"Psst."

Shen Jiu's ear twitched, but the whisper was ignored.

"Psst!" Louder now.

The voice was still ignored.

Abruptly, a wad of paper landed on Shen Jiu's temple and gently fell on the guqin that lay on his lap. He quickly picked it up before Shifu could see it and stuffed it in his sleeve.

Shen Jiu sighed and turned to the seat next to him, occupied by a disciple he has slowly gotten closer to over the past couple months. They were introduced to each other by Xiang Mei-shijie during his visit to the library.

"What do you want, Xin-shixiong?" He hissed, not wanting to disrupt the lesson and be punished for it. He didn't want to do a ridiculous amount of paperwork today.

"Have you heard?" Xin Xingfu asked softly, his face set in a mischievous expression.

"I can't talk to you right now." Shen Jiu answered in a hushed tone, but curiosity warred with discipline in his mind.

He paused for a moment, Xin Xingfu still smiling at him, his curiosity winning in the end despite the risk of being caught.

"What could be so important that you have to interrupt the lesson?" he questioned, leaning closer to Xin Xingfu.

Xin Xingfu opened his mouth, happily ready to answer-

"I would like to know that too." A deep voice spoke behind them.

Shen Jiu snapped back to his seat, eyes wide open. Slowly, he turned around, confirming who he heard. His Shifu, Quan Jigui, staring down at him. He schooled his face, apprehensive. Quan Jigui's eyes briefly bore into his before Shen Jiu looked away.

The other disciples quieted down, curious about how the situation would develop with the slow strumming of strings halting. Shifu looked back at the class, his eyebrow raised, and asked, "Has the lesson ended?"

The sound of guqin strings hurriedly being strung returned, Shifu let out a breath.

Shen Jiu nervously exchanged a glance with Xin Xingfu, who was equally as nervous. A bashful smile emerged from Xin Xingfu when Shifu's gaze lowered to him.

Shifu's hands folded into his elbows, crossing his arms, and repeated the question.

"Ah, well… It's—it's nothing important!" Xin Xingfu stuttered out, sheepishly scratching the back of his head. His smile wavered the longer Quan Jigui coolly gazed at him.

Shen Jui watched the exchange, not wishing to be implicated in this.

Suddenly, Quan Jiqui sighed, his hands dropping to his sides.

"I won't punish you this time, since this is the first time you've done this." He addressed Shen Jiu. Shen Jui sighed in relief, glad that he was off the hook. He wouldn't talk to anyone during a lesson again. How nerve-wracking. His Shifu could be imposing when he tried.

"However, you—" he pointed at Xin Xingfu, who's face dropped, "have a track record for talking during lessons. You'll have to complete a ten page analysis of the migratory habits of Eastern Celestial Cranes, due in two days."

Both Shen Jiu and Xin Xingfu winced at the punishment. For Xin Xinfu, finishing an analysis in two days was unheard of. Not to mention the length. Xin Xinfu was notorious in Qing Jing Peak for struggling with such assignments.

"I- But… Okay. I'll have it for you in two days." He said sullenly, pouting all the while.

Quan Jiqui nodded and turned on his heels, marching to the front of the room, his expression amused as he spoke, "I expect that to be true."

Shen Jiu and Xin Xingfu stared at each other for a while, one unbelieving he got away with it while the other devastated that he was being punished, before they remembered to tune into the lesson.

The lesson flew by, and before Shen Jiu knew it, the lesson ended. His Shifu walked out of the room, his robes flowing elegantly behind him.

Xin Xingfu grabbed Shen Jiu's arm while he was packing up his belongings, leaning on him while bemoaning the fact he had been punished.

"The reason you were punished was because you have a loose mouth." Shen Jui explained, trying to pry his shixiong off of him and failing. He settled for flicking his forehead.

"Ow!" He exclaimed, pouting once more. He clutched his forehead with one hand, giving Shen Jiu the opportunity to extract himself.

"What did you want to tell me so badly, anyway?" he asked, finally finishing putting his belongings away and quickly smoothing out his wrinkled robes.

Xin Xingfu leaned in with a mischievous smile, cupping his hand around his mouth, and answered in a stage whisper. "I heard a rumor that one of the Qiong Ding disciples is in a relationship with a Xian Shu disciple!"

"And?" Shen Jiu replied, giving his shixiong a look. It isn't unheard of for a Xian Shu disciple to be in a relationship, although they are determined to deny it. He let out a breath as they began walking to the door. They still had other lessons to attend.

"You don't want to know who they are?" Xing Xingfu whined obnoxiously.

Shen Jiu breathed another sigh and stared at him. "Alright. What are their names? Be quick, I have places to be."

He watched as his shixiong brightened, excited to share the gossip. He realized he was smiling and quickly wiped it off his face. He has a reputation to maintain, after all.

"I heard the Xian Shu disciple's name is Qi Jiao, and the other is named, um—" he paused, thinking for a second before he snapped his fingers and exclaimed, "Yue Qi! Yeah, his name is Yue Qi!"

Oh. His face twisted into a scowl. He hadn't wanted to hear about Yue Qi, especially his love life. With the way Yue Qi always pesters him with details of his personal life, he would have thought he would be the first to know. He couldn't bother to have told him? Of course not. It's Yue Qi. Since when would he have bothered to do anything for hi—

"What's wrong, Shen-shidi?" Xin Xingfu asked innocently. Shen Jiu realized he had stopped in the middle of the hallway and abruptly began walking faster.

"Nothing. I just remembered I had to go to my lesson earlier than I thought. I'll see you later." He muttered out an excuse, quickly walked away as his shixiong reached for him at his heels.

"Ah… Wait." His arm lowered the farther his shidi had gone, puzzling over that reaction. Maybe he really needed to talk to the hallmaster at that lesson. Shen Jiu had arrived later than the rest of the Qing Jing disciples. He probably needed to make up some work. He shrugged it off before rushing to his own lesson.

Shen Jiu stormed off before Xi Xingfu could reach him, his mood becoming gloomy.

He wasn't watching where he was going before he bumped into someone. Looking up angrily, he spotted the face of his Shifu. His eyes widened in surprise before he quickly bowed to him, "My apologies to Shifu. I wasn't looking where I was going."

"Ah, it was no problem." Quan Jigui waved his hands back and forth, dismissing it. "I was looking for you anyway."

Shen Jiu looked up, surprised. "You were?" He narrowed his eyes, thinking of anything he could have done wrong. It obviously wasn't for earlier in the day, he had gotten off free. Could some of his fellow disciples pointed the blame at him for something they did? It had happened before, so it wasn't impossible. "What for?"

Quan Jigui looked at him, amused by the defensiveness, and answered, "To assess your cultivation. It has been a while since I have done it, correct?"

"Ah, yes. The last time was around 10 months ago." He relaxed and presented his wrist to his Shifu, flinching at the cold hands that grasped it. His Shifu was famous in the lands for his skill in manipulating water and ice. Unfortunately, this translated to his Shifu's body temperature being below average.

Quan Jigui closed his eyes, feeling for his disciples spiritual roots, and appraised how far Shen Jiu had gone with his cultivation. He opened his eyes and gazed at his disciple. Said disciple was staring back, curious to know his verdict.

"I believe you have made good progress in the past 10 months. Pack some food pills and some clothes, then go to the Linxi Caves to cultivate. I'll explain your absence to the rest of the peak." His disciple stared up at him, pleased at the positive assessment.

"I… Yes, Shifu!" He hurriedly bowed and nimbly walked away, heading to his abode. When he arrived, he found his storage pouch containing his food pills and quickly packed his clothes.

Writing two small notes, one for Xiang Mei and the other for Xin Xingfu, he made sure it would be sent to their accommodations.

He walked at a brisk pace to the Linxi Caves, hopping onto his sword when walking was no longer possible, the path twisting off a cliff face. When he arrived at one of the entrances, he reminded himself to remember what paths he took. He didn't want to become lost when it was eventually time to come out. He had heard horror stories of disciples being stuck in the cave system for years.

When he found a decent-sized cave with an abundance of qi, Shen Jiu set down his luggage and walked to the wall adjacent to the entrance. It was the spot with the most qi gathered. He lowered himself to the floor in lotus position, closed his eyes, and started to circulate qi.

It was simple. Gather qi, then cycle it through your spiritual veins. That should strengthen the veins and keep them clean. After that, expel any stagnant qi, purifying the remaining qi in the process. Cycle the qi through the body and lead it to the Dantian. Then repeat the process.

As he cycled his qi, he felt a strange sensation through his head. As he reached with a few strands of qi to investigate, he happened upon an unusual blockage of qi. It didn't feel like his or any qi he has regularly been around, but it also didn't feel like it was unnatural to his body. Strange.

(As he faintly grasped that he wasn't meant to find it, the thought slipped from his mind like grains of sand.)

He lightly pried at it, wanting to see how it would respond. Perhaps it would react like regular qi.

A sudden wave of dizziness attacked him, forcing him to steady himself by leaning on the cave wall behind him. He quickly surveyed his qi, wanting to know just what happened. When he came back to the area the blockage was in, he found nothing. There were no traces that it was even there.

Huffing, he called his qi once more and looked for anything else that was out of the ordinary. Nothing else was out of place. He continued to cultivate but made a note in the back of his mind to remember what had happened. It felt oddly important.

Time flew by as Shen Jiu became lost in the flow of qi, all he could feel was the ebb and flow of qi. He floated through the waves of ambient qi, mind clear of anything but cultivating. The longer he went through this process, the more he could feel himself growing stronger.

At last, he opened his eyes, his limbs stiff and aching. How long has he been cultivating?

He quickly stood up, stretching and shaking the stiffness out, and decided to practice his sword forms. He didn't want to get rusty, after all.

As he got into position and began, he flew through the forms, getting more polished as time went on. If one were to look in on his training, his image would be that of flowing water.

After training his swordsmanship, Shen Jiu decided a quick bath was in order before he headed back to the peak. During his time in the caves, he found a route that led to an underground lake. When he investigated it, he found there were no impurities in it, as usual underground lakes did. He figured it was due to the abundance of qi in the area.

After the bath, he headed towards the peak at a steady pace, his destination being his Shifu's office. He had to report his return to the peak as well as the progress he had made.

When he arrived at the office, he quickly smoothed down his robes. Two knocks were all that were needed for his Shifu to acknowledge him.

As he let himself in, he glanced around the office, noting that not much had changed. Only the amount of paperwork was different, which had doubled in size. Shifu sat behind his desk, eyes trained on his form.

He bowed, greeting Quan Jigui. As he leaned back up, his Shifu began to speak, "Welcome back, Shen Jiu. It has been quite some time since I last saw you."

Curious, Shen Jiu inquired, "May this disciple ask how long I have been away from the peak?"

"Of course. It has been 9 months since I sent you to the caves."

Shen Jiu's eyebrow raised, he hadn't thought he would be cultivating for that long. He ran his hands over his robes, wondering what had changed since his visit to the caves. Perhaps he should visit Xiang Mei and Xin Xingfu. It would be a nice surprise for them.

"This disciple has made a breakthrough and has gained a deeper understanding of the sword, though I still have much to learn. I believe that I can properly return to the peak."

Quan Jigui hummed, eyeing his disciple. He had definitely grown, both in cultivation and in stature. He gestured his hand towards his disciple, who quickly caught on and presented his wrist.

"This is remarkable progress. Not many can develop their pathways and qi reserves as quickly." He looked up to see his flushed disciple as he let go of his wrist. It seems this one is thin-skinned, he mused. His mouth quirked up as the thought passed through his mind.

Quan Jigui leaned back on his chair, hands grasping his fan. "You are to attend the Immortal Alliance Conference in three months' time."

His disciple stared at him, eyes widening in surprise.

"What?!"