Spring Winds

"System," Long Yuan called out. "Is there anyone here with me?"

I froze in place and waited for something to happen. What will I do if mosquito finds me here! I'm still n.a.k.e.d! After his sad defeat under my great hands, Master told me the name of the poor fellow. Long Yuan, what a pompous name

Anyways, as for the clothes situation, hmm, what to do?

I know! If he decides to come to me and cause trouble, I'll strip him bare of everything he got!

Great plan!

"No, Host," the cold voice responded. "No one can enter your cultivation sea unless you invite them in."

"Oh, I see," Long Yuan turned back to the screen.

Whew! It looks like he can't see me. But how will I get clothes now? I'm sure he will notice if he had a sudden wardrobe malfunction.

What a pity.

"Hehe, well, I'll think about that later. Hmm, I wonder what you are working on," I giggled as I cheerfully hopped over to Long Yuan. Peeking over his shoulder, I see what the mosquito is writing.

"System, is there any other way to get over this roadblock?" Long Yuan demanded as he sneered at my image.

"That's so cool," I gasped as I looked at the crisp image of myself in a domineering light. It's even better than any portrait that I've seen before. Looking at Long Yuan's side profile, I wonder if he's an artist or something.

"The only way for Host to get over this 'roadblock,'" the voice empathized. "Is to complete the mission."

"I know that I need to f*ucking complete the mission," Long Yuan outburst. "I know that I need to defeat that b*tch to gain back lost progress! But the question is, how!"

"Achoo!" Huh, is he referring to me?

"Host, the system ran the numbers and did various tests, and in all of the results, there is one way," the voice responded. "Find her weakness."

"Argh!" Long Yuan yelled and gripped the transparent board. "That's not helping!"

"Host," the voice replied. "Calm yourself."

"How can I calm myself down in a situation like this! Huh!" Long Yuan shouted as his face turned red with rage. "All of this was going just fine until that stupid mission came up!"

"Mission?" I mumbled to myself. What is this guy talking about?

"I'm supposed to be the son of heaven! Me!" Long Yan continued to rage. "What's the point of me being here if it's not for my glory!"

"This guy has lost his mind," I mused as a circled him. Tsk, tsk. Doesn't he know? Those who need to shout to the heavens that they're the emperor are not the emperor.

At this rate, no wonder he lost to me so quickly! This guy is riding off some false promise this demon must have given him!

Poor boy, though, I don't pity him.

He did curse me, after all.

"Host," the voice returned. "No one is this world, or any world is without weakness. All things good happen to those who wait and are smart about their time."

Long Yuan seemed to calm down slightly at the voice's advice. "Just list off the make up tasks already."

"To progress onward, Host must complete the following tasks. [Reach Mid Heavenly Core. Time limit: 3 weeks.], [Regain the Sect Master's favor. Time limit: 3 weeks.]"

Long Yuan didn't seem to respond to the voice but rather stare at it in an eerie silence.

"Well," I trailed off as I stared at Long Yuan for a while. "This Senior will excuse her self for she has seen everythi-!"

What the hell is happening?!?

Why am I falling again?

Going off my lesson from last time, I curled my body up to give myself some security. Maybe if I act like a cat and quickly turn my body on time, then I'll land like a cat.

Or something resembling that movement.

How much longer am I going to fall?

Suddenly, I seemed to off landed into a someone?

Somehow this body seems familiar…

Peeking an eye open, I see a familiar face. "S-senior Sister!" However, before I could continue in my shock, vertigo came to greet me instead.

No, not again! Quickly leaning off to the side, away from Senior Sister, I gag up the remains of my stomach. The bitter sting of acid coats my parched throat, and nothing comes out but bitter spit.

"Ugh, I hate this," I groaned as I sloppily wiped my mouth of saliva. Through my shaky vision, I can see my dazed reflection off the wet ground. In the corner of my eye, I swear I can even see a moon.

Where am I? Where is this place?

Rolling back into my previous position, I lay careless on Senior Sister's lap.

Is it me, or is Senior Sister's face turning red?

"Y-you, you're n.a.k.e.d!"

Oh crap!

"Ahhh, look away!" I scurried away as I grabbed anything within my vicinity to shed my n.a.k.e.dness, my face burning a slight shade of crimson. In this case, it was the broad leaves of the lotus flowers that seemed to grow around Senior Sister's spot.

Senior Sister seemed to quickly recover from her momentary shock as she quickly turned away as well.

Usually, I would have taken advantage of Senior Sister's embarrassment, but now it different!

I know that she like me now, so…

What am I to do?

I am practically playing defense this time because I don't know what she's going to do! Or what I'm supposed to do!

"Here," an outer robe hit my face. "Use this to cover yourself up."

"Uh, thanks, Senior Sister," I called out as looked up from to the robe to her. She didn't turn my direction and continued to look away with a small hum of acknowledgment.

After tying the robe around myself, I slowly got up and walked over to where Senior Sister was sitting. She was sitting on some stone pedestal, and with the lotus flowers around her, it looked like those paintings and statues of goddesses that one would see in a temple.

"So…"

"How did you get here?"

"Uh," I didn't expect her to ask that question. Plopping myself next to her on the edge of the pedestal, I stare at my feet. "To be honest, I don't know myself."

"You don't know?" I could hear the shuffling of Senior Sister's robes as she turned to me.

"Yeah," I shrugged as I moved my feet against the wet surface as the moon silently observed in the background. "One minute, I was in a meditating in a pool, and then the next I was falling through darkness."

I didn't mention anything about the memories or coming across mosquito. Those weren't important at the moment.

"Hmm," Senior Sister hummed. "I haven't heard of anything like that before, but it's not outside the realm of possibility."

"Yeah, I figured," I mumbled. In a world were mystical beast roamed alongside common men, monsters, and demons, surely anything could happen. It's just a matter of time when new things pop up.

"So, how are you feeling?" A hand gently lands on my shoulder.

"Huh?" I turn to ask. "What are you are talking about?"

"You're falling. How are you feeling?" Senior Sister calmly repeated.

"Oh!" How could I forget I used Senior Sister like a landing pad! "I'm so sorry for landing on you!"

"It's fine," Senior Sister reassured. "I didn't even feel anything."

"Really?" I narrowed my eyes in uncertainty. "I mean, It was a pretty far fall, are you sure I didn't break your legs?" I reached out to grab Senior Sister's legs to see if I had broken them.

She swatted my hands away with a pink face. "They're fine!" And then she turned back around.

"Uh, ok. I'm sorry," I meekly apologized and turned away too. My cheeks burned the tops of my knees as I rested my head on them.

Since when did I blush this often?

"So, um, where are we?"

"We're inside my cultivation sea," Senior Sister replied stiffly.

"Cultivation sea?" I heard mosquito's demon mention that name, but I wasn't too familiar with the topic.

"Hah," Senior Sister sighed. "Didn't you study at all?"

"Haha, you know me best, Senior Sister," I replied. "I won't study unless I need to."

"Silly girl," Senior Sister muttered. "Alright, since you're here, I might as well educate you while you are here." She turned herself around to face me, and I do the same. It's only right to meet someone while speaking to them.

"A cultivation sea sort of your realm of meditation," Senior Sister started. "Each sea is different from the next, as people are inherently different."

I raised my hand.

"Yes?"

"So, what's the point of having a cultivation sea? It sorta seems pointless."

"Good question. Each sea is just an extension of your own subconscious space. Here, you can see more within yourself and that around you. In essence, isolate yourself further away from the material world. You're essentially in a deeper meditative state right now."

"Wait, are you saying that we are on the brink of death?" Ah! I'm too young to die!

"Well, sort of," Senior Sister nodded. "However, in a controlled state, like this," and gestured around us. "We should be okay."

"Oh, so how do I get out of here?" I asked.

"Well, that depends if we finish cultivating for the time being," Senior Sister answered. "And the only way for us to come back is if one, an external force awakens us and brings us back to our bodies, or two, have a breakthrough."

"What!" Who knows how long that will take or how long that we be! We could be just sitting here as years fly past us in a blink of an eye.

"Relax," Senior Sister patted my head. "Time flows slower here compared to outside. A month here is compared to a week outside. Any more questions?"

"Yes! How come when I last went into closed-door cultivation with you I didn't go through this 'cultivation sea' stuff. All I could feel was just how much my butt hurt from sitting."

"Well, had you tried to relax and empty your mind instead of moping around, then perhaps you would have seen your sea earlier."

"Hmph! It's not my fault that cultivating is boring! Even in a vast sea like here, all you do is sit and wait. Tsk, this is all Master's fault!"

"Master's fault?" Senior Sister raised a brow. "What are you talking about?"