Jin held Ame tenderly until she fell asleep. Then, he got up and went out to the back garden. Within it stood a gigantic pumpkin. It was Nangua's house. It looked like a pumpkin from the outside but was entirely hollow within.

Jin knocked and the orange door opened.

Jin entered.

There were only a few things in this little house. A bed, a closet, a table and two thrones used as chairs. Nangua was sitting in one, sipping some pumpkin juice. He gestured for Jin to take a seat.

As Jin sat, Nangua said: "I expected you to come earlier, My Candidate"

Jin looked at Nangua, he fixed his sight on his eyes, trying to probe in. They seemed empty. Those orange pupils were inflexible. Jin stated: "You have many things to tell me"

Nangua nodded. He did have many things to share with his new master. However, where to start? He had pondered about it for the last few days and made up his mind.

Nangua began: "I shall start by introducing myself in more details first"

Nangua waited for Jin to agree before continuing. Only after Jin nodded did he continue: "I was born a regular vegetable in a regular garden. Born to become food for the mortals who planted the seed that birthed me. However, one day, cultivators fought a big battle a few kilometers away from my home. The fight moved all the way to my home. And as I bathed in the sunlight, others bathed in blood"

"The corpses of hundreds and thousands fell down in my surroundings. Fate seemed to favor me as I was fortunate to not end up exploded or cracked by anything. From there, I feasted on the nutrients provided by those corpses. For dozens of years, I survived through this, strengthening myself. Until, one day, I reached the threshold and broke through my mortal state"

"I became a spiritual entity and earned my second form. Humanoid in shape though far from human"

Jin interrupted: "Are you the only one?"

It was a legitimate question. Since he made it out alive, wouldn't there be other lucky vegetables who did too? Could there be a cultivating potato or something elsewhere?

Nangua laughed sadly as he shook his head sideways: "There were. But it was survival of the fittest back then and, as vegetables, we were unable of communication. There was not enough resources for us all...There was only enough for one"

Jin asked straightforwardly: "Did you kill them?"

Nangua hesitated before stating: "I consumed them in fact but it's close enough. Looking back, it might have been possible for more of us to survive and not just me... But back then, I could not know. I do not regret it if this was your question"

Jin shook his head sideways and stated: "I simply wondered if you had a family"

Nangua laughed then he stated: "The meaning of 'family' itself is foreign to me"

Jin did not continue the topic and neither did Nangua. After a short silence, Nangua continued: "I left my desolate village and traveled the world alone. I did my best to grab onto every opportunity and, after dozens of years, reached the 30th stage and earned a third form. This human one in fact"

"It became easier from there and I managed, after close to three hundred years more, reach the 54th stage. It is the stage I am currently at. I was-"

"Wait" interrupted Jin. "You are at the 54th stage right now?"

Nangua nodded. This new information surprised Jin greatly. How could this pumpkin be so powerful? No, if it was, then how did he end reduced to a prisoner on a cross?

Nangua saw the confusion on Jin's face and provided an answer to it: "I was not captured in this continent, My candidate. I was hunted while minding my own business in Sannhil. It is one of the high continents by the way"

"I know of it" responded Jin.

Nangua nodded and continued: "They defeated me, captured me and pinned me to that cross. Through the use of arrays, they rendered me helpless. Then, they sent me here to be used as a living elixir provider"

Jin found something weird and asked: "Why send you here and not keep you over there with them?"

Nangua explained: "Righteous sects tend to care about their images yet are reluctant to give up on benefits... This was their way to get the best of both worlds, I guess. Their image is safe and they get the good drinks. A perfect plan"

"Until you guys arrived, more than seventy years after they began their work, and freed me. As soon as they activated the final array, they should have been ready for me to escape... They were not. I am thankful about it, truly. If not for you, My Candidate, I might still be there, suffering in loneliness"

What did he mean by a righteous sect? That sect was a branch of the Blood boiling sect...Unless...That's when Jin made an assumption that he would rather never be able to confirm.

"That sect operated here under a fake name since no one would have been able to find the truth anyways..."

Nangua nodded and added: "The brightest lights generally creates the densest shadows, My Candidate. There are no true evils nor true goodness, only benefits"

Jin pondered on those words. The meaning behind them rang truer than any to him. Indeed, to reach their goals, most cultivators would not hesitate to do things that were inhumane. There were none that remained sinless.

The path of cultivation was full of sins. One did not only refer to it as going against the heavens for show. It could also be considered as going against the values of virtue.

Nangua let Jin digest those words. There was no need to push things, the night was still young and there was still a lot to talk about.

Jin finished organizing his thoughts and asked what really mattered to him: "Then, what was this elixir they used you to make?"