Several years later

In the dark of the night, Yanbo's second brother, Cui Yunhai, convinced her to jump on his back, and the moment she'd clutched tightly, they'd seemed to shoot up from the ground and climb into the sky.

Yunhai seemed to have anticipated that Yanbo might scream or let out a sound that would alert their sleeping family, so he'd covered her mouth in advance, but aside from the slightest inhale, Yanbo made no noise at all. Her eyes wide and alert, she stared down at the ground that was rapidly slipping away underneath them as the sword they were standing on traveled towards their destination.

For the past few years, Yunhai had taken pity on Yanbo and had taught her a few spare tricks here and there, but she'd been insistent on going up the mountain and taking on a shifu in order to start from the basics and move forward with a solid foundation. Yunhai had been completely out of tricks to teach her and at a loss for what to do when he suddenly remembered his close friend in the Plains Sect who owed him a big favor.

"Hold tight." Yunhai warned Yanbo. Yanbo nodded wordlessly and stared down at the land beneath her. In the darkness of the night, she could spot the outline of a mountain range, territory claimed by the Mountain Sect, and then a deep, wide valley, claimed by the Waterfall Sect, and then they entered unclaimed territory, a swath of wilderness before the land opened up into a vast plain. This area was claimed by the Plains Sect, and a medium-sized clan of the Plains Sect was their destination.

Yunhai descended and landed at the edge of the borders, being kept out by a ward, but just outside the ward, a young man dressed in Plains Sect robes was waiting impatiently, glancing around. When he spotted them, he approached cautiously with his sword out, but when seeing Yunhai's face, he immediately sheathed it and grinned at them.

"Yunhai! You've finally got here. I was worried that one of my elders was going to find me out of bed so late and give me a thorough beating." The young man of the Plains Sect craned his neck around Yunhai's figure to look at Yanbo. He seemed to be around Yunhai's age, perhaps five or so years older than Yanbo. Yanbo flinched back, but then stood her ground, tilting her chin up slightly.

"This must be your little sister?"

Yunhai placed a hand on Yanbo's back, pushing her forward slightly. "This is my little sister, Yanbo."

The young man smiled at Yanbo, stepping towards her. Suddenly, he lunged, and Yanbo dodged with nimble feet. He sent his sword sweeping towards her fast-moving feet, and Yanbo neatly jumped over it, landing firmly and steadily on her feet. She turned and immediately kicked the hilt of the sword, causing it to fly out of the young man's hand. However, the young man seemed prepared, and immediately snatched it back.

"This is all from your training, huh?" The young man asked Yunhai. "Not bad. Fast and nimble, but with a dash of fiery aggression. You sure you don't have any Desert Clan blood in your ancestors? She seems to have such an aura about her."

Yunhai looked at Yanbo weirdly. "Really, she does?"

Yanbo reached into a pocket of her robes and showed the flaming paper crane.

"That must've been much of it. Where did you get such a relic?" The young man asked curiously, examining the flaming paper crane.

"A few years ago, a Desert Sect cultivator came to our Yanbo's rescue, and Yanbo took a liking to the flaming paper cranes of hers, so the cultivator gave one to her." Yunhai answered after it was clear that Yanbo didn't want to say anything.

The young man made to take it away from Yanbo, but she immediately took her hand back and backed up a few steps. The young man seemed a little confused, then smiled understandingly. "But that's not all. There's an aura of the Desert Sect that seems to come from... within her."

"I've never noticed that." Yunhai said slowly.

The young man and Yunhai both regarded Yanbo thoughtfully, during which Yanbo stood there stiffly, her expression slightly unpleasant.

"Alright. Let's not talk anymore." Yunhai said, reading Yanbo's expression. "Thank you so much for helping my sister out."

"It's nothing." The young man said with an easy smile. "Just repaying a favor."

Yunhai cupped his hands and bowed slightly in gratitude. Yanbo stood there stiffly. "Please take care of my sister while she's here. She has a stubborn and quiet personality, and may be a target of bullying. I hope you can help her fend off them. If she causes any major trouble, feel free to contact me."

The young man nodded, and Yunhai turned to Yanbo. Yanbo suddenly felt a little sad to be leaving her brother and her family for such a long time, with only a note informing the rest of them where she'd gone, but she didn't allow it to show on her face.

"Try not to be so stubborn. Speak a bit more, make a few friends. Remember, here, in the Plains Sect, you will have to rely on your own wits to survive. Treat your elders and seniors with respect, study well, but make sure you don't forget home. You are a person of the Mountain Sect. Don't ever forget that."

Yanbo nodded silently. She looked down at the paper crane in her hand, feeling a spark swelling in her, filled with excitement and anticipation of a future.

The young man extended a hand to Yanbo. When Yanbo didn't take it, he laughed lightly, grabbed her hand anyways, and then pulled her through the ward. Yunhai waved after Yanbo.

"Be good! I'll see you again in a few years."

Yanbo stared after Yunhai for a few moments, and afterwards, he was swallowed into the night.

The young man patted Yanbo's shoulder, and Yanbo stood there stiffly, not quite shirking away anymore but still not embracing the gesture of familiarity.

"Don't worry. You'll see your brother again sometime. I'm Du Yucheng. Here, in the Du Clan, if you come across any trouble, just tell me. I'll tell my father, and he'll definitely help you out. For now... it's almost dawn, so we can go and meet your future shifu soon. Come."

Yanbo looked up at Yucheng, then at the dawn breaking at the horizon in the distance. And so began her days staying in the Plains Sect.

As the sun rose and slowly bathed the flat, vast grasslands in dim, gray light, Yanbo followed Yucheng as he led her through what seemed to be a small but lively town, a maze of fields, before they finally arrived at some plain-looking wooden houses with a high, secure looking ward set around it, but otherwise looked quite ordinary and unassuming.

Yucheng exchanged a couple of words with one of the two guards at the entrance, while the other guard looked at Yanbo curiously. She was conscious that she was still wearing the uniform of the Mountain Sect, that it clearly marked her as an outsider, but she kept her chin up and stared forward.

Yucheng finally got them passage through, and Yucheng immediately beelined for the house in the center, which looked to be the most important.

"Wait out here." Yucheng instructed, and Yanbo did as she was told, standing there, unmoving, until Yucheng emerged and told her to come in. Yucheng gave one glance towards her unchanged position and posture, and gave a slight smile to himself before following Yanbo into the house.

At the very end of the long room was a round table, around which three elders were talking. They all watched as Yanbo came in, seeming to assess her from the first step she took into the house. Yanbo finally felt a sense of nervousness. In her hand, her thumb stroked a wing of the crane she was holding, drawing one of the elder's attention to it. With the flick of his hand, the crane was drawn out of the depths of her robes in which she'd been holding it, and was suspended in the air.

"The spiritual weapon of a junior cultivator of the Desert Sect." The elder sitting on the left said thoughtfully after taking a quick glance. "Who gave you this?"

Yanbo pressed her lips together briefly, reminding herself of what her brother had said, and answered the question succinctly. "Lin Jinghe of the Lin Clan."

The elder hummed. "Haven't heard of her, but I have heard of her Lin Clan. They have indeed made some important contributions to the Desert Sect in history, but as of late, I haven't heard much from them."

Yanbo stayed silent, but her mouth briefly twitched in displeasure.

"And you are?" The elder sitting in the middle said. He looked to be the youngest and the fittest of the three.

"Cui Yanbo of the Mountain Sect." She answered.

"This is the little sister of my good friend." Yucheng interjected. "He did me a big favor, so when Yunhai asked me if there was a place that would take in a young girl and teach her cultivation but not in the Mountain Sect, so I've come to bother shifu with a request."

The elder on the left waved his hand and returned the flaming crane to Yanbo. She clutched it, tucking it away in her robes safely. The elder on the left watched her curiously and attentively, noticing the painstaking care Yanbo seemed to place in that little paper crane. Its spiritual powers were limited and basic, and it was of fire spiritual energy, not of metal spiritual energy, which was what Yanbo would be best at, so where had the value come from that had caused Yanbo to put such importance on that little thing.

The elder on the left suddenly smiled slightly to himself. Sentimentality. Therefore, he didn't ask anymore.

"You want me to take her in as the youngest disciple, don't you?" The elder in the middle said. He considered Yanbo, suddenly flicking out a hand, casting several pottery shards in her direction. Neatly, she dodged all of them, with light, clean steps. Then, the elder sent a blast of spiritual energy aiming at her middle, which Yanbo scattered with a wave of her hand. Lastly, he took out a dagger and threw, and Yanbo blocked it by manipulating a nearby iron sword and using it to knock the dagger harmlessly to the side.

The elder smiled slightly. "Agile and intelligent, with smooth and quick reflexes. Even though your cultivation base is poor, your only skills basic tricks and gimmicks, you will be able to make leaps and bounds in progress after learning the fundamentals." He tilted his head to the side. "But why is it that you have such a strong aura of the Desert Sect about you?"

Yanbo's mouth was just about to lift slightly in happiness at being accepted, but it was pushed down again when she heard her supposed strong aura of the Desert Sect brought up for the second time.

"So shifu has noticed it too. I had originally supposed it was merely the aura and spiritual energy from that little paper crane that Yanbo has been keeping rubbing off on her... but it seems to come from the inside out." Yucheng added his opinion to the pool.

Yanbo resolutely pulled a straight face.

"You have a uniquely strong affinity for both metal and fire." The elder in the middle finally said. "Perhaps that is what we're sensing it from." However, the furrowed brows and lingering gaze proved that the elder did not believe it to just be that.

The elder in the middle smiled, clearing away all his doubts from his expression neatly, but Yanbo knew it was merely swept underneath the bed.

"You're a curious child, so, I'll take you as my disciple. Now, kowtow."

Yanbo did so, getting on her knees in a stiff manner and kowtowing once, twice, thrice.

"From now on, you are a disciple of the Plains Sect, our Du Clan, under me, Du Qingqiu." Her new shifu announced.

Yucheng grinned and elbowed Yanbo. "Nice work."

Yanbo merely let out a slight sigh. "What next?"

"Yucheng will take you to your quarters, and you'll probably just be able to catch up to morning practice. You've missed breakfast, unfortunately." The elder on the right finally said, and a slight smile graced his face. "You'll be going hungry. Will you complain?"

"No." Yanbo answered with a straight face.

"Go ahead, then." The elder on the right waved his arm, clearly dismissing them.

"Yes, father." Yucheng lead Yanbo out, muttering to her. "The one of the left is my father's sworn brother, and he leads another clan, but he helps out with my father often. The one in the middle, as you'll know now, is your new shifu. Don't look down on him because he looks old; he's better than all of us, and can even put up a fair fight with the leader of the Plains Sect. He's also my uncle."

Yanbo grunted.

"And then, the one of the right was my father. He's the clan leader." Yucheng nudged Yanbo's arm. "Good thing you came with me, otherwise you might've not been able to get accepted. Although... listening to what shifu was going on about, you might've been able to get his attention anyways. But... this occurrence definitely had a part of my effort in it. You'll definitely help your new shixiong, won't you?"

Yanbo gave Yucheng a blank look, and then forged ahead.

That morning, when Yucheng emerged with Yanbo in tow at the training grounds, everyone was muttering and pointing, wondering who she was, if she was some Mountain Sect prodigy that had come to visit them, so young. When she turned out to be rather a newly accepted disciple with basically no foundation in cultivation and learning from scratch at her late age, everyone seemed rather disappointed, hoping for some dramatic story of someone with impressive origins. Even so, they watched, and noted her determination in following along in the exercises. Despite the slightly clumsy and rough nature of her moves, she had enough willpower to push through the relatively brutal drills they were put through. Therefore, a couple were inspired to walk up to her and have a chat, uncovering the newcomer's secrets.

"Hey, new kid. Come over here, talk to your shixiong." One of them beckoned their hands at her, with a grin that seemed to harbor a bit of slyness. Yanbo looked at him blankly for a few seconds, then cautiously made his way over.

"Where are you from?"

As if the uniform didn't make it clear enough. "Mountains Sect."

"What clan?"

"I don't belong to a clan." She answered. Her family merely lived within the borders and was accepted as one of the Sect since the three young men all studied on the mountain. It had only been because her father had some connections that they were able to send their eldest up to study, and when he excelled, his other two brothers were also sent up in hopes of producing a couple more prodigies to give the Mountain Sect some fame and claim to the leaderboard.

"Ah. How did you join?"

"Du Yucheng." Yanbo answered simply.

"Yucheng? Are you a friend of Yucheng's?"

"No."

"Then... how did you know to find him?"

"My second brother."

"And who's that?" The boy interrogated further. The couple of people that had crowded around to listen to the newcomer's story listened in curiously.

"Cui Yunhai."

"Cui Yunhai?" The boy looked at one of his friends. "Do you know him?"

Everyone all shook their heads, muttering amongst themselves.

"Do you have... connections? Who are your other brothers?"

"The three Cui brothers of the Mountain Sect."

One person seemed to remember. "Ah, I think I've heard of them. The three Cui brothers of the Mountain Sect, I've heard they're all pretty skilled, and have gotten some fame in the cultivation world. They're all pretty young, none of them past twenty-five. And to think, they have a little, ten or so sister who's come to the Plains Sect to come study, not to mention our insignificant Du clan. Why don't you go up the mountains to study?"

"Can't." Yanbo said, a frown marring her previously straight face, and she pushed through the crowd. Everyone else was slightly disappointed, but also more mystified than they were when they started interrogating. They all watched, wondering if she was going to do something interesting, something special, but she merely wiped her sweat off with a wet cloth, and then went back to practicing.

Finally, the crowd dispersed, and they were soon called for lunch.

That night, several disciples whispered among themselves as they watched Yanbo practice, alone, in the middle of the vast, empty training grounds, with only a few candles lighting her surroundings. Suddenly, she tripped, falling heavily on the ground, staining her uniform with dirt. Slowly, she stood up, dusting the dirt from her uniform. Then, she began practicing again.

Finally, when the eldest disciple called everyone to go to bed, he pulled Yanbo off of the training field and told her to go to bed. Yanbo stood there for a few seconds, seemingly considering whether or not to resist, before she heeded the eldest disciple's words and headed back to her quarters for a rest. As soon as her eyes closed, she drifted into soundless sleep.

The next morning, before breakfast, she was back out on the training grounds, practicing again. She showed no signs of fatigue. For the next month, such a pattern continued, and everyone gradually got used to it, no longer discussing and talking about it in such scandalized and surprised tones. The new arrival of the dead silent, Mountains Sect girl, little sister of the moderately famous Cui brothers of the Mountain Sect, slowly became old news.

That was, before Yanbo's shifu stirred it up again. The story spread as such: Yanbo was out there, after the sun had set, practicing alone in the training grounds as usual, when Du Qingqiu came out to watch. Usually, at such a time, Yanbo's shifu would be inside, marking up essays and having his well-earned rest, but today, he strayed outside after hearing about Yanbo's resolute stubbornness in practicing every hour of the day. Her forehead was streaked with sweat, and she breathed heavily, but she showed no signs of stopping. Her uniform was dirtied in multiple places with dirt, showing that she'd fallen multiple times, but she was still up, practicing with a wooden sword in order to prevent injury.

Upon spotting her shifu, Yanbo lowered the wooden sword she was using and cupped her hands, bowing slightly.

"Shifu." She acknowledged.

"Your body is strong, but your cultivation base is still as shaky and weak as before. Have you been practicing correctly?"

"I've been practicing the same drills we do during the day."

Yanbo's shifu's forehead creased slightly, but he merely gave her a few brief pointers before heading inside. That night, Yanbo ended early and instead spent the rest of the time in the library, reading a couple of books about cultivation fundamentals. Once again, the eldest disciple pulled her away from the candlelight and sent her to bed.