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Owl straighten up right away. It had frightened him relatively easily. He didn't expect the elder would play such a trick on him. It was, in a way, fortunate that he couldn't speak since he might have seriously screamed there.

The Senior Elder chuckled as he waved a hand and said: "No need for you to take pen and papers, I am not here to discuss things"

Sun Yong-Hik, the senior elder, took out a small box the size of a forearm from his spatial ring and placed it before Owl. He signaled for him to open it. Owl did. And he got incredibly surprised by what he saw inside of it. It was a plant, a flower to be exact. But what mattered was the kind of plant it was.

It was a seven seasons clover!

It was a rarity within rarities. It contained a single element but that element was nothing to scoff at. It was the element of Season. What is a season? There are four and they form the circle of life. Time, Space, Life, Death… Fire, Water, Thunder, Earth, Wind… It was a single element but a derivative from all others.

And this flower contained this very element.

Sun Yong-Hik spoke: "This is my present to you, in hope that you will achieve a breakthrough to the tenth stage"

Owl looked warily at the man. This kind of thing was worth a lot. They were rare even if man-made. Forget finding any in the wild, it was impossible. They could only exist through the nurturing of a sentient being whose goal was precisely to make it and even then, it wasn't easy.

In order for something to take on the property of an element, it needed to be in contact with said element constantly for a year. If it was a simple element from the five origins, the two glorious and the four beyond, it was doable. If it was an element that existed through the fusion of two of them, it was possible too. For example, the element of 'Wave' came from water and wind though it wasn't the only one who could be made from those. And that's where problems were. Even if you tried to get the element of Wave, you might end up with another or even just water or just wind. It was incredibly difficult to pinpoint the exact ratio and no one who found it would be willing to share such knowledge. Since this kind of knowledge was worth a lot.

After all, anyone who found the perfect ratio to produce a composite element would have earned one of the requirements to open up a sect. You could continuously produce successfully the wave element? Then you could create a sect based on that element. That's how many sects were born.

Of course, it required the sect patriarch to have some strength to his name too.

All that aside, the process in itself was very complex. It made use of arrays and required a lot of research in the elements. The complexity of making a two-element composite was already incredible yet, after the world had existed for so long, there were many. But for the more complex composite elements? It remained a rarity.

This seven seasons clover was one year old. It was the youngest kind. Yet, because of the required process to make it, it was incredibly rare. Manufacturing even one was considered miraculous yet here, there was one.

Owl had a brick who contained the sound element. But honestly, he would throw it to the trash bin without remorse if he got this one. They couldn't be compared. It didn't mean that sound was a bad or useless or inferior element. No. It was just that the Season element was much more beneficial to a cultivator at the very start.

Because the tenth stage was when a cultivator first began to get in touch with the elements. But it wouldn't be a sudden enlightenment where the cultivator would grasp every single element making this reality. The cultivator would be able to sense them. From there, he would need to work in comprehending them before he could ever use them.

Fusing one's core with an element was a necessity but it would also bring about benefits. If he used the brick, he would be able to comprehend the Sound element in a few days at most. But with the Season element? It was a gateway to all major elements.

Which made it even more unexpected for it to be presented to him. Owl thought that there were some tricks behind it.

Sun Yong-Hik chuckled at the sight of the wary beast. He gifted it a treasure and it reacted warily? What a strange creature. He decided to explain himself since the beast might really not make use of it if he did not.

"We are the Serene Summer Pavilion, you see. We picked this name for a reason. The sect leader has been researching the Season element for decades and we began to help him as well once we joined. It's called Summer because we mostly ended up getting summer willows at first but we actually end up with all kinds of elements through our research"

"From time to time, there is an irregularity that generates a success. And we get these. Of course, there are very few. I don't even own a dozen and this is the only one that is a single year old. With such things, it is better to grow them for longer times. This is something you will learn in due time"

"That aside, I had kept this one thinking I would gift it to my legacy disciple in a long time… But then, I began to wonder. Maybe with this, you will be able to step into the sentient beast state faster? And I am certain that I will manufacture another one of these before I take in a legacy disciple"

"As such, I have decided to gift it to you. Now that I took you in, I will consider as my people, Owl. And I will make sure to give you the best I can afford to nurture your potential. You can be assured of my well wishes on that point"

"I will tell the kids that you are trying to breakthrough and to leave you alone until you reach the 10th stage. Cultivate peacefully here. You are safe under my shade"

Sun Yong-Hik left with these words. Owl approached the flower in the box once more. As he gazed at it, he couldn't help but feel happiness. This was only a one-year-old treasure, a mere grade 1 treasure yet it was one of the best of those. It could bring joy to whoever secured one, even more so if it could be used.

Whatever the true reasons behind the elder's actions, this was a great opportunity for him. It was one he couldn't let go of. He picked the flower in his beak and placed it in front of him. Then, he began to focus and absorb its essence.

It was very different from absorbing spiritual energy yet similar. Similar in that it required the same use of one's will. Different in that it didn't need one to stock it inside the core after absorbing it. The element would enter into contact with the core by itself and slowly fuse with it. Once enough had been absorbed, the inner demons would be triggered and the trial to breakthrough would happen.

It would still take quite some time since he couldn't absorb one year's worth of elemental energy in mere minutes. It would take him at least five days he estimated.

He wasn't particularly trusting in Sun Yong-Hik but it was true that he would be keeping him safe. As such, this was the optimal time and place to breakthrough. He would focus on this.

…

Meanwhile, the kids finished their tour. As they were ready to drop off the white owl into its house where Owl stayed, they found the Senior Elder at the entrance. He explained to them that Owl was in the midst of breaking through and couldn't be disrupted.

Sun-Mi would have to stay with her spiritual beast for the moment. It would probably take a few weeks for Owl to stabilize.

After reminding them to be up early tomorrow for their first lessons, Sun Yong-Hik left for his own mansion, at the peak of his mountain. It was even grandeur than the other mansions and there were a lot of mortal servants maintaining it. They made for cheap labor and were easy to keep in line.

As he reached the doors, his head butler opened them and welcomed him.

Sun Yong-Hik ordered him: "Fetch me the century old wine. I want to celebrate the future today"