"Did you enjoy the end-of-winter festival at our village?" Ruomei asked as she followed Lisong through the Heavenly Realm. The Immortal gave a nod, but otherwise did not answer.

"What made you want to visit?" She stumbled on a crack in the paving stones and Lisong reached out a hand to break her fall, but she caught herself and kept going. "We've never had an Immortal show up before. Do you think you'd ever come back again?"

If he was annoyed by her incessant questions, he didn't show it. "You could say it's in my nature to make a reappearance."

Ruomei clapped her hands. "Oh, that's wonderful! Then we'll be sure to plan an even bigger event next time – not that this year's wasn't already spectacular. In fact, it was one of the best yet. Do you think any of your friends would like to attend as well? The other Immortals, I mean."

Lisong turned to face her, fixing her with an unreadable expression in his dark eyes. "Those who follow the path of cultivation do not usually have much time for celebrations," he said slowly. "It is a long and difficult journey to become an Immortal, one that requires discipline and persistence."

"Oh, well, yes," Ruomei said, tilting her head and looking away, feeling a bit embarrassed. "So maybe a few years from now, instead."

Lisong raised one eyebrow again, a look that Ruomei was quickly becoming familiar with. "Or perhaps a couple hundred."

"A hundred – !" She broke off, to better focus on not running into him as he came to a sudden stop.

"We're here," he said without fanfare. Cautiously, Ruomei peered out from around his shoulder. They had stopped in front of a set of wooden doors set in an otherwise unremarkable white wall.

"Where's 'here'?"

"My home, Feng Ge." Lisong pushed on one of the doors, and it swung open to reveal a stone-studded pathway winding through a lush garden. Ruomei followed the Immortal inside with wide eyes, silent for the longest time since arriving to the Heavenly Realm as she gazed around with wonder.

As they proceeded through the garden, bamboo whispered in the wake of their passing, and Ruomei caught the calming scent of pine in the air. She inhaled deeply. It reminded her of the forest near her village, and despite the longing that it brought, she decided to take it as a good omen.

They crossed a small stone bridge over a flowing stream and headed towards a small white pavilion with a gold-tiled roof. A servant came out to greet them, and Lisong ordered tea and snacks before sitting down on one of the benches and motioning for Ruomei to do the same.

Still looking around, Ruomei sat, nearly missing and falling off the bench before she caught her balance.

Lisong's right eyebrow twitched, but didn't rise this time.

"I take it you are impressed with Feng Ge's garden?" he asked when the refreshments had arrived and Ruomei still had not spoken. The scent of fresh sweet potato and cranberry tea cakes stirred Ruomei from her daze, and she blinked, turning her attention to the table. She realized Lisong had been watching her the entire time she had been distracted, and she tried to ignore the blush creeping up the back of her neck and into her cheeks.

"Ah, sorry. Yes. It's beautiful." She eyed the tea cakes, but out of politeness didn't dare sample them until Lisong had chosen one first. "I never could have imagined coming to the Heavenly Realm and being invited to an Immortal's home. It's more wonderful than I could have thought."

She began to reach for a tea cake, but then lowered her hand to her teacup instead, realizing that she had been acting overly enthusiastic around the Immortal in her excitement. Now that she had had a moment to sit and think, she hoped she could appear calmer around him.

The corner of Lisong's mouth curled upwards before he covered it behind a sip of tea. "Please feel free to take a cake, Miss Ruomei," he said.

Ruomei held her teacup in both hands, apprehensively tapping her fingers on the ceramic before she leaned forward to do so. "Thank you," she muttered, bringing the purple treat quickly behind her cup as though hiding it could help better conceal her eagerness. She broke off a piece and quickly brought it to her mouth, barely able to savor the sweet, spongy flavor due to her nerves. The bite seemed to stick in her throat, and she quickly took a gulp of the tea to wash it down, only for the drink to scald her mouth and nearly cause her to choke.

Covering her mouth and trying not to cough, Ruomei fought for composure while Lisong, to his credit, pretended not to notice.

"It's – it's very good," she managed around a few more stifled coughs.

He inclined his head and took another sip of tea. "I'm glad you like it."

Once her coughing had subsided, Ruomei deemed it safe enough to lower her hand. This time, she only drank the tea, and it was a much smaller sip than the first time.

"Why do you want to become an Immortal, Miss Ruomei?" Lisong's question was calm, yet Ruomei almost again choked on her tea in surprise.

Slowly, she set the tea down. "I want to challenge myself."

He took a bite of cake. "There are other ways to do so. Why this way?"

"Well," Ruomei looked away, a bit embarrassed. "I hadn't really considered it at first, until you came to visit my village in the Floral Realm. I was happy there, and had a good life with my friends and interests. But I noticed this look about you – it was calm, and understanding, but I think most of all it was contentment. And I thought if all Immortals were like that, I wanted to learn how to have that same kind of peace and serenity. It just seemed like there was more I could be getting out of my life."

"Peace and tranquility don't lead to very exciting gatherings like in the Floral Realm," Lisong replied, a glimmer of a smile at his lips. "Immortals aren't exactly known for their lively parties. Our principles are justice and harmony, after all, and any celebration that's worth going to tends to be lacking one or the other."

Ruomei giggled, put slightly more at ease by his self-deprecating humor. "I suppose that may be so," she said. "But that doesn't mean I could only attend Immortal festivities from now on, does it?"

He smiled. "No, it doesn't."

Encouraged, she leaned forward, again gripping her teacup with both hands. "So how can I begin my cultivation?" she asked. "Where do I begin?"

Lisong tilted his head, regarding her for a moment before returning his attention to his tea. "There is a lot to learn," he said. "Far more than what asking for a few tips from an Immortal could help you with."

Ruomei frowned. "Then how can I get started?"

"Well..." he took a long draught of his tea and then grimaced, though whether it was because the drink was still too hot or had become bitter, Ruomei didn't know. "Typically someone in your position would require help to guide them through their cultivation. A mentor, of sorts."

Ruomei's grip on her teacup tightened. "Would you be my mentor? Please?"

Lisong winced again, though this time he hadn't even taken a sip of tea. "I can't make any promises that I would be the best teacher," he warned, his hand going to a jade pendant around his neck that Ruomei hadn't noticed before. "There are other Immortals who would do a much better job of it than I."

"Oh, that doesn't matter to me," Ruomei assured him. "You've been so kind already, and so welcoming – I'm sure your instruction is just fine! And I promise to work hard and do my best to repay you for your efforts. I won't let you down."

Lisong smiled again, though the expression was softer and less open than before. "Well, you doing your best is all the payment I would need," he said. "And in turn I will do my best to teach you."

Ruomei nodded, forcing herself to not get teary-eyed. It was the best possible outcome she could have imagined upon arriving to the Heavenly Realm – one she hadn't even dared hope for. "Yes – thank you!" Then a thought occurred to her. "Should I address you as Master Lisong, like that guard did?"

"'Teacher' will work just fine." Lisong slowly stood, and nodded at Ruomei's mostly-untouched tea cake. "If you're finished, you can follow me. I'd like to give you a tour and introduce you to the Heavenly Court."

Ruomei gulped at the intimidating-sounding name, but nodded, and as soon as her new teacher had turned away, snuck the tea cake off the table and hid it in a pocket of her dress. It was too good of a treat to waste, and she wanted to be able to savor it appropriately when she wasn't so anxious and distracted.

~*~

"The pathway to cultivation is like the changing of the seasons," Lisong explained as he guided Ruomei around his residence. He showed her the different rooms of his house, the kitchen, and where she would be staying. "You leave your old self behind in your pursuit of balance and goodness, and after the long, difficult process of cultivation you emerge reborn, in the Spring of your new life as an Immortal."

"Autumn, Winter, and Spring," Ruomei listed. "But what's Summer?"

Lisong sighed. "A lot of experience."

Ruomei's mouth opened in a silent 'oh'. "So it gets easier?"

"Not always. The thing you must remember most is how to bear through the winter."

"And how's that?"

They stepped through the doors of Feng Ge, back on the path outside the white walls surrounding Lisong's home.

"The pine teaches us steadfastness," Lisong replied, pointing up at a branch of one of those trees that rose from behind the wall within his garden. Ruomei wondered if it was the same one she had smelled earlier when she first set foot inside the residence. "To not give up – to stick to your resolve, and endeavor to stay true to yourself. That is how it survives the dark and cold – by remembering who it is and what awaits it in the gentler seasons if it holds steady against the difficult times. This is one lesson we can put to practice as we cultivate."

Ruomei nodded. "Steadfastness. Got it."

Lisong smiled. "I've seen you exhibit some of it today already, going up against those guards. The key is to be consistent with it."

They proceeded through the Heavenly Realm, in the direction of a large multi-storied building in the distance with gilded roofs that shone in the sunlight. Ruomei enjoyed the walk for the most part, but balked at a few of the larger bridges that arched across the sky, giving views of a long drop to the earth below.

"I'm not the best at flying," Ruomei confessed as Lisong gently took her arm and led her across the first bridge. "It was difficult enough coming up here. I have to really focus – and if I fall I don't think I'd be able to concentrate in time to save myself before it's too late."

"You won't fall," Lisong assured her. "And you'll get enough practice with flying when you start going on visits to the Mortal Realm."

"The Mortal Realm? Why would I go there?"

"There's a lot you can learn about life from mortals," Lisong replied. "And all of those lessons will help with your cultivation."

Ruomei gave a soft sigh at the mention of more lessons, but nodded. "I'll work hard to learn them all, then," she promised. "I'll watch the mortals very closely."

"Oh, you won't learn just by observing," Lisong said. "You must engage with them. Help them, share in their joys and sorrows. Understand their suffering as they do. See how they struggle to hold on to their faith despite their lack of awareness about the universe and no proof of their beliefs except for what is in their hearts."

"It sounds like mortals are very confused and get discouraged easily," Ruomei said with a frown. Her fingers tightened on Lisong's sleeve as they began crossing another bridge, and he covered them with his free hand reassuringly.

"The Mortal Realm is chaos," he said, "but in the struggles you can find the harmony and justice that we Immortals hold up as the highest virtues."

Ruomei said nothing, supposing she would have to take him at his word and just find out for herself. They had come to a small courtyard bordered by trees with a path continuing in the direction of that many-tiered building that Ruomei supposed was the palace. Her steps slowed as they passed by a strange archway in the center of the courtyard, and she heard Lisong sigh as he noticed her curiosity.

"Speaking of the Mortal Realm," he muttered, but did not elaborate.

"What is it?" Ruomei asked. There was a strange, barely-noticeable shimmer between the pillars of the archway, and as they drew closer, she reached out a hand to touch it.

Lisong immediately grabbed her wrist and pulled her back.

"That is the Mortal Arch," he said, a warning in his tone that Ruomei didn't yet understand. When she only looked at him in puzzlement, he continued. "It's a more extreme and dangerous way of cultivating – only to be used in desperation or to recover from a severe injury, and even then, there's no guarantee that the person who walks through it will ever return as they were."

Ruomei looked uneasily at the archway, the shimmer now suddenly more foreboding than enticing. "What does it do, exactly?"

Lisong shook his head, as though ridding himself of a bad memory. "It strips you of your divinity and your memories, and sends you to the Mortal Realm to live a life as a mortal. If you are able to withstand the trials you face, you are able to return and your cultivation is increased, which is why Immortals who have lost too much of their strength must sometimes use it. But there are several cases where the mortal life and its sorrows have proved too great, and even if the Immortal is able to return to their divine form, they are never the same."

Ruomei's eyes widened, and she looked at the archway warily. "That sounds terrible," she whispered. "Have you ever had to use it?"

"We're almost to the palace," he said, avoiding her question – or perhaps he hadn't heard it to begin with. "It's just up this set of stairs over here."

The mention of the palace sent flutters all through Ruomei's stomach, and she almost wished that Lisong would continue holding her arm for support as they climbed the steps to the building's entrance. Since there were no more bridges to use as an excuse, however, she had to make do with fiddling with the hems of her sleeves instead.

Like at the gates of the Heavenly Realm, there were guards at the entrance to the palace as well. This time, though, they did not move to block Ruomei, and merely nodded at Lisong as they passed.

The Heavenly Court was brilliant and unlike anything Ruomei had ever seen in her realm. Tall white columns arched from blue-tiled floors and met in a web of gold filigree on the domed ceiling above. The court itself was grand and spacious, with a long corridor ending in a large meeting space at the end, where the Heavenly Lord sat on a dazzling white throne surrounded by his attendants. The other court officials sat below the dais at their own smaller tables, conferring with each other on documents or sipping tea kept in a steady supply by servers.

There was a man in a midnight-colored robe standing before the dais when Ruomei and Lisong entered, a sleek spot of shadow in an otherwise blinding space. His back was to them as they approached, and all Ruomei could make out was the obsidian circlet of his topknot and the pin that kept his hair in place, with a small blood-red ruby at the end.

"I told you already, Zhulin," the Heavenly Lord was saying when they came within earshot. "Lady Bingling is of no concern to me. The Heart of Ice has been kept safely in the Netherworld for millennia, and if she were planning to use it as you say she is, she would have done so already."

"Heavenly Lord, I humbly request that you reconsider." Ruomei's ears perked up at the dark voice that answered, and from her place behind Lisong, she tried to crane her neck to get a better view of the mysterious visitor. "Lady Bingling and I have been at odds ever since I became lord of the Demon Realm, and I've made it clear to her that I have no interest in her opinion on how to govern. She once made an ultimatum that I either make her queen and share my governing power with her or be responsible for the destruction of all six realms. My spies have been tracking her movements, and she has not ceased in her treacherous ways."

"You first told me when she made that threat, and it was over a thousand years ago," the Heavenly Lord said dismissively. "I grow weary of your worries."

"They are no worries, they are legitimate – "

"Even if they are, there is no definite action we can take at this time," the Heavenly Lord interrupted. "I'd recommend you focus more on your own responsibilities at the moment. Come back if she's actually done something, and then we'll discuss a course of action." His gaze shifted to the figure in front of Ruomei. "Lisong! Good to see you."

The Heavenly Lord's sudden change in focus was all the dismissal that the person named Zhulin needed, and he turned to stride out of the court. As if sensing that he was being intensely watched, his dark gaze flickered a moment to Ruomei, and she gave a start at the glower in his ebony eyes.

Her jump, unfortunately, jostled the tea cake from its hidden pocket, and the purloined treat fell from her person and rolled onto the ground, leaving purple crumbs in its wake.

"Oh!" Ruomei crouched down to pick it up, hurriedly brushing off whatever dirt might dare collect in this spotless place and stashing it back in her pocket, hoping that not too many people had noticed. By the time she looked back up, Zhulin had disappeared.

She wanted to ask Lisong who the unfriendly man had been, but her teacher was busy responding to the Heavenly Lord's address, looking over his shoulder to locate Ruomei before ushering her forward.

"Heavenly Lord, I'd like to introduce my new pupil, Ruomei," he said, bowing. Lisong cast a sidelong glance at Ruomei, and she hurried to give a similar bow.

"You've taken on a student?" the Heavenly Lord questioned. "Interesting."

"With your permission, I'll teach her to cultivate to become an Immortal," Lisong continued.

The Heavenly Lord nodded, his gaze briefly flicking to Ruomei to study her. "Of course, Lisong. She seems like an intelligent sort. It's good to see you engaged in some sort of project again. Will you be staying for tea?"

"I'm afraid not. There is a lot we must do to get started, but I thank you for your offer. Perhaps another time."

"Very well." The Heavenly Lord straightened his shoulders with a sigh. "I wish you both luck in your journey."

Lisong bowed again, and tilted his head at Ruomei in a silent bid for her to follow him back out of the court.

"That's it?" Ruomei asked once they were safely outside. "I didn't even say anything!"

Not that she would have known what to say, she added to herself.

"The less time spent in the Heavenly Court, the better, in my opinion," Lisong replied drily. "Among other reasons, it can get terribly boring. Besides, we have a much more interesting place to go next."

Ruomei hurried to keep up. "And where's that?"

Her teacher cast her a sidelong grin. "The Mortal Realm."