Hua Yan finally stopped laughing as they escaped over the rooftops and then disappeared into the forest. She frowned for a moment, debating whether to ask, but her curiosity overwhelmed her. "Daiyu, how did you communicate with me telepathically back there? While golden orbs can technically control some heavenly energy as well as their spiritual qi, cultivators shouldn't be able to use their divine sense to project their consciousness onto another person's until peak nascent soul stage."
Daiyu glanced at her, his eyes glowing gold in the dark. She could see his expression perfectly even though it was a moonless night, due to her gift which she had also called up. He looked slightly uncomfortable, but he smiled, his flirty persona returning for the first time since the two of them had crawled out of the lake. "Again, darling, I'm afraid that's a trade secret. Suffice it to say, I'm not exactly the typical example of a golden orb."
"Mmm," Hua Yan grunted, not pushing for an answer. In their line of work, it took quite a while to trust someone, if ever. If the Fox wanted to keep his secrets, she wouldn't pry. Her own past was something she, too, desired to keep hidden, never to see the light of day.
When they had gone far enough to be safe, the two of them went about covering their tracks in tacit agreement. Morning found them both wrapped in hooded cloaks, sitting on tree limbs to sleep. The mist that had not yet burned off in the sunlight shrouded them further, providing an extra layer of safety.
Hua Yan yawned, her internal clock waking her up. "We need to get moving. This fog should help obscure our trail, so this is the perfect time to travel," she croaked, stretching. Suddenly, her rear end slipped off the tree branch and she let out a startled yelp as she plummeted to the ground below.
She managed to flip over and land on her feet, but the movement was so uncharacteristically ungraceful that she could hear her companion chortling far above her.
He called down, "You alright there, butterbutt?"
Hua Yan growled fearsomely and sent a bolt of blunted qi flying up to him, hoping to knock him off. But of course her luck wouldn't be that good, since he was also a trained assassin, and he merely leaned back and dodged it, still laughing.
She scowled. "If you're done cackling like a hen that just laid an egg, get down here."
Daiyu cracked his neck, his snickers turning into groaning as he shifted on his perch, his muscles probably just as stiff as her own from their uncomfortable night in the tree. He leapt down, falling a distance that would have broken a mortal's body into pieces before alighting gently on the ground, his robes billowing in his wake. "Now we need to decide our next step," he said calmly.
Hua Yan leaned against a tree beside him, her mind running over their different options. "Yes. We've already ascertained that we need to raise our cultivation, but forcing it to rise with no outside assistance will only backfire. I have some grade three cultivation pills I made that will definitely help, but we need something more."
Daiyu gave her a startled glance. "You're a grade three alchemist? I thought it was extremely difficult to even get past the first stage."
Hua Yan tilted her head a little arrogantly. "It is extremely difficult, but I'm not a grade three alchemist. I'm the equivalent of a grade six alchemist, though I haven't taken the official test."
Daiyu choked on the zongzi he had pulled out his bag to munch on. "A grade six alchemist?! Doesn't that mean you only have three more grades until you reach the pinnacle of alchemy?"
Hua Yan nodded. "En. Though I suspect that the celestial plane's alchemists have more grades than we do. Which reminds me, if I take that test and I'm given a grade six alchemist's token, I could probably earn the backing of the Alchemist's Association since grade six alchemists are very rare. That would provide us some protection, but we still need some way to quickly raise our cultivation."
They both fell silent, thinking, and then came to a conclusion at the same time. The two of them glanced at each other, their eyes meeting in unspoken understanding. "Tiankong Zhi Ta," they said in unison.
Hua Yan pulled an apple from her spacial storage bag and bit into it, the sweet juice refreshing her mouth as her brow furrowed and she considered their next destination.
The Tower of the Sky was one of the most dangerous places in the mortal plane, filled with perilous heavenly energy currents that were caused by the celestial plane touching the mortal plane in that one place. Those cultivators who braved the Tower more often than not never returned, losing their lives in the treacherous qi. But those few who managed to come out of the Tower were many times more powerful, their cultivation having risen sharply while they meditated in the Tower.
Daiyu was also frowning seriously next to her. "It's a great risk, but with no one we can trust, we have no choice but to cultivate our own power rather than joining with others. Min Ling and Gao Tai won't let us go, but I doubt they'll follow us into Tiankong Zhi Ta."
Hua Yan made a noise of agreement as she tossed her apple core away. "If we're going to do this, we need to get moving. It's likely that even with the precautions we took, Min Ling, Gao Tai, and the rest have already picked up our trail again."
She launched herself forward, her feet whispering silently over the forest floor as she headed north with the Fox following her, to where the sky touched the earth like a god had stretched out a finger to feel the soil. She had to admit that, despite her excitement in going on a new adventure, there was also a small touch of fear. It was said that the powerful cultivators who inhabited the celestial plane could see the mortals who came to cultivate in Tiankong Zhi Ta. If by some small chance the tale was true....would her clan see her red hair and eyes and come to find her?