“Your Talent lies with Air, but you have some affinity in Fire,” Teacher Daoming observed.
Through my exhilaration, something tugged at the edge of my consciousness, something she had let slip earlier. I gestured toward the glowing spheres. “Are these all the Talents?”
A shadow flitted across her face. “It’s late. You are dismissed,” she said abruptly.
Curiosity warred with courtesy. I bowed, thanking her for the lesson. But then the question burst from me, “If Life is one of the intrinsic Talents, what are the others?”
“It is forbidden.” Without another word, she walked away.
Her strange behavior only stoked my curiosity further, weighing on me for the rest of the day. During the evening meal, I ate with little enthusiasm, barely tasting the prawns fried in red peppercorns.
“Aren’t you hungry?” Liwei asked, his chopsticks poised above his bowl.
I hesitated. Teacher Daoming had said it was forbidden but . . . he was the only one who might tell me. “Beyond Life, what are the other intrinsic Talents?”
He was quiet for so long, I thought he, too, would leave me in the dark. “Are we not allowed to even speak of it?” I shook my head then. “Forget I asked. I don’t want you to say anything you shouldn’t.”
He set down his chopsticks, his fingers tapping the table in a restless rhythm. “There’s just one other: Mind, which used to be among the most powerful Talents. However, centuries ago, my father and his allies condemned this magic and banned it across the realm.”
I refilled the teapot with hot water, letting the tea steep before pouring it into our cups. “Why did he do that?”
“Terrifying stories emerged regarding the practices of Mind Talents—that they drank mortal blood and feasted on the flesh of children to sustain their magic, that their powers had distorted their true forms beyond recognition.” He frowned. “Rumors, perhaps? After all, they are immortals just as us. The only difference we know for sure is in their eyes, which glitter like cut stones.”
“Were their powers truly evil?” I asked.
“Some Mind Talents could compel others against their will to perform their bidding. A heinous act. Imagine, being forced to attack someone? To harm those you love?”
I shuddered at the thought. “How is such a thing possible?”
“Fortunately, few are truly capable of it. The stronger one’s lifeforce, the harder it is to compel them as it requires more energy. A skilled Mind Talent might only be able to control a powerful immortal for a brief period.” A shadow crossed his face. “Even if this happens once, that’s once too often. Even if it’s just for a moment, one’s life can be destroyed then. A prison of the mind is far worse than that of the body.”
“Do many immortals have this power? Why aren’t we warned about it?”
“My father doesn’t like this to be mentioned. Besides, it is a rare skill, not even my father wields it.”
Part of me could not help wondering if that was why the emperor hated this magic. Because he could not understand it, because it was the one Talent that eluded him. But I buried those thoughts, unwilling to speak them aloud. No matter how close Liwei and I had grown, I could not let myself forget that he was the son of the Celestial Emperor.
He continued, “Most came from the Cloud Wall, once a domain of our kingdom which bordered the Golden Desert. When the ban was announced, a few volunteered to seal their powers to resettle in our lands. However, most refused.”
“It’s a hard thing to sacrifice years of study and practice,” I ventured, thinking of my own efforts to master just a few skills.
“Those who did were well compensated. The Cloud Immortals were stirred to rebellion by an ambitious upstart, in a gambit to seize power and declare himself king. After they proclaimed their separation from us, my father burned the ancient scrolls of their magic, burying their ashes at the bottom of the Four Seas.”
A harsh retaliation. “Was that the end of it?” I asked.
“Unfortunately, the Cloud Wall King retrieved the ashes and reconstructed the scrolls. He was weakened, but with whatever dark arts he learned, his new powers outstripped his old. With newly forged alliances with the Northern and Western Seas, he declared war upon us. The losses were catastrophic, thousands of immortals perishing—until, at last, a truce was agreed. However, my father swore that no Cloud Immortal would ever be allowed into the Celestial Kingdom again.”
I searched my memory for all Ping’er had told me of the eight kingdoms of the Immortal Realm. There had been no mention of the Cloud Wall. “Did it become part of another kingdom?”