Though Vincent already expected this, it still surprises him nonetheless.
In his current state, a direct assistance from someone like Lythaera, a High Elf, wasn't something that he could reject.
He needs all the support he can get to increase his chances.
As the decision was made, Vincent bowed towards the High Elf.
"It's a great honour to receive your help."
Lythaera calmly nodded and added, "When do you plan to start?"
Vincent replied, "Tomorrow. I want to rest and organise my thoughts."
Lythaera didn't reply and simply disappeared from where she stood like a ghost.
Seeing this, Vincent slightly clenched his fist as his desire to reach such a level became even stronger.
Because only those with enough power can truly live the life they desire.
…
Meanwhile, as Vincent was preparing to put everything on his final gamble, at a faraway location, a middle-aged woman stood in front of an old mine that looked like it had been abandoned several years already.
"It should be here."
Vanessa spoke, her voice trembling slightly as she observed the old entrance covered with webs and greenery.
She wasn't delusional to think that her husband was here after so many years had passed.
Vanessa was somewhat scared of entering the mine not because of those webs and rats within, but of the possibility of what she might see there.
But what choice does she have?
Vanessa picked up the torch and lit it up.
Taking a deep breath, she moved inside.
…
Not far from the abandoned mine, was a small town.
Within the town, was a small inn in which several people sat at the table and ate food while chatting.
"Hey. One more, please," spoke a middle-aged man as he chewed the juicy meat.
"One moment!" replied the female worker.
Though the inn was small, it was quite crowded.
Sitting at one of the tables, alone, Vanessa was gradually finishing her meal.
Vanessa looked at the closed notebook.
Today she will go to the mine where her husband was last mentioned.
Several minutes later, she stood up, placed a few coins and left the inn with a hood on her head.
As she stepped out, another customer entered who wore a similar hoodie but neither of them paid attention to it.
If they were more observant, they would be very surprised to meet each other here.
…
Meanwhile, as Vanessa and Alisia arrived at the abandoned mine with different purposes, Vincent was mentally preparing himself.
Either he succeeds and survives or he fails and loses everything.
Vincent was on the grassy ground near the tall lush tree.
There was no-one around him.
Lythaera specifically gave him this tranquil and isolated location for his needs.
He was quite pleased with her assistance.
She must've regarded the branch of Sacred Dark Oak extremely highly.
Beside him was an old bag with essence crystals from an underwater cave. Gladly, he didn't use them all as they would greatly assist him.
With everything set, Vincent took a deep breath and took off his upper robe, revealing his aesthetic body that he shaped over the last years.
But his attempt to fix his seed will require a lot of sacrifices. And this would be one of them.
Vincent lowered his head and glanced at himself before shaking his head.
There was no turning back now or regrets.
Only the path ahead will give him a chance to live.
And only if he survives can he and Alisia live the life they want.
He clenched his teeth with sudden pain in his chest.
It was stronger and lasted longer than the last one.
Removing his hand from the chest, he took several deep breaths.
He used this pain as an indicator that his time was gradually running out.
If he is correct, he doesn't have much time left.
Vincent closed his eyes and slowly began to separate his consciousness from his body.
The Spiritual World.
He wants to make sure that his soul force is at all high as it will also be sacrificed.
This was his plan and final gamble.
He'll sacrifice all his cultivation, all the years of hard work will be given up for his desperate attempt to fix his broken essence seed.
Vincent already studied the Spiritual Ascension path that elves cultivate and roughly, somewhat had created in his mind a new path that intermixed Body Tempering, Soul Refinement, Essence Cultivation and Spiritual Ascension paths into one.
This new path would contain some crucial aspects of every known path while ignoring the others that he deemed to be less valuable.
If to be real, Vincent has no idea if his 'path' works or not, but what he was sure is that the amount of power those sacrifices will drive out, should give him a glimpse of hope in this absurd endeavour.
Moreover, in this new path, he created only stages for the beginning phase. He simply has no time nor insights to even begin the creation of the intermediate phase.
But after he brainstormed the creation of first stages and Lythaera's assistance and experience and insights, he somewhat became a bit more confident that this all can actually work.
Vincent's mind gradually became darker and his sense of distance slowly distorted.
As his soul was about to enter the Spiritual World, the image of Alisia appeared in his mind.
She was the sole anchor who will not let him forget who he is and for what purpose he was doing all of this.