Mei watched awkwardly as Xiao Mei clamoured around, trying to get back up.

"This body is so stiff..." she grumbled.

For an entire minute, she tried to get up again and again, but repeatedly falling and hitting the ground with loud wooden thuds.

"Do you need help?" Su Qing asked.

"Shut up..."

Finally, she managed to stand up, wobbling and on the verge of falling again.

"Mei, I realise there's a serious problem, one that I didn't consider from the start."

Xiao Mei opened her wooden eyes and stared at her original. They lacked the shine of real eyeballs and looked rather lifeless. Mei couldn't help but feel a little uneasy.

"The body being hard to use? Or the eyes looking weird?"

"They look weird?" Xiao Mei sounded self concious for a moment. "No, for some reason, I thought I'd be able to see properly in this new body."

"Aren't you able to use soulsense to see?"

"Well, yes, but it's not the same. Ack-"

Xiao Mei once again fell. Mei couldn't help but feel a little bad.

"Also, since I'm still technically in your dantian, the puppet won't be able to go far from you. Only about 10 metres at most."

"Eh? So short?"

Wasn't that kind of inconvenient? Were they really going to have to follow each other around the whole time?

Mei felt rather troubled.

"So, um... Do I just follow you around while you do your thing?" she asked.

"Just let me get used to this body first, then I'll leave you be." Xiao Mei sighed. "When you have time, go ask Qiao Shun, he'll probably be able to do something about the short range."

"Seriously? You know he's going to charge a fortune..."

"I'll earn it if I need to."

Earn it? How was she going to earn money if she could barely walk 10 metres away? But she sounded strangely confident.

Somehow, Mei felt like Xiao Mei was becoming different from her...

...

After a whole hour of fumbling, Xiao Mei finally could run around without falling over, though her footsteps still looked unnatural.

Mei wanted to pay Luye a visit, so Xiao Mei left the puppet lying back in her room.

As she walked into the library, Mei caught Luye on her perch as usual. This time however, the crow's eyes were shut.

Was it asleep?

She waved in front of the bird, who finally jumped, seemingly a little startled.

"Oh, it's you!" Luye cawed. "You're borrowing more books again?"

"No, actually, I was hoping you'd help me out with some techniques again..."

"Kakaka! And here I thought you'd never ask again! So what are you looking for?"

"I was thinking it would be nice if I could hone my spirit sense, so I can try flying around."

Previously, Mei was thinking about asking for help with a pain negating technique, but after thinking about it, she figured she'd leave it for later.

"Well, I can help, but don't be too optimisitic! It's usually only at peak Foundational cultivators start being able to fly properly."

"Eh? But I managed a little... hnrh!"

Mei focused hard, channeling her spirit sense with all her might. She floated slowly off the ground, somewhat unsteadily.

The crow tilted her head as she watched, before gripping her perch and flapping her wings like fans at her.

Like a balloon in a gust of wind, Mei started to float away while spinning, bumping into a nearby shelf.

What the heck?

Luye cackled with laughter uncontrollably.

"Sorry, I couldn't resist the urge, kaka! But this is also a lesson in of itself." she said. "If such a gentle gust of wind can blow you away, how will you fare in the turbulent winds of the skies?"

"Floating around a little isn't too difficult, actually flying is the challenge!"

Mei finally released herself and landed on the ground, slightly grouchy.

"Then I want you to help me with the basics."

...

After a little insistence from Mei, Luye dragged her onto the library's roof.

"Here, take this."

Luye put something in her hand.

Mei looked at what was handed over in curiosity and saw it was just a lone chopstick...

"What?"

"You wood disciples usually try to cultivate with twigs first, then have them splinter all over the place! Something more durable is better suited for beginners!"

Ah...

"Anyway, get practicing! Let me see how you use your spirit sense.

Mei nodded, reaching her hands towards it, willing the chopstick to float up. Indeed... it was way easier than a twig.

Instead of shattering the twig, unstable control would only cause it to wobble instead.

Mei suddenly felt a lot more confident, seeing she was able to control the chopstick as she intended. Maybe she had more of a knack at it than she thought!

"Hmm..." Luye mused. "Thread the chopstick through this ring, without touching it, if possible."

The crow floated a ring into the air.

So small... Mei gritted her teeth and willed the chopstick over. After several missed clacks, she managed to make it pass through the ring, though she most definitely bumped it a few times.

"Good, now try again. You aren't allowed to turn around!"

Luye floated the ring behind Mei, much to her surprise.

She could still sense the position of the ring with spirit sense, but controlling it on the other hand...

From her hands, controlling the chopstick to float behind her felt as if everything had been inverted.

The chopstick spun and fell to the ground with a clack.

"That's too difficult for a newbie..." Mei whined.

"Kaka! Do you now realise what your biggest mistake is?"

"I have no idea..."

"Alright, I'll tell you straight! You are only using spirit sense from your hands! When you had to control something behind you, you struggled since you weren't facing it!"

"The biggest mistake most newbies make is thinking of spirit sense as an extention of their body. Humans and monkeys with hands, other animals more often with their mouths..."

"Spirit sense is detached from your physical body, so you first should learn to treat it as such!"

For the rest of the day, Mei was lectured by the rambly crow. She almost regreted coming here...