The turmoil within me subsided, replaced by an indescribable mix of wonder and questions. Had it hatched by itself?

Tianyi's energy shifted. There was a sense of urging in her actions, a push towards acceptance rather than the pursuit of an answer. It seemed this was what Tianyi was trying to tell me about. Her panicky movements were quite different from other times when she preferred to stay still and wait till the threat went away.

I exhaled slowly, letting go of my confusion and the shards of anger, sank to my knees, and decided to observe the Wind Serpent hatchling for a closer look.

As I watched the little serpent, noting its pearl-like scales shimmering with a tinge of blue – the kind of blue that reminded me of those flashy silk robes the rich merchants wore, only these didn’t cost a fortune and were a heck of a lot cuter. I found it amusing that something so mythical-looking appeared less like a formidable Wind Serpent and more like a lost cloud trying to find its way back to the sky.

“I bet you hatched early just to meet me,” I mused aloud. “Can't blame you, buddy. I'm quite the catch, if I do say so myself.”

Wind Serpents were known for their majestic silver and grey, not...whatever this fluffy fellow was trying to pull off. Pure white with a lick of ice blue? He was like a winter's day, bright and crisp, with a vibe that screamed ‘I'm unique, pamper me’.

“You’re definitely not your standard garden-variety snake,” I continued, speaking to the hatchling that was now flicking its tongue at me. It was as if the little guy was tasting my soul – hopefully finding it to his liking. “Maybe you just wanted to stand out in the serpent crowd. I can respect that. Always root for the underdog...or under-snake, in this case.”

I wondered if Tianyi’s presence had influenced the qi within the egg. She had an otherworldly lustre ever since I healed her using the Moonlit Grace Lily. “Did you juice up the serpent egg, Tianyi? Because that would be both miraculous and a serious game-changer in the alchemy world. Note to self: patent butterfly-qi-infusion technique.”

How unfair! Why didn't hanging around her turn me blue or majestic? Actually, that wouldn't be as nice as I thought. I'll appreciate the recovery aura surrounding her instead.

The hatchling slithered closer, wrapping its tiny body around my arm with a familiarity that I hadn't earned but was happy to accept. There was something oddly satisfying about being instantly accepted by a creature. I mean, I had friends who struggled to get their pets to remember them after a day out.

“Okay, let’s get you named,” I declared with a grin. “How about 'Fluffyscale'? No? Too on the nose?”

It peered up at me, its tiny forked tongue paused mid-air as if considering my suggestion, then resumed its exploration of the world. “Tough crowd,” I sighed.

If the early hatching was due to Tianyi's qi-boost, then this serpent was more than just a rare color – it could be an entirely new breed. A Wind Serpent influenced by the essence of an empowered Azure Moonlight Flutter? The implications were staggering. The thought made me nearly giddy with possibility.

“Now, to figure out what you eat,” I pondered. “I hope you like the taste of adventure, because that’s all I’ve got on the menu at the moment.”

The hatchling just nudged my palm with its nose – or at least what I assumed was its nose.

“Well, Windy – just a placeholder name, I swear – we've got our work cut out for us. You need to grow up big and strong, and I need to keep you hidden from the sect until I know whether you're safe to reveal. You seem stealthier than Tianyi, at least.”

I chuckled, imagining trying to explain to the sect elders about my new serpent-rearing side gig. “We’ll have to raise you in secret, huh, Windy?”

Windy seemed to approve, curling up comfortably in the palm of my hand as I sat there, the both of us basking in the possibilities of the future. Who said that a dash of chaos couldn't lead to a groundbreaking discovery? As an alchemist, chaos was my favorite ingredient.

----------------------------------------

I trod the path to the open fields, my mind a whirlwind of thoughts on the creature I’d left in my room. I was still reeling from the discovery of Windy, who was safely hidden away – for now. The Verdant Lotus sect was strictly vegetarian, and the little serpent, carnivorous by nature, posed a conundrum.

"My sleeves might work for now," I muttered to myself, only half convinced. "But then again, he could wriggle out and cause a scene during classes." The last thing I needed was for Instructor Xiao-Hu to find a serpent peeking out from under my cuffs after warning me about pets in the classroom.

"Perhaps I can find some small critters on the edge of the sect's grounds," I mused, glancing at Tianyi who was observing me silently. "What do you think, Tianyi? Maybe Windy could dine on pests? It would be a... natural pest control?"

She stared at me, her wings opening and closing in what I've come to recognize as her own version of a shrug. Not the most helpful, but her presence was comforting.

The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

"You're not helping," I accused playfully, though her silent counsel often soothed my anxieties.

"Or maybe some tofu? Could mold it to look like a mouse?" I chuckled at the thought, envisioning Windy's baffled face at the first bite. The poor thing expecting a juicy morsel, only to find itself chewing on the sect's favorite imitation dish.

"But what self-respecting Wind Serpent eats tofu-mice?" I asked, shaking my head at my own foolishness. "No, it'll have to be the real deal. I'll just have to be sneaky about it."

A tinge of guilt laced my words. I was, after all, contemplating the sneaking of meat into a Taoist sect. "It's for a good cause," I rationalized to the open air, "a living being's survival."

"The hypocrisy of it all," I sighed, the weight of my secret heavy on my shoulders. "Alchemy teaches us to bend the world to our will, yet here I am, having a dilemma over diet."

As I walked past the herb gardens, the usual spot for my afternoon exertions, my mind bounced between excitement and anxiety. "Keep it together, Kai. It's just a tiny serpent that could manhandle a group of cultivators as an adult. No biggie."

The afternoon sunlight was warm on my face, a pleasant contrast to the cool shade of the training grounds. I stretched my limbs, preparing for the rigorous physical conditioning I had come to both dread and love.

I was so lost in thought about feeding schedules and stealth techniques that I nearly collided with a third-class disciple. "Sorry!" I exclaimed, side-stepping with an agility that earned me an impressed look. "Gotta keep those reflexes sharp," I said with a wink as if it was all intentional.

The closer I got to the sect entrance, the more I noticed the buzz of excitement. A crowd had gathered – unusual for this hour. Curiosity piqued, I made a detour, my feet carrying me toward the growing throng of disciples.

The sect entrance was the usual crossroads for news and spectacle, but the throng was denser today, their chatter rising like the hum of swarming locusts. I pushed through, keeping my expression neutral while my heart pounded with the thrill of something amiss.

I noticed Elder Chen, the head of the mission chamber, speaking to someone. He was a quiet man whom I had only seen once at the dining hall. Feng Wu told me that he was a gentle person, but his gaze right now seemed anything but.

A tall man stood in the center, draped in the distinctive cobalt-blue robes. Behind him were familiar silhouettes; a dozen disciples from the Silent Moon sect. His hair was slicked back into a tail, each strand disciplined into place. Elder Chen's posture was stiff, betraying the tension of their conversation.

I edged closer. The elder from Silent Moon, with his hawk-like eyes, was in the midst of speaking, his voice smooth as silk yet edged with a sharpness that hinted at steel underneath.

"Your disciple showed commendable valor against the Wind Serpents, Elder Chen," he said, his tone almost admiring. "But valor alone does not dictate the rightful claim to the spoils."

Elder Chen's voice was like a taut string, ready to snap. "The Verdant Lotus sect did not merely 'show valor,' Elder Jun. We acted to preserve lives, not for its reward."

A subtle smirk played on Elder Jun's lips, a smirk that did not reach his eyes. "Indeed, action without benefit is the mark of true cultivators. However," he paused, his gaze sweeping the crowd before locking back on Elder Ming, "as the sect officially tasked by Qingmu Village, any resources that fell from the Wind Serpents should be considered as Silent Moon's purview. That includes the Wind Serpent's beast core."

I grimaced internally, realizing what the deal was about. Instinctively, I gripped the core in my pocket. Elder Jun was sly, and I could almost admire him for it if he weren't angling for what we had earned. He continued, "When one reaps the harvest of another's field, do they not owe a debt to the landowner?"

The metaphor drew murmurings from the crowd, a murmur that I could feel the undercurrents of agreement and dissent mingling. For a moment, I saw Elder Chen's eyes flicker from the man before him to me. My heart skipped a beat, thinking for a moment that I'd have to surrender what was given to me. Several thoughts ran through my mind. Hadn't Feng Wu kept my ownership of the beast core a secret?

But my anxieties were unfounded. Elder Chen's eyes went back to the man before him. I breathed an internal sigh of relief.

Elder Chen’s retort was swift. "By that logic, one could claim the wind and the rain as their own for merely expecting it. We fought, we bled, and the Wind Serpents fell on the village of Qingmu. Should the Qingmu residents be the ones to take the resources?"

The conversation was a dance of wits and wills, and I felt a strange kinship with Elder Chen's defiance. Yet, the fear that we might be embroiled in conflict with the Silent Moon sect gnawed at me. They were not only ambitious but aggressive. Elder Zhu's remarks about their attempts at expansion and usurping the Whispering Wind sect rang in my head.

Elder Jun laughed, a sound that scratched unpleasantly at my ears. "Elder Chen, surely you jest. The wind and rain belong to no one, but the fruits of the earth, when cultivated, surely have a master. As such, your sect's gains in this encounter intersect with our interests."

His manipulation was as blatant as it was smooth, wording his greed as rightful claiming. Elder Jun was a wolf in a philosopher's cloak, his mind as sharp as a blade.

And then, the veiled threat came, "It would be a pity for this to sour relations between our sects. The Silent Moon sect values harmony, but it is known that imbalance and disrespect can lead to... misfortune."

The sect elders were no strangers to these exchanges, but the blunt nature of this threat was a brutal reminder of the stakes at play. I could see it in Elder Chen's eyes, the careful calculation as he weighed his words.

"You speak of respect, Elder Jun, yet it is respect that brings us to share. Our joint endeavor in subduing the serpents was not done for mere profit but for peace," He stated firmly.

The conversation ebbed and flowed around me, the political current drawing in all who listened. I felt like I was witnessing a silent war, where words were the weapons, and the casualties could be counted in lost alliances and tarnished reputations.

I stared at the disciples, none of whom I recognized being in Qingmu. They were third-class disciples, but the air around them was different. Much more formidable than the ones lead by Xu Ziqing. And compared to the scholarly disciples present in the crowd, it was no contest to see what would happen if they fought.

Elder Chen's next words were clipped, "The Verdant Lotus sect will not be coerced into forfeiting what we have earned, nor will we engage in a war of words where action has already spoken."

There was a firm nod from our elder, and some of the gathered disciples cheered, their voices a ragged chorus of support.

Elder Jun's smile never wavered, but his eyes were cold.

His patience seemed to unravel just then, with the subtle play of shadows over his face betraying his next intent. "Then, perhaps, there is another way to resolve this. The Verdant Lotus sect surely holds numerous treasures that can be used as a substitute for the Wind Serpent beast core. Such as...the Jade Alchemic Flame?"

I balked. I was only beginning my studies in alchemy, but even I knew the worth of the Jade Alchemic Flame. It was one of the ninety Earthly Flames, characterized by its soothing green color and cool temperature, making it ideal for alchemy requiring precision and stability. Unlike other flames, the Jade Flame would not consume or destroy what it touches but instead refines and purifies materials to their utmost quality. They wanted that in exchange for the beast core?!

A grim realization settled over me as I figured out the Silent Moon sect's true motive.

Debt leverage.

Using an outstanding debt to obtain something else from the sect. I've seen it before, both in real life and in the stories I read. It was an underhanded trick, and one I didn't appreciate the Silent Moon sect attempting on my benefactors. Outrageous!

I couldn't let this go!

Before he could finish, I found my own voice, slicing through the tension like a sword through silk. "Elder Jun, the Wind Serpent beast core," I said, holding up the shimmering, crystalline object for all to see. I might have looked calm, letting the core roll in my palm like a gambler's coin, but inside, a storm raged, churning with the dual tides of fear and resolve.

"Elder Jun desires it so earnestly that I wonder...," I continued, my voice firm, betraying none of my inner turmoil, "is the Silent Moon sect suffering so greatly that they would haggle with a humble gardener over spoils?" I couldn’t help but lace my words with a hint of mockery and anger. Elder Jun's brows knitted together, a crack in his facade of unflappable superiority.

I might've messed up really badly this time around.