The journey back to the sect compound resembled nothing so much as a traveling carnival of spiritual exhibitionism, with each disciple displaying their collected water as though they'd personally extracted tears from the celestial bureaucracy.

  Xiaolong's vessel, with its unsolicited prismatic light show, had become the unwilling centerpiece of this spectacle, drawing gazes that ranged from reverent awe to poorly disguised suspicion.

  "Remarkable resonance patterns," observed a gangly disciple who had introduced himself as Junior Brother Wen, leaning so close to Xiaolong's vessel that his breath fogged the crystal. "Like captured rainbow fragments suspended in perfect equilibrium."

  "Or scale reflections," Song Bai murmured just loudly enough to be heard, her voice sweet as poisoned honey.

  Xiaolong clutched her vessel closer, resisting the draconic impulse to bare teeth that would, in her true form, have been considerably more impressive than their current human configuration.

  Five thousand years of accumulated dignity prevented her from engaging in the petty verbal sparring that humans seemed to consider both entertainment and social necessity, though her transformed nature found itself increasingly tempted by the prospect.

  Their procession had swelled considerably as different gathering parties converged on shared paths back to the sect. Ming Lian's group joined first, their vessels filled with water that occasionally emitted soft, bell-like tones when jostled.

  The Cloud Capture Basin apparently imparted musical properties to its essence—a parlor trick by draconic standards, but one that delighted the younger disciples who deliberately shook their containers to produce improvised melodies.

  "Ah, the melodramatic waters of Mirror Pond," Ming Lian declared upon spotting Xiaolong's vessel, his irreverence a welcome respite from Song Bai's pointed vigilance. "Always trying to outshine its more humble cousins with these ostentatious light displays. Typical middle-child syndrome among sacred water sources."

  His casual joke dispelled some of the tension that had gathered around Xiaolong like storm clouds. Several disciples laughed, and even Song Bai's perpetual suspicion softened fractionally at the edges.

  "And what qualities did the Cloud Capture Basin bestow this season?" Xiaolong asked, grateful for the subject change.

  Ming Lian held up his vessel, where water shimmered with opalescent swirls that occasionally formed recognizable patterns before dissolving back into randomness.

  "Besides its musical tendencies? A peculiar affinity for prophecy through shape-shifting. Though so far it's only predicted that Junior Brother Qiao will trip over a root before sunset, which even I could prophesy given his legendary lack of awareness of his own feet."

  On cue, a yelp and crash from behind them announced Junior Brother Qiao fulfilling this prophecy with impeccable timing. Laughter rippled through the group, momentarily transforming the ceremonial procession into something more relaxed and human.

  The moment of levity proved short-lived as a commotion from further down the path announced the arrival of Li Feng's gathering party.

  Unlike the cheerful energy of the other groups, these disciples appeared simultaneously exhilarated and exhausted, their robes splashed with water and minor injuries visible on several junior members.

  "Cascading Falls lived up to its tempestuous reputation," Ming Lian explained, noting Xiaolong's concern. "Its waters must be collected during active flow, not from the catchment pool. The task requires physical prowess as much as spiritual awareness."

  Li Feng led his group with the quiet confidence Xiaolong had come to recognize as his natural state rather than cultivated affect. While other senior disciples might have strutted after successfully managing a challenging collection, he simply ensured his juniors were properly attended to before acknowledging the other gathering parties.

  "Elder Brother Li!" called Ming Lian. "Share your tales of waterfall wrestling so we might properly embellish them in this year's festival songs!"

  A ripple of anticipation moved through the assembled disciples. Li Feng's group gathered around him, each eager to contribute details to what had clearly been an eventful collection.

  "The falls ran higher than usual this season," Li Feng explained with characteristic understatement. "A recent mountain storm increased both volume and spiritual volatility."

  "The waterfall tried to eat Junior Brother Tao!" interrupted an excited young disciple, his eyes wide with remembered terror and delight. "A water vortex formed a giant maw that almost swallowed him whole!"

  "An uncommon formation pattern in the current," Li Feng corrected gently. "Though it did require direct intervention."

  What followed was a collaborative retelling that painted a vivid picture of near-disaster transformed into triumphant success through Li Feng's quick thinking.

  The collection had begun routinely enough, with disciples positioning themselves on prescribed meditation stones within the waterfall's spray. When unexpected energy fluctuations created dangerous water formations, Li Feng had apparently performed a series of high-level water control techniques while simultaneously ensuring his junior disciples remained safe.

  "He walked on water!" declared one particularly enthusiastic narrator. "Stepped right across the churning pool like it was solid stone!"

  "A basic application of surface tension principles," Li Feng demurred, though Xiaolong noted the flicker of justified pride in his eyes.

  His vessel contained water of exceptional clarity, even by the standards of ceremonial collections. Unlike the other waters with their various manifestations—prismatic light, musical tones, prophetic shapes—the Cascading Falls water appeared almost ordinary until viewed from specific angles.

  Then, one could glimpse layers of complexity within, currents moving in precisely ordered patterns like the internal mechanics of some cosmic timepiece.

  As the combined gathering parties continued their journey, Xiaolong found herself walking beside Li Feng, their vessels carried with matching care.

  "You're limping," she observed quietly.

  "A minor strain from improper landing," he replied, subtly adjusting his gait to mask the injury. "The falls required more direct engagement than anticipated."

  Xiaolong resisted the urge to offer assistance.

  Dragons possessed considerable healing abilities, but explaining how she'd accelerated his recovery would create more complications than it solved. Instead, she found herself acknowledging his accomplishment with surprising sincerity.

  "You protected them well. Your disciples speak of your actions with genuine respect, not merely obligatory deference."

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  Li Feng glanced at her, a flicker of surprise crossing his features before settling back into his usual composed expression. "The sect teaches that true leadership flows from service rather than command. Water cultivation principles applied to human relationships."

  Something in his words resonated uncomfortably with Xiaolong's ongoing transformation.

  Dragons led through dominance and power; humans apparently found strength in mutual support and vulnerability. Another fundamental difference between their natures that had once seemed like obvious draconic superiority but now felt more like philosophical divergence without clear hierarchy.

  Her contemplation was interrupted by an unexpected phenomenon. As she walked beside Li Feng, their vessels—carried at approximately the same height—began to react to one another's proximity.

  The prismatic threads in her water oriented themselves toward his vessel, while subtle currents in his water accelerated and aligned toward hers. The effect created a visual impression of the waters straining toward each other despite their crystal containers.

  "Fascinating resonance pattern," Li Feng noted, observing the interaction with scholarly interest. "Mirror Pond and Cascading Falls waters rarely demonstrate such pronounced affinity."

  The waters' mutual attraction drew attention from nearby disciples, who nudged each other and pointed with varying degrees of subtlety.

  Ming Lian materialized beside them with his characteristic talent for appearing whenever something interesting occurred.

  "Well, well," he drawled, eyes dancing with mischief as he glanced between the vessels and their carriers. "The waters reveal truth indeed. Perhaps we're witnessing the famous 'convergent destinies' phenomenon described in Elder Liu's thoroughly incomprehensible treatise on spiritual affinity manifestations."

  Xiaolong felt an unfamiliar warmth creeping up her neck—a physiological response she'd observed in humans but had never personally experienced.

  Apparently, embarrassment had physical components her draconic form had simply never bothered to manifest.

  "An interesting alchemical reaction between different water properties," she stated with forced academic detachment.

  "Indeed," agreed Ming Lian, not bothering to conceal his amusement. "Pure chemistry. Nothing metaphorical or prophetic whatsoever about two waters straining toward each other like star-crossed lovers in one of those terrible romantic cultivation novels Junior Sister Lin pretends not to read."

  Before Xiaolong could formulate an appropriately dignified response, their attention was diverted by the arrival of Master Zhen's gathering party, returning from the Azure Source Cavern with waters that glowed with soft blue luminescence.

  "Excellent timing!" declared Elder Liu, who had apparently been awaiting their arrival at the crossroads. "All seven gathering parties converging as tradition dictates."

  The elder's gaze swept over the assembled disciples before settling on the still-interacting vessels carried by Xiaolong and Li Feng. His eyebrows rose fractionally, head tilting with scholarly interest.

  "Most unusual," he murmured, approaching for closer examination. "May I?"

  Without waiting for permission, he passed a hand over the two vessels, fingers tracing complex patterns that seemed to intensify the waters' reaction.

  The prismatic threads in Xiaolong's vessel began rotating in perfect spirals, while the currents in Li Feng's water formed matching counter-spirals. The visual effect resembled nothing so much as two dance partners perfectly mirroring each other's movements.

  "Extraordinary harmony," Elder Liu declared, his academic excitement overriding ceremonial formality. "Fellow Daoist Xiaolong, might I request a demonstration of your collection technique at our next sacred source? Such resonance suggests unique compatibility with our sect's foundational principles."

  The request carried the unmistakable weight of command beneath its polite phrasing.

  Xiaolong inclined her head in agreement, knowing refusal would only intensify scrutiny. She was committed to this path now, for better or worse—another decidedly un-draconic acceptance of circumstances beyond her control.

  They arrived at a small mountain stream—not one of the seven sacred sources, but apparently significant enough to warrant a minor collection ritual before returning to the sect compound.

  Elder Liu instructed the gathering parties to rest while he invited Xiaolong to demonstrate her technique at the stream's edge.

  "A simple harmonization will suffice," he explained, gesturing toward the burbling water. "We often perform supplementary collections to complement the primary sacred waters."

  Aware of every eye upon her, Xiaolong approached the stream with deliberate grace.

  She had observed enough human cultivation rituals now to craft a convincing performance—movements that appeared sufficiently different from Azure Waters Sect techniques to represent a "foreign tradition" while remaining recognizably based in water cultivation principles.

  As she began the sequence, focusing intently on projecting only the most human aspects of her essence, Xiaolong attempted to exert precise control over the water's response. Just enough reaction to satisfy expectations without the dramatic displays that had marked her previous interactions with water since her transformation began.

  Such careful modulation proved futile.

  The moment her vessel touched the water's surface, the entire stream responded with alarming enthusiasm. Rather than flowing normally, the water rose up to meet her container, defying gravity in a perfect column that poured itself into her vessel without spilling a drop.

  The collected water immediately developed the now-familiar prismatic patterns, though these arranged themselves in more complex formations than before.

  Gasps and murmurs erupted from the observing disciples. Even Elder Liu appeared momentarily startled before composing his features into an expression of scholarly fascination.

  "Most unusual affinity," he remarked with careful neutrality. "The water responds to your essence with remarkable... eagerness."

  Xiaolong withdrew her vessel, maintaining outward composure despite her growing concern. The inability to control her effect on water represented a significant complication in maintaining her disguise.

  Dragons commanded elements through inherent authority; this mutual recognition, this enthusiastic response without explicit direction, violated everything she understood about proper draconic-elemental relations.

  "In my tradition," she improvised, "we believe water possesses awareness that recognizes compatible spiritual signatures. The cultivator need not command, merely invite harmonious exchange."

  This explanation, while technically accurate in describing her current experience, bore no resemblance to actual draconic philosophy regarding elemental forces.

  Dragons did not "invite" or "exchange"—they commanded through cosmic hierarchical right. This newfound harmonious relationship represented yet another transformation in her fundamental nature.

  Elder Liu nodded thoughtfully. "A philosophical approach with interesting parallels to our sect's foundational texts. The earliest Azure Waters masters described water as possessing 'recognitive consciousness' that responds differently to different spiritual essences." He studied her with renewed interest. "Your tradition preserves practical applications of principles we consider largely theoretical."

  The procession resumed its journey with Xiaolong now firmly established as an object of intense curiosity. Junior disciples followed at a respectful distance, whispering theories about her origins and abilities.

  Several senior disciples approached with technical questions about her "tradition," forcing Xiaolong to construct increasingly elaborate explanations based on fragmentary human understandings of principles she had once simply embodied without question.

  As they approached the sect compound, Elder Wei awaited them at the outer gates, his expression unreadable as his gaze swept over the returning gathering parties—lingering significantly on Xiaolong and her troublesome vessel.

  "The waters have been gathered," he announced formally. "Tomorrow's ceremony will complete their convergence in the Azure Pool. Until then, each vessel must remain in meditation alignment with its collector."

  His eyes fixed on Xiaolong. "Elder Liu reports unusual collection phenomena worthy of special attention. The final convergence ceremony will feature a direct collection from the Azure Pool itself—an honor typically reserved for sect elders."

  The announcement sent a ripple of surprise through the assembled disciples. Direct collection from the Azure Pool represented both prestigious recognition and intensive scrutiny—placing Xiaolong at the center of the festival's most significant ritual.

  As the gathering parties dispersed to prepare for the culmination ceremony, Xiaolong found herself facing a distinctly un-draconic emotion: uncertainty. The water's increasingly dramatic response to her presence threatened to expose her true nature before this transformation—whatever it truly represented—had run its course.

  Dragon instinct suggested immediate withdrawal from such scrutiny. Her newly evolving nature, however, found itself reluctant to abandon this journey of discovery—particularly the connections she had begun to form with Li Feng and, surprisingly, the sect itself.

  The prismatic threads in her vessel seemed to pulse in rhythm with her contemplation, as though the water itself reflected her internal conflict.

  No longer simply responding to her command, but mirroring her essence—another troubling sign of how profoundly her nature was changing through this reverse cultivation journey.