"How," Wu Ling managed to begin before his mouth went dry and his tongue stalled in his throat. "How can you tell?"
"If you'd been in the sect two hundred years ago, you wouldn't need to ask," the Hall Master said, blinking her yellow-green eyes and allowing the power of her own bloodline to spill forth. In less time than it took Wu Ling to blink twice, the enchanting woman before him had become ordinary, her luxurious silken hair now dull and gray, her once supple skin dry and cracked. When she was finished, every facet of her appearance showed the ravages of time that hadn't been kind.
"Of course, that's just a parlor trick," she said, blinking again before her youth returned to her. This time, however, the change didn't stop at restoring the graceful beauty she'd possessed when Wu Ling entered the room. The transformation went further until Wu Ling felt like he was staring into a mirror, gazing upon a version of himself that had donned the Hall Master's luxurious robes. "Do you understand how I can see the signs in you?" Bian Xing asked in Wu Ling's own voice.
"Yes, Hall Master," Wu Ling said, his eyes wide as his mind struggled to process what Hall Master Bian Xing had just demonstrated. Shapeshifting. Real, nearly instantaneous shape-shifting. No wonder she'd risen to one of the highest positions in the Bamboo Silk House's Outer Sect! If other people had told him that he was using his bloodline power to mask his true gender, he'd likely have explained that it wasn't bloodline, it was a lot of practice with makeup. When the Hall Master said the same thing, however, it became much harder for him to deny the possibility.
"Your mother developed the power of your bloodline differently," Bian Xing explained, her flesh shifting once again as she resumed her true appearance. "Your mother embodies 'Mist' while you embody 'Mercurial' or at least, you have the very strong potential to."
"You need to make a decision once you become an Understudy about your next path," the Hall Master said firmly. "Once you've made that decision, I'll help you select an appropriate manual for shapeshifters that can help you develop this power and control it."
"Hall Master, I appreciate the kindness, but why?" Wu Ling asked. The revelation had left him completely off balance, but he didn't want to let the Hall Master take control of the situation. "Shouldn't I be going to my mother for help selecting a manual? Not only do we share the bloodline responsible for this power but I'm supposed to be her direct disciple," he said, hoping to put some distance between himself and the Hall master.
"You're her direct disciple until you become an Understudy," the Hall Master corrected. "After that, depending on how quickly you've managed to advance, you'll either move to the Inner Sect or you'll become my direct disciple. Even if you move to the Inner Sect, I'm still going to have a very active hand in your continued training. Do you know why your next path is so important to you as a Shapeshifter?"
"No, Hall Master," Wu Ling said honestly. He had considered, at some point, learning the art of Disguise using the manual contained within the inheritance left behind by his Master, but that was an Artist's method of shapeshifting, built on top of painting and acting. He'd never given any thought to making shapeshifting a core part of his cultivation.
From the Hall Master's words, however, he'd already taken the first step on the path of becoming a shapeshifter. If he didn't take control of his path, his bloodline could easily develop in ways that would complicate not only his cultivation but his entire life!
"You can, of course, use nothing beyond the means of an Artist to become a Shapeshifter but this is a narrow path that offers you fewer capabilities," Bian Xing explained patiently. "While I will not dismiss pure artist shapeshifters, you are capable of becoming much, much more than that, particularly given the results of your test with the Pathfinder Tree Formation. Let's start with the path you have the least talent in, becoming a Martial Path shapeshifter," she began.
"The Martial Path focuses on the power of your physical body. If you develop your skill here, you can easily regain one of the most sought-after goals of Spirit Folk who cultivate. You could assume the physical form of your Ancestral Spirit, becoming a Mercurial Mist Fox in truth," she explained.
"But a shapeshifter must be capable of much more than just assuming the form of a single type of beast," she continued. "I'm told you have fought against a Burning Yang Sun Bear. Could you imagine if you had the power to assume such a form to fight against your enemies? How do you think Xiong Dahuo would have fared against you if you'd towered over him with thick fur to blunt his attacks and sharp claws to rend his flesh?"
"It would have been no contest at all," Wu Ling said, becoming swept up in the Hall Master's description. While the idea of turning himself into a massive bear didn't appeal, the thought of joining Hou and flying through the air to spy directly on his enemies or becoming a fish to escape into a river opened countless possibilities in his mind. "But that's the Martial Path where I'm least talented," Wu Ling said after a few moments. "How are other shapeshifters different?"
"You already live with a powerful sorceress, so you are familiar with how Mystics are concerned with the things that shape their innermost selves," Bian Xing said, gesturing for Wu Ling to refill her tea. "But have you considered what a shapeshifter could do if they could read the innermost thoughts or memories of a specific person? If they wanted to use their shapeshifting to assume the identity of another cultivator?"
"That would be terrifying," Wu Ling said, easily imagining the scenario that the Hall Master described. While an Artist could study another person externally to mimic them, such disguises would always be subject to the limitations of what the Artist knew and managed to observe. If he could read a person's mind directly, if he could absorb their memories before assuming their shape, it would be much easier to present himself as the person he'd imitated!
"So, I understand Martial and Mystical shapeshifters," Wu Ling finally said. "But how does a scholar fit into this? How does cultivating the mind benefit a shapeshifter?"
"If you spent more time around scholars who studied paths besides Formations and Alchemy you wouldn't ask this," Hall Master Biang chastised. "This is one of the reasons why it's so important for you to engage more with your sisters in the sect."
"For example, did you know that Historians can channel the powers of great historical figures that they've dedicated sufficient time into studying?" Bian Xing explained. "As a scholar and shapeshifter, you can uniquely embody powerful figures long since deceased. There are limits of course, but the potential is only limited by your own time spent studying," she said with a smile.
"And which of these paths do you follow Hall Master?" Wu Ling asked, no longer able to contain his curiosity. He'd fallen completely into the Hall Master's rhythm, taken in by all of the possibilities for his cultivation that he'd never considered before.
"All of them," Biang Xing answered simply. "Your next path is important because it helps open doors for you and the habits you form there will inform many of the ways you utilize other paths in the future. People like you and I, people with the ability to cultivate all paths, our horizons must be broader. This is one of the biggest reasons why I will continue to guide your cultivation even if you reach the Inner Sect," she said, her eyes twinkling with the intensity of her gaze.
"You won't find a better mentor in the sect for this precious gift of yours," she said enticingly before her voice became more firm. "You also owe me for what you stole after all, and I don't intend to let you out of my hands until you've paid back that debt. I intend to guide you on a path that will let you accomplish things for me that even your mother couldn't. I will not dictate to you, but I will not have you floundering around without a guiding hand either."
If it had been an hour ago, Wu Ling would have argued about the Hall Master's arrangements. He would have shouted that the manual he stole was all but worthless to her because no one in the sect could cultivate it other than him. He would have bargained to stay attached to his mother or made claims of having his own path.
Now, however, he knew better. If he wanted to chart his own path in the sect he would need substantially more power than he currently held. Rebelling would only result in a repeat of the lesson he received before, or perhaps worse. Besides, the Hall Master's intentions for him didn't sound entirely untenable. She wasn't wrong that he'd stolen from her and if he could square the debt, that would be a better way to resolve things between them than arguing that it hadn't been theft to begin with or that there was no debt.
"Whatever arrangements Hall Master has in mind," he finally said. "Disciple Wu will carry them out."