First thing I did after coming home was introduce Vilya to my Master. There was no need to explain she was with me before, though thinking about it, I was really surprised he didn’t notice her with the passive perception of a Spirit Realm Cultivator.

He must have been really intensely focused on his work to miss her.

He didn’t say much other than to tell me not to make it a hobby to collect people. Other than advising me not to go overboard with girls, he had no complaints. I was a Golden Core Cultivator anyway, and a powerful one at that, so it was actually expected of me to get a girl or two to myself.

So, when that was done, we returned to our room where we resumed the work that was interrupted months ago.

Sitting behind Vilya and feeding her Soul Essence, I felt somewhat like a mama bird feeding its chick half-digested food. It was slow going since she was so weak, but there were definite improvements.

I also spoke with her about the progress of Body Cultivation, but that slowed way down as well since she couldn’t afford enough quality food. The Elder who she worked for fed her well, but it was nothing special. She didn’t go hungry, but she also didn’t receive any handouts.

Thinking about it, I realized how cheap a life was. An Elder, even if he just crossed the threshold to the Spirit Realm, could in an hour make enough money to feed a thousand Outer Disciples for a day. That was… It was a lot. The money generated was 10.000x more than a common Disciple.

They really were the backbone of a Sect.

Anyway, Vilya didn’t have to slave away for another as long as she was with me. I had knowledge about many things, but one thing I lacked, was experience. And with her help, I gained a lot of experience, especially in terms of fixing a broken Cultivation. That was well worth the little bit of help she required.

Normally a Cultivator like her would be considered crippled, but by artificially boosting her levels, we could slowly reverse the damage. Very slowly. She spent many hours each day smoothing over her energy, trying to unravel all the curse damage she accumulated.

It was so slow, even slower than my Cultivation. The progress was nearly invisible. It took her years of damage to get that far, it should usually take at least half that time to get back. Probably less since I was actively helping her.

Curse damage, in her case, prevented her from utilizing her Qi properly, slowing it down to a trickle. The impurities in her Soul, on the other hand, made it nearly impossible to generate Soul Essence. It was too messy and also significantly harder to fix.

That’s why nobody just absorbed the Souls of others. While most would go insane before losing the ability to Cultivate from the foreign memories, sometimes people resisted the mind corruption and managed to stay sane.

But nobody could easily get rid of the impurities once they were anchored in the lower layers of their Soul. Once Cultivation advanced, even shedding the outer layers wasn’t enough.

The problem Vilya had, was that her Soul was still homogeneous. No layers existed to limit the damage. Also, even if only one layer was wrong, after advancing to a higher Realm, the previous shells would merge into a whole, making it impossible to repair.

That was not her problem though, not that the reality was any better.

I Cultivated while she dealt with her curse and after that, we had a session where I fed her Soul Essence after which was a bit of training in the Passionate Spirit Siphon Technique.

The same schedule repeated day after day, with little variation. Once a week I went out to kill a rat or some similar creature to get fresh Essence, though Giant Rats, in all their forms and evolutions, were still the most common resource. Funny how a filthy pest could be so convenient.

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Days passed, turning into weeks and even months. I was getting close to my advancement and Vilya was nearing the peak of Spirit Accumulation Realm.

I calculated it would take me 25 weeks to break through since I spent some money on a new Cultivation chamber lined with Void Stone and energy-gathering arrays, yet it took nearly 35 weeks for it to finally happen. Some inefficiencies sneaked in since I had to spend some time with the girl, other times reluctantly leaving her alone in bed as I Cultivated in solitude.

But, it happened. After reaching the final mark, I knew I could go no further. I was stuffed. My Soul felt full, and no matter how hard I tried, it was impossible to grow it further. Any excess Essence I then produced went into empowering my Sea of Consciousness. Which I considered a waste.

My Soul didn’t need that extra layer of protection if it was already impossible to break.

So, I took a moment and broke through to the Second Layer. It was that easy. I just collapsed the gathered Soul Essence into a thinner layer around my core, making it impossibly tough and clearing space for more to gather.

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I did one session after that, and the Essence began gathering on top of it like a layer of dust on furniture. It was going to take a long time to complete, I could already feel it. It was funny how all the previous Cultivation was just enough to form the First Layer, and everything I gathered since reaching the Golden Core went into the Second.

[Onto the third one, I guess...]

Cultivation was not hard, it was actually very simple and straightforward, it just took a lot of damn time. Even if there were some complex ways to Cultivate, once you got the basics down for your current Realm, it became easy.

More than six months passed since I found Vilya, and while her Cultivation jumped many levels, I barely just clawed my way across the last bit of the First Layer. It was really slow. Way too slow. But, such was life, nothing much I could do to change it. I came to terms with it a few months ago. It actually made the time spent Cultivating flow faster, which was nice.

“I think I’m ready.” Vilya said one day.

[Ready for what?]

“I’m ready to advance.” She appeared nervous. “Do you think I should?”

I sighed. We debated at length about her situation, never coming up with a good solution. Even with all the knowledge I had, there was no easy way out. The ritual was still her best choice, maybe even her only choice.

[That’s something for you to decide, unfortunately. I will support you either way, but I can’t help you this time.]

I took her hands and looked into her eyes. She was scared. [You know the risks… Once you cross into the Nascent Soul, your path will be set. Even I won't be able to change it.] She winced and closed her eyes.

I considered breaking her Cultivation, stripping her Soul of everything so she could start anew. But it wouldn’t work. She had too many impurities, her Soul was too weak. She would die most likely, especially since I didn’t know what I was doing, and if it was even possible.

“I’ll do it.” She eventually said, her expression firm.

[You sure?]

She nodded. I hugged her. That was a hard decision, risking her life like that. At least, that’s what she thought. During the many months, I did a lot of research. A lot of useless research. Many books and old scrolls mentioned the ritual, yet none of them mentioned what it did.

I mean, I knew it could boost the Talent of a person, but it didn’t say how. It was a complete mystery until I spent a week observing it and found a depressing truth.

The chamber for the ritual was situated in the Inner Sect, yet unlike the rest of the buildings there, it was closely guarded by both Formations and people. Even Elders were among those guards, making it impossible to enter unnoticed.

But… Arcane Eyes allowed me to see things from afar, and though it was not much, combined with my familiarity with Souls, I quickly realized what was happening.

The death rate was not random. Quite the opposite. It was carefully calibrated to kill people and extract their Souls. It was a bit hard to see, but I filled the gaps with my imagination.

The Souls were purified and then stored, one at a time, for the next person. The newly purified mixture was then somehow injected into the new Soul boosting its Talent, but to do that, all Cultivation had to be destroyed.

It was a gruesome sight for anyone who knew what was happening, but most people subjected to it were none the wiser, celebrating if they survived, not knowing the previous customer was sacrificed for them to grow.

There was also a reason the peak of Spirit Accumulation Realm was required. The Soul had to be in that sweet spot, not too weak or it would shatter, and not too strong or it couldn’t be altered. After reaching the Nascent Soul, the core of a being underwent a drastic change, making alteration impossible. Or close to impossible, which really made no difference.

Sometimes, on rare occasions, two people were required to fill the tank, and similarly, if one was extremely close to the Earth Talent, a single Soul could boost two people over the threshold. It was rare, but the perceived randomness gave more validity to the process.

I internally sighed and took Vilya’s hand as we made our way to the Inner Sect. I felt more nervous than her since it was my knowledge that would hopefully protect her. I looked at her and she carried a small smile on her lips as we slowly walked on the cobblestone road. She obviously already came to terms with the possibility of death.

We came up to the building shortly after and stopped, looking at it. I briefly flashed my Arcane Eyes and scanned the ritual chamber. My eyes opened wide and I pulled her to the side.

We sat on some stone steps and I gave her a small potion. [Here, drink this. It’s going to help you with the ritual.] It was a lie.

“Oh, thank you.” She took it and drank. It was a simple nerve-calming potion, making her relax. There was no pill or elixir that could improve your chances of survival, despite what some might claim. The only thing that mattered was the order of people going inside. And even then it was sometimes a gamble. I pulled her closer and hugged her. She hugged me back. There was no rush.

I watched behind her as a young guy nervously approached the building and then entered. The guards let him go in without a word. I waited a few minutes, listening to Vilya’s calm breathing before looking again. The guy inside had others helping him, preparing him for the ritual. It was about to happen.

I mentally said a prayer for the guy sacrificing himself, even if he didn’t know it, and watched as it all began, with a veil of chaotic Qi rising to prevent me from seeing in further. But I could still see, or more accurately feel, as his Soul was ripped out, scrambled, and purified. The people inside all knew what was happening yet nobody said or did anything to stop it. I was slightly disappointed to see such things happening in my Sect, but let’s be honest, I was not surprised.

Sacrificing useless Cultivators to give birth to future Elders? It was par for the course in a Cultivation world. I was more surprised it wasn’t more extreme. But then I guess nobody would want to do it if they knew the survival was not random.

The process ended and I quickly stood up as another young person was coming, but they were hesitating. Vilya and I came before the front door and I let her go. She looked back, and with a nod from me, she steeled her resolve and walked forward. The guards opened the doors for her and looked at me with a hard gaze.

I squinted my eyes and returned the stare for a bit, before turning around.

The young girl that was behind us hesitated, not quite willing to go inside. I watched her like a hawk, my eyes never leaving her. She noticed and became even more nervous. I squinted my eyes at her and stared.

She began to sweat and then turned around, walking away. I didn’t look away until she was out of my sight. Only then did I look back, my gaze piercing the stone and focusing on Vilya who was preparing for the ritual. I had done what I could, giving her the best chance to succeed, the rest was up to fate.

I waited nervously for the result.