Ja Yun and Iseul’s combined form was a bit different from the first time. Back when Muddy was still just a newborn elemental with no sense of self, barely the size of Ja Yun’s head, it had draped itself over her head and shoulders like a cloak. This time, Iseul’s core nestled itself safely within Ja Yun’s armor and exuded tendrils of transparent slime that enveloped most of Ja Yun’s body in a thin layer.

It gave her an odd, glistening appearance, like she’d just been doused in water without any of it actually soaking in. Ja Yun’s expression changed from her usual nervous frown to an excited grin—a far cry from the wide-eyed manic appearance she’d had the first time they’d done this.

“Oh! I forgot how nice this is! Hm, just hold on a second, I need to sort out some things...”

She scrunched her face up in concentration for a few moments, then let out a relaxed sigh.

“Whew, all better.”

Jia raised an eyebrow.

“What did you do?”

Iseul waved her off.

“Nothing bad, don’t worry. It’s nice being able to feel my emotions so vividly, but Ja Yun has too many of them for Iseul to process so I just set a few of them aside for now.”

“That doesn’t sound like ‘nothing bad’ to me!”

“It’s fine! Ja Yun does it by herself all the time...though, uh, I guess it’s not exactly healthy then, either. Hm.”

Eui furrowed her brows. Iseul had a terrible habit of blurting out things that Ja Yun would rather keep to herself.

“Setting that aside for a moment, why are you referring to yourself in the third person?”

Iseul cocked her head.

“Ah? Oh! When I first called myself Iseul, I was around eighty to ninety percent Ja Yun still, and Muddy didn’t have much personality to contribute at all. Iseul has grown a lot since then, and has her own feelings, as muted as they might normally be. I think it’s a bit closer to fifty-fifty, now, so it doesn’t really feel right to just call myself one or the other.”

She certainly sounded different from the other times Yoshika had spoken to her. Even when they’d spoken within her soulscape, Iseul had usually been manic and excitable when she displayed any emotion at all. Always overcorrecting in one direction or the other.

“Do you want us to call you something different, then?”

She shook her head.

“No, Iseul is fine. I don’t think Ja Yun wants her name attached to anything I do anyway, even though I’m her familiar—not to mention her daughter. Ah, we’re both going to miss this when we have to split up again—and before you say it, a permanent fusion like you two have going on isn’t an option.”

Jia shook her head.

“I wasn’t going to suggest it. Rika would have my head.”

Iseul nodded.

“Good! Okay then, let’s get started...hmm, this mana is still really hard to make out. I think you’re right about it empowering a formation, but it’s too complex for me to understand the meaning behind it, even knowing what to look for.”

Eui frowned.

“Can you at least track its flow? We don’t need to understand the formation to break it, as long as we can find out where the mana is going.”

“I think so...this way!”

Iseul ran out of the hut, Yoshika following close behind. She led them right to the top of the walls before stopping to cross her arms and frown. Eui followed her gaze to the giant palace just outside the walls.

“What’s wrong?”

Iseul grimaced.

“The mana is definitely moving toward that building but it’s weird. It doesn’t flow like normal leylines. Some of it seems to weave in and out of reality and change its intent. I can’t be certain that I’m still following the same thread.”

“That sounds like Do Hye’s multi-dimensional formation matrices.”

“Yeah, but I’m used to those by now after studying them for so long. This goes beyond just three or four dimensions, and I can’t make sense of it all.”

Jia stroked her chin thoughtfully.

“Maybe we can help. What if we share our soul sight with you?”

“That would be a start, but you said we’re in the elemental realm, right? I think that’s a misnomer. Elementals might be made of essence like spirits are, but we’re still physical beings. We don’t exist in a separate realm like that. Admittedly, I find the mana here quite comfortable, but it’s still alien to me.”

Eui pursed her lips.

“I might have an idea, but you won’t like it—and neither will Heian.”

“I’m capable of shutting off any emotional responses that might get in the way of progress.”

“Okay first, that’s horrible, stop doing that. And I’m speaking to both Ja Yun and Iseul when I say that. Second, maybe hear me out before committing.”

Yoshika closed her eyes and gently coaxed Heian out of her soulscape. She didn’t want to be embarrassed in front of Iseul, but Yoshika promised that she wouldn’t be.

The cat spirit manifested between Jia and Eui, now resembling a young girl closer to ten or twelve—a bit older than her usual appearance. Trying to look more mature after seeing how much Iseul had grown ahead of her, but unable to force herself to look any older than she actually felt due to her nature as a spirit.

“Hello Iseul.”

Iseul bent down and put her hands on her knees, grinning.

“Hey there, Heian! Look at you, starting to grow up! Your mommies must be so proud!”

Heian looked down at her feet and pouted, already regretting her choice to manifest. Eui smacked Iseul in the back of the head.

“Don’t act so condescending! Just because you’re physically bigger doesn’t mean you’re any more mature, and the fact that you’re trying to brag about it is proof.”

Iseul blushed, rubbing the back of her head.

“S-sorry. So what’s the plan?”

“Well, like we said, we’re going to share our soul sight. We’re just going to be a bit more thorough about it. When Jia and Heian became Lee Hei, we could see and interact with the spiritual realm. Maybe if we combine our perspectives, we can put it all together.”

“You want to dual cultivate with me? Why is that always your solution?”

Jia crossed her arms and pouted.

“Because not only is cooperation literally the basis of our cultivation, but matching different specialties to complicated problems is really effective!”

“Well, can’t argue with that, I guess. It was kind of a disaster last time you tried to link so many souls together, though. You’re not going to set me on Soulfire again, are you?”

Eui scoffed.

“That was your idea, and it was Heian who saved you. Which she only managed to do because we linked so many souls together.”

“Okay, fair. It’s probably mostly Ja Yun hesitating at the idea, anyway—are you sure I can’t just shut those emotions off?”

Jia buried her face in her hands, already starting to reconsider this idea.

“Yes! You’re normally causing trouble trying to elicit any emotion you can and now you want to suppress them?”

Iseul grimaced.

“But there’s so many of them! How do you humans get anything done with all these distractions? I’m trying to have a serious discussion, but it’s not easy when Ja Yun’s thoughts keep drifting back to that time when you stepped on Xiao Chong and grabbed her horns like—”

“Okay! You’re doing that thing again where you reveal way too much personal information about Ja Yun, so maybe we should just move on. Are you willing to try this or not?”

She furrowed her brows, tapping her foot as she considered it.

“Okay, but not Ja Yun.”

Eui blinked.

“Wait, really? Why not?”

“It’s one thing for Iseul and Ja Yun to share this sort of connection—we already have a familiar bond—but Ja Yun isn’t comfortable sharing that much of herself with you. Iseul will do it, but Iseul alone.”

“Huh...that’s kind of unexpected.”

Iseul shrugged.

“It would be a betrayal of Rika and Eunae’s trust.”

“That doesn’t make sense, we’ve merged with both of them before.”

“That’s different, they didn’t—”

She cut herself off, blushing and pursing her lips.

“Actually, judging from my current level of embarrassment I should probably not explain any further. I think I’m starting to get a better grasp of how to use these emotions.”

Jia sighed.

“Yeah, good call.”

Long Ruiling blinked in confusion at the sight of An Eui coated in transparent goop standing next to Lee Jia’s dark-haired transformation.

“Now what are they doing?”

Yoshika had quickly proven themselves to be strong leaders, and Ruiling didn’t regret the choice to follow them, but they were without a doubt the strangest people she’d ever met—and Melati usually set that bar too high for competition.

Sukarto narrowed his eyes at the girls as they paced the walls, muttering quietly to themselves.

“Looks like they borrowed their friend’s elemental for another one of those transformations.”

Melati flew in a circle around herself and buzzed happily.

“Yoshi’s hive is growing! How nice. We never thought about adding others to the hive. Karto, Lingling, would you like to—”

Ruiling quickly shook her head.

“No thank you, Mel! That’s kind of you to offer, but I’m quite satisfied with my individuality.”

Karto nodded in agreement.

“Likewise. Sorry to disappoint.”

Mel didn’t seem bothered by the rejection—though she rarely seemed bothered by anything. It was always so hard to tell what she was thinking.

Ruiling returned her attention to Yoshika’s strange behavior.

“They seem agitated. They were earlier too...I wonder what’s wrong.”

“You could always just ask them.”

Ruiling jumped at Yan Yue’s interjection. It was unlike her to let someone sneak up like that, but Yan Yue was surprisingly good at hiding her presence. The human woman bowed apologetically.

“My apologies for startling you. I didn’t mean to eavesdrop, but I couldn’t help but overhear your concerns about Yoshika. If you’re worried, just talk to her—I promise she won’t bite.”

What a liar. She’d obviously been listening in, and it was clear that Yan Yue was the second in command among their little group—if you counted Yoshika as one. Ruiling chose her next words carefully.

“It’s not my place to question—I was merely considering whether there was anything I could do to help.”

Yue raised an eyebrow.

“I thought she made it clear that we are all equals here. You’ll only alienate her if you show that kind of deference.”

“I suppose so—she has been quite approachable.”

“And she will continue to be, if you let her. Take it from someone who suffered terribly from the same mistake—if you have a concern, just tell her about it.”

Ruiling paused, idly flexing her wings as she thought. Yan Yue obviously had an agenda, and it was impossible to take her words at face value, but she at least seemed to be speaking in good faith.

“I’m worried about rushing into the next trial—and giving Zheng Long the divine artifact. He’s openly declared himself to be Yoshika’s enemy, and I haven’t forgotten what happened when we first arrived here. He doesn’t even think of us as people. Is it really wise to give him so much power?”

Yan Yue sighed and bit her thumbnail, glancing up at Yoshika—still pacing back and forth on the walls.

“I’m afraid that I’m not the one you should ask about that, because I agree with you wholeheartedly. She has a way of winning people over, but Zheng Long is dangerous. But then, so is Xiao Chong—and so are you.”

Ruiling froze.

“What do you mean? I can’t compare to either of them—or even you for that matter.”

Yan Yue put a hand on her hip and cocked her head, a thin smile playing across her lips.

“Is that so? Miss Long, a man known throughout the world as one of the most cunning manipulators in history hand-picked you for this expedition knowing that Yoshika would almost certainly be here as well. If you’re not more than you present yourself as, I’ll shave myself as bald as he is.”

Ruiling’s mouth went dry, and she desperately tried to hold her wings back from flapping. How much did Yan Yue know? How much was safe to reveal? Before she could respond, they were interrupted by Yoshika arriving with Ja Yun close behind.

“Yue, stop bullying the poor girl! Ling, can I borrow you for a moment?”

“Uh, sure? What for?”

“We’re at our wits’ end trying to figure out this magic, and we were hoping your unique ability might give us some insight.”

Ruiling blinked—the sudden shift was throwing her off balance. How much had Yoshika heard of the previous conversation? Not that it mattered—Yan Yue was probably going to tell her everything.

“What magic?”

Yoshika gestured around them with both of her bodies.

“All of it! We’re stuck in one huge spell, and even after tracing its path through six dimensions we can’t find a weak point or figure out its full purpose.”

Six dimensions?! What was she even talking about?

“That sounds way too advanced for me, I’m not sure I’ll be any help.”

“Your magic dispels all other elements, right? I just need you to take out as big a chunk as you can so that I can see what happens when it tries to repair itself.”

Ruiling's eyes widened. She’d even figured that much out?! Not even Karto and Mel knew how Dragonfire worked, and she’d been careful only to tell Yoshika about the methods or her magic, not the actual details.

Yan Yue gave her a knowing look, and Ruiling sighed helplessly. She really was no match for these people—no matter how much weight Yue placed on her secrets.

“Alright, fine. Here—”

She gathered the power within herself, drawing essence through her core and transforming it into her birthright—Dragonfire. Let her friends doubt, let them tease—she knew who she was, and she was a descendent of the Dragon Lord himself.

There was nothing specific Yoshika wanted her to attack, no spell that she could sense despite Yoshika’s claims to the contrary. Instead, she just allowed the power to burst forth, running amok and burning away all of the essence in their immediate surroundings.

Yoshika watched the process intently, her eyes following patterns that only she could see. As she did, her frown deepened, and she muttered to herself.

“What? But that’s not—that doesn’t—how can...?”

“Not getting what you were expecting?”

Jia crossed her arms and huffed.

“I’m trying to understand how it’s slowing down time, or otherwise find some sort of weakness that will let us break out of the formation.”

“Wait, slow down—what do you mean ‘slowing down time’?”

Ja Yun sighed.

“She thinks we’re trapped in a giant storage artifact, and the only way out is to break it. I told her that’s practically impossible, but she’s convinced.”

Ruiling looked askance at Yoshika.

“What makes you so sure?”

Eui leaned forward excitedly—and while Ruiling had only known them briefly, it was a very strange expression on the girl’s normally dour face.

“Part of us is still outside! We can feel it, but it’s distorted—that distortion is from time here not matching up with time outside.”

“Okay, say that’s true—why does it have to be slowing down time? What if it’s speeding it up?”

Yoshika froze for a moment, then suddenly sat down on the spot and closed her eyes in meditation. Ruiling glanced helplessly between Ja Yun and Yan Yue, the latter of which just shrugged.

“You get used to this sort of thing.”

Jia sprung to her feet and grabbed Ruiling by the shoulders.

“Ling, you're a genius! We were completely wrong! It’s not slowing us down, we can’t break it, and we were wrong to rush, no matter how urgent our premonition feels!”

“Uh, okay?”

She felt so lost, but Yoshika had already moved on to pacing in circles.

“It takes a true immortal’s power to conquer Chou’s realm. Not survive—conquer. He doesn’t just expect us to ascend, he expects us to do it here and now. Ancestors, going into the next trials would probably be suicide—and I almost rushed us into it.”

“Wait, so we’re just supposed to sit here and meditate until we ascend to xiantian?”

“Why else would he leave a divine cultivation method here? Or go through the effort of speeding up time?”

Yan Yue crossed her arms and frowned.

“A divine cultivation method which you’ve left in the hands of Zheng Long, who’s working on mastering it even as we speak.”

Yoshika paused, held up a finger, then lowered it and scowled.

“Ancestors damn it!”

Ruiling was beginning to understand now. Yoshika was strong, but she relied on the people around her not only to trust her, but also to guide her when she was mistaken. Blindly following her had been foolish from the beginning.

“Yoshika, can I offer you some advice?”

The two girls both locked eyes on her, but Ruiling tried not to let herself be intimidated.

“I appreciate how much you’ve done to keep us all safe, but right now you need to forget about that and look at the bigger picture. If what you’re saying is true, then this is a race to ascension, and there are only three here who qualify.”

She pointed at Yoshika.

“You’ve given your enemies a head start, and while I don’t really know you that well yet, I know that I’d rather be at your mercy than that of Zheng Long or Xiao Chong. If I were you, I’d kill them both here and now, but if you were the type to do that, I doubt I’d have ever worked up the courage to say all of this.”

Yoshika’s bodies exchanged glances before turning back to her and speaking in unison.

“What are you trying to say?”

“I’m saying that I’m behind you—and so are Karto and Mel. And I’ll be honest, it’s because you’re our only chance. You do whatever you must to ascend, and we’ll do what we can to keep you safe in the meantime.”

A distant rumble of thunder echoed through the village, and Ruiling swallowed nervously.

“And I think you’d better hurry.”