You Lack Imagination

   Slurping sounds shattered the silent atmosphere that fell on the forest after they obliterated a few kilometres worth of land. Teacups clanged against the saucers every few seconds. Long Wei had the time of his life, enjoying the rosy taste of the tea in total silence. Almost.

    "Don't you think it's frustrating? Trying to do one thing, that you know how to do, you've done it before. But this time some obstacle is blocking you from doing just that? " said Lai Xiaolin.

    For the past few days, none of the concoctions she did succeeded. The process was always easy for her. She never failed before at least when crafting Low-grade Immortal Pills, but now? She wasn't certain if she could even concoct them. Whenever she reached the last step her alchemical energies bloated, expanded and exploded. Black soot covered her after every pill creation session for the past few weeks. She didn't know what was wrong. Every step of the process was done to the utmost standard of perfection. 

    "It's frustrating alright, " said Long Wei. 

    Long Wei knew his problem. Sure, it had only been a few hours since the block of iron fell on his foot, but it was a darn heavy block of iron. If he failed to get his foot off it his entire body might sink into the ground with it. 

He didn't want that. Raiding and massacring the Zhao Clan for a Cosmic Bead suddenly felt stupid. A Cosmic Bead wasn't worth the trouble it could cause should the Zhao Clan learn of his actions. Killing her during the survival test was optimal. But was that even possible under the gazes of so many God Realm experts? Yes.  But it meant leaning too much into his father's influence and power, something that left a bitter taste in his mouth.

    "At least you understand. Master doesn't. All he does is scream patience this and patience that. Ugh! Patience doesn't matter. Speed and Quality do. What does he know about Alchemy?? Nothing. Absolutely nothing. patience patience patience," she gave him an earful, "You don't make pills with patience. "

    "I agree with your master. His logic is immaculate. Some problems just need a little waiting. Not just useless waiting though," Long Wei shook his head, "That's idiocy. Patiencd means you need to  analyze the cause of your situation, find its roots. And the second is planning on how to kill the root cause of your problems. "

    As Long Wei explained, he leapt up like a Vicious Beast that found its prey. He grabbed an imaginary foe by the neck. He crumpled his face, feigning immense pressure as he squeezed against the foe's neck. 

       Lai Xiaolin gazed on with immense horror as Long Wei wrung an imaginary opponent's neck. Clearly, they weren't in the same headspace. His supposed advice worked well during a fight or something similar. But Alchemy? She didn't think such an approach would work well. 

   "Crack! The best way to kill this  problem was cracking it's neck. I've visualized it. All that's left is to do it," he said, sitting down on the rock again, "Do see what your master means? "

    "I'm not so sure your explanation made it any better," she asked.

    "I'm done talking to you. You clearly lack imagination. How are you an alchemist?" he said. 

    "Alchemy isn't some fighting Dao that you and my Master worship. It's an art form. A process of creation. With your style I'll probably end up dead in my workshop tomorrow," she said. 

    "Imagination. You lack it, " Long Wei tapped the side of his head with his finger, "If you can't figure it out. That's on you-"

    "Young Master Wei, the Dao Heart Trials have finished. Elder Mo is about to announce the results and begin the Survival Trials. You've already displeased quite a few of the old folks with your actions. Come a little bit more earlier to diffuse the situation, " Elder Cai's voice rang in his head, disrupting his flow of speech.

    "The Survival Trials are starting. I'll be off now. "

    Purple qi wrapped around his feet in an instant. Before the second could pass, he zoomed towards the gigantic pavilions floating in the air up north. 

    Lai Xiaolin had no time to put in her last word before he swooshed off into the distance.  The speed alone made her realize she had no chance of winning a battle against him at all. First, she felt angry that someone clearly younger than her could best her at a battle, but she gave in. Battles weren't her speciality anyway. If she gave him a cauldron and told him to concoct a pill or any alchemical product he probably wouldn't be able to finish the first step without ruining all the spirit ingredients. Yes. That was it.  She quickly hid the disappointment that flooded her. 

   "What was he saying? Anylyze. Find the root and find the best way to kill it?" Lai Xiaolin thought to herself, "Pfft. People needed to analyze these stuff? "

    "Lai Xiaolin! " an enraged voice grabbed her out of her thoughts. 

    She paled. Her eyes flickered to the few-kilometre expanse of charred soil. The sweet aromas or growls from mortal Vicious Beasts were no way to be found. They killed them all. No! She shook her head. She didn't have a hand in any of the destruction. What was his name? Long... Dong... Song... Dong Wei. Dong Wei did it.  

    A woman sporting flaming red tore through the few kilometre distances in a second, arriving in front of Lai Xiaolin with a bang. The sudden stop after her dash generated gale-force winds that blasted into her. If it weren't for her high cultivation level that strengthened her body to the peak of the mortal realms she would have become meat paste. Instead, her hair and robes whipped until the wind died out. Bright red eyes glared at her. 

    "What the fuck do you think you are doing? Now I have to explain this shit to my fucking master," the lady said. 

    "Sister Mei... " Lai Xiaolin said. 

    Lai Tung-Mei, otherwise known as Senior Sister Mei was Lai Xiaolin's biological elder sister. Both of them came to the Imperial Expanse after they were unjustly banished from Hallow Expanse, another Transdimension, only it was far weaker than the Imperial Expanse as a hole. The Myriad Realms was vast, no expert had ever travelled to the far reaches of its borders. Most cultivators thought it was an infinite space housing trillions upon trillions of worlds. What most cultivators agreed on was the division between the four major aspects of the Myriad Realms. They were boundaries so to speak, but not physical ones but conceptual ones. The Heavenly Dao, another endless entity cultivators knew little about, constructed the four boundaries. 

    The first of the boundaries was the Mortal Dimension, the second was the Immortal Dimension, the third was the God Dimension, and the last was the Transdimension. Each dimension had a conceptual limit on the level of strength a cultivator could grow to. And the Transdimension had the highest ceiling of all four boundaries. 

    "Don't. DON'T. I wasted a Rejuvenation Elixer last TIME, " Lai Tung-Meu shouted. 

    "It wasn't my fault this time. I swear. I found this place like this," she said. 

    She backed away from her sister. She hadn't expected that the fight would take such a dangerous turn in two exchanges. She was forced to use a trump card before they fell into a rhythm. 

   "I swear. It was this guy... He wore black robes. And he had golden shoulder pads. And. And. His name was. Do... Dong. WEI. Dong Wei, " she gabbled. 

    Her hands flailed around as she explained, trying her best to sink her recollection of the events within her Senior Sister's mind. There was no way she was taking responsibility for the destruction of the garden again. Not when the other culprit was leisurely enjoying his time at the trials. 

    "His eyes. They were black. Really black. Remember that demon I told you about? The one with the charred black skin, white hair and abyss-like eyes? Yeah. Picture that. Only the eyes though. Only that.. And... "

    "Okay. I get it," Senior Sister Mei said. 

    Senior Sister Mei sensed another's presence, although it was light, almost non-existent. Her confirmation only came when she saw the awful state her plants were in. Most of them turned brown, from a lack of life force. Lai Xiaolin didn't have any life-draining abilities at hand. 

    "You are lucky. But now you owe me Twenty Bottles of 'Her Woes' and  three bottles of ' Immortal Bliss ' ," Senior Sister Mei said, "Promise. "

    "You are just like Senior Brother Jian," Lai Xiaolin.

    "You...just promise. Else I'll let my master see this mess. And then you can start explaining to her what happened."

    "Fine. Fine. I promise, I promise, " she said.

    "Good."

   Senior Sister Mei waved her hand. Moss green light pulsed out her fingertips, forming a ball a few spaces above them. The light splintered into dazzling green spots that flew into the ground. She kept her hand out, generating wave after wave of the green light. Once the entire few kilometres were covered. She spoke lightly under her breath.

   The way the forest rose from the dead never ceased to amaze Lai Xiaolin.