Defeating Jeong Jeong had a much deeper impact than what appeared on the surface.
After the first wave of heated discussion faded, its consequences continued rippling through the shadows.
For Kahn, the greatest benefit was that Ozai's vigilance toward him continued to loosen.
That gave him more freedom of movent and more ti, allowing him to finally place his plan to seek instruction at the Eastern Air Temple on the agenda.
However, this was no easy task.
First, although Ozai's control over him was gradually weakening, he would never allow Kahn to leave the capital alone.
That ant the matter still had to be carried out in secret.
Second—and most difficult—was figuring out how to get there.
As one of the forr hos of the Air Nomads, the Eastern Air Temple had beco a forbidden place after the Fire Nation's genocide a hundred years ago.
People avoided it like a curse, and to this day, it remained uninhabited.
Although it was called the Eastern Air Temple, it was located east of the Earth Kingdom and west of the Fire Nation.
Its position was closer to the Earth Kingdom continent, separated from the Fire Nation by a vast stretch of sea.
Traveling overland would require crossing half the world, which was clearly impossible.
He had to go by ship.
If he hired a large rchant vessel, he could travel there and back, but it would be expensive and far too easy to expose.
More importantly, he had no idea how long it would take to learn spiritbending.
But he imagined it was not sothing he could master in ten or twenty days.
At the sa ti, he could not remain out of Ozai's sight for too long.
That ant if he wanted to learn spiritbending, he needed a way to travel quickly and repeatedly between both locations over an extended period.
It sounded almost impossible.
Only then did Kahn realize that beyond the emotional hurdles, the practical difficulties might be even harder to overco.
At least for now, he had found no solution.
While searching for one, Kahn and Azula went on several more missions, all to capture rebels.
It seed Ozai intended to assign this task specifically to them.
Naturally, Kahn and Azula were both pleased by that arrangent.
It suited them perfectly.
However, compared to the first two missions, the later ones were far more uneventful, with no particular twists.
In addition, because Azula boasted to Mai and Ty Lee after every mission, the two girls—nearly suffocated by their peaceful, boring lives—grew increasingly restless.
The rules they had to obey at the academy and at ho sotis felt like suffocating chains.
At that point, Azula finally revealed her true intention.
"Actually, as my dear sisters, I also hope the three of us can keep doing interesting things together."
"You wouldn't mind helping , would you?"
Faced with Azula's invitation, the two only thought it over briefly before happily agreeing.
"Of course!"
"Well, staying ho all the ti is pretty boring anyway."
If this had been the old Azula, they would have kept their distance.
But the current Azula no longer seed quite so terrifying.
As long as she wasn't targeting them, anyway.
Thus, Azula's team gained two more formidable mbers.
Mai and Ty Lee had grown up playing with her, so they understood one another's circumstances intimately.
In most situations, Azula could trust them.
Although neither Mai nor Ty Lee were benders, their strength far exceeded that of ordinary people.
Ty Lee had developed her chi-blocking technique, and Mai possessed exquisite skill with throwing knives.
Ordinary benders were no match for either of them.
And because the three had grown up together, the understanding between them allowed Azula to command them with ease.
Their first mission together produced results that satisfied her greatly.
More importantly, neither Mai nor Ty Lee were fools.
That was a rare quality.
However, although they seed to possess a rebellious streak, they were still bound by family, class, and social order.
If Azula wanted them to join the plan she and Kahn had made to overthrow Ozai, she would need to give them a reason convincing enough to break those bonds.
Thus, everything returned to the key issue: finding Ursa.
To find Ursa, they first had to find the Mother of Faces.
To find the Mother of Faces, Kahn had to deepen his mastery of spiritbending.
To deepen his mastery of spiritbending, he needed a way to travel back and forth quickly and discreetly.
The logic was perfectly clear.
Unfortunately, when faced with the problem of how to travel quickly and discreetly, Kahn and Azula discussed it for a long ti without finding any effective thod.
It was frustrating.
Kahn had considered asking Iroh to request that Guru Pathik enter the Spirit World as well, allowing him to learn directly there and avoid countless complications.
Unfortunately, just as Iroh had predicted, when they searched the Eastern Air Temple for the Avatar, they did not find Guru Pathik.
The man likely did not wish to see them.
And so, Kahn's plan was shelved.
In her frustration, Azula decided that if they truly could not think of another way, she would do exactly what she had once suggested.
She would burn down the Mother of Faces' dwelling, force her to appear, beat her into submission, and drag Ursa's whereabouts out of her.
Although Kahn did not know the Mother of Faces' true strength, he absolutely did not want things to reach that point.
Recently, however, a faint glimr of hope appeared.
The reason was simple.
Kahn had finally made friends in the Spirit World.
Four of them, all at once.
Or perhaps five.
"Little East, Little West, Little South, Little North!"
The mont he arrived in the Spirit World, Kahn loudly called out his friends' nas.
His voice ignored terrain and distance, piercing through every boundary and clearly reaching their ears.
In the Spirit World, the objective laws and matter of the physical world beca blurred and unreal.
Only the power of the spirit was truly real.
The longer he stayed there, the more deeply he sensed the realm's profundity.
Before he knew it, his use of spiritual power within the Spirit World had beco increasingly skilled.
Unfortunately, this only applied there.
In the human world, he was still a novice spiritbender who could only project his spirit and cross between realms.
Iroh was more or less the sa.
Hearing Kahn's call, four tiny black dots soon appeared within his line of sight.
Their forms gradually grew clearer, becoming four beautiful little birds with identical purple-red feathers.
To be precise, they were not birds, but spirits shaped like birds.
The proof was the pair of antlers on each of their heads, which ordinary birds certainly did not possess.
They insisted those were dragon horns.
On both sides of their cheeks were fish-like fins, almost like those of rmaids.
Their tail feathers were far too long, seemingly serving no purpose except beauty.
But Kahn was indeed captivated by their beauty.
Their sparrow-like little bodies, gorgeous purple-red feathers dotted with pale red, dreamy and ethereal cuteness, and dark, bright, spirited eyes were the ultimate weapon against anyone who valued appearances.
Kahn was instantly smitten the mont he saw them.
So cute!
"Kahn, you're here!"
"Long ti no see!"
"Has it really been that long?"
"Not very long, but it feels like it's been a really long ti."
"Didn't we see each other yesterday?"
"We probably did see each other yesterday."
"How long ago was yesterday?"
"Yesterday is just yesterday."
"Anyway, we've been waiting for you forever!"
The four little spirits chirped around Kahn, expressing their simple joy.
Surrounded by their lively voices, Kahn felt his mood relax despite himself, and a smile spread across his face.
"Long ti no see, everyone."
Friends, I caught a cold again.
Or more accurately, it isn't "again."
The last cold got better but never fully went away, and now it's gotten worse.
Mainly, who could have expected the temperature to drop by more than ten degrees overnight?
Yesterday it was nearly twenty-sothing, almost thirty degrees.
But when I woke up this morning, it was thirteen degrees.
Thirteen!
I don't understand.
This sumr is seriously strange.
That said, seeing all my roommates fall sick too and hearing the endless sounds of sniffling did make feel slightly comforted.
Anyway, I hope you all stay well, take care of yourselves, and keep away from colds!
And don't worry, it's not COVID.
Our city has had zero cases, and no one in our dorm has left campus.
Thank you.
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