A great tree blossomed in the middle of a clearing within the woods. The clearing was as green as polished jade and had absorbed the essence of the world, for the slim tendrils of green glew bright and danced without the blowing of the wind.

The tree itself towered insurmountable above the earth: Its trunk majestic in its girth; its branches mesmerizing in its reach; its blossoms awesome in its beauty.

The petals were heart-shaped and the gathering of so many made the tree seem like the heart of the earth as the branches swayed. Some petals were red and pink, others were blue and green and of such incredible shades of lilac! White and silver and gold blossomed as well, along with so many more colors like apricot and orange and all the variations and tinges imaginable. Yet, the colors did not strain the eye. The colorful sight was enchanting like a firework ablaze as the petals scattered about. And even when the petals fell and immediately became dust, a new one would instantly sprout.

“Pretty,” Qiu’yue exhaled.

Senior Brother Sha chuckled. “The Village of Lost Orphans graciously welcome you to our humble abode, Lady Qiu’yue, the Tree of Ten-Thousand Fire Blossoms!”

“You guys live here,” the girl said with wide eyes. Then she realized and asked with confusion, causing her face to scrunch up cutely like a doll’s, “Where are the houses?”

Before the older boy could answer, one of the petal bore a white gourd. Qiu’yue stared with mixed fear and wonder as light erupted from the gourd. The light condensed into one stream and landed in front of Senior Brother Sha. It was Cai!

A boy had somehow came from a gourd born from a tree. How peculiar! How magnificent!

“Senior Brother Sha, this junior welcomes you home,” he bowed with clasped fists. Cai gave the evil eye to Qiu’yue and snorted. Qiu’yue stuck out her tongue and hid behind Senior Brother Sha.

The older boy blushed, which made for a somewhat disturbing sight as the red made him seem like he was suffering a heat stroke. “Junior Brother Cai, there is no need for you to greet me so formally. Everyone in this village of ours is family!” He gave a hearty laugh as he slapped his stomach. “Of course, if you want to celebrate our new sister’s arrival, then —”

“No need. Both Jang Guo and Mei’er are tired from today and are resting. Furthermore, we have not prepared for her sudden arrival. And, we have not approved of her. It would not be festive regardless.” The boy said bluntly. “Now, Senior Brother Sha, I must go rest. May you have a peaceful evening.”

“Ah, yes, good night, Junior Brother Cai,” Sha said in a daze.

The younger boy instantly turned into a shower of light and flew into one of the petals.

“I’m going to start living here too?” The girl asked with gleaming lights in her eyes.

“Well, uh, not quite,” Senior Brother Sha said as he fiddled with his robe.

Qiu’yue tilted her head.

“You’re going to have to sleep outside.” Senior Brother Sha looked away. He thought to himself, Ah, Qiu’yue truly looks like a doll — especially with such a deadpan expression.

Qiu’yue began to cry. “Senior Brother Sha, you want to bully me too!”

The older boy immediately began to shake his hands and head. “No, no, no. Of course not! Why would I, little Qiu’yue. You are so cute, I want to protect you.”

The young girl stopped crying and wiped her tears with her sleeves. “Then why do I have to sleep outside?”

“You see, this magical tree is actually really sinister!” Senior Brother Sha flinched as the tree behind him began to shake violently. “Not sinister, my mistake, my mistake! Well, uh, you see, this tree is already quite generous for letting us stay inside of its petals and have a good night rest. The tree also keeps the dangerous spirit beasts away. However, the payment is somewhat harsh for its services. And if you do not have enough qi to pay every night, then —”

Senior Brother Sha made a slicing motion across his throat.

Qiu’yue being so young tilted her head and asked, “Senior Brother Sha, do you have an itchy throat?”

The magical tree behind them heard this and understood immediately. It shook its branches once more and caused a ruckus.

A gourd was bore once more and Cai popped out of it once more. He dashed in front of the little girl and hissed, “Stop with the ruckus! If I have to waste more qi entering and leaving the tree one more time, and then die because I don’t have enough qi to give to the tree, I will come back as an evil spirit. I will haunt you. I will kill you.”

With a stomp of his foot, the young boy turned into light and returned to the tree once more.

Senior Brother Sha wiped sweat from his forehead. “Essentially what Junior Brother Cai said.”

The girl pouted and asked, “How much qi do I need?”

“At the very least, you need to reach the second qi condensation. At that level of comprehension of the Way, you will be able to survive a night sleeping in the tree. However, I recommend cultivating until at least the third qi condensation stage as you will have a greater reserve of qi and definitely would not die. You will probably reach the second qi condensation stage in half a year,” the older boy finished with a smile.

“Half a year!” The girl cried as she counted on her fingers. “That’s six whole months, senior brother!”

“Don’t worry, don’t worry, junior sister.” Senior Brother Sha led Qiu’yue behind the tree where she found a shelter made of branches and leaves. There was also a poorly sewn blanket made from squirrel pelt. “You can use this until you reach the second stage. You just have to work hard! Be earnest and studious, and the world will be at your feet.

“Come, come,” he said with a smile as he led the Qiu’yue who was in tears into another part of the clearing. “Let me show you how to comprehend the Way and guide you to the first step of cultivation. Now tell me, what do you know about the Way?”

The girl shook her head as her face drew a blank.

“No matter, no matter. The Way is the Path and the Path is Enlightenment. The Way is the gods’ gift to us mortals. From studying the Way, we are able to comprehend the truths of the world and bend it to our will. It is by pursuing the Way, that a man can become an immortal, a living-god! Now, how do we comprehend the Way? Follow my every move, junior sister,” Senior Sha said with excitement clear in his rapid movements.

First, Senior Brother Sha sat cross-legged in a lotus position. He rested one palm on the other above his navel. The senior brother sat up straight and faced directly forward. And he closed his eyes.

Qiu’yue tried to follow the movements but got her legs caught and fell flat on her face.

“This is hard,” she frowned to herself. Senior Brother Sha paid her no mind. From the stillness of his breath and the whisper of the wind around his body, it seem he had already entered meditation.

Qiu’yue tried a few more times before finally being able to sit cross-legged with the correct hand formation above her navel. She too closed her eyes.

Barely a breath passed before she said, “I’m hungry.”

She played with the fabric of her old clothes. Her sadness made her beautiful like the deep black of night.

With not much to do, the young girl called for Junior Brother Cai after she found herself unable to penetrate the curtain of wind sheltering Senior Brother Sha.

The girl had to yell Cai several times before the familiar flurry of light appeared.

“Oi, brat! Do you want to fight?” He growled as he jabbed at the young girl’s temple. “Did I not warn you that I will haunt you to death? If not for the twins, I would have ignored you until the end of time. Now what do you want?”

Rubbing her throbbing head, the girl answered, “I want you teach me cultivation.”

“No.”

“Why?” The girl asked with a glare.

“I don’t like you.”

“Teach me.”

“No.”

This exchange went on for the length of half an incense before Cai finally thew his arms into the air and screamed, “Fine!”

The pair returned to where Senior Brother Sha was.

“He got too into it again.” Cai sighed. He rolled his eyes and kicked the senior brother, “Senior Brother Sha, wake up! Wake up! A fairy has descended!”

Senior Brother Sha’s eyes flashed open. His head jolted on that thick neck of his. “Where? Where?”

Cai bowed and apologized.

“Ah, I must have gone too deep into my cultivation again,” the senior brother sighed.

Qiu’yue made another face of confusion.

“When someone cultivates, his soul is essentially spliced off from the rest of the world. If one forced one’s comprehension of the Way, he may become insane; lose himself to the Way and become catatonic; or become consumed by Desire.” Senior Brother Sha answered with a serious tone. It did not take long for him to break into laughter and remark, “It is fortunate then that I am so easily roused from meditation!”

Junior Brother Cai nodded and then said. “Senior Brother Sha, I hope it would not be too much a bother if you went and catch a few spirit beasts.”

A glint of understanding shone in the older boy’s eyes, “No problem! No problem at all. Place your hopes on Old Sha, and I will deliver!”

The senior brother waved farewell to his juniors and burrowed deep beneath the earth.

Cai looked at Qiu’yue and scowled. “Give me your old clothes,” he barked. Without waiting for an answer, the boy grabbed it out of the girl’s hands. He fixed the robes and used it as a cushion for his bum. “What are you waiting for? Go on, start meditating.”

With a scowl, the girl sat in lotus position with her palms above her navel.

“Good. Straighten your spine. Still your breath, brat. Now, I’m going to say this mnemonic once, so you better memorize it. Chant this mnemonic in your head and maybe you will get lucky.

“The boundless infinite without ultimate, Wuji, births the limits, Youji. From Youji comes the Absolute, the Supreme Ultimate of infinite potential. We call the Absolute, Taiji. From Taiji, there comes two forms: the son, Yang, and the daughter, Yin. From the union of Yin and Yang, we return to the Supreme Ultimate, the Absolute, Taiji. From the infinite potential, we come upon Youji, and from Youji we fall back into the boundless infinite without the ultimate, Wuji.”

Cai saw the girl looked at him with amazement.

“Wow, big brother, you’re so smart.”

“Senior Brother Cai, you brat. So, have you memorized it?”

“Can you repeat it one more time?” The girl asked quietly.

“No. Moving on. Using this mnemonic —”

“Wait, I haven’t memorized it yet,” she cried.

“You are slow even for a five years old.” The boy muttered. “To save myself a headache, I am going to repeat it one more time. If you have not memorize the mnemonic after the second time, have Senior Brother Sha write it down for you to study!”

After repeating the mnemonic once more, the boy moved on to the next lesson.

“Using this mnemonic, one is able to better comprehend the Way. The Way is Taiji and Wuji. Qi is but what comes after Yin and Yang. Whereas Yin is the cold energy, and Yang is the warm energy, qi is life energy. And qi flows through the entirety of the cosmos. By comprehending the Way, one is able to better absorb and store qi; one is able to better circulate qi; and one is better able to project it as martial skills. And as one accumulate qi, so too do our bodies change to better accommodate the presence of qi. Now, I don’t expect you to understand a word of what I just said, but those are the basics — and I am not repeating them again.”

The boy closed his eyes and quickly fell into a deep slumber. Left with little else to do, the girl returned to meditation. She closed her eyes. Quietly, she chanted the mnemonic and attempted to seek out the qi which flowed throughout all the cosmos.

By the time, Senior Sha returned, appearing right behind Junior Brother Cai, a slight wind whispered about the young girl. Junior Brother Cai looked on with slight interest through one open eye.

“She learned quick,” Senior Brother Sha whistled.

“I say the opposite.” Cai got up and clapped his hands in front of Qiu’yue using qi. The clap produced an extremely loud boom!

Frightened, the girl fell backwards with her feet a tangled mess. “What did you do that for?”

“I haven’t taught you how to end your meditation properly. I did not expect you to actually be able to comprehend even the first step of the basics.”

“Now, now. Junior sister, do not get angry. Brother Cai did take time to properly teach you, and you have succeeded. Now what do you say?” Senior Brother Sha said quickly.

Qiu’yue being so young obeyed without commotion and cheerfully gave thanks.

“What beast did you bring back, senior brother?”

Sha chuckled proudly. “I was able to catch this!”

The older boy pulled a strange rodent from the sleeves of his robes. It was a rodent the color of gold and 1 meter in length. Its teeth were quite sharp and measured the length of three fingers. If one were to touch its fur, one would discover — to his surprise and pleasure — that the fur was quite soft despite sticking up like needles.

“Senior Brother Sha, you really are the senior brother!” Cai laughed as he kowtowed to his senior brother.

“Ah, Junior Sister Qiu’yue, let me explain,” Sha spoke at once after he noticed the confusion on the girl’s face. “These spirit beasts are common even in the mortal landscape. However, the ones domesticated and raised by humans often lack the special qi which makes these beasts perfect for increasing one’s cultivation. Take for example, this Pale Dawn Fieldmouse. By eating its flesh, one’s comprehension ability would increase for a duration, and one’s leg strength would increase permanently by a not-small amount, though also not-big. Of course, if we could bring the mouse to the dan department of the Sect and not be ripped off, the dan would also make our meridians more compatible with the particular qi of this forest. And if our meridians are more compatible, our cultivation would naturally be much faster.”

“Enough talk! Let’s eat! Let’s eat!” Cai interrupted with a frown.

“Should we call —”

“No! Who told the two to be such children and go to bed. Before we are children, we are cultivators! Ah, fire! Let me start the fire. Senior Brother Sha, I will have to bother you to skin the beast. Brat, just continue meditating. Even if I don’t call you, Senior Brother Sha definitely will.”

“How do I end meditation by myself?” The girl asked.

“Just think of wanting to end, and you will be able to end. Unless, you too suffer from Senior Brother’s Sha’s condition.”

Satisfied, the girl resumed meditation. Soon a slight wind picked up around her body.

When the faint scent of meat reached her nose, the girl opened her eyes. She wiped the drool from the corner of her mouth. Senior Sha beckoned her to come join them over the fire pit, handing her a stick with one of the mouse’s leg skewered through.

“Delicious!”

“Mmm!”

“This is the stuff!”

Under the delight of good food, the trio conversed meaninglessly about various topics. Once the entire mouse was devoured, the trio lazed around for a while. Ultimately, the three all entered meditation to enjoy the boon that the mouse had brought them. As the night continued, the wind surrounding Qiu’yue grew in strength, though not to the prowess of her senior brothers.

Author's Note: I enjoyed writing this chapter. Did you enjoy reading this chapter? I hope the theory behind the cultivation made sense. Feedback is always wanted. Thanks for reading.