Jie remained lost in thought as she walked back to her residence. She couldn't help feeling like she was somehow betraying Elder Shi by not agreeing to kill the Chen family. But, then that had never been part of the deal when Elder Shi had decided to train her...

Jie also felt guilty for what she'd said about getting a child to fight her battles... this world wasn't the same as her old one and Ming had rescued her from that for a similar reason.

Elder Shi was right... she was just a coward who didn't want to get her hands dirty. Ming had killed for her when she'd asked him to. Yet, she was refusing to do the same for others who had helped her.

But... what if she killed someone in the Chen family who was innocent? Yet... if she didn't then perhaps they would take revenge on her? Just like Elder Shi said.

Thinking about it gave her a headache. Such thoughts continued to weigh on Jie's mind more than a week later.

The fact Elder Shi was now colder and more formal in their training sessions didn't help.

Despite being distracted by her dark contemplations after yet another day of training with Elder Shi, Jie noticed familiar presences approaching with her spirit sense. Though one of them seemed to be trying to hide their aura. Badly.

"Hi guys," Jie said.

"Aww come on! I almost snuck up on you!" Pan Tian said as she came out from around a building with her brother and Ithilix in tow.

"Sorry, sis, but you're just not very good at concealing your aura," Pan Zhanshi said.

"This one must agree," Ithilix said.

"Am I truly that bad?" Pan Tian asked.

"I sensed all three of you if it makes you feel any better," Jie said.

"Boom! How do you like that little bro?" Pan Tian said.

"Boom?" Pan Zhanshi said, "And... we're the same age, genius. Plus, you were the only one trying to hide."

"Yeah. Boom! It's something people say where Jie comes from," Pan Tian said as she brushed the rest of his words aside with a wave of her hand.

"Why would anyone say that?" Pan Zhanshi asked.

"Who cares? It's fun!" Pan Tian said as she raced over to Jie and enveloped her in a massive hug.

Jie froze up and awkwardly returned the hug. Not that it was unpleasant. Pan Tian was a good hugger.

"Easy there, sis. She needs to be able to breathe, you know," Pan Zhanshi said.

"She can breathe just fine. Don't get all stuffy on me now," Pan Tian said, though she did release Jie, "Oh my gosh! A spirit tiger? The one from the auction? Is he yours? Can I pet him?"

"Xue, do you mind if they--" Jie began only for the little tiger to leap into petting range. He pushed his head and back against Pan Tian's hand while walking slowly for a full petting experience as he started purring.

"I think he likes me," Pan Tian said with a massive grin on her face.

"This one would also like to pet the noble spirit tiger if he would be so inclined. Pan Zhanshi, would you help instruct this one on feline petting procedures?" Ithilix asked.

Pan Zhanshi laughed. "Sure," he said.

Jie stood there as her friends oohed and aaahed over Xue, seemingly oblivious to her.

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Finally, Jie started getting impatient. "Did you guys need anything? I need to cultivate," she said.

"We came to see you, goofball," Pan Tian said without taking her eyes off Xue, "Aren't you a cute little kitty? Yes, you are. You're the cutest! Booped your nose! You're so cute! I think I might die."

"You'll have to forgive her," Pan Zhanshi said, "my sister's a bit of a magical beast fanatic."

"Like you aren't? Don't try to pretend this fluffy face doesn't just melt your heart," Pan Tian said, "and his fur is so soft!"

"The bracelet, sis?" Pan Zhanshi said.

"Hmm? Oh. Oh! Yes! Sorry," Pan Tian said as she shot back to her full height. Her storage ring gleamed and a large bracelet almost the length of a bracer appeared in her hand. It was made of two different metals. One white and the other black, woven together like yin and yang. Small stones glimmered with green, white, and black qi.

"We got you this. From the three of us. We got the treasure from our family vault and Ithilix helped our craftsmen reforge it to suit you," Pan Tian said, "her knowledge about treasures is amazing. Try it on?"

"I... thank you," Jie said as she accepted the bracelet. It was elegant and slim and seemed not to weigh anything. She slipped it over her hand and it tightened itself around her wrist and forearm. Not uncomfortable, but firm.

"It's very pretty," Jie said.

"I'm glad you like it," Pan Tian said.

Pan Zhanshi elbowed his sister. "Jie doesn't care how pretty it is. Tell her what it does," he said.

"Are you saying Jie has no style?" Pan Tian asked with a dangerous glint in her eyes.

"Jie's style is being a total badass," Pan Zhanshi said.

"So, what does it do?" Jie asked before Pan Tian could respond to her brother.

"Well, it's a cultivation bracelet. It increases the Essence you can gather at once and the amount you create while cultivating. It's based on a design that's a treasure of our clan. Your cultivation is radically different from ours though, so we weren't sure our craftsmen could make you one. But Ithilix helped our craftsmen adapt it to suit you. She has an incredible sense of cultivation and crafting. I still don't understand even a tenth of what she spoke about with our craftsmen," Pan Tian said.

"That's amazing. Thank you. All of you," Jie said.

"Well... there's a little more. Those gems are memory stones. Normally, they contain important battles to review and gain insights from, or techniques or something else like that... but we made this using a really old bracelet and someone had already taken them.

"So, we put in some memory stones of our visit to the city and some things around the school. Maybe it's a bit silly, but you said that you didn't have friends and it seems like you went through something pretty tough... we thought that this way... you'd never have to feel alone again," Pan Tian said, "it's too silly isn't it? I'm sorry. You can always replace them with something better and--"

"No," Jie said as she traced the bracelet's lines with her fingers, "I love it. Thank you. All of you. It means a lot to me."

"So, who are you taking to the festival?" Pan Zhanshi asked.

His sister smacked his shoulder with the back of her hand.

"What was that for?" he asked.

"You ruined the moment. Now she'll think we just gave her something to get her to come with us," Pan Tian said.

"I was just asking who she's going with. What if she doesn't have anyone? We'd be terrible friends for not asking then wouldn't we?" Pan Zhanshi said.

"She's probably the strongest outer court disciple in the school already. It won't be long before she's stronger than some of the elders. I bet she has a million better offers!" Pan Tian said.

"Um... guys?" Jie asked.

"Then she can tell us all about them! You always do this! You--" Pan Zhanshi yelled.

"Guys! What festival are you talking about?" Jie snapped.

Pan Zhanshi drew with his finger in the air as though adding a tack to a scoreboard only he could see. His sister smacked him. He looked at her... then added another point. She huffed.

"Planet creation day is in less than six months, and every year the Crimson Academy has this huge festival to celebrate. There's tons of food and dancing and--" Pan Tian began.

"I need to focus on my training," Jie said, "I can't afford any distractions."

Pan Tian narrowed her eyes and looked like she wanted to strangle Jie.

"What my sister means to say is that there's a big celebration around the main event. There's a valley filled with cultivation herbs, treasures, and magical beasts that the Crimson Academy only opens once a year as part of the festival. Students form teams to explore and gather everything they can. It's a lot of fun. Though... it does get a bit dangerous sometimes. Between all the fights and the resources in there, it'll be great for your cultivation. And, after passing the valley trials, you can enter a dungeon.

"It's filled with traps, monsters, and treasures. It's supposed to prepare us for exploring ancient ruins and things like that when we're older. It means even more fights and cultivation resources. They sometimes put some truly incredible treasures in there too, to really motivate people to push themselves to explore as far as they can," Pan Zhanshi said.

"That sounds amazing," Jie said, "when is it?"

"See?" Pan Zhanshi said to his sister, "You need to tailor what you say to fit your audience. Jie doesn't care about that other stuff. She's focused on cultivating."