Rare Moments of Not Third-Wheeling

Lin Songmei was conflicted. She, without much trouble, managed to narrow it down to a couple of arts, unlike Yan Mingqing who was struggling to say the least.

The problem was, the arts were too... flowery with their descriptions.

'Nature's Proxy, Voice of the Land'

[Cultivating this art allows you to become one with nature, you'll hold the power to speak for nature itself. Command nature, and bring nature's judgment onto your enemies.]

Songmei was willing to admit that it sounded cool, but it was too vague! It felt like the difficulty of choosing an art went from online shopping to online dating!

What was this massive difficulty spike for...

Songmei didn't plan on choosing the 'Nature's Proxy' art, though. Although it sounded fancy, Elder Zhang and her master Xueli recommended against it because it had nothing to do with crystals.

In the end, she was left with one then, an interesting art that had to do with crystals and nature. The art was unique though, it was one that had to be paired with one of its supplementary arts.

[Supplementary Art List: Tiger, Phoenix, Butterfly, Falcon, Bear, Leopard, Centipede...]

The list went on forever.

"How am I supposed to choose one animal from the entire animal kingdom..." Songmei murmured to herself, looking over at the list of animals that had been present inside the crystal ball. "Moose...? Huh. Okay, there were butterflies too, also some sparrows."

Songmei was still thankful though, for sure, without a shadow of a doubt. Even if she was struggling a little with choosing, Mingqing next to her was... suffering.

Mingqing could only eliminate a couple at a time, as all the arts were really similar. And, to be totally honest, having taken a quick glance earlier, Songmei swore she saw the same art three separate times.

Patting Mingqing a few times in pity, Songmei turned to Xueli who had moved to sit right next to her. "Do you think it's okay if I choose this art and pair it with the Butterfly supplementary one? It'd complete the overall art into the Crystalline Butterfly Art."

"Hmm..." Xueli murmured, stroking her chin while reading it over, "It looks quite good. I don't see anything wrong with it. If you choose it though, because it's a butterfly, I'd recommend you not use the recommended weapon of the spear. Do you like it, though? Does it... speak to you? Does it touch you in a way where you want to constantly learn more of it?"

Unsure, Songmei gave a small "Thank you" before leaning back and sinking into the couch, giving it some more thought. She had plenty of time after all, Mingqing still had 60 arts left, and that meant, 59 to eliminate.

With that, time flew by, morning turned to afternoon, and the afternoon ticked by without the four of them realizing. They had lunch delivered to their room, and ate while continuing their business.

Around 3pm though, Songmei and Mingqing were both done. Songmei had finished maybe one or two hours ago, having consulted Elder Zhang and Xueli a few times, but decided to wait for Mingqing to finish as well.

""Thank you!"" Mingqing and Songmei thanked, bowing their heads towards the genial Elder Zhang who had stayed with them the whole time.

Seeing them off at the door, Elder Zhang waved at them as they walked away, reminding, "I'm glad I could help! Also, don't fret too much, you can always pivot as long as you're still opening your meridians! Feel free to come back if you feel like something's wrong!"

Thanking Elder Zhang once more, Songmei couldn't help but sigh, maybe... maybe saints were real after all.

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Leaving the Divine Repository with snow crunching under their feet, Songmei looked back at Xueli who was following behind. "Xueli, am I allowed to tell Mingqing about the art I chose?"

"Sure~" Xueli shrugged, "Knock yourself out~ it wouldn't hurt, you two already know the basics of each other's arts already after all."

"Okay, thank you," Songmei nodded, turning back towards Mingqing with a smile, "Alright you heard her, so... you first or me first?"

"Why don't you go first?" Mingqing shrugged, poking Songmei's cheek with a small smile and a squint, "I was the one who was the spokesperson all this morning after all, don't think I didn't notice~"

Clutching her chest as Mingqing applied more and more pressure, Songmei turned away with a cough, "I- alright... But still, you're the extrovert between us, you were the one who volunteered to be Miss Spokesperson!"

"I know, I know," Mingqing laughed, stopping her poke and patting Songmei's shoulder, "I could talk all day, everyday. You'll never hear me shut up, but still, c'mon, you go first."

"Okay..." Songmei relented with a chuckle, tapping her chin while remembering the details that she could. "So, I chose an art called the Crystalline Butterfly Art. It's crystal and nature focused, but the nature part is focused more towards butterflies. You already know that part I think, yeah?"

Getting an "Mhm" and nod from Mingqing, Songmei continued, a smile blossoming on her face as her voice got a little louder, "So the art is like butterfly stuff for movement and support, and then crystal stuff for defense and offense. Then overall, my own Qi will be... I don't know, nature-y. Also, after Elder Zhang and Xueli recommended either the sword or bow, I chose the bow because I would rather use a bow."

Songmei fell silent after sharing, letting out a small cough in embarrassment. She hadn't meant to get that excited talking about the art, it was just... she was excited and motivated to learn the art...

'It's just that, why does it feel like my reasons are all just, it looked cool, sounded nice, and... that's it...'

"What about you, though?" Songmei asked, moving on from her own technique with a shrug. "Something about constellations, right?"

Kicking some snow as she walked, Mingqing began her own explanation. "I chose an art called Constellation's Frozen Ocean. It's a sword-based art, with a separate sword form for each of the constellations."

"The frozen ocean part isn't the real focus in all honesty," Mingqing continued, crossing a bridge with Songmei as they meandered their way back to their residence. "Everything ice and water related is more of a support. The main focus would be the constellations and the stars that make them up."

"I see..." Songmei murmured, she already knew most of it, but it still made her happy inside to hear it from Mingqing.

After Mingqing's explanation though, silence fell once more.

Without much to say, the two just walked in silence, enjoying each other's presence. It was a nice day, the sun was in the sky, providing its light and none of its heat.

Songmei, for one thing, was... happy.

She had been feeling unmotivated, and still... still sorta did, but it was getting better. She was motivated to improve, to run away from falling back into poverty.

Well... at this point it was almost becoming running away from mediocrity instead.

As Songmei fell into her thoughts while walking with Mingqing, holding the other's hand, their master, Xueli, couldn't help but feel something germinate in her own heart.

Different from the normal third-wheeling feeling she felt, Xueli felt a smile blossom on her face as she looked at the far away mountains.

Letting out a sigh, then a chuckle, Xueli put her hands into her pockets and looked at her two disciples once more as they squeezed each other's hands, thinking that no one else would notice.

Being their master really was a nice feeling...