She arrived at her courtyard to find the first and second elders waiting in front of the door.

'Greetings Little ancestor.'

'i brought the second elder. He has come to introduce himself to you.' 

'My name is Qi rong fei. I pay my respects to little ancestor.'

'Nice to meet you, second elder. Don't stand outside. Please come in.'

Qi rong fei felt the slight presence of spiritual energy flowing inside the courtyard. The first elder was visiting the courtyard for the first time after the passing of the ancestor, but he couldn't remember if the courtyard had been this comfortable the last time he visited. 

Shit!

Bai li yue cursed under her breath. She had forgotten that her courtyard was now a hub for spirit energy. It would be impolite to send them away right after inviting them. Cursing her forgetful brain, she served them tea and prayed nobody would notice. 

'Second elder, is what you said really true? will the ten students entering the inner sect really participate in the tournament?'

'Yes. Are you concerned about your friends?'

'They are talented young men. They don't need me to worry about them.'

She noticed the first elder smiling in contentment and making himself more comfortable. If she delayed any longer in sending them away, she was afraid that she'd have a permanent housemate.

'Is there anything else?'

'I had wanted to discuss some sect matters-' the second elder started to speak up, but she interrupted him.

'I'm not a real elder of the sect. You know that. I was about to retire for the night.'

The first elder sighed when he heard her pointedly inviting them to leave. He walked slowly out of the courtyard after one final look of longing.

'I now understand why the sect grand aunt wanted to steal the courtyard. Qi rong fei, let's visit the little ancestor often, okay? I'm worried she'll become lonely staying in such an isolated corner of the sect.'

'Are you sure it's not because of another reason?'

'What do you take me for? As the first elder, shouldn't i care about the little ancestor's well being?'

'Indeed. Indeed.' The second elder snickered at the not so subtle attempt of the first elder to get benefits. He admitted that he was also intrigued. 

if the students under his instruction could cultivate inside her courtyard for one day, their sect will definitely do well during the tournament.

He also resolved to pass by the courtyard regularly with the first elder. Maybe, by growing close with her, he will be able to ask for a favour.

Once they left, Bai li yue adjusted her condition and grabbed her wooden training sword. The Dancing light sword tactics was a formidable skill. Combined with the wind movement skill, it would be elevated to a new height. She copied the starting pose and moved through the attacking sequence. Forward, twist, angle, stab. She twisted her upper body and angled the sword upward. motes of floating light orbs danced around her as she moved. They twinkled in the background in cadence with her attacks.

Forward, twist, angle, stab.

She repeated the sequence to familiarise her body with the moves. She sometimes sped up the repetition and at other times, tried to vary the order. It didn't work to her satisfaction.

Why am i trying to vary it in the first place, anyway? The fact that it seems monotonous doesn't mean it isn't effective. Once i chain several attack moves and have a real fight, then i'll be able to say with authority if it's good or not for me. I'm also forgetting the lights. The skill isn't called dancing lights sword tactics for nothing.

She touched the floating orbs gently and felt a warmness at the tip of her finger. The lights orbs were another part of the skills. If they were used at the right moment, the floating light would give her a huge advantage. Depending on how she used them, they could be a distraction or a weapon. She could focus more energy into a single orb and blind her opponent for no more than a minute. 

She pumped energy into a blue orb floating above her head until it shone brighter than the other orbs. 

Explode!

A bright blue light exploded out of the orb, lighting the area around her. The blinding light disappeared in an instant plunging her into momentary darkness. She should have enough time to finish her opponent. 

She spent the rest of the night practising attacking together with the dancing lights. The sequences became more complex as she grew more accustomed to the speed and the timing of the explosions. 

It felt good to move her body, even if she was only practising. Her feet tapped the ground as she changed stances transforming the stabbing action into a twist. She whirled and lunged forward, sidestepped to evade the imaginary opponent's sword and aimed an orb straight at their position. She looked like a dancing nymph playing with dragonflies in a hidden woodland glade. However underneath the otherworldly beauty lay a dormant deadliness.

The months that passed were filled with gruelling practice for her. She spent most of her time training the different sequences of the dancing lights sword skill. She hadn't completely understood the usefulness of the sword skill when she began her training, but she was beginning to grasp it. She wouldn't know how skilled she was with it until she engaged in real combat. 

She'd been toying with the idea for a while now and she was no closer to making a decision. It was a difficult decision to make so she was taking her time.

She felt that it was time for her to leave the sect and explore the world beyond the Thousand bamboo immortal sect. Teacher chu had a plan in which she stayed in the sect till she reached a higher realm, but life in the sect was boring. She constantly had to find something to occupy herself with. Cultivation was a monotonous activity from morning to night. It was the same activity on repeat. 

She was aware that she couldn't pack up and  leave from one day to the next. In spite of her initial wariness, the sect had come to occupy a special place in her heart. The people had grown on her without her knowing. There was grand elder mu and her son, the sect leader who was an uncle who cared for his ward but remained distant, the two elders: qi rong fei and zhao li ming, whose regular weekly visits had won her over. She couldn't forget her new friends whom she hadn't seen in months. The second elder gave her monthly reports about their performance whenever he visited so she knew what was happening with them. 

The title of little ancestor was not an empty one after all. She felt a weight on her shoulders now that she was entertaining the idea of leaving. 

I now understand better how teacher Chu felt when he saw everything on the verge of collapse. The need to protect is present, so is the fear of not being up to the task.

The second elder had finally asked if the students participating in the tournament could spend some time cultivating in the array. She had outright refused, but now, she thought that might not be such a bad idea. The sect was relying on them to excel and win spots for the sect at the national tournament. Were they to have a chance to impress higher ranked sects and possibly gain protection from a two or three star sect, they'd need all the help they could get. 

So much to do in so little time. 

She also had to find a solution for the broken down sect protecting array. At her current level, she couldn't fully repair it, but she could get parts of it working. It would be able to offer some protection to the sect during her absence. 

The elders would be visiting tonight according to their routine. She planned to tell them of her decision then. Once her decision was made, she knew that her mind was more or less made up to leave the sect. When exactly? She didn't know yet. 

She began preparing for her eventual departure that afternoon by inscribing a control rune on a jade tablet she found in the spatial ring. It was a rudimentary rune that controlled the number of spirit gathering arrays active at a single time. 

Being a person from modern day earth, she had begun thinking of automation as a natural progression of the implementation of arrays. Most arrays function once they were cast. The only other state was dormancy. But what if the caster desired to introduce another state? Introduce complexity? Could automation be the answer to that question? The thought of automation brought about an explosion of ideas that muddied the waters of her thought and turned everything into an uncharted mess. In a way, she was reminded of Han bei jie's reflection on arrays. She was slowly breaking away from the shackles of tradition.

Since she was going to be absent for a long time, this was the only solution she'd come up with for others to use the array. Once she repaired the array around the sect, she will make another control tablet for it.

That night, she served tea to the elders along with some pastries she prepared in her free time. The first elder sat at his usual place in the array cultivating while the second elder engaged her in conversation.

'Little ancestor, i hope you'll come with us to the provincial tournament next month. You have to witness how far your friends have come.'

'Tell me when you are about to leave and i'll gladly join you.' 

She had long ago made the decision to go with them. It would be her first time in a sect apart from hers and her first foray out in the larger world before she truly struck out on her own. It would be like a mini adventure. 

She listened to the second elder recount his experience travelling through distant lands such as the holy cultivation city of the Chu kingdom where he had spent only 6 months. Even now, he wished to return to the city where a person could cultivate from dawn to sunset till the end of time. 

'If you ever get the chance, it is a place you must visit at least once in your life.' 

He said wistfully. She could tell he had a lot more places he wished to visit.

He had made it as far as the shores of the Endless sea in the west. He spoke of giant flying ships that ferried travellers across the sea to the continent of Minglou.

'Unfortunately, the fare was too expensive and i was out of funds, but one day, when the sect is safe, i'll continue my travels.'

Bai li yue devoured his words and noted places that she had to visit. They sounded magical, out of this world. 

Soon. I will also roam the world and see with my own eyes what i have heard of all these years.

When the first elder finished his hour long cultivation spree, she asked him if she could have a nearby empty courtyard allocated for the second elder's use.

'What? Don't tell me-!'

'Mhm. I thought of it. We have to aim higher. A two star sect is okay, but if we work hard a three star sect isn't impossible. To achieve this, then we all have to work hard, including myself. I'll get everything ready. In exchange, i ask for utmost secrecy. All the students cultivating in the courtyard must take an oath.'

'Leave it to me. I'll make sure everyone of them is sworn to secrecy. I won't joke around with the safety of the sect.'

Qi rong fei assured her.

'I'll leave everything to you then.'

'I'll also have the courtyard keys sent to you tomorrow. There is no time to waste.' 

Chimed in the first elder.

They went over the plan again and settled on a week. At the last minute she increased the number of courtyards by two. The students numbered thirty. Dividing one array amongst thirty people over the course of the remaining three weeks would be a nightmare. With three arrays divided among thirty people, there might be enough time for some of them to break through just in time for the tournament. 

'Thank you, little ancestor.'

'No. You can thank me when we win the tournament.'

The two of them nodded. New purpose filled them as rushed out to accomplish their part of the plan. 

Bai li yue no longer felt like sleeping so she took a stroll around the sect inspecting the broken down array as she went. She tossed and caught the badge she had inherited from her teacher as she went. The nexus of the array was situated on a hill near the remembrance hall. After studying the faded runes, she realised that apart from lacking spirit energy, part of the runes were destroyed. The sect wide spirit gathering array was integrated skillfully with a protection array and a sword array. 

Did teacher build this array?

She wondered to herself, admiring the craftsmanship. Three arrays interlaced together into one single array was definitely the work of an ancient sovereign. Was it teacher? Of teacher's master? Will i also be lucky enough to one day reach this level?