บท 12: SEE WITH YOUR MIND NOT YOUR EYES.

***Seven years later..

***On planet Gieă: In the Imperial Palace of Continent 'Eclipse of the Oceans'..

***Consort Tamara's Palace..

The sun shine brightly through a layer of white clouds while pleasantly warming the atmosphere with the beautiful blue skies warming up countless hearts. Occasionally, cool breezes would sweep past the grounds while lightly swaying distant leaves as normal people all over the Continent enjoy the beautiful afternoon.

It's springs after all and nature is at its very peak though nature's will doesn't matter much within the majestic walls of Consort Tamara's Palace.

Everything within the grounds and walls of this massive Palace is directly or indirectly controlled by the will or mood of the Palace's master.

From the temperature to humidity and even lightings, almost everything is out of the control of nature except a few exeptional structures where nature is given some semblance of authority.

Sitting in the far east Wing of Consort Tamara's Palace is one of these places still under the will of nature is built with an open roof structure that stands strong within a circular setting of tall pillars that host spiral balconies.

Sunlight lightly pours through the open roof, the wind is allowed gentle passage and to finish it off, a bit of mystic greenery is added to this setting.

Carpet white grass lies on the open grounds like a gentle carpet and flowers of different colours and species were scattered near the edges of this wide circle.

Sitting in the center of the circular white carpet grass are two people with one of them being a young princess who have just clocked her seventh year on Gieă(Earth).

Sitting in a wide wine and gold coloured pillow, the young princess crosses her ankles in a meditation position though she's obviously not meditating as her sharp eyes stays wide open.

With her spine straight and her elbows placed casually on her knees, the young girl manages to cast an undeniable glow of effortless nobility.

It almost feels like she wouldn't need to introduce herself or her background before one knows that she comes from and is going to greater heights.

Even from perspective of a back view, the princess holds a lot of unique features with the most noticeable being her rich light-blue hair that comes in various untoned shades.

Currently, the young Princess's blue hair is packed into a high ponytail with her packed hair length falling all the way past the centre of her back. Resting lightly on the princess's forehead is a set of soft baby bangs that fall above her sharp but still immature eyebrows.

"..Princess Seflim, want do you see from this picture?". Sitting crossed legged about six feet in front of the princess is a bald old man. Clad in simple but heavy red robes, the elderly man looks like an ancient yet energy filled monk with his chin and lips holding white long beards that touches down to his crossed laps.

Beside the old man is a floating piece of colourful artwork that although is a still image, the piece seems to tell a story.

A artistic multi-coloured rivers flows from up-to-down through the center of the massive art-piece. By the right side of the irregular multi-coloured river sits blurred images of many people with a few of them scooping the the coloured waters and passing it to the next who is behind them.

Like a chain structure of division of labour, one person looks to pass the colourful water to the next who then passes it to the next until it gets to the last person down on the labour line. This last person then pours the colourful waters into a seemingly endless pit of blurred colours!.

On the left side of the colourful river sits another group of blurred individuals. Like the people on the right side, these blurred figures are also scooping up water though in much smaller quantity and with a different and less orderly pattern.

Everyone on the left side of the multicoloured waters sits by the shores of the river. The still images of the artwork shows these blurred people taking up coloured water from the river before drinking it up immediately.

There is no division of labour on this other side and the people with the biggest cups showed a more satisfied expression than those with smaller cups!.

Other unexplainable tones of colours were scattered all over the picture's background though these colours holds other meanings that's indescribable to the average minds.

With the question her tutor asked ringing in her head, Princess Seflim squints her doe shaped deep-blue eyes before absorbing and digesting the still images of the art-piece floating in front of her. She remains unmoving for a dozen seconds and then she starts to pour out her answers with her voice noble and clear.

"..The first thing I see is the rivers of endless knowledge about the infinite worlds of cultivation and mystic. On the right side of this river, I see a couple of true cultivators that had managed to tap into this vast river in the pursuit for strenght. He scoops as much as he can and takes a deep look at what he has gathered. He seems enthralled by the colourful waters in his bowl(Knowledge) but in the end, he does the right thing to pass it on to a worthy disciple..

"..This disciple passes it on to the next and repeat and then at the end of the cycle, the last generation of disciple decides to finally share the knowledge he has inherited with the world..

"He pours the knowledge into the endless canyon hence not only quenching a bit of the cultivation world's endless thirst for knowledge but also preserving what has been learnt for eons to come.", Princess Seflim responds calmly to her tutor without taking her blue eyes off the artistic still-painting.

The old monk tutor stares at Seflim with lazy eyes that seems to be always half closed then he nods in approval before calmly asking.. "What else do you see Princess?.".

Princess Seflim still has her calm eyes on the image as she breaths at a controlled pace. She continues talking in an almost trance state as if she is speaking for the picture instead of about it.

"..On the other side of the river I see great but selfish cultivators who has already reached the apex of power and discover things others has not. They have tapped into the river of endless knowledge but not all knowledge are equal as some had discoveries that are ground-breaking(With bigger bowls) and the others had discoveries that wouldn't be celebrated much (With smaller bowls). They all continue to digest their knowledge but instead of sharing, they hog all the powers to themselves..

"They feel satisfaction in their strenght and knowledge over the weaker people while the less knowledgeable ones feels reference, respect and fear towards the stronger ones.". Princess Seflim says with her unbroken gaze still on the also unmoving art work.

The old man nods deeply in approval. The Princess has never seized to amuse him with her calm and growing foresight and this time is no different. The old monk would have called quits on the session though seeing the princess's still unbroken gaze on the image, he realizes that she might has discovered more than his already exceeded expectations.

"What else do you see Princess?.", The old man says with amusement arching his beard covered lips a barely noticeable bit.

Looking at the shades of rough colours in the background of both sides of the rivers of endless knowledge, Princess Seflim reads into the meaning of every shade before responding.

"On the right side where there is sharing of knowledge I see strenght,.. but is also see the slow crumbling of the hierarchy cultivation MUST sustain in order to keep striving for power..

"The river of endless knowledge comes in different shades all at a time. there are harmless shades(Green and Blue) but the most abundant of it's tone comes in shades of red(Danger and Destruction) hence meaning that not all knowledge should be shared.

"Some knowledge are better kept a secret because once disclosed, knowledge becomes a weapon that can be either used for the stability of cultivation or something worse than evil..

"Even the greenest of knowledge should be reviewed more than once before being disclosed and the release of knowledge should only be at a pace that wouldn't break down the power hierarchy of the world.", Princess Seflim says with her unblinking gaze still glued on the artwork.

The Old monk massages his long moustache in intrigue before asking once more, "..What else do you see?".

"On the left hand side of the river, I see Slow destruction and stagnation instead of versatility. Everyone lives and dies with the knowledge they have earned without ever bothering to pass it on.

"They have a clearer hierarchy than those on the right side and they are a strong forest though,.. if a forest is made up of only one type of plant can it still be called a forest?. They have lost the randomness of a forest and have become a gathering of distinct gardens!.

"They wouldn't be strong enough to face whatever calamity draws closer but despite this, they have much stronger hierarchy and thirst for knowledge that the right side. Without much knowledge to inherit, everyone is at the river of endless knowledge.. trying their best to scoop whatever they can no matter how small their cups are or how pathetic their attempts.

*Sigh*. "In cultivation, it is more than difficult to find right or wrong and even more difficult to find a method that's ever completely tested and approved and so the key to growth lies in finding the thin balance in every situation. Move out of this thin line and you'll find destruction either on the right side or on the left side. I believe this is the moral of this artwork.".

The old man keeps stroking his beard in true amusement before a light chuckle breaks free from his lips.

"Truly impressive princess Seflim.", To avoid the praise from getting to the young girls head, the old man stops after this simple sentence but deep down he knows that the princess is by far the most outstanding student he has ever seen or ever had the honours of teaching.

Hearing her master's praise, Princess Seflim finally turns to look at her master with a smile that shows two dimples that looks even cuter on her childish cheek.

"Eleèqûos Maģņisé hėŕrõus §e ýîos gułłâm..", Princess Seflim says in fluent elven.

"'See with your mind not your eyes',.. you taught me this master and I'm only following your instructions.", Princess Seflim says in flattery of her master who laughs heartily as his beady eyes beams with pride.