Mu scrunches her brows. She looks deep within following the flow of her qi as she probes every bit of her meridians. She concentrates so hard she starts to hum and balls her fists in front of her. Finally she deflates with a sigh.
“I can’t detect anything.”
“Probably because I'm not looking.”
“Ugh!” She throws her hands up and groans, kicking an innocent rock away out of frustration. Song’s group leisurely walks down an uneven dirt road, the blonde herself casually making her way through the difficult terrain with her hands behind her head. Yating looks at An with concern. The child pants for air as she follows them uphill, her mortal physique and young age making the climb far tougher for her than for the rest. Her heart aches at how the young girl struggles on without a word of complaint, she can't bear to imagine what she's been through to gain such perseverance.
Zhi crests a hill further ahead, lungs heaving and face red by the time she returns to the others. She nearly drops the doll she's carrying atop her back when she places her palm against a tree and leans against it.
"The spring, we have found. Not far now, it is." Twelve speaks up while the street rat catches her breath. Suwan raises an eyebrow at her phrasing, she decides not to ask however lest the doll somehow turns her query into an innuendo. Waving the two over she repeats her explanation for Zhi.
"Welcome back, today I'll be teaching you a very important ability for any cultivator. The ability to detect spiritual sense intrusion. Once you step beyond the Qi Gathering Realm it shall become possible to extend your spiritual sense beyond your body, the further along your path you travel the further you shall be able to spread it. This will even let you scan others bodies with the same accuracy as you could your own. To ensure your opponents do not gain the upper hand you must learn to detect such intrusions so you can force them out or prevent them entirely. You must master this to the extent it becomes natural to you, akin to breathing or having a heartbeat- "
"This one is offended, Sister Suwan."
"Or whatever weird artificial equivalent you have." Suwan waves her off. "For now I want you to focus on detecting my intrusion for the remainder of the day, I shall be making my spiritual sense easier to detect for a cultivator on your level to ease the process. There shall be rewards when you succeed and punishments should you fail."
Zhi's head snaps upright at the mention of punishment. While she has seen plenty of it at the hands of the guards she can't help but dread what a cultivator could do instead. Song hums as if lost in thought.
"Maybe I'll leave the punishment to my other disciple. Is there anything you'd like to do to her, Gao Mu?"
"No, I can't think of anything" The short pugilist replies stiffly.
"Why is your heartbeat rising then?" Song teases while wiggling her eyebrows. Mu puffs up her cheeks and scrunches her brows in concentration once more, arms crossed in frustration while she strains her spiritual sense to detect her master's intrusion. Suwan can't help but note An's stumbling steps taking her just beyond the area of her adjusted spiritual sense despite the girl being unable to detect it consciously.
"Yating, do you mind carrying An? Path gets pretty steep from here."
"Gladly, Lady Song." Tai replies even as An lowers her head. " A thousand… apologies for… this lowly one's… incompetence." She exhaustedly pants out. Her fists clench and Yating has to stop her from falling to her knees to kowtow.
"No shame in having limits, can't break them if you don't. You've done well for a mortal, don't forget you're not a cultivator yet. You can't hold yourself to the same standards as us."
An's cheeks flush. For more than three weeks she's been trying to awaken without success. With her view skewed by Zhi's accidental instant awakening her failure weighs heavily on her. She clenches her jaw to stop herself from crying in frustration. Yating warmly hugs her to her chest while patting her head, of them all she empathizes most with the child. She too has long been stuck at the same level, unable to advance without fear of losing her mind.
The band merrily chatters along the way, continuing on at a sedate pace until the air begins to thin and only their cultivator enhanced physique allows them to continue up the craggy mountain. Arriving atop a plateau steam rising from a series of natural hot springs greets them. Yet it is not the physical sight that surprises Yating most. Qi hangs thick in the air and grows thicker yet as they approach the water. She finally realizes why they have spent the past day hiking to such a remote area. Any clan would happily claim a place as beneficial to cultivation as this. Indeed many well off clans and sects alike build meditation chambers to mimic the properties of natural wonders such as these. Suwan turns to the group and claps her hands.
"Right, to prepare for the journey ahead let's take a minute to soak and unwind. I think we've all earned a break and there's some topics we need to cover before we venture towards the Ke clan's capital. The White Rose Sect's territory can be a treacherous place, I expect each of you to keep my words in mind as we go."
She receives a series of nods in reply. Content to leave the rest for later and unwilling to delay her relaxation any longer she stores her clothes and lowers herself into the water. Yating hesitates to enter, she is about to speak up when she blinks and finds Twelve right in front of her face. The floating doll raises her hand before mechanically pressing a finger to Tai's forehead.
"This one has sealed your scent arts. This one assures you they will not manifest unintentionally unless she removes the seal. This one promises not to remove the seal part way through your bath no matter how hilarious it would be."
"Many thanks, Lady Twelve."
"This one is forbidden from demanding recompense by Tyrant Suwan. Due to the aforementioned reasons this one shall merely request to be held between Tai Yating's tits during the bath."
Even Zhi's guard drops upon entering the springs, she sinks into the steaming waters with a sigh as the stress she's been under evaporates alongside the steam and her shoulders untense. Her contentment lasts until the exact moment Mu dive bombs into the spring and drenches everyone from head to toe.
The girl yelps when Suwan’s fist slams down atop her head. "By the ancestors Mu behave yourself, you don't dive into a hot spring."
"But I did?"
Suwan sighs. "You're not supposed to dive into a hot spring." She facepalms when the light of realization shines in Mu's eyes. Yating can't help but titter as she gracefully joins them into the water. Despite Twelve's unchanging face Suwan can feel the smug satisfaction oozing off the doll as she nestles deeper into the white haired beauty's bosom.
Suwan stretches with a moan before leaning against the edge of the springs and closing her eyes to luxuriate in the feeling. She smiles hearing the girls splash around, spreading her spiritual sense she can feel the spring rejuvenate and heal their tired bodies while they play around. She hides a chuckle behind her hand at the way An's head barely breaches the surface of the water, the young girl carefully moving around on the tips of her toes to ensure she doesn't fall over. Zhi's face reddens when she feels two hands wrap around her breasts from behind.
"Oy! Wat'r ya doin' ?" She cries out.
"It's not fair! You're so much skinnier than me and these are still bigger than mine!"
Uncomfortable with the contact Zhi removes Mu's hands and awkwardly pats her head.
"Y'll get thar, dun' worry kiddo."
"Kiddo! How old are you?"
"Aboot eighteen winters or sa."
"You're younger than me! That's not fair! I'm your senior and still, and still…" She puffs up her cheeks before diving at her and squeezing her boobs. "They're so much bigger than mine! Hmph, I don't need them! They're just bags of fat, there's no need for me to have big ones. I'm not little!"
Suwan yanks her back by the scruff of her neck before things can get out of hand. "Alright, alright, that's enough. Save your energy Mu, you'll be needing it." Gao Mu gulps at the way Suwan is looking at her.
"As some of you may have noticed this is a great place to cultivate and that's exactly what all of you are going to be doing right now. I'll send instructions once you're all seated."
Twelve stares at her blankly. "Sigh. This one feels the need to point out Sister Suwan's lack of foresight." The water level rises when she raises her hand and three flat stones appear within the spring, their top just barely below the surface. Suwan whistles.
"Huh, that's creative alright."
"Oh my, you can use both light and earth arts, Lady Twelve?"
"This one cannot."
Yating looks perplexed at the reply. She is not alone in the confusion as the other girls pay close attention too albeit some more subtly than others. The silence stretches on, Twelve's only move being to move her head side to side to press it against Tai's soft skin. Suwan groans.
"You just keep making more work for me don't you?"
"Searching database. Advice: gratitude for assistance provided is the socially acceptable reply."
Song rolls her eyes and waves her hand. "Yeah yeah, thanks for the help. Woulda been a pain to go find rocks to drag over here. Anyway, Yating, to get to your question. Have you ever heard of spiritual palaces?"
"I have heard of them but do not know the details."
"Alright." She raises her voice to attract everyone's attention. "Gather round, might as well explain this all at once. When you advance along the path of cultivation you may eventually begin to form a spiritual palace. It is said that this is what truly separates the powerful from those whose journey will stop short. Normally one only begins to form it once they reach Core Formation albeit a rare few achieve it earlier. The important part is that once you gain sufficient familiarity you may begin to overlay it with reality. This is what we call a domain and it is one of the most powerful tools in any cultivator's arsenal. Overlaying your domain over reality gives priority to the laws of your spiritual palace over the natural laws. When you achieve immortality you will even be capable of permanently manifesting parts of it in reality. That's basically what a legacy cave is."
She looks each of the girls in the eye. "Never fight someone with a domain until you have formed your own or you'll be utterly defenseless. Is that understood?"
Her uncharacteristically serious tone elicits a series of nods. The energetic mood dampened, Zhi, An and Yating head for the three rocks to settle down in a meditative pose. Twelve follows and sets herself down atop Yating's lap sending her reassurances she'll assist her before she drops the seal and manually stops her scent arts from affecting the others.
Seeing the rest won’t need any help she looks to the petite girl that she has yet to let go since she pulled her away from Zhi. “Let’s have us a little duel so you can cultivate too, I wanna try something.” “This one will do her best not to dissa-”
The rest of her words disappear down Song’s throat. She stiffens for a moment before clumsily moving her tongue in reply. Suwan exhales into her mouth prompting the girl to breathe in deeply. She hurriedly cycles the thick qi that floods into her through herself, delighting in the feeling of it fortifying her body. Their lips part and Suwan smiles smugly.
“I knew it. Your physique simply requires activity in order to meditate, it doesn’t need to be combat in particular.” She licks her lips. “You and I are going to have a lot of fun, Xiao1little Mu.”
Meditation katas.