his gaze, he didn’t look away. Neither did she. They stayed like that for an unknown amount of time. He wanted to grin the intimate moment away, but his mouth wouldn’t listen. She was the first to retreat her gaze, and he follow suit soon after. When he did, he closed his eyes and poured far more of himself into the song than he remembered ever doing before. It wasn’t just more energy that caught each note of his music, but Enhance was pushed to its peak, and Morph took what he was feeling and charged the music itself with emotion matching he was feeling.

She took a sharp intake of breath. He didn’t stop. He couldn’t stop. His eyes stung, but he held back tears. It wasn’t purely a song of sorrow or joy, but a mix of the two. The girl’s stay here had deeply impacted him, and he needed her to know just how much. How long he stayed in that state, he didn’t know.

“Brother Chao,” Huifen said breathlessly, calling him back from within himself. “Look.”

When he did as she asked, he first saw her reddened eyes looking back at him. She’d kept her promise. But then he saw the world around them. Not just in the little garden, but surrounding them on all sides was a throng of lingering spirits. There had to be hundreds of them. And then the most magnificent thing of all happened. As Huifen spun on her seat to look at the spirits of small creatures and dire beasts alike, the corners of her mouth turned up as her mouth parted. Even as her smile faded, he saw the look in her eyes. It was sincere delight.

His song changed to his normal cheerful tune, and the lingering spirits began their jovial romp throughout the area. He had as much trouble believing his eyes as she did. Even his mother hadn’t ever drawn so many spirits. Not that she’d ever necessarily tried.

The smaller spirits of the squirrels and birds, field mice, and hoot owls all danced about at the feet of the massive dire beasts, but there was no animosity between them. Each phantom creature avoided the other like they knew of the other’s presence at all times. He spotted the snow fox as well as even larger dire beast. There was a bird of prey with a wingspan twice as long as a man was tall swooping down from above before soaring up again. The largest of the lot was an earth realm dire bear three times the size of any bear he’d ever seen. The only explanation for its presence was that it died of old age or some powerful cultivator had bested it.

There were many wolves of all size, which were common to the region. Among them were also mountain lions, panthers, and a whole pack of coyotes.

There were so many lingering spirits that they couldn’t see past them. When he began to play the drowsy tune and blocked Huifen from its power, it was a shame it had to end but fitting since this would be his last time cultivating the garden for an uncertain amount of time.

After his playing was over, they ate dinner and returned to just outside the garden to pursue their sturdy of laws. Their conversation remained stinted as they both went through the motions.

Chao’s passion had cooled after throwing himself into his song, but as the hours went by and the time for her to depart neared, the tension grew to the point he could hardly take it. He decided in that moment that there was no reason for him to wait.

“Senior Sister,” he said in soft tones.

She turned back to look at him and must have been able to tell something was about to happen, for she gave up the series of water orbs she had floating before her.

He looked back at the house and nodded to himself. Holding up his hand, a sound barrier surrounded them.

She must have had Heart of Ice active, for her expression hadn’t changed.

He didn’t waste words. “I’m coming with you.”

“And about what your father said?” she replied, seemingly not surprised he’d heard their conversation from earlier.

There were so many arguments he’d thought of, but there was one that reigned supreme in his mind. “He didn’t save you, I did. You may owe him for how well he’s treated you, but you owe me far more. How I handle your offer of joining the Ice Phoenix Sect isn’t up to him.”

“Okay.”

He was so focused on what he was going to say next that he hadn’t even heard her. “And I don’t want any exalted favors. I’ve become aware of how important it is for me to make my own way in the world, so, Fairy Huifen, I ask that you grant me membership into the Ice Phoenix Sect as an outer sect disciple and that is all. I will then consider the debt you owe me paid in full.”

“Okay.”

He hadn’t dared to look at her, but when he heard what she said, he blinked before glancing up. “Okay? What do you mean?”

“I mean that if you wish entrance into the sect as an outer sect disciple, then consider it done. Just because Senior Long recommended that I leave without paying my debt doesn’t mean I agreed. I was going to ask you before I left whether you’d overheard him or not. As for considering the debt I owe you paid in full, do you really consider my life worth so little? With a little luck, you could walk up on a recruitment day and gain entry as an outer disciple without my help. Yes, your cultivation is painfully low, but for your age, it’s still above average amongst the greater population. Remember, this is the Ice Phoenix Sect we are discussing. Most other sects would consider you a prime recruit. I know you aren’t familiar with how a sect’s power is ranked, and there will be time for that, but on the Monolith continent, we are the peak existence with our brother sect, the Fire Phoenix Sect, standing t an equal level. But even with all that said, I consider this barely a favor, let alone payment for a life debt. There is also the repayment of half a sky realm dire beast core and the help you’ve given me with heaven’s laws that I owe you for. What else would you have of me?”

He turned sideways with his hands crossed behind his back as if considering it, so he didn’t have to face her. She’d actually said yes. As for what else he wanted from her, it was just her continued friendship, but that wasn’t something she could offer. She’d already said her time was limited, and his father had made that painfully clear when he’d described what it would look like for her to take him as a personal disciple. He couldn’t do that to her. “There’s nothing… It’s just—don’t be a stranger. If I see you in the sect—no. That would be inappropriate for you to greet an outer sect disciple… Then, just check on me once in a while, when you have the time.”

“Then consider yourself an outer sect disciple, and I will look in on you when my time affords. I will also consider my debt unpaid, so if you need anything, you must come to me. Understand?”

“Long Chao answers Senior Sister,” he said, bowing at the waist. “I understand and will do as you ask.”

“Then let’s go. Is there anything you need before we depart?”

“No. I’ve already packed.”

“Are you going to tell your father?”

“There’s no need. The moment I lifted the sound barrier, he would’ve already guessed that I’d heard the conversation between the two of you and that I was going with you. He will not blame you.”

She glanced toward the house then back to him. “Very well. Try to keep up. Tell me if the pace is too much for you, and I’ll adjust it.”

With the swiftness of a mighty cat, she spun and jumped, flying through the air like a windblown leaf. His sound barrier popped as she did.

With one last turn back toward his father’s study, he said with the confidence that his father would hear him, “Goodbye, Father.”

***

A couple kilometers above the little cabin, Long Zan appeared seemingly out of nowhere. He looked down upon the forest, in the direction his son and the little fairy had gone. He chuckled to himself. “That little snot’s sound laws are getting out of hand.” He’d barely been able to pierce his son’s barrier.

Taking out a handheld transmission jade, he fed it energy to call on an old friend.

“Master Long?” came a reverent voice.

“I have a request,” he replied, skipping the niceties.

“Of course, Master. Just name it.”

“There will be a seventeen-year-old boy with a second level nascent realm cultivation coming to the Ice Phoenix Sect as an outer sect disciple. He will be traveling with Xiao Huifen. I need you to watch him for me.”

“Consider it done. What should I watch for, and who is this boy? To be traveling with the Sect Master’s personal disciple…”

“Do not interfere in anything he does, but keep him safe at all costs. He’s my son.”

“Little Chao is coming here? Master, should I not inform her—”

“No. If she asks, don’t deny it, but—better yet, I want you also to test his resolve. Just as you would have in your old sect.”

“I-I, understand.”

With that, he cut the sound transmission.

He was now thoroughly convinced that the girl had been sent by the heavens. Chao didn’t even know what he’d done when he’d summoned the army of lingering spirits. His wife never did such a thing, not because she couldn’t, but because it became increasingly difficult to control such a large mob. He’d counted more than seventy dire beast’s spirits around them, and more than a dozen had been of the earth realm. Not to mention the hundreds that were coming in from the surroundings from kilometers away that never reached the little farm. As for the normal beasts, there had been thousands. But his son hadn’t been in danger for a moment.

Of course, Zan had been ready to step in, but there was no need. The very heavens had bent the knee to the will of a little nascent realm boy, so what could a few lingering spirits do? His son hadn’t even known that for a few minutes, he’d been touching upon perfection of sound’s fourth law.

He counted himself lucky that he knew his son well enough to know what words would send him running off with the girl. He cut off all exits and provided him the appropriate challenge. However, the girl was much harder to read, but he’d done what he could. She’d impressed him. He’d asked her to leave without saying a word, but she’d planned on defying him from the beginning. He wished her all the success that the heavens could afford her. From this point on, she’d either become his son’s trial, a friend, or maybe both. It would all be good for the boy. Either way, Zan’s own time moping around on this tiny farm was coming to an end. But for now, he’d finish his tea.