Ling Qi blurred to the side, and a hand shrouded in ash grey fire speared through the blurred afterimage where her eye had been. The gleaming saber in her right hand swept up to deflect the other girls second hand away from her throat, and Ling Qi smoothly transitioned into a thrust, and her opponent glided back, riding her own shadow.
Xiao Fen eyed her warily over her hands, returning to the tight defensive guard of her initial stance as curling streamers of grey fire rose from her hands. Ling Qi smiled faintly, returning back to her own open starting stance, her saber held out to one side at middle height. She had finally found something useful to do with her blade training. Cai Renxiang had begun to walk her through the basics, but with Xiao Fen, using a saber served as a good handicap.
She couldn't really directly teach the girl, since they used different arts and had different styles, but they had found that Xiao Fen was able to gain some insights into her Sidewinder's Step art merely by observing Ling Qi's movements in combat. "Ready for another round?" Ling Qi asked.
"I do not tire yet," Xiao Fen replied evenly. She seemed much more relaxed when fighting.
"Which is ironic," Sixiang said silently. "Considering how vicious she is."
Bai Xiaofen lunged, carried by a shimmering stream of shadow. Bai movement arts, she had learned, seemed to treat having legs as a handicap to be overcome. Xiao Fen's offensive was fast and unrelenting. She struck with knees, elbows, fists, and feet without discrimination, getting close and staying close. Even her defensive moves were geared to flow directly into more offense. Her every strike was aimed at some sensitive portion of the body, and her spearhand strikes were made to stab and tear like a beast's claws.
Of course, while Xiao Fen undoubtedly exceeded her in melee skill, Ling Qi remained far faster than her. Over the course of the last month, Ling Qi had refined her ability to move without movement. No longer did she need to expend energy flickering from one position to the next. Instead she wove through Xiaofen's merciless assault with minimal movements, leaving a trail of shadowy echoes in her wake that obscured her true movements. Though her skill with a saber average at best for a cultivator, she nonetheless flowed through the smooth and sweeping motions of the movements her liege had taught her, transforming the momentum of her twirling dodges into powerful blows.
Weathering a series of rapid jabs, and blocking a sneaky upward knee, Ling Qi pulsed her energies, driving back the consuming gray flames that tried to catch on her blocking hand. Xiaofen's fire arts were very different from Xiulan's flashy maneuvers. They were low burning and clung tenaciously to anything they touched. All fire devoured, but the fires Xiao Fen made were hungry and consumptive in a way that exceeded that. Ling Qi could already see the way the girls arts would evolve, from striking at physical frailty to spiritual ones. The way her fires could be thrust into an enemies channels the way her fingers would drive into the softer parts of an enemies flesh.
"What is the news on the Outer mountain?" Ling Qi asked lightly, catching a foot aimed for her jaw and shoving the other girl back with the raw strength of her cultivation. They had already been sparring for some time, so it was time to begin moving on to other business.
Xiao Fen narrowed her eyes as she fell back into a low guard, her shoulders bobbing back and forth like a serpent looking for an opening to bite. "Gan Guangli is maintaining his grip. He has reached appraisal stage," she struck without missing a beat, coming in low, her charge zigged and zagged, but Ling Qi saw through the initial low feint and brought her free hand up to deflect the leaping elbow strike aimed at her temple, and retaliated with a spinning slash that struck Xiao Fen across the chest, sending out a ripple of qi.
"You're getting frustrated. Tone down the recklessness," Ling Qi commented idly.
Xiao Fen let out a very unladylike grunt of acknowledgement as she landed and rose sinuously back into her starting stance. "His position is poor. His enemies are disunited however, and he makes those who attack him directly hurt. He uses my aid liberally in that area. I would be offended by his presumption, but there is a great deal of trash in this Sect that has forgotten its respect. The other factions fear to strike and weaken their position against the others. It is all very barbaric."
"Pot, meet kettle," Sixiang muttered.
"The honored duchess has her reasons," Ling Qi replied. She was quite sure the argent sect would be glad to be rid of the Cai's direct intervention. They were probably going to spend years sorting this all out properly. "Stand down, we're done for today," she added, lowering her blade. What other news?"
Her 'student' looked briefly rebellious before relaxing her stance. "...He has found a spirit. It's exact nature is hidden, but it seems the immaterial type. I suspect the details will be in the missive for your liege. As to the rest… The spirit kin you showed an interest in broke through. A number of Lu Feng's subordinates sought to break into her workshop, and found themselves facing an irate partial third realm. That one has a satisfactory attitude toward enemies," Xiao Fen said with a touch of approval.
"What did she do?" Ling Qi asked in morbid interest, letting her saber vanish back into her ring.
"I do not know the details, but they had to be dug out of the mountainside by their compatriots and spent a week in the medical hall," Xiao Fen replied with a shrug. "Unfortunately the Golden Fields group is having some fortune as well. The Han Scion has reached the Green Soul Realm as well, though it is said that his effort was long and fraught. However, neither of his subordinates have had such luck."
Ling Qi had some mixed feelings about that, on one hand she was happy for her friend finally breaking through, but on the other Gan did not need more competition. "And our enemies?" She asked, leaving those thoughts silent. "You mentioned that Lu Feng has reached the third realm, what about that Jin."
"He appears to be maintaining neutrality. His interest lies toward the production tournament by all accounts," Xiao Fen said with a frown. "It is a facade, I am sure. It is the way of the Jin to present a friendly face to all, while plotting in their hearts. It is to be expected, from a house which was handed their position as they were."
He was still a wild card then, that was a little troublesome. "Well, thank you for your work," she began, only to pause as she glanced to the side, sensing another human presence approaching. That was strange, she had taken them to an out of the way place on purpose… In front of her Xiao Fen stiffened in alarm. Ling Qi broke into a grin, Sixiang laughed.
"I should return then,' Xiao Fen said stiffly, making to turn away.
"Why don't I walk with you?" Ling Qi replied cheerfully, appearing at her side in a swirl of shadow.
"That is not really necessary, Senior Sister," Xiao Fen replied, but there was already a note of defeat in her tone.
"Not at all," Ling Qi said brightly. "Though it looks like we already have company."
"Yes," Xiao Fen sighed.
"...Xiao Fen? Is that you up there?" a wary voice called out from the woods. "I don't really have the hang of this art yet…"
"Your senses do not fool you Liu Xin," Xiao Fen said stiffly.
The boy that stepped out of the woods was an average looking sort. He wore the Sect's silver robes, though it was clear that the set he was using were a talisman. He had short black hair tied into a topknot and a somewhat handsome face, though he was rather skinny and gangly in build. His grey eyes widened when they landed on Ling Qi, and he hastily bowed. "Oh, uh, that's what that was," he muttered to himself. "That is, my apologies for interrupting Senior Sister."
"It's no trouble," Ling Qi said in amusement, running an assessing eye over him. Fire and earth were his choices from the look of it. Early second realm, so talented, but not too talented, or at least not too lucky.
"Why are you here Liu Xin?" Xiao Fen said bluntly.
"Ah, I just figured you shouldn't walk back alone," Liu Xin replied, his eyes darting from Ling Qi to Xiao Fen's irate expression. Lu's guys are out in force."
Sixiang laughed, and Xiao Fen's eyebrow twitched. "How dutiful of you junior brother," Ling Qi said with an ill concealed grin. "Though Xiao Fen has spoken of how dutiful you are."
The younger girl shot her a look that could have melted steel, if her cultivation was a little higher. "Your concern is appreciated," she replied stiffly. "But you have only risked yourself pointlessly."
"I'd have gotten away if it came down to it. I'd rather be around to watch your back," he glanced at Ling Qi in worry. "You ... tend to start fights when you come back from these."
Ling Qi's eyes twinkled with amusement. "It never hurts to have another set of eyes open," she said with faux wisdom. "Why don't we all walk together a ways then?"
Xiao Fen briefly looked as if she bitten into something sour. "Very well, Senior Sister."
Ling Qi did not waste much time as they began to return to the sect, as she continued to assess Liu Xin. "So, Xiao Fen is a little reticent when it comes to talking about you, Liu Xin. You came to the Sect on a military scholarship?"
The young man gave her a wary look, unconsciously inching away from her inspection. "...Yes, seemed like a good deal. I was probably going to enlist anyway."
"Why is that?" Ling Qi asked curiously. In Tonghou few people wanted to join the army, given that the death rates for new recruits were so high.
"Dad disowned me a year before the ministry guys came," he replied with an uncomfortable shrug. "Seemed like the best deal."
His response gave her some pause. Though she was sure that she could pressure him into answering, she did not want to intrude that far into his private affairs. She glanced at Xiao Fen, who seemed unsurprised by this, and shrugged. "Hmm, that is fair," she said. "You are from the capital, right? What is it like living there? I have not had the chance to visit yet."
"Well I'm from the root districts. So I've never seen the upper or even middle city up close," he replied slowly. "It's… peaceful I guess, normal. Or at least I thought it was," the last was muttered under his breath, too low for a normal person to hear. Xiao Fen gave the sky a long suffering look.
Ling Qi hummed thoughtfully. "I admit… I'm actually curious about what its like to live directly under Duchess Cai. I have only met her grace once, but… it left an impression. What do you think of her?"
"Smooth," Sixiang said drolly, as Liu Xin shot her an alarmed look and glanced to Xiao Fen.
"Miss Ling is a direct subordinate of Cai Renxiang, the Duchess' heir," the Bai handmaiden said. "She is merely being blunt. Just answer honestly. Lying will only make you look foolish."
Ling Qi raised her eyebrows, looking to Xiao Fen, who looked blankly back. On her other side, Liu Xin still looked worried. "Uh… Lady Ling, that's a hard question to answer," he hedged.
"I suppose it might be," Ling Qi allowed, considering the Duchess. "I apologize, but you have my word that your answer will remain private."
He remained silent for a time, before finally shrugging. "...I feel like my answer needs some context," he said finally.
"Then give it," Xiao Fen said dryly.
It still took another minute before he spoke again, looking down at the ground. "Some of the older folks still tell stories about the time she came down to the rootways," he finally said. "And I don't mean she sent a bunch of guards. She came in person. It terrified people. People disappeared in the thousands. It wasn't just thugs and smugglers either. Gramps said that of the whole ministry of trade, only him and a couple other junior clerks were left. Something like two thirds of the guards ended up with their heads on spikes over the barracks. Something like one in ten people got shipped off, and only maybe half of 'em showed back up in the army later."
Ling Qi's eyebrows climbed toward her hairline. "...I guess things got pretty chaotic after that."
"It didn't though," he said with a shrug. "Folks say she ran everything herself for years and it worked just as well as before. Things got better far as I can tell. I used to think things were just normal but… I've talked to people from other cities. Other cities don't have kitchens that'll serve you three meals a day and dorms full of beds to sleep in without asking for a coin. They don't get physicians coming through every other month to check up the wounded and the sick. There's a bunch of things that just… don't exist in other cities, so even if I didn't before..."
Ling Qi didn't say anything, just furrowing her brow. It sounded rather bizarre to her. Liu XIn gave her another worried look. Seeming to interpret her silence badly. "So the point is... I know a lot of people like to say things about her ladyship when they think she isn't listening, but I'm not one of them, really. I wouldn't trade her for any other ruler in the Emerald Seas."
He wasn't just saying that either. Beneath the awkward babbling, Liu Xin really did believe his words. Ling Qi was not quite certain what she had expected, but it wasn't that. "Please calm down. I trust your words," she said soothingly. Even if he was afraid, he also seemed to genuinely admire that terrifying woman. The same way one 'admired' a bolt of heavenly lightning that struck down the wicked. She shook her head. "...Well in any case, I should be going," he said glancing up at the sky. His impromptu little speech had ruined the mood for teasing anyway.
She would make up for it at Xiao Fen's next session.
[] Shen Hu approached you for once. He has found the abandoned lair of an underworld dragon, but is not confident that he can face the scavengers that fill it unopposed.
[] Luo Zhong has invited you to join his clique on a hunt, it is an opportunity to learn more of the factions which divide the emerald seas
[] Xuan Shi is the closest thing to an expert on Xuan Wu that you know, and your liege has asked you to get closer to him. He's also not a bad sort, perhaps together you can put Zhengui through his paces?
AN: Fucking hell Su Ling. I roll for her first breakthrough attempt and she triple crits it, while poor Han Jian muddles along and finally gets his third success on the last roll.
