A few hours after leaving the sect boundaries, Asha cut off the trail at some sign only she knew and headed through a thicket of trees. After a few minutes, they broke into a clearing about twenty yards across. The grass in it grew tall but in clumps of various colours. He saw red, blue, and purple mixed with the more standard green and yellow. Asha paused at the edge and scanned the area with her eyes and spiritual sense.

She walked to a mostly bare spot in the middle and said, “Sit here. Extend your senses to the grasses. Can you feel the Ki they have absorbed?” When Quan nodded, she continued. “We will be harvesting 8 clumps of grass here. Try to identify which 8 are ready for harvest”.

Quan laughed. “Talk about a needle in a haystack. There is nothing but grass here, and I need to find the right eight patches. Do I at least get a hint?” He added when he saw Asha was serious.

“This clearing has been monitored by our sect for generations. I’m sure you’ll gain some insights. Do not pick anything before I approve it.” Asha replied firmly.

He settled in with a sigh. Everything lately had been about pushing his senses and minute manipulation of Ki. Quan let his senses flow out to first understand the clearing as a whole before beginning trying to discern the pieces.

Asha soon left him to his scrutiny of the field to find other items in the area. Quan worked diligently at the task given. But he had literally been asked to watch grass grow and then score its performance. He realized his mind was drifting into uselessness when he debated what score the Russian judge would give this clump. He wasn't even sure he was fully awake at that point.

He looked around and saw no sign of Asha. Quan sprinted out of the field, figuring a short run would revitalize his body and mind before returning to the task. He had found at best three clumps that stood out so far.

Quan ran out a bit from the clearing, so he didn't disturb the precious grass. Then ran a couple of quick circles around the clearing and over the hill at its edge. He soon returned to settle in for his joyous task of grass monitoring. Something pricked at the edge of his mind, though. He looked around the clearing intently as he moved to the centre and tried to spot what was bothering him. He turned slowly in a circle as he reached with his senses but could find nothing wrong.

On his fourth turn, he suddenly caught it. Where was the hill he ran up and over? He realized he couldn't even recall which direction it should be in. He ran out of the clearing and did a quick circuit. Sure enough, he found the hill. He could look down into the clearing from it. He marked its location in his mind and ran back in. However, once back in the clearing, he couldn't recall exactly where he was meant to look again.

Quan repeated that process twice before he groaned in frustration. He thought of throwing a spear from above to mark the direction, but the chance of damaging grass that took hundreds of years to mature stalled him. Eventually, he resorted to math. He marked a spot in the clearing, walked straight out, and then counted each step until he found the hill. The steps over it. Then back to his starting point. In the clearing, he walked a complete circuit from his starting point and counted a smaller circle. Once, he had that it was a simple matter to convert the outer numbers to match the inner circle, and he now knew where the hill should be.

Quan walked to where his calculations said the hill should be and placed a marker. He saw two options now; he was either dead center before an invisible hill or at the edge of an area he was being forced to forget.

He stood there, concentrating on the area. Even entering meditation as he tried to find the edge of whatever was affecting his perception. Unable to find any break in the concealment after a long study, he threw a line of rope forward from his marker and stared at the ground making sure to keep the line beneath him. His vision changed between one step and the next, and the grass turned to a dirt floor.

"You cheated." Asha said, "I should kick you out and make you do it the right way."

"How can I cheat when I didn't know there were rules!" Quan protested. "I found something odd and investigated till I had an answer. Sounds fair to me!"

Asha rolled her eyes and gestured for him to enter. "You were supposed to sense the veil and use your growing sense to see past it. Then you'd be able to enter the cave freely."

Quan looked around and saw the cave was no more than a dozen feet long in a rough circle. There was a small pool of water a few feet deep near the back end. Various plants grew along the walls. The water drew his attention as it seemed to pulse with ki, and lights floated above the surface.

"This is a spiritual pond. It will enhance your cultivation if you are in it while cultivating, very similar to your body enhancement baths." Asha said as she noticed his attention on the pond. He looked at her and realized her hair was wet.

"Wait, if I'd been faster, I could have walked in on you in the bath? Guess I did miss the real prize!" Quan quipped.

Quan suddenly doubled over as Asha's sheathed blade struck him in the gut. "Try to show some respect to your master." She said as he doubled over in pain.

"Yes, master, sorry master." He grunted.

"Cultivate in this pool for the next four hours. I will range farther out to gather some items nearby. Afterwards, we will set camp for the night." Asha strode out without another word at her presumptuous student.

Quan looked at the pool as Asha left. A stone base was full of clear water. There was no readily apparent water source, but it didn't smell stagnate. In fact, the ki he could feel made it seem inviting. He threw off his clothes and put a foot in to find it nicely warm. A hot spring of some kind, he decided and climbed in. It was only four feet deep, but long enough, he could lie back to immerse himself fully.

Curious to see what benefits it would bring, he quickly began to cultivate in the warm waters. The ki was thick around him, and as he pulled on the Ki, it came like a flood. Much thicker and purer than he was used to. The dense ki flowed into his core with an exhilarating rush. He struggled to control the energy and twist it as it tried to rush straight in. Once he got used to the increased pressure, he absorbed ki at a much faster rate than he ever did before. A few hours of this might be enough to push him to a liquid core.

Quan laid back in the water. Eyes closed, enjoying the sensation as he directed the energy flows. Eventually, the process became simple, as easy as it was when he normally cultivated. He opened his eyes then and looked around the cave to see nothing had changed. His eyes were drawn to the lights floating above the pool, with his mind mostly on the cultivation.

Numbers? He thought to himself. Yes, the lights are definitely numbers. He watched in fascination as he tried to equate the symbols to a number system he knew. Eventually matching the symbols to the ones he knew. The lights seemed to follow a repeating pattern.

Now that he had decided they were numbers, he watched as the display started over. First simple maths were displayed, working up to complex multiplication and division. Then some basic Algebra. The problems got more complex until they paused on what appeared to be an unfinished equation. After a couple of minutes, the cycle would repeat. The next time he reached out to the lights and realized he could interact with them. The light seemed to follow his fingers as he filled in the answers. Soon the lights were taxing his long-forgotten math skills. He repeatedly tried in frustration as he dredged his memory.

"When will I ever need calculus in the real world, Mrs. Meyers?" Quan mimicked out loud. "Well, Quan, one day, you'll be bathing on an alien world in a mystical cave wishing you'd paid more attention today!"

It took him nearly an hour to dredge up the final solution to the basic calculus problem he was presented with. A thrill of excitement when he recalled how to solve it after so long. As he did, he felt the Ki change in the cave, and as he looked, the back wall dissolved, and a new pathway appeared.

Quan quickly dressed and stepped into the new room.

"Who are you?" A voice promptly asked as he entered.