“To set the foundation before I manifest part of myself into the physical world once you become an Advanced Stage cultivator.” Bing Xin said, her voice dark and serene.

  Dejiu stared back dumbfoundedly. Wasn’t she technically in the physical realm right now? Okay, maybe he shouldn’t be worrying about technicalities. He should be worried about being the catalyst that will usher in a being into the physical realm.

  “I need a good reason to allow a daimon like you into the physical world.”

  “You’ll get stronger.”

  “I’m sold! Let’s breakthrough.” Dejiu said without pause.

  Sure, maybe he shouldn’t be so careless about this, but what could he do? Let’s say he purposely tries to hinder her control of his prana when she absorbs the pills for him. He’ll die! Likely. Very likely. The prana backlash would be too much for him to handle. He’ll only incur death or injury. Besides, let alone Peak Initiate, he’ll be an Advanced Stage cultivator after this! Ha!

  “Good.” She chuckled. “Ingest the pill and control your breathing as you usually do. I’ll handle the rest.”

  Grasping the pill between two fingers, he placed it inside his mouth and swallowed.

  Dejiu felt the pill’s potent energy surging down his throat and spreading through his meridians like a snowstorm. The shadowy silhouette of Bing Xin swirled around and returned inside him.

  So she can’t control my prana cultivation and cycling in that shadowy form, huh. He thought, letting her take the reins.

  “Most cultivators your age would only gain about eighty percent of the pill’s prana, the rest wasted in excess. Yet even that is enough for most because of how dense these precious pills are.”

  He visualized his core — the resilient mountain aspen right before the calamitous snow. The downfall of pure ice element prana from the Heavenly Ice Essence Lotus. The vivid scene of cycles and seasons manifests in stark, violent clarity.

  Seasons came and went, fleeting as time was. But snow always lingered and piled. He noticed the downfall of ice and snow wasn’t as quick as it was when he first ingested the pill, but now it seemed dragged out. Winter was slower but pronounced. Was this what she meant that it took time?

  He summoned his Seekers Accord to watch.

  [Prana: 67/67]

  Without further consideration, he studied everything intently, observing her method with an almost desperate focus. She cycled his prana through his meridians and core in accordance with each season. Each cycle compressed the energy further, making it denser and more potent. He could see how the snow wasn’t merely falling—it was accumulating, transforming into something greater. Like each downfall forced his flower to bloom stronger the coming spring.

  [Prana: 68/68]

  The prana gathered within his flower-core, each layer of snow contributing to its bloom. With every rotation, the petals of his inner essence grew fuller, denser, and more profound. The once translucent layers began to shimmer with depth and solidity, an intricate manifestation of her control. She was refining his power with a precision he could only marvel at, leaving no trace of waste or instability.

  Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

  As he watched, awe mingled with determination. He wanted to understand it fully. And so time passed. A constant cycle of seasons flowed.

  The only measure of time he had was simply the characters of his Seekers Accord. Even then, it wasn’t telling of time, but progression.

  [Prana: 73/73]

  The cycles continued. Snow gathered in his core with languid precision, yet something gnawed at his thoughts — a sense that something was off.

  “Hey,” he ventured hesitantly, his voice reaching into the depths where her presence lingered. “Is the snow supposed to be… faster now? Or is something going wrong?”

  Her voice came softly, but there was an edge of strain to it. “Snow? Ah, I see. You’re observant. Yes, the process is becoming sluggish.”

  Dejiu’s brow furrowed. “So, what happens if it slows too much? Does it just… stop?”

  “It doesn’t stop,” she replied. “But inefficiencies creep in. We risk losing some of the pill’s potential.”

  He watched the snowflakes in his visualization hasten. It felt wrong like the energy was being squandered. Gritting his teeth, he spoke again. “What if I take over for a while?”

  There was a pause. “You?”

  “Yeah, me. I’ve been watching what you’re doing. I can handle it for a bit — give you time to recover or whatever it is you need to do.” He grinned, though she couldn’t see it. “Trust me, I won’t screw it up.”

  Her presence stirred. “It’s risky. Your understanding of the cycle is shallow. If you falter—”

  “I won’t.” His voice was firm. “I’ve got this for a while. Not to your level, but I think watching you over this period made me understand more.”

  Silence lingered for a moment before she sighed. “Very well. I will loosen my control. One misstep, and you’ll face a backlash that will leave you crippled.”

  Dejiu felt her hold retreat, and suddenly the energy coursing through him became his to command. Immediately he felt like he was fighting against an avalanche to protect a fragile flower with all his strength, all while trying to keep prana from slithering through his grip. If he lost concentration for one second, the strings of prana would escape and the snow would crush him along with the flower.

  He took over in the middle of winter. A period meant to overload his core before stabilizing with another bloom. Another layer.

  The weight of the snow bore down mercilessly, a suffocating pressure that stretched his focus thin. The prana from the pill coursed like ice-edged rivers, turbulent and wild, threatening to overflow and wreak havoc on his meridians.

  His prana yearned for control, but nobody was here now to provide that for him.

  He forced his erratic breathing to match the deliberate rhythm of his cycling. The avalanche of packed snow and ice eased slightly, the chaos narrowing into defined streams — his meridians. It wasn’t perfect, but it was manageable. He coaxed the prana toward his core, layering it onto the petals.

  Spring. A long winter will give way to spring. Too long, and the flower will never bloom.

  He coaxed the prana toward his core, layering it onto the petals. Shifting the cycle now felt like trying to change the course of a river with his bare hand. Slowly, almost reluctantly, the icy torrents began to warm. The oppressive weight of winter lifted as prana shifted into a new form. Buds of new petals appeared at his core, and the flower unfurled faintly. Life began to pulse through him with renewed vigor, and the balance returned.

  Strained, he kept this up. Always trickling the unforgiving and ever present “snow” as summer passed and autumn came.

  Again and again.

  Seasons came and went.

  It wasn’t perfect. He knew that well.

  But he went until he couldn’t bear the strain from the pill any longer, and more. Until he reached failure.

  No, rather it should be said he achieved failure. Because only then could he win.

  [Congratulations, Seeker Xue Dejiu. This step on your Path is but a mere speck that will lead to all you seek.]

  [Prana Core: Peak Initiate]

  [Prana: 75/75]

  [Prana: 76/76]

  [Prana: 77/77]