As it turned out, being a student was significantly more challenging than being a five-thousand-year-old cosmic entity capable of manipulating reality through sheer willpower.

  At least when one was pretending to learn things one had mastered before human civilization had invented writing.

  "The first principle of water sensing," Li Feng explained, standing ankle-deep in the crystalline pool beneath the waterfall, "is to recognize that water itself is conscious in ways most cultivators never perceive. Not as humans are conscious, but aware in its own element-nature."

  Xiaolong nodded sagely, as though this were profound insight rather than something any dragon hatchling would understand inherently. Water wasn't just conscious—in the higher realms, it occasionally formed committees and lodged formal complaints about excessive evaporation rates.

  "Before attempting to direct water energy," Li Feng continued, "we must first learn to listen to what water wishes to do naturally."

  He demonstrated by extending his hand, palm hovering just above the surface. The water beneath responded by forming a perfect miniature whirlpool that neither touched his skin nor splashed beyond its boundaries.

  "I'm not forcing the water to move," he explained. "I'm inviting it to dance with my energy."

  It was, Xiaolong had to admit, an elegant explanation for what was actually happening: his spiritual essence was harmonizing with the natural frequency of the water element, creating resonance patterns that the water responded to autonomously.

  Which was exactly what he'd said, just without the technical specifics that no human cultivation system had yet codified.

  "Now you try," Li Feng said, stepping aside to give her space. "Don't worry if nothing happens immediately. Some disciples practice for months before achieving their first response."

  Xiaolong stepped forward carefully, mindful of her weight. The stone beneath the water groaned in protest but held firm—apparently the basin had been reinforced with spiritual energy over centuries of cultivation practice. Small mercies.

  She extended her hand as Li Feng had done, hovering her palm above the water's surface. Now came the tricky part—she needed to perform this simple technique without revealing her true capabilities.

  For a dragon, water manipulation was as instinctive as breathing. Even in this limited form, she could easily create not just a whirlpool but a precise replica of the imperial palace, complete with tiny water courtiers going about their business.

  But that would hardly be the mark of a beginning student.

  Xiaolong carefully dampened her spiritual output, restricting it to what she estimated a talented human might manage on their first attempt. Just enough to create a slight ripple, perhaps.

  The water beneath her palm exploded upward in a perfect column that shot fifteen feet into the air before freezing into an exquisite ice sculpture of a dragon in mid-flight.

  Ah, Xiaolong thought. That may have been slightly excessive.

  Li Feng stared at the ice sculpture, then at Xiaolong, then back at the sculpture. His expression had transitioned from instructional patience to complete bewilderment.

  "That's..." he began, apparently at a loss for words.

  "Not what I intended," Xiaolong finished truthfully. "My control needs refinement."

  "Refinement," Li Feng repeated faintly. He circled the ice sculpture, studying it from multiple angles. "This is extraordinary work. The detail in the scales alone would require master-level ice cultivation, yet you claim to specialize in multiple elements."

  Xiaolong winced internally. The sculpture was actually rather crude by dragon standards—like a stick figure compared to a classical portrait—but evidently still beyond what humans typically managed.

  "As I said, my training has been... unconventional." She made a dismissive gesture, hoping to downplay the incident. "Beginners' luck, perhaps."

  "There is no such thing as luck in cultivation," Li Feng replied automatically, in the tone of someone quoting a lesson repeated countless times. "Only preparation meeting opportunity."

  He reached out to touch the ice dragon's smallest claw, which was rendered with anatomical precision down to the growth ridges.

  "And this level of preparation suggests years of dedicated study." His eyes returned to Xiaolong, more curious than suspicious. "You truly are a puzzle, Xiaolong."

  If you only knew, she thought. Aloud, she said, "Perhaps we should continue with the basics. Clearly my energy control needs significant work."

  Li Feng nodded, though he cast one last glance at the ice sculpture before returning to his instructional demeanor. "Very well. Let's try something simpler. Basic water circulation."

  He demonstrated a technique for drawing a small sphere of water into the air and circulating it in a continuous loop between his palms. The water flowed smoothly, never breaking its pattern as it traced figure-eights through the air.

  "This exercise teaches precise control rather than raw power," he explained. "The goal is perfect circulation without losing a single drop."

  Now this, Xiaolong thought with relief, should be easier to feign difficulty with. Precision was indeed more challenging than power, even for dragons.

  She extended both hands and attempted to replicate the exercise, deliberately allowing her energy to fluctuate slightly. The water rose as expected, forming a wobbly sphere that trembled between her palms.

  Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

  "Good," Li Feng encouraged. "Now guide it in a circular pattern, maintaining consistent speed."

  Xiaolong complied, carefully introducing small imperfections into the flow. The water sphere wobbled more pronouncedly, threatening to lose cohesion but never quite falling apart. A reasonably believable first attempt.

  "Your energy signature shifts constantly," Li Feng observed, watching the sphere. "Like multiple currents flowing together without fully harmonizing."

  An uncomfortably accurate observation. Her draconic essence, even compressed into this limited form, contained multiple elemental affinities that didn't naturally align with pure water cultivation.

  "I told you I practiced multiple elements," she reminded him.

  "Yes, but most multi-element cultivators develop distinct channels for each element. Yours seem to flow together." He moved closer, studying the wobbling water sphere with professional interest. "It's as though you're translating one energy type into another rather than using water energy directly."

  Again, unnervingly perceptive.

  She was indeed translating her natural draconic energy manipulation into approximations of human cultivation techniques, like a master calligrapher trying to write with their non-dominant hand while pretending to be a student.

  "Perhaps that's why my control falters," Xiaolong suggested, deliberately allowing the sphere to distort further. "I need to better isolate my water affinity."

  "Perhaps," Li Feng agreed, though he didn't sound entirely convinced. "Try focusing solely on the sensation of coolness and flow. Release thoughts of other elements entirely."

  Xiaolong nodded and pretended to concentrate more intensely. In reality, she was carefully calibrating exactly how quickly her technique should "improve" to seem plausible without raising further suspicions.

  The water sphere stabilized gradually, its movement becoming more fluid though still imperfect. Li Feng nodded approvingly.

  "Better. You learn unusually quickly."

  "I have an excellent teacher," Xiaolong replied, the flattery feeling strange on her tongue. Dragons didn't compliment lesser beings; it simply wasn't done.

  Li Feng's expression suggested he wasn't accustomed to such direct praise either. His ears reddened slightly as he turned away to demonstrate the next variation of the technique.

  "Once you can maintain stable circulation, we introduce directional changes," he explained, his water sphere now tracing complex patterns in the air. "The water must flow without hesitation even as its path alters."

  The demonstration was genuinely impressive for a human cultivator. His control was precise, his movements elegant, and his spiritual energy flowed with remarkable harmony.

  She found herself watching his form more than the technique itself—the poised balance of his stance, the measured rhythm of his breathing, the subtle play of muscles beneath his robes as he guided the water through increasingly complex patterns.

  "Are you observing the technique?" Li Feng asked, breaking her reverie.

  Xiaolong blinked, realizing she had indeed been distracted. "Yes, of course," she lied. "The... wrist movement is particularly interesting."

  "There was no wrist movement in that sequence," he replied, the corner of his mouth quirking slightly. "The control comes from the dantian center, not the extremities."

  Caught in such an obvious fabrication, Xiaolong felt her face grow warm—another bizarre human reaction she hadn't anticipated. Dragons didn't blush; they had no need for such obvious displays of discomfort.

  "I was observing what you weren't doing as well as what you were," she improvised, drawing on millennia of diplomatic experience. "The absence of wrist movement is itself instructive."

  Li Feng's almost-smile bloomed into a genuine one—brief but transformative, like sunlight breaking through cloud cover. "A clever answer. Perhaps you should be teaching philosophy rather than studying water techniques."

  The unexpected humor caught her off-guard.

  Dragons rarely engaged in lighthearted banter; status differentials made such informality inappropriate. Yet here was this human, teasing her as though they were equals.

  Most surprising was her own reaction—not offense, but a pleasant warmth entirely distinct from embarrassment. Her water sphere wobbled dangerously as her concentration faltered.

  "Careful," Li Feng cautioned, stepping closer. "Loss of focus can cause—"

  The sphere exploded outward, drenching them both in a splash that seemed to defy the laws of volume conservation. Somehow, the small amount of water expanded to thoroughly soak every inch of their clothing.

  "—that," he finished, water dripping from his hair.

  Xiaolong stood frozen in mortification. Five thousand years of existence, master of cosmic forces, terror of the celestial courts, and she'd just failed at the equivalent of a child's cultivation exercise. The indignity was nearly unbearable.

  Then Li Feng did something truly unexpected. He laughed.

  Not mockingly or condescendingly, but with genuine amusement, the sound echoing off the waterfall's stone walls like music. "Your face," he explained between chuckles. "You look so offended, as though the water has personally insulted your ancestors."

  She stared at him, baffled by this reaction. In dragon society, failure was met with either cutting criticism or cold dismissal, never warm humor. Yet Li Feng seemed to find her incompetence endearing rather than contemptible.

  "It's a common first mistake," he assured her, still smiling as he wrung water from his sleeve. "I once drenched my entire training group during an exhibition. My master made me carry water buckets uphill for a week as penance."

  This casual sharing of personal fallibility was another novelty. Dragons carefully curated tales of their accomplishments, never their failures.

  "You don't seem concerned by my lack of control," Xiaolong observed cautiously.

  "Why would I be? Learning requires mistakes." Li Feng gestured toward the waterfall. "Water itself teaches this lesson. It tries countless paths down the mountain, many leading nowhere, before finding its most efficient course. Yet we never consider the water foolish for its exploration."

  This philosophy was so contrary to draconic thinking that Xiaolong found herself momentarily speechless. Dragons believed in perfect execution through overwhelming power and precise planning. The concept of learning through failure was alien—failures were for lesser beings who lacked the capacity for perfection.

  Yet here was evidence that such an approach yielded results she hadn't anticipated. Li Feng's technique showed refinement and subtlety that pure power could never achieve.

  "An interesting perspective," she managed finally.

  "Not original to me," Li Feng admitted with characteristic humility. "Elder Wei taught that progress flows not in a straight line but in spirals, like water circling down a drain—visiting the same points repeatedly but at deeper levels of understanding each time."

  He demonstrated by drawing a spiral pattern in the air with a trail of water droplets.

  "Each apparent repetition actually represents growth, though it may seem like moving in circles."

  Xiaolong watched the spiraling water with unexpected fascination. The metaphor was simple yet profound in ways she hadn't considered during her millennia of existence. Perhaps there was genuine wisdom to be gained from this experiment, beyond her initial curiosity about Li Feng himself.

  "Shall we continue?" she asked, surprising herself with her own eagerness.

  Li Feng nodded, resuming his instructional demeanor. "We'll practice basic water circulation for the remainder of the morning. This afternoon, I must return to my waterfall meditation—I've already delayed my schedule with these lessons."

  "Of course," Xiaolong acknowledged. "Your pilgrimage takes priority."

  "While I meditate, you should practice the circulation technique." He guided her through the proper stance again. "Repetition builds the necessary neural and spiritual pathways."