Thanks for the quick reply! That's a super fascinating set up but without your explanation I think I'd still be lost -- and I really want you to get a gift/assignment that includes what you were looking for. Rather than trying to generalize it for any possible crossover, I wonder if it would be clearer if you came up with one freeform along the lines of one of these for each fandom you'd like to request or offer the freeform for:

Crossover - A & B both cultivators; neither realizes until they see each other use qi
Crossover - A&B both magic users; both slowly realize as they see each other do magic

This is obviously kind of a clunky solution, but I'd rather add more freeforms than leave a freeform confusingly phrased.