As midnight approached, the gentle currents of the Tier 2 pool carried Lin Xiao toward the shallow dark rock steps.
Feeling thoroughly warmed to the very center of his ancient core, the little blue slime tightened his broad, floating raft form back into a neat, floating sphere. With a soft, wet plop, he nudged against the lower step. His semi-clear azure fluid rose smoothly from the water.
In a seamless shift of fluid matter, the jelly-like sphere elongated and shifted, coalescing into his human avatar.
He appeared as an eighteen-year-old youth of quiet, timeless poise. His build was slender and unrushed. His silky raven hair fell loosely past his shoulders, damp with cedar steam. His eyes sparkled with the deep, crystal-clear sapphire light of the ancient source.
She waited on the edge of the wooden walkway planks. Su Ling’er stepped forward with a soft, affectionate smile. She carried a loose lounging haori woven from midnight-blue cloud-silk, lined with brushed fleece that held the leftover warmth of the pavilion.
“Careful of the mountain breeze, Lord Patriarch,” Su Ling’er murmured, draping the robe gently around his shoulders.
“Thanks, Ling’er,” Lin Xiao said with a warm smile, pulling the soft lapels closed.
He stepped barefoot onto the smooth storm-cedar deckboards. Walking on the warm, hand-planed timber after forty minutes in the stone bath was an exquisite sense pleasure. The wood was dry, satiny. Then he infused with cedar heartwood resin, providing a gentle heat cushion that prevented the alpine air from chilling his…
