Dejiu ingested the second pill after they drew out every bit of prana from the first. After cultivating inside this holding cell, he suspected that Arhat Xue Xuanyang must’ve played another part in this. The Hundred Penance Gaol was convenient. It radiated strong ice prana, more than the rest of the mountain open to junior monks like him. A shame, really. She probably did that to make it easier to refine the rest of his prana into ice, but he’s just going to breakthrough instead.

  Well, no matter. He’d emerge stronger regardless. Arhat Xue Xuanyang had left it up to him, the environment, and the rich pills to shape to reform his abundant hell element prana. Honestly, no one really taught him how to refine his essence. The pills came before the teaching, not that he’d learned it, it was far too late to learn the temple’s cultivation.

  So if he walked away without ice prana as his central element, who could blame him? Couldn’t he say it was a lapse in their judgment? Dejiu never really heard anyone else, much less a monk at the temple, to possess a strong affinity to the destructive hell element and other morbid-sounding ones. Maybe they simply didn’t know how to reform him.

  Yes, yes. Of course. He couldn’t be in the wrong.

  Through a sad laugh, he studied Bing Xin’s iteration of the Dark Flower cultivation method. It was just too valuable. Much more valuable than any pill. Well, maybe not all pills because the Heavenly Essence Lotus just showed him what a prized pill coupled with an elite cultivation method and teacher could do. Damned highborn nobles and scions.

  At one point, he tried to alter his breathing a little bit to see how she would adapt. After a multi-tasking scolding along with a sharp coil around his heart, Bing Xin got him to breathe in the proper pattern.

  He did learn though. Alot.

  He took hold of absorbing the pill for longer and longer periods for her to recover. The moment he saw her wavering and the snow’s onset sped up, he took over to slow it down again.

  And eventually, he came upon the cusp he’s been dreaming of.

  [Prana Core: Peak Initiate]

  [Prana: 99/100]

  It’s just one step now. He thought as the text whisked away.

  “Go on, little monk. Cultivating in this body of yours is taxing. Hurry and advance so you can get us more Hell Shards.”

  Dejiu complied.

  He pulled upon his will. If the Heavenly Ice Essence Lotus was like the cloud that snow fell from, it was dwindling in size, just enough to break through. Thankfully his shameless pleading got him two pills.

  He inhaled deeply and invigorated himself before he used momentum to break through. The entire process was slow thus far, but from the previous breakthroughs he made, he knew that he must focus on denseness and momentum.

  Although she was silently watching him, her old words echoed. Focus on condensing your prana as densely as possible. Like burying your mountain avens under a winter storm. Dejiu grit his teeth. His meridians screamed with strain as he compressed the energy further. The source of snow, he’ll viciously draw from it until the last wisps are drained. His visualization sharpened — snow falling harder unlike before. Each petal of the aspen core shuddered, threatening to collapse under the force of a mighty avalanche.

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  He sustained this moment as long as he could.

  Then he felt a shift. His flower no longer trembled. They gleamed, densely. Thin layers overlapped each other beautifully.

  His visualization changed too. The once wintry white mountain avens turned a pale red. Blooming defiantly against the old snow storm, its pale red petals reminded him of a lone cultivator bleeding and clawing ever closer to the heavens.

  “Hoo.” He sighed with a small grin. He opened his eyes to the lines of text before him.

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

  [Prana Core: Low Advanced]

  [Prana: 100/100]

  [Modified Dark Flower Cultivation Method has reached Adept attainment level]

  [You have obtained a Class Advancement]

  [You have obtained Advanced Prana Sense]

  [Advanced Prana Sense — The ability to better perceive and differentiate prana elements in your surroundings. Over time, your senses will refine, uncovering even the faintest traces of prana and enhancing your cultivation. The appearance and clarity of prana will adapt uniquely to your Path as you advance.]

  The text wisped away. He looked down to find him seated atop a frozen puddle of filth. Impurities from my body and meridians? He pulled his arm up to smell himself and he reeked. To smell this bad in the cold was a difficulty!

  He looked at his stub for a right hand. With narrowed eyes, he felt confused when it looked a little red.

  “I can hear what you’re thinking, little monk. Take a look around yourself. Tell me what you see.”

  Dejiu did as asked and looked around his cell. Was there something different about the cell? Did something change when he was in a cultivation daze? It took a long while studying all around him but he couldn’t pinpoint anything odd. Still as cold and frosty as ever. Maybe a little whitish-blue—

  Whitish-blue?

  “You can differentiate different prana elements with your senses. While the Initiate Stage allows you to sense ambient prana better, you can now bluntly tell them apart. Especially the ones you’re accustomed to or the common elements you can find. Earth, wood, metal, fire, water. They are not necessarily the easiest to find, but they are the easiest to cultivate. As you’re seeing, something like ice is obvious because of how overly strong it is in this cell.”

  “Ah, it is important to mention that some varieties of prana are far harder to see than others. Those take time and training to see. The types you can see better than most are obviously hell, blood, death, and ice — remember, not all Advanced Prana Senses are the same. ”

  Dejiu nodded. “Anything else special?”

  “Your core. As you cultivate and cycle your strongest prana through your core, the core will eventually take on these aspects and begin to produce that specific prana on its own. In your case, that prana mix. It will lessen your reliance on the environment. More importantly, the condensing of your core comes a potency and quantity of prana that was previously unachievable. You can use more techniques of the Dark Flower cultivation method now.”

  He smiled. She wasn’t wrong in that he’ll emerge stronger. Screw refining his prana like the Arhats want. Strength above all! Well, until he’s thrown into another cell of course. Just wait until he becomes strong enough that they can’t walk over him anymore. When he’s so crucial to the temple they are forced to accept him.

  “Getting ahead of yourself, little monk?” She cut his musings short. “Summon your Seekers Accord on your Class. Check that advancement.”

  He sighed, foggy breath escaped.

  [Seeker: Xue Dejiu]

  [Class: Blood Monk of the Heavenly Snowy Temple.]

  [Class Description: Having fallen upwards from the unhallowed depths only daimons reside, this pitiful herald of blood walks his own demented path.]

  “Wait, what?” Dejiu noticed the Class had changed, as well as its description. More words! Ultimately, the description was similar, but it had a different flair to it—especially that last part. What in the Seven Hells does it mean by demented path?!