Ling Qi had not been focusing as heavily on cultivation in the past few weeks, but she felt that it was time for that to change, at least temporarily. As much as she was growing quickly, there was still so much she needed to do.

  To that end, she began her week by heading to the archive. This week, she wanted to obtain a dedicated offensive art. Zephyr’s Breath was good, especially when she was with Han Jian and the others, but she wanted something useful for when she was on her own, something that she could use to end battles more quickly. She wouldn’t always have the time to dance around an enemy while they were worn down by a thousand cuts after all.

  Ling Qi found several interesting possibilities during her search. The Falling Stars and Ashen Shadow arts were both great for different fighting styles, and she spent quite a while reviewing the arts and agonizing over which of them she wanted to learn. She ended up spending several hours longer in the archive than she intended actually, paralyzed by indecision as she was.

  It turned out for the best as she turned up a lucky find while researching elements and combat tactics to help her make her decision. Buried behind a pile of scrolls on archery theory, she found a small, dusty clay container still sealed by wax. Inside was a single, dull white pill with a very strong medicinal scent. Hurriedly, she tucked it into her storage ring for later identification.

  In the end, she chose the Falling Stars art. Ling Qi felt that she was rapidly getting better with a bow, and having an art to actually make use of the weapon could only improve her hunting ability, which was her best way of making money at the moment. She thought she might come back for the other art later, but for now, she had to focus on learning her new art, or rather, opening the meridians needed for it and Sable Crescent Step.

  It turned out her fortune had been particularly good. The dull white pill she had found, although on the verge of expiration, greatly aided in the opening of new meridians. The Medicine Hall disciple said it was still safe to use for a few more weeks as the wax seal she had broken had kept it preserved.

  In any case, she found herself rapidly clearing a new pair of meridians in the spine and arm with the medicinally-induced surge. Her body once again tingled with energy and drive from the quantity of cultivation drugs she had taken.

  Sadly, with everything else she needed to do, she didn’t have time to train the art itself despite her desire to get in more practice with her archery. Ling Qi was able to continue improving her mundane skills with simple practice though.

  Her burgeoning archery skills were a great help when she joined Han Jian and the others for their weekly hunt; she still wasn’t good enough to outright kill the beasts they hunted with a single shot, but she was more than able to slow or cripple them for her companions to finish. It was enjoyable, sighting a target from dozens of meters away and allowing all but her target and her arrow to fade from her mind. It was almost like meditation.

  That feeling had only grown when she punched an arrow through the shoulder of a Black Steel Bear, causing the powerful grade two beast to stumble and crash to the ground rather than bowl over Fan Yu and Han Jian. It hadn’t put the beast down, but it had given her friends the opportunity they needed to finish the fight.

  Perhaps it was because of her own good mood that she noticed that Gu Xiulan seemed withdrawn compared to her usual boisterous and outgoing self. So after parting ways with the boys, she broached the subject on the way back home.

  “Did you want to go to the springs together?” Ling Qi asked as she fell in beside Gu Xiulan. “It’s been some time since we’ve had an opportunity to relax together.”


  The shorter girl cocked her head to the side slightly, giving Ling Qi an appraising look. “Oh? I had thought you would be busy this week. You are practically giving off medicinal fumes, you know,” she teased.

  Ling Qi surreptitiously glanced down at herself, just to make sure the other girl wasn’t being literal. “Is it really that obvious?” she asked. “I didn’t think I was behaving strangely.”


  Gu Xiulan laughed into her sleeve at Ling Qi’s reaction. “No, no. Worry not. You have not had another little episode like the days after Elder Zhou’s test. You are running rather warm though,” she said lightly. Ling Qi shot her a confused look, and Gu Xiulan smirked, showing a bit of her usual arrogant pride. “You are not the only one who has been mastering new arts. Father sent me instruction for several family techniques inside my new storage ring.”


  “Oh,” Ling Qi said. She supposed it made sense that a perception art of the Gu clan would involve some kind of heat-based sensing. “I’m glad you’re progressing well then,” she offered, noting the minute twitch of displeasure in the other girl’s expression. “I am training hard this week, but that’s no excuse to ignore other people entirely. I’d like to think I’m getting better at that,” she added self-deprecatingly, offering the other girl a lopsided smile.

  Gu Xiulan shook her head, a slightly bitter twist on her lips. “I suppose not. You may just become civilized yet,” she said airily. “If only others could remember the same,” she grumbled under her breath, looking to the path ahead.

  Ling Qi gave her friend a sidelong look as she walked beside her, gown fluttering around her legs. She really did need to consider getting some wrappings or something. It was hard to remember to control the thing at all times. That, too, was training, she supposed.

  “Has something been bothering you lately?” Ling Qi asked bluntly. “It must be tricky if you haven’t confronted it head-on yet.”


  The fiery girl shot her a heated look, which Ling Qi met with a calm and cool one of her own. They paused in their walk before Gu Xiulan snorted in a distinctly unladylike fashion and looked away.

  “What happened to the Ling Qi who flinched at the first sign of my displeasure?” Gu Xiulan wondered. “Perfectly happy to follow along in my shadow and allow me the lead in our interactions.”


  Ling Qi narrowed her eyes, irritated at the other girl’s insinuations. “Well, I got stronger,” she said flatly. “As for the second, she never existed. I might have found you intimidating at first, but I’d like to think we’re past that. I just want to know what is bothering you.”


  “I suppose we are,” the haughty girl responded, crossing her arms under her chest as she looked up at Ling Qi. “I had imagined I might hire you on as a handmaiden, you know, in the aftermath of the test. How foolish that notion seems now.” A slight wave of heat around her betrayed Gu Xiulan’s irritation. “I am trapped on the cusp of breaking through to Silver,” she admitted, anger coloring her tone as she looked away from Ling Qi. “It is infuriating to see you overtake me further every day. Is that what you wished me to say?”


  “I didn’t wish for anything,” Ling Qi said simply, giving the other girl a hard look. “We’re friends, right? Gu Xiulan, you said you had my back that first day the truce ended, and I have yours, but I’m not going to slow down. Not for anyone. I’d think you would approve of that.”


  “I do,” the girl responded grudgingly. “I might have thought you a potential servant at first, but I cannot deny that you are a peer now. I apologize. It seems my composure is more frayed than I thought.”


  “It’s fine,” Ling Qi dismissed. “I don’t doubt that you’ll be able to manage soon.” She thought it best not to mention that Han Fang had broken through to Yellow Soul, evening out his cultivation, if her new sense for qi was correct. “Do you want to soak for a bit then and maybe get something to eat? You may just need some time to relax and reflect to clear things up.”


  “Perhaps,” Gu Xiulan allowed. “In fact, yes, that may be wise. Taking my mind off things for an afternoon may be what I need to center myself properly.”


  Ling Qi nodded in satisfaction. “So that aside, how have things been with you and the others? We don’t have much time to chat when we’re hunting.”


  Gu Xiulan frowned. “It has been…… well enough, I suppose,” she said. “I do wish Han Jian would stop avoiding me. It is becoming irksome.”


  Ling Qi gave her a curious look as she caught up. “He’s been avoiding you? I didn’t notice anything weird during training.”


  “Of course not. I would not so undermine his authority as to question him on personal matters during such exercises,” Gu Xiulan said dismissively, even as her gaze drifted to the ground. “He has been avoiding me outside of them though, and it is not merely due to a busy cultivation schedule. I know it.”


  Ling Qi made a sound of agreement as she walked beside her friend and allowed the girl to vent. It seemed that Gu Xiulan was feeling ignored by Han Jian, and she got hints that there were other pressures involved as well. Her comments on Fan Yu had a particular edge to them that hadn’t been there before, and she seemed reluctant to speak further on the sister in Inner Sect.

  Ling Qi simply went with the flow, offering an attentive ear and occasionally interjecting her own grumbles, such as her creeping concern at how quiet Huang Da was being and her worries over the mission Cai had asked her to perform. In the end though, their chat turned to lighter things. Gu Xiulan complimented her new talisman and expressed relief that Ling Qi had finally ditched the ‘tacky’ bracers, and Ling Qi recounted a slightly altered story of her game of tag with the spirit Hanyi.

  Once they were finished with their bath, the two girls strolled down to the market to continue chatting. They ended up purchasing some kind of flavored powdered ice served in a bowl that had intrigued Xiulan. It was as they were sitting together at one of the tables set up near the market stalls that the subject turned to something more serious.

  “We need to make more of a name for ourselves, I think,” Gu Xiulan declared haughtily, only to ruin the moment as she shivered, closing her eyes and scrunching her nose as she took a slightly too large bite of her odd, icy treat.

  Ling Qi was rather more careful, taking only a small spoonful of the dark blue powder. The treat satisfied her sweet tooth quite well, but it wasn’t something to eat quickly.

  “What do you mean?” Ling Qi inquired after the icy flakes had melted on her tongue. “We’re already doing pretty good, aren’t we?” The number of second stage cultivators was increasing in a steady trickle by the week, but they were still among the first.

  “Pretty good is hardly good enough,” Gu Xiulan said, prodding her own red dyed ice with her spoon, seemingly hesitant to take another bite. “No, we both deserve more glory and renown. What do you say – once I complete my breakthrough, shall we find some older Outer Disciples to challenge?” she asked, taking the plunge and furrowing her brows as she took another bite.

  Ling Qi’s eyebrows climbed high. “What in the world makes you think that is a good idea?” she asked incredulously.

  “Well, there is hardly anyone in our year to challenge, is there?” Xiulan explained haughtily, waving her spoon for emphasis. “Crushing some of those who have recently straggled into the second realm will hardly be looked upon well, and I am not quite proud enough to consider challenging the Sun princess or the Cai heiress. I suppose we could make an attempt on that Kang fellow……”


  “Alright, granted,” Ling Qi hurried on, not wanting the other girl to talk herself into thinking that challenging Kang Zihao directly was a good idea. “Why do that at all though?”


  “I need a proper challenge. My Sister said as much,” Gu Xiulan replied. “Hunting beasts is all well and good, but it is not the same as fighting a fellow cultivator. I think that is why I have slowed down of late. Nothing has brought my blood to boil since that first day after the truce ended.”


  Ling Qi was silent as she eyed the other girl continuing to daintily eat her powdered ice. “.…… Won’t older disciples be even stronger than the top of our year though?”


  “Of course not,” Gu Xiulan said dismissively. “Some certainly, but not all. I am certain I could find us an appropriate challenge or two, and once we defeat a few, the challenges will come to us, and we can stand in our own glory rather than playing second.”


  Ling Qi wasn’t sure that Gu Xiulan’s plan was a good idea, but she didn’t reject the idea outright. She still made an effort to steer Xiulan back to safer topics for the remainder of their meal though.

  The two girls parted ways around sunset with Ling Qi heading off to cultivate Eight Phase Ceremony on the high cliffs and Gu Xiulan heading home to begin preparations for her next breakthrough attempt.

  Threads 60-Bao Qian 4

  There was no hurry in her search so when Ling Qi took to the air, she flew at a lazy pace, rising up past the tree tops with the hems of her gown gently fluttering in the wind. Soaring up into the sky, she took a moment to enjoy the feeling of the wind on her face and the sound of Hanyi’s joyous laughter in her ears. The young spirit was light on her shoulders, a far cry from the immense weight she had carried the last time they had done this.

  Glancing back, she took in her companions. Li Suyin and Du Feng had produced camp chairs and other sundries from somewhere, and she could feel the heat of boiling waters. Bao Qian had gone off with his own spirit to walk around the ruined foundations. He looked up as her gaze passed over him and waved. Zhengui, on the other hand, was still, but she could feel his qi beneath the earth, spreading through the root network of the nearby trees.

  “C’moooon, don’t stop,” Hanyi complained. “Let’s fly!”


  “You’ve gotten so impatient,” Ling Qi laughed. “But fine, if that’s what you want.”


  Yes, she should definitely take the lessons of the last few weeks to heart and simply relax. With that in mind, Ling Qi tried not to laugh out loud as she darted forward, spinning in the air and drawing a startled shriek from Hanyi. In her thoughts, Sixiang laughed enough for the both of them. Taking off into the clear blue sky, Ling Qi began her search.

  It made for a relaxing afternoon. The region they were in was thickly forested but comparatively flat, so from above the trees, it almost seemed like an unbroken carpet of greenery. Faeries of wind and water fluttered and danced through the air around her, barely visible wisps even to her sharp eyes. Below, the spirits of wood and earth lurked among the branches and leaves, following their own slow paced and inscrutable whims.

  She saw and felt the passage of many beasts below her, but none dared challenge her path. Some hid or fled from her while others ignored her entirely. Her search was entirely peaceful and almost dull, or it would have been if she were alone. Hanyi was not one to let silence linger, ironically enough.

  “So, what do you think of that Bao guy, Big Sis?” Hanyi chirped. “He seems kinda boring to me, but I think he likes you!”


  “I would doubt the Bao clan’s competence if they sent someone who couldn’t give that impression,” Ling Qi replied dryly as they flew lazily over a babbling brook. Spotting the faintest hints of gravel and a regular path marking some remnant of civilization, Ling Qi shifted her course, following its direction.

  “Ugh, you’re no fun sometimes,” Hanyi complained. “And you better not spin me again ‘cause I said that!”


  Ling Qi hid her smile behind her sleeve, innocently pretending that she hadn’t considered doing just that. “Why so interested? Usually, I have to fight to get you to pay other people any mind.”


  “Hmph, I’m trying to follow your advice!” Hanyi huffed, tightly gripping Ling Qi’s shoulders as she banked sharply in the air to follow the curve of the old road. “I guess I’m worried about you, Big Sis.”


  Ling Qi glanced over her shoulder with a raised eyebrow. “What are you talking about? I’m doing fine.”


  Hanyi pouted back at her. “Big Sis takes care of me when I get sad or worried or whatever, so I just thought that you needed someone who could do the same for you.”


  Sixiang mused.

  Ling Qi thought back at Sixiang. “I can handle myself, Hanyi,” she said aloud. “That’s not something you need to worry about. Besides, why would you latch on to a stranger for that?”


  “Well, he wants to marry you, right?” Hanyi asked innocently. “He just can’t say so ‘cause of weird human things. Husbands and wives are supposed to take care of each other and make each other happy!”


  Ling Qi wasn’t even sure where to start. It made her wonder just what things had been like in Zeqing’s household given what she had seen of her mentor’s husband. It wasn’t like she was going to bring that up to Hanyi though.

  Sixiang made a sound like a person sucking in air through their teeth in her thoughts.

  “I appreciate your concern, Hanyi, but things don’t quite work like that,” Ling Qi finally said. “Bao Qian is just here to work out some business. Anything else is a consideration for a long time in the future.”


  “If you say so,” Hanyi said dubiously. “Big Sis is weird sometimes,” she muttered.

  “Ah, I see something ahead!” Ling Qi announced, pleased to have a distraction from this uncomfortable conversation.

  Up ahead, the canopy changed. There were wide gaps, and the trees seemed to grow in an oddly regular pattern. As she grew closer, she found herself looking at a badly overgrown grid of what could only have been streets across a sprawling section of the forest. The paving stones were long gone, but she could sense the lingering qi of the builders in the dirt, suppressing the growth of plants through the packed dirt. Dotted all through the streets were deep and regular holes; she assumed they were the partially collapsed remains of cellars and such.

  Yet there were no other ruins. A deep trench ran around the site, and its nature was only made clear by a handful of foundation stones for the settlement’s wall she saw scattered about. There was no other wreckage to be seen.

  “This must have been the main settlement.” It was certainly big enough. “Did all the materials get carted off though? If the Sect did that, why did we have to search?”


  “Oh, I know this one!” Hanyi announced excitedly. “Momma told me a story once that when the big storm came north, it was so big and so strong that it sucked all the trees and little houses and walls and people right up into the sky, and it rained rocks and wood and frozen bits for a week after!”


  Memories bubbled up, and she recalled Elder Jiao’s trial last year. She remembered ushering people away from a besieged city and the sight of a vast wind funnel descending upon the settlement. That put Hanyi’s story in context. She probably should have expected something like this then given that she knew they were looking for a site destroyed during the invasion.

  Morbidly curious, Ling Qi banked in the air, flying over the ruined site. It was possible she would find another road going out to the quarry they were looking for. There was little to find however. Only the lingering work of the old settlement’s road builders on the earth had kept the site recognizable as anything but an oddly pitted field. There was nothing here; the paths leaving the settlement swiftly faded beyond even her ability to perceive. Having searched the settlement thoroughly, Ling Qi rose back to a higher altitude and began to fly back. She may as well report what she had found.

  Returning to the clearing they had started in, she descended from the sky to find Li Suyin and Du Feng chatting amicably over tea and Zhengui off to one side, feasting on a fallen log.

  “Big Sister!” Zhen greeted as he spotted her descent, drawing everyone’s attention. “I, Zhen, have succeeded in our task!”


  “I did all the work,” Gui grumbled through a mouthful of bark and softwood. “But kind, humble Gui will let bragging Zhen take credit.”


  It looked like her own search had been unnecessary. “Good job, little brother. How did you do it?” Ling Qi asked as she descended.

  “I, Zhen, was able to perceive the big holes that were dug by the gaps in the roots,” Zhen said proudly. “The jewel man and his fuzzball were able to search the quarry out with Zhen’s instruction.”


  Ling Qi rested a hand on the giant serpent’s smoking scales with a sigh. “Please refer to people properly, Zhengui. Still, I am proud of you.”


  “I guess Zhengui can be useful when he’s not stuffing his face,” Hanyi teased.

  Zhengui preened under her praise as she descended to the ground. She hadn’t found anything herself, but that was fine. Her little brother needed more successes under his figurative belt. After Hanyi had hopped down from her shoulders, she accepted a cup of tea from Du Feng with a polite smile and sat down in one of the camp chairs to drink. The tea was a bit bitter for her taste, but she hardly minded.

  She spent the rest of the time chatting with Li Suyin and her friend. Teasing Suyin about her physical cultivation was fun, but the girl was working hard to prepare herself for that breakthrough as well, stockpiling medicines and getting projects into stable states. She deflected Li Suyin’s questions of concern regarding her own workload. She was still doing fine and advancing acceptably.

  Du Feng’s eagerness to ingratiate himself to her put her off a bit, but she found the boy sincere, if somewhat foppish. It helped that Sixiang agreed with her assessment. She wished him luck on his own breakthroughs in the coming months regardless.

  Soon enough, Bao Qian returned from his task looking pleased. It seemed that the jade quarry was in a recoverable state after all. After a bit more tea and relaxation, they were soon ready to begin heading back. However, as she began to make her way over to Zhengui to hop onto his shell, she found herself called back.

  “Miss Ling, might I speak with you for a moment?” Bao Qian asked, standing back from the others.

  She glanced around. Suyin and Du Feng were a short distance away, packing up the camp furniture and tea set, and her own spirits, aside from Sixiang of course, were a short distance away, bickering and talking back and forth.

  Sixiaing chuckled.

  “I don’t mind, Sir Bao,” Ling Qi replied aloud. “Is there some problem?”


  The young man regarded her thoughtfully, his arms crossed loosely over his broad chest. “I would not necessarily call it such. However, I am told that you appreciate a certain degree of bluntness, so perhaps I should just state my thoughts.”


  Ling Qi’s eyebrows rose. “If that is what you wish,” she said noncommittally.

  He let out an amused chuckle. “I find you difficult to approach. At times, you seem terribly skittish, and at other times, quite confrontational. It is a bit confusing,” he admitted frankly.

  “Is that so,” Ling Qi said, keeping her expression blank.

  “I won’t ask you to not take offense,” Bao Qian continued cheerfully. “My, this is an interesting challenge.”


  “I am glad I can entertain you,” Ling Qi said blandly.

  “Yes, I think I like your confrontational side considerably more.” Bao Qian offered a brief, low bow. “Miss Ling, I am an ambitious man. I will be honest, matters of marriage are a distant concern. There are far too many things that I need to do yet before settling is an option, cultivation not the least of them.”


  “I could say the same,” Ling Qi agreed carefully. “Why, then, did you come here?”


  “For the reasons I have stated. There is opportunity in the south, opportunity in you,” he replied without a hint of shame. “We Bao have a nose for investments. I think you are a good ally and contact to make. You, in turn, need to expand your connections among the Emerald Seas, and there are few better than the Bao for that. Even those crotchety swamp hermits out west grudgingly deal with us.”


  “You’re not wrong,” Ling Qi admitted, giving him an assessing look. “So the marriage pursuit is just a cover?”


  “Not at all. You are lovely, talented, and ambitious. You are a musician of unmatched skill for your age as well as a fierce and canny duelist. Let the old birds at court cluck their tongues about your origins. I am pleased by what I see.”


  Ling Qi stared, her thoughts briefly grinding to a halt; only a sharp prod from Sixiang got her mind moving again. “And if I cannot say the same of you?”


  He laughed. “Then I would hope that you will look into my history as I have yours in the future and pay a mind to my accomplishments in the coming years.”


  “You are awfully confident,” Ling Qi said dryly.

  “I am a Bao. It is in the blood,” he replied. “But all this aside, I do hope we can work together for our mutual prosperity in the future. Even with the support of the Cai, raising a new house is difficult.”


  “And that is what I do not understand,” Ling Qi said, frustrated. “Many sons or no, you are the scion of a comital clan. Why put yourself in such a difficult position?”


  “Bah, what good is inheritance alone?” Bao Qian dismissed. “Let my brothers and sisters squabble over my father’s and mother’s great works. I have the blood in my veins, and the arts of our archives. My advantages are already vast; I neither want or need anything else. I will make my own fortune and my own great works.”


  Ling Qi met and held his gaze, searching for sincerity in his eyes. It was such a weird mindset that she had trouble grasping it. “Alright, I’ll believe that,” Ling Qi said after a moment. “If you just want to work together, that is fine.” She could think about the rest at a later date.

  “That is all I ask for now,” he said graciously. “But we should not hold up our companions any longer.”


  Ling Qi nodded, turning away, looking to where Li Suyin and Du Feng waited. She still wasn’t sure what she thought of Bao Qian, but she needed more resources. She would always need more resources if she wanted to climb to the impossible heights that people like Cai Shenhua had. Having someone around who could help her acquire them could only be helpful.