“Alex?”

Alex blinked, focusing on a concerned looking Elder Wu. “How long was I meditating?”

This earned a snort. “You mean how long were you riding the cusp between enlightenment and the complete destruction of your cultivation base, incorporating foreign elements my wife had no chance to analyze before you and Ya Ling embraced absolute idiocy?”

Alex winced at the man’s acerbic tone.

The man relented with a sigh. “Almost a full day and a half. And did we not have the grace of your party-link, ensuring that we suffer no waste-Qi buildup, we’d already be in dire peril. Every one of us.”

“There’s a reason why I asked you two to wait,” Reny snapped, several feet away, pausing only long enough to glare at Alex for a painful second before her eyes widened and she snapped her focus back to Ya Ling, only now coming to as the whirling winds around her finally died off and she placed shaky feet upon the loamy soil before the lychee trees before opening her eyes with a gasp.

“Silly child, how could you do such a thing? You scared this old woman half-to-death! Reny sobbed, for all that she could have easily passed for a woman in her thirties. Anxious eyes then peered firmly into Ya Ling’s own.

“Don’t lie to grandmother, child, tell me honestly. How do you feel?”

But the look of ebullition wonder and awe upon Ya Ling’s features didn’t turn to dismayed confusion. It only grew wider as she rose several inches in height, and awed Alex only then realizing she was hovering in the air.

“I feel incredible!” Ya Ling declared with a fiery glint to her gaze. “I’ve never felt so in tune with my body and mind since we were last in the deep desert!” She then licked parched lips. “But I could really do with some water and perhaps a moment to… refresh myself?”

Soul Sight skill check made!

Alex’s eyes widened, sensing the massive change that his friend had undergone, transformed in ways he had never thought possible, outside of any cultivation tome.

“Ya Ling… all your meridians...”

She flashed Alex a wolf-like grin. “I know. I know! they’ve grown and expanded. I feel spiritual energy coursing through me like never before!” She chortled with glee after happily chugging down a full flask of water, then began spinning around with sheer delight, as fast as any figure skater could pirouette.

Yet it was more than enhanced channels, as incredible a boon as that alone was that almost any cultivator of his past life would have gleefully killed for. Because in addition to that boon, Alex sensed a whirling storm of wind around the spiritual echo of a pristine lychee within each and every one of Ya Ling’s meridian channels. A transformation both spiritual and physical, for Alex could sense her newfound affinity for Wind just as sharp and bright as she had once tasted of the desert sands when he kissed her.

Yet it wasn’t just one, rather both elements now echoed through her soul. A howling desert storm of potential she could now forever call her own.

He flashed a rueful smile, somehow certain that whether she continued along the Body Cultivator’s path, or took this incredibly fortuitous encounter to ascend as a wujen, she’d never run out of spiritual energy while channeling her arts, being aided by the same mighty currents as propelled massive ships across countless seas.

Solemnly, Alex withdrew his dao the moment they both returned from refreshing themselves.

“Show me,” he said, and she instantly understood what he met as his blade was suddenly surrounded by a fearsome whirlwind of cutting air. A whirlwind howling in ethereal currents he knew that few could hear far more furiously than it ever had before. And the effortless ease with which it sliced through the piece of toughened rawhide that Dui Zhong lobbed his way with a nod made it clear that his affinity was more than just unrealized potential. His understanding of Wind now bordered upon the profound.

He then nodded to a suddenly anxious-looking Ya Ling. Who nonetheless gamely unsheathed her jian, and in just a few seconds, whirling currents of wind were caressing the length of her blade as well.

“Awesome! Can you incorporate sand into the mix?” An excited Linnea asked the minute she had been nudged free of her obvious nap, whereupon she met Alex with a fierce hug before letting him go with a smile to admire Ya Ling’s own blossoming as a cultivator.

Their entire group bore silent awed witness as the whirling currents surrounding Ya Ling’s jian turned white with sand, showing an affinity for and ability to master two elements that Alex could tell by the tears of happiness in her grandparent’s eyes had never been her wont before.

Her eyes lit up with wonder. “I did it! I visualized the cutting winds of the worst sandstorm… and here it is, right before me!”

Alex grinned. “Excellent. Now let’s see how well it cuts!” He then tossed one half of the cleanly sliced rawhide Dui Zhong had lobbed his way. Out of reflex Ya Ling struck at it, her balance and form less than ideal. Yet that didn’t hinder the effectiveness of her blade in the least, slicing through it as easy as a butter knife through cream.

Ya Ling paled, her hand actually trembling as she gazed down at her own blade, humming with such furious intensity as the sands shrieked upon ethereal winds that Alex suspected few not attuned to Wind would ever hear.

“Alex?” Her gaze was equal parts wonder and confusion. And even if Elder Wu looked a bit put out that he wasn’t the focus of his granddaughter’s search for answers, Alex’s calm reply had them all looking his way in stunned disbelief.

“The spirit fruit you consumed has blossomed into a tiny wind tree within each of your seven meridians.” Alex flashed an encouraging smile. “It might take some work to incorporate that potency into your cultivation path, but, so long as you now account for the Wind element in your cycling techniques, I can tell already that you’ll be forming Silver tier cables before the century’s out.”

Ya Ling fell to her knees, wind blade dissipating, eyes wide with the shock of it all, as if only now realizing the significance of what she had done. Yet even as Reny swept her granddaughter into her arms, it was Elder Wu who confronted Alex with a gaze hard as granite, desperate for answers.

“How, Alex?”

“How what?”

The wujen seemed taken aback, before sighing and shaking his head. “How exactly is it that you sense whatever transformation has occurred within my granddaughter?” And here his voice was filled with both cynicism and desperate hope. “And how can you possibly be so sure that she’ll ascend to Silver? That this act of brilliant folly and the fool’s own luck won’t actually spell the end of her cultivation journey?”

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Alex gazed at his mentor and friend for long moments before finally answering. “I can see the flow of spiritual energy through her meridians and the strands she even now forms into cords, combining Wind and Sand along with placeholders for so many other elements.”

He tilted his head thoughtfully, leaning against a friendly nearby branch. “Though the balance is quite different from the eight primary Light Qi elements I forged my own path with, along with Dark Qi and three additional placeholders… I can still sense the strength of Ya Ling’s path. And I know she owes it all to you,” he said. Because if most of the strands within Ya Ling’s cords were effectively placeholders, the cordage still needed to be as strong as possible if one were to even dream of one day forging a Gold core...or at least becoming as strong a Silver as one possibly could.

Elder Wu’s hard gaze met Alex’s guileless features for long moments before he gave the tiniest nod of his head. As if acknowledging that they both had secrets that were perhaps best never said allowed, even with as few outsiders among them as there were. Because Dui Zhong was a good man for certain but it would still be awhile before he resonated as kin… and no matter how much he cared for Linnea, Alex wasn’t blind to the fact that until very recently, she had been an absolute chatterbox as good at keeping secrets as a puppy was not barking at the front door.

“Hey I sensed that!” Linnea said with a mock huff, before flushing. “And, um… yeah. Sorry I said maybe more than I should have during our last feast.” She flashed an apologetic smile. “Forgive me? I’m getting better, I promise!”

Alex chuckled softly. “I think the real test for you will be not saying a word of our delve to anyone.” He traded solemn glances with everyone there, including Ya Ling, still holding her grandmother’s hand. “Because I get the feeling that those lychee were an order of magnitude above your typical spirit fruit.”

Reny gave a rueful shake of her head, before gazing up with sheer wonder at the mystical lychee tree before her, radiating such pristine spiritual energy that it seemed to glow like the evening sun as warm currents filled with the fragrant scent of lychee blossoms filled the air.

“What you and my granddaughter dared to imbibe with such mad impulse was the stuff of legends. Lychee of ancient fable. Here within the Western Rift! The possibilities this has for anyone with alignments mirroring or complementary to Wind could bring a new generation of geniuses to ascension!”

Her husband coughed politely. “Not so close to the portal as all that. As I’m sure you all noticed… the path we took is unlike any I’ve ever walked before.”

Those words earned Alex a number of considering gazes as he flushed and waved his hand. “No need to look at me like that. I’m no hidden genius. I was just following a hunch, trusting the feeling in my gut, and letting the forest take me where it would.”

Dui Zhong took a fresh look at the tiny grove surrounded by rocky crevices covered in bitter sharp thorny vines. Even Alex would admit that the rock looked ancient, weathered, and perfectly natural, and like it had been deliberately placed to hide this spiritual wonder from the rest of the forest. “All I can say is if I had a navigator or merchant leading me to fresh trade opportunities of your caliber… I’d be a trade prince before the decade was out.” His hungry eyes gazed raptly at the wondrous Gold-tier spirit fruit hanging so invitingly from the ever-swaying tree. “I can’t tell you how much I would love to taste one of those lychee for myself...” He then paled and shook his head. “But something inside me tells me that it would be a very bad idea.”

Reny gave the man a gentle smile. “It is good that with you, at least, your common sense exceeds your aptitude for folly. For you are the rigid bedrock that kept our travels stable for well over a year, my friend. And a cultivator of your temperament would find the bedrock of his foundation worn away by wild winds so alien to his nature, whereas my granddaughter, so in tune with the shifting sands that she can become one with them and move through them at will, has integrated the wild whipping winds howling through her soul effortlessly. As if they had always been an extension of herself. And as she is far more symbolic of constant movement and action than stillness, the Wind is in perfect accord with her half-step element. For what is Sand but earth in constant motion? Graceful, beautiful, and deadly.”

Ya Ling flashed a cheeky smile at that as she turned to lock gazes with Alex. “So tell me, hero, do you also savor the howling wind blowing through your soul?”

Alex grinned. “Actually my blessing’s a bit different. The nature of my cultivation path means that nothing else can incorporate itself within it. It’s already at, well, maximum density, I suppose you could say. But the lychee did gift me with an affinity and sense of that element that’s nothing short of profound. Which means that my Wind Qi abilities should benefit, because I too can taste Winds power, fury, and potential like never before, even if my meridians are the same as they ever were.”

Ya Ling chuckled throatily. “So what you’re saying is that this round is mine.”

Alex smiled. “Sure, let’s go with that.” He turned to the others. “Elder Wu? Reny?”

Reny flashed a sad, regretful smile, Elder Wu chuckling and shaking his head. “I suspect that the trees before us are far more than they appear. My wife and I both know the elements we harmonize best with… and how much we struggled just to achieve what we have. Though I would normally never turn down a spirit fruit promising profound revelations and breakthroughs… I’m quite certain that this fruit isn’t for me.”

Alex flashed a cheeky grin. “Even if those Ice Spears definitely had a taste of wind in them?”

Elder Wu sighed, gently reaching out with one of his hands as if to brush the lychee dangling from a nearby branch… only for the branch to pull away. Oddly politely, as if it wasn’t rejection so much as a gentle gust at just the right moment, and Elder Wu was far too polite, and wise, to press.

Reny flushed rather prettily. “And perhaps I was a bit more insistent, and the splinter in my palm only came out when I retreated from my foolishness, humbled as any over eager creature of the forest. For Wood is certainly my element,” she said, before revealing a rather wicked looking splinter touched with crimson. “But Wind is not. So not even fruit that I would pluck for my own garden will I be claiming from this spiritual tree that is closer to legend than anything I’ve ever encountered before.”

Elder Wu cleared his throat. “However, if a favored disciple were to claim several fruit of his own, clearly having no problem taking them...”

His words abruptly cut off when the breeze around the trees stilled.

Alex gently shook his head. “I’m sorry, Elder Wu.” He realized that he didn’t need to say anything more than that, that his exquisite sense of the forest’s acceptance of him, and its sudden quiet warning as certain words were carried in the very Winds he now understood so well, were clear as day upon his features.

Though he didn’t expect to see Elder Wu pale so quickly, fists clenched, before turning to bow before the tiny grove, as if in apology.

Had his face really said so much?

“This one apologizes if he has transgressed, and is grateful for boons already granted,” Elder Wu solemnly declared. Reny’s eyes widened, and she quickly did the same.

Ya Ling furrowed her brow, a worried cast coming over her features. “Alex?”

Alex gave them all a gentle smile. “No harm done, I think. Now let’s be off. I’m somehow certain that this forests holds all sorts of delicious treasures in its bosom, in addition to this wonderful grove… for which I too give thanks.” His eyes widened, remembering old rituals between himself and primal woodland.

“And a gift of my own.”

He didn’t hesitate to draw his dao and caress his wrist with the shallowest of cuts, ignoring the hiss of alarm when crimson droplets rained upon the roots of the lychee trees that had gifted Ya Ling and himself with such boons.

Alarmed words soon became awed curses when the blood seemed to fade a heartbeat later… as if greedily sucked in by the roots growing toward Alex’s bounty as he used Prismatic Fox Restoration to repair the superficial injury in a few seconds as he gave a final bow.

He turned to his companions. “Shall we?”

Reny and Elder Wu just stared at him for long moments, not saying a word.

He suppressed a wince as Linnea squeezed his hand. “Alex, was that a druidic ritual?”

“That’s a tough question to answer. But it’s always worked for me and the forest, so I leave it at that.”

Dui Zhong snorted. “You do know that we’re a desert people, and that the great forest was lost to these lands countless centuries ago, don’t you, Alex?”

Alex flashed a bitter smile. “I know it all too well. Come on, let’s go.”