Audrey flapped her wings, instinctively kicking her legs as she climbed high up in the sky. That moment of defying gravity only lasted a moment, as she quickly lost her balance and came crashing down to the ground, but that failure did nothing to dampen her spirit.

  She was learning to fly! Mister Spirit was teaching her for real this time, by showing her instead of coming up with long and incomprehensible speeches.

  “Better. Again.”

  Her vision blurred as an alien memory invaded her mind. Suddenly she was back in the sky, but something else was in control of her body, letting her experience the epitome of flight.

  Each and every movement was precise, showing the bearing of a master in perfect control of her flight. It wasn’t only the flapping of the wings either. Everything, from the orientation of her body to the fluttering of her tail feathers and the subtle flow of blood qi was in harmony, contributing to that elegant aerial dance.

  Eager to make that illusion a reality, Audrey could barely wait for the vision to fade before she launched herself in the air.

  She was unable to resist the earth’s call for very long, but that didn’t matter. She just had to stay airborne a little longer each time, and eventually she would succeed. At first, she had been scared of her uncontrolled height, but once she realized these small falls were nothing to her awesome new body, nothing could stop her.

  “Alright, that's enough. You’ve had your fun, now it’s time for more important stuff.”

  Before she could protest, she fell into a new vision. It was her again, but she was on the ground doing a series of strange movements, jumping, flapping, kicking… every part of her body was involved in a peculiar choreography.

  Audrey scrutinized every detail, trying to remember everything, knowing that Avery would accept nothing short of perfection. Then, she painstakingly tried to recreate it, wanting to get over it quickly so that she could get back to flying. While the ritualistic dance was fun and challenging in its own way, it just couldn't compare with flying.

  Hanging her head pitifully, she nevertheless dutifully did her best, and gradually, an illusory, otherworldly feeling grew in her heart.

  “What…”

  Realizing she had spoken aloud, she frantically clamping her beak shut, hoping Avery wasn’t listening. She might be curious, but she had already decided that from now on, her number one rule was to never ask any question to Mister Spirit. It simply wasn’t worth it.

  Fortunately, while Avery heard her, he seemed to have no interest in explaining anything.

  “Oh, you finally felt something? Good, good, this confirms my hypothesis. It seems learning to control blood qi through physical exercise truly is possible.”

  Audrey alighted clumsily, glad that she had finally arrived, only to be struck dumb at what she saw.

  Last time she had stayed in this city, she had only been blown away by the incredible diversity. The sight of hundreds of different species of all shapes and sizes living together leaving her to gasp wonder.

  Now, however, she completely forgot to marvel at the chaotic mess of caves, hills, burrows, nest-bearing trees, exotic constructions or artificial cliffs. Her senses as a cultivator were completely focused on the oppressive auras that covered the city.

  She could feel a handful of extraordinarily powerful presences at the center of the city, clad in a halo of strength and authority which made her want to bow her head in submission, acknowledging their superiority.

  However, opposing that, she felt an even stronger impulse to resist defiantly, to look directly at those presences and tell them she did not fear them, that it should be them bowing down to her.

  “Stop daydreaming and move. Nothing good will come out of recklessly provoking the local authority.”

  Struggling to resist her instincts, she obeyed and painstakingly made her way to one of the four main roads that led to the central cathedral. No matter what, the cathedral represented the gods, and hosted the symbol of the wishing temples, and no one would dare threaten her there.

  Indeed, as soon as she passed by the pair of sphinx statues and stepped onto the well-kept road, the world quieted down. She felt she had entered the domain of a much more mysterious power, which was isolating and protecting her from outside harm.

  She could still vaguely sense those awe-inspiring presence living in the city, but that impossible weight that seemed intent on crushing her was gone. Following its disappearance, her rebellious instincts then settled down too.

  Secretly heaving a sigh of relief, she quickly made her way to the main hall and calmed herself by piously offering her prayers to the most prominent idol.

  “As long as we are together, it would be best if you abstained from praying to that particular entity.”

  Bewildered, she looked at the silver idol, confirming that she had been praying to the Great God who had put an end to the age of violence.

  “What? Why? Are you one of those people who think he is only a myth?”

  “Oh no, I believe in his evidence alright, and that is why I advise you to be careful when dealing with him. He is not someone the current you can oppose.”

  Why would she want to oppose him? And even if she did, how could she do anything to offend such a mighty god?

  “Why do you say that? Mister Spirit, are you enemies?”

  “Enemies? Not really, no. Let's just say that he is the lord of the dreamworld, with authority over all spiritual entities, while I am a wandering ghost clinging to his earthly existence. I do not wish for him to discover my existence.”

  That statement only made her more curious, but she could tell that most of her questions would only lead to some interminable lecture. She didn’t want a lesson on the nature of spiritual entities or on the intricacies of godly authorities, so she simply asked one last question in an incredulous tone.

  “You speak as if he could hear my prayers. Does that mean you believe he is still alive? Didn’t he sacrifice himself in the process of shattering the rule of the Old Ones?”

  “I don’t know if he can hear your prayers, but he is still alive, I am quite sure about that. Everyone else can die, but not him. I have no doubt he will at least survive until the end of the world, and perhaps even after that.”