The way back felt like a completely different path as night approached. The dying light of the sun gave way for the rising full moon shining brightly up above as I sensed the Lunar Qi rising around me.

“Labby can feel it too Great Master. She can feel the moon, like a strange soft thing in her core. Cold but pleasant,” Labby squeaked as I sensed her Qi stirring within her body, Lunar Qi gathering around her.

I saw Sheldon retreat in his shell, his eyes closed and I watched him sleep comfortably. With everything he’d gone through, I wasn’t surprised that the little guy was tired.

I could sense spirits roaming through the woods as well, their steps accompanied by the rustle of leaves masked by the wind flowing through the fields. My gaze travelled upwards, looking at the sky, as I stared at the starry night covering the world. Only a faint hint of the sun’s light remained now.

I wondered where we were. The sky above me felt like home, albeit with much less light pollution and many many more stars than I could see. My eyes managed to spot multiple galaxy clusters that were extremely tiny and had only a faint light coming from them. I suspected it was in parts due to me being a cultivator and having better eyesight.

I tried to spot the constellations I knew about, tracing the patterns of the stars. I could find a few similarities, but many others were nothing like the sky I knew from back home, but even so, I felt there was a strange familiarity to them.

“The sect is nearby,” Liuxiang spoke through the rushing wind as I lowered my gaze, spotting the hill up ahead rising tall into the sky at the top of which was the sect. To the left, I saw the city nearby, dimly lit by lights but mostly a dark shadow sitting beneath the moonlit landscape.

“We should hurry, the full moon’s night is when many spirits rouse from their slumber,” Liuxiang spoke, and I nodded, increasing my speed as we ran across the wide field of grass.

We soon reached the gates of the entrance, quickly handing the task slip to the guards for a look, before making our way into the sect. Coming in from the outside at night, I could see the flickering almost invisible layer of Qi that surrounded the sect. The ward meant to keep wild spirits away most likely, or perhaps a defensive mechanism too, in case of an attack. Not an uncommon scenario for sects in this world.

The dirt path uphill soon turned to paved stone as we reached the upper sections of the sect. Liuxiang guided me from this point on as together the two of us began to head towards one of the halls within the sect, the largest one that I’d seen so far.

Entering the building, I walked behind Liuxiang as we made our way into one of the chambers. I paused upon entering the parchment filled chamber as I spotted a familiar face inside.

“Elder Feng,” Liuxiang said in a bow and I hurriedly followed along. “We’ve returned from the sect task.”

I nodded, walking in as I stared at the familiar Elder’s face. How did he work in so many different buildings? Multiple shifts? And we just so happened to meet up in all of them? Nurse Joy’s Cultivation counterpart?

“That is good to hear. What have you found on your tasks disciples?” the elder asked, and I let Liuxiang take the lead as I searched for the Elder’s spirit.

I felt a gaze on me, from an unknown location as I heard a chime like laughter softly whisper in my ear for a moment.

“Labby can sense her! A bit,” Labby said, as her ears swiveled around in search of the spirit.

My attention went back to Liuxiang.

“The parasitic plant had a central flower filled with Miasma in it, growing on the back of a spirit turtle. Senior helped free the turtle of the plant, and remove the miasma from its body before this one and Senior sealed the entrance to the cavern.”

I saw the elder frown, deep wrinkles appearing on his forehead. “Miasma you say, that is troubling news. Very troubling. Your work is appreciated, disciples, I’ve noted your task. And, for having reported back a news of such importance I’ve increased the reward to eight tokens,” the elder said, waving his hand as a stack of eight little wood and jade tokens appeared on the table.

“As far as the spirit goes, you’re aware the creature is much higher in realm than you? And a wild creature at that. If you choose to keep it, you will be responsible for its actions as well,” the Elder spoke, turning towards me.

“Do you still wish to do so?” He asked and I nodded. “Very well, in that case. Take this jade slip. If the creature is willing, you will be able to initiate a bond to it. Though it will not be under your control, do remember that,” the elder said, throwing a jade slip at me.

I bowed, which was pretty awkward to do while carrying Sheldon. “I’ll be making preparations to send a group of cultivators to clear out the cavern now. You may take your leave,” the elder said, and I was about to take my tokens when Liuxiang spoke up.

“Elder, if this one may. This one had a request for the elder” Lixuaing said, walking towards the tokens, as he placed a few more of them onto the table. “This one wishes to use the tokens to get a slip to the second floor of the library that could be used by both Senior and This one,” Liuxiang spoke and I stared at him for a moment before dipping my head as well.

I certainly didn’t have enough tokens to gain entry into the second floor just yet and if he was willing to share, I wasn’t going to refuse. Yet, I wouldn’t say that I wasn’t surprised by how nice he was being to me. Not the kind of behaviour I’d expected from a cultivator, any cultivator.

“Hmm, very well. But only one of you at a time may use it,” the elder said, as a jade slip appeared in his hands, carved with the symbol of the library on it, and the number two below it.

“This one thanks the elder,” Liuxiang spoke, bowing his head as he took the jade slip, before the both of us moved out of the chamber. I heard a faint whisper come from behind me, as I felt Lunar Qi gather and spread around me, accompanied by the familiar presence of the Elder’s spirit.

“Let the blossom bloom tonight, Disciple.” the spirit said, her presence fading soon after.

I turned around to look behind me, but found only the dimly lit corridor. My gaze shifted to the full moon outside, and I wondered just what the spirit’s motive had been in sending me on this quest.

Chirp!

I turned to see Sheldon awake and looking at me with his beady eyes, his mouth curved in its usual adorable smile. I continued behind Liuxiang. It was pointless to try and determine what the spirit had wanted from sending me to Taizhou, but whatever it may be, I wasn’t going to complain about it.

I walked out of the sect hall, and onto the paved stone path outside. The difference between night and day was just of color to me at this point, my eyes capable of seeing with almost the same clarity as they did during the day.

“Thank you for sharing the pass with me,” I said to Liuxiang with a light bow.

“This one should be thanking Senior. This one wouldn’t have been able to fulfill the task without Senior’s help, not to mention, free the turtle spirit from its agony without Senior. This one was just repaying the favour,” Liuxiang replied and I didn’t argue against it. Don’t look a gift horse in the mouth, as they said.

“This one has noticed Senior has an interest in Alchemy, this one learns the formation arts, alongside the mystery of the human body. The halls may not be where Senior wishes to be as a cultivator, but the teachings of craftsmanship are there to be taken for all disciples. If the Senior wishes, he can find me at the hall, and this one would be glad to help.”

I nodded at that, considering the offer. Formations did deeply interest me, and if I could sit in on a class without having to officially join the sect as an alchemist or something then I would gladly do so.

“I’ll think about it. Thank you for the offer Yi Liuxiang,” I said and Labby squeaked alongside me.

“This one will be taking leave as well… Lu Jie.”

I stared at the boy as he moved away covered in a plume of misty clouds. I shook my head, smiling as I turned back around, feeling a strange sense of happiness.

What a strange guy.

***

I walked into my chamber, spotting the orange cat from before lying in my spirit herb garden, high as anything. Labby squeaked in outrage, jumping off my shoulders as she began to chase the cat around with crackles of lightning and I laughed.

“Chirp!” Sheldon said, reflecting my joy.

“Welcome to the team buddy,” I told the little turtle as I set him down near my spirit herb garden. The turtle walked around, taking a look at the various plants around it curiously. Walking a bit further ahead, in the portion I’d covered with dirt Sheldon sat down as his Qi swirled around him. Water formed in a whirlpool around him digging into the soil as a small puddle was created within the spirit herb garden, the water shimmering with a light glow from soaking in all the Qi.

“Fair enough, I guess that works as your little pool then,” I said as Sheldon chirped at me once more.

I turned around, watching Labby’s fur raised as she crackled with lightning, staring down the cat. Something about eating her spirit herbs, from what I could gather. I walked in close, grabbing the orange cat. You really didn’t want to eat Labby’s herbs and then stick around to find what happens next. I pet the cat lightly as it meowed at me, before I let it leap out of the window it had come from.

Maybe I’ll take him in, if she keeps coming around. A speaking cat would be dreadful though. Just imagining the sass gave me shudders.

“But Master… Labby’s herb- That is, Master’s herbs! She ate them! She has betrayed the empire! Justice must be delivered to the traitor,” Labby proclaimed, her voice burning with righteous fury and I laughed.

“It’s alright, just a couple of leaves. They’ll grow back in a few days. Now come, we have a flower to bloom,” I said, walking back towards the little pool Sheldon had created.

I took out the curled up lotus blossom from my pouch. Its petals were glowing with a faint white color, reacting to the Qi present around the spirit herb garden. I sat down, besides the pool as Sheldon climbed out, walking near me as he took a seat as well. Labby ran up my back, sitting on my shoulders and I began my work.

I set the flower within the pool, carefully setting it into the muddy soil beneath. After ensuring the flower was set, I closed my eyes, and began to circulate my Qi.

One cycle into another. The rhythmic flow of an eternal cycle. There were still many mysteries about this method of cultivation that I’d discovered, but now, I was starting to see aspects that I hadn’t seen before.

The circles were like guiding paths that pulled the Qi within themselves. The opposite spins of the circle were like balancing counter pairs, both gathering Qi at the same core at their centre. Almost like magnetic field lines, or a pair of up and down spin electrons, for the lack of a better example.

It was oddly similar to alchemy. The circulation of Qi, and the formation of a core. Like I was purifying a pill within my own body, but instead of a pill, it was Qi itself.

The two circles formed a pair, each half representing one side of the flow of Qi. A dual spin array that locked itself into position, feeding off one another.

The insights about my cultivation bolstered me, as I found the circles starting to spread. At the centre, I could sense a fuzzy presence, a seed formed of my own Qi. The seed pulsed, with each rotation of Qi, growing, and I felt my cultivation grow alongside it. It was the core, the core of my own network of life.

The chain that I felt from the spirit herbs, it all led to this one little seed, in my core. Something was forming in there, I had no idea what, but it was something. And I could feel it was tied to my very soul.

Lunar Qi swirled around me, as I continued to cultivate. The air brimmed with the moon’s light, a gentle cold feel to it. I felt the lotus start to bud, as the light of the moon filled it. One petal opened up, soon followed by another as the flower began to blossom.

A new flower joined the network of Qi within my spirit garden, and I felt the roots of Qi extending from me shift around the lotus. Lunar Qi flowed into me, swirling in my dantian for a moment before they headed out, into the bond I shared with Labby.

I opened my eyes to see Labby sitting with her eyes closed. The crescent mark on her forehead lit up with the light of the Moon as arcs of moonlight swirled around her for a moment. My eyes drifted ahead, onto the little flower glowing within the shallow pool of water and I smiled.

A beautiful white lotus reflected the moonlight within my garden.