The Gold Core path.

It was to proceed directly, to form the condensing core into the purest of cores. It would boast the strongest qi absorption, and hold the greatest amount of qi. But it was not without a cost, for it would be slow and gruelling.

The True Soul path.

It was to consume the condensing core, to integrate it into one's soul. It would awaken the boundless potential within the soul, forged from countless reincarnations. There were even legends, that one might awaken abilities sealed within from past lives, had they once been cultivators.

Lastly, there was the Nascent Soul path. Of the three paths that branched from Core Condensing, it was the most popular; yet also the strangest of them all.

It was to turn a core that would birth a nascent soul within, a secondary consciousness that would mirror the original soul.

With it, the cultivator would be able to vastly expand their ability to cast spells and to cultivate. While in combat or other states that demanded a lot of focus, the nascent soul could cast complicated spells for them, vastly improving their ability.

But that alone would not make it the most desired of the three. What made it powerful, was the speed of cultivation. The Nascent Soul path would progress more than twice as fast as the other two paths combined while also being the easiest of the three, cultivators of it almost never experiencing life-threatening qi deviation.

But what caught Mei's attention most was...

"You can have the nascent soul cultivate for you while doing other things?!" she exclaimed.

The sect master laughed.

"Perfect, isn't it?"

Grr...

While she didn't like the feeling that she was taking the easiest way out, she couldn't deny how perfect it was. Easy. Fast. Automatic. It was almost too good to be true. The only reason for her to reject a path like that would be pride.

"I'll just go with Nascent Soul..."

Even with that, she couldn't help but feel a sense of defeat somehow.

"Alright, close your eyes and try not to resist."

That was only vaguely ominous.

The sect master reached out two fingers from each hand, placing them on her temples. A strange surge of qi entered, heading straight for her dantian. It reached for the wisp of Foundational qi, seemingly fusing with it.

Mei felt extremely uncomfortable for some reason, barely resisting the urge to pry his fingers off.

...

A tiny sprout.

A tenth of her Foundational qi was consumed by the energy, making her feel a huge sense of loss. The foreign qi began to assimilate, slowly turning into a faint baby-like soul that resembled her. Creepy...

It slowly grew, until it was about as old as her, when-

"Urghhh!"

The sect master suddenly pulled off his fingers, coughing violently. A faint, painful sounding vomiting sound could be heard, the sound of liquid splattering to the ground audible. A foul smell that reminded her of rot permeated the air.

Mei wanted to see what was going on, but she was in a trance, still fixated on the artificial nascent soul. To her horror, the soul continued to age, turning into an adult, then swiftly into a withered old granny.

She finally opened her eyes and saw that the sect master had coughed out blackish blood that was writhing with tendrils of violent qi. He was heaving, clutching his chest.

"Are you okay?" she asked.

The sect master ignored her, taking a huge flask out of his ring, swallowing all of the contents in a single gulp, before letting out a ghastly burp. He quickly picked up the blood with qi sense, sending it into the small trash can she had seen during Talent Assessment.

He took out a menacing looking rubber mallet and stared at her, making Mei recoil. Thankfully, after some contemplation, he put it away and sighed.

"Don't tell anyone about it," he said curtly.

Mei was about to nod and silently head out, but sensing the old lady nascent soul, she had to speak up.

"I won't... What do I do? That soul has turned into an old lady..."

The sect master pursed his lips.

"I suffered from qi backlash during the process, so the artificial nascent soul was affected. You've likely just lost about 20 years of your lifespan."

"Ehhhh?!" Mei gasped.

"It's just 20 years. There are thousands of years ahead. I'm sorry, but please take your leave. Your nascent soul should recover in time."

Filled with grievances, she left, trudging out.

"Come see me if it hasn't awakened by tomorrow." the sect master said, as she slowly closed the door. "I'll hand you a manual for the Foundational stage later."

"Okay..."

Twenty years... that was a long time. While indeed, it was little in the face of thousands of years, it still wasn't something that could be looked over.

At least the sect master didn't demand some kind of payment.

She looked into her dantian, where her nascent soul was sprawled with a dazed look on its face, its limbs pointed in awkward directions. Almost like an old lady who had fallen down a flight of stairs.

Despite the sect master's state previously, the consultations continued smoothly. That elixir he chugged must be quite something.

After the consultation, in a sour mood, Mei used her token to teleport to the dorms and went to bed shortly. If she sat beside her friends, they would probably pick up on something being wrong, especially Xiuying.

She woke up groggily.

It was early. Su Qing wasn't around to greet her for some reason.

Briefly, she felt a bit lonely.

Shaking that aside, she looked into her dantian and saw the nascent soul had finally awoken. Its eyes were glassy, and it was staring into blank space.

"Hey."

The old lady did not respond.

Mei tried to control it and found she had no such ability. The artificial soul deflected the qi sense she sent towards it. So it really was awake!

"Hey!"

...

Maybe she had to give commands to it?

"Can you cultivate for me?"

"Don't feel like it."

WHAT.

For the next few minutes, she kept trying to talk to it, but it didn't respond again. It even resumed the "fallen old lady" look from yesterday, like an animal pretending to be dead.

Mei wanted a refund.