If You Want It Done Right.

  Jianrong wandered until she found Andrew securing his own accommodation in the General Palace.

  “Holy shit, you were not kidding, I mean…I knew, but seeing is believing.” Andrew said, referring to Ning.

  Rong laughed, “It is actually even better than that. Come to my room when you're settled. I have an idea.”

  Andy laughed and caught her hand in his. “Old man, I knew you wouldn’t let me down.”

  Both siblings laughed, then parted ways.

  Rong walked until he saw Taleth. “Pretty lady, I need a hand,” Rong said sweetly.

  The taller woman stepped out and matched her step.

  “It's gonna cost you.” She warned.

  Rong glanced at her. “Let's stop by my place so we can hammer out an agreement.”

  The door to Rong's room closed, the door locked, and the simple privacy array activated.

  “Ok, tell me what you want,” Rong said plainly.

  “Rumor is you shed an elixir,” Taleth said with a smirk.

  Rong stilled, her eyes met Taleth’s, whose smirk fell away. “Are you being serious?” she asked.

  Taleth nodded.

  “Okay, yes, but we have a problem. We need to kill that rumor.” Rong stated firmly.

  Taleth looked shocked. “You're serious?”

  “Yes, for both. This is for my people. What I don’t want is non-friendlies knowing about it.”

  “Done, I will chase it down.” Taleth agreed. “What do you need from me?”

  Rong smiled. “Your orthodox cultivator, we were born with a defect to our crown—we fixed it—but I need to know how much Qi normally cycles there.”

  Taleth laughed. “Done, when I get paid?” she grinned.

  “Now, you get yours first, time then, while you're recovering, I can observe without wasting your time or mine,” Jianrong explained.

  Taleth watched her take off her outer robe and lie down.

  “Come on, don’t be shy, you've been staring at them since I got them.” Rong teased.

  Taleth joined her, and in a silent tenderness, Jianrong guided her to something she had become accustomed to.

  Not much later, the warrior passed out.

  Jianrong’s Qi slowly came to match Taleth’s, then she began to cycle with her. A short time later, her palm rested on the woman's forehead as she felt the flow of Qi through different meridians.

  When she compared it to her own, she realized she was much slower. Even asleep, Rong would place the constant movement of Qi at ten percent or very close to it.

  With a thought, she spun her own Core up until the feeling of movement felt similar. Then she realized something and began fine-tuning until she took a shuddering breath.

  Taleth opened her eyes and took a shuddering breath.

  “What is this?” Rong asked.

  Taleth grinned then, like a rogue, let her eyes play over her half-bare companion.

  “We are resonating.” Taleth purred.

  Then it was gone as Jianrong adjusted the speed, pushing them out of sync.

  Taleth reminded Rong of Cheri… she wondered if that was why she trusted her.

  “What are we, kid?” Taleth asked finally.

  Rong thought about it. “Friends, but the kind of friends who aren’t sure if they should be more.” She said honestly.

  “I want more of that elixir. What do you need for trade?” Taleth asked.

  “I need eyes and ears. If you can squash that rumor for me, that is gold. If you can't, I would like to know where it's coming from.” Rong said.

  “Deal,” the commander laughed.

  Rogues will be rogues, and before Rong kicked her out, the woman had grabbed more than a handful as collateral.

  When Andy showed up, he raised his nose, “Smells like steel and leather in here.”

  Rong said nothing; she simply lay down and patted the bed for him to join her.

  Then she showed him their problem.

  When he cycled Qi, he was barely moving at any volume; it was just maintenance in the siblings' minds. But the reality cultivators were moving at least ten percent of the time, as Ning and Jang described.

  Rong spun up her Qi to Taleth’s baseline, then Andrew matched it. Then Rong fine-tuned it until the sensation was the same.

  “Why do I feel we are becoming ever closer?!” Her brother asked, confused.

  “Taleth calls it resonating; in reality, it is synchronizing with the other person harmonically.

  Rong backed off and kept cycling Qi at ten percent.

  They both lay there simply cycling. “I feel something,” Andy said, feeling an odd current flowing through his body.

  Jianrong began cycling purer and purer Qi to her Crown Chakra. Then she realized again that it did not flow out of the chakra; it was a one-way, no-way-out situation.

  With Andy watching over her, she dove inward.

  For some reason, the idea of entering the chakra filled her with a fear she could not shake.

  She was a big believer in listening to that little voice that warned you.

  So instead of trying to force more pressure into the chakra, she fed a refined thread of Qi through the meridian while pulling a thread of Qi out from the edge of the meridian and moving back out of the Chakra, creating a steady flow of fresh Qi.

  She felt her Spirit Sense wanting to expand to probe and map.

  Jianrong sighed; she had a distinct feeling that even Cultivators were not using these natural things as they were meant to be used.

  After a chime, Rong rose, wrote down everything she was thinking, and shared the memory with Andy before heading out.

  “What will you do?” he asked.

  “Masters says this is developed while you are a child, being that we know that we didn’t develop it then it's easy to guess that it has a Qi requirement. So, we keep putting Qi to it until it saturates to the point it enables our Spiritual Presence to unfold or whatever it does.”

  The next day, Jianrong and Andrew showed up at their Master's with their Cores spinning away.

  Jang looked to Ning, who frowned.

  “What you are doing is dangerous,” Ning stated.

  “We are just cycling like every other Cultivator in this structure.” Rong pointed out.

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  “The difference is your Spirit is unseated; all it takes is for someone to focus killing intent on you, and you can be killed,” Ning warned.

  Rong nodded. “May I ask a question?” she asked.

  Ning blinked, and Andy turned away to smile.

  “Master what happens when you focus your killing intent on a Core Formation cultivators all the way down to Mortals?” She asked lightly.

  Ning glanced at Jang, then spoke, “They could suffer serious injury or die.”

  Rong nodded as if hearing this information for the first time.

  “Another question, master. If you never use your Core and never cycle Qi, how long will it take to seat your presence?” Rong asked.

  Ning’s brow twitched. “If you never cycle your Qi high enough…you can never seat your presence.”

  Jianrong nodded. “So is the issue that you don’t want to teach us, or that you don’t want to do it our way, and you would rather we spend the next decade hiding until it maybe happens?” Rong asked.

  “You're making this more straightforward than it is. You both should remain in the palace under protection until it can be seated appropriately. Ning warned.

  Rong glanced at Andy.

  “Master, do you think we will be more or less safe when everyone figures out that we cannot defend against intent in the Palace?” she asked as her head tilted as if talking to a child.

  Ning shook his head. “You have used words to win a battle, but this is not a debate, little one. If I am to train you, then it will be slowly and properly. I cannot bear to see you die rushing this, your young, there is time.” Ning pointed out.

  Rong sighed, then turned to her brother and hugged him.

  “Good luck, I am going to go say goodbye,” Rong then bowed to the two masters and left.

  Soon, it was just Andy, Ning, and Jang in the room.

  “What will she do?” Ning asked.

  “Go back to the village,” Andy stated.

  Both Nascent Souls stared at him as if he had declared that ice cream was soup.

  “Why would she do that?!” Ning demanded.

  “It's safer there, she can work and be productive. Here she will need to hide, or be like me, have to follow the master everywhere for fear someone will test and kill me when I am alone.” Andy clarified.

  Jianrong arrived in Elaren’s office with a soft smile. She made her favorite tea and brought her some cookies she made.

  Jianrong had never made it to the Palace proper, only to the quiet part that housed the most powerful. She had moved through it only once on her own and nearly made it out.

  What she did not know and had to learn the hard way was that when you gather powerful cultivators who are emotional and always seeking benefits, it creates a storm of intent when they are together.

  Ning was worried about one person attacking. Jianrong found that it did not matter; when twenty Cores press one another to show dominance or strength, it becomes suffocating. Rong had less protection than most mortals.

  By the time she had turned around and left the hall, “it was filled with nothing more than cultivators' posturing — and for someone like Rong, that was enough to feel like a storm front of death.”

  Rong had not said it, but if Andy had moved to kill the Nascent Soul, he would have likely been dead before he even touched the ground.

  Elaren stood up and embraced her. “How was it? Did Uncle Ning guide you?”

  Jianrong nodded. Unfortunately, I will need to wait for my Spirit to seat itself before it can continue training me. So, for now, I am going to help my mother with the move. Once it's set, I will return.”

  Elaren looked stunned. “That can take years!” she said, alarmed.

  Rong nodded.

  Elaren grasped at her, distraught.

  Rong let tears fall. “When we are around groups of cultivators posturing, we…I could not endure it. I can't even cross the yard where all the cultivators gather for mission briefs.”

  “What if you stay here?” Elaren said.

  Rong laughed. “How do you see it going when you have a woman who never leaves your suite?” She asked.

  Elaren didn’t even have to think about it.

  “But what about staying in the Palace?” she asked.

  Rong shook her head. “Taleth already caught a rumor that I produce an elixir, three people know about that, which means someone is fortunate at guessing, or someone spoke in confidence to someone who cannot be trusted. IF it is the latter, then I will be in danger before I even leave the palace or probing attacks.” Rong pointed out.

  Elaren clutched at her.

  Rong held her just as fiercely. “I am not leaving you; I am leaving an outcome that hurts all of us.”

  “What do you mean?” Elaren asked through tears.

  “Your brother won't let leverage go.” Rong pointed out.

  Velran would verify, even if having someone probe with intent was provocation, it was worth paying compensation or a fight if it proved Sulara and Elaren had a lever he could press from anywhere at any time if they did not comply.

  Elaren touched her token, and Sulara appeared shortly after. Rong talked to her about everything that had happened, then explained the rumor about the elixir. She knew she and Elaren had not discussed it with others; they were isolated in many ways. That left the grand elder… who was the same man who had asked her not to train, to wait for nature to take its course.

  Sulara expected bitterness; what she found was someone who looked at her with adoration.

  “How can your brother stay, but you must leave?” Sulara asked, confused.

  “Jang is keeping him close, unlike Ning, she is not averse to killing people who probe.” Rong pointed out the fundamental difference.

  Ning was, for lack of a better term, soft.

  He accepted what Jang did because he was trying to avoid a serious confrontation.

  But now he knew his own kin would likely escalate, and that Yue was a threat to him.

  Ning was waking up in a world he was not ready for yet, and Rong was not going to stand around waiting for him to figure it out.

  He could survive an altercation with a Nascent Soul; she could not.

  Jianrong decided to stay till evening.

  All three learned the hard way; Jianrong wasn’t wrong.

  Before supper, a message arrived. Several parties needed to discuss a matter of grave importance.

  Elaren accepted and waited while Rong acted as her servant.

  Two men entered, both military attaches discussing the loss of manpower as the campaign to escort the civilians from Hearthgate to Seldara continued.

  Then, as Jianrong neared with tea to serve them, a sudden pain struck her, causing her body to seize as her meridians stretched and microtears formed.

  Elaren felt the sharp probe, the same kind used during combat between two duelists; as the tea fell to the floor, shattering the cups and accentuating the attack with its noise.

  The man who tested Jianrong gave a small smile in confirmation, while the other touched his token.

  Then the aggressor stopped living.

  Even through searing pain, Rong attacked, her knife entering his throat, cutting through his Qi Shield like it was warm butter.

  The next moment, the other man, trying to escape, never made it to the door.

  Jianrong fell to her knees and violently vomited, body trembling.

  Then Elaren was there, screaming in alarm, blood was on the floor and Rong.

  Rong dragged herself up as she turned to the locked door and turned the arrays on for privacy.

  Elaren realized the men had used Palace policy to protect them.

  Killing Intent would be felt, would linger. But a testing probe, even one so sharp and powerful, could be played off as a misunderstanding.

  People did not do this normally because it was literally stabbing someone's spirit to see how firm it was.

  It was the same as assault.

  Rong felt the man's residual Aura and Qi, then, while in excruciating pain, spun up her Core and mimicked both and sent out a wave, and Air blades destroyed Elaren's desk.

  When Jianrong awoke, she was in Elaren’s bed, and Sulara was there, as was Jang and Andy.

  Ning was not there.

  That told her everything she needed to know.

  The why didn’t matter, only that she had fallen, and as her master, he was off somewhere likely placating someone.

  With Andy’s help, they cycled then refined Qi until a ruby-like Qi moved between their hands and through their meridians.

  “Jesus, Rong, did this damage from just them testing you?” Andy asked, shocked by all the tiny tears he found.

  She nodded. “Maybe two breaths' worth of Core formation pressing into me as hard as they dared.”

  Later, when it was only the three of them, Rong told them a hard truth.

  “Do not rely on Uncle Ning,” Rong stated.

  Sulara and Elaren waited for the justification.

  “If he knows Velran wants to hurt you, knows we cannot endure intent, but stated he and I would take care of it…that tells me he just doesn’t want you involved. I would bet a paycheck that he is trying to negotiate a settlement. But using my name, he bought your permission emotionally. Uncle Ning thinks killing is karma-heavy, so to think he would kill Velran is laughable. To imagine him going toe to toe with Yue is equally as laughable.” She stated.

  Sulara thought it through and could not argue. Their grand elder was a scholar, a man of doctrine and knowledge.

  Elaren’s face went through a range of emotions.

  Rong took out two vials.

  Each had a couple dozen black gems.

  “Save these for emergencies. They can heal you and help you recover your Qi. There is enough for a few months if the pills dry up. You know where we are, just come and I can give more.”

  Both women looked pale at the idea of Jianrong leaving right after returning.

  She stood up. “Come on, my loves, we have several hours before dawn, as long as I take flight in the darkness, no one can hit me,” Rong said, loosening her robe and moving to the bedroom. It would be a while before they could drink again. She would see them keep progressing and growing stronger.

  She loved them.

  In the predawn darkness, Elaren and Sulara watched Rong leap from the balcony, wave goodbye, then fall upward at her highest speed.

  Blood was in the water; to remain a moment longer was to court disaster.

  Two people stood in the courtyard's darkness, watching.

  Jang looked at Ning with a very different attitude than the day prior.

  “Don’t look at me that way, you forget how many players there are within these walls. Certain precautions must be taken to ensure continuity.” Ning stated as if she had never been in politics herself.

  Jang looked down and gave an amused snort.

  She had her disciple for only a day, and already he had done things for her she could not repay. He asked for nothing; worse, he told her the truth about what they had been doing and why. The faith they had in Sulara and Elaren, the goals of uplifting women like Gaila and Virea. He had told her, because she was his master and he believed in her.

  “Moving forward…I have been asked to provide adequate protection for her Highness due to the escalating tensions in the region.”

  When she looked up at him, he saw she didn’t care either way what he thought.

  “You understand, of course, we must ensure continuity,” Jang said with a smile that said she was relaxed and confident.

  Because she was confident, her Soul Sea shimmered with highly refined Qi that was slowly turning back time for her body.

  Jang’s eyes held Ning’s until he had to look away.

  Andrew had told her many interesting things.

  But the one she had mulled on the most was why they chose women.

  His family saw them as the future, not just because they could bear children.

  “Don’t hate me, master, but your body makes you think differently. Maybe later, as you shed your humanity, you will think more like a man or men, and women will think similarly as enlightened beings, but for now, somewhere you look to the horizon and consider a future that likely dwarfs what Uncle Ning can. Not because he is stupid, but because we are engineered to protect and hold, you are engineered to keep us going. Why else would this society burn its people like firewood for its own gain? If I asked a man and a woman if that made sense, the man would argue that is the way it is, a woman would offer that it's that way, but she cannot change it, even knowing it will fail.” Andrew had confessed to her as they cycled together.

  “Does that mean you trust every woman?” Jang had laughed.

  Andy laughed with her. “Some of the worst offenders have been women, people who adapted to life in the environment. People like a petal commander, my brother liked…well, more than that…she wouldn’t see the truth, and in the end, she had to flee because she could not live outside the system she protected, and the system didn’t want her to survive.” Andy explained about Elder Shuanglin Veyra Cai.