Light was pouting, arms crossed in front of her chest.
She was angry, too!
Not only was the art that was supposed to be just for her been handed out to everyone, now Master was teaching them their arts and completely ignoring her! Even if she didn't need his help to learn, it wasn't fair!
Her eyes wandered around and saw that he was now teaching something to little Feng, while others had gathered around and listened. Not everyone--sister Lan suddenly stepped up next to her, smiling.
"You can always just ask him," she said.
"... you're annoying," Light said.
"Am I? Well, big sisters are supposed to be annoying, I heard. Otherwise, the little ones stray."
"Humph," Light grumbled, glancing back over at the girl who was almost a full foot taller than her. Since they met, Sister Lan's body had changed completely; her arms had doubled in size, and shoulders were now like two mountain peaks guarding a passage.
Though she hid it under baggy and loose robes, she had muscles everywhere. Sometimes, Light wondered whether she'd never grow that tall, let alone that perfectly sculpted.
"Want to cultivate?"
"Fine," Sister Lan sat opposite of her as they both crossed their legs into a lotus position.
Though her Qi was no longer purely Demonic, it still remained eerily compatible with Sister's. Occasionally, the two would sit and cultivate together as it formed a small, thin barrier around them that sped up their growth quite some ways over when they cultivated independently.
Light's progress in cultivation had always been painfully slow and though it had sped up somewhat under her Master, it was still nowhere near the level of her Brothers and Sisters. But that was simply her physique and not her talent! She was just as talented as any of them, but her stupid physique was so slow!
In fairness, she didn't consider herself much weaker than any of them, and in the right circumstances, she knew that only her Master and stupid brother Tao could contend against her. Not that she would ever attack them, of course.
Qi swelled through her and she breathed in and out, slowly and deliberately, guiding the few tiny motes of Qi she managed to manifest inside of her down to the dantian.
The two stopped some fifteen minutes later. That was the main difference between cultivating Qi and Demonic Qi--the latter was actively corrosive, so much so that even someone like Sister Lan, with immensely durable meridians, couldn't cultivate for long.
"You two," Xiu spoke to them as soon as Light opened her eyes. "Did you understand what Master was talking about when he explained my fist art?"
"..."
"..."
"..."
"Are you really asking us that?" Sister Lan asked, and even Light was somewhat flabbergasted. Xiu was annoyingly petty and proud beyond her skill; the only person she ever asked for advice aside from Master was Brother Tao. So for her to ask them...
"There is no way I can fail at something Master explained to me personally!" she exclaimed, her eyes full of fire. "If I do, I will literally jump off a bridge and reincarnate into someone far smarter! So, help me!"
"... I'm not quite sure I understood much of it either," Sister Lan said, quickly glancing at Light with a meaningful look.
"Yes, me neither," Light said, picking up on it. "It's all fuzzy."
"... haah. Fine, fine. What do you want, huh?" Xiu said, sitting down in front of them with an annoyed expression. "Do you want my share of Spirit Stones? Or do you want to me kiss your boots or something weird like that?"
"Why would I want you to kiss my boots?" Light asked.
"Don't finish it--"
"--you would only make them dirtier."
"There it is," Xiu sighed as Light chuckled and Sister Lan smiled. "Are you going to help or just waste my time?"
"Why can't we do both?" sister Lan asked.
"Ah! I know what I want you to do!" Light suddenly exclaimed.
"... what?" Xiu looked at her warily and even backed off a bit.
"I want you to call me Most Beautiful Big Sis in the World for a whole year!"
"Huh?"
"Every time you talk to me or refer to me," Light elaborated. "You have to say the whole thing. Most Beautiful Big Sis in the World Light."
"Y-You're... not serious, are you?"
"I am."
"Huh, interesting," sister Lan mumbled, stroking her chin. "Interesting indeed."
"Hey, don't--"
"--and whenever you refer to me, you must say: My Complete and Total Superior For now and For all Eternity Until Death of Everything Wan Lan."
"--there it is. Haah," Xiu craned her neck back and exhaled deeply, but it was clear she was considering it.
It wasn't as though Light didn't understand why; the idea of disappointing Master was... scary. Not in a scary kind of a way, though, but in a painful one. They all wanted to do their best and make him proud, and Light was no exception.
"Ugh, fine," she relented in the end, surprisingly. Though, in her defense, she has grown a bit in the years they've known each other. Just like Sister Lan, Xiu was transforming--though she wasn't as tall or as broad as the former, she was still as tall as Zhao, and just as muscular.
And, unlike the last time they changed their faces, where Xiu made herself considerably more 'beautiful', this time around... she hadn't. She was average, like all of them were. They understood well enough that Master didn't like attention drawn on them unnecessarily, and understood just as much that a beautiful was could be as much of a curse as it was a blessing.
"You two win. I'll call you, haah, I'll call you Most Beautiful Big Sis in the World Light, and My Complete and Total Superior For now and For all Eternity Until Death of Everything Wan Lan."
"For a year," Light reiterated.
"... for a year," Xiu said through gnashed teeth. "Can you now help me, please?"
"Stand up," sister Lan said as the three scurried away from the group--where Master was currently explaining something to brother Rayce--not wanting to be seen. "Take the primary stance," Xiu obeyed noiselessly. "No, your feet are too close together. Push them out a bit."
"And twist your waist to the left," Light added. "A bit more. Hm. Move your right arm a bit back and drop the shoulder. Like that."
"Punch, now," sister Lan said and Xiu obeyed. "No, no. Too slow. You need to be quicker."
"Don't worry about being precise," Light said. "For now, just focus on gathering speed and momentum."
They instructed her earnestly--as they would have no matter what. It was all for Master, ultimately, and Xiu becoming stronger was as important as anyone else becoming stronger. Getting her to embarrass herself a bit on occasion for a whole year was simply a nice little benefit.
... Light simply worried that Master would make her stop and reprimand them for making her do it. No... though Master could be harsh, he very rarely interfered in how they spoke to one another. So long as they weren't outwardly hostile, he simply referred to it as 'sibling energy', though Light wasn't quite certain what that meant. After all, they were not siblings, and there wasn't some kind of a unique energy that they produced through their behavior.
But such was her Master.
Mysterious beyond mysteries, clever beyond cleverness, and handsome beyond handsomeness. But most of all, kind, loving, forgiving, and more understanding than even her Papa was.
But Master was also weak and cursed by the Heavens for being so handsome and talented; they all had to become much, much stronger to protect him, and make sure nobody ever, not even the Gods themselves, would dare even consider attacking him. That way, he could leave in the peace he yearned and deserved. Forever and for all eternity.