In the usual training area behind the inn, this time with no sprinklers and only the four wooden pillars around them, Caroline and Jason were trying to stabilize the protective array right in front of them. Jianmen was patiently and silently walking outside the circle formed by the wooden pillars and observing their progress.

 

Just like the manifested color of their Xuanli, the light emitting from their protective arrays were also fiery orange and metallic silver. This was their second time trying to construct the array and maintain it for a long enough period of time, and they were doing ok - per Jianmen’s standards.

 

Jianmen explained the keys of this to both of his students multiple times - but eventually it is something learned and understood through practice. The steady flow of Xuanli, the control of the power and balance using the power of mind and will, and the steadiness of their actual mind and will to maintain a good control without slipping or gripping too tight, these were all the key aspects that cannot be learned by simply listening. Not to mention, that different types of Xuanli required different kinds of control. Caroline’s Xuanli had the primary elemental characteristics of fire, which was easily energetic and vibrant, meaning it was hard to control but easy to spread it across the whole array; while Jason’s Xuanli had the characteristics of soft metals - easy to mold and control, but difficult to push through the veins of the array with consistency, it was like squeezing toothpaste into a rubber tube.

 

And these issues were pretty obvious when Caroline and Jason first tried - Caroline’s array burned down, wasting all the material she used, and Jason’s array was disproportionately fueled, which caused the whole array to crumble and crash.

 

Today, Caroline’s array was still spitting fire but Jianmen could see a rough shape of a dome hovering over it - which was the basic form of the protective array when it fully manifested; Jason’s array was flickering silver light, and the dome was only half-formed from his silver Xuanli, but he was slowly getting the hang of fully fueling the array and making it manifest slowly.

 

After a while, Caroline’s array crumbled like a wood house on fire, and the cinders and sparks again burnt the foundational material; Jason finally formed a silver energy dome over his array and he was able to maintain it and keep it in shape, but when Caroline poked it with a small leaf of grass, the dome shattered like a frozen soap bubble.

 

“Hey! I just got it into shape!” Jason whined.

 

“Well, you made a hell of a funny mirror for your enemies. But that’s not protective.” Caroline laughed: “Unless your enemies fear the reflection of themselves”

 

“Which may sometimes be the case.” Jianmen chuckled and said: “Don’t worry, it’s your second try. No one got it … well almost no one got it on their first five tries. I almost blew up a hay house on my third try, and it was supposed to be a protective array.”

 

“Oh, and who was that someone who got it on their first five tries?” Caroline asked: “At least give us something to aspire to. ”

 

“Bad idea - if I told you, you’ll either rush, or get discouraged.” Jianmen shrugged: “Just keep focusing and learning from your failures - maybe you’ll get it on your third tries - it’s good practice, no? Do you feel like you know more about your Xuanli yet?”

 

“As a matter of fact, it did help a lot.” Jason scratched his head: “Feels like I am in better control of it every time I practice - it’s a different kind of practice from just using spells. ”

 

“And it feels like if I practice both more often, I can learn to gain more control over it...” Caroline nodded in agreement: “And it’s a different kind of control as well - for spells it was more of a one time - explosive of power, for this, it’s a constant and mindful grasp...”

 

“Indeed. It’s like explosiveness and stamina.” Jianmen gently tapped on one of the wooden pillars: “Take a break and continue with your day. Don’t forget to practice the casual cultivation method I taught you.”

 

“Ah. It’s just a question: ” Jason stood up and asked: “How soon will we be able to construct an array big enough to protect my parent’s place?”

 

“Yeah, about that.” Jianmen pointed at the direction of the basement: “Go to the basement and you will find two sets of stones. Each set has 4, place them on the four corners of the place you want to protect. Don’t over stretch the covered area though.”

 

“Oh my god. Thank you Boss.” Jason couldn’t help but hop over and hug Jiamnen: “I was embarrassed to ask… Thank you!”

 

“Hey, what are Shifus for huh?” Jianmen smiled: “And uh, those are self powering so it will keep running for a long time. If you are interested you can take a look at them and see if you can find any inspirations. ”

 

“Thanks Boss.” Caroline also came over and hugged Jianmen.

 

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After their failed second attempts at protective array construction, Caroline and Jason went to Jason’s parents’ place and laid the four strange looking rocks at four corners of the house. Strange and almost undetectable lines of energy connected the rocks as soon as the last one was placed, forming some sort of irregular energy circle. 

 

And a strange calming smell seemed to have come from the interior of the circle, not that unlike the gentle flowery smell back at the inn.

 

“That… kinda explains the scent of the inn.” Caroline slightly tilted her head and said: “I wonder how strong and complicated the protection array is. I’ve never been able to sense it.”

 

“And neither have I.” Jason shrugged and sighed in relief, “At least it is safe - er. I’ll talk to my parents and see if they wanna come back.”

 

“How did they take it when you told them?”

 

“Well, after saving them from two dark clouds hanging over their heads sucking their life force, it looks like I can just tell them anything and they’ll buy it.” Jason chuckled: “What about you? Did Alex start worshipping you yet? ”

 

“A little bit, which I am kinda worried about. ” Caroline smiled: “As much as I enjoy the adoring looks, I don’t want him to pick up my bad habits and think this is the way it should be.”

 

“Bad habits? Like what?”

 

“Like not having an actual job, no hobby or anything else to show for and only the ability to burn and destroy.” Caroline sighed.

 

“Well … ” Jason sighed as well and said: “when you put it like that. I kinda see the point.” Which immediately earned him an elbow to the arm.

 

“Let’s go to the movie set. That’s more likely to land me a real job.” Caroline laughed and said: “Hope the Reaper can give me a permanent consultant position with his sets.”

 

“Yeah. If he offered, you should definitely take that position.”