Qi Ran's mouth tilted. "I am glad you took the apothecary path.." he said. "With a root like yours, pills are not a luxury. They are a necessity. If your chaotic root is single-natured or dual-natured will decide how you temper it. We must check it properly."
He tapped the spine of the Chaotic Heart manual. "Most places with proper equipment can run a root diagnostic. Sects have arrays, testing halls, and pill furnaces. They can map your meridians and see whether your chaos coils into one channel or fractures into two. If it is dual, your training will differ."
Loubing's jaw hardened. "I hate sects.." she said. "They are only places where the strong prey on the weak."
Qi Ran's eyes amused him. "Don't tell me you want to be a rogue cultivator?"
She flinched. "And what if I do?"
He reached out and flicked her forehead, gentle but sharp enough to draw a sound from her. "Don't be stupid. Rogues starve or die in storms. Sects are teeth and tongue. They bite, but they also feed. There is shelter, resources, tutors, pill furnaces, pill herbs, spirit stone stores. If you fear being bullied, then grow. Use what they offer to become the one who bullies."
Loubing stared at him. He said it like a fact.
Qi Ran stepped back and snapped his fingers. The two manuals and the sword vanished from the stone floor and reappeared in his open palms, each item humming faintly. "You will need outfitting, testing, and someone who can teach you apothecary properly. That woman outside—Su Moyan. Let her be your master. She has the knowledge and the resources. She could ascend to the Heavenly Realm if she chose. Keep her close. Learn from her. Do not make enemies you cannot cut."
Loubing raised a brow? So the woman's name was Su Moyan? She didn't know why, she felt this motherly charm from her.
He paused and his voice narrowed. "And one more thing. Your eyes are a secret until you are god-level. Never let anyone know. Not your sect, not the people you dine with, not your closest classmates. Let them think you are weak. Let them laugh. You will act small so the world will not note the storm beneath your palm."
Loubing's hands curled. She heard the hunger in his words and the warning. "Act weak?" she said softly. "Pretend?"
Qi Ran nodded once. "Yes. Move like you have nothing. Speak like you have nothing. Hide everything worth stealing. The strong will always pick at what glitters. If they do not see the glow, they will move on. You will grow in secret. When the time to ripen comes, you will ripen like a fruit they never expected."
He slipped the items, now only light traces, into a small, folded space. Leaving only the apothecary manual. "I shall keep the sword and the chaotic heart manual until you need them. But the apothecary manual, you use it to learn from her. Tell her you survived the exile. Tell her you need a place to recover and learn. You will not demand a throne. You will be patient and study."
Qi Ran's smile became thin. "Do not be foolish enough to run off alone. The world hunts what it fears. Move with allies, move with intention, and move in such a way that no one knows what you truly are. I will watch. I will instruct you when you return. For now, learn to breathe with your chaos. Endure the first pains. The manual will hurt you. That is its job."
Loubing swallowed. She wanted to argue.
She wanted to say she did not need a master, did not need pity, did not need to hide.
The heat in her chest answered for her instead. She would hide. She would learn. She would not be weak again.
Qi Ran inclined his head as though they had agreed on something inevitable. "Go now.." he said. "Taste the fundamentals. Learn to stabilize one breath at a time. Su Moyan will teach you the pill furnace. When your foundation holds, I will teach you how to tear open the chaos and make it sing."
He stepped back, his palms empty, the Dhama space already folding its edges like a closing eye. "Leave with caution, child of dragons. The path is long, and the world is hungry."
Loubing's lashes trembled as she opened her eyes. The cool air of the courtyard returned, carrying the faint fragrance of spirit herbs.
Su Moyan sat beneath the veranda, her chin propped against her palm, eyes glinting with quiet amusement. What an odd little girl, she thought, watching the child stir as though waking from a dream.
Nearby, Ye Feng tilted his head, his fluffy black tail swishing.
His gaze dropped to the necklace at her throat. "Do you like it? I still think it's ugly. Why your parents chose it, I'll never understand."
Loubing blinked at him, recognition cutting through her daze. That sly, irritating glimmer, it really was the same fox she used to play with.
"Get out of my face. You're no longer cute."
Ye Feng gasped as if stabbed. "No longer?! I can be cute if you want! Do you want me to change form? Small fox? Younger fox? A kitsune form, perhaps?" He scrambled after her with exaggerated offense.
But Loubing ignored him. Her eyes had locked on Su Moyan, who was still sitting, watching quietly.
Step by step, she crossed the courtyard. Then, without hesitation, she sank to her knees before the woman and kowtowed, her voice steady despite the pounding of her heart.
"Master, please accept me under your wing. This stray has nowhere else to go. Please accept me, and teach me your ways."
Ye Feng froze mid-complaint, his ears twitching in shock.
Su Moyan blinked once, then her lips curved faintly. A peculiar girl indeed, fallen from the sky, marked by hardship, yet standing straight with the resolve of someone who had endured too much already.
She could see it in her eyes: this child had not been treasured as she should have been.