A figure skulks in the darkness of night, passing through the dirt streets of Northern River's Village unseen and unheard. The figure is faint, transparent like clear water - virtually invisible in the darkness of the night.

Nevar, the brightest of the moons at this time of year gently illuminates the earth with its blue light, joined by its eleven brethren moons as well as the countless glittering stars that dot the skies.

The figure moves slowly only when compared to what it is capable of. To any regular man or woman, if they were capable of perceiving the figure, it would have been sailing down the street faster than the fittest mortal man is capable of running.

These are always such a waste to use. Zhang Dongmei, Inner disciple of the Twilight Lotus sect silently laments what she must do as she arrives at her target destination. She places a hand on her necklace, a prized possession gifted to her by an elder of the sect, an artifact capable of warping space itself in order to act as a storage. From inside she pulls out a potion.

She carefully examines the potion's contents, sensing its quiet yet potent energy inside the flask. The magical liquid sparkles in the heavenly light from the skies.

Jealously hoarding is not the path to enlightenment. It always will be a waste, until it isn't. Reminiscing about events long past she drinks the potion in one gulp, completely ignoring the rancid taste of refined spiritual plants and beast organs. She feels an energy streaming down her entire being, she allows it to move unimpeded as it spreads out through her body.

On the outside her already imperceivable body becomes even more transparent, even harder to notice. The outline of her body fades slowly but surely, mixing in with the scenery to the point where she might as well not be there.

The energies naturally emitted by any object, living or not, also fade. Much like her figure they mix with those in the background, not vanishing but changing to a point where they are indistinguishable from each other.

She walks. Stepping on air like there is an invisible stairway where her feet are, rising higher and higher. She focuses on the scenery below once she's reached a high enough spot.

This truly is… off. Had I not known any better I would have passed this area off as nothing interesting. Eyes moving to a fallen tree, charred black from fire and barely recognisable, she thinks about what the boy had told her. It must be the tree that he had scaled for certain, the remains of it at least.

Shifting her attention to a different part of the former farm she can now more clearly place her finger on the issue, finding the inconsistencies in the overall picture.

The grass is barely growing for one, only some patches of the resilient plant to be found here and there on the barren soil. An odd phenomenon when one considers the ordinary aftermath of a forest fire. Taking into account the size of the felled spruce tree the area should be littered with small spruces by now, their pinecones having evolved to survive forest fires.

It is much the same picture when it comes to the fauna. No rodents can be found, not even any insects.

‘The area has been purged.' She concludes after a preliminary survey, though almost immediately she is reminded of the boy that she had taken under her wing just a day ago, remembering the danger of jumping to conclusions.

She weakens the force under her feet to the point where it is unable to hold her stationary in the skies. It does not disappear, instead allowing her to slowly descend like a feather in the wind, it is strengthened once more when she is within an arm's length of the soil.

Focusing on her senses she feels around for the energies around her, only to find that her initial conclusion had been right. She feels the unnatural power in the earth, weak and fading but still present. And, most importantly, familiar.

Zephyr was it? At least he has the common sense not to mess around with demons from that group, I can feel his qi still storming around the area even though two years have passed. She sighs in disappointment, silently lamenting using the potion for nothing.

She manifests an oddly coloured flask from her storage treasure. The flask is opened and held still in the palm of her hand for a few seconds before being closed once more and returned. Inside it the foreign qi is now safely stored.

I will be able to gather intelligence early, it seems.

Not wishing to remain for much longer she moves to several different areas on the burnt down field, pulling out several more of the flasks from her storage and repeating her previous actions.

She does a final survey of the burnt down field and the surrounding area before leaving, her inspection not noticed by a single soul.

=======================

The following day.

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'Qi is stable.. '

A glowing arrow of white soars through the air, striking the target perfectly in its center.

'The taint in his channels remains but is rapidly fading… fading too fast, in fact.'

More arrows are shot, at a speed greater than anything demonstrated the previous day, most impressively all of the arrows find their mark.

"Boy."

The child stops his motions with a noticeable twitch. His heartbeat quickens as he turns around and focuses his eyes on the cultivator.

"You've been practicing after I left you yesterday."

"I have, Master Dongmei" He bows politely as he replies.

'There it is.' A vein on her forehead bulges up in anger at the boys reaction, even as her expression remains perfectly stoic.

'That reply… as if uttered from the practiced lips of a servant several years in service and not from a boy who'd been here for less than a week. Spoken with absolute confidence even as his hands shake ever so slightly from fright.'

'Maybe it's because he's a human. I've read that human children are slower to grow and adapt than those of the Lyraxi, it wouldn't be the first time that the texts are wrong.'

She shakes her thoughts away.

"Don't ever train without my supervision, especially when dealing with matters outside your comprehension." with a flick of her wrists she dispels the arrows. They fracture into thousands of pieces before dissolving into the air.

"Yes, Master Dongmei." He answers with his head held down, not making eye contact.

A second vein bulges.

"How much easier is it to wield the arrows now as compared to yesterday?"

"Uhm.." the boy pauses at her question as he thinks it through, his earlier panic fading as his heartbeat slows.

"A whole lot easier" he motions with his hands, making it seem as if he's got a large piece of something inside them. "Yesterday when I pulled on the bowstring it felt like I was dunking my right hand into a pot full of boiling water. When I do it now it still hurts but nowhere near as much."

"Have you felt any pain in your stomach?"

"I have not, Master Dongmei."

The cat-eared woman swishes her tail to the side with a bit of frustration.

"Then you'll be fine." She nods assuredly. "However, we will have to cut your exercise short for the day, the following one as well just to be safe. Disregard my words and you might end up crippling yourself."

She's met with a nod from the side of the boy but not much else. He watches her with his oddly wise brown eyes, expecting her either to continue or dismiss him.

'Perhaps apologies are in order. After all, this one mistook the corruption in his body as something originating from the soul and not from an outside source. The way he's been treated is right for those whose soul is too far gone into the way of the demons and beasts, fit only for becoming a battle thrall.'

'But how should I even do it!?' Her tail stops its movements for a brief second before picking up the pace, the speed and thickness of the appendage causing whistling sound to spread all around.

Get down to my knees, in front of this child that's younger than my baby brother? Emperor, if any of my friends learned of me doing something like that I'd become the laughing stock of the sect. Nevermind them, it's embarrassing to a level where I would not be capable of closing my eyes in meditation for the next few months.

Had the woman still been a normal Lyraxi and not a cultivator with a strict control over her emotions she would surely have already made an embarrassment of herself. A deep blush and an expression of unease, a tail weaving left and right and ears pointed backwards - all signs of emotional turmoil. Avoided because of her cultivation.

As it is she just has her eyes closed and arms crossed. Tail rapidly swooping from one side of her body to the other with a barely noticeable scowl forming. Only enough for Kenki to realize that something is off.

'I still need someone to help me out with the mission and he's the only human I've come across that's compatible with the twilight blossom cultivation techniques. I'll just shift his status from thrall to personal disciple, that should be reward enough. Thankfully I met him less than a week ago, the damage caused in a few short days can be easily undone in several years… still.'

"Boy" She calls out suddenly, blue eyes open and her mind made up.

"Ye- yes Mas-"

She bluntly cuts him off mid sentence "Is there something that you desire, material or not, that I can provide at this exact moment."

Kenki looks into the catwoman's eyes, uncertain.

"Is this somehow related to me being crippled by the arrows? I'm going to be fine, right!?"

"You could say that it is related. But you will be fine either way." She notices a spark appearing in the child's eyes as she ends her sentence. "I can recognise that you have something on your mind. Say it, I shall provide it as long as it is reasonable."

"Then… would it be alright for me to go to the village when I am done with everything asked of me?"

'Hm? We are inside the village right now though… oh..'

A snort of amusement is heard from the towering woman.

"I never said that you cannot leave, but I can easily see how you could have misunderstood me"

"I will tell you clearly the expectations that I have for you. What you can and cannot do while you are under my wing…"

She pauses for a second, debating on what restrictions and freedoms to grant to the young child.

'Unfortunately, I have not read any books or scrolls on how to properly raise a child, a problem considering I can no longer throw him away. At least I know that not allowing him to leave the manor and interact with the people of the village will greatly damage him.'

"You are allowed to leave the manor and do as you please after we are done with your daily training." She begins listing off her expectations, Ken listening with rapt attention. "That is considering that I have not given you any additional tasks to accomplish." She clarifies further.

"You will also eat the food I give you and only the food that I give you without a single exception. I will not stand to see a single breadcrumb, a single scrap of meat, or anything not personally provided by me get close to your lips."

Ken raises his hand above his head, seeking permission to speak.

"Speak."

"What about water and drinks, Master Dongmei."

"The water from the mansion's well is fine but nothing else."

Ken nods his head at her words.

"And finally, you shall only sleep in the room I provided to you…" she pauses, remembering something she hadn't asked during her initial examination.

"Can you read?"

"I can." Ken simply admits the truth, still fearing that the cultivator might have a way to figure out if he is lying or not.

"Perfect." She nods with a satisfied smile. "You will be given a scroll with the laws of the land, make sure to memorize them word for word by the end of the month."

"Of course, Master Dongmei."

The woman flicks her tail in annoyance, lightly hitting the boy, only enough to push him back a step.

"Also stop it with all these 'Master Dogmei's, it's annoying. Say it once when you greet me as a sign of respect and leave it at that."

"A- alright." Ken responds, flustered by her reaction.