Jasmine's legs burned as she rushed through the thicket of the jungle. Streaks of light pierced through the foliage from Sol, illuminating her path. The Ent was following behind her with large strides and using its many arms to effortlessly shatter branches in showers of splinters that got in its way. Jasmine wasn't sure in which direction she was even running anymore as she had long lost her bearings in an effort to run away from the Icky Tree.

"This should... be far... enough," Jasmine said while gasping for air. Even with Qi cycling through her muscles, her lungs hurt as she balanced herself against a nearby tree and tried to get her breathing under control. "Thank the heavens... that stupid Icky Tree... tried to chase me across the sinking mud and got trapped."

Sol stood wordlessly beside her as always.

"Any chance... I could get some healing?" Jasmine asked as she slumped on an exposed moss-covered root and leaned against the random tree. Unlike the trees on Red Vine Peak that felt alive and would react when you got close, this one felt comparatively dead. It wasn't actually dead. Just spiritually, there was nothing there. It was simply a typical tree.

"No?" Jasmine raised a brow as Sol looked at her... or at least she thought the Ent was. It was hard to tell when its head was nothing but a floating ball of light. "Is it because I ran away from the Icky Tree instead of standing my ground and fighting it? You know I have no chance against those things..."

Jasmine had made a fatal mistake during the incident at the clearing. In her shock at being pincered by two Icky Trees, she had given her back to the first one. Call it panic or outright stupidity, but she had made a mistake that should have killed her.

But Sol had intervened. The Ent obliterated a monster that seemed like an immovable mountain to her by hurling a single wisp at it. It had been the first time Sol had displayed that level of power, having focused more on healing and protecting her while leaving the fighting to her where possible.

Jasmine had seen glimpses of what her Master was capable of, but never anything like this. She knew Sol was considered to have a higher cultivation level than Stella, but she struggled with the idea that such a powerful creature was a mere servant to Ashlock.

"I understand if you don't want to heal me. My stupidity forced you to waste Qi." Jasmine curled up and burrowed her head into her knees. As the rush of battle drained and the biting chill of the night brought her back to reality, the pain in her broken hand from punching the flying wood made her tear up. This wasn't training on Red Vine Peak, where if she had a miserable day, she could go home at night and have a nice home-cooked meal and a cozy bed to sleep in. She was trapped for a whole month in this jungle, along with a heartless Ent commanded by its master to do the bare minimum to keep her alive.

Which was reassuring. She liked living. But it didn't take away how miserable her situation was.

I'm freezing, my last clothes are caked in mud, and I have barely eaten anything except dried meats and fruits for a whole week. I spend my nights terrified of dying and have to cultivate with one eye open. During the day, I struggle to breathe due to the heat and humidity, and bugs attack me endlessly. Not to mention, the plants want to devour me.

Jasmine wanted to give up. The problem was she couldn't even if she wanted to. The Mystic Realm didn't care about her thoughts or feelings, so she had to endure it for a whole month.

"Get yourself together," Jasmine hissed through clenched teeth. "Master also hunted for monsters in the vast wilderness in her youth. This is a passage all cultivators must go through as it will make them tougher..." Warm tears rolled down her cheeks. "Who am I kidding? I can't do this." The tears flowed freely as she began sobbing. Her situation felt beyond hopeless.

A sudden tender warmth spread through her body, and the terrible pain from her hand that she was clutching close to her chest numbed before fading away. "Huh?" Jasmine blinked away her tears and turned her head to the side to see Sol slowly standing up from a crouched position. His glowing head had notably dimmed from before tonight's events. "You really healed me..."

Jasmine had been warned before going in that Sol had to be careful with his Qi usage to last the whole month. Qi was a precious and limited resource for all cultivators that should only be expended when necessary. However, it was especially true for the Ents that required their Master to cultivate. Or at least that's how she had understood the explanation.

"Heavens, I'm pathetic," Jasmine said, taking a shaky breath. She felt a lot better after Sol's healing, so she got back up and tried to pump herself up again. "I'll find somewhere safe to cultivate before sunrise and try to reach the Soul Fire Realm. I bet that would make Master happy seeing such progress."

Jasmine balled her fist. I also want to give Stella a worthy performance at the upcoming tournament.

***

After finding a perfect spot beside a poisonous lake to cultivate for the day before sunrise, hours passed in the blink of an eye. Much to her annoyance, she was awoken by the falling of distant trees from her half-cultivating, half-asleep state. Due to the lake's higher altitude on a hillside, she got a clearer view of her surroundings.

Icky Trees again. Jasmine clicked her tongue—a bad habit she had learned from Stella. I'm so close to condensing my untamed Qi into a soul core. Of course, I had to get interrupted.

"Come on Sol, let's move." Jasmine gathered her things and began to move. If there was one thing this Mystic Realm and the Icky Trees had taught her, it was how to live while always being on the move. I can see why Stella uses portals to get around all the time. Walking is such a pain.

***

At the coming of dusk, Jasmine found herself wandering through the courtyard of a grey stone building overgrown with flora that looked vaguely similar to the one she had seen from her vantage point the day she arrived. Only it was better maintained than she had initially expected. From afar, the stone peeking through the vibrant green vines made her think of a long-lost ruin; however, the courtyard was suspiciously spotless, making the place seem more like a well-taken-care-of temple. The only weird thing was this swirling fog around the temple that smelled vaguely fruity.

"Not coming?" Jasmine asked and slowed as she noticed Sol standing rooted in place at the entrance to the courtyard. Coming to a stop, she turned and put her hands on her hips. Possibly another bad habit she had picked up from her Master. "Why are you just standing there? I know it might be dangerous, but didn't you hear about the chance of getting an inheritance?"

Jasmine gestured to the giant temple, "Doesn't this place just scream 'there's a long lost inheritance inside?' My increase in cultivation is great and all, but do you know how famous and respected Elder Mo became after he got spirit fire?"

As always, Sol was not one to participate in a conversation.

"Fine. I still plan to go inside, but I'll prepare a bit more." Jasmine walked over, rested against a stone pillar near Sol, and began cultivating the dense nature Qi swirling all around her. "I could get addicted to this Qi."

After leaving the Mystic Realm, Jasmine feared how terrible cultivating in the real world would feel. Assuming she survived until the end, that is.

A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

If I died, I wonder how Master would react. Would she find my death inconvenient because she would need to spend effort raising a new disciple to take on her annoying tasks in the future? Jasmine smiled. I'm sure that's the attitude she would show others. Through our link, I know that's not how she would really feel, though. Stella puts on a tough act but deeply cares for those close to her.

Jasmine shuddered slightly as she remembered following Stella into the cave to eradicate the rogue cultivators in the mine under Ashfallen City. However, she was utterly emotionless and cold through our link as she slaughtered those she deemed enemies to Ashlock. It was as if she were merely taking out the trash instead of killing people.

Getting rid of those thoughts, Jasmine focused on herself. Hours passed as she devoured fruits and carefully compressed the untamed Qi in her body.

Almost there! This should count as the Soul Forge stage, so all I have left to do is form a soul core with a specific affinity.

Jasmine constantly cycled the Qi through her spirit roots and slowly watched as her spirit roots converted the untamed Qi into nature Qi. By night's arrival, she had let out a deep breath as she marveled at her soul. A small marble of condensed nature Qi was suspended within her body. It fluctuated like a baby's heart as she drew Qi from it and also absorbed the surrounding Qi to replenish it.

She could tell it wasn't yet fully formed, but for all intents and purposes, it was done.

My very own soul core! Jasmine grinned from ear to ear as she opened her palm and pulled on her soul core to conjure a tiny flickering flame of green. It was about as intimidating as a candle flame and looked like it would snuff out at the slightest wind, but Jasmine didn't care. She could finally use Qi beyond her body, meaning she could learn nature techniques and could finally call herself a real cultivator. This was a stage mortals couldn't reach naturally during their lifetime, no matter how Qi-dense the area they lived in.

Jasmine snuffed out the flame by clenching her hand. Mother, father, I did it. I'm an actual cultivator now and will live for hundreds of years! Her hand slowly fell to her side as she realized something. Doesn't that mean they will die way before I do, as they are both still mortals? No—I can't let that happen. I have to make sure they both work hard to cultivate as well.

With more determination than ever, Jasmine set her sights on the stone temple, now shrouded in darkness. Sol, who still stood at her side, partially illuminated the courtyard. But the temple's entrance was barely visible, with only the moonlight sneaking through the foliage.

It was creepy—made worse by the stifling silence. What had happened to the constant drone of bugs or the distant crashing of trees as the Icky Trees went about their senseless rampages. There was none of that here. Around the temple, it was deathly quiet.

Jasmine bit her lip as she took hesitant steps forward. She cautiously shuffled across the courtyard while reacting to every slight movement in the corner of her eye. Her whole body was tense, and her heart softly pounded in her ears.

A sudden noise made her jump back a step like a scared cat. "Whew, that scared me. It was just a loose rock I kicked..." That was odd. Hadn't the courtyard looked flawless before? She would have noticed some loose rocks lying around as they would have stuck out like a sore thumb. Walking forward, she was unable to find this rock anywhere. It was as if the ground had eaten it up, or she was hallucinating.

"Am I going crazy?" Jasmine muttered. Shaking her head, she approached the entrance, and Sol reluctantly followed her.

The doorway was draped with seemingly harmless green vines, so she cautiously made her way through the curtain of green. She dared not venture further until Sol made his way through and illuminated the dark hallway.

"Sorry to intrude," Jasmine said in a tiny voice as she glanced around. Not seeing anything except pristine stone, which looked like it had been washed recently. Why is everything so clean? Does somebody live here?

Jasmine didn't like it at all. She would have much preferred a long-abandoned ruin than this strange temple. Venturing down the hallway with nothing but the sound of their feet accompanying their journey into the darkness, they eventually came across a room.

In the middle of the room was a table decorated with a royal red cloth embroidered with a beautiful golden floral pattern. It was such a work of art it was almost impossible to believe it was real. However, what really drew her attention was a large bowl of vibrant fruit in its center.

Jasmine squinted at the fruit. She had never seen anything that looked so vibrant and delicious. Her stomach rumbled, and without noticing, she licked her lips. Jasmine had never felt so hungry for something in her life. Reaching forward, she picked up a banana from the options, which was heavier than expected. Peeling back its skin, Jasmine had some vague conflicting thoughts.

First of all, why was she suddenly so hungry? Sure, she had a bad diet the last few days and desired some of her mother's home-cooked meals, but this was a bowl of fruit. She had piles of delicious fruits in her spatial ring that Ashlock had grown.

Something is terribly wrong. Jasmine thought as she paused her peeling. Why is there a bowl of such ripe-looking fruit here to begin with? Nothing makes any sense.

"If nothing makes sense, then the only logical answer is that it can't be real," Jasmine muttered a line Elaine had told her once during training. The pristine temple, the missing rock, the fog that smelled vaguely sweet...

Jasmine looked down at the heavy banana in her hand. Why didn't it smell of anything despite looking so delicious? Actually, when was the last time she noticed the smell of anything at all?

The last time was the sweet fog outside the temple. Since then, I haven't noticed the smell of anything.

"Sol, we need to run—" The room suddenly lit up as torches of flickering green flames, much like her own soul fire, ignited one by one along the walls, revealing the room to be far more extensive than she had thought and also something truly terrifying. This whole time, a monstrous mass of green vines and floral maws had been shifting in the darkness beyond Sol's light and had surrounded them.

"Ah?!" Jasmine felt the thing in her hand wiggle. Dropping it in fright, she looked at what it had been and was horrified to find the table was now nothing but a cracked slab of stone. The beautiful tablecloth was gone, as was the bowl of fruit. The banana hadn't even been real—she had been holding one of the green vines in disguise.

It had all been an illusion from the start.

That darn fog tricked me! Jasmine felt the blood drain from her face as she slowly backed up, but there was nowhere to go. The entrance to the room was buried under a shifting mass of vines.

"Sol! Get us out of here!" Jasmine cried out. The Ent responded in kind by retrieving a wisp of light and aiming at the entrance. Flicking the wisp, a light beam burned the vines away, making a clear exit.

Even with the singed vines, I can't smell anything. The fog must still be here. Jasmine noted as she dashed forward. "Come on, let's go—" Something pulled her feet together, and she hit the floor. Hard. Her head rang, and her vision blurred as an intense pain shot up her chin. The perfect stone floors had also been a lie. They were cracked and jagged, and she had smacked her head on one such bit of rock.

What... happened... Jasmine tried to blink to stop the world from spinning. Whatever was coiled around her legs tightened and began dragging her along the floor. She felt the burning pain biting into her numbed limbs, and before long, the burning had spread through her body.

There was a flash of light, and the burning tightness around her legs lessened. Sol's familiar healing light washed through her body a moment later, purging the burning and healing the many wounds and nausea. Finally, after getting a hold of herself, Jasmine could determine what had happened. The mass of vines had caught her legs, injected her with poison through spikes, and then tried to drag her off somewhere, likely to devour her like Ashlock did to the snacks Stella brought him.

"I almost became plant food," Jasmine said, her eyes wide with disbelief and her chest rapidly rising and forward as she hyperventilated. It had drawn her in with illusions, and if not for Sol, she would have been long dead even if she had a higher cultivation level. In hindsight, she couldn't believe she had fallen for such a trap. There had been so many signs along the way, but her inexperience and greed for an inheritance had almost led to her demise.

The monster shifted away, back into the shadows. Sol stood defiantly next to her, a wisp of light at the ready. Jasmine took the opportunity to quickly check on her newly formed soul core. She had cycled Qi during the attack to try to strengthen her body from being crushed by the vines, and she was unsure if she had drained it fully.

Hold on. Jasmine sat down and closed her eyes. Within her soul space, there was some lingering poison Qi that Sol had failed to purge thoroughly from her body. Her own freshly formed soul core was consuming it—and absorbing it.

Is this how I can take on a second affinity? Jasmine wondered. She had been told that she should pick her second affinity before forming her soul core, as once it was fully formed, it was nearly impossible to take on more affinities. She had thought she could not take on a second affinity since she had formed her nature soul core, but maybe there was still a window of opportunity to get a second affinity.

You know what? This realm, and especially this monster, has taught me that poison and illusions work very well with nature affinity. I don't see myself learning all three. But poison shouldn't be so hard to cultivate back home, with Stella already able to create poisons with alchemy and Ashlock's capabilities in growing poisonous fruits and plants.

"I've decided. Poison is going to be my second affinity." Jasmine told no one but herself as she stood back up and walked toward the slithering darkness. So long as Sol was at her side, she would survive long enough to thoroughly absorb enough poison Qi.

The agonizing pain of assimilating poison into her body that followed was par the course, but what she hadn't expected was how bringing poison Qi into her soul would turn her into something... monstrous.