Even though Xiao Bao's session of cultivation neared its inevitable end, to the observing Ren it might as well have been an eternity. Her spirit levels kept rising, hair standing on end. Her pool of spirit, located in the middle of her chest, seemed to expand, overflowing with purple and violet waves of spirit.
Ren became continuously more anxious, his own spirit rising to the surface.
"This girl is even more suicidal than I anticipated." Zhi Mu said, eying her with something like pity. Ren paid his words no mind though, too concerned with her wellbeing.
And then, abruptly, the rampant energy just ceased its rampage, and most of it rapidly drew back into Xiao Bao, only fading filaments remaining in the surroundings.
Ren wasted no time at all. He dashed forward like his life depended on it, translucent spirit augmenting his every move. Just before he reached her though, Xia Bao started laughing, slowing his approach.
It was a guttural laugh, starting slowly at first but devolving into a desperate mess rather fast.
"I did It! I am the best!" Xiao Bao shouted, throwing her hands away from her body and continuing to laugh with now renewed vigour as the desperation slowly left her. She threw a small medicinal pellet into her mouth while Ren continued standing by her side awkwardly. She was clearly still in her own little world, not paying her surroundings any mind at all.
"Congratulations. You are an absolute imbecile with no sense of self-preservation. Bravo." Zhi Mu's voice resounded, dripping with sarcasm and immediately shaking Xiao Bao out of her episode and making her look at them with an incredulous look plastered on her face.
"Huh?" Was her unintelligible reply, making Ren want to roll his eyes, and putting a mild smile on his face while relieving some of the tension that build up in his body.
"What, what are you doing here, and who are you guys anyway?" Xiao Bao stuttered out while pointing her index finger at Zhi Mu, not even recognizing that Ren stood next to her. Zhi Mu must have been quite shocked by her reaction as well, Ren thought, as he didn't immediately respond. After a few seconds, she even added on. "And who are you calling an imbecile, you jerk? This is my training ground, and you shouldn't snoop around other people's business."
She crossed her arms, and looked at them imperiously. Han Ting, Xin Jing, and Shen Junan didn't know what to say. They were more than a little perplexed by the situation. Some Novice girl that only recently joined from the outer sect treated them like they were just some other no-names who intruded upon her training session. It was ridiculous.
"Bao, one of these days you are really going to hit a steel wall with that mouth of yours." Ren said with a fond smile, finally drawing Xiao Bao's attention to himself. The look she gave him spoke of only more puzzlement. Ren could almost see the cogs in her head turning, trying to guess what Ren was doing with the other four, and who they were.
"Ren, I thought you were going on some kind of training trip with Master Darkhaven. What is going on?" She smiled at Ren, the feeling of her spirit being ready to fight at the drop of a hat disappearing when she finally recognized him, though she was still clearly not sure why he and the others were here right now.
"You two can chat later, but I first want to know what overcame you to result in using that art." Zhi Mu gave her a stern glare, wanting to impress the severity of the situation upon her, and also not liking how he was ignored by a little Novice earlier, in his own sect no less.
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"Sure, the Violet Ascension Art is dangerous, but the description said that failure would not be catastrophic or anything, and the benefits are clear to see." Xiao Bao answered without guile, and pointed at her body.
Ren wasn't sure that she even realized how close she had come to ending herself, that art definitely was not benign. She did feel stronger now, her spirit far more viscous, pumping through her with more control and strength than ever before, but unlike the general composition of spirit, which meant it being very much equally attuned to every element due to the basic cultivation manual taught in the sect, now her spirit resembled more that of an Adept's, heavily leaning towards lightning. Ren even thought that there was a faint taste of something different in there. He only felt it briefly though, and could not sense it now that Xiao Bao had calmed down.
Zhi Mu's reaction, as well as Shen Junan's, to the name of the art was similar to a lightning strike having hit them square in the face. Zhi Mu's mien became even more serious, his spirit leaking into the surroundings and broadcasting his status as an Adept with unmistakable clarity.
"Now, listen closely, all of you. The Violet Ascension Art is NOT an art that someone like you has any business getting her hands on. It and all its companion works are strictly prohibited, and for good reason. This little fluke of yours was nothing but that, a fluke." Zhi Mu stood up, his wooden walking stick slung over his shoulder, and strode up to Xiao Bao and Ren. Looking at the girl shivering as she felt his realm made the young Adept sigh and sit before the two of them. "Where did you get it?"
Zhi Mu asked, his voice far more soothing, trying to get the now scared Novice to talk, and rearing his spirit back in.
"I, I, got it from down in the market, some little shop sold it to me when I asked about any arts that could boost my cultivation. B-but I have no idea who sold it to me, and the shop won't be in the same spot again." Xiao Bao got out, choking on her own words.
Zhi Mu was still not quite satisfied with that answer, yet he was clear on the fact that should anyone in the sect be selling these arts to unsuspecting disciples, they would almost certainly know of the consequences it would bring upon them should they be found out. There was nothing to do but report the incident and make sure to ascertain that it was nothing but a singular case. Those were his thoughts, but he still had to educate Xiao Bao as well as the others on the nature of those arts, lest they be tempted into trying them out themselves. After all, they only saw a Novice of middling talent acquire far more potent spirit and pushing closer to the next realm.
"What I am about to tell you now is something that might be hard to grasp, but bear with me for just a moment." Zhi Mu sighed once again, going through his hair with one hand. "The Ascension Arts are some of the most ingenious and at the same time most insidious arts to practice. They first rose to popularity among a group of sects of little renown to bolster the amount of elite disciples. Unfortunately, they just as quickly declined when the fatalities and cases of people unable to cultivate any more piled ever higher. Only about one in a hundred would succeed."
That was a heavy statement, directly dispelling any fanciful ideas that either Xin Jing or Han Ting held, and making Xiao Bao pale.
Zhi Mu continued. "Like you have seen with our Junior Sister here, the art will push the cultivator's attunement to drastically incorporate one element over the others while stimulating the body and meridians in hopes of bringing one closer to achieving Intent and breaking through to becoming an Adept. However, as you all know, there is no guaranteed method to determine with which element your Intent is aligned. It is even possible to have it align with multiple ones, or none at all. This means that just picking the right art for yourself has a chance of less than one in ten, and even more unfortunate is that it is possible for someone to survive the process, attune their spirit, but have picked the wrong element, and thus have cut their chances of ever continuing on their path of cultivation down to, realistically speaking, zero.
Of course, the worst part is that even if the right alignment of Intent was picked, there was still an immense death toll." Zhi Mu finished his statement with a shake of his head.