A group of young disciples hurried through the winding paths of the Twilight Cage Forest, fanning out and gathering crystallized Spirit Essence as they went. Lagging behind them was a female disciple named Qi Mingyue.

"Dammit." She cursed, out of breath. "This terrain... I didn't think controlling my leg would be so much extra work here."

She found a large rock and leaned against it. Closing her eyes, she corrected the circulation of qi within her body. Torso, head, left leg, left arm, right arm... she sighed. Qi Mingyue concentrated on activating her Spirit Sense, then cast it into the prosthetic leg that was fastened to her right thigh. Sensation and movement returned to the artificial limb.

She continued navigating the forest and found it suddenly much easier. She picked up her pace and was soon approaching the inner circle, where Spirit Essence sprang up in abundance from the shattered earth and warped vegetation. Before she got there, though, her leg abruptly stopped functioning. She tripped, and her hands sank into the mud.

"Just my luck." Her fingertips brushed against something in the mud. "Huh?" She reached forward, expecting it to be a big stick, but as her hand closed around it, she realized it was carved wood. She crawled backwards to pull the object to the surface and, when it was fully out, she recognized it as a spear. She grabbed it with both hands and stabbed the butt into the ground, then used it as support to get back to her feet.

Looking at the weapon, she was puzzled. The Twilight Cage Forest was a safe resource collection area under the multi-century uncontested control of the Union of Two Moons. People would have little reason to draw a weapon there, and less reason to leave one behind. Qi Mingyue regained her balance, then removed the spear from the ground. She resumed heading to the inner circle.

She happened upon a structure of intertwined roots and boulders. It seemed to be a newly formed natural array, which meant the area was full of Spirit Essence on the verge of condensing. She tried to free up her hands for the harvesting process by setting the spear against a nearby boulder, but when it left her hold, it dissolved into golden light and embedded itself in her prosthetic leg. Her Spirit Sense was pushed out and she lost sensation in the artificial limb.

Qi Mingyue reflexively hopped backwards. She immediately realized it was a bad move, but was surprised to find herself maintaining balance. Looking down, the limb that she could not feel or control had somehow landed with correct footing. She focused and tried to reestablish her Spirit Sense but, as she succeeded, the golden light emerged from her leg and collided with her right palm, causing her to close her grasp around the now rematerialized spear.

"Huh..." She tilted the spear to examine it again. It had shed its dirt coating, revealing intricate markings across its entire length, seamlessly continuing from the wooden shaft into the metal spearhead. She tried to drop the object, but it repeated its actions from before, vanishing and taking over her prosthetic. She lifted the leg and saw that its joints remained stiff. She raised it more and the knee bent, as though to preserve her center of gravity. She returned it to the ground and it automatically straightened in the process.

Although she didn't understand the origin or true purpose of the spear, Qi Mingyue could comprehend the functions she had observed so far, and that was enough for now. She walked around carefully to first build up confidence, then turned her attention back to natural array. Projecting her Spirit Sense outward this time, foggy crystals began forming in the air. Each one rose as it grew before reaching a maximum size and falling to the ground. She slowly walked around and shifted stances to guide the Spirit Essence flow as the crystals piled up.

An hour had past. Qi Mingyue was too exhausted to extract more value from the now thinned Spirit Essence, so she began circling around to gather the crystals into her spatial collection pouch. She looked around and used her fingers to pick up the larger crystals, then reactivated her Spirit Sense to sweep up the smaller ones. As she watched the final stream of sand-sized particles disappear into her pouch, it reminded her of the past.

Humans reduced to ash, then drawn into streams of glittering dust, converging into a large sphere that unleashed terrifying beasts each time a bolt of lightning fell upon it from the Heavens. Qi Mingyue, along with dozens of other outer disciples from Twin Moon Capital, were tasked with watching the perimeter of a town while higher ups investigated potential demonic activity. Normally, demon hunters from the Impaling Reed Sect would have been present, but the Union of Two Moons was hesitant to escort them into the heart of their territory. What followed was a disaster that cost hundreds of lives, took away Qi Mingyue's leg, and damaged faith in the Two Moons.

She let out a deep sigh and turned to head towards the exit of the forest. Without having to constantly maintain Spirit Sense, the possessed prosthetic situation actually made traveling easier, but the lack of direct control and sensation still forced an uncomfortable awareness of her condition.

*

As Qi Mingyue approached the pick up zone, her path converged with more and more disciples, until she rejoined the main group by the flying ships. Elders and inner disciples were busy keeping count of their juniors as they returned and handed in their collection pouches. Qi Mingyue looked around and decided that it was too hectic to consult an elder at that time.

"Sister Qi!" A girl called out to her, then hurried around the crowd to get closer.

"Ah, Sister Bai, you found me."

Bai Mei stopped in front of Qi Mingyue. "Look at this!" She opened her collection pouch and, with a flick of her wrist, drew out of a speck of light, which landed in her hand and enlarged into a crystal that her fingers couldn't even fit around. It almost slipped from her palm and she quickly added her other hand to keep hold of it. Qi Mingyue looked closer and noticed that, not only was it massive, it was extremely pure. She couldn't believe this girl's luck sometimes.

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"Sister Bai, that's very..." She couldn't find the words.

"Yes! Exactly! I found a clearing that seemed to be completely devoid of Spirit Essence, but when I used my Spirit Sense, I still felt a small amount of resistance. I just pretended that there was Spirit Essence and tried to condense it, then this huge crystal formed!"

"Where... was that area?"

Bai Mei returned the large crystal to her pouch and pondered for a moment. She looked back at the forest, then looked at where the sun was in the sky. "I'd say about three fifths rotations around the center starting from the exit, in the second furthest sub-ring."

Qi Mingyue quickly calculated that, in order to reach that location, Bai Mei would have needed to wander far off the main path, cross a river, and scale a series of rocky outcroppings. Then, in order to have exited before Qi Mingyue, she needed to take a direct route that is rough terrain the entire way.

"Sister Bai, what gave you the thought to go there?"

"The cliffs looked interesting, so I thought there might be some special moss growing on them. I actually did find some and tried eating it, then I managed to breakthr-"

"That's enough, Sister Bai. You should take some time to figure out how you will recount this to the elders."

"Ah... Sister Qi is always helping me remain considerate. I would surely find myself in constant trouble without her." Bai Mei bowed in gratitude before walking to a less crowded area. There, she alternated between pacing in contemplation, and acting out her story before an imaginary audience. After a few cycles, she decided to quickly refresh her mind by practicing some martial stances and moves, but ended up continuing her practice until it was time to leave.

When all the others had been taken care of, Qi Mingyue approached an elder and bowed while offering her collection pouch.

"Elder Xue, this disciple encountered an irregularity in the forest that she wishes to report on."

Xue Bao glanced to his right and saw Bai Mei speaking to a different elder about something similar.

"Very well." He gestured with one hand, causing the pouch to fly from Qi Mingyue's palms and land in a nearby crate. "We shall discuss it on the way back."

The crates, filled with name-tagged spatial collection pouches, were loaded onto the ships, then the last of the people boarded and they set off.

*

Qi Mingyue followed Xue Bao to the ship's cabin, where a chart of the Twilight Cage Forest was laid out on a small table.

"Provide the best estimate of where the irregularity was discovered." Xue Bao instructed.

Qi Mingyue looked at the figures placed on the chart, marking the entrance, exit, and main path that were decided for that day's trip, along with suspected points of elevated Spirit Essence.

"Here, close to the main path before the inner circle." She pointed. Xue Bao held out his hands, summoning a sheet of paper into one and an ink brush into the other. He recorded some rough coordinates.

"What is the nature of the irregularity?" Xue Bao asked.

"I found a spear." Qi Mingyue replied. Xue Bao gave a skeptical look.

"You found a spear?"

"Yes, a spear. It was beneath the mud and I accidentally touched it when I tripped. After touching, it dematerialized and possessed my prosthetic right leg."

Xue Bao looked at Qi Mingyue and she could feel his Spirit Sense examining her body. As he focused more intently on the prosthetic, it suddenly lost rigidity. Qi Mingyue was about to lose balance, but the spear appeared in her hand and allowed her to prop herself up. Xue Bao looked surprised but Qi Mingyue rushed to explain.

"Elder Xue, this is a behavior I have observed before. Spirit Sense can push the spear out, but if it leaves my hands, it repossesses my leg." At the same time, Qi Mingyue cast her own Spirit Sense into the leg to reestablish control over it.

"Hmm, I see." Xue Bao made a few more notes on the paper. "The markings on this weapon are indicative of a rapidly-formed artifact spirit, and it's spiritual imprint matches your own. Do you recall seeing it in the mud before touching it?"

"No, I didn't see it before touching it." She answered without grasping the implication of that question.

"Then, from the given information, the most likely explanation is that this spear is an artifact spirit that you created unintentionally." Xue Bao wrote one last note on the paper before letting go of it, causing it to fly into a nearby open drawer while the brush in his other hand floated off slowly and placed itself in a small clay jar. "I will refer you to an expert on artifact spirits to look further into the matter."

Qi Mingyue felt there was something wrong about Xue Bao's conclusion, but she couldn't think of anything constructive to add, so she dismissed the spear, bowed, and left.

She walked back out onto the ship deck and felt the air rushing past her. The flying ship's shield array didn't block the wind completely, but it was enough to protect a frail disciple like herself. She sat down off to the side and opened a small button purse that was tied to her belt. She took out a wrapped pill, removed the paper, then swallowed it. For the rest of the return journey, she concentrated on guiding the effect of the medicine, assuaging the pain and exhaustion of the day.

*

The sun was almost setting when the ships arrived at the outskirts of Twin Moon Capital. Disciples who had dozed off were awoken by a falling sensation as they descended. The outer disciples disembarked on foot, while the elders and inner disciples left on flying swords, each pairing up to transport crates to the Elite Diviner Hall. Qi Mingyue watched them and thought about how flying would make things so much easier for her. Bitterness welled up inside her, but she distracted herself by looking around. Before she could spot the person she was searching for, she heard their voice.

"Sister Qi!" Qi Mingyue turned to see Bai Mei approaching her.

"Sister Bai, did you convey your discovery to the elders?"

"Eh, kind of. I explained it, but they kept asking questions, and they only seem to get more confused as I answered them. After filling out two papers with details, they told me they had enough context for the diviners to work with while handling the crystal, and dismissed me."

"I'm sure you will receive great recognition for your findings, Sister Bai."

Bai Mei exhaled sharply and crossed her arms. "I'd rather not be recognized if it leads to more people addressing me by ridiculous nicknames."

"Have more faith in your seniors. They are busy with more important things and won't spend their time gossiping."

Bai Mei looked at Qi Mingyue and stared into her eyes for a moment before replying. "You're the only senior I have faith in."

Qi Mingyue turned her head. "I told you not to call me that. I'm not any more capable than you are."

Bai Mei stepped closer. "You have no idea what you are capable of, Sister Qi. The scriptures say that only Golden Immortals know their own fate."

Qi Mingyue sighed. "You sure take those stories seriously. Doesn't it all seem a bit too simple? Reaching the apex just by comprehending your own fate?"

"Sister Qi, you are a part of my fate, and I can confidently say that you are not simple."

Qi Mingyue looked back at Bai Mei, shocked that she could so easily say such an absurd thing. Stammering, she responded. "I-I think... you should turn in for the night. You're starting to speak all kinds of nonsense."

Bai Mei smiled and bowed. "I shall follow Senior Sister's advice."

"Hey, you-" Before Qi Mingyue could say anything, Bai Mei turned around and sprinted off.

Qi Mingyue mumbled some inaudible complaints and began walking back to her own residence. The lights and sounds of mortal business fell off as she entered the outer disciple living area.