"Again!" Elder Shadow demanded.

Shooting an Elder point-blank with an arrow might be satisfying, at least at that moment, but the ramifications were rather painful. Elder Shadow had shrugged off the attack I'd made in the peak of frustration with laughter. He had then retaliated by becoming an even more obsessive taskmaster.

Two weeks of intensive training had followed, but I had accomplished what he'd demanded and all 78 of my meridian channels were linked, merged into clusters that created lightning, ice, and fog so flawlessly that it was almost impossible to tell that those elements were not my original affinities.

Two weeks of relentless demands. Demands so unforgiving that my greatest regret wasn't that I'd shot Elder Shadow in the chest. My regret was that I hadn't shot him in the face, anything to remove that smug expression. That look of snide superiority. That half-smile, half-smirk that became his default expression as I failed over and over again, trying to meet his unforgiving standards.

Two weeks of biting my tongue. Of meekly obeying. Of tolerating the insults and increased training schedule. He'd demanded I return to Training Hall for another two hours of training when my training at Alchemical Hall was complete. He was gracious enough to give me a few moments to grab dinner before he unleashed a second round of torment.

Now that I had trained my meridian channels, we had moved on to linking those elemental aspects to my martial techniques. Today's humiliation was taking place in full view of everyone else. It was the first time we had returned to the open arenas. Elder Shadow had been adamant that I train and merge my meridian channels in private. He had even allowed me to perfect [Lightning's Rush] and [Water Pierce] before we moved into public view.

He explained his reasoning when we had concluded yesterday's training. Cultivators were steeped in secrecy for a reason. Although it was impossible to keep secret what martial technique's I was training in, what I could and should hide was what meridian channels, nexuses, and clusters were linked to which technique. If that knowledge were known, it was something that could be used against me in combat.

Targeted attacks at meridian sites could do enough damage that I wouldn't be able to use the techniques I'd linked effectively until I healed. Enough damage and that technique would need to be retrained, linked to a newly formed cluster, the original denied me forever. A burnt-out point in my meridian body that would need to be excised during cultivation and meditation.

One of the reasons that the choice of Master was so important was that secrecy. The person training you would have intimate knowledge of the cluster structure you formed, and how you linked it with your martial forms. For most Sect members, they would have to rely on the character for the mentors they had been assigned. Character that can be sorely tested when bribes and bets during tournaments occur.

I was extremely lucky to have gained Elder Shadow's attention. His character and honor were unassailable. I wouldn't have to re-train my meridian channels and clusters, in the future, to mitigate any knowledge he will have gained during training. That still didn't remove the impulse to shoot him in the face with a lightning imbued arrow.

"You need to anticipate, Jay," Elder Shadow explained for the third day in a row. "You can't wait until the last second to create your ice platform. Your body knows how high you are jumping, even powered with air, the height of your jump increases at twice your base ability."

"I understand, Honored Elder. But I am having trouble gauging height and distance once I begin ascending. There is no frame of reference for me to understand, to grasp exactly how far I have jumped," I explained.

"You are trying to execute the second phase of [Spin and Dive] using visual cues?" He asked.

"Is there another method?" I asked confused.

"Jay. Cultivation is as much art as it is science. One of the reasons the Tessen works so well for you is the agility and dancelike qualities you exhibit with every movement. Even before you began training, you had a dancer's bearing.

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"In this instance, stop trying to use measurements and logic to create the ice platform. Use the grace and intuitive understanding that you have gained over the years. Create the platform when it feels right, not when it looks right," he concluded.

Could it be that simple? I had been struggling, attempting to transition from point A to B in a logical manner. But each time I jumped, there was a variation. The terrain slightly different; the force I used was less when tired or frustrated.

I had forgotten that martial arts was both science and artistry. I had tried to regiment and force outcomes based on mathematical calculations. Calculations that would require the help of an Artificial Intelligence, to be performed in tandem, for me to be successful using logic.

Internalizing Elder Shadow's words. I took a leap of faith. Closing my eyes, removing all distractions other than how the [Spin and Dive] attack should be executed, I removed logic and applied emotion. How it would feel to seem to fly. How the material of my Hanfu would billow and stream creating a tableau of sight and color. The dance of air powering my leap, the firmament of ice that formed to give purchase for a second leap, and the pirouettes faster and faster as I plunged to the ground, my Tessen snapping open, daggers shooting out to presage my passage, before I finally landed with the outer spines of my Tessen striking, plunging deep within my targets body.

And I leaped, eyes closed. Release this meridian cluster to the legs now. Spin, spin a burst of ice Qi formed and powered by mixing water and temperature into this nexus…

Now. Dive and add lightning Qi to both legs using the water and air combination I had tempered.

Fan snapping open.

Press the release mechanism to shot spines.

Both fans fluttering, spines being released, and pirouette.

Spinning faster and faster.

Finally, channel ice and lightning into the Tessen in both hands and perform a double thrust.

Now, Roll.

Stand and spin to face the target.

And as I felt the Qi, the air, water, ice, and lightning respond to my call. I soared. I spun. I danced. And I understood for the first time the joy of success as [Spin and Dive Into the Ocean] was executed flawlessly.

"Again!" Elder Shadow bellowed giving me no time to cherish my success.

"Again!"

"Again!'

I'm not sure how many hundreds of times he demanded I repeat that initial success, but even his constant demands could not dampen my joy. With each success that joy increased until by the last attempt, I wasn't sure I was floating because of Qi or emotion. The movements were that freeing, a release, and an embrace of self that I'd never experienced in either life.

It really did feel like I was dancing on air.

"Not a complete waste of your time and effort," Elder An said puncturing my joy and forcing me to reign in and center the exuberance I had been feeling.

"Niake," Elder An continued, drawing my attention to the young girl that had been my first friend in the Sect. A friendship that was easily formed, and just as easily abandoned when Niake realized that I had become the target for Sect members aligned with Elder An.

Her abandonment was my first lesson with Sect politics. Strength and ability only got you so far. The connections you formed would help you get the better missions, access to better techniques, and a chance at resources and pills that no new member had any hope of purchasing.

You only had to compromise your ideals and values to take advantage of them. And Niake had not been strong enough to resist. Her family's wealth meant almost nothing in a Sect where power and prestige were based on Cultivation, Realm, and Lineage.

I would like to think that she made the attempt to resist the lure of Elder An. That it was only under pressure from her family that she gave in and made her deal with the devil. But I refused to excuse her behavior. She had made her choice. Our friendship the price of admission.

If we had been friends longer than a few days, her betrayal may have hurt. Instead, it became a life lesson that was painless but instructive. Sect friendships were nothing more than faction maneuvers, designed to increase the influence or prestige of whichever faction supported those members.

At least Niake had the grace to blush in embarrassment before she offered her challenge. I forgot what tier Spirit Root she had claimed or elemental affinities, which said much about me, I suppose. What kind of friendship had we formed if I couldn't remember even this basic information about her?

I looked to Elder Shadow to ascertain if this duel was permissible. I wouldn't put it past him to have orchestrated the entire event. Today after all was the first time we had practiced in view of others. Maybe there was a reason for that. [Spin and Dive Into the Ocean] was the only form I was still having problems understanding and performing. But for the casual observer, it may seem that I was so incompetent that I had barely managed to perfect my first Kata.

It would be a shame if Niake was the person I used to dispel that false assumption. But she had made her choice, and I would respect her decision. We were no longer friends. The only hope I could maintain was that after this test of skills, we didn't become enemies.