"Eh really?! Mm well... feel free to cultivate then, I'm going to look for some good spirit fruuuuitssss!! byeeee." She flees without hesitation.
~~~
Little ShiiShii opens his eyes, the light reflecting off the golden specks in his green eyes twinkle.
"Shinah must be close by, my cultivation was extremely satisfying today!" He eases his conscious back into his body, momentarily shocked when he feels the heat of a person behind him.
He turns around to see her face flushed in an alluring tint of red contrasting against her flawlessly beautiful pale skin.
His bright eyes traced over the perfect features of her familiar face.
-Badum Badum Badum-
He felt an indescribable sense of admiration and sadness, causing his heart to seize up.
"Shinah?! Where are your clothes... no wait sorry!" He turned around quickly trying to calm his racing heartbeat.
Shinah unaware of his flustered state continued to cultivate. Since she started training with Shen these past two weeks she mostly maintained a foothold for her foundation. Although she cultivated everyday she remained in Spirit Apprentice Consolidation Level Five.
Spirit Levels represent the difference in strength between spirit users, while the different colors represent the level of projection before excelling into the next class.
The first class is Intermediate and is broken into these three stages.
Spirit Apprentice
Spirit Warrior
Spirit Lord
The second class is Expert and is broken into these three stages.
Spirit Master
Spirit King
Spirit Overlord
And the last class is Ultimate which is also broken into three stages.
Spirit Saint
Spirit Paragon
Spirit Monarch
Each Spirit Class has to go through every color of the Rainbow and it's Consolidation Level in order to pass to the next Stage, then following Class.
It goes like this:
Spirit Apprentice Level One Consolidation
Spirit Apprentice Level Two Red
Spirit Apprentice Level Three Consolidation
Spirit Apprentice Level Four Orange
Spirit Apprentice Level Five Consolidation
Spirit Apprentice Level Six Yellow
Spirit Apprentice Level Seven Consolidation
Spirit Apprentice Level Eight Green
Spirit Apprentice Level Nine Consolidation
Spirit Apprentice Level Ten Blue
Spirit Apprentice Level Eleven Consolidation
Spirit Apprentice Level Twelve Indigo
Spirit Apprentice Level Thirteen Consolidation
Spirit Apprentice Level Fourteen Violet
Then once past the threshold of Violet, another strand will appear signifying the passing into the next stage in the Intermediate Class, Spirit Warrior.
Most people take two years in between passing into another Color Level Stage, and another four-six years strengthening their foundation in their Consolidation Level Stages.
And every upgraded Class demands more cultivation of Qi than the previous.
Most cultivators get stuck at a bottleneck and can't pass into the next class, which is why even cultivators who reach Spirit Master are considered rare treasures ... and get scouted by Kingdoms to become Imperial Guards.
Shinah feels an incredible amount of pain signaling the edge of breaking through Spirit Apprentice Level Six, she bites through the pain, pressing forward ... hitting hard into the wall of her breakthrough. It cracks slightly and a onslaught of heat ferments in her stomach.
Damn it!! Just a little more...
Her determination affects the surrounding energy, and like a whirlpool it flows chaotically into her meridians.
She focuses on filtering it, through each meridian slowly...taking note of the fact she no longer needs to separate the difference facets of energy they meld in together and break apart after the purification process is completely, dripping into her direct line ocean.
[Normally most cultivators can only see the facets of spiritual or elemental energy their compatible with.]
Her body turns several degrees hotter, burning her from the inside out.
Little Shii notices signs of her breakthrough and collects water from the lake and gently wipes her face and neck, the Heavenly Spring water cools and aids her body's foundation.
Little Shii panics noticing the unnatural spike in her temperature and pours the entire pail of water over her. The water sizzles against her burning skin... Steam slowly seeping off her body.
Shinah feels a coolness over her head alleviating some of her pain. She gathers up all her energy and siphons a huge amount of Qi sending it through her meridians, struggling against the weight and heat of it.
Three hours pass and she finally filters all that Qi, she brutally tosses it at the wall of her breakthrough... the force of the pure spirit energy causes the wall to shatter on impact. The steady stream of pure energy pours into her direct line by the gallon.
Her temperature returns to normal and she released her cultivating stance in exhaustion falling forward into Little Shii's hold.
"Whew!! I did it Little ShiiShii I'm at Level Six!" She says breathlessly.
"Mm good job." He responds shocked, this Little Kitten always surprises him. He was worried she'd get hurt attempting a rushed breakthrough but ... she persevered and even had the foresight to send the remaining pure energy to her direct line reserves.
Just where did this Little girls strength come from?
Days blended into weeks...
Weeks blended into months...
Two months passed, and since that day Shinah cultivated in her Mindscape with Little ShiiShii, she preferred to cultivate with him. In that short time frame she broke through six more times.
She was currently at Spirit Apprentice Level Twelve-Indigo, which she kept to herself.
"Little ShiiShii can I ask you something?" Shinah leans backwards on his back after their cultivation session.
"Sure."
"Do you want to go out with me?"
"!!!"
"You don't have to be afraid, I'll take care of everything, and if your worried about XiaoLong I have something that will definitely appease him. So what do you think?"
"You...Little Kitten explain yourself ...wh..what do you mean? Besides what do you have that can possibly appease the wrath of a dragon?" He presses his hand against his heart trying to steady his racing emotions.
"Don't play dumb, I know, you must be exhausted pretending like this restricted area doesn't feel like a prison! So let's blow this popsicle stand! Go with wild with me at Chang Aoi's birthday celebration! Don't you want to experience fresh air and freedom?"
"... Oh..."
"Oh?! Oh what?"
"You... you only want me to accompany you to your friends party?"
"Of course! What other way to unwind then at at party! And no one will know who you are because I sent a letter to Lady Aoi suggesting it to a masquerade party! Don't you want to eat and dance freely? Come on ...what have we been crazy cultivating, so you can materialize outside of my Mindscape and practicing my Chameleon Charm for ...other than to break you out of here? Even if it's for a few hours wouldn't it be nice to make friends with people your own age and talk to someone other than me? I know I do!"
"Things are fine the way they are... I don't understand why can't this be enough for you.." He stands up quickly walking off to the vegetable garden angrily.
"Ehh what's your problem.. I only wanted to have some fun and take you out... it's not like I'm kicking you out!" I yell at his retreating figure.