Having long since absorbed the beast core she’d gifted him, Edmund decided he couldn’t just sit around doing nothing. The endless stretch of barren ground annoyed him. He wanted some color, some comfort.

  So he went out again.

  Outside the Ice Cave, Tarot was crouched on the slope, channeling spiritual rain to water the newly planted herbs. The man looked up just in time to see a small, shadowy blur rush past him, yank up one of his freshly planted spirit herbs by the roots, and vanish inside the cave.

  Tarot blinked. “...”

  “Hey! I just planted that!” he shouted. “This is the third time already! Can you—”

  Before he could finish, Edmund came back out, trotting straight to the next patch of seedlings.

  “Starfell Summit is huge,” Tarot protested, exasperated. “Can’t you, I don’t know, dig somewhere else? Leave one patch alone, damn it!”

  But Edmund didn’t so much as glance his way. He plucked another spiritual herb, dragged it off, and disappeared again.

  Tarot stood there in stunned silence, his mouth twitching.

  This little bastard wasn’t cute at all.

  .....

  Inside the Ice Cave, Lauren’s world was entirely different.

  The tiny figure within her core—her emerging Nascent Soul—was now unmistakably her. Every curve, every detail mirrored her real self, only smaller and glowing faintly with divine light. The cold luminescence surrounding it grew denser, the energy more refined. She was close—so close.

  Once her Nascent Soul absorbed all that remaining light, the transformation would be complete.

  Time blurred again.

  Months melted into years. Nearly three years had passed since she began her seclusion.

  Then, one day, the tiny figure inside her core suddenly opened its eyes.

  Its mouth parted, and it began devouring the liquefied spiritual energy surrounding it with ferocious hunger.

  Lauren’s heart surged with excitement. She could feel the resonance in every cell of her body—the last step of her transformation.

  The Nascent Soul drank and drank until every last drop of spiritual energy was gone. Its once-translucent form solidified, skin glowing faintly with golden light.

  She had done it.

  But before she could celebrate, her pulse stuttered.

  A wave of disquiet rolled through her chest—an all-too-familiar heaviness pressing down on her consciousness.

  The inner demon... it’s coming.

  Her expression hardened. She quickly swallowed the Soul-Soothing Pill her master had given her, sat cross-legged, and focused her mind.

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  The world around her wavered, her consciousness pulled inward.

  Then everything went black.

  When she opened her eyes again—she was still in the Ice Cave.

  Wait.

  What?

  She’d just stepped into her inner demon trial—and it was over already?

  That wasn’t possible. No one could help another face their inner demon. It had to be conquered alone.

  Her master had already done all he could by giving her that rare pill. No one else had that kind of ability to interfere with her tribulation...

  Unless—

  Her eyes widened as she remembered the time at the Heart-Questioning Gate, when Edmund had somehow entered her inner demon and helped her repel the Eye of Heaven.

  Could it be him again?

  A sharp cracking sound split the air—like an eggshell breaking.

  Edmund smiled beneath the Weak Tree as he sensed it.

  Lauren had succeeded.

  At the same time, Drake—outside the Ice Cave—opened his eyes. He could feel the shift instantly.

  He looked up just as dark clouds began to roll across the sky, thick and heavy with lightning.

  Without hesitation, he leapt into the air.

  “Not this time,” he murmured.

  He flung out his sleeves, scattering clouds like handfuls of mist, and rose above them, positioning himself at the heart of the storm.

  The first bolt fell like a spear of divine wrath.

  Boom!

  Drake met it head-on, absorbing the lightning into his body, the energy arcing along his veins.

  For a Mahayana cultivator, the lightning tribulation of the Nascent Soul stage was child’s play—barely a tickle to his thunder-forged meridians.

  Under his protection, the winds above the clouds howled with fury, while below, the world remained tranquil—the Ice Cave basking in sunlight as if untouched.

  But then the air shifted.

  Drake’s expression darkened.

  This thunder... was different.

  .......

  Lauren slowly opened her eyes and saw Edmund lying lazily beside her, his scales faintly reflecting the glow of the ice around them.

  Her face lit up. “Edmund, did you help me deal with the inner demon?”

  He replied with practiced calm, “You’re welcome. Just hurry up and ascend already—I’m getting tired of waiting.”

  Lauren blinked. His obsession with ascension might actually be stronger than mine.

  Still, she couldn’t help but smile. “Even so, I owe you one. Thank you, Edmund.”

  She glanced around. There were no traces of thunder tribulation outside—no lingering lightning aura, no spiritual pressure. It could only mean one thing: her master had stepped in and shielded her from it.

  Before she could think more on it, footsteps echoed from the entrance. Tarot came rushing into the cave, a hoe slung over his shoulder, his face half-covered in dirt.

  “Junior Sister!”

  “Senior Brother.”

  “You really succeeded?” His gaze fell to the trail of soil scattered across the icy floor—leading straight to Lauren. His expression froze, then shifted into something oddly serious.

  “…You ate grass?”

  Lauren stared at him blankly. “What?”

  Tarot, looking utterly convinced by his own theory, thought, So that’s it. Master must’ve had that little creature feed her spiritual herbs directly. Maybe that’s some new cultivation method to reach the Nascent Soul stage faster.

  If that were true, then all the effort he’d put into replanting those fields had been worth it.

  He straightened up and smiled warmly. “Junior Sister, congratulations on your breakthrough.”

  Lauren smiled back, though she could sense that look in his eyes—the one that said he’s not done yet.

  “Senior Brother, what are you really here for?”

  His smile stiffened. After an awkward pause, he handed her the hoe. “This is for you. Master says to… cultivate the field outside the cave.”

  Lauren blinked. “...Cultivate?”

  She glanced at the hoe. It was a Spirit Weapon. He’s giving me farm tools as a gift now?

  Still, a Spirit Weapon was a Spirit Weapon. She’d take it.

  After he left, Lauren sat cross-legged on the black ice bed, still amused, then frowned as she noticed the streaks of dirt all over the floor.

  She called out telepathically, “Hey, what have you been doing these days? The whole cave’s a mess. You better clean this up before Master sees it—I can’t return it like this!”

  Edmund’s voice was calm, almost smug. “Take a look inside your inner dimension. You’ll understand.”

  Curious, Lauren focused her mind and entered the spiritual space within her core. It had been three years since her retreat—she wanted to see how much her inner world had grown after reaching the Nascent Soul stage.

  The moment she stepped in, she froze.

  The place had transformed completely.