Fortunately, Omilaena was in the middle of a vicious battle.
When she'd first arrived in the Pureflower sect, she'd been honestly worried that they were going to spend all their time pouring tea, picking flowers, and simpering around. Fortunately, the cultivators of the Pureflower sect also took the time to beat the crap out of each other. Elegantly.
Omilaena stood on the far side of a marble court, hurling needles at her opponent and deflecting those cutting toward her - at least the cumbersome sleeves of these outfits were useful for sweeping projectiles out of the air. Her opponent was another young and beautiful Cloudspire cultivator: she was an Earth Soul and reasonably strong, but she was so generic. All of Zin Nim's jade-white skin and none of her bite.
The rules of the competition required them to stay at a distance and use projectiles alone, with victory being decided by the first blood drawn. It wasn't very similar to a real battle, but the limitations prevented Omilaena from powering through the competition with her strength. In fact, as needle after needle was deflected, she was getting downright annoyed.
Summoning large numbers of needles at once was useless, because the Pureflower cultivators had an immense number of spinning maneuvers that were actually quite effective at deflecting projectiles. No matter what combination Omilaena tried, there seemed to be a counter. If she couldn't leap in and pin her opponent, perhaps some lateral thinking...
After weaving aside from her opponent's counterattack, Omilaena hurled an entire fistful of needles in one hand, and a single needle from the other. The first attack was deflected by a beautiful twirl, of course, and the second struck the floor.
And rebounded into her opponent's calf.
"Aah!" The cultivator cried out, more in surprise than pain, and fell to treat the injury. Omilaena was declared the victor and servants immediately rushed to cover the injury with a qi-based cream.
That cream was actually amazing, soothing pain and preventing scarring. Omilaena had grabbed a bunch and shoved it into her spatial satchel, plus she hoped to figure out the composition eventually. Right now, there were too many other priorities.
"Congratulations on another victory." Kir Mei Bai floated closer and extended a hand, floating a gleaming white pill toward her. She didn't usually hand out the rewards, but apparently she had taken a special interest this time.
The prize for winning a match, and for many other competitions within the sect, was a Transcendent Complexion Pill. Omilaena had been scornful at first, but they were actually a powerful source of qi, and she thought it reinforced the Physique principle in a way that was more than just aesthetic. However, she had advanced far enough that she didn't need to use them regularly.
"Have you put more thought into your path?" Kir Mei Bai continued floating nearby, which was also unusual, so Omilaena gave her the archetypal bow.
"I still have much to train," Omilaena said.
"I noticed that you have been stockpiling your Transcendent Complexion Pills, though your skin doesn't appear to have suffered." Kir Mei Bai shook her head slowly. "I had hoped that you were planning to trade them for a more unique source of qi. You really should choose a feminine specialty."
"I think I'm doing fine."
Kir Mei Bai gave a tinkling little laugh that should have been annoying, yet somehow it actually sounded authentic. She wasn't as stuck-up as she seemed at first. "Don't think I'm unaware that your strength is comparable to mine. But you know that you have even greater potential, and choosing a path here could greatly benefit you."
"Huh." Omilaena reconsidered the cultivator. "I thought I'd chosen a clear path: poison is a feminine weapon, isn't it?"
"That is true, but it is not a path we take into ourselves or we would become toxic to others."
"You could use a refined technique, though. Fundamental skills are well and good, but polishing them into techniques can be useful. You're actually missing full techniques, in my opinion."
"Oh?" Zin Nim looked at her, sharply but not angrily. She was actually listening, which was still a marvel.
Omilaena waited until they left the common area and entered the flowered private quarters. Usually they were filled with cultivators speaking to one another and attending to their beauty regimens, but during the matches they were mostly empty. Fortunately, individual rooms could be made very private, which was nice when they wanted to spend some time together.
When Omilaena turned to take the other woman's arm, however, she actually wasn't coming on to her. Instead she extended her hand into her usual palm strike position and traced her fingers down her arm.
"All the force and qi flow together to your palm," Omilaena explained, "and you expel qi at the point of impact. Why not expel qi before that, in a ranged technique? That would be a more 'elegant' technique for them, wouldn't it?"
"If I just release a qi attack, that will waste the movement." Zin Nim shook her head, but she was listening.
"I wasn't suggesting a normal burst of qi, I mean a new technique. Why not extend your entire hand? Project it into the world, I mean."
"Hmm. I am... not accustomed to using my qi that way."
"Maybe you should create a hybrid." Omilaena released a trail of qi with one hand and traced mana down her arm with the other. "You've already used the Coldfire Corona to strengthen other attacks, so why not extend that? Let your qi provide the force and momentum, then project your mana. Mana is good at projecting, anyway."
"Oh!" Zin Nim's eyes lit up and she began to experiment. As stubborn as she could be, when a foreign concept finally clicked with her, she would accept it quickly. That had been a repeated lesson during their honeymoon, which brought a smirk to Omilaena's face.
The two of them cooperated to develop a new technique, experimenting with different balances of mana and qi. Both sides came easily to Zin Nim, and she had used her mana for palm strikes before, but projecting a polished technique was more difficult. It turned out that all the fancy details on the magical animal attacks weren't just ornamentation, they strengthened the technique.
When they'd made enough progress for the day, Zin Nim took her arm and drew her aside. It wasn't for personal reasons, though, not when her narrow eyes were still set so fiercely.
"I also have... a suggestion for you," Zin Nim said quietly.
"Yes?"
"You should take care to win more elegantly, but I think you already understand that. What I wanted to suggest was that you take on one of the sect's qi paths. I know they might not seem much like you, but I think you could benefit."
"The problem is that I don't think conventional cultivation is right for me," Omilaena said. "I know, I can't ignore a force as powerful as qi, but I haven't found the right art yet."
"I was thinking that you should... also try a merger." Zin Nim nodded as if to herself. "Yes, it could work. I know you rejected the path of the 'cold maiden' but that path doesn't have to be pure ice. There are ways you could take that power and merge it with what you already possess."
Omilaena had ignored that advice from Kir Mei Bai, but from Zin Nim... "Alright," she said, "I'm listening."