Xiao Ning'er

'I hope I'm making the right decision by telling him…' Xiao Ning'er thought to herself, unconsciously worrying her lower lip, before steeling herself and opening up to him about her condition.

"As you know, if you are born with enough talent, you start learning about cultivation from a very young age, if you are a member of a noble family that is.

I am a member of the Winged Dragon family, and born with enough talent, I was taught about cultivation as far back as I can remember.

But learning about it and actually practising cultivation are two completely different things. Even though I received many elixirs and medicines to prepare my body the best way possible for the day I would start my cultivation, I only just started a few months ago.

I cultivate in the cultivation art passed down through my family since ages past, which should help me greatly to advance in cultivation but instead, ever since I started cultivating, I am in constant pain.

I feel cold all the time and bruises started to appear all over my body whenever I cultivated. I even fell sick for a few days once because I couldn't take the pain anymore and simply stayed in bed all day.

I tried to find a way to deal with this problem in my families own collection of books, but nothing there was even remotely helpful.

My last hope was looking around this library here, which possesses the largest collection of books in Glory city. Now you know why I chose a book about medicinal herbs of all things." Ning'er said, finishing her explanation.

Her listener though remained silent and contemplative while looking her straight into the eyes with a calm expression on his face that betrayed none of his thoughts.

This, however, was a reaction she was not expecting, which brought all her hidden insecurities back to the surface of her mind. 'Does he think I'm stupid? Incapable of even doing my cultivation alone despite having a top-notch manual? Of course he does, how could he not? I'm such a failure…' Her thoughts caused her to lower her head lower and lower until she saw only her hands, tightly grasping her robe in shame.

"There is no need to feel ashamed, you silly girl." The boy before her said, which made her head snap upwards. Were her feelings so obvious to him? Gods, that made her feel even worse.

As she watched him closely though, the small smile on his handsome face, his relaxed position and calm attitude, her shame and embarrassment slowly began to drain out of her, until she felt calm and collected again. 'W-what in the world…?!'

This sudden turn of her emotions stunned her for a second, though before she could contemplate this rapid change of hers, her attention was once again grabbed by the boy before her when he continued to speak in that even voice of his.

"If I have learned one thing since coming to Glory City" that made her stop in her thoughts again. He was not from Glory City?! "it is that all the people that cultivate have actually no clue what exactly they are doing and the workings behind their actions.

To me, someone who has dedicated an amount of time unthinkable for most, the ignorance of the cultivators in Glory city, and possibly the rest of the world, is simply astounding.

For a young girl like you however, someone that has only just begun her path of cultivation, ignorance is completely understandable. Instead of feeling ashamed for yourself you should instead feel ashamed for those that taught you.

No blame falls to you, a novice at best. Keep a steady heart, don't panic and all will resolve itself in the end." He said with a sureness that stunned Ning'er, while slowly absorbing what exactly he had said just now.

'Ignorance? How can the elders of Glory city be called ignorant?! He is no older than I am!' She thought to herself, a little gobsmacked at his bold statement, though the boy before her did not seem overly arrogant to her. In fact, he had an air of understanding about him that befuddled her a little.

Turning back towards the boy before her, about to say something, Ning'er instead was taken of guard by the boy holding out the book with herbs to, opened to one particular page, motioning for her to take and read said page.

"While you were lost in thought" her cheeks burned slightly at the admonishment "I've found something that could help. What you described to me sound as if your Chi does not flow correctly or has a property to it that needs to be directed in a different way than what your family normally practises. Would you mind showing me one of those bruises?" He asked her, while she was still trying to wrap her head around the fact that he had already found something that may actually help her!

"Mhm, I mean, y-yes, sure." She stuttered slightly while rapidly taking in the context of the book in her hands.

The book though, described something she hadn't considered to be helpful or a solution to her problem in the first place. It showed a description of a plant that grew only in sunny and warm places, where it would absorb only pure Yang Chi.

Lowering the book back down to the table, Ning'er was a little confused. "How can this plant help me? It has no real medicinal applications at all!" She asked him, though instead of being flustered like boys his age normally are at a potential mistake, he only tilted his head to the side as if urging her to come up with the solution herself.

At her remained silence and confusion, he sighed lightly before seating himself a little differently before he responded to her.

"From what I understood so far, you have a property inside your Chi that is strongly aligned with Yin Chi, which sometimes happens for women who cultivate, as their body is naturally more inclined towards Yin Chi.

When strong Yin Chi is cultivated the wrong way however, it can lead to deposits of Yin Chi in meridians that usually wouldn't be used in its cultivation, leading to staying coldness in those areas.

Imagine ice cold water flowing through pipes only once every few days and remaining there for a while without being moved along through normal water. It would potentially turn into ice and make those pipes brittle and frigid. The same is happening to your meridians if I'm not wrong.

The plant I just showed you is a natural countermeasure to Yin Chi, as it is filled with pure Yang Chi. If administered as a salve for example, and rubbed into those areas, your bruises should fade away after some time. Still, I would like to check one of those bruises, just to make sure of my theory." The boy told her, stunning her speechless. Everything he had told her just now seemed completely logical and easily resolvable to her. Then why had she not been able to come up with that solution?

'Ignorance, just as he said earlier. Incredible…' She thought while her mind rebooted itself all the while.

Absentmindedly, Ning'er bent down and took of her right shoe, while also sliding her robe up a little, the embarrassment of her action causing her cheeks to heat up once again, all the while revealing an ugly looking light blue bruise to the boy's eyes.

Sitting himself down on the ground, the boy's hands softly grasped her foot and lower leg, causing a shiver to run down her whole body while cheeks reddened even further, inspecting the bruise with careful administrations.

To her surprise though, Ning'er watched as the boy before her caused his right hand to glow in the soft golden light of Chi and laid it down upon the bruise on her right leg, causing the always present pain to dim down considerably.

Naturally, she moaned audibly at feeling a lot less pain than before, though if it weren't for the good feeling his hand on the bruise caused her, would have made her bolt out of the door right then and there in embarrassment at her actions.

'Oh my god Ning'er, get a grip on yourself!' She chided herself, mortified but also in heaven at the pleasure she was feeling right about now.

Though, as soon as she had begun to relax under the boy's hands, they left her alone and returned to the boy's lap, a place she couldn't help but envy slightly to her further mortification.

With a bashful expression on her face she turned away slightly, oblivious that the boy was acutely aware of her current state of mind and body.

"I was correct it seems" his voice proclaimed, which caused her head to turn back around towards him, face still red but less so after having a second to steady her racing heart a little. "I will look into any locations where that herb may grow, so we can go and retrieve it for you. Until then, stop cultivating.

You are lucky that you haven't been cultivating for that long yet, but if you had kept going like that, you would have frozen your meridians in time, preventing any further movement of your Chi." He told her, causing a wave of horror to pulse through her whole being.

"I—thank you, for everything I mean. I'm not sure I would have found anything on my own. I am in your dept." Ning'er said, while bowing her head in gratitude towards the boy before her. That reminded her though that she didn't even know her saviours name!

"I'm sorry, but I didn't even ask for your name previously. Would you mind telling me?" She asked, a little embarrassed at her blunder in etiquette but the boy didn't seem to mind, as he only smiled at her in his relaxed manor that came so natural to him.

"Don't worry about it. My name is Hao. A pleasure to make your acquaintance, girl from the Xiao family." He replied with a little grin in her direction, mortifying her a little further.

"Ahhh, I'm so sorry, I didn't even introduce myself to you! My name is Xiao Ning'er. A pleasure, Hao, and again thank you." She said while bowing once again in his direction, though from the small laugh he let out, her embarrassment wasn't as hidden as she had hoped it to be. All she could do in reaction however, was pout.

Their little banter however, was interrupted by the chiming of the bell calling all students towards the classrooms.

With a sigh she stood up, having found joy in conversing with Hao over little things, preparing to return to the classroom. However, she was astonished to find him remaining in his place. Though, after he waved at her to continue walking, she did just that, smiling and waving back at him all the while, shoving that mystery to the back of her mind.

Now that her main worry had been dealt with more or less, she could finally enjoy her life again, at least for now while she remained unmarried. That thought brought a frown to her face she was unwilling to let go.

'Why in heavens name do I have to marry that moron Shen Fei and not somebody else?!' She thought in disgust at the arrogant boy, and unwillingly the face of another boy, one she had met only today, rose up inside her mind, causing her cheeks to redden slightly.

'He certainly is rather handsome and a much better company than that idiot Shen Fei…' Ning'er thought to herself, before shaking her head to banish all those thoughts from her mind. She had other things to think about now, and with that in mind entered her classroom to begin studying about cultivation yet again.