Nolan was taken aback. “Seriously? I didn’t think that was possible.”

“It is for me and people like me, though I doubt any others exist at the moment.” Glancing at her sandaled feet, she said, “And as for my time within the sect, the disciples were too intimidated by me to ever approach and nearly all of the elders scorned me because of how I obtained my position. I rarely left my quarters in my free time.”

Why was he only hearing this now? Thinking on it, wasn’t it the same for demonic beasts and other wild creatures? No, when he considered it carefully, ordinary people that had never cultivated a day in their lives still took in Origin Energy in a natural manner, albeit very slowly. All this meant was that May’s body did so at an extremely rapid rate.

“At least the sect offered me a great amount of knowledge. I did a lot of research on my strange physique while I was there and found out that I have a rare condition that some call the Heart of Ice. Have you ever heard of it?”

“If I didn’t know that saying about the merchants earlier, I’m probably not going to know something like that.”

She smiled, giving her head a slow shake. “It’s a condition where your body absorbs Origin Energy at an unbelievable rate, but only one type of Origin Energy. That is, cold energy. Only a few cases of the Heart of Ice have ever been reported, and they all had a few things in common. For one, all of them were women. All of them also managed to make it to the Soul-Strengthening Stage before the age of thirty without ever cultivating a day in their lives.”

“Everything you say about this condition is more amazing than the last,” said Nolan, thoughtful. No wonder May had such a high cultivation level despite barely being in her mid-twenties. “Why didn’t you ever invest more time into cultivating, then? Wouldn’t you have already reached the Soul-Strengthening stage by now?”

“That’s because of the third thing that I learned about my condition.” Her voice was a bit distant, though she made an effort to hide it. “As soon as I reach Soul-Strengthening, my body won’t be able to contain the cold energy that’ll have built up by then and my heart will stop beating.”

Nolan’s heart sank. “That can’t be right. How do you know for sure?”

“Because all of the recorded examples died that very way, without exception.”

“And there’s no way to stop it?”

“Well, there is one…” A bit embarrassed, she said, “If I dual cultivate with someone as soon as I break through to the next stage of cultivation, it might help me control the cold energy for a while longer. Unfortunately, the only hope of this method working is for the man that I cultivate with to meet two conditions.”

“What conditions?”

“Firstly, he needs to have a contrasting constitution to my own. Essentially, one that houses hot energies instead of cold ones. Secondly, he has to have the same cultivation level as me, or close to it. If he doesn’t meet these conditions, then he would just end up dying alongside me.”

“Wait,” he said, “but when we met, I didn’t meet any of those conditions. Why did you take interest in me, then?”

“That…” Wearing a mixture of shyness and guilt, she admitted, “At first it was just to pass the time. It was the first time I’d snuck off as Avril, and I kept bumping into you whenever I was trying to play around, but once I saw what you were capable of I immediately knew that you had a unique constitution.”

She wasn’t wrong, considering that technically his fledgling ‘ancestral body’ had an innate affinity for all elements that simply needed to be awakened through different methods of cultivation.

“Ah,” he said, realizing something. “Back in the tower, when you saw me practicing the White Flame Scripture…”

She nodded, a bit downcast though similarly relieved as if she had just taken a load off of her chest. “I felt like I finally had a chance in this world. That’s why I chose to join your sect. That and you’re more interesting than any of the other men I’ve met, so I didn’t think I would regret it. Which I don’t.”

“That’s pretty heavy.” Standing up, he collected their bowls and stowed them way. “I never thought you’d have a condition like that. Uncle Grey made it sound like… Hold on, then you should stop cultivating from here on out. At least until I—you know, at least until I get stronger.”

“Normally, I would’ve wanted to hold off on raising my cultivation so quickly, but circumstances sort of demanded it.” She stood up along with him, smoothing out her dress as she did so. “Don’t misunderstand. I might not be in love with you, but I do like you. Considering my situation and all that I’ve been through, that’s enough for me. I don’t expect you to love me either, but hopefully we can continue to get along in the future.”

He grabbed her hand and led her down the cobbled pathway, their stifled conversation overridden by the sounds of birds chirping and insects humming.

“Give it time. I don’t know much about love or anything like that, but the thought of you not being around really bothers me. Whatever your reasons for getting close to me, it doesn’t change the fact that you’re an important person in my life and that I’ll do everything I can to keep you around.” Suddenly self-conscious of his words, he added, “Who else will I eat shaved ice with, after all?” He hoped he hadn’t been too tacky.

May slowed her pace, though she didn’t let go of his hand. A light breeze ruffled the frills of her dress, her hair fluttering around as she considered him with a pink face. Before she could say anything, however, a group of young adults ran by amidst a cloud of excited chatter.

“The Falling Rain Sect?” one was saying. Hurrying after one of his friends, he asked, “Are they really at the auction house?”

“It’s an elder,” said another girl.

A third person’s voice drifted over. “Not one elder, but three!”

“Stop talking and hurry! If they’re at the auction house then they might be selling off some of their flying swords!”

The heartfelt atmosphere melted away in an instant as he and May altered the gazes through which they considered one another.

“Didn’t you say that you wanted to stop by the auction?” she said, a bit of mischief in her voice. She pulled out a thin veil of translucent grey fabric and hid her face behind it. “I suddenly feel the urge to stop by.”

If it were Nyla, she would have either opted to avoid the auction house all together, or to quietly observe their enemies from afar while inconspicuously attending the event. Seeing that May was intent on giving the elders a difficult time, Nolan felt an odd twang in his heart as he began to anticipate the different ways that he would troll the people in question. He had always been the cautious and calculated type, though this was slowly changing as he grew stronger and more confident. Whether it was a good or a bad thing, he wasn’t sure, but it certainly helped to lighten up his life. Take his brief visit to the brothel with Ian the other day; he’d have never done such a thing in the past, especially not after taking part in the destruction of a large business.

Grinning, he said, “I’ve got a great idea.”

Holding his hand, May followed his lead as she mimicked his smile with interest. “Tell me while we walk.”

***

“Hurry up! If you keep dragging your feet then I’ll leave you behind.”

Esteban thought about slowing down and then slipping away in the event that Aine proved true to her words, but he knew that doing such a thing would only lead to more headaches in the future.

“Why’d you force me to come if you were just going to complain the whole time?”

“Who forced you?” Aine paused to wait for him, frowning as she stared at him with her big blue eyes. “Besides, it’s not my fault that nobody else wanted to come. I’ve been so excited to go shopping in this city ever since I heard that it was run by merchants, but everyone’s so focused on cultivating that nobody will keep me company.”

Seeing a bit of guilt in her demeanour, Esteban cursed inside. This is what I mean! How can I say no when you look so sad? He wished he could be more like Nolan, to speak his thoughts regardless of the situation and without the slightest fear of judgement. Unfortunately, he wasn’t like the older boy and thus could only go along with the will of others out of fear of displeasing them.