~~~
Durable as the robes worn by the disciples of the Eternal Fla Clan are, Lu is fire has left hers in tatters. Her wild hair now falls freely past her shoulders, liberated from the ponytail it was kept in. Wordlessly, Liu Jin removes his upper garnt and places it over Lu is shoulders, making sure to avert his eyes.
Even covered in sweat and soot, Lu i is beautiful.
Always so proper. Lu i chuckles softly but nevertheless holds on to the garnt. I dont mind if you look. Id appreciate it. A lady likes to be admired.
Id love to look, Liu Jin admits, ignoring the blush rising on his face. But if I did, I might forget about everything else.
Lu i sighs. There is a tired note to it.
And that would be just terrible, wouldnt it?
Liu Jin does not answer right away. The silence that settles into the room is neither awkward nor comfortable.
My mother was the granddaughter of an Elder of the Red Sky Pavilion, Lu i says at last. She grew up in luxury and learned to expect nothing but the best. The man she married could not be any different. Indeed, the man my grandfather chose for her was talented, belonged to a clan of equal standing, and enjoyed a good reputation within the Sect. Common wisdom dictated it should be a great marriage, and for a ti, it was. They were talented, well-connected, and wealthy. All those things we call virtue.
Lu i lets her head rest against the wall as she speaks; her voice is heavy with lancholy. Her eyes stare at nothing.
What changed? Liu Jin asks.
It is not a matter of what changed but rather what didnt. My father hit a bottleneck.
Oh.
The rate at which a cultivator advances is never an even one. A cultivator will have an easy ti with certain stages of their developnt but struggle mightily with others. The reasons are many and varied. The cultivators talent. Their resources. Their ntal and spiritual state. All those things can be factors. It may also be that none of them are. Regardless, a cultivator will eventually reach a point where he cannot advance no matter how hard he tries.
That is what is called a bottleneck.
Cultivators can run into bottlenecks several tis over their journey to Eternity. A cultivator can be impeded by a bottleneck for months, years, and even decades. The line between the talented and the mundane is drawn by a cultivators ability to overco their bottlenecks. The talented keep going.
The mundane are left behind to rot.
My father was in the late stages of the Earth Realm when it happened. No one paid much attention to it at first. Bottlenecks happen. It was expected my father would overco it in a few years at most. He was, after all, a talented cultivator, one of the biggest talents of his generation. Everyone expected him to reach the Heaven Realm eventually.
She says it casually, as though it didnt matter. Her eyes, however, et his and beg him to ask the question.
How long did it take?
Decades, Lu i replies. Decades passed, and my father could not overco his bottleneck. It is the sort of thing that can strain ones marriage. Not right away, of course. Even my mother is not so unreasonable. However, ti has a way of wearing away ones patience. No woman wants to be attached to a substandard man, especially when whispers and rumors start flying among her peers and she becos a target of mockery by association.
Lu is laugh is perfect in the genteel scorn held within.
My mother did not like that. She did not like that at all, and though she did her best to crush her rivals, she could not deny the inherent problem. My father was no longer one who stood above others but just another common person left behind in the path to Eternity. Suitable for so, but not for her. Thus, her eyes began wandering in search of a better man.
Would that not have created trouble within the Red Sky Pavilion?
If Lu is mother and father both co from influential clans within the Red Sky Pavilion, Lu is mother publicly shaming her husband could have greatly strained the relationship between the two clans.
Perhaps, but if the man was in a high enough position, no one would be able to complain, and my mother had an exceptionally high-ranking man in mind.
If Liu Jin is right about the flas that had manifested in Lu is body, her mother had certainly aid high.
The Red Sky Pavilion has close ties to the Eternal Fla Clan. It is polite to say we are allied Sects. It is accurate to say the Red Sky Pavilion is a subordinate Sect. Regardless, even among the Sects who have pledged their loyalty to the Eternal Fla Clan, few compare to the Red Sky Pavilion.
Like the Golden Fist Sect?
Lu i gives him a flat stare.
I do hate when you bring up other people when I am talking about myself.
My deepest apologies.
As I am gentle and magnanimous, I will accept them. The two share a chuckle. Tension drains away from the room, but only so of it. But yes, the Golden Fist Sect is one of the few groups that can claim such closeness to the Eternal Fla Clan. My mother intended to take advantage of that closeness.
I cannot imagine many would be in a hurry to take a married woman, and if they did, itd probably be as a concubine, not as a wife.
Unless, of course, Lu is mother is a beauty that can overturn a nation.
Which, looking at Lu i, is not out of the realm of possibility.
Oh, n do stupid things for beautiful won all the ti, especially one from a good family and in possession of a great deal of talent. My mother taught n are easily led by their lusts. She gestures at herself with a flourish. Considering my existence, it is hard to argue she is wrong.
Huang Shings little quest, Liu Jin supposes, is another such example, though he hasnt seen Feng Zhi in a rush to marry anyone.
And yet, your family na is Lu.
Patience. I am getting there. She smiles. Allow a lady so theatrics when relating her origins. Now, where was I Right. Of the many branches of the Eternal Fla Clan, the closest to Red Sky City, ho of the Red Sky Pavilion, is the Soaring Sparks Valley Branch. It is through the Soaring Sparks Valley Branch that most of our contact with the Eternal Fla Clan is carried out. The Branch Master, Feng Dianzuo, is particularly fond of hunting Spirit Beasts. He will often invite influential people from across the region to take part in Spirit Beast hunts.
I am guessing your mother showed a special interest in attending the next one.
Lu i nods. Indeed. Things aligned for her rather beautifully. Desperate to overco his bottleneck, my father used all his remaining social capital to gather several cultivation aids and locked himself in isolation. He swore he would not co out until he reached the Heaven Realm.
I imagine not many took it seriously.
I was not alive back then, but from what I have been able to gather, his isolation was the subject of many jokes. There were bets on whether my father would disappear forever or co out of isolation an even bigger failure than before. By then, my mother was past caring. What mattered was that she had been given an opportunity to fraternize with high-level cultivators without obstacles.
Obstacle. What a cruel way to refer to a womans husband. And yet, Liu Jin doubts most people would disagree with it. His father had been scorned for not being able to use Qi. Similarly, during the ti in which he went through Nine-Headed Snake Gods test, Liu Jin was mocked for being stuck in the First Level of the Inner Realm.
How horrible it must have been for Lu is father, who was subject to far greater expectations. In other places a cultivator in the Earth Realm would have been looked at with awe, yet because of his position, Lu is father was deed a failure.
My mother and her retinue arrived early so that she may have more ti to catch the eye of Branch Master Feng, a task she succeeded in. During the hunt, she made sure to suffer an accident.
An accident? Liu Jin tilts his head to the side. Whatever for?
Why, so she could stay under the tender rcies of the Feng Clan, of course. She had suffered an accident during their hunt. It was only natural for them to treat her before she could make the arduous journey back ho, Lu i says, her voice heavy with aning. She ended up staying there for almost a year, and by the ti she returned, she did so with a child in her arms. . It wasnt the outco she hoped for, but it was sothing she could work with, sothing shes often fond of reminding . A Feng-blooded child can be leveraged in many ways. Unfortunately for her, things did not work out as she wished.
As soon as the tale turns to her mothers woes, Lu i cannot fight a smile. The mix of glee and anger in her voice is an odd thing to hear.
Your father?
Lu i nods happily.
Many doubted him, but he proved them wrong. Months after my mother returned to the Red Sky Pavilion, he left isolation as a Heaven Realm cultivator, one strong enough to tip the scales in his favor once more. Now that he was no longer a failure, his clan threw their full support behind him. Under such circumstances, there was no impetus for Branch Master Feng to fight for possession of my mother.
I find it hard to imagine your father would have wanted to reclaim your mother after what she did.
Oh, he absolutely did. It was a matter of principle, you see. Granted, they had words, but they have beco quite possessive of each other over the years. There was just one little problem in their soon-to-be happy marriage: . A girl conceived with a mber of the Feng Clan. Lu i runs her fingers through her hair. A girl whose hair and eyes did not co from her father or mother. I was not my fathers daughter, and everyone knew it. He knew it. It was unpleasant.
Liu Jin takes a mont to imagine it. A girl clearly born from an illicit union. The daughter of two high-level cultivators. Proof of the mothers infidelity. Proof of the fathers sha. A burden yet one too important to be discarded due to her parentage.
Did my father send you? Did my mother?
Those are the words Lu i said to him in Night Phantasm City.
That must have been difficult, Liu Jin says. His Qi reaches out to hers, a wave of empathy transmitted through the link. Lu i ets his eyes with warmth.
I learned to live with it, Lu i says, her tone at odds with the emotions passing through their link. Unfortunately, sothing would throw that balance off. Tell , what do you know about the Eternal Fla?
The Eternal Fla is a high-level fire technique only known by a select few, Liu Jin says, rembering the incident with Feng Hao and Feng Zhi. Is that incorrect?
The description is not altogether wrong, but it lacks accuracy, Lu i replies. The Eternal Fla is not a technique one learns to use. It is a connection to a greater power, one like nothing I have ever felt before. I dont know how it works, but I can feel it inside . Lu i places a hand on her chest. At first, I could only access it after careful ditation. As I grew in power, it beca easier to do it but also harder to control. Eventually...
She gestures at the ruined room.
Id say this speaks for itself.
Is that why you ca to the Eternal Fla Clan?
It was not the only reason, but Id be lying if I said it wasnt the main one. Even though I was aware of the brewing conflict between the sons of Patriarch Feng, only the Eternal Fla Clan could show what I needed to know. Of course, I didnt think Id lose control like this. This never happened before.
Sorrow. Preoccupation. Anxiety.
Most likely, Lu i had been hoping to learn through observation, much like how Outer Disciples do their best to learn from Inner Disciples by watching them spar. However, this incident puts her at a greater risk of discovery.
If this is the first ti this happened, there was likely a trigger, Liu Jin theorizes. Could it have been reaching the Second Level of the Spirit Realm that did it?
Most likely, Lu i says, nodding. I have felt the fire building up inside of as my breakthrough neared. If that is the case, I may experience sothing like this whenever I make a breakthrough.
Suddenly, many things beco clear.
Why Lu i did not wish to be near mbers of the Feng Clan. Why Lu i had declined the opportunity to train in isolation in the Apothecary. Why she had done her best to refuse anything that would involve fighting recently.
All this ti, she had been trying to avoid this.
I do not profess to know the mysteries of the Eternal Fla Clan, Liu Jin says after a while, but, assuming revealing yourself to the Feng family is not an option-
It is not.
Then I believe it is not beyond my ability to help you. Or, at least, try to.
Hope. Doubt. Wariness.
Careful, she warns. If you say things like that, I might start holding you to them.
Liu Jin sends a single feeling through their link.
Determination.
That was the idea.
Relief. Gratitude Realization.
Youre peeking, she accuses him.
Youre showing, Liu Jin replies, opening his own emotions to her. That does not change the intent or honesty behind my offer. Id need to examine you closely
That was always going to happen.
Liu Jin wills his blood not to rush to his cheeks.
...There is also one question Id like to ask. I cannot help but notice you never actually nad Branch Master Feng Dianzuo as your father.
He starts speaking, but the actual question is transmitted through his Qi. The odds of soone listening in are low, but it never hurts to be a little cautious.
Lu i frowns; her gaze turns sharp. Wary.
There are certain things Id rather not speak about. So it is like this? I had always wondered.
Understandable.
I assud there was no need to ntion sothing so obvious.
If it was obvious, why not go to Feng Dianzuo for help?
I could say his branch was too close to my parents sphere of influence. It would certainly be true.
But not the full story.
Lu i sighs
...My mother went into Feng Dianzuos mansion and ca out with . That much is true. What people do not know is that there was soone else there. He was traveling incognito, but my mother, just like , has a good eye for n. Its sad, really. Had she aid for Branch Master Feng like she planned, things could have gone differently, but she couldnt resist.
Who was it?
Lu i doesnt say anything.
She rely sends out a single image.
It takes all of Liu Jins effort not to gasp.
Does anyone else know?
Sotis, I wonder if my father knows I exist. If he does, he certainly has not acted like it, Lu i replies. I once feared the Feng Clan might sohow sense the fla inside , but that has yet to happen.
Even as she speaks, she sends another image into his mind. No. Not just an image.
A mory
~~~
...to think Qing Jin was able to grow close to the bastard daughter of Feng Dianzuo. Oh, do not look surprised, dear. You are hardly the first bastard child of a Feng to join the Eternal Fla Clan. You will not be the last. I daresay you have it in you to be more successful than most.
Honored Elder, I thank you for your praise.
However, there is one small thing I wish you could clear up for . As far as those important enough know, you are Feng Dianzuos bastard daughter. That being the case, it seems odd to that your father never claid you. Feng Dianzuo is not one to turn talent away.
I have never spoken to Branch Master Feng Dianzuo, so I cannot claim to know his thoughts.
Good. Then you can just stay silent and listen to a theory of mine. I know who else was in Soaring Sparks Valley around the ti you were conceived. If you were truly that mans daughter, unbelievable though it may be, well, then itd make perfect sense why Feng Dianzuo would keep away from you and never even try to claim your mother as his own. What do you think?
I think the thoughts of an Elder are too complicated for this little miss.
...You only hesitated for a mont. Good, but there is still room for improvent. I expect good things from you and Qing Jin.
As you command, honored Elder.
~~~
Elder Xue.
She knows.
That is troubleso.
An understatent if there ever was one, Lu i says, her face bitter. No wonder she wanted nothing to do with Elder Xue.
A mont of silence falls over the room. Lu i sits before him, exposed in more than one way. The secrets she kept are now laid bare before him.
My wife belongs to the Divine Frozen Palace.
What?!
Liu Jin cringes. Lu i did not speak, but she might as well have shouted in his ear. Still, he tells her. About Xiao Shuang. About Eastern Port City. About Murong Bang. About why he is in the Eternal Fla Clan. His fathers legacy is the only subject he avoids. It is not a conversation he wishes to have now.
Does he tell her all this to even the scales or because he trusts her now that he knows her secrets?
He wishes he knew.
Your wife joined the Divine Frozen Place when you were children. A few years later, the Storm Dragon Empire attacked your hotown. Now, you have joined the Eternal Fla Clan on a vengeance quest because they are the one faction that already has a stake in the conflict, and you wish to maneuver them against the mad general that attacked your hotown. Have I summarized everything correctly?
It is not a vengeance quest...
Lu i snorts.
...but you are essentially correct.
We are quite the pair, arent we?
That we are.
~~~
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