Jia and Eui sat facing each other on Eui’s bed, hands joined and eyes closed—their expressions were twisted knots of intense concentration as beads of sweat formed on their brows. Yoshika was concentrating on her domain, as she had every night for the last week, struggling against the seal that restricted it.

Elder Qin had placed the seal as part of her punishment for engaging in dual cultivation, demonism, and for her involvement in a fight that nearly resulted in the deaths of at least two students—one of which was her. It didn’t feel very fair, but Elder Qin had made it clear that it was a much better option than his first choice for punishment—which would have been death.

Apparently the seal was meant to be a training opportunity—he had insinuated that she’d be able to break it, with practice. Unfortunately, after a week of effort, Yoshika had made precisely no progress in doing so. No matter how she struggled and strained against the seal, her domain refused to extend beyond her own skin. The only exception was that Jia and Eui’s domains would combine while they were in physical contact.

Yoshika gave up struggling for a moment to think. Elder Qin had said that it would be impossible to seal even a novice xiantian cultivator in this way—did he mean for him, or just in general? Perhaps it wasn’t a matter of power, but control—or understanding?

There was something else that had bothered her as well. When Qin Zhao had first sealed her, she had rushed to maintain contact between Jia and Eui in order to continue healing Jia, but Elder Qin had taken that as evidence that she lacked some kind of fundamental understanding. Understanding of what, though? She had already tried using the domain itself as a bridge between Jia and Eui, but it didn’t work unless their domains had already merged.

No, that wasn’t right either, was it? Hwang Sung and Do Hye had told her that she only had one domain in the first place. The domain was a representation of the self—part of the soul. That was why Magus Hwang said that they were destined to become a single entity eventually. It wasn’t that he had experience with this sort of thing before, just something he could extrapolate from things he already knew.

Had their souls already started to merge? Was that why they only had one domain between them? And if that was the case, then how could they possibly exist apart from each other? Yoshika groaned in frustration as she tried to piece it all together. There was too much she didn’t know, or thought she knew but conflicted with other ideas. Part of her also realized that it was likely fruitless to try to achieve understanding entirely through logical contemplation—there was some missing piece that she needed to achieve through intuition.

So it went, struggling to break the seal by force until she gave up and struggled to figure out the seal with knowledge and understanding. Neither worked, but she continued to alternate between the two until she was too frustrated to maintain a meditative state.

“Ancestors damnit! What are we missing?”

Eui wiped at the sweat on her brow in vain and shrugged.

“If I knew that, we’d have already broken the seal by now.”

Jia punched her in the shoulder and blew out her cheeks.

“It was a rhetorical question!”

Eui chuckled at her and stood up to stretch.

“We’ll figure it out eventually. Maybe we can complain to Elder Qin when we see him later today. For now, I’m taking a shower.”

That was a sentiment that Jia could definitely get behind, and she followed Eui out of their room and into the common living area. The two entered the living room together, still slightly out of breath from the effort of trying to break the seal and glistening with sweat. They were met by Yan Yue’s wide eyed stare, frozen in the middle of raising a teacup to her lips.

Yue’s face slowly reddened as she put the cup down and turned away.

“I didn’t see anything.”

“Snrk!”

Eui snorted in amusement, but said nothing else as she continued making her way to the bathroom. Jia looked between the two a few times in confusion before it finally clicked. Her face instantly turned beet red as she whirled around to face Yue.

“Wait! Yue—”

“I didn’t see anything!”

“It’s not what you think, we were—”

“I didn’t see anything!”

Eui’s cackling laughter didn’t help matters as she disappeared into the bathroom, clearly unperturbed by the misunderstanding. Jia spent nearly half an hour fruitlessly trying to correct the misunderstanding while Yue stubbornly insisted not to have seen anything.

Jia and Eui sat in the pavilion near the eastern wing of the campus that Elder Qin liked to use for his lessons. As usual the scenery around it was a lush park with a beautiful flower garden, and the pavilion itself was decorated with a colorful variety of hanging plants. It was almost unchanged from the first time they’d been there in winter, maintained by some kind of elaborate climate control formation. It was maybe a bit more colorful now that all the flowers were in full bloom. Jia was wondering just who it was who kept the grounds so well maintained when her thoughts were interrupted.

“You are late.”

Jia and Eui were long accustomed to Elder Qin’s sudden appearances, and neither of them were startled. Eui looked up at the Elder with a bored expression, her head resting lazily on one hand.

“We’ve been waiting here for over an hour. How could we possibly be late?”

Elder Qin stared down his nose at her with his hands held in front of him, hidden in his sleeves. It was a posture she’d seen often in people from Qin, but Qin Zhao himself always seemed to stand that way.

“I am not referring to the time of day, Miss An. Did I not instruct you that our lessons were to resume as soon as Miss Lee recovered from her injuries? It has been weeks.”

Eui rolled her eyes impetuously—it seemed as if the more reverence someone expected from her, the less she showed.

“That’s not very specific. If you knew she had recovered, you could have called us at any time—we’re not exactly allowed to go on casual strolls in the park. You really ought to know that, since it was your mandate and all.”

Jia felt the sweat forming on the back of her neck as Elder Qin’s eyes narrowed dangerously.

“I do not know what you hope to accomplish with your childish attempts to raise my ire, Miss An, but I recommend that you check your tone. I am perfectly capable of increasing your punishments if that is what you desire.”

Eui scowled angrily, but much to Jia’s relief, she opted to just cross her arms and look away petulantly, rather than argue further. Elder Qin seemed satisfied with that and swept his gaze across the two of them.

“Now then, you have much to catch up on and very little time to do it. I assume you have not been idle in your spiritual training without my direction—tell me of your progress.”

Jia opened her mouth to answer Elder Qin, but Eui beat her to the punch—she seemed to be in an uncharacteristically chatty mood.

“Shouldn’t you know all about that? You were spying on us for months, weren’t you? Why don’t you just say whatever you want to tell us instead of this ridiculous dance around the subject?”

Jia gave Eui a warning glance, but she was too busy staring down Elder Qin to notice. Jia wondered what was wrong—she’d been fine that morning, but now she was clearly in a combative mood. Elder Qin answered her with a neutral expression and the careful monotone of somebody who was consciously modulating their tone.

“While I have observed some evidence of your progress, there is value in hearing a disciple’s self-evaluation, and there are some things that can only be observed through direct demonstration. This is your second warning, Miss An—if you continue to disrespect me, there will not be a third.”

Jia gave Eui a pleading look, and Eui relented with an irritable huff.

“Fine! I mean—yes elder.”

“Very good. Now, Miss Lee, I believe you were about to answer me.”

Jia and Eui spent the next few minutes describing the progress that they had made on Tranquility of the Verdant Marsh. Elder Qin listened impassively until they finished, then shook his head and sighed.

“It is worse than I feared. Have neither of you even attempted to train another technique? With all your focus on one technique you’ve only come as far as that? I fear I may have overestimated your talent.”

Jia frowned, feeling the need to protest against Elder Qin’s harsh evaluation.

“We haven’t only been focused on one technique! We’ve also been training our martial arts and practicing magic! We worked really hard to try to prepare for Zheng Long to come after us. I even developed a technique that combines spiritual and martial arts!”

Elder Qin raised an eyebrow at Jia.

“Elaborate. How did you combine spiritual and martial arts?”

Jia’s ears drooped as she realized she’d said a bit too much. Well, Elder Qin was supposed to be one of her mentors, though she didn’t particularly trust him or his mysterious motivations.

“W-well, the thing is...the disciplines aren’t really all that different. They all use the same energy in basically the same ways, and the only difference is where that energy is cultivated—except that’s not really a difference either. Body, mind, and soul are all connected—all part of the same thing.”

“A year ago I would have considered those words to be blasphemy against the true path, but I am forced to acknowledge the evidence before my eyes. Your existence seems to be proof of that theory—however, you haven’t answered the question.”

“R-right, well Steps of the Stalker takes advantage of that connection. I cultivate shadow qi in the meridians connected to my dantian, and then use that qi to directly enhance my body. It, uh, makes me invisible. I also used the same technique to combine the shadow essence with my domain but...I don’t know what that actually did.”

Elder Qin stared flatly at Lee Jia, and she felt her face heating up from embarrassment.

“Your approach to cultivation is remarkable, Miss Lee. What even inspired such a unique cultivation method?”

Jia’s blush grew deeper as she tried to find the words to explain herself.

“I had a—a dream. Not like a random dream—I think it was a message from my spirit half, which might be a fragment of my spiritual ancestor, but I’m not sure because she’s really weird and cryptic and never gives me any straight answers. Anyway, I meditated on it and the technique just sort of...came to me?”

Jia felt like an idiot as she rambled on, but to her surprise Elder Qin didn’t meet her story with incredulity or mockery, instead his expression turned sharp.

“This spirit—have you communed with it before? Has it told you anything else?”

Jia blinked in surprise at the sudden seriousness of Elder Qin’s tone—not that he wasn’t serious before, but it felt like his questioning had become more urgent.

“U-uh...I’ve spoken to her a few times, but she’s not very forthcoming. I think she guided me to Heian—or her parent maybe, I don’t know how it works—and she helped with my er...resurrection.”

Elder Qin squinted his eyes shut and rubbed his temple.

“The matter of your ‘resurrection’ aside, how long has this spirit been possessing you?”

Jia frowned in confusion.

“I’m not sure what you mean. Heian was given to me by a panther spirit in the mountain last month—I guess she’s a smaller part of the bigger Heian? I don’t really understand much about her but—”

“Not your familiar, the one that spoke to you in dreams and taught you that technique. ‘Steps of the Stalker’, you called it.”

“Oh, I don’t really know what you mean by ‘possessing’, but I think she’s always been with me—or rather, she is me. I am a half-spirit, you know.”

Elder Qin stroked his chin thoughtfully, and sat down on one of the benches in the pavilion, ignoring the girls as he muttered to himself.

“‘Half-spirit’...of course we knew that the beastkin owed their traits to spiritual ancestry, but this may be the first evidence of actual...”

His head jerked up as if he had just remembered that Jia and Eui were there. He cleared his throat and stood imperiously once more, as if the lapse had never occurred.

“An intriguing revelation. I was concerned about the possibility of a malicious spirit possessing you, but it seems that is not the case. Demonstrate this technique for me, as well as this familiar of yours.”

Elder Qin’s eyes widened in shock as he met Jia’s scowling face, her ears had gone flat against her head, and her tail lashed in anger. Qin Zhao schooled his expression quickly before speaking.

“What is wrong, Miss Lee? I don’t believe I have said anything untoward.”

“You called us ‘beastkin’! In the exact same breath that you acknowledge the term ‘half-spirit’ you likened my race to beasts! I’m used to it from entitled brats like Zheng Long, but I expected better from a respected Elder.”

Lee Jia knew that she was making a bigger deal of it than necessary, but it stung to hear the pejorative from someone that she respected. It felt as though every time she grew to like or respect someone from Qin, they always found a way to trample on that respect. Only Guan Yi had managed to avoid disappointing her so far, and she was starting to think it was a matter of ‘when’ rather than ‘if’.

To her complete surprise, Elder Qin bowed apologetically.

“You have my sincerest apologies, Miss Lee—and you, Miss An. I had no intention of casting aspersions against your race. It is no excuse, but I forgot myself for a moment and habitually used the vernacular of my nation. Now then, that demonstration.”

Jia stared dumbfounded at Elder Qin. The way he transitioned from a sincerely heartfelt apology straight back to making imperious demands without actually waiting to be forgiven was perhaps the most Qin-like thing she had ever experienced. She hesitated for a moment before explaining.

“The Steps of the Stalker technique is extremely resource-intensive. The shadow element isn’t very easy to cultivate, even with the help of a compatible spirit familiar. A single demonstration would cost more qi than I’ve refined over the last entire month.”

Elder Qin nodded curtly.

“Duly noted, proceed.”

Lee Jia hung her head and sighed. She should have figured he wouldn’t actually care. She closed her eyes and focused on her reserve of shadow qi. In the intervening month since her duel with Yuuko, Jia had only recovered maybe half of the shadow essence she had used in that fight. The technique was both extremely costly to use, and slow to refine the necessary shadow qi.

As she brought the shadow qi up from her dantian, she once again felt the support from her soulscape as Heian matched her expenditure of shadow essence. The two streams of essence met at her heart and the ki spread throughout her body, infusing her blood, flesh, and bones with the power of shadow.

She opened her eyes, but didn’t see anything—she had forgotten that the technique blinded her while it was active, which was a much more severe limitation while her domain was sealed.

Is this good enough?

Lee Jia frowned in confusion. She had tried to speak, but no sound came out. Did the technique silence her as well? She decided that it was enough and ended the effect before she wasted any more precious shadow essence—already she had used up nearly everything she had left.

When the essence receded, she immediately felt Elder Qin’s domain pressing down on her own, startling her.

“Ah! What’s happening? What are you doing?”

The pressure receded and Elder Qin looked down at her with a thoughtful frown.

“That technique is more powerful than you gave it credit for, Miss Lee. While it was active, even I was not able to sense your presence in any way. You should keep its true power secret—it is the kind of technique that might save you from an otherwise implacable foe. Now, the familiar?”

Jia’s head was still reeling from the revelation of the true capabilities of Steps of the Stalker, and she had a hard time keeping up with Elder Qin’s pace. Nevertheless, she still obediently summoned Heian from her soulscape into her arms. The little kitten spirit was tired from the use of Steps of the Stalker, and appeared to be sleeping.

“Here she is. She, um, doesn’t really do anything. She acts like a kitten when manifested like this, but nobody else can touch her—except Eui. She helps me use Steps of the Stalker, sleeps, and sometimes absorbs spiritual energy.”

Elder Qin raised an eyebrow as he regarded the sleeping kitten.

“Sometimes?”

“She’s...picky. I’ve only seen her eat darkness and shadow mana before.”

“I see. You should take caution, Miss Lee. The kind of bond you have with this spirit is not unheard of, it is simply known in another, more common form—possession. I mentioned it previously, but spiritual possession is what occurs when a human houses a living spirit within their soul. Typically, the human’s will is slowly subsumed by that of the spirit until they are nothing more than a crazed husk. The channelers of Yamato have ways of temporarily staving off this fate, but they are not known for their longevity.”

Lee Jia went pale and stared down nervously at the little black kitten sleeping in her arms. It seemed so non-threatening like that. Elder Qin raised a hand in a placating gesture before she could start to panic.

“It is not an urgent issue—even for a spirit at the height of its power, possession of a cultivator can take years or even decades. That spirit is the equivalent of an infant, as far as spirits reckon such things. It may be possible for you to exert your own will over it instead, or that your unique...nature, as a half spirit may change the dynamic in some way. We will monitor it closely, and simply bind the spirit in another way should you begin to show signs of possession.”

Jia let out a sigh of relief, gently scratching Heian between the ears. She didn’t want to have to bind Heian, but she didn’t like the sound of having her will subsumed, either. She hoped she’d be able to come to some kind of understanding with the spirit.

“That’s good. I’ve gotten kind of attached to her, and I’ve been looking forward to raising her. She’s really inspired me to learn more about spirits.”

Elder Qin nodded.

“A spirit familiar is a powerful boon. Unbound as it is, Heian has much more potential than a typical bound spirit, but that applies to the potential dangers as well. Now, enough about Miss Lee, do you have anything else to report, Miss An?”

Eui’s head jerked up from where she’d been staring listlessly at the scenery, as if startled that she’d been involved in the conversation.

“Uh, not really? I’ve trained my healing beyond just practicing Verdant Marsh—doing research on anatomy and medicine. Most of my time has been spent trying to master Six Arms of Asura, especially now that I’m not allowed to use it unless it’s perfect—which makes it kind of fucking hard to practice!”

As Eui spoke, her tone slowly got louder and angrier. Elder Qin sighed and shook his head, but Eui ignored him and continued her rant. Jia looked on with concern—it wasn’t really unlike Eui to act this way, but she seemed particularly prickly today.

“Oh, and there was that whole ‘reviving Jia from being literally dead’ thing—but I guess that’s an inadequate level of progress for a student of the almighty Qin Zhao. Sorry for bringing you shame with my legendary incompetence! I don’t know why you’re even asking me when we both know that you only care about Jia and I’m just a fucking extra that you—”

Eui’s mouth kept moving, but there was no sound as she was suddenly cut off by a gesture from Elder Qin. After a moment, she realized what had happened and scowled furiously.

“I warned you that there would be further punishment if you continued with your disrespectful tone, Miss An. Your voice will return in a day—until then, use the newfound silence to consider the idea of thinking before you speak. In the meantime, let’s discuss how you two might practice manipulating the destruction element without feeding the demonic core.”

Eui silently seethed as Elder Qin smoothly proceeded with his lecture, and Jia tried desperately not to laugh.