Dejiu let out a deep breath. Relief expelled, he felt like he just escaped death. Probably because he did.

“Wasn’t that too risky?” He said. “I would’ve been lucky to not be handed over to the Feng Clan. I think the Tenth Arhat had something to do with it because that geezer did not like me at all.”

“So what? I got you another one of those prized pills, haven’t I? Besides, in face of death, a person’s death is no different from a pig’s or dog’s, what’s the difference? This was hardly a risk, and if it was, I wouldn’t have allowed it to get that far unless there was something profound to obtain.”

Dejiu’s face twitched. That’s right. There was truth in her words. He looked down at the two small lacquered wood boxes. Two of the temple’s staple pills were inside here. But staple? Would it be a staple pill if he hadn’t heard of it before today?

“Enough dawdling. Get to that pill. That Arhat wasn’t lying, this pill is worthy of being your temple’s staple pill.” Bing Xin’s form swirled through the air and around the box. “Quite the abundance in ice element prana.”

Before that, he had a few things he wanted to ask. “Miss Bing Xin, do you happen to know what the temple had to give in exchange for killing the Feng Clan’s young master?”

“Your teacher’s teacher is Arhat Disciple Xue Bing Lie. Arhat Disciple Xue Bing Lie’s master is the Ninth Arhat. Your massacre ended up stretching to him. It wasn’t the temple that gave something in exchange, it was that Arhat you called a geezer. I believe he surrendered one of his faraway Pillarshards.” Bing Xin said as she swirled back in front of him.

“Oh. Well, I guess that’s enough to piss anyone off.” He scratched his bald head.

He sat in the lotus position across from Bing Xin’s silhouette. Time for some cultivation and pills! Prepared, he opened one box. He looked down at the pristine white pill. These are precious, right?

But precious or not, there was another factor to consider. One so important that he couldn’t do anything without considering it.

“Does it matter if I use these or not? Or would they intrude on your wicked plans with me?” He asked sarcastically. How could he forget the most important factor — colluding with a daimon?

He watched as Bing Xin mimicked his lotus position before him.

“They gave it to you under the presumption that like all the others in this temple, you hold an affinity to ice element prana and that you’ll slowly regain balance as you refine everything else to it using these rich pills. Ah, but for my plans? You could take them, they’ll make you advance after all. You know better than I that my plans have strengthened you.

“Sure, sure…” He muttered as he prepared to cultivate.

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[Prana Core: High Initiate]

[Prana: 65/65]

“Little monk. Relax yourself. I will handle the absorption of these pills and the last breakthroughs of the Initiate Stage.” She said.

Dejiu raised an eyebrow. Sure he said he’ll never doubt her again, but that was his relief talking. “Why? Your plans?”

“Indeed. This will be one of the few things that I cannot teach in time, so I will do it myself.”

He frowned. Every time she took hold, indescribable pain spread from within. But if he gets stronger… well, no complaints there. Collude with a daimon once, who cares if he does it again? He sure doesn’t anymore. It was far too late to care about it now.

“Fine. At least tell me what you’ll do.”

“It will be a long explanation. Do you recall the prana inside you?”

He frowned. “Um. Let’s see — Ice, death, blood, hell.”

“At a glance, there's too much. A Path would usually have one or two elements. Adding more does not make it stronger. Think of your Abbot — there are only two.”

Dejiu nodded. It was new information but welcomed. Though he did have to ask, “How do you know he has two?”

“From your initiation to the Seekers Accord seven years ago. He ran his prana through each child to gauge whether or not they had the talent to be a cultivator. If they were worth being initiated with a Hell Shard. I studied that smidgeon of prana without his knowing.”

“What are they? Well, other than ice.” He asked, getting a little sidetracked. Getting a being as unfathomable as Bing Xin to tell him about another mysteriously powerful being was a little intriguing.

“Life.” Bing Xin’s voice softened. “Back to your prana, you’re a special case.”

“Ooh! Special? That sounds pretty good!” Dejiu grinned and tooted his horn. Who didn’t want to be special?

“In a way. If you were left to your own devices, never fostered by the temple or found by me, you’d be a mad beast, tearing through anything in sight until your body shattered under the strain of unbalanced prana. A beast driven to settle his prana, reaping lives and cultivating through blood and death, foolishly adding without care. Efficient, but very messy.”

“...” He gulped.

Alright, maybe not that special. “So what you’ll be doing will prevent that?”

“A little. ”

Dejiu frowned. He looked at her veiled face intensely because he recognized that tone. It was the tone she gave when she wouldn’t expand further. So he didn’t bother asking.

“For now, I will prevent any waste from the valuable pills. It requires time and precision — something you cannot begin to do because of two things. One, you cannot differentiate different prana elements at your level. Two, you only recently learned the Dark Flower cultivation method no matter how quick your uptake is, you cannot reach nor sustain my level of control. This is where the advantage of having an exalted being such as I with you.”

Her self-gloating aside, it sounds bad. Maybe painful. Actually, no, it certainly sounded painful as he recalled each time she took the reins.

“...I see, but what will this lead to? Isn’t it all the same if I advance to the next stage on my own?”

Bing Xin paused and stared at him for a few seconds before she answered.

“To set the foundation before I manifest part of myself into the physical world.”