As soon as the new Saint resolved the management of the Fragrant House and grabbed ten years-worth of provisions from the business storage, the group departed towards the Icefire Sect, taking the scenic route this time. Pef wanted to see the world a little, and being escorted by 4 Saints made the trip quite safe as well.
"This is the Dread Soul Waterfall. Legend has it, people that drown in here remain forever trapped..." the Fox Saint explained, while pointing at the petrified items left beside the waterfall. Everything from toys and statues to weapons and tools had transformed into stone, possibly by the calcium deposits present in the water, if Pef's memories were correct.
Still, this provided the young cultivator with another insight into the Dao of Water and Earth at once, and a new Star fell into the boy's core, as if by miracle.
'Scan' Pef asked while pointing his palm outward.
'Hey! There is a giant cave behind the waterfall. And...there is also a deep shaft, going for a thousand li underground.' the little Icefire announced as its immense coresense scanned the place deeply.
'Any dangers for a fragile little Emperor?' Pef wondered while he summoned a giant ice sword in his extended hand, mostly because he was getting weird looks from the Saints. He possibly looked weird, standing with a hand in the air and raising his cultivation without any effort.
'You will die if you go too deep. There is a harmful area in the shaft...' the Icefire answered after considering the young user's durability.
Pef thus turned toward the Lake Saint. "I have a quest for you, lake girl. Go down a thousand li and bring me what you find." he asked as he began to weave his giant sword in slow movements, passing through the nine forms and going further, adding tiny bursts of sword qi at every cut and then floating into a new form, moving slow enough as to not disturb the Air.
"I can sense a profound intent in your sword moves, despite the slow speed." the Saber Saint admitted with a grouchy voice, as he sat down to observe his teacher's demonstration.
Pef finished the exercise, then pointed the giant sword at the raising moon on the horizon. "If I were to slice that moon in half, would you gain more insight, saber guy?" the blonde boy asked in a serious tone.
"Please don't, Holy Son! The moon would shatter and bombard the world with mountain-sized fragments." the Ice Saint exclaimed in panic, while his face paled in fright.
The Fox Saint glanced at the moon then back again at the strange Emperor boy, possibly not sure what the circus was about. "Are you serious?" she asked in disbelief.
"... The moon wouldn't shatter from a single strike, at least not with this ice sword." Pef answered with a childish grin, then resumed his exercise at the same slow speed.
Recovering the Dao of the Sword was much harder than simple elemental Dao, because it involved hundreds of various other fields, everything from the Dao of Metal to abstract concepts like cutting or severing, sword qi projection and Domain limits, plus a touch of Void Dao to contract the space in-between the sword and the target.
"I see now. You're not disturbing the air at all, and thus you become one with the world." the Saber Saint muttered as his own Domain covered the entire area with a heavy presence.
"What do you see?" the Fox Saint asked as she struggled to move and failed to push away the Saint's Domain.
The young Holy Son jumped and sat down in mid-air, right in front of the Fox Saint, then tapped her forehead with a small finger. "You already have it in here, fox girl. Air is not equal to Wind, but Wind is Air in motion. It just flows from one place to another, pushed by differences in heat and pressure. Air helps Fire burn, and Wood releases the part of Air that can burn. Earth drags the Air down, with the aid of Gravity, so it doesn't flow away up into the void." he explained while gesturing with the same finger.
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"Oh! So Air is like Water then. Only softer..." the Fox Saint mused as her eyes glazed over in comprehension.
"...Even Earth is like Water, only harder." Pef concluded while he flew away, leaving the new Saint to meditate on the revelation. He too had gained a new insight right now, and he sat down to write an extension of the Earth Scripture in his notebook, marking the plate tectonics and magma fluids as a showcase in the fluidity of earth. His memories provided other examples, like rock avalanches or other cave-ins, plus earthquakes and various landslides.
And while Pef wrote furiously in his notebook, the Lake Saint rose up from beneath the waterfall, looking kinda frayed at the edges, eyes sunk from qi exhaustion.
She held a blue crystal in hand while in the other she had a gourd filled with liquid mana. Even so, the woman smiled thinly, as the hardship in the deep well had provided her with the necessary push to finish her fifth Star, making her the most powerful Saint on the continent now, even stronger than the Saber Saint.
"So the boy was right? There was something under the waterfall?" the Ice Saint asked in a curious voice.
"You might not live if you try it now, frosty guy. I almost died myself." the Lake Saint whispered as she sat down on the wet grass and stared at the blonde boy that still ignored her.
"The mana is used to compress mind stones, lake girl. The Blue Jade is my fee for your new Star." Pef called without taking his eyes from his notebook, mostly focused on writing a better cultivation method for his disciples back at the Sect.
"When is my turn to get a new Star?" the Ice Saint complained as he observed everyone else growing, but himself.
Pef turned towards the Ice Saint, then just pointed down. "Bring me a Blue Jade, and you'll get it, frosty guy." he answered in careless voice.
The man frowned for a moment, then flew into the waterfall at high speed. Truth to be told, a Saint had little to fear from the mana well, except the fear of the unknown, as well as other phobias like fear of the dark or fear of small spaces. But breaking through those fears would mean another Star as well.
"You know he might die in there, Holy Son." the Lake Saint said softly as she began to recover from the ordeal.
"I didn't send him there to die, lake girl. If I want to kill someone, I only need to slice once with my sword. You Saints are too scared of living, and too afraid to die. But the Dao doesn't reward the cowards." Pef mused out loud, still writing into his notebook.
Sometimes it was true that taking a trip was worth a thousand years of cultivation. Maybe much more, considering how slow the Saints were in getting another Star.
"..." the Lake Saint frowned in silence as she considered the words, and finding them hurtful but true. It has been millennia since the last time she went into danger by her own will.
"Will I get another Star if I go in that hole?" the Saber Saint asked, feeling rather upset at being left behind by the Lake Saint, and probably soon equaled once the Ice Saint returned.
Pef closed his notebook and measured the bald Saint with a frown. "You might, but most likely not. A broom would work better for you." the boy decided as he fell on his back and drifted into sleep, leaving the Icefire to keep watch.
"A small chance is better than nothing. I'm going..." the saber guy muttered in an angry tone and jumped into the waterfall with his saber in hand.
With the sharp qi Domain gone, the new Saint in the team could finally move, and took out her utensils to prepare a meal and some tea.
"A broom, huh?" the lake girl wondered softly as she began trying to compress a spoon of liquid mana into a mind stone. It wasn't easy at all, and by the time she finally managed, the other Saints had already returned. Both in the fourth Star, to the dismay of the Saber Saint.