Most of the disciples filter out the Master Schor’s cssroom, brushing past me as they do. I watch Elder Cai, his gaze distracted by the calligraphy we had prepared for him. My hand rests on the wall, considering if I should approach him or leave.

  He looks up, his wizened eyes watching me. “Is there something I can do for you, Disciple Lin?”

  I pause, considering what I want to ask. Finally, I settle on a question, “How does your cultivation change you?”

  He tilts his head, urging me to continue.

  “Last week I watched Senior Sister Lai shatter another cultivator's sword with her hands. He couldn’t even fight back. Does cultivation make you that much stronger?”

  Elder Cai nods thoughtfully, “Disciple Lai is very talented, and far too confident in her own abilities.” A small smile appears on his face before it disappears behind his thoughtful expression. “Despite everything, no cultivator is truly immortal. We can use qi to reinforce our skin, or change who we are, but at our core, we were all once… human.” He motions over toward a painting on the wall “Our vulnerability is our power and life is a bance that is never meant to be completely overturned. What do you think happens when one reaches the pinnacle of cultivation? The pinnacle of power?”

  I walk up to the painting he pointed at. It shows the death of a man in a field of flowers, his qi seeping out of him into the world around him. “I don’t know.”

  “The cultivator’s body dies. Their dao enhances the spirit and qi of all the realms, perhaps even creating a new realm so that life can flourish once more. The cultivator’s spirit then moves on to the world of true immortals.” Elder Cai looks up at the ceiling, almost as if he were looking beyond it. He looks back at me with a smile, “But you wonder what the difference between each level of cultivation is, don’t you? Whether there is some unfathomable gap between Awakening, Foundation and Core.” The Elder shakes his head, “No gap is unfathomable, and no obstacle is impossible to overcome, which is why we teach every disciple martial arts. You will not be helpless, even if there is a difference in power.”

  I look away from the painting, then nod. His answer doesn’t feel right- no, it doesn’t feel complete, but I can’t say why. I think for a moment longer, then shake my head.

  I say goodbye to the Elder and head back towards my room.

  ***

  I sit in my room, my flute held close to my mouth. The Twelve Requiems of Illusion lies open in front of me, its music inviting me in as I carefully breathe in and out.

  The Third Requiem: Murder

  The notes are low and haunting, filling my small room with its music.

  The world changes around me, a different vision this time.

  Three men whisper around a campfire, the forest silent around them except for the music of my song.

  Soon they fall asleep.

  The same woman from my usual vision appears, her movements silent as she walks through the campsite.

  She raises her sword above the neck of one of the men.

  Her eyes meet mine as she looks at me.

  Then a long drawn out note comes to an end.

  A discordant note pys out.

  Her eyes stay on mine as her sword cuts the throat of one of the men.

  The other two don’t notice as the man dies instantly.

  She walks to the second man, her eyes meeting mine again.

  Another discordant note pys out.

  Her eyes stay on mine as her sword cuts the throat of the second man.

  Finally, she walks to the third man.

  My fingers want to stop.

  My breath wants to stop.

  I know what comes next.

  Her eyes meet mine again.

  A third discordant note pys.

  Her sword slices through his neck.

  The song isn’t over.

  She walks to me, her movements still completely silent.

  I pce my flute down, and sing.

  The words burn my throat as my body copies hers again.

  Words solidify into my spirit, their letters glowing a dark red color.

  Movements of The Silent Monster

  I gasp as the song ends, my throat hurting from pain. My hands shake as I reach for a pitcher of water.

  She looked at me. She saw me and knew that I looked at her.

  What if she came looking for me?

  I gulp down water, gasping for breath when I’m done.

  No. She is just an illusion created from my music. It’s not-

  I pause as the Qi in my body rushes through me.

  I sit down in the lotus position, trying to guide the qi rampaging through my body.

  Knowing what this is, I do my best to guide the qi to one of my blocked meridians.

  It's an agonizing process, and I know qi rampages like this can destroy the cultivations of unprepared cultivators. Keeping my hold on my qi strong, I guide it to one of my meridians. The qi rages against the blockage, causing me fshes of pain which nearly break my concentration. I keep at it, refusing to give up.

  I don’t know how much time passes before I open my eyes.

  Relief fills me as I feel the strength of my qi.

  I am now a Fifth Level Qi Awakened at the age of thirteen.

  The power flowing through me is a good distraction from the vision I had just witnessed and I focus my mind completely on it.

  Standing up, I stretch my body, giddy with the power flowing through it.

  Once my qi calms, my mind inevitably returns to the strangeness of the illusion. I’ve never seen a Requiem change like that one did.

  Looking over at The Twelve Requiems of Illusion, I consider immediately pying the fifth requiem. Maybe it could give some insight into why the third Requiem changed?

  Something tells me that isn’t the best idea. It’s best to let my qi settle before pying a new requiem.

  I grab my sword and pce it around my waist, then leave my room. The sky is cloudy today as we get closer and closer to winter. My steps lead me to the clearing the portal resides in.

  A Master I don’t recognize meditates near the portal. He opens his eyes, observing me.

  I bow to the master, and he nods his head in response and closes his eyes.

  I sit down in a lotus position, observing the portal with my spirit sense. Wisps of the death filled spirit still escape from the portal, weaker than they had been. I haven’t been focusing on cultivating my spirit, instead focusing on making progress in the Requiems.

  Qiu Tai has gotten much busier with political positioning and cultivating herself, so she hasn’t had as much time to personally speak to me.

  I don’t mind. I understand the more power she has, the more it benefits me.

  Small droplets of rain fall, more of a mist than a rain. I appreciate the sensation on my skin, the cold not bothering me with the warmth my qi provides.

  A sudden change in the spirit coming from the portal catches my attention. It’s subtle and I can’t quite pce my finger on it.

  I look over at the Master to see him still meditating.

  The spirit seems… stronger all of a sudden, its presence becoming more obvious to my senses.

  A crack appears in the portal. The Master is at my side in a moment, blocking my vision of the portal. A staff of light appears in his hands, his full attention on the portal as he yells at me “Run!”

  I don’t hesitate to follow his instruction, the spirit coming from the portal making me feel an instinctual fear.

  The sound of shattering hits my ears and a wave of force sends me sprawling off the path and rolling into a creek.

  The death filled spirit fills the forest and I instinctively activate my newest technique.

  Movements Of The Silent Monster.

  My movements become softer, not quite as silent as the woman in my illusion, but nearly unnoticeable.

  I crawl out of the creek and hide behind a tree. I shiver, my technique preventing me from moving my qi to warm myself up.

  I peek around the tree to look at the portal.

  The unknown master picks himself off the ground, disoriented from the bst. His staff returns to his hands from where it fell as he moves into a stance.

  A bck boot made of leather steps out of the portal.

  The master attacks the foot with his staff, but a bde writhed in shadows swings from beyond the portal, blocking the strike.

  The bde carries enough strength to push the master back.

  A man walks out of the portal, his clothing of a different make from anything I’ve ever seen. He wears a bck cloak, the hood covering his face.

  “Where is this?” The man asks, the voice carrying qi with its very presence. I cower away from the qi, gd to see it travels over me without seeing me, my technique masking my presence.

  “This is the Flowing River Sect. You are trespassing on our grounds. Please leave.” The Master’s voice is firm, but I hear a slight echo of fear.

  “So you are the one with the courage to swing at me.” The man says. His sword fshes, and the head of the Master falls to the ground, separated from his body.

  My breath catches at the sight, disrupting the technique hiding me. My body trembles with fear as I realize what I’ve done.

  The man turns his head towards me, stepping forward into my direction.

  My body freezes.

  A spear of light, moving faster than I can see, hits the ground where he stands. The man moves just as fast, appearing several steps back from where the spear nded.

  Four Elders appear around him. The Martial Elder Li Quon, Elder Zhu Chen, Elder Wu Li Mei, and a final elder I don’t recognize. I watch in surprise as a woman I recognize only from her description forms out of the very water of the creek I fell in.

  Matriarch Wang Hua steps forward out of the creek, her clothes dry and her movements elegant beyond compare.

  She moves first to the dead Master, the other Elders silent.

  She bows to the dead Master, whispering something I can’t hear, then turns to the man who caused his death. “Why did you kill him?”

  The man shrugs his shoulders. “He swung at me first. I simply replied in kind.” The qi in his voice is more cautious, like a snake waiting to strike.

  The rain becomes heavier, turning into a true downpour.

  “You broke the seal my Elders pced on your portal. He was right to strike first.” The Matriarch says. Rain gathers in her hand, forming a long elegant sword. “You have trespassed, and you have been warned. Now, you will die.”

  The cultivators move in a fsh, and it’s over before I can process what’s happened.

  The Matriarch’s sword pierces the heart of the strange cultivator, while a shallow cut appears on her own stomach. Elder Wu Li Mei hunches over another cut in her side, her face grimacing in pain.

  The Matriarch draws her sword from the body of the strange cultivator, watching carefully as he slumps to the ground. After a moment of the man not moving, her weapon dissolves into mist.

  “Are you alright?” The Matriarch looks directly at where I’m hiding.

  I pull myself together, then move out from behind the tree. “I-I think so matriarch.”

  The other Elders turn to look at me in surprise.

  “Good.” She turns to look at Elder Wu Li Mei, “And you?”

  “I will be fine, I was simply careless.” Elder Wu Li Mei responds. Her hand stems the blood flowing from her side.

  The Matriarch turns back to me, her expression impossible to read. “It’s best if you head home, I will have someone come to speak with you ter.”

  I realize I am still shivering and cancel my technique to warm myself up with my qi. I bow to the matriarch. “Of course.”

  I walk back to my room, letting the rain pour over me.

  Xia Jing is waiting at my door with a smile on her face. The smile disappears as she takes me in.

  “Are you alright?” She moves next to me in worry.

  I nod to her, feeling a little dazed from everything. I open the door to my room, continuing to walk forward.

  “You don’t seem alright.” Xia Jing pces her hand on my arm to stop me.

  “I don’t know what to feel.” I say, frowning.

  Xia Jing looks into my eyes, after a moment, she pulls me to the bed and sits me down. “Tell me what happened while you dry off. You’re soaking wet.”

  I don’t know where she finds a towel, but I accept it gratefully. “I decided to go outside after my test advancement.” I start, continuing to tell her everything that happened

  Xia Jing watches me with worry as I finish telling her.

  “I don’t know why I’m like this. I see people die all the time.”

  Xia Jing frowns, “We’ll talk about that another time. Jia, what was different this time?”

  “I- I was scared.” I whisper the st word as I start sniffling. “He- he terrified me.” My emotions spill out as I cry.

  Xia Jing pulls me into her arms, holding me close as I sob into her shoulder.

  “Don’t worry. You’re safe.” She says, humming a little song as I cry. “Everything’s alright.”