Sen focused his not-inconsiderable will on suffusing his entire body with shadow qi under Fu Ruolan’s watchful gaze. Her focused attention didn’t bother him. In fact, he was grateful for it. When she’d first described the process for her version of shadow walking, Sen had thought it would be easy. He’d swiftly learned that there was a reason only a handful of people could perform it. It was a relentless battle against nature and his own body’s desires. Sen had remolded that body again and again, infused it with everything from earth qi to heavenly qi, and the results spoke for themselves. He was the strongest and fastest he’d ever been. But it came at a cost. Every last piece of him had all of those different qi types as intrinsic components. On top of that, nature didn’t want human beings, or even body cultivators, to be made up of only one kind of qi. They were born as beings touched by all forms of qi, however lightly. Trying to superimpose shadow qi on top of all of that, through all of that, was proving a challenge that Sen wasn’t sure he could overcome. With an exhausted explosion of breath, Sen released the shadow qi he’d been controlling.
“I can’t keep going,” he said.
“That was much better. You were much closer this time,” said Fu Ruolan.
He wanted to deny those words. It hadn’t felt much better. He didn’t have any intuitive sense that he was any closer to success. Sen still nodded in acceptance. Fu Ruolan did not give false praise. She called false praise a misguided and futile attempt to bolster the incompetent. Sen wasn’t sure he agreed with that position. Having spent a lot of time with children recently, he firmly believed that praise should be lavished on them whenever they put honest effort into doing something. Of course, he was no child, nor was he a traditional student. He was a highly experienced cultivator getting direct instruction from an even more powerful and experienced cultivator. Instruction that was pushing the very limits of his current capacities. Sen had the suspicion that this technique wasn’t even meant to be used by core formation cultivators. Either way, the expectation for someone like him had to be different, and he would get limited value from praise he hadn’t earned. He knew it. Fu Ruolan knew it as well. So, he accepted her words as true. Even if he couldn’t properly see the progress he’d made, it wasn’t a sign that it didn’t exist.
After he’d had the initial insight, her explanation of how the technique worked had been little more than a confirmation of his suspicions. It was simplicity itself at the conceptual level. Turn yourself into a shadow and step through to the in-between place, where you can release your shadow form and become corporeal again. Walk over to the shadow you want to come out of, become a shadow again, and step into the real world. Assume your human form once more. Easy. Sen had assumed there was more nuance involved, but he’d drastically underestimated the difficulty. On the surface, it was a constant source of frustration. Yet, there was a part of him that found it oddly satisfying that this was something that wasn’t easy for him to do. He didn’t relish struggle when it seemed to be for no reason, but this kind of struggle had value. It burnished the will and his self-discipline. Improving those couldn’t be anything but good for him. Then again, thought Sen as he tried to push through a fatigue that had settled in his bones, there is such as overtraining. Even for me.
“You’re complaining in your head again, aren’t you?” asked Fu Ruolan. “You’ve got that look about you.”
“Of course not. I never complain.”
“I suppose you want to stop for the day and get back to building your sect for lovestruck cultivator girls.”
“It’s not a sect,” said Sen for at least the thirtieth time. “It’s not just for cultivators, and it’s not just for women.”
“You say that, but I remain unconvinced.”
“I noticed,” said Sen.
“Fine. I suppose you’ve put in an adequate effort, and you’re clearly not up for another try. Be on your way.”
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“I was planning to visit with Glimmer of Night. Ai is with him.”
“Oh, well, I haven’t seen the spiderkin in the last few days. I should probably join you.”
“As you say.”
The pair walked over to where Glimmer of Night had constructed an incredibly complicated… Sen wasn’t sure that the word web truly encompassed it. It criss-crossed dozens and trees and went up at least fifty feet. The spider watched on as Ai inexpertly climbed on it. Sen’s heart almost stopped when she slipped and fell. Then, he saw that there was a tightly packed mesh of qi about three feet off the ground that would prevent her from coming close to an impact. After she sank into the mesh, Ai let out a wild cry of glee as the mesh snapped back into place and launched her back up into the air. The little girl cheerfully began climbing around on the web again.
“I guess she’s not much of a spider,” observed Sen as they approached.
“She falls on purpose,” said Glimmer of Night. “She likes the bouncing.”
“Of course, she does,” said Sen with a shake of his head.
He didn’t want Ai to be afraid of everything, but he wondered sometimes if she wasn’t afraid of enough things. There were actual dangers in the world and, someday, he’d have to let her go and find out about them. He shoved that thought away hard. Someday, maybe, he admitted to himself, but not today. Ai eventually noticed them and “fell” again, before scrambling toward them. She flopped off the edge of the mesh and came over to Sen.
“Did you see?” she asked, eyes bright with excitement. “I bounced!”
“I did see,” said Sen. “Did you thank Uncle Glimmerite for making this for you?”
“Uh-huh,” she said, her little head bobbing up and down.
“That’s good. I have an idea. Maybe you should show Auntie Ru how to climb on it,” suggested Sen with a look of pious innocence on his face.
The nascent soul cultivator was not fooled. She directed a narrow-eyed look at him, but the enthusiastic way that Ai grabbed her hand and dragged her toward the web construct delayed any immediate vengeance. Sen snickered a little to himself.
“It seems unwise to antagonize her that way,” said Glimmer of Night.
“Oh, she doesn’t hate it half as much as she pretends to. Besides, it’s good for her.”
“I don’t believe I would ever treat a matriarch that way, good for her or not.”
“To be fair, neither would I,” said Sen. “Those matriarchs of yours don’t seem to have much of a sense of humor.”
“They do not. Humor is not highly valued among my people.”
“You’re missing out.”
The spider was quiet for several moments before shrugging. “Perhaps.”
“So, I’ve been meaning to ask you something. You know that you’re welcome to come and visit us whenever you want, right?”
“I—” the spider paused. “I did not.”
“Well, that explains it. I wasn’t intending to abandon you out here.”
“The humans in the town do not seem to like it when I visit.”
“They’ll just have to get used to it. Changes are coming here, and you’ll probably be one of the politest of them.”
“So, you mean to open your sect for lustful, doe-eyed cultivator waifs?”
Sen turned shocked eyes on the spider who wore his usual impassive look.
“Why would you call it that?”
“That is what Fu Ruolan called it when she described it to me.”
Sen was struck completely speechless for almost ten seconds before he burst into laughter.
“Of course. Of course, she described it that way.”
“I take it she was engaging in humor?”
“No,” said Sen. “I think she probably meant it, but that’s not what I’m doing. I’m opening a weapons academy. Mortals and cultivators alike are welcome to join. As are you.”
“I see. Then, why did she call it that?”
“She doesn’t approve of the idea. So, describing it in less-than-flattering terms is an indirect way to show her disapproval.”
“Why does she disapprove?”
“Mostly because she thinks it’ll be nothing but lustful, doe-eyed cultivator waifs.”
“Will it?” asked the spider in evident curiosity.
Sen opened his mouth, thought about it, closed his mouth, thought some more, and finally said, “I don’t think it will. That’s not that plan, anyway.”
After that, the two fell into a comfortable silence while Ai explained to Auntie Ru how to climb on the web. Sen had to give Fu Ruolan credit that she didn’t lose her patience with the explanation or even get frustrated and simply use her qi to fly nearby. Sen didn’t know if that was progress, but it was enough for the moment. Sen let the two of them play while occasionally asking Glimmer of Night questions about the spider’s ongoing quest to, if Sen understood correctly, discover a new aspect of truth through a newly discovered web pattern. Glimmer of Night had not achieved his goal but seemed undaunted by the ongoing work. If nothing else, it seemed that the environment and the work had allowed the spider to evolve his spirit beast core a little. He was radiating a more condensed qi energy than before. Before it got too late, Sen finally called an end to the play and headed back to town.