That night, Rena made the offices as a hostess, brewing tea and setting the table, while she measured the two female guests with curious eyes. Her son had never shown an interest in women til now, but perhaps things were changing?

As if guessing her thoughts, Pef turned towards his mother and smiled devilishly. "No, Holy Mother. Tonight is all about cultivation, not carnal pleasures."

The Inner Hall Elder smiled with a small nod towards the Holy Son. She had already figured this out.

The younger disciple frowned in confusion, then glanced in turn at everyone in the room. "Eh?"

"We are all members of the Icefire Sect, but you never actually knew what this means. Not even Lady Elder here has any idea what Icefire means. So I've decided to show you." the blonde boy spoke mysteriously, then he blew gently over his cup of tea until a finger-sized flame fell from his mouth and kept burning coldly inside the cup.

Then Pef just waited for a minute until the three women in the room recovered their senses and voices.

"Yes. This little flame here is Icefire. A small part of a larger Icefire, which lays under the Sect. You can say hello." Pef said with a blinding grin.

"...Hello, little Icefire." Rena spoke first, perhaps less indoctrinated in the Icefire mythos as the other two women.

As if responding to her words, the cold-burning flame rose into the air and glided towards Rena's forehead, then gently bumped her head as if in greeting.

"Holy Icefire, it is a blessing to meet you!" the Sky Realm Elder spoke next, while lowering her head down to the floor in awed submission.

The little azure fire jumped onto the Elder's head then back into its tea cup. 'Good seed, tiny one.' the Icefire spoke inside Pef's soul, seemingly agreeing with the user's choice.

Only the Spirit Realm disciple remained frozen, unable to speak at all.

Pef extended his hand and poked the woman's cheek. "Just say hello, Disciple Di. Icefire wants to meet you too." he urged the panic-frozen disciple.

"H-hello, Holy Icefire!" the woman exclaimed in a strident voice, trying to kneel and pushing the tea table over, perhaps less gracefully than intended.

With a wave of a delicate hand, the Inner Elder stopped the tea from spilling and restored the table in place, just as Icefire jumped away from the falling cup and seated itself onto the disciple's head.

'Well?' Pef asked inward after a long and awkward moment.

'Seed, damaged in mind. Delay.' the Icefire replied sounding hesitant.

Pef frowned as he measured the prostrated disciple. This was unexpected, but then again...that inner fire had to have a strong reason too.

'And my mother?' he asked instead, as he glanced at Rena who had resumed pouring tea and acting perfectly as a hostess again. Well, she did receive special training as a Holy Maiden. Diplomacy was a valuable skill for someone meant to represent the Sect with high ranking outsiders.

'Heart is strong.' Icefire said while jumping away from the disciple and back into the tea cup, that Rena had just refilled.

Pef raised an eyebrow at the news. "There are five main attributes for a cultivator. Speed, endurance and strength are the most obvious, but the mind and the heart are the most crucial. Lady Zhong, whatever problems you have, be assured I can fix them for you." he spoke gently as he raised the disciple back to her seat.

"I...I don't deserve all this, Holy Son. I didn't even manage to complete the sword moves..." the woman whispered with her head hung low.

"I think it is my prerogative to decide on this, Disciple Zhong. However, Icefire thinks you are damaged somehow. That your mind isn't all there. Why would it think that?" Pef asked in a level tone.

The Inner Elder almost intervened, then bit her lip and just stared at the Icefire sprite with a focused look in her eyes.

"...You don't know! How much I had to endure and suffer....Sixty five years of hell." the woman shouted and began tearing up, sobbing in between gasps.

Pef scratched his cheek, almost considering staying out of this mess. But he couldn't do that. A woman's tears stirred a great anger in his heart, as if something hidden deep was awakening in fury and fire.

"Just tell me then. I did say I would solve whatever problem you have." Pef spoke carelessly. 'How hard could it be?' he wondered inward. Even if some Elder caused her troubles, in this Sect he was practically invincible, both by personal power and by the backing of stronger ones.

The disciple clenched her fists tight and wiped her tears. "Thank you for the offer, Holy Son. But this is something I must solve myself, or it wouldn't have any meaning."

Pef noted his mother signaling her palm downwards, possibly to tell him to leave it be.

'Just give them my method, little Icefire. I expect the big Icefire can look into this thing and locate whoever damaged my disciple.' Pef demanded inwards as he sipped his tea and ingested the Icefire back into his dantian.

'Located. Dangerous for now.' Icefire answered after a minute.

Pef grimaced at the news. Perhaps this was indeed something he couldn't fix right now, if Icefire considered it dangerous.

"Just cultivate this method Icefire planted in your minds. It works quite great, up to Sovereign Realm." Pef told the women as he rose to his feet.

All three of them turned to stare at the blonde boy with new eyes, even the distraught disciple showing a bit of hope for a moment.

"Farewell and good night, Holy Son. The tea was very good, Holy Mother!" the Inner Elder spoke rapidly as she grabbed the hand of her disciple and sprang out the door.

As she closed the door, Rena turned to look at her son with serious eyes. "That disciple is trouble, my son. Icefire or not, I don't need a mystical fire to tell me the girl has problems."

"Everyone has problems, dear mother. But that girl will ascend to Sainthood, maybe even Divinity. I have to bind such powers to me, and keep them as allies. " Pef spoke gravely as he sat down again.

Rena frowned for a moment. "Xia Clan isn't that strong, little Pef. Why would you need Divine allies?"

Pef just shrugged and sipped more tea. "First, I will have to conquer this continent. Then the whole planet. It won't be easy, even for me." he explained with a cute smile.

For a six-and-a-half years old boy, young Pef had quite big aspirations.