Confession
**Read authors note first**
Back in the Walking City of the Academy, over an hour had passed as Hao Xuan continued to refine and absorb the potent energy from the Soul Cleansing Rum from that one mouthful, and it wasn't anywhere near finished.
This process would last over six hours as the pure energy continued to drench Hao Xuan's soul in thick spiritual essence, leaving him barely able to hold a conversation.
Ryfon waited beside him for over three hours before he finally ran out of all the booze he had on him.
The night was long and nowhere near its end, only getting colder by the second. Fortis, Zhurong, and Salome had returned to the cabin sometime during that time period and already gone to sleep, leaving only Ryfon and Hao Xuan beside the campfire that burned ceaselessly.
Ryfon's woeful expression only became gloomier as time passed until finally, he looked up at Hao Xuan, at which point the gloom turned into distress.