Back to the real world

Bi Yu set up another array using the same runes though the formation was completed different.

Bai Mei Li wasted no time at all jumping into the task of figuring it out. She was delighted to the versatility of the arrays. The last one had been pure horizontal, this one had areas that suddenly went vertical and curved sideways.

She could feel that it wasn't as hard to move her spiritual energy through the lay lines but at the same time it was a bit more time consuming. It was as though Bi Yu had stretched it out, creating more deadens. She was surprised to see that the arrays on some level appeared to be an extension of the inscribers imagination.

She moved her spiritual energy though the twisting roadways of the lay lines. Since she'd already broken one she was much more adapt at searching through this second one. Bai Mei Li had always had a scary steep learning curve.

She smiled as she found the center and poured her spiritual into the center stone to break with.

She gasps softly as her spiritual body becoming noticeably dimmer from the backlash. She looked at Bi Yu in confusion. She didn't understand what she'd done wrong. She'd followed the same steps so why had the result been different? She frowned as her mind moved and worked out the differences between the two arrays.

"A false center?" She said looking at Bi Yu as she figured it out. She hadn't thought you could make a false center in order to protect the real center.

"Yes." Bi Yu said in a even tone. Inwardly she was very surprised at how quickly Bai Mei Li had worked everything out. She had expected her to need a detailed explanation to understand what had happened. "Try to feel that false center once again… more carefully this time."

Bai Mei Li nodded and did just that. She was surprised at what she found. "It's made of spiritual energy. It's not real."

"That's right. But they can be real, and they can be made of very dangerous inscriptions. So you must never be over confident when dealing with rune arrays… or any kind of array. They can often have duel proposes. To protect and kill. To guard and then lure in and trap. You have to keep this in mind and always proceed carefully when dealing with arrays."

"I understand." She said soberly. She was barely considered a novice and yet she'd gotten arrogant. In this dangerous world arrogance without the power and knowledge to back it up was dangerous and stupid. She carved this lesson into her heart and vowed not to forget it. "How do I tell a real center from a fake?"

"That's not something I can explain. There is a feeling you get when you reach the real center and start to examine it. That's because the real center is actually connected to all the lay lines while the false one may be connected to a lot but never all. The more experienced the inscriber to more real a false center will feel because they will be able to connect more of the lay lines to the false center more seamlessly."

"So I can only figure this out through practice? Alright." She said and then focused back on the array.

After several more tries she found the actual center, slowed herself down and focused as much of her mental energy into trying to notice any small fluctuations in the spiritual energy around the real center while she remembered what the false center felt like. She didn't notice a difference, but she wasn't discouraged.

"Give me another one." She said after she broke it. If she would only be able to figure out the differences through practice then practice was exactly what she would do.

Bi Yu nodded and set about making a new one.

For the next long while Bai Mei Li was presented with one array after another. Bi Yu would show her several of the same type of arrays at one time to practice on and then switch to different ones. The difficulty varied from one to another.

Bai Mei Li patiently went though them all. As she got better and she found herself becoming complacent and rushing a bit she quickly stopped herself and slowed down. She forced herself to slowly explore each and every one of them. She wanted it to become a habit to throughly examine every inch of each array. Only once she looked at everything would she return to the center and break the array.

Bi Yu watched Bai Mei Li closely as she worked. As a soul her self she was able to follow Bai Mei Li's spiritual energy as she moved though the lay lines. The process she'd created from herself made her take about twice the time that other beginners would take. The way they learned was different. They would immediately look for the center while being careful of false centers. Bai Mei Li did a thorough investigation of the entire array even when she found what she thought was the center. She was incredibly methodical.

Over time as she practiced her speed naturally improved and eventually she was able to examine an entire array at the same speed that it would take another novice to just move through the lay line and reach the real center. The more Bi Yu thought about it she wondered if it would still be appropriate to call Bai Mei Li a novice. By now her rate of success was one hundred percent. This was due to the fact that she didn't leave a single corner of the array unchecked. How could she fail?

After she broke the last one she didn't ask for another. Instead she started to cultivate and recover.

"Alright I think I've got the hang of it. Explain this space." She said after she had recovered her spiritual energy. She stood up and looked at the old courtyard.

"This is a special space my first master created. She created me as well. The phenix ring artifact is special in the fact that it grows with the owner. After each breakthrough the ring and I will siphon the tremendous excess energy that's produced from the breakthrough to upgrade. The owners currant physical need will determine the kind of upgrade that will happen. The artifact will determine what you need."

"I see. Has the ring upgrade three times then? Since the other Bai Mei Li was in the third realm?"

"No. Those breakthroughs didn't result in upgrade because she hadn't been recognized as the owner."

"Will it upgrade with layer breakthroughs or realm breakthroughs?"

"Layer breakthroughs will results in minor upgrades and realm breakthroughs result in major upgrades." Bi Yu still held a grudge against Bai Mei Li for the forced bond, but she found she wasn't unhappy with Bai Mei Li has the recognized owner. She was highly intelligent, an incredibly fast learner, and humble enough to take good advice seriously. These were rare qualities that should be valued. After the way she'd forced the bond Bi Yu had assumed it would be extremely difficult do get her to listen to any advice at all. She was pleasantly surprised that, that wasn't the case. This brat was just too different from the usual personalities of practitioners.

"Am I allowed in that courtyard?" She asked as she looked in the direction of the courtyard she was talking about.

"If you can see it then you can enter it."

"Does that mean that there other things here but I just can't see them?" She raised a delicate brow in question.

"…"

Not receiving a response Bai Mei Li didn't press. She wasn't impatient by nature. She understood that eventually she'd know all the secrets of this place. There was no need to rush. After all even if she knew what these things were would it even matter if she couldn't see or use it?

Bai Mei Li walked over to the courtyard and entered. She was surprised to see that it looked like a normal mansion fully furnished in an ancient style. As she explored she soon found herself in a open area that had a comfortable space for sitting and relaxing. She wondered if Bi Yu lived here. It seemed to her that this was a home well lived in.

At one end of the courtyard was a building isolated by itself. She walked over and touched the door. The runes lit up and the door opened. Inside she saw all the thing she'd been storing in the spacial ring.

After she'd explored the entirety of the courtyard she left and went back to Bi Yu who was still where she'd left her.

"Alright I'm ready to leave." She said as she stopped in front of her.

Bi Yu nodded and taught her the technique that would allow her to come and go from the space.

"One more thing. Does the ring revert back after the owner dies and wait for another owner?" Bai Mei Li asked. She was curious why the inside looked like this if it upgraded with the owner.

"You are the first owner." Bi Yu said simply.

"But you said…" She paused and thought about it. She said master… not owner. Was Bi Yu calling that woman master because she'd created her? But hadn't been the owner. "The woman that created you didn't bond with you?"

"She didn't create us to own us."

"Who did she intended to give you to?"

"…"

Bai Mei Li looked at Bi Yu for a long while before deciding to let it go. Just before she was about to leave she looked at Bi Yu and said "Thank you." And then left.

Bi Yu was shocked. She hadn't expected her to show her any appreciation. Bi Yu hadn't thought that Bai Mei Li would of never cared, but it felt good to be acknowledge. She smiled and returned to her courtyard.

Once she was back she opened her eyes. He hand was still touching the rune. Her internal clock told her that only a hour had passed. She was amazed. It had felt like days had went by. She knew that wasn't possible but she felt that at least half a day had gone by. She'd already been considering what to say to Xiao Jun. But only a hour passed. The sun still hadn't come up, she still had about five hours until she needed to return back to the cave.

Satisfied she turned her attention back to this rune and set about breaking it.

(Edited)