"Explain?!?!" Eishath exclaimed. Her expression was horrified.

Every method she knew of that pushed two realms was not pretty. All of them were temporary gains for severe long-term losses. Not being able to proceed further was one common side effect. An early grave was another.

"Yeah!!! Explain?!?" Elizabeth shouted. Her expression was one of wonder and excitement.

She trusted her master implicitly. In her mind, he would never say something that he could not do and never do something that would harm her. This was her firm belief.

"What is with all the excitement?" Samuel asked, confused by the sudden outburst.

The method he had come up with came from the deep dive he had done on cauldrons just a couple of days ago. He then kept a small portion of his mind churning the information to dissect it so he could use it as he saw fit.

During this process, he found many techniques he could use to empower Elizabeth, but since most of them were long-term processes they would not be that useful. There were a few that could be used for some immediate gain.

"Skipping two levels!?! That is not normal?!?! I have never heard of skipping two levels without serious repercussions!" Eishath shouted unable to hold it in. Her master was a little too eccentric, to so casually push something so dangerous on Elizabeth... Had she made a mistake?

Samuel made a funny face before his eyes widened as what he was being told hit him.

"A permanent increase!?!"

Then he stopped for a second and thought about it.

"Well... Actually... Even that is possible... Yes... With next to no backlash if I did it right..." He started mumbling to himself.

Both Eishath and Elizabeth looked at his lost expression intently. Elizabeth had already let go of trying to understand matters, she trusted her master to know what was good for her. Eishath on the other hand could reason what he was mumbling to himself and she could only gulp at the implications.

He shook his head as if brought back to reality.

"Sorry. Got lost in thought. Anyway... While it is possible to permanently increase Elizabeth's power to the essence condensation stage, I would not recommend it. While I can negate all stability and crippling issues she will face. No, I am confident that I can instead increase her potential. But there is a catch, her power would grow faster than her ability to adapt to it and that is something I am going to avoid."

The dismissive nature of his voice proved his confidence and Eishath had existed long enough to know when experts were being serious or when conmen were blowing smoke out of their asses.

Eishath's started to hyperventilate. She had not just scored a jackpot, she scored a heaven-defying genius!

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She did not even consider that the master might be delusional and believe in himself even when he did not have the power to back it up.

She excitedly asked.

"Can you do it for me?! I have been stuck at this stage for way too long!"

"No."

An immediate shutdown. Along with it a fast downfall of her mood.

Before she had the sense to think and reason, she asked.

"Why?!?"

"Because you are not cauldron."

For the first time in a long time, Eishath felt something new. Hurt...

She almost wilted as sorrow threatened to engulf her.

One must remember that unlike normal cultivators her kind had a much harder time breaking through ranks. She had been stuck at the third rank for close to four thousand years, a vast majority of her life. To dangle something so precious to her and then immediately refuse struck her deeply.

Elizabeth, the dumb slut, was somehow the one to come to her rescue.

"Why can't she?!? Master, I asked for a family, not a business!!!" She asked very angrily at her master.

Samuel was flabbergasted at her outburst...

"What do you mean?" He asked unable to formulate a reason.

"Are you saying that just because she is not a cauldron, she cannot get these benefits?"

"Yes." He said confused as to why that was so hard to understand.

"Unbelievable!!! And I thought you were different!" She said as she crossed her arms and looked the other way.

Her own emotions were high and her past made her very angry at her master who like her family was using the promised power as a means of control. She also felt it... The anger that was going to give way to sorrow...

Samuel also felt it through his soul sight and this time he joined the other two with his form of distress.

"Elizabeth! I am sorry! I do not know what I did wrong but I promise to make it right!" He answered trying to calm his beloved disciple.

The interaction gave enough time for Eishath to come down and unlike Samuel and Elizabeth, her ability to pick out hidden meaning that was not being said was top-notch.

In this case, both idiots did not use their words right and were heading toward a misunderstanding. Normally Eishath would use this to sow dissonance.

But right now her heart was just not it... And Elizabeth had just stood up for her so she decided to reward her sister's good deeds.

"Elizabeth... I believe what Master Samuel is trying to say is that his methods are only effective on his bound cauldrons..." She sounded dispirited but got his words out clearly.

Elizabeth's eyes widened when she heard those words then the waterworks came down streaming.

Samuel was doubly worried at the sudden rise of her distress. He hurriedly asked

"What's wrong?!? What did I do?!?!"

"I am sorry! I am sorry!" Elizabeth started wailing as she threw herself and hugged him tight.

Samuel looked at Eishath, his eyes pleading with her to help him.

She let an involuntary chuckle masking her sorrow. At least this two would provide her with ample entertainment.

It took a while but the air was cleared.

Elizabeth was still apologetic but much calmer, Samuel finally had a handle on what was actually going on with the conversation and Eishath could finally mask her pain.

It was Elizabeth who first spoke.

"Why not just become a cauldron to master? I promise you will enjoy it!" She said trying to lighten the mood.

Eishath gave her a sad smile.

"I would if I could Ellie... But my constitution makes that impossible... But let us just drop this topic... Anyway, master what do you mean by a temporary power increase?" She said deliberately changing the subject.

Samuel hopped on.

"Right! So, we share a soul tether because she is permanently bound to me as a cauldron. I found out I can channel my essence through this tether to empower her." He said proudly.

"Would she not explode from the excessive essence?" Eishath asked.

"Why would she? As long as the essence is tethered to me I can control that essence and ensure it only provides benefits while removing any backlash. It won't affect my day-to-day activities if it is only essence condensation. Now if I had to push her to a nascent soul? Now that would be a challenge." He said casually.

Eishath audibly gulped at the implications of what the man in front of him so frankly divulged.

'Monster!'

That was the only word on her mind.