Pascal arrived at her abode and the moment she entered; a savory scent wafted to her nose. She could hear the sizzling of food and approached the source of the sound. As she got closer, so too did the scent grow stronger, causing her to salivate slightly.
She entered a room and saw Relic at the stove frying up some rice. He suddenly layered on seasoning before masterfully moving the wok to achieve perfect mixture. Despite only having a single hand, his skills in cooking were in no way inferior to those with two.
She looked down and saw a variety of meat and vegetable dishes sorted on the table. She pulled out a chair which was when Relic finally heard her and turned.
“Ah, master, you’re back.”
“Why did you suddenly decide to cook?” She asked with a smile.
“It’s been a while since we ate together, and I thought master would enjoy eating something after so long.”
Once cultivators reached a certain realm, eating became optional as they could survive purely by absorbing Qi. Food carried many inherent impurities, and many cultivators would forgo food the moment they could in order to uphold a better cultivation regime. Of course, there were just as many who would indulge in eating occasionally purely for the taste as taste was something they could not give up.
Relic turned back to the stove and added some seasoning oil and with a few more movements, the rice was done. He poured the contents onto a center plate and presented it to her as a mound of golden rice. The aroma of the food all mixed, creating a heavenly scent which would make even the most devoted of cultivators to salivate.
He helped fill her bowl and added some meats and vegetables before handing it back to her.
“Master, please.”
She lifted her chopsticks and took a bite of the rice. Even without the meats, the flavours came rushing into her mouth and she couldn’t stop herself as she devoured the bowl in her hands.
The devouring beast was a far cry from what others would expect from the cold and isolated elder Pascal. Right now, it was a scene only her disciple could enjoy.
”Pahh…” She let out a satisfied sigh before handing him the bowl. “Seconds please.”
Relic chuckled as he filled her bowl again. In the past, Pascal was one of those cultivators who would forgo eating to focus on her cultivation but when she took him in, she had to eat with him, or he wouldn’t eat at all. Over time, she found the joys of eating good food which was around the time Relic decided to learn how to cook.
Relic finally sat down, and she said, “You’ve gotten better.”
“My skills are still average,” he said as he poured the tea.
“It’s been a while but next time, maybe I can be the one to cook for you.”
The tea suddenly spilled as cold sweat ran down his head. Memories of burnt rice, cold bland meats, and soggy vegetables flashed through his mind. “Master, it- it’s the duty of the disciple to take care of all the mundane tasks of their master. Please, just let me do all the cooking and cleaning, I insist!”
Pascal saw the strange look but relented before focusing back on her meal. “If you say so.”
He breathed a sigh of relief, and they enjoyed a peaceful lunch.
Relic soon cleaned up the finished dishes before brining out a wine jug.
“What’s this?” she asked.
“It’s something I’ve been trying out. Master, please have a taste.”
He opened the seal, and the distinct smell of alcohol filled the room. He poured her a glass of the yellow tinted liquid.
“You’ve tried to make wine?”
“I wasn’t confident in my skill before, so I kept it a secret, but I know master likes wine, so I wanted to make it palatable before serving it. I hope master likes it.”
She was somewhat surprised he had found the time to do so many extracurricular activities like cooking and making wine as she always made sure to keep tabs on him when she could. She knew how hard he worked towards his spear work and knew his work ethic didn’t lose out to anyone in the sect. While others used their free time to have fun, he had been inside working on these other hobbies.
“If you have some free time, you shouldn’t waste it on mundane activities like this. It is also important to make friends and build connections with others. You can’t spend all your life simply with me,” she said before downing the drink.
“Master, I don’t think I need anyone else,” he muttered, but it was unclear whether she heard it as she almost spoke immediately after: “This is really good!”
“I’m glad you like it,” he said with a clear smile as he poured her another cup.
“You really made this?”
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“Yes, there were many failures which I didn’t dare share with master. Only after many trials did I find this one moderately acceptable.”
“This is just acceptable?”
“This is something you would expect from high class restaurants. Perhaps his true calling is one within the mortal world.” She began to ponder when he suddenly appeared behind her.
“Master, how about a massage?”
“Hmm, sure.”
Relic placed his hand on her back and carefully positioned his thumb to her pressure point along her neck. His hand ran along her neck, giving firm pressure and massaging each point before moving to the next. From this, it was clear it wasn’t his first time giving her a massage.
To others, their relationship was already far different from regular master-disciple relationships and was more in line to those circulated around the sect. However, to them, there was nothing odd about it nor was there any strange feelings between them. The day she picked him up was also the day she took on the role of a guardian, always there to protect him. She had long known of her deficient spirit root which cut off her path in cultivation, but it was due to him that she found a new purpose
Relic looked up to her, cared for her and Pascal knew she would also lay down her life for him. Though the words were never exchanged, they knew it themselves how important they were to each other. Those feelings were akin to that of a parent and child but perhaps, even a bit more.
Pascal suddenly reached back and grabbed his hand and asked: “Did you do all this because you thought I would be upset after going to see the sect master?”
He stood silent briefly before nodding. “I hoped to cheer master up even if it was a little.”
She smiled and said, “You’ll make your wife very happy someday.” She gestured for him to sit and explained: “You don’t have to worry, actually, I have some good news this time.”
"Good news?" Relic sat down curiously.
“Mn, your hard work has been recognized by the sect master and he tasked you with a mission.“
Relic was quite surprised to hear the sect master was talking about him. This was the first time he was even acknowledged by the sect master and only faced him once when he first entered the sect. Since then, he only caught glimpses of him around the sect.
“What sort of mission is it?” he asked.
“On behalf of the sect, you have been issued a mission to retrieve the Luminescent Lunar Pearl. You have 5 years to look for and retrieve the pearl and upon successful completion of the mission, you shall be granted the right to enter the Thunder Genesis Pool."
“…the…Thunder…Genesis pool…” He felt the words leave his mouth but still couldn’t believe it.
The Thunder Genesis Pool is one of the foundational pillars of the Thunderstorm sect and their greatest treasure. Discovered by the sect master within the desolate regions of the Divine continent, it had the unique property to transform and enhance a cultivator’s latent talent and potential. A normal cultivator who absorbed the energies of the Thunder Genesis pool would reawaken as a genius and experience exponential growth.
Yet, that was only one of the pool’s effects as it could also completely reforge a person’s constitution. If Relic had a chance to enter the Thunder Genesis pool, he could reforge his constitution, effectively reforging his spirit vessel and spirit root. Even if he didn’t become a genius, he would be able to cultivate along side everyone else and reaching the foundation realm before the age of 21 would no longer be a dream!
In the past, she had begged her father to allow Relic to enter the pool but was rejected every time. The pool was a scarce and limited resource and would need to be recharged after every use. It was so rare even she only had only used it once. The sect master simply wasn’t willing to waste such an important resource on her disciple, until today.
“If I could use the Thunder Genesis pool, I can reach the foundation realm and I won’t have to leave master!”
His gaze turned fervent, and he looked excitedly at his master.
“Master, I-”
“Wait just a moment.” She quickly cut him off. “Temper your expectations. I know you are excited as I am as well, but you must understand the difficulties of retrieving the Luminescent Lunar Pearl. The pearl is one of the few heavenly grade treasures capable of tempering one’s soul. Not only is it incredibly rare, but one must also have fate in order to find it. The Moonlight Jellyfish which the pearl is derived from, cannot be detected through regular means and even immortals aren’t able to find them with their divine sense. It is the only treasure that can be obtained by both mortal and cultivator’s and even then, if it isn’t ordained, you could spend a lifetime and never find it.”
Hearing her words indeed settled him down but, in his eyes, flames of determination were still set ablaze. “Master, even if it is only a chance, I wish to take it. My only wish in this life is to repay master for all you have done for me. Even if it meant walking through a road of knives, I would still take it if it meant I could continue staying with you.” His voice was filled with confidence even though the road was uncertain.
She could see his unwavering determination and smiled.
“I already knew you would be like that. I only wanted to remind you to always keep realistic expectations. No one truly knows what plans the Grand Flow has for us but even if we don’t get what we want, it doesn’t mean we need to give up. Even if someday, we must be separated, you will always be my one and only disciple.”
Hearing her words, Relic dropped to his knees and kowtowed to his master. In life, she will always be his master, the person who he will always admire and the one who deserved every ounce of his love and respect.
“Alright, get up, I don’t like seeing you like this.”
“Yes.” He finally rose and she explained a few more details regarding the mission.
“Master, I was wondering. Why did the sect master issue such a mission to me so suddenly and wants me to depart so soon? Even if I made improvements towards the spear, I still wouldn’t be able to go toe to toe against a real cultivator. Was this mission really just for me?” He questioned.
“You don’t need to think too deeply on it. Sometimes good things happen, and we should just accept it,” she said, still thinking of her time with her father. After her father’s abrupt change in attitude, she didn’t question too much on his sudden decisions.
Relic nodded and accepted it.
“Three weeks…” Within two weeks, he would have to depart. Though it would be tough, he would give it his all for that one chance to use the Thunder Genesis pool.
“Let’s not think about it for now. Right, I almost forgot, where are those two items I was showing you earlier?”
Relic retrieved the manual and wooden box he had put aside, not knowing what either contained.
"Good, now let’s see, where was I... "
"Master was talking about her trip to the Golden city," He reminded her.
"Oh, that's right. I was taking part in a special auction to retrieve an item. Well, that item is in the wooden box." She took the wooden box and opened it. Immediately, a dense medicinal aroma escaped from the box, filling the room. Simply inhaling the aroma, Relic felt his body tingle and he knew right away that what ever was inside was something special. It was only when you could truly see what the item concealed within the wooden box was, that he widened his eyes and dropped his jaw.
A golden hued pill with three red gradient lines circling around it lay center.
"The Foundation establishment pill!"
She explained: "That right, this is the rare Foundation Establishment pill capable of turning any mortal into a cultivator of the Foundation Establishment realm."
He stared at the pill in disbelief for several moments, even gulping down the saliva several times before facing her.
"Master... how?"
"It wasn't easy as there were many who were interested in obtaining one for themselves. Thankfully, this time around, the grandmaster who created this Foundation Establishment pill created several batches. It was close but I snagged one for myself using all my funds.
She pushed the wooden box towards him.
“Master, this is… too expensive.”
Seeing his hesitation, she explained: “I had originally bought this for you because I wanted to make sure you would survive the outside world. This foundation establishment pill could turn you into foundation realm cultivator. Although it does not fulfill the condition of your stay in the sect and you would be far weaker than realm foundation realm cultivators, at least you wouldn’t go hungry. Taking the pill, you would never lack means to make a living, or if you wanted, you could also trade it in for money and never have to work a day in your life. If you really wanted to, you could also offer it to a well-established family for the hand of one of their daughters. You could even-.”
“I don’t need it.” He suddenly shut the box and returned it to her.
“You are rejecting my gift?” She asked solemnly.
“Yes, because I don’t have any plans to fail. Master, please take it back!”
The foundation establishment had several caveats, one being that you wouldn’t become a true foundation realm cultivator. Those who take this pill were significantly weaker than real ones and were looked down upon by all real cultivators. The second problem was that once you take this pill, your cultivation path will forever be cut off as your foundation was built upon outside forces and was extremely unstable.
For Relic, as the pill did not satisfy his condition to stay at the sect, taking it guaranteed he would be gone the moment he turns 21.
She sighed: “You idiot, are you really asking your master to take back a gift after having spent all her money in exchange for an item specifically for you.
“Well…”
“Listen, I’m not telling you to take the pill right away. The foundation establishment pill was originally meant to give you a fall back in case we really do get separated. Even though you are now considered a man, I still see you as that silly boy who clung onto me everywhere I went and needed me to help you whenever you took a tinkle. Just take it and hold on to it just in case. I can’t always be there to protect you and by having this pill, at least I wouldn’t have to worry about you too much.”
He hesitated slightly before finally taking back the pill.
“Master, thank you for this gift. Though I may not use it, it will serve as a reminder to me to never take the easy route or risk losing everything master has taught me.”
“Mn, that’s what I like to hear.” She finally lifted her eyebrows. “I won’t be able to join you on your mission, but I have one more thing for you which should help you on your trip.”
Just as she was about to present the manual, a heavy yet familiar pressure suddenly surrounded the mountain.
She immediately knitted her brown, realizing who it was as she mumbled: “Sister.”