Lin Songmei and Liu Xueli spent the flight just talking, and with Lin Songmei opening up bit by bit after some time and Liu Xueli sharing more about herself, the two became a little closer. While talking too, Songmei spent some time looking out the window, resisting the urge to plaster herself against it after seeing the world shrink back below the plane for the first time.

Through the conversation in the luxurious little cabin lounge area, Songmei also learned that Lin Xueli was the one to pick her up because she was one of the candidates the sect were leaning towards. Though, apparently since there wasn’t much to go off of, it could still change very as easily as flipping a coin.

Liu Xueli, having changed into a more comfortable outfit was now in some casual clothes, changing the air around her from a businesswoman to someone who could probably lead a military unit.

... Songmei still wondered if she should comment on the whole “I’m hip, I’m young” thing though.

Maybe... maybe Songmei was the old one, she was still feeling twinges of pain in her wrist along with back tightness...

‘Who knows, soon enough maybe I’ll be reading the newspaper in my free time.’

However, after about an hour or two in the air, the small plane-like artifact began to descend and Liu Xueli began to explain a bit about the sect. “So... if you look out the window you should see the sect. Do you see that ring of mountains? That’s where the sect is~ isn’t it nice?”

Holding onto an armrest to steady herself as the ground became closer, Songmei couldn’t help but wonder... where was the lake?

It was the Starlight Lake Sect not the Ring of Mountains Sect...

“Liu Xueli?” Songmei asked, raising her hand to get Liu Xueli's attention while she was making some tea for herself as the plane came to a stop after landing. “Where’s... where’s the lake?”

Taking a second and downing the entire cup of hot tea in one gulp, Liu Xueli kicked open the door while waving Songmei over. “Come on, come on! Let’s go, I’ll show you where the lake is. We have to take a shuttle from here since there isn’t anywhere I can land this baby in the sect itself.”

... A whole cup? At once?? That thing was steaming...

Chalking it up to the cultivation, Songmei grabbed her bags, checked everything was there, and followed along behind Liu Xueli.

Snow...

Songmei had never seen snow before, she’d seen pictures, seen movies, she knew what it was, who didn’t? But now, walking outside, where a layer of snow blanketed the ground, Songmei couldn’t help but crouch down, shivering a little from the cold while clenching it in her hand.

‘It’s wet... good thing this isn’t yellow.’

Unimpressed at her own thoughts, of course it’d be wet, it’s made of water, Songmei bunched it up into a ball, throwing it at Liu Xueli.

Pomf.

Turning and looking away as Liu Xueli spun on her heel after taking a snowball to the back, Songmei watched as Liu Xueli brushed the snow off out of the corner of her eye, getting ready to run at any time. ‘Don’t move Songmei, if you don’t move, she can’t see you. That’s how it works with old people. If you stay still she’ll think you’re just a statue.’

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Songmei’s eyes darted for a second before a snowball pelted her in the stomach, exploding into a mass of white powder.

Liu Xueli slung an arm over Songmei’s shoulder and Songmei let out a sigh and quiet apology as an embarrassed tinge creeped up on her face. “Sorry, I’ve never seen snow before...”

Patting Songmei as the two began to walk, Liu Xueli reassured, “It’s fineeeee~ Just expect retaliation, okay? As your senior, I won’t go easy on you next time~ and you’ll have plenty of chances, we always have snowball fights every year! It’s practically a tradition! Sometimes there’s even a competition to try and see who can hit the sect leader first! Oh yeah... now that you’re in the sect you have to call Tu Weiping by ‘Sect Leader’ unless he tells you not to.”

“That’s fine, I can do that no problem, I called the head lady... head lady, for 16 years.” Songmei murmured, her voice quieting as streams of people walked by the two as they made their way to the shuttle area. “So... what do I do for the next few days? I know I’ll have to do some interviews but... beyond that what do I do? They shouldn’t take the whole day, right?”

With the crowd parting in front of Liu Xueli once more—Songmei realized Liu Xueli really was an important person...—the two got onboard the futuristic sleek silver-white shuttle as Liu Xueli tapped her chin with a cheerful grin. “You can just hang out~ I’d probably recommend working out, since you aren’t that fit. Maybe also interacting with some people around? Your elders, the other senior direct disciples? They’re all nice people so I’d recommend getting to know them!”

Watching Liu Xueli flex her toned arms, Songmei was not only impressed by Liu Xueli’s muscles, they weren't like bulging or anything, but she was still muscular, but also, Songmei was impressed by how she could wear a tank-top in this weather. It wasn’t snowing right now, but it was cold! Cold as shit!

Shivering in her coat, even as they were inside the shuttle that began to move, Songmei opened her mouth to ask another question but then closed it again, falling silent, not having much to talk about. ‘This place is so nice though... I don’t really feel like I belong here... I feel like I'm dirtying the pole just by hanging onto it as the shuttle ascends into the air.’

Silence.

Liu Xueli had been approached by an older elder who was asking her about some secretive things that Songmei couldn’t hear, was it a technique?

Maybe like... sound transmission? That’s a technique that’s common in those cultivation novels. Songmei had read a few, they were... interesting, but most of them were set in ancient times which made it less immersive. How did they use the restroom and stuff? Or were their bodies too... amazing or something...

Chuckling to herself remembering the meme that was “Do you even young master?!” Songmei covered her mouth with a hand, looking around to make sure she hadn’t disturbed anyone around her.

Whirrrrrr.

As the shuttle accelerated in an instant, flying through a crack between two mountains, Songmei looked out one of the large glass windows for the first time and... wow.

Her jaw dropping, her grip around the pole loosening, Songmei stood there in awe as she saw the sect for the first time.

There was the ring of mountains she had seen earlier, each of the mountain peaks being spires that jutted into the sky. But the true show was in the center of the ring of mountains.

Beautiful.

That’s the only word that came to Songmei’s mind.

Inside the ring of mountains was an expansive frozen-over lake that seemed to sparkle and gleam. Then, above the lake, there were a number of floating islands of various sizes, some with only one building on them, some with just some trees and nature, some with a multitude of buildings on them.

Each building was made out of a rich wood, all woven together to form amazing shapes. Songmei could see some people going in and out of the buildings, all minding their own business. Yet, to Songmei, even these mundane actions seemed magical and out of this world.

Over the lake too, was a series of tethers, lines of semi-transparent energy that marked where the shuttle lines were, ensuring that anyone who was advanced enough to fly wouldn’t get plowed into by a shuttle.

That’d be really sad...

Wouldn’t that be like... instant death? Or only instant career over? Or something else...

Pushing her thoughts aside, Songmei steadied herself against one of the poles in the shuttle, getting ready to disembark as the shuttle came to stop, its doors sliding open with a quiet, clean whoosh.