After adjusting her mental state and calming down, Sophia began to ponder on what to do. If Jin and Min-Su really tried to go down that road, they would be fucked. Because everyone who tried was fucked over before...The danger wasn't just to harm oneself but to harm one's understanding of nature. If one ended up with a wrong idea of the elements before he entered into contact with them for real...He would never be able to enter into contact with them.

But her Master did tell her not to do anything unnecessary...

No. She had to warn the two. If she didn't, she would forever regret it and it would be her that would end with an inner demon. She couldn't let them go down the wrong path. She got out of her bed and went after the two.

She found Jin first and quite easily. He was in the training ground alternating stances with his spear in hands. She observed him for a moment. He had impressed her time and again throughout the year. He never gave up and never relented, always training and trying to become stronger. The sheer determination he showed forced her to admit that compared to him, she had yet to put in any real efforts.

Min-Su was similar but he took time off. He took care of his three pets and spent time with his family. Jin didn't. He had no pets and as for his family...She wasn't sure but it was obvious they weren't around. She had wondered many times why he trained so hard. As she watched him practice now, she felt that her choice was the right one. She couldn't bear to see such a diligent man end tragically...

She called out to him and he stopped his practice. They went to the side and sat down at a table. It had been placed here on Hae-Hyuk's orders a year ago after he decided to watch over Sophia's practice here. It was useful for taking a break.

As they sat down, Jin didn't waste time. It was unusual for Sophia to come to him so he asked her straight: "What do you want?"

Sophia sighed. She really couldn't bear his character though. Except for cultivation, he had no interests or at least didn't show it. It made it hard to find a topic to chat with him. And even if she did, he never seemed to care. Heck, he seemed like he didn't want to have anything to do with her... She couldn't understand why but it always made her reluctant to chat with him.

She respected him as a cultivator for his efforts and talents but she didn't who he was. At least, she didn't like the image of him he showed her since they met. But she needed to warn him. Not only for him but for her. So that she wouldn't feel bad and develop regrets that would turn into inner demons later on... She already had enough on her plate.

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So, she told him: "I heard everything you said to Master"

Jin hadn't noticed her back then but that much didn't matter much to him. She was a fellow disciple and it wasn't like they discussed some super-secret either. He waited for her to continue but she didn't. Was she expecting him to rebuke her or something? He didn't want to waste his precious self-training time chatting with this pampered princess. He said: "So?"

Sophia bit her lower lip as she bravely told him: "Don't practice that technique"

Jin didn't expect her to say that. He thought she...No, he had no idea what she came here for. But he didn't think it would be to say that. He glared at her. Why didn't she want him to practice a powerful technique?

Sensing his suspicion and anger, Sophia hurriedly waved her hands and explained herself: "T-that's because it is bad for your future. This technique will give you a wrong impression of the elements and harm your cultivation path"

Jin calmed down. It was possible that she wasn't lying. Since Hae-Hyuk only needed them to get something for him... Would he still care for them after he got it? And would he warn them if they went in the wrong direction if it gave them a short-term power boost? It was unlikely. Hae-Hyuk would probably even push even towards such a path. Since it would give them more chances to help him... He looked at her with interest. He needed her to be more detailed: "How so?"

She noticed how his emotions had changed. No longer was there anger but instead, there was curiosity. She was glad that he seemed to at least be able to listen... She explained: "If you try to play with the elements, you will have a wrong idea of what they are. At the tenth stage, you are supposed to encounter the elements and comprehend them for the first time. But if you already have an understanding? What do you think happens? You don't get that comprehension the same way and it pushes you down a wrong path!"

He listened. He pondered. But he couldn't quite get the point. He honestly told her: "I don't get it"

She was at her wit's end. If she said it herself, wouldn't it be the same as giving him some information on the elements and possibly send him down another wrong path? She racked her brain to come to a good way of saying it...and couldn't. In the end, she sighed and plainly said it: "You might misunderstand what it means to fuse spiritual energy and elements and forever be stuck at the ninth stage"

Jin could understand that. And what it meant made him shudder. On one hand, it meant that the risks were immense but more than anything, on the other hand, it meant that Master Hae-Hyuk wanted him to take them. A Master should help guide his disciples on the right path but this time, he was deliberately trying to push him towards a potentially very dangerous ending...

Cold sweat dripped down his back as he realized he underestimated the worth of the thing Hae-Hyuk wanted. It was clearly much more important than Min-Su and his lives to that man. It seemed he had to reevaluate some things.