"The Temple of Light, huh," Audrey quietly muttered under her breath with a rather uninterested expression visibly displayed on her face.

Lanying watches as her student releases a deep sigh before her face leans against the open palm of her hand while her sights were now on the scenery.

"Excuse me driver," She suddenly speaks up as she waits until the driver acknowledges her, "How long do we have to go before we get to the Temple of Light?"

"Temple of Light?" The driver repeats as a means to ponder the answer to his riders' question, "Oh you mean Lingguang Temple?"

"Yes, that is it." The purpled haired woman acknowledges and confirms with a nod of her head while her student remains completely out of it in her own little world.

"It is the second temple along the hill route. It really isn't too far from here." He discloses to its patrons with a gesture of his head in the direction that they were on.

"Looks like we got the lucky end of the stick," She happily comments after she casually leans her back against the seat of the bike cab.

'They have beautiful golden fish ponds that have the brocade carps. Oh and it has a sutra wall and the divine arhats walls!' Audrey recalled Wenling's words from earlier after they heard which temple they were supposed to individually report.

'Why do I have to always be around water?' She was curiously wondering while glancing down at her hand until the sight and sounds of people were catching her attention.

'There are a lot of people here.' The dirty blonde silently notes as their driver skillfully maneuvers through the crowd before they eventually reach their drop off point.

The pair graciously thanks and properly pays the driver their fare and then ventures over to a long horizontal reddish building with a green building.

Her eyes immediately catch sight of the large circular building with a sharp tip at the top that stands out among the green landscape. A blue sign was above the archway against a granite structure over a set of wooden doors.

"Let's go," She overhears her teacher's voice among the crowd before Lanying strolls in front of her and merges with the other visitors.

'Still I wonder where those ponds are?' Audrey pondered about the exact location of the ponds that Wenling had mentioned earlier.

The dirty blonde follows suit as she closely trails behind her purple hair teacher, who enters inside of the temple. Suddenly Hiromi's wellbeing were in her thoughts, 'Let's both get bit beasts.'

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"Since you are from this country, I am sure you already know about the temple that we are going to." Lin mentioned after Wenling managed to flag down a cyclic cab car.

She was eagerly nodding her head at her sensei before disclosing, "The Temple of Fragrant World in Xiangjiesi is pretty simple compared to the other temples. I must admit I'm kinda jealous of where the other girls got to go."

"However it holds the most significant meaning among the other eight temples since Emperors used to visit this place all the time. Even all of their writings are stored there. "

'That's right! Her purpose is to acquire knowledge.' The goldenrod blonde remembered the reason as to why Wenling left from her home and eventually placed in her care. The brunette rattles on, "Can you imagine just reading the quotes from Emperors such as Kangxi, Qianlong and Jianqing."

The drive up the hill was somewhat of a journey since they were the sixth temple on the route but with a little flirtation from Lin, surprisingly instructed by Wenling, the driver shaved some time off of the trip.

The pair properly thanks and pays the fare for the driver for his services before they now comes face to face with the Temple of Fragrant World.

'She was right about it being rather plain.' Lin inwardly comments.

A set of steps lead to the inside of a large archway with a window on the opposite side against the reddish portion of the building. A white sign was tacked above the archway with the traditional Chinese shingles.

Wenling rapidly ascends the steps with Lin very close behind her when her nose suddenly picks up on various scents that remind her of springtime.

'I finally get to come back and actually stay longer than five minutes this time.' She happily thinks as she leisurely maneuvers throughout the temple grounds.

Lin closely watches as her pupil eagerly shuffles through the building until her sight finally catches what Wenling gushes about on their trip up the mountains.

The brunette's nose unexpectedly catches the scent of Sakura blossoms that seem to entice her to follow the scent's trail unaware of where it will lead her.

"Hey Wenling…" The goldenrod blonde calls out to her pupil before she adds, "…I think this is what you have been looking for."

When Lin did not receive an immediate response to her statement, she peeked over her shoulder to see that her student had disappeared from her sights.

"Wenling?!" She loudly shouts out to her, however there was no response.

So the concern sensei then proceeds to adamantly search the temple high and low yet and still there was not a single response to her call.

'Where did she go off to?' Lin inwardly worries about the unforeseen disappearance of her student.

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'It seems as if Hiromi acknowledges those in her company.' Meifang assumes as the wheels of the cab clinks against the cobblestone of the walkway.

"Hiromi," She calls for the brunette's attention, who then directs her attention to her silver hair teacher.

"Since our destination is a good distance away, do you want to learn more about reading the aura around people?" Meifang inquisitively poses to her with a small smile on her face.

Hiromi nods her head in agreement when she hears her teacher clears her throat as she speaks, "As you already may know you are able to read people you are familiar with based upon their actions."

"You are going to learn how to objectively read both strangers and familiar people." Meifang informs her student about the reason behind this training.

For some odd reason, her mind recalls the name of her and her comrades' destination from her memory.

"Hiromi, we are going to Longquan'an area to the Dragon Spring Nunnery." She discloses to her student their location.

"Archimedes, proceed to Dabeisi to the Temple of Great Mercy." Akane announces their future whereabouts.

"Humph, sounds appropriate for an iceberg like her." Audrey slyly mentions as she fills her cheeks up with air.

"Wenling, our destination is Xiangjiesi to the Temple of Fragrant World." Lin conveys where they will head in their journey.

"Audrey, we will be heading to the Lingguang Temple to the Temple of Light." Lanying reveals their destination to her pupil.

"If I am able to accomplish this new ability…" The brunette speaks up once she emerges from her thought when her teacher interjects, "…you may have the ability to read people's mind."

"As in the power of mental telepathy?" She curiously poses with a hopeful expression, which causes her teacher to giggle at her reaction.

"You really do have a very vivid imagination, Hiromi." The grey eyed woman claims after she finishes her bout of laughter before she clarifies to her teacher, "It does come close to mental telepathy but not as accurate as reading the person's thoughts in your mind."

"I say it is more of being able to read and predict people's personalities and thoughts solely off of their body actions." She clarifies what Hiromi will be capable of if she successfully completes the task.

"So what do you say?" The brunette overhears her silver haired teacher poses to her, which earns a nod of her head.

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"You seem to have a lot on your mind." Akane suddenly speaks up after she notices the quiet spell that seems to wash over her pupil.

'She's been blankly staring at the scenery around her.' She inwardly notes as she patiently waits for a response from the raven haired girl.

"If I were anything like my former self...I would have immediately declined the offer to even have flown to China." Archimedes voices as her sight remains on the scenery.

"Change is merely a part of life. To ignore it is like denying a seed the right to blossom in to a beautiful flower." The powdery white haired woman advises while she watches the driver wave at another cab driver.

The raven haired youth releases a sigh before she counters, "I don't deny change. Matter of fact, I embrace change."

"So then what is the problem?" Akane follows up with her next question once she turns her sights on to her pupil.

"I don't understand why people quit the race when all they had to do was take one step forward?" She poses to her teacher.

'So she is curious about the others, who had declined to continue their journey.' Akane assumes as she tilts her head down, closes her eyes, and releases a sigh.

"I would say you worry about unnecessary things but then that would make you cold to human emotions." She mentions before she raises her head back to its normal level.

The raven haired girl breaks away from the greenery, rotates her head toward her teacher and inquires, "Has anyone of your pupils quit or did they want to fight to the very end?"

"There were some who were adamant to continue on but they buckled under a strong presence in the group. There were some who remained steadfast but were sensitive to the weaker presences and opted out. Then there were some who started the last task but failed to complete it." Akane discloses the results of the groups.

Archimedes narrows her sights in on her teacher when she asks, "So where does your odds lay for this group?"

"As I tell everyone who has ventured to this point, it is up to not just you but the others that are around you." The powdery white haired woman avoids her honest opinion to the young girl's question.

'We know that you will be the ones to complete this task.' Akane quietly and confidently asserts.

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"Hey guys," Kenny's voice rings throughout the backyard of the Elder Kinoyama's dojo along with the rustle of plastic bags against each other.

Everyone, except for Takao, acknowledged the brunette's presence along with three plastic bags filled with what appeared to be juices and snacks.

"I bought some juice and snacks." He admits as he raises the bags before he jokingly continues, "I know a little sugar can help with training."

Max and Rei peer at each other, nod their head, take a quick break from their match and approach the short young man.

"I guess we can take a break. We've been at since this morning." Kai honestly admits as he stretches his neck, grabs a spare towel, and dabs the sweat from his forehead.

Takao once again remains silent and instead sits off to the far end of the raised wooden walkway a good distance away from the others.

"I take it that he is still in a foul mood." Kenny assumes after he personally witnesses the bluenette extremely odd standoffish manner.

Rei rotates his head toward their technology specialist before he reminds him, "You know he holds all of his friends and comrades close. Hiromi was just nearest and dearest to his heart. Those two were almost inseparable."

"To watch the one who you trust the most just up and leave…is an extreme amount of hurt left for the one all alone." Max adds in before he sips from the aluminum can.

Kai quietly cuts his eyes in the direction of Takao and notes the straightness rather than a slouch in his posture. His once lively blue eyes seem devoid of life and passiveness from the reality of life.

"Here you go, Kai." Kenny says while hands him a black color can along with a sugar-free dessert.

His brunette eyes cast over at the young man, who they call a comrade but more importantly a friend. "You think he will eventually come around?"

"All we can do for him is provide moral support but the rest is up to Takao, himself." The slate haired captain honestly admits once he forcefully pops up the lid from the can.

"I hope so…" Kenny hopefully wishes for Takao full recovery in a timely manner.

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Author's Note: Whew man, I honestly have a lot going on right now but since I have been under the weather I managed to get a lot accomplished. So far, I have a couple of stories completed just have to edit them. We all know how editing can get sometimes but once again thank you for your patience on this fanfiction.

aisha12894