Never has An been more terrified in her life. One moment she is about to stand up and the next she is sitting in front of the most infamous immortal of the entire plane. Even though the blonde has a goofy smile on her face as she ruffles her hair with a technique so fearsome it nearly makes her melt into a puddle An sits frozen in fear. After all, that’s hardly the only thing the immortal is doing. Sitting so close to her she can tell for the first time now that what is sitting in front of her is not Song Huan. No, she thinks, perhaps that’s not the right way to put it. It’s not the entirety. What’s in front of her is but a fraction of Song Huan. As is everything around her. The pillow she sits on, the table between them that somehow isn’t there when it would get in the way of Huan’s physical form reaching for her yet still present all the same. The trees that are too ideal to be grown naturally, as if someone had taken the best parts of a billion trees and grafted them together to create a new species so perfect it is no longer noticeably artificial. The very grass beneath their feet and the mound of pillows behind the two blondes. All of it smells exactly the same as the body in front of her.
Yet… it is not quite a smell, is it? Slowly she begins to grasp this but realization is beyond her current capacity as her mind is fully focused on the one -if the ‘one’ is even the right way to put it- in front of her as she pulls away her hand with a pout.
“No need to be so tense, little shadow. Simply keep in mind the senses of cultivators can be far sharper than those of mortals.”
The smiling slaughterer leans forward with a knowing smile yet that is not where An is looking, no, she’s still lost within the immortal’s ocean blue eyes. Just a bit darker than Suwan’s and seeming to hold far more depth it seems more like a vast power is staring through them from deep within, submerging her in the endless blue and exposing her every weakness, rather than the woman who she knows the power belongs to simply using her eyes to see.
“At my level it’s even possible to sense a person’s intent.”
An has to stop herself from clenching her hands into fists. Rationally she knows it wouldn’t make the slightest difference but it is easier said than done to stop herself from attempting to fight or flee. Were she not frozen entirely in fear she knows not how she would act. Sitting in the exact same place she saw Twelve perish several times over is certainly not helping her calm down. The smiling slaughterer directs a pointed look at her hands and grins, the difference between them emphasized even further to the small child. All that is overshadowed by the utter certainty that Huan knows what she intended to do. This is a warning. Betrayal shall not be tolerated. Her vision begins to turn spotty out of sheer terror and then all at once the feeling recedes.
“Ah, you’re so cute. I almost want to adopt you. Song An does have a nice ring to it, no? Ah but perhaps…”
Adopt her? Her? An immortal wanting to adopt her, a mere street rat? Had anyone told her that this would happen she’d think them a fool and a liar attempting to con her. The ‘almost’ stings, were she without such unfilial thoughts would she truly be a Song right now?
“You’d prefer Gao An.”
Gao An. She lights up at the very thought of having that name. Somehow she can’t see Mu as a mother though. A sister, perhaps? No, no,no! What is she thinking? Mu’s her master. And yet…
The image of Mu lovingly braiding her hair with a warm smile flashes through her mind.
…Perhaps this way would be better? She’s shaken out of her stupor by Song Huan’s cackling.
“Ah, so scorned. You’re going to make this old lady sad.”
“At least you finally admit you’re ol-” Suwan vanishes and Huan covers An’s ears with a motherly smile “Gods above, she never learns does she?”
“G- gods?” An stammers wide-eyed. Immortals are considered godlike beings and ancestors are venerated similarly but gods? An never heard of the existence of any. She wants to question the one in front of her further but is stopped when the immortal puts a finger to her mouth to shush her.
“Well then, let us begin.” The venerable immortal straightens with a regal demeanor. “Make good use of the qi density here, little shadow. You stand on the threshold of awakening. I shall prepare a medicinal bath beneficial to your constitution should you succeed before I kick you all out of my realm.”
A medicinal bath prepared by Immortal Soulfire. No matter what she needs to achieve her awakening before they have to depart. An opportunity like this will likely never come again and if she wastes it she’ll regret it for the rest of her life. With such a prize in front of her she courteously ignores the steaming tea cup in Huan’s hand where until a moment ago there was liquor.
“You remind me of an old friend, An. Their arts would be beneficial to you I believe. I shall share the location of their legacy cave with your master. I wish you the best of luck attaining it.”
“This one offers a thousand thanks for Venerable Immortal’s guidance.”
An kowtows and leaves with as much grace and elegance as she can muster, desperate to leave a good impression on the woman behind her. Advice from one immortal, the legacy of another and lessons from her master’s master. It feels too good to be true.
<Oh and An…>
There it is, the gavel dropping. Or so she believes at least.
<Spiritual sense is a sense like any other. You cannot tell hearing from sight if you believe both to be the same. Parse each of the five senses, what is left shall be the sixth.>
An bows deeply in reply while muttering a quiet thanks, confident in the knowledge the immortal will hear it.
-----
“What does this smell like.” An asks an increasingly exasperated Zhi while holding a branch up to her nose. “Lahk a fookin piece a’ wood, An.” “Hmph, that’s not helpful at all.” An huffs.
“What are you all doing? It looks fun, can I join in?” Mu asks while leaping down from the poles she’s exercising on to land on the blanket alongside them.
“Hmmm…” She thinks for a moment while rubbing her chin. Leaning in a second time and contemplating some more she snaps her fingers and looks at An with a bright smile. “It smells like that tree over there.” The pugilist adds smugly while pointing at the forest nearby. An supposes that if nothing else she appears to be pointing at the exact tree the branch was plucked from, she’s just not sure how that’s supposed to help her. Finally losing her composure she tosses the branch up and falls backwards onto the soft fabric with a groan. The branch hits her in the face not a second later. It truly does smell like wood. How’s she supposed to tell a smell apart from something spiritual anyway?
“Why’s it ma’er, what’s it smell like to ya anyway?” Zhi asks offhandedly prompting An to bring the branch closer to her nose and inhale deeply once more.
“Like wood. Like a tree. Like it’s been struck by lightning, burned away and regrown stronger afterwards. Its fragrance just a bit clearer than before, its bark a little tougher and its sap more vigorous.” An lets her arm drop and deflates. “Like a branch.” She finishes blandly as if the description were obvious.
“Uhm, An…?” Mu begins awkwardly.
“Yes, Master?”
“..That’s not what a branch smells like.” She finishes while scratching the back of her head.
“What do you mean, Master?”
“I may be wrong so it’s best to ask Suwan about it since she knows a lot more but I think that might be your spiritual sense. I’m not sure though since you haven’t awakened yet and it seems a lot different than mine so it could be something completely else so you should ask Master Suwan, she should know. An? Hello?”
By the time Mu gets halfway into her sentence An is no longer listening. Her mind races contemplating her master’s words. She isn’t even a cultivator yet, how would she have a spiritual sense? Not to mention she has always been able to do this, it isn’t anything new. Could it be that she’s always had a spiritual sense? From everything she’s read it doesn’t seem like what she has is the same, but then what could it be? Closing her eyes and taking a lotus pose she decides to take it one step at a time. It doesn’t matter if it’s not the same. No road is built with just the first stone, she’ll figure it out in time. She’ll slowly get more and more power and find her answers.
More and more… Did she always manage to figure out this much about something from just a sniff? She feels something stir deep inside as it finally clicks. It’s always been there but recently it’s been getting stronger. Yet not everything has been getting clearer, she’s only been able to get such a clear image at times. She focuses her full attention on figuring out the specifics and bit by bit, ever so slowly she feels something entering her through her breath and diffusing throughout her body. The sense of accomplishment is so strong it nearly breaks her concentration and she has to manually push her excitement down. Finally she opens her eyes again after what could have been hours or days and stands up on wobbly feet.
Her master should be the first to know of her success, that is not in doubt for her. Gao Mu is already back on the wooden poles, hopping from one to the other while dodging a variety of objects flung her way by Twelve. An recognizes some of the objects such as the metal balls, logs or training weapons yet others are completely unknown to her, a bowl shaped object with a hole at the bottom inlaid with a grate and a thin curving pipe at the top seeming particularly strange.
Clasping her hands in front of herself she keeps her back straight and slightly bends her knees. Channeling the meager amount of force she’s managed to absorb from the air she kicks off the ball of her feet, pushing with her toes at the last possible moment for just a bit more force to gain more height. For a moment it feels as if she’s flying, she can see the curve of the horizon in the distance right before gravity kicks in and she continues on her course to land softly atop one of the poles three meters of the ground. Standing on the tip of her toe she bows deeply to Mu while maintaining her balance.
“This lowly one has successfully awakened, Lady Gao.”
Did twelve just throw the literal kitchen sink at her?
Yes! She absolutely did xD