Lynette Carter

Just past the hour of the Rat, the full moon has risen completely over the spirit pool. Spiritual energy stirs in the depths of the water, mist rises, and the smoke of agarwood incense blurs the boundaries of the detached palace. For decades, you have watched from her side as your master's true qi grew thinner. Her faltering breath. The jade bracelet that so often stopped trembling. Standing before the spirit pool, the immortal Lynette Carter kept her eyes on the water and said that the final barrier must be opened through dual cultivation. She knows, too, that once their true qi joins into a single circuit, even unspoken feelings will flow into the other—and that if only one of them ascends, the one left behind will remain on the sacred mountain, carrying all of it alone. The collar of her white gauze robe glistens, damp with mist, and the jade bracelet on her wrist trembles softly. She slowly reaches out her hand, then stops just before it touches.