Aimless Ascension

"You said this will be easy," Wang Li complained to the foreigner. "This isn't easy at all."

"Well, that's your fault, to be honest," Gale said with a smile and gave her another drink. This foreigner seemed to be with the right thing at the right moment. Perhaps having a vast personal space helped there. "Well, fault isn't the right term to describe it. Hmm. . . How about perseverance?"

"What do you mean?" Wang Li asked, perking her brows.

Gale didn't answer, but turned to his disciple. "Linlin, will you go and fetch me some sugar?"

The disciple left, giving him a quizzical gaze. She wasn't sure where's need for sugar was, but too meek to question.

"You see, your first fusion with a fate lock is always a unique experience," Gale told her. "In a way, the first fusion plays a big role in determining a practitioner's potential."

"I'm still lost as I was before." And it was not just because her mind was completely exhausted. Somehow, this foreigner wasn't making sense.

"Obviously," Gale laughed. "Do you know you'd still succeed in the fusion even if you gave in the middle?"

"What?!" Wang Li rose up and glowered at the foreigner. "Why haven't you told me that before?"

"Your grandmother knew it."

Gale still had a smile on his lips. Wang Li felt like punching him in the face, but she hardly had the strength left to follow with her intention. Moreover, this foreigner was secretly a powerhouse. Nothing good would come from offending someone like that. Not that he seemed like someone who'd care.

"Grandma," she called after her grandmother. "Are you hearing this? Did he really tell you that?"

"I knew it from the beginning," the old woman said. "He didn't have to tell me that."

"What. . . why?"

"As I said, the first fusion is a unique experience," Gale continued with his explanation. "The practitioner wasn't allowed to know that there was hardly any chance of failure. There were only two outcomes, success or death, though the latter is extremely rare."

"The only reason we didn't allow you to know this is that the first fusion plays a big role in the practitioner's potential," Grandma Wang carried on with the explanation. "We let the practitioner decide for themselves."

"What about deciding is in this?" Wang Li snorted. "You two didn't even give me a chance."

"Then if we told you'd succeed, will you try your hardest or will you give up in the middle?"

Wang Li went silent at her grandma's question.

"Girl, there are two groups of people, one who thinks too highly of themselves, while the other was opposite, who thinks too little of themselves. You're very easily in the latter group. If we told about the fact of this ritual to them, what do you think will happen?"

It was Gale who answered for her. "Those who think too highly of themselves would probably succeed in getting a perfect fusion, although they could also die or get devastated if they didn't manage a perfect fusion.

"Those who thought little of themselves, or have an inferiority complex, those people would give in right when it would start to get uncomfortable. In the end, it's already a success, so what if they hadn't got a perfect fusion? They will think perfect fusion is for only those heavenly geniuses, and won't care to understand it's just about perseverance."

"That's why it's strictly forbidden to tell a fast-timer about this. We let their spirit decide for themselves. If they felt their life was threatened, they would give up most of the time."

Wang Li understood why the twisted way. That's why Gale sent Xiaolin for sugar. He didn't want her to know this before her first fusion.

"So the perfect fusion?" Wang Li raised an eyebrow. "Did I manage that?"

"Barely," Grandma, who was present the whole time, said, "but you did."

"Well, congratulations," Gale congratulated. "Do you feel any change in your body?"

Wang Li frowned and considered the question. "My Qi it rose?" she said incredulously. "No, that's not it, but it's like I can control them better, and they are way more intimate. They used to be rigid before, but now it's as easy as pie. There's something more too. . . ."

"Well, that's one benefit of the perfect fusion," Gale said.

"You mentioned something about potential?"

"Yes, if you hadn't managed a perfect fusion, or then you'd never be able to manage that in the future," Gale said. "That's why practitioners are advised to take something simple for their first fate lock."

"Now that you have succeeded, there's still hope for you to succeed in the future," Grandma said. "Now go back and rest. It's already too late."

"Grandma, I'd like to cycle," Wang Li said. "Something weird happened to my Qi, and I can feel something is changing within me. I would like to grasp it better."

"Fine, but no more than two hours."

Wang Li nodded as Grandma departed from there.

"You're excited aren't you?" the foreigner asked her. "Have you checked the fate lock mark?"

Wang Li's eyes widened, and she immediately loosened her robe to peek at her chest. In the centre of her chest, there was a small golden leaf mark, glittering slightly. Unwittingly, she brought her finger there and poked. She felt no different from usual.

Then she remembered how inappropriately she acted. She closed her robe, clutching her hands on her chest in a cross, her face heating up.

She turned to find the foreigner looking in the other direction. His face was a bit red, but he kept his nonchalant act.

He was a master of keeping his composure as well.

Wang Li sighed in relief.

Maybe she acted too quickly as the door opened right at the moment as Linlin came back carrying the bottle of sugar.

"Sensei, your sugar. . ." her voice trailed off as she peered at both of them. A questioning mark hovered above her head. "Did something happen?"

Gale didn't answer. He stood up and stretched a little. "It's getting late. I'm going to bed. Good night, ladies."

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