Sitting in the home of Han Tian and seeing her smile brightly at them, her brother most of all, hearing tinkling laughs resound from her throat as she spoke about her trips to the capital and different provincial cities that Ren never heard of, made him slightly uncomfortable.

Zhi Mu and Shen Junan had just left the room, both having expressed their desire to rest. Ren could still sense them, the young Adept sitting on the wooden terrace framing the estate, staring into the night, while Shen talked to him, the air between them pregnant with tension. Ren was quite curious what they talked about, though as he did not truly put his complete focus into observing them he couldn't make out what they said, and instead tried to understand Han Ting's sister more.

As he had previously observed, the woman was the most mellow and unimpressive cultivator he had ever met, even if she was an Adept. Ren was fairly certain that at least Zhi Mu left because he could not truly bear her company, yet was too polite to outright say so. Looking at Xin Jing, he could see her also straining to appear interested while Han Tian talked about finances, trading in the capital, as well as various different mortal occupations that she fancied. "You wouldn't believe it, but there are people tending to the wounded with only medical pastes and knives, saving lives all the same. And, and, and then there are beautiful gardens raised with care and attention to detail, completely different from how it is treated in the sect." She went on and on, covering different fields of each occupation and even going into more detail.

The woman was clearly passionate about any task that did not involve spirit, gardening in particular, never once talking about improving them through the addition of any arts, making Ren wonder how the vegetation he had observed before they entered could ever become so glorious in appearance.

As soon as the conversations started only going in circles, Han Tian kept talking about topics of no concern never once truly mentioning the world of cultivation, their world, Ren and Xin Jing exchanged a single meaningful look and excused themselves. Xin Jing mentioned how brother and sister should catch up with each other, and how Ren and her had a long day. Han Tian looked and felt delighted to Ren's senses, though she outwardly expressed how they should still keep them company. He had observed people doing this multiple times, saying one thing but thinking another, and it made him wonder if she and others didn't know that people could observe the changes in spirit or minute expressions. He was fairly certain that both Shen Junan and Zhi Mu could, not to mention any of the elders.

After leaving the living room and being out of Han Tian's earshot, Xin Jing sighed heavily and stretched her hands above her head. "That was terrible, Ren, I thought I might fall asleep any minute." The girl said, rolling her eyes and moving on to stretching her neck. "I mean, she was nice and all, but it just seemed so... I don't know. Unimportant maybe? I can't believe that she is an Adept at all, Adepts are supposed to be untouchable for any Novice, the gap almost unsurmountable, but when I look at her, I think that I could take her, you know what I am saying, Ren?" Xin Jing said, making wild gestures as she ended her sentence.

Ren did know what she was talking about. "Yeah, it is a little weird." He responded.

"No kidding it is, but enough about that, we still have to decide which division to visit next. Let's go and talk to Brother Mu and Junan, Ren." She said.

And so the two of them continued their walk through the estate, occasionally stopping to look at some of the paintings and utensils that lined different walls. As they intruded upon the room of Zhi Mu, they came upon the two boys sitting next to each other, neither saying a word while they gazed into the night as if searching for answers to questions only they knew. It made Ren hesitate to break this atmosphere, but Xin Jing had no such reservations, and she began addressing them.

"Well, what is up with the two of you, still thinking about the stone's test?" Both boys turned to her, as if they hadn't even sensed the two of them approaching. Xin Jing kept talking before one of them could respond, though. "Anyway, Brother Ren and I thought that we should discuss which division to tour next. I personally think that either the weapon or illusion division would be fine choices." She finished her statement and looked at them expectantly.

Zhi Mu scratched his head, angled one of his legs to sit more comfortably, and in general looked a little sheepish. "Well, I must confess that the matter slipped my mind, Sister Jing." He considered his next words for a moment. "I would also like for us to visit the illusion division next. It would certainly be a vast contrast to Han Tian's interests, to put it mildly." The boy said, his eyes turning stormy for but a single instance, Ren thought.

Shen Junan took the word next. "It would be my pleasure to step up as guide for all of you." He looked distracted for a moment. Ren thought he stretched his senses. "Perhaps we should wait for Han Ting to decide on our next destination, though, I think that he would agree on any of them, as we will visit all of them, but it is the polite thing to do." He said, with a frown marring his face.

Their talks and whether they should make the trip to the illusion division or not soon came to a stop, as they decided it would be prudent to wait on Han Ting. They were very much certain that he would not have anything against it, but as Shen Junan said, it was only polite to wait.

And so they waited, and waited, and waited. Shen Junan, as well as Ren, both well versed in sensing, and Zhi Mu being the talented Adept that he was, periodically looked in on the brother sister duo, only to get the same result each time. The both of them still talked animatedly, with Han Tian even showing her little brother different parts of the estate, presumably new plants, books, and other trinkets she brought from her last trip.

"I think we should just retire for the night, meditate a little, or even sleep, to be well rested for tomorrow. It doesn't look like Han Ting is going to be joining us this evening." Shen Junan said, with slight amusement lacing his voice.

All of them agreed, and decided to simply meditate in the same room, as it was also a great show of trust, Ren knew.

The night passed quietly, Han Ting slept in Han Tian's room, reminding Ren of how the children in the orphanage would occasionally sleep in a big huddle, putting a smile on his face even as he meditated with his eyes closed.

Focussing more on his own cultivation and his recent improvements revealed to Ren that he had stepped even closer to attaining the rank of Novice. His spirit flowed both a little faster and smoother through his meridians, and even his pool of spirit, located just above his solar plexus, improved. This meant that if he just focused a little on his different arts, he might be able to improve them with only a minimal amount of time spent. He was almost tempted to exit meditation and try to advance the sword-step first, rushing about in the dead of night. He decided against it. Next he thought about the domain of the sword, but he would need to let the art build up streams of spirit around him, and he did not want to disturb the meditation of the other three, as he had not done so the last nights. Instead, he decided to simply wait for tomorrow and only kept circulating the body and eye of the sword, as well as the general circulation of the Heart Of The Lonely Sword.