The rhythm of their days settled into a new normal. Train. Clean the stables. Train again. The smell of hay and beast dung was a constant companion, a humbling counterpoint to the serene beauty of the Jade Palace.
Li Fen became a fixture in their pavilion. Her visits weren't always for lessons. Sometimes she just sat, listening to Gen and Liang bicker with an amused, distant smile. But often, she came to train.
"Your form is strong, but it's all push," she said one afternoon, watching Gen cycle through his Eternal Body drills. He moved like a piston, every motion radiating dense, forward force.
"It's supposed to push. It's a hammer," Gen grunted, not breaking his rhythm.
"A hammer is useless if the nail dodges." Li Fen stepped into the practice space. "Try to hit me. Use your Jingdao."
Gen shrugged and threw a straight punch, golden light trailing his fist. Li Fen didn't block. As his fist neared, the air directly in front of her palm *shimmered*. It wasn't a shield. It was a sudden, localized change in density—a pocket of thickened atmosphere. Gen's punch hit it and slowed, just for a fraction of a second, like punching through syrup. In that moment, Li Fen was no longer there; she had sidestepped with effortless grace.
"That's not Jingdao," Liang observed, his analytical eyes sharp.
"No," Li Fen said. "It's **Shidow**. Manipulation. My foundation." She let a wisp of energy dance between her fingers, bending the light. "Jingdao reinforces what is. Shidow changes what *is* around you. I can make the air thick, or thin. I can guide a force, or unbalance a root." She looked at Gen. "You are a fortress. I am the ground the fortress stands on. I decide if it stays level."
They learned through these small sessions. Her power was subtle, controlling, a stark contrast to Gen's overwhelming presence.
The contrast was even more obvious during their mandatory studies in the Hall of Verdant Wisdom. Here, Gen was a disaster. While Liang took meticulous notes on poison antidotes and spiritual herb cycles, Gen fidgeted, earning sharp glares from the lecturing elder.
Once, during a practical session, they were tasked with grinding a **Soothing Lavender Root** to neutralize a mild hallucinogenic pollen. Gen, bored and distracted, grabbed the visually similar **Mind-Fog Tuber** by mistake. When he ground it and added it to the pollen, instead of neutralization, the mixture released a cloud of harmless but intensely pungent green gas that smelled of rotten eggs and wet dog. It filled the hall in seconds. Disciples coughed and gagged, scrambling for windows. Gen stood in the middle of the chaos, holding the mortar, a look of pure bewilderment on his face as Liang facepalmed beside him. The memory still made the other disciples snicker.
Another time, overconfident after a successful combat drill, he'd popped a bright red **Fire-Berry** into his mouth during a flora identification walk, declaring its properties were "exaggerated." The berry's sap, a potent irritant, instantly coated his tongue and throat in a chemical burn. He'd spent the next hour sprinting through the palace corridors with his tongue stuck out, tears of pain in his eyes, desperately seeking the cooling **Milkweed Sap** Liang finally tracked down, while a trail of laughing disciples pointed at the "Fiery-Tongued Young Master."
So when Elder Mei stood before the gathered disciples one morning and announced a "practical field examination," the excited cracking of knuckles and eager murmurs made Gen and Liang exchange a confused look.
Li Fen, sitting ahead of them, glanced back. "It's the mid-year expedition," she explained quietly. "Groups are sent into the Verdant Canopy. The goal is to test applied skills outside the palace walls. Survival, navigation, judgment."
A real task. Outside. Gen's boredom vanished, replaced by a spark of adventure.
Elder Mei confirmed it. "You will form groups of three. Your objective is collection, not combat." She unfurled a scroll showing two plants. "The **Sleeping Deity Blossom** and its sole antidote, the **Greyheart Thistle**. Retrieve both. The blossom induces a coma; the thistle is the only cure. A lesson in consequence."
Gen groaned internally. *Plants. Of course.*
Liang, however, couldn't hide a small, smug smile. Finally, a test where his patience and study gave him the clear edge over Gen's brute force.
"Groups have been pre-assigned," Elder Mei announced, reading from a list.
When she called, "Group Seven: Jiang Gen, Wei Liang, Li Fen," none of the three showed surprise. It felt inevitable, the natural result of shared punishment and pavilion gatherings.
An older disciple nearby, a tall youth with sharp features named Jun, immediately stood. He offered a bow that didn't reach his eyes. "Elder Mei, for the balance of the groups, may I propose an adjustment? Disciple Li Fen's knowledge of high-altitude flora is unmatched. My group lacks such expertise. Perhaps she could join us?" He smiled thinly at Gen. "Surely the Young Master is adaptable enough to lead any group."
The polite request was a public challenge.
Gen didn't look at him. "No," he said, flat and final.
Liang shook his head. "We're fine."
Li Fen offered Jun a graceful, helpless shrug. "The elder has spoken."
Jun's smile froze. He shot Gen a look of pure venom before sitting back down.
Soon, the assembled disciples stood at the forest's edge. With bursts of **Jingdao**, groups shot into the treetops, leaping and vanishing into the green depths.
Gen, Liang, and Li Fen launched together, the wind rushing past. "We have until sunset?" Gen called out.
"Until sunset," Li Fen confirmed, flowing beside him. "It should be enough time. If it were easy."
"Why wouldn't it be?" Liang asked, focused on his landing.
"The Sleeping Deity only grows in the highest clearings, near the peaks," she explained. "The same clearings are hunting grounds for the **Diamond Cobra**. An Infant-stage beast. Its scales turn blades, and its venom paralyzes a Third Wheel cultivator in heartbeats. Comparable to your Flaming Moon Tiger, but faster, and smarter."
Gen grinned, the challenge warming his blood. "We handled the tiger when we were weak. We're stronger now."
Liang nodded, a newfound confidence in his eyes. "We have better tricks."
Li Fen laughed, a bright, clear sound. "Look at you. Even the quiet one is getting bold. The stables have scrubbed off the shine but left the steel." Her smile was genuine as she glanced at Liang. "Arrogance is contagious, it seems."
They pushed higher, ascending the mountain's shoulder. The trees began to thin, the air growing cooler. The real test had begun.