A Perfect Cut

Darian fell to his hands and knees panting. Impurities covered his entire body. The black gunk smelled foul. He had just finished refining his bones, and they still burned a little. Just in time too. The entourage from Clan Wind Dance, including Darian and his friends, would leave tomorrow to head towards Crescent Moon City in order to meet with Clan Stone Pillar.

Earlier, as Darian refined his bones, it felt like someone had poured molten metal into them. It had taken all his willpower to keep cultivating. Otherwise, he would have crippled himself. Astra had told him that every small realm in the Foundation Establishment stage that was a multiple of three brought greater rewards when refined, but they also brought greater risks. If he made a mistake, he could damage himself beyond repair. He had never forgotten her words.

Since he had already refined his meridians and his bones, when it came to multiples of three, all he had left to do were his muscles. They were also his final small realm for the Foundation Establishment stage, the one he needed to complete in order to finish building his foundation. After that, he could begin to form his dantian.

Astra had told Darian to let her know when he had reached that point. Apparently, there were right ways and wrong ways to form one's dantian. She would help him pick the former and avoid the latter.

After a few minutes of resting, in which he waited for his bones to cool down, Darian pushed himself up into a crouch. As he did so, he noticed someone approaching him. It was Vera. It looked like she had finished her own cultivation for the day. When she reached him, she offered him a washcloth. It was soaked in some kind of solution.

Darian's hands flew to the top of his head, feeling the layer of fuzz that grew there. It had taken him several weeks to regrow his hair to this point, and he didn't want to lose it again. Thankfully, his eyebrows had already regrown.

When she saw him do this, Vera smirked.

"Don't worry," she said in a teasing tone. "This is soaked in the solution that makes it easier to clean away your impurities. It won't remove your hair."

Darian eyed her with suspicion for several seconds, before he took the wash cloth and started wiping himself down. When it worked as she said it would, he relaxed.

"Thank you," he said.

"It still amazes me," Vera said. "How fast you cultivate that is. I'm a little envious, I'll admit." She looked towards a particular area of Duskfall Hall. "Still, I can't complain. The energy gathering formations that Cultivator Astra created for Lucius and I have done wonders for our own cultivation. I almost can't believe she created them. They're leagues better than the ones Clan Wind Dance has access to. They can't even compare."

The two of them were alone in the training courtyard. It was early morning, the time when most everyone focused on cultivating. The only exceptions were the mortal servants, and Darian's father, who couldn't cultivate yet due to his injuries.

"Auntie is amazing, yes," Darian said, continuing to clean himself.

"Of course I am," Astra said, speaking from above.

Darian and Vera looked up to find the cat spirit beast flying towards them. She was in her human form, and carried several scrolls in her hands. She landed in front of the two of them.

"While I'm not one to question why others are praising me," Astra said. "Why am I amazing this time?"

She held up one of the scrolls.

"Is it because I finished this technique your Honored Ancestor started but never finished?" she asked, wearing a smug grin.

Darian started at this, and then smiled.

"You finished the fist version of Severing Wind?"

"Of course. Didn't I just say that?" Astra shrugged. "Originally I was just going to help you understand this scroll, but when I understood it myself, I knew I just had to finish it." Her expression soured. "That bastard Honored Ancestor of yours is a tricky one. This thing was a damned honey trap."

Darian snickered. While he loved his Auntie, it amused him to see her so vexed.

"You let her read the Severing Wing scroll Lucius got for you, Darian?" Vera said with a frown. "I know it's incomplete, but you shouldn't let outsiders learn of our clan's secrets so easily."

"Don't worry," Darian said. "My father approved of it, and Auntie said that she would compensate our clan if she found that she could use it." He glanced at Astra and the scrolls in her hands. "Something tells me this is the case."

Astra's expression soured further.

"Unfortunately for me, you're right." She tossed the complete version of the Severing Wind scroll to Darian, before holding up the remaining three scrolls. "Where is Cultivator Lucius? I'll let him deliver these to your clan."

Lucius arrived at the training courtyard at that moment. He looked perfect, with not a hair out of place, which annoyed Darian. He couldn't wait to get to the point where he didn't have to worry about impurities oozing out of his body.

"Deliver what to our clan?" Lucius asked, walking up to them.

"These," Astra said, holding out the scrolls to him. "They're my way of compensating Clan Wind Dance for letting me read the fist version of the Severing Wind technique."

Lucius gave Darian a sharp glance. Darian just shrugged and resumed cleaning himself. A part of him noted that his sense of modesty had suffered ever since he started cultivating.

"I can guess who let that happen," Lucius muttered under his breath. He looked at Astra. "Severing Wind is one of our clan's offensive techniques. We can't just accept any form of compensation for it."

At this, Astra smirked.

"Don't worry," she said. "I think you'll be happy with these. They're copies of Lesser Spiraling Vortex, Spiraling Vortex Formation, and Greater Spiraling Vortex Formation. You don't have to worry about quality. The first two are high-tier formations, while the last one is an Immortal-tier formation."

The three of them all stared at her. None of them said anything for several long seconds.

"Is…Is that all right, Auntie?" Darian asked. "That seems a bit much."

"Of course it is," Astra said with a snort. "I created them, so I'm free to trade them away to whoever I choose."

Lucius took the scrolls and stared at them as if they were priceless treasures. For Clan Wind Dance, they were. In the months since they had arrived at Duskfall Hall, Darian had learned a bit about energy gathering formations. Cultivators at the Energy Gathering stage and beyond either needed high amounts of ambient spirit energy in the area to continue cultivating, or they used energy gathering formations to draw in and concentrate the spirit energy to them. The higher the cultivator's level, the more spirit energy they needed.

The three formations that Astra had just handed to Lucius would be enough to elevate Clan Wind Dance even further. An Immortal-tier energy gathering formation would be enough to satisfy Nascent Soul cultivators and Immortals.

Darian sighed. It irked him that even now, his clan benefited from him, albeit indirectly in this case. Petty, but he earned the right to be petty.

"Cultivator Astra," Lucius said in a stunned voice. "I can't accept these, as much as I want to. It wouldn't be a fair trade. Severing Wind is valuable, but not enough for all three. At most, I can take the copy of Lesser Spiraling Vortex Formation."

Astra gave him a mischievous grin.

"Oh, that's where you're wrong. Severing Wind is much more profound than you realize, Cultivator Lucius."

"It is?" Vera asked.

"Oh yes." Astra gestured to the ground. "Sit down children. Let Auntie Astra give you a little lesson."

At that, she pulled out three cushions and tossed them to Darian and his friends. They all looked at each other, before they shrugged at the same time and sat down.

Darian had finished cleaning himself at this point.

"This?" Astra began, pointing to the Severing Fist scroll. "This is not just a sword technique. It is a cutting technique. Rather, it is the concept of cutting, the concept of division, distilled into a usable form."

Darian and his friends all gave her blank looks.

"What do you mean by that?" Lucius asked. "Of course it's a sword technique. It's meant to be used with a sword for a reason."

Astra smiled at him as if he were a child that said something cute.

"I shall provide some context, Cultivator Lucius," she said. "Everything we perceive is a manifestation of the principles and laws that govern the universe. The air you breath, spirit energy, yourself. Everything. These laws and principles are the foundation of reality. It is by learning them, by understanding them, and by using them that we can cultivate and elevate ourselves to higher states of being."

Darian listened to Astra with a single-minded intensity. Her words reminded him a little of the state he had been in after that first torture session with Ellen, albeit lesser in a way he couldn't quite articulate. Everything else faded to the background, even the presence of his friends.

"This won't mean much to any of you, given your low level," Astra continued. "But it is still useful information to know. At the Element Collection stage, cultivators begin to perceive these laws and principles, which is how they collect the elements needed to form their Golden Core. After forming their Golden Core, cultivators go beyond mere perception. At that stage, they can touch and even incorporate the weakest of these laws into their techniques. These are called the Lesser Laws. They also use these Lesser Laws to nourish and give birth to their Nascent Soul. At the Nascent Soul stage, cultivators can do the same thing with the more powerful laws and principles, which we call the Greater Laws. The Lesser Laws come from the Greater Laws, and it is from both that everything manifests."

Astra paused and looked over her pupils.

"Do you understand me so far?" she asked.

"I think so," Darian said after a moment. "This all reminds me of the time I reached a state of enlightenment and caught a glimpse of Fire itself."

"Indeed," Astra said with a nod. "Fire is one of the Greater Laws. So is the concept of division. After all, what would reality be if nothing was divided? If nothing was separated? It would all be one. There would be no difference between you and that cushion you're sitting on, for example."

At this, Darian started and then glanced at the cushion beneath him.

"And Severing Wind is based on this Greater Law?" Lucius asked in a doubtful tone.

"Yes and no. Severing Wind is a manifestation of this Greater Law."

Vera raised her hand. Astra raised an eyebrow at her, before nodding in her direction.

"Cultivator Astra, I understand why Lucius and Darian are here," Vera said. "Severing Wind is a technique of Clan Wind Dance, and you just finished a fist version of it. I don't see how I would benefit from learning this. I'm a healer. I put things back together, not cut them apart."

Astra snorted.

"Cultivation knowledge in general is useful," she said. "However, even a healer like you has uses for Severing Wind. After all, when it comes to healing, sometimes you need to separate diseased flesh from healthy flesh in order to save your patient. More than that, learning about taking things apart can help you understand how to put them back together."

Astra's words put all sorts of images in Darian's mind. He also remembered the torture sessions he had endured, as well as the healing sessions afterward. Astra had a point there. Both helped him understand The Nine Gates of Destruction.

"I see," Vera said. "Or at least I think I do."

Astra nodded.

"What your bastard Honored Ancestor did when he created Severing Wind was distill the concept of cutting into a simple, easy to use technique; a technique that even Foundation Establishment cultivators can use. More than that, it is adaptable. Severing Wind can be used to enhance any offensive technique, and can even be used with any kind of weapon, infusing them with the power of cutting." She shook her head. "It's genius. If that man didn't annoy me so much, I might even consider praising him."

Darian stared at her.

"Any weapon?" he asked. "So not just fists or swords?"

"Yes, any weapon and any offensive technique. Whips, for example."

Both Lucius and Darian looked at Vera, who stared at Astra with her mouth hanging open. Since Vera practiced a healing technique, the number of offensive techniques she could use was low. Being able to use Severing Wind would increase her combat capabilities.

"Yes, Cultivator Vera," Astra said with a smug look on her face. "You'll need to study the original version, as well as the one I just finished, but with some practice, you'll be able to use Severing Wind."

Vera's surprise turned to excitement.

"Can you-…?" she started to say, before turning bashful.

"Yes," Astra said, answering her unasked question. "I can make a copy of the fist version for you. I'll even do it free of charge. You are a member of Clan Wind Dance, so you have a right to learn it."

Vera vibrated with excitement.

"Is it possible for you to give us a demonstration?" Lucius asked. "I've never seen Severing Wind used at the highest levels."

Astra thought it over before nodding.

"I'll do you one better. Watch and learn."

She walked over to a corner of the training courtyard. Darian and his friends stood up and followed. Astra flicked her finger. An arc of dense spirit energy shot out and cut into the stone floor of the training courtyard, leaving a long gash.

"This is a regular claw slash," Astra explained. "Now, I'll show you a claw slash using Severing Wind."

She flicked her finger again, and another arc of dense spirit energy shot out. There was something different about this one, though Darian couldn't quite figure out what. The spirit energy slashed the stone floor and left another gash next to the original one.

No. Gash wasn't the right word. Cut. It was a cut in the purest sense of the word. The difference between the first one and the second one was like night and day. The second cut didn't just separate this part of the stone floor, it was as if it had never been connected in the first place. It was perfect. This second cut contained traces and whispers of greater truths. Darian felt like he could spend years studying it, and only learn a fraction of the truths it contained.

"Instead of a demonstration," Astra said. "I thought I'd leave a learning aid. This should help all three of you comprehend Severing Wind much faster."

Lucius didn't even respond. He sat down in front of the second cut, and stared at it, as if it contained the secrets of the universe. Which it did, to a certain degree. Darian and Vera glanced at each other.

"Don't worry," Astra said, as if reading their minds. "You can study it. I'll make sure you three are ready to leave on time."

Darian gave her a grateful look and joined Lucius in studying the second cut. Vera did the same.

***

Estelle woke up and opened her eyes. One moment, she was talking with Auntie Nova about her fate, and the next she found herself here, wherever here was. She remembered nothing in between. There was just a blank hole in her memories. Even if she had been asleep, she should have remembered her dreams, but there was nothing.

Estelle sat up and looked around. She found herself in a large bedroom that any Sect Leader or Clan Head in the Myriad Rivers region would kill to own. The level of wealth and opulence on display stunned her. Somehow, it remained tasteful and elegant rather than gaudy and garish. It looked like it belonged in a palace.

The bed she lay on was as soft and comfortable as a cloud. Wait a moment. No, it was an actual cloud. Somehow, someone had captured a cloud and turned it into the mattress for this bed. Her clothing, the uniform for Clan Wind Dance's servants, was gone. Instead, she wore a comfortable set of red robes that felt delightful against her skin. Estelle spent a few moments just luxuriating in the sheer animal pleasure of it.

Had she died and gone to heaven?

Estelle snorted. No. The sins of her previous life were too heavy for that to happen to her. Yet the actual truth was almost as fantastical. Jaime, a disciple of the Pit Viper Sect, had died and been reborn as the kin to an Immortal and her son. It was a turn of luck that she knew she didn't deserve, given her past. She would have to spend the rest of her life somehow making up for her misdeeds. Still, she didn't mind. It meant that she was no longer alone, not anymore.

The door to the bedroom opened, interrupting her thoughts. Two wooden puppets, controlled by spirit energy, walked into the room. They carried clothing in their arms. Behind them entered a short woman who could only be described as a spider in human form. The woman had black, chitinous skin and eight solid black eyes on her mostly human face. Long black hair cascaded down her head.

Estelle felt a shiver of instinctive fear at the sight of the spider woman. However, her fear faded away when the spider woman bowed to her.

"Young Mistress Estelle," the spirit beast said, rising from her bow. "I'm glad to see you awake. My name is Lavina. I am one of Mistress Nova's retainers."

Oh. So this palatial room belonged to Auntie Nova. Estelle let out a sigh of relief. While she should have felt fear or anger or hate for the woman who had bound her with mental compulsions and reshaped her soul, she didn't. Instead, Estelle loved her as family. After all, she was the one who chose this. She could have picked a different path. Junior Brother Darian had given her the choice after all.

Nor was Estelle afraid that Auntie Nova would harm her. If that was what she had intended to do, she would have done so already.

"Young Mistress?" Estelle asked.

"You are Mistress Nova's kin. That makes you a Young Mistress of this household." Lavina gestured to the clothing held by the wooden puppets. "These are for you. Mistress Nova wishes for you to join her for breakfast after you finish dressing. I shall leave one of the puppets behind to guide you to her."

With that, the puppets placed the clothing on a nearby dresser and left the room, with Lavina following behind them. At the mention of food, Estelle's stomach growled. She didn't know how long she had been asleep, but it felt like it had been a while. She dressed in the outfit given to her, a set of flowing red robes in an unfamiliar style, and exited the room.

As Lavina said, one of the wooden puppets was stationed outside the room. As soon as Estelle appeared, it headed off towards Auntie Nova, or so she assumed. As they walked, Estelle examined her surroundings. When she had still been Jaime, she had seen her former Master's quarters. At the time, she had burned with envy at the level of luxury he had achieved. This estate of Auntie Nova's made him look like a pauper. It was like the difference between a beggar and a king.

When one was an Immortal, one had entire lifetimes to accumulate wealth.

The puppet led Estelle to a balcony that overlooked a gorgeous landscape. When she first saw it, Estelle stopped and took a moment to appreciate the view. It was far more beautiful than anything she had ever seen in her life. Once again, she questioned if she had gone to heaven.

Based on the position of the sun, it looked like it was late morning.

Auntie Nova, in her guise as Stella, sat at a table located near the balcony's edge, looking out. There was no railing. If people weren't careful, they could fall off, though they wouldn't fall far. The balcony was located along the second floor. For cultivators, that wasn't much of a problem. The biggest threat would be embarrassment.

A sumptuous breakfast was laid out on the table, including tea. The sight of it all made Estelle's mouth water.

"Good morning, Niece Estelle," Auntie Nova said without looking at her.

Estelle bowed.

"Good morning to you as well, Auntie Nova," she said.

Auntie Nova snorted.

"That's going to take some getting used to. When I put the soul binding on you, I didn't expect to get a niece out of it." She turned to Estelle and gestured to the seat opposite hers. "Sit down and eat. We'll talk after you finish."

Estelle did as Auntie Nova said. The food was beyond anything she had ever tasted in her entire life. Every bite filled her with such pleasure that she let out some rather indecent noises. She couldn't help herself. Auntie Nova raised an eyebrow at this, but didn't comment. The tea simply tasted divine.

Before she knew it, Estelle had eaten every bite. She felt full and nourished in more ways than one. It was as if the food had fed her soul as well as her body. Perhaps it had. When it came to Immortals, she wouldn't discount anything.

Estelle leaned back and enjoyed the sensation.

"Now then," Auntie Nova said after a few minutes. "How do you feel? Use your mind sense to check yourself. You should still be able to do that."

Estelle closed her eyes and concentrated. Looking inward with her mind sense, she saw nothing amiss. Her body, mind, and soul looked fine. In fact, she looked better than fine. Her soul in particular looked healthy. There was no separation between the parts of her that were Jaime and the parts that were Cassandra. She had feared that might happen. Thankfully, it hadn't. Instead, the disparate parts of herself had all merged together into a seamless whole. She was Estelle, and no one else.

There were some other changes as well. As Junior Brother Darian had told her, the Mask of the Mortal Face had erased her cultivation. While she still had the body, mind, and soul of a Core Shaping cultivator, that was it. If she wanted to cultivate again, she would have to start over. At least she didn't have to start at the Foundation Establishment stage again.

Estelle also noted that her spirit root had changed. When she had still been Jaime, she'd had a water spirit root, and an impure one at that. However, she now had a fire spirit root, one with high purity. So much so that if she were to join a sect, she would be nurtured as a budding genius.

"What happened to my spirit root?" she asked, opening her eyes.

"I changed its balance while you were asleep," Auntie Nova said. "Since you're family now, it made sense to do so. I'm a fire cultivator, Darian is a fire cultivator, and now you will be one too."

Despite the love she felt for Auntie Nova, Estelle felt a chill run down her spine.

"I didn't even know that was possible."

"It is, but only under specific circumstances." Auntie Nova pulled an object out of thin air and placed it on the table. It was the Mask of the Mortal Face. "The only reason I was able to do it with you was because of this. It made your soul more malleable."

When Estelle saw the mask, her hands flew to her face. When she realized that the mask was truly off, she lowered her hands and let out a sigh of relief. A part of her had feared that she would always have to wear the mask. This face of hers, however it looked, would be the only one she wore from now on. It was hers, and hers alone.

"I also kept an eye on your soul to make sure that no weaknesses or irregularities formed," Auntie Nova continued. "I needn't have bothered. Your soul is stronger than it was before, when you were still Jaime. I suspect that the technique your former sect practices has a flaw, one that weakens the soul. I'm not sure if that was intentional or not."

Estelle shook her head.

"I don't think so. My former Master, Sect Leader Augustine practices that technique. He wouldn't have done so if he knew it would weaken his soul."

Not all cultivation techniques were created equal. Some were better than others, and they could all be graded and ranked based on a number of factors. A powerful technique that weakened the practitioner's soul would have a lower rank than a weaker one that didn't have such a flaw. After all, a weak soul left one susceptible to all sorts of nasty techniques.

"Now then," Auntie Nova said. "Let us discuss your future. Before we talk about cultivation and the like, I want to know about your intentions. Darian adopted you into the family, and I accepted his decision, but what does that mean to you?"

Estelle frowned in thought, and took a few moments to think about it. Auntie Nova waited with a patient look on her face, as if she had all the time in the world. She did, considering that she was an Immortal.

"I wish to redeem myself for the misdeeds of my past life," Estelle said. "I want to do so by staying close to Junior Brother Darian and helping him. He's a bit too…idealistic." She gave Auntie Nova a tight smile. "Someone needs to make sure he doesn't go too far with his bleeding heart tendencies. While Cassandra is a part of me, Jaime still makes up most of my soul. I'm a better person than Jaime, but that doesn't mean I'm a good person. I can be conniving and selfish enough to make up for Junior Brother Darian's naive impulses."

"Why?" Auntie Nova asked. "Why Darian? Just because he adopted you into the family doesn't mean you have stick around him like some lapdog. If you wanted, you could go out and find your own way in the world. You'll still be family, even if you did that. You don't have to align your path with his."

Estelle shook her head.

"If I had wanted to do that, I would've taken Junior Brother Darian's original offer. I wanted to be adopted into your…our family so I could stay by his side."

Auntie Nova raised an eyebrow.

"So you could reap the benefits of hugging his thigh? That was your goal as Jaime."

"No, that's not it." She paused. "That's not all of it. I want to stay by his side because he's so…warm and kind. His presence was like a comforting fire on a cold winter's night. It drew me in. I want to remain by that fire, and make sure it never goes out."

When she finished speaking, Estelle sipped some tea.

"And it has nothing to do with the fact that you want to engage in all sorts of debauchery with my son?"

The tea went down the wrong way, and Estelle ended up choking on it.

"Au-Auntie?" she asked, after clearing her throat. Her face burned with embarrassment. "What are you talking about?"

"I read your memories when you were still Jaime," Auntie Nova said, a smirk on her face. "All of them. I know about all the fantasies and feelings you had for him, including the ones you refused to acknowledge, even to yourself. For example, the one where Darian is wearing a collar and-…"

"Auntie!" Estelle said, interrupting her.

Auntie Nova let out a laugh.

"Don't worry," she said. "I won't say anything to him."

Estelle sipped her tea again, more so to keep herself occupied than because of any real desire to do so. Why was Auntie Nova bringing this up? She thought mothers were supposed to be…Well, not be like this when it came to their sons.

"Would you…Would you be against such a pairing?" Estelle asked, more than a little nervous. "Me and him, I mean?"

At this, Auntie Nova's expression grew serious and the air around them turned chilly. The sky above grew cloudy and overcast.

"That depends," Auntie Nova said in a deceptively calm voice. "I still haven't forgiven you. You may have been reborn, but Jaime is still a part of you. It will depend on your actions. We'll see how sincere you are."

Rather than shake Estelle's resolve, Auntie Nova's words reaffirmed it instead. She would be with Junior Brother Darian, in one way or another. She would prove herself worthy.

"But enough about that," Auntie Nova continued. The sky cleared and the temperature warmed up again. "We still have work to go."

With a wave of her hand, she pulled out two objects. One was a metallic scroll, and the other was a vial filled with a glowing red liquid. The liquid reminded Estelle of blood, but it didn't look like any kind of blood that she had ever seen before.

"The sooner we restore your cultivation, the better," Auntie Nova said, holding up the scroll. "This is the Crimson Dragon technique. My first Master practiced this technique, and I practiced it myself until I developed my own. I hope you understand what it means for me to allow you to practice this."

Estelle nodded. It was Auntie Nova's way of saying that she truly accepted Estelle into the family.

"This is the blood of a fire dragon." Auntie Nova held up the vial. "We'll use it as the catalyst to upgrade your dantian. Currently it's only green. That is unacceptable."

Estelle stared at the vial.

"I didn't know dantians could be upgraded after they formed," she said.

"They can, though it isn't common knowledge. Thankfully for you, the sect I belong to is one of the elite sects of the world. We have access to all sorts of forgotten and forbidden knowledge. You're expected to join, since the Crimson Dragon technique belongs to the sect, but that can wait until Darian is ready to join as well." She nodded in Estelle's direction. "Once we're done here, we'll return to the Myriad Rivers region."

Family, a new cultivation technique, and a better dantian? Estelle only had one response for that. She stood up, pushing the chair back.

"Then let us begin," she said. "The sooner we're done here, the sooner we can return to Junior Brother Darian."

Auntie Nova gave her a small smile.

"Good attitude," she said. "I may end up liking this new you after all."