THE DRAGON, OAK, AND MOON HIDDEN IN HER CONSCIOUSNESS

Xiao Wu was bewildered. Cold sweat pooled down her back as she felt the forces brushing just shy of her skin, her emerald eyes wide and lost.

Cheng Hao had a Martial Way!

This notion by far surpassed almost any other that she had come to learn that night.

After all, a Martial Way was something extremely, impossibly rare. It was something that simply shouldn't exist at all in the Mortal world, or in the lands of the Ageless for that matter.

A Mortal Realm cultivator creating a Martial Way was impossible by definition.

The mighty lording the Mortal Realm, the Reverend stage cultivators, had no hopes of doing so.

The quasi-gods ruling the Ageless Realm, the eminences at the Saint Stage, had no way of even coming close.

One could cry, cough, and sweat as much blood as they will; so long as that shed blood wasn't an Immortal's golden ichor, it'd be but a waste of time and effort.

A Martial Way required its creator to have left the guidance of the Qi. Or, rather, it required an Immortal, as the pioneer of their Way, to be the ones to guide the Qi in return. The crystallization of that guidance would be the Martial Way.

And yet, here stood that child in front of her. There he was; a boy, her very same age, holding the Artefact with a bright smile.

She had confidence that the Xiao Clan would never lose in terms of Martial Ways.

Or rather, to be completely fair, she pridefully refuted for Ancestor Xiao Lan to lose in terms of a Martial Way.

Nonetheless, even to her inexperienced prying, there was no doubt about the quality of the treasure. Never had she felt her skin crawl like so before any of her Clan's Martial Ways.

...

To craft and guide the Qi was a lengthy, arduous task that was extremely difficult to see to an end. To beguile and shape the worldly laws contained in the strands was no easy task. Even as one progressed through the end Stages, one would only find that its difficulty would barely decrease at all.

Naturally, since even many grand beings at the Immortal Realms would gladly set aside decades and centuries just to create a Martial Way, they had to possess unimaginable upsides.

They greatly hastened cultivation, significantly assisted in battle, and particularly aided enlightenment.

In the Immortal Realm, that was.

To Mortal Realm cultivators...

Simply put, they were even more so an unparalleled boon, at times even too much so.

Xiao Wu was well aware of the Clan's strict control over their Martial Ways, as they could bring irreparable damage to their youths' foundation. Reliance and dependence differed by but a step, after all.

"Now, here's how we'll be breaking through tonight."

"Eh?" Xiao Wu was woken up from her dazed considerations.

She tilted her head with a bitter smile "I thought Martial Ways were only impactful to their specific Sensed Qi?"

"You remember well, young lady of Xiao."

Xiao Wu pouted, "I have this nagging feeling your Tower isn't the right match to my Sensed Qi..."

"Mmm, that does sound plausible. Even if that weren't the case, sharing would get bothersome quickly. Shouldn't you have one of your own?"

"Mm, wouldn't that be nice?" Xiao Wu giggled in response.

"Well, time to get our hands on them then. Come here, I'm taking them out."

"...Eh?"

After relishing in her disoriented reaction for a while, the boy finally explained with a knowing smile.

The Sensed Qi of the members of the Xiao bloodline would usually fall into three major categories. Most would sense one and join the Hall that corresponded to that certain Qi.

As per all Sensed Qi, it was a matter of aptitude which one a cultivator would come to Sense.

The Qi was fickle and enjoyed playing favourites. Bloodline, personality, attitude, and more; usually, the Qi would be drawn to cultivators that most closely resembled its regulations, those 'most in tune' with its laws.

Very rarely, there would be Sensed Qi that tolerated sharing a cultivator with other Qi they were also in tune with, leading to a case of individuals having double, triple, quadruple; multiple Sensed Qi in one body.

"Naturally, that'd often be a detriment," Cheng Hao scoffed, "Cooperation between the Qi isn't easily accomplished in a mere state of 'tolerance'. They could accept coexistence, but mixing as one is unthinkable for Them. Oftentimes, it would lead to the cultivator only being able to dedicate a share of their Authority to each of their multiple Qi, spreading themselves thin and ultimately unable to utilize any of them fully."

"There is a notable exception to this."

"An Immortal who, long ago, fell in love with another Immortal, under the blessing of a True Moon. Their very union became a Qi that fully embraces each of its parts into a whole. Three Sensed Qi into one! The only drawback... a rather slow start, requiring three times the efforts of their peers to catch up in the Mortal Realm."

'And Little Lan's talent was so monstrous he caught up to my four years, in just ten.'

At the Ageless Realm, this drawback would subside substantially. Hence, with the help of Xu Ling, the younger prodigy managed to surpass his accomplishments then.

One scripture played a big part into making those outlandish feats a reality.

The Triple Xiao Qi Scripture of their creation, having penned it together over many years.

Upon its completion, Xiao Lan's cultivation speed had skyrocketed, to the point he stepped into the Immortal Realm at the age of fifty-nine. This had even surpassed the previous record held by Xu Ling himself by a few years.

With that miraculous scripture at hand, so long as a Triple Qi prodigy appeared, the recovery of the Xiao Clan was assured!

As such, young Xiao Wu had been guided and prepared from birth; from Xiao Lan's recorded habits to the food he used to enjoy, to even dressing up and acting like a man: they made her follow a strict schedule, all to increase her attunement to the Three Qi by the slightest margin.

And indeed, she eventually was confirmed to harbour the Triple Sensed Qi of Xiao.

"Other kids had it worse, to be honest." Xiao Wu reminisced, "I mostly had some great food. Some of the slower kids never got to hear the end of it from the proctors."

"Tch, 'Proctors'? Nutcases them all," had scoffed the golden-eyed boy, "As if You of all people would need anything at all for some lowly Qi to bow their head. If your Ancestor knew of such foolishness, he'd first laugh it off, question their head second, and thirdly, strip them of their status."

With Xiao Lan in deep slumber, however, she could only wait for him to wake up before she could start her cultivation in the secret Scripture, known only to him.

And then, just as 'He' roused from his hibernation and was to pass his legacy onto her, the sudden order to depart came on that fateful day, six months prior...

"Ah, yes, truly pitiful how you lost the opportunity of a lifetime and was sent here of all places…" Cheng Hao sneered. "Now, I'm trying my best to make up for it, so come here and let me do my job already. Given it was done by that old fellow Lan, it was probably done without you knowing, so don't be too surprised later."

Xiao Wu followed the instructions even as she yearned for an explanation, her emerald eyes bright even amidst her confusion. Seeing her kneel before him, Cheng Hao inwardly praised the trust she had come to place in him. A warm smile found its place on his thin lips as he resumed.

"Your Sea of Consciousness in the depths of those pretty green eyes? That precious place where you alone have full control over?"

Cheng Hao tapped her glabella with a keen gleam in his pupils.

"An Immortal sealed a couple of Martial Ways in there. I'm now going to take them out- Yournextwordis'Eh'?"

"...E- Oi!"

"An amusing tic, this one," the boy teased.

"...Meanie!" even as her cheeks turned red, Xiao Wu's emerald eyes were glimmering, "But Brother Hao, was all that true?"

As if to answer her, Cheng Hao moved his hand to his pocket, grasping the golden brooch in his confident fingers. The glow in the depths of the pin dimmed considerably, as it seemed to manifest in the child's eyes.

And like so, the world shifted.

In the girl's sea of consciousness, Cheng Hao was gazing upon a bewildering sight, a hazy cloud now swirling atop his manifested Will's palm. With that haze gone, the scenery was again revealed to his eyes.

A gorgeous white oak as tall as the sky stood proud, whereas a black dragon, thousands of feet long, entwined around its branches. Up in a starless canopy, a purple moon shone down and bathed them both in violet.

With the wave of Cheng Hao's other hand, the scene shrank and fit atop his small palm. He pondered for a while, only to secretly pocket the swirling haze that had been covering both into his own Sea of Consciousness.

With a cheeky smile, Cheng Hao opened his eyes and placed the brooch back into his pocket. This time too, it had dulled a little bit.

Xiao Wu's gaze was immediately drawn to his palm.

There, was a sight that instantly captivated her from her very essence.

"Awake now, your master is here." the boy gently blew upon the dormant Martial Way. Not long later, the tree, the dragon, and the moon immediately let their presence be known, a fierce pressure battering their surroundings like a strong wind.

"#@%&#!!!"

As he ignored a certain dragon's callous remarks, the child let go and the whole thing began hovering in midair. Cheng Hao sat back on the chair and motioned for Xiao Wu to take the Martial Way herself.

"If it even so much as cracks, I'll have a good word with that Ancestor of yours, no need to fret so much..." he muttered when he saw her arms floundering to catch onto the treasure, almost as if worrying that it would break.

...Though, even that wouldn't surprise me anymore if it's her. She clearly sensed it as it happened again! I was especially careful too, this once...

Utterly defeated, the boy's face was unnaturally pale from his overexertion, while the girl was so red from the excitement that even an apple would be jealous.

Xiao Wu poked the tree with her finger and, sure enough, she felt her very being resonate.

This...

These were her Sensed Qi, no doubt.

Without another word, Xiao Wu flew at Cheng Hao and embraced him as tightly as she could. Tears poured out like water during a flood as the girl spoke, her head digging in his chest as her legs gave way, "Thank you, Big Brother Hao… Thank you!!! Just... Thank you, for everything!"

Cheng Hao smiled weakly as he gently stroked her head. "Hey, hey now… you're sullying my precious new robes."

Xiao Wu bit her lower lip but embraced him even tighter, "You really do make it hard for people to care for you, don't you-"

"You Bastard Hao, are you not done???" Goldy cried out, "I've been slamming against furniture for-"

Argh! Pah- Cough!

"TURN THAT THING OFF ALREADY YOU- UKHH-!"

Cheng Hao laughed heartily at those delightful howls, having barely regained his breath only to expend it at once.