A hushed wave of whispers rippled through the cavernous Hall of Order and Discipline the moment Ji Wuye and Li Rong made their exit. The heavy oak doors groaned shut behind them, temporarily muffling the murmurs until they faded into the marble halls.
Meanwhile, Ji Wuye's piercing crimson eyes carefully traced Li Rong's graceful figure ahead of him, while occasionally admiring the gradually increasing steep heights on either side as they ascended higher.
The chilly mountain breeze whispered past, causing his robes to flutter slightly and tickling his exposed skin with its icy caress. A veil of misty white clouds obscured the sweeping valley vista below from view.
'Elder Qiao's courtyard,' Ji Wuye reminded himself, refocusing his gaze on the path ahead where the shadowy outline of the staircase's end came into view. 'A new experience for me this time around.'
In the previous timeline's memories that replayed vividly in his mind, Ji Wuye had never visited Elder Qiao's courtyard.
Unlike the Official Disciples and Outer Disciples, Inner Disciples resided with their respective Masters. Each Elder commanded their own secluded cliff dwelling, a place to reside, train, and closely monitor the progress of their pupils.
This was why becoming an Inner Disciple was so immensely difficult. One not only had to gain the personal favor and acknowledgment of a particular Elder, but also possess innate talents and capabilities that met that Elder's lofty standards.
Suddenly, as Ji Wuye pondered, he stepped on the highest stone steps and was greeted by a vast, tranquil courtyard bathed in ethereal morning light. His gaze was immediately drawn to a large koi pond, its glassy surface reflecting the clouds drifting lazily overhead, while regal white geese glided serenely across the waters.
"Control your words and mind your manners before Elder Qiao," Li Rong's stern, cold voice suddenly sliced through the peaceful atmosphere, shattering Ji Wuye's momentary reverie.
She narrowed her icy eyes at her Junior Brother in warning, who met her intense stare with a faint, inscrutable smile and slightly squinted eyes.
"Of course, Senior Sister," Ji Wuye replied evenly, dipping his head respectfully while inwardly recognizing the veiled admonition.
But hidden beneath his squinting eyes, he could foresee the upcoming questions and challenges that Elder Qiao would present to him.
'It's time,' Ji Wuye thought as he fell into step behind Li Rong as they crossed the arched wooden bridge spanning the length of the large koi pond, separating the two areas.
His Senior Sister must have reported his recent actions and the messages he imparted to her Master, Elder Qiao, which prompted this formal invitation to the Elder's courtyard.
With a soft, deferential knock on the ornately carved wooden sliding door, Li Rong announced their arrival, "Master, Rong has arrived along with Junior Brother Ji." Barely a moment passed before the door slid open with a gentle swish, and a warm, lively voice greeted them from within.
"Oh, it's Little Rong and Little Brother Ji! Welcome, welcome," came the familiar, energetic tones that Ji Wuye had not heard in what felt like an age.
As the door fully parted, his piercing crimson eyes locked onto the enchanting, youthful figure of Elder Qiao.
...
The spacious receiving room was bright and airy, with the large sliding door left wide open to allow the fragrant mountain breeze to waft through. Several other sliding windows lined the walls on both sides, affording picturesque views of the landscaped koi pond and the immaculately maintained gardens beyond, where Li Rong waited with clear trepidation on her features.
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Ji Wuye sat cross-legged in a formal seiza position on a woven mat, a low lacquered wooden table before him, directly facing Elder Qiao herself.
On the other hand, Elder Qiao leaned back in a posture of practiced ease against the elegantly curved back of an ornately carved Pingji - a Y-shaped wooden chair.
Two exquisitely glazed ceramic cups of piping hot green tea rested on the table, thin tendrils of aromatic steam wafting up to mingle with the curling wisps of pale smoke from the long-stemmed ivory pipe clenched between Elder Qiao's smiling lips. The room was pervaded by the intermingling scents of the fresh, grassy tea and the sweet, musky pipe smoke.
A few weighted moments of tense silence hung in the air, with neither Elder nor Ji Wuye speaking.
The only sound was the occasional soft clink of ceramic as Elder Qiao sipped her tea, savoring it. This pregnant pause was finally broken when she set down her cup, her eyes narrowing to inscrutable crescents as her chest subtly rose and fell beneath the fine white robes interwoven with dark yellow stripes.
Her penetrating gaze settled squarely on the calm, indifferent countenance of Ji Wuye, who had just taken a sip of his own tea and met her intense stare levelly.
"So, Little Brother..." Elder Qiao began, allowing another pause to amplify the weight of her words. "Have you finally opened the deeply hidden door within yourself?"
It was a deceptively simple question, yet one clearly designed to entrap and confuse with its enigmatic phrasing.
Elder Qiao was a master at such verbal gambits, skillfully creating an aura of unease and oppression through the deliberate, weighted silence and obfuscating linguistic layers, not to mention the faint watchful glares from her other Inner Disciples stationed at a lower vantage point to observe their interaction.
'A hidden door, huh? So Senior Sister must have sensed the fluctuations of my Qi in either the Middle or Upper Dantian when we clashed back then,' Ji Wuye deduced inwardly.
Aware of the scrutiny, he flicked a seemingly sleepy glance toward the two other Inner Disciples standing at a lower vantage, then shifted toward Li Rong through the opened window who looked so nervous on the outside of the room before returning his gaze to Elder Qiao. Her expression had taken on a layered quality - outwardly charming yet inwardly solemn and evaluating.
"Clouds are light, wind is gentle, why say more, Big Sister?" Ji Wuye responded lightly, setting down his ceramic cup just as a fresh breeze picked up, causing the long strands of his snowy hair to flutter and dance with his intentionally oblique words.
He neither explicitly confirmed nor denied anything, providing just enough mystique - the perfect way to probe how much his Senior Sister Li Rong had truly discerned about the elevated state of his martial realm and his underlying intentions in being summoned before the formidable Elder Qiao.
Ji Wuye's piercing crimson eyes met the Elder's curious, slightly stunned gaze directly and unflinchingly. Her own long, dark tresses lifted and swayed with the sudden gust that blew through the open room.
But then, Elder Qiao's expression shifted almost imperceptibly, her eyes gleaming with the barest hint of impish mischief. "Your words flow like a gentle stream, but your eyes tell a different story entirely. Have you not heard the ancient saying, 'Still waters run deep'?" she countered smoothly.
'Heh... so it's to be like this then. Flow like a gentle stream on the surface, yet run deep beneath,' Ji Wuye realized. Seeing she refused to be misdirected so easily, he allowed a faint, enigmatic smile to play across his lips.
"Big Sister, you speak in such artful riddles, like clouds that veil the very moon itself," he parried. "Perhaps I have indeed unlocked a hidden door, or perhaps I've merely cracked it open the barest sliver." He paused to take another calculated sip of the fragrant tea, the curling steam swirling around his inscrutable features. "One can never be certain precisely where the path ahead shall ultimately lead."
Elder Qiao inclined her head slowly in consideration, her expression becoming increasingly thoughtful and evaluating. "True, true. The journey of a thousand miles begins with but a single step along the path. But tell me this, Little Brother - have you not also heard the ancient tale of the bamboo that grows slowly, gradually strengthening itself, until it ultimately stands tall and unshakable?"
With one eye closed in a subtle, flirtatious squint and the other fixed intently on Ji Wuye, Elder Qiao traced one slender finger slowly, deliberately across her full lips as she leaned forward ever so slightly. Her unspoken meaning was veiled yet clear - an enticing lure leaving him room to either engage or deflect her gambit.
Of course, Ji Wuye remained utterly unaffected by her alluring traps and riddles that may have flustered or embarrassed any martial artists.
"Big Sister sees too deeply into matters," Ji Wuye parried smoothly. "Perhaps I have not yet reached the final summit, but the foundations have indeed been firmly laid. Does not the lotus inevitably bloom, rising from the murky depths?"
With his obfuscating yet tacitly confirmatory reply, he subtly acknowledged the truth behind Elder Qiao's implied inquiry about the elevated state of his current martial realm.
A 3rd realm.
'So they are only aware of me as a mere 3rd realm martial artist, with no true way to detect my Upper Dantian,' Ji Wuye analyzed inwardly, allowing a look of feigned surprise to cross his features. Of course, he had no intentions of revealing that he had actually broken through to the 4th realm.
"Well then, I think this would be against the rules, but may I request that Elder Qiao do me this small favor of keeping such matters...undisclosed?" Ji Wuye asked with an air of nonchalance as he set down his now-empty ceramic cup, meeting her bright gaze with his own heavy-lidded eyes as she grinned widely.
But then, without warning, the hushed atmosphere was rent by a harsh voice piercing the air like a blade.
"How dare you show such brazen disrespect!" The low growl disrupted the intimate atmosphere as the sharp metallic rasp of jians being drawn from their sheaths sliced through the room.
Both Elder Qiao and Ji Wuye turned toward the source - two female Inner Disciples standing to the sides, their expressions frosty and radiating outright hostility as they leveled their drawn blades at the unruffled Ji Wuye.
In an instant, Elder Qiao's warm, indulgent smile vanished, her countenance hardening as her gaze turned to arctic shards piercing her own disciples. "Leave. Now." The terse command brooked no argument as she fixed them with a look that could freeze rivers.
The two opened their mouths as if to protest further, but seeming to think better of it, quickly clasped their hands and took their abrupt leave without another defiant word.