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From noon to evening, Ning Rongrong failed countless times. Her soul power was nearly exhausted, she was dizzy, and her clothes were soaked with water, clinging to her body and outlining her youthful but already curvy figure. She was tired and hungry, with tears of grievance welling in her eyes.
Just as she failed yet again, water splashing on the ground and she was nearly crying, Mo Bai walked up to her.
"Do you know why you can't do it?" Mo Bai's voice held no emotion.
Ning Rongrong shook her head stubbornly, her eyes red.
"Because you have never truly 'understood' your soul power." Mo Bai extended his finger, a wisp of faint soul power as solid as a physical object hovering at the tip. "Soul power is not a tool; it is an extension of your body and soul. You command it, yet you do not feel every tiny flow and change within it. Just as when you want your finger to pick up a needle, you don't think 'finger use force,' you simply 'think' of picking up the needle, and your finger naturally makes the most precise adjustments."
He flicked his finger lightly, and the scattered water droplets on the ground were drawn by an invisible force, rising slowly and dividing uniformly in the air into a hundred identical, crystalline droplets, suspended quietly and motionlessly. That exquisite control left Ning Rongrong dumbfounded.
"Feel it, do not command it." Mo Bai withdrew his hand, and the water droplets fell gently back into the bucket without a single splash. "Continue. There is no dinner until you reach the standard I set."
With that, he ignored Ning Rongrong and walked toward the lounge inside the training ground.
Ning Rongrong watched Mo Bai's retreating back, then looked at the bucket of water and gritted her teeth, reconsolidating her meager soul power. This time, she did not rush to divide the water; instead, she closed her eyes, trying hard to perceive every bit of movement in her soul power, to feel the tiny vibrations of the water under its envelopment...
Time passed bit by bit. As night fell and soft soul-lights brightened the training ground, Ning Rongrong finally managed to divide a bucket of water into nearly a hundred similarly sized droplets, wobbling as they hovered in the air. Though she hadn't reached Mo Bai's requirement of a one-percent error, let alone holding them for the duration of an incense stick, this was already the result of her absolute best effort.
Blackness flashed before her eyes, and she was nearly exhausted.
Just then, a gentle yet irresistible soul power supported her. Mo Bai had reappeared by her side at some point, holding a food box.
"Barely a pass." He handed the box to Ning Rongrong. "Eat to recover your soul power. Continue tomorrow."
Inside the box were exquisite dishes and medicinal porridge for recovering soul power, smelling delicious. Ning Rongrong no longer cared about her image or grievances; she took the box and began eating ravenously. The food entered her stomach and turned into a warm current, nourishing her dried-up meridians and exhausted body.
After a few bites, she couldn't help but look up at Mo Bai, who was sitting in another chair nearby. He had his eyes closed, seemingly taking a nap. The profile of his face looked somewhat hard in the lamplight, yet it carried a strange charm.
"Tea... Teacher Mo Bai." Ning Rongrong hesitated but finally spoke in a low voice. "Were Sister Xiao Wu and the others... trained this way as well?"
Mo Bai didn't open his eyes, merely giving a flat "Mm."
"Then... why do they..." Ning Rongrong remembered the images from last night, her face flushing again, her voice as quiet as a mosquito. "Why do they do... do that kind of thing?" She couldn't help but ask.
Mo Bai slowly opened his eyes and looked at her. That deep gaze made Ning Rongrong feel nervous.
"Power never comes from nothing." Mo Bai's voice was as calm as ever. "They got what they wanted, so naturally, they had to pay the corresponding price. As for me, I gave them the opportunity to choose and a path to a higher place. How that path is walked and how fast it is walked depends on their own 'realization' and 'effort'."
He paused and added: "You think it is humiliation and degeneracy. But for them, it is 'cultivation,' it is 'service,' a way to prove their own value and obtain strength and recognition. The world does not only have the side you see, Ning Rongrong. Under the radiance of the Seven Treasures Glazed Tile Pagoda, how do you know there are no shadows?"
Ning Rongrong was stunned, mulling over Mo Bai's words. Paying a price? Choice? Realization? She remembered the heartfelt dependence and... fanaticism in the eyes of Xiao Wu and the others when they looked at Mo Bai. Was it really forced?
"Then... if I study with you, will I also... have to pay that kind of price?" Ning Rongrong summoned her courage and asked the question that worried her most. She was afraid, yet deep down, that bit of craving for powerful strength grew like weeds.
Mo Bai looked at her and suddenly gave a small smile. It was faint, yet it made Ning Rongrong's heart skip a beat.
"That depends on how far you can go and what you are willing to pay for it." Mo Bai stood up. "Today's training is over. Same time tomorrow, continue. Remember, here you are just a student craving to become strong, not the young lady of the Seven Treasures Glazed Tile Sect."
With that, he did not stay any longer and turned to leave.
Ning Rongrong sat there dazed, watching Mo Bai vanish into the darkness outside the lights, then looked at the food box in her hands. Her body was still tired, her soul power still empty, but her mind was filled with chaotic thoughts.
Mo Bai's words echoed in her mind like a spell. Power and price... choice and effort... the "cultivation" method of Xiao Wu and the others that overturned her understanding... and her father's meaningful gaze...
She felt for the first time that her understanding over the past decade or so seemed fragile and powerless in front of this man. The road ahead seemed covered in mist, and deep within that mist, was it unknown temptation or a dangerous abyss? She didn't know.
But she knew she had already stepped in. And that man named Mo Bai stood in the center of the mist, waiting quietly for her choice.