“Touch him...” Fan Qi told May, directing his gaze at the boy. “Go on, he won’t bite you. He’s fast asleep, after all.”

  She looked at him uncertainly, but decided that he must have had some reason for wanting her to do so. She did as he commanded and gently touched the boy’s palm. It was cold, in fact, it was freezing. She rapidly pulled her hand away.

  “Cold,” May hissed, feeling a slight pain from the cold. She hadn’t expected that.

  “Yes, very cold,” he commented quietly.

  But yet he holds him so close to his body? How is he not freezing...

  “This boy suffers from something called the Ice Lord's Disease,” he said with a slight regret in his voice. “Have you heard of it?”

  May thought about it, scouring all her memories. For a long time, she couldn’t associate it with anything, but after a moment, she remembered something. Her mother told her many stories in the old days when she was still just a small child.

  “The Ice Lord... That character from fairy tales? His arrival heralded winter...” May tried to remember what she had heard so many years ago. “I remember that he was at odds with his three siblings, especially his sister, the Lady of Spring?”

  “Yes. Exactly.”

  May took a deep breath. Was he saying that this character really existed? It wouldn't be so strange, considering the oddities of this world.

  “Does that mean...” She began uncertainly.

  But Fan Qi gave a laugh.

  “No, oh my. It’s just a fairy tale. It doesn’t exist, it’s just a way the villagers tried to explain the seasons, it has nothing to do with reality.” He said, still chuckling. “However, the name did come from these fairy tales.”

  “But how does that have any relation to what you were saying? How is this disease supposed to affect the duration of winter?” May asked, still not quite understanding what it was all about.

  “Well, the name is quite misleading, because it's not actually a disease. Although in theory it doesn't meet the appropriate requirements and all the points of similarity, it is essentially a Unique Physique,” he said, looking at the boy. “Unfortunately, they aren't always necessarily positive, and some, as in this case, are clearly destructive.”

  Unique Physique... This is the first time I've actually seen it...

  She had heard a lot about people with Unique Physique, but this boy was the first time she had ever met someone with this gift, or rather curse, as in this case, with her own eyes.

  “And how does this... Abnormality manifest itself?” She asked with a slight curiosity she couldn't hide.

  “It's impossible to explain it all in a few sentences,” he replied cautiously. “However, know that the longer he lives, the worse the effects will be for him and for everyone else. Leaving him alone could lead to disaster.”

  May understood the message. Although she couldn't quite comprehend how such a small child could have the power to prolong winter, it wasn't hard to imagine the effects. Winter could destroy crops and cause famine.

  “So why did you do it? Couldn't you have explained it to his family?” she asked with slight surprise. It seemed to her that there were many better ways to deal with it.

  “Would that have changed anything? He must die, my words would not have changed anything.”

  May flinched and became sorrowful. Although she had expected it in a way, she felt uneasy.

  “Is there no other way?”

  “No. He would have to die someday anyway. At the moment of his death, he will cause a great cold that will spread throughout the sect. He is young now, but in a few years... If he died at an old age, our sect would experience a winter lasting several years.” He said seriously, “There is currently no way to get rid of this disease.”

  No matter how she looked at it, it seemed preposterous to her.

  “It's...”

  “Unfair? Cruel? Yes. But no one is born equal,” he replied, turning away. “It's better this way. His life would have been painful anyway. He would have suffered from the cold. There are records of those who took their own lives because of the unbearable chill.”

  May was about to say something, but suddenly she noticed figures approaching from a distance. Soon after, she saw that they were cultivators from the sect.

  “Just in time,” said Fan Qi. “Take her and that guy on the ground to the Yun clan's estate.”

  May was slightly surprised. “How do you know who I am? I never introduced myself...”

  “Your presence in the sect is rather noisy,” he said mockingly. “It's time for me to go. Until the next time.”

  Shortly thereafter, he disappeared. May, on the other hand, was escorted to the estate by the cultivators. Although she tried to ask them questions, none of them were willing to talk, and they quickly ended any attempt at conversation. Having no choice, she allowed herself to be transported to the estate.

  ───── ??☆?? ─────

  The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

  She held the spear motionless. She didn't really understand the point of this exercise, but she did as she was told. Suddenly, an orange butterfly with mosaic wings landed on the tip of the spear.

  “That's enough,” said La Xia. “Time to rest.”

  May, obeying her instructor's will, sat down on the grass next to him and began to drink water. She would have gladly downed three glasses at once, but the lessons in etiquette that Shui Gai had recently instilled in her with great zeal had had the intended result. Now she even drank water with elegance.

  “Have you thought about this matter, Senior?” May asked with curiosity.

  Unfortunately, there weren’t many people in the Inner Court with whom she could share her story. La Xia was the closest thing to a ‘friend’ she currently had access to.

  “I think so,” he said, looking straight at the sun, then quickly glancing at May. “I think you met the High Elder of the sect.”

  May looked at him strangely. Although theoretically it made sense, one thing didn't add up for her.

  “Fan Qi. Senior, you should know the names of all the Elders of the sect, so why didn't you tell me right away that he was an Elder?” May asked, seeing an obvious contradiction in this.

  “Because there is no High Elder with that name in the sect,” he replied briefly.

  May was even more surprised. “What? But you said...”

  “That I think he's a High Elder. I think you met An Fuqi. A little play with language.”

  “But why would he do that?”

  “He's quite known for such things. With all due respect to the Sect Elder, he's certainly not a very serious person.”

  May disagreed with that assessment. Yesterday, he seemed quite resolute and also had a certain amount of gravity about him. Although some of his actions were indeed questionable, she still did not consider him a reckless person.

  “Ze Yun, then Wo Shi Hao, and now An Fuqi? Why do I feel like I'm a magnet to them?” May asked herself.

  “A magnet? Interesting comparison, I guess you have a talent for poetry. But I agree, it's not normal,” he said, shaking his head helplessly.

  “Really?”

  “Yes... To tell you the truth, most Inner Court cultivators haven't spoken to one of the sect's High Elders even once, even if they've lived for several decades. You, on the other hand, aren't even ten years old and you already know three of them? To be honest, apart from Ze Yun, I haven't spoken to any of the other Elders in the last decade.”

  “Oh.”

  May really didn't have much to say about it. She knew very well how it looked.

  La Xia laughed and put his hand on her head, petting her. They had become quite close recently. You could say that, in a way, he was like a grandfather to her. May sighed and stood up.

  “Senior, I'm going to my room. I'll try to break through to the next stage today,” she said, and he just nodded.

  She was already far behind the twins. Although she originally wanted to not stand out too much, it didn't matter anymore because now they - the Chen siblings - were at the very top. As long as there was someone better than her, she didn't have to bother to look good.

  It also gave her the motivation to try harder.

  “Minnie, give me what you gave me last time,” she said quietly. She needed cheap resources. Although she received some money from the Yun clan every month, it was not enough to support her advancement.

  And just like that, several hundred mu disappeared from her account. The expenses were high, but she had to somehow reduce the gap between her insufficient talent and what she wanted to achieve.

  “Okay, let's begin,” she said, sitting cross-legged and assuming the correct posture.

  She had done this many times before, but today she wanted to achieve it. Of course, even if she didn't breakthrough, her cultivation stage was more than enough to get into Cloud Academy, even if she came from the Outer Court.

  In that respect, the twins outrank me, but apart from them...

  Besides them, May was one of the best. At least that's what she learned from the information she had gathered.

  She put the pill in her mouth and swallowed it, feeling its bitter taste spread throughout her body. But she was already used to it.

  “Okay... Let's begin.”

  She started her first cycle. She felt like she was having a good day. She was progressing faster than usual.

  Before she knew it, she was already starting her second cycle. She lost herself completely in cultivation. Her mind was empty, she wasn't thinking about anything else.

  As time passed, she became more and more tired and sore. Cultivation was exhausting. Moderation was advisable, as it was easy to damage your body.

  May had been careful until now and stopped as soon as the discomfort became too great. Now, however, she had no intention of backing down.

  I've been on the edge for so long... I'm so close.

  Despite the pain, she continued.

  She couldn't spend any more money. She had to do it now. Even though all her muscles were screaming and her blood was boiling. Her body was begging her to stop. She understood that well.

  The pain was a warning. It was supposed to protect her from the consequences. Cultivation was something that required doing things against logic. She knew that all too well. No one who is not ready to make sacrifices will achieve anything great. That's just the way it was.

  She was breathing heavily. She had doubts, but she pushed forward. She had come too far to back out now…

  And finally, she did it! After all this time, she had finally broken through to the next stage!

  She immediately stopped and fell to the ground, exhausted. She was panting and trying to take every breath of air. She felt as if she could die at any moment, but even so, she smiled with barely any satisfaction.

  Her expenses were considerable, but in the end it was worth the price. She succeeded. She was one of the three best people of the younger generation in the entire sect. At least for now.

  Her progress could give almost anyone an inferiority complex.

  May smiled happily at the thought of her future. She lay on the ground, staring at the ceiling. Eventually, however, fatigue got the better of her and she fell asleep in that position, in a puddle of her own sweat.