"Now, it may be difficult to choose your way with so many options spread before you, but let us return to the original questions," she said, pouring him another cup of the aromatic and soothing tea.
"Do you wish to choose something that speeds you along your current path, something that covers for your weaknesses or something that lets you go places that your current path cannot reach? If you wish to dedicate your second Awakening to becoming a better assassin, what kind of assassin do you wish to become?"
The question could have been heavy, but from Hua Jue, it wasn't. When he faced Hall Master Bian Xing, he felt that every question she asked had a right or wrong answer. Hall Master Bian asked him questions to lead to a destination that she had chosen in advance, she only wanted Wu Ling to reach the same conclusion she already had. When Hua Jue asked him this question, however, Wu Ling felt that she would accept any answer, as long as it was one he believed in.
The freedom she gave him and the trust she placed in him by granting that freedom demanded that he answer her seriously and with careful consideration. For longer than it took him to drink the entire cup of tea, he sat and thought before he finally gave voice to his answer.
"Master, I've already made the decision to accept that my path will include life as an assassin," Wu Ling said, though his tone was slightly resigned. "Even if I chose not to follow in my mother's footsteps, I'm bound to the Bamboo Silk House. Unless I want to break with the sect, I will have to follow the sect's arrangements."
"Rather than fight against this part of my path," he said with growing conviction. "I feel it's best to follow the river's current so that I might at least navigate around the rocks. I'm afraid that if I tried to fight the current, I'd only find myself exhausted and smashed against those rocks."
"Then what sort of assassin do you wish to become?" Hua Jue asked lightly, in the same tone a person would use to discuss what flavor of tea they preferred. "I feel like you already have thoughts on this matter."
"I do," Wu Ling said, gathering his resolve. Someone who had lived six thousand years as an assassin might look down on him for this notion but he felt like it was important to hold to his convictions.
"To prevent complications and to safely escape after killing Nalan Jiang, I killed more than a dozen people who had nothing to do with my mission," he said, his eyes downcast and staring into his cup of tea. "While they weren't good men and I don't regret killing them, I don't want to engage in slaughter and needless bloodshed. I would prefer to cultivate methods that are more precise and allow me to achieve my goal without creating a mountain of corpses."
"An assassin is a precision implement," Hua Jue agreed. "You shouldn't hesitate to kill those who prevent you from achieving your goals but avoiding wanton slaughter is what separates a skilled assassin from mere mercenaries," she praised. "Have you thought further on your methods?"
"Yes and no," Wu Ling admitted. "I feel like whatever I do should build on my strengths. In Master's terms, I want to go further and faster by reinforcing what I already am instead of developing something completely new."
"My mother had mastered blades as a Sword Dancer before she ever cultivated her Phantom Blade arts," Wu Ling explained. "I've barely touched a sword since leaving the Shining Blade Hall. I think that the Martial Path and I aren't well suited for each other and returning to it feels like the wrong direction."
"I'm also not certain that I'm ready for a Scholar's path," Wu Ling continued. "My Aunt Hyacinth is a powerful Poison Master, so I don't deny that scholars can be deadly. I think that it makes more sense for me to take that as my third path rather than my second though. Right now, I'm racing against time to rescue my half-sister. Scholars need to spend years, decades even, to grow into their power. I'm afraid that I don't have the time to study like that."
"So you wish to become a Mystic, to cultivate your Soul as a weapon," Hua Jue said. "It's a powerful choice, but also a dangerous one. In order to turn your soul into a weapon, you have to decide that you yourself will become a weapon," his master explained.
"Your mother gave up much to become a Wraith of Vengeance. You may not see it in her now because of her wounds, but if you succeed in healing her, you should expect that she will face challenges in ever making her dance a pure thing of beauty. Likewise, if you make your soul a weapon, you will find that it shifts the way you practice your art."
"So, we return to the question I asked before," she said, her tone growing firmer. "Is that a price you're willing to pay?"
"I don't believe that there' isn't a way to maintain my sense of self as an Artist while learning the skills of an Assassin," Wu Ling said. "Art has as many purposes as the leaves on a tree or the stars in the sky. If I dedicate a portion of myself to life as an assassin, then I just have to work even harder to ensure that I don't lose sight of everything else. I believe that I can do this, Master. At the very least, I'm willing to try."
"Good," the Illusory Butterfly Immortal Empress said with a smile that felt like the sun emerging from behind oppressive dark clouds. "While it won't be easy to do what you have chosen, I believe you may be able to walk the most difficult of paths."
With a wave of her hand, Wu Ling's Inner World trembled, changing shape as the corner between the wall that held his music and the wall that contained his painting shifted, blurring until a door formed in the corner.
"Through that door is the path to your soul," Hua Jue said. "Come, it's time that we begin expanding your Inner World. This is your Reawakening. I will guide you but the energy will come from you. When it comes to matters of the soul, there is room for doubt and seeking, but there is no room for falsehood. Are you ready, Little Ling?"
"I'm ready, Master," he said, standing from the table and turning to face the doorway that had appeared in his Inner World.
"Good, then let us begin," she replied, taking his hand and leading him through the door…