Being the 'best' and being the 'strongest' were different things in this case. Because being a good cultivator meant one would have minimized his flaws, while being strong simply meant having great combat capabilities.

For Soul Cultivators, being a good cultivator naturally meant dealing with the flaws in their souls. The flaws in their personalities.

Alexei had been the strongest Soul Cultivator in his generation, but he was far from the best. He never managed to overcome his flaws, and he paid the price for that. A sad smile made its way into Lya's face as she thought about him.

"Do you know any Body Tempering techniques?" Amon asked, excited. Lya woke up from her daze as he called for her.

"I don't know of the techniques, but I know a method to guarantee maximum efficiency when you use one." Lya said, looking at him with a penetrating gaze. Amon turned downcast hearing that.

"That Jake kid gave you some contribution points, didn't he?" She asked.

"Yes, he did." Amon answered, raising his brow.

"I'll need you to buy a few things for me to check." She said, and started counting on her fingers as she named everything she needed. "I'll need all the manuals for Elemental Cultivation, Body Tempering, Sword Arts and Movement Techniques you can find."

"The points I got will hardly be enough." Amon's brow raised even further hearing her requests.

"Doesn't matter." Lya said, extending her hands to the ring in Amon's finger. The ring flashed and two small daggers appeared in her hands. She promptly threw them to Amon. "You can sell these, I'm sure they'll fetch a good price."

"I didn't ask this before, but this ring… Is it an interspatial ring?" He gulped looking at the ring in his finger. Interspatial rings were incredibly rare.

"Of course it is." Lya said with an arrogant smile.

As far as he knew, in the Abyss Sect just the four Protectors and the Sect Master had one. Having an interspatial ring was the same as having a vault in your fingers, with no waste of s.p.a.ce or unbearable weight.

An interspatial ring was engraved with an array formation that acted as the key to a pocket dimension where the owner could store their belongings and retrieve them at will. Its value was unimaginable.

"I won't show it off around the sect, it'll be for the best if I leave it here." He said, taking the ring from his finger and trying to hide it inside the chest with his clothes. Lya stopped him.

"No need for that." She said, snapping her fingers. The ring undulated and started changing. What looked like a ring made of ice before now was a simple iron ring with a few spots of dust here and there.

"This…" Amon was going to say something, but Lya cut him. "Just as trick using light. It will also word off divine senses, so no one will notice." Amon nodded hearing that, putting the ring back in his finger. If Lya saw no problems with it, then he would trust her judgement.

"We will go to h.e.l.l's Keeper Mountain tomorrow to sell the daggers and buy the manuals. Although the Northern Station has some manuals in the Exchange Pavilion, the headquarters has copies of all of the manuals in the sect, so we will be able to buy more stuff there." Amon said, taking off his clothes.

He threw them in a corner of the room, washed his body with the water in the basin and pa.s.sed out in his bed, exhausted.

Seeing this, Lya gave a gentle smile. As she was looking at him, her face suddenly fell and she direct her gaze to wall, as if she was trying to see through it. She gave a sigh and floated away, traversing the wall into the hallway eventually entering another room.

What greeted her in the dark room she walked in was a pair of green eyes s.h.i.+ning with a menacing light, and a killing intent so strong it was almost corporeal. The window of the room was open, and the silver moonlight shone on it, casting a dim light over Rebecca's face.

Lya, on the other hand, seemed to glow, being perfectly visible, almost as she was made of light. She looked at Rebecca for a moment before deciding to say something.

"h.e.l.lo." Lya smiled as she greeted the woman sitting in the bed. The woman didn't smile back, nor did she respond. Instead, her oppressive aura grew even stronger, and the air seemed to wrap around Lya, as if trying to crush her.

"That is not very polite." Lya snorted and the pressure disappeared. "You know, I just showed myself here because I felt like it, not because you demanded it." Her tone was serious, but she said it with a sneer.

"What… no, who are you?" Rebecca asked with a grave voice, tightly holding the green necklace in her hands, ready to crush it at any time.

"My name is Lya, resident spirit of the Brightmoon sword your son found." Lya gave a slight bow as she presented herself.

"A Sword Spirit?" Rebecca showed no surprised, but was inwardly shaken. "What do you want with my son?"

"I recognized him as my new master."Lya looked deep into Rebecca eyes, to show that she was not telling a lie. "I will naturally guide him in his path to cultivation."

"Why did you recognize him as your master?" Rebecca had a blank face as she asked, unconvinced.

Lya hesitated for a moment, but managed to say "You can say he and I are fated. I really have nothing but good intentions toward him. All I plan to do is guide him."

Rebecca still didn't show any expression hearing that, so Lya added "I'm sure you've seen that he has already managed to absorb Qi."

"How did you managed to do that?" Rebecca finally showed concern as she asked. "He hasn't been able to manipulate Qi for years, and now in a few hours he gets ready for his Body Tempering?"

When Lya explained to Amon about Soul Cultivation, she had made sure to block all sound from escaping the room, but decided not to block Rebecca's divine sense, as it would only bring trouble to Amon. As such, when Amon started to cultivate and move Qi, attracting Rebecca's attention, she managed to see all the process of him unblocking his acupuncture points and gathering Qi.

"You can call it a lost method." Lya said, shaking her shoulders. Rebecca raised a brow hearing that, so Lya added "It will bring him no harm at all. Plus… I think we both know this is the only way he will ever manage to cultivate."

Rebecca frowned hearing Lya's words, but said nothing. She knew there was some truth to it. Her son's talent was terrible, no matter how good a person he was. Sometimes good people never got what they deserved.

In truth, Rebecca knew this was an amazing chance for her son to overcome his shortcomings. Maybe he could finally obtain the strength he wanted so much. Maybe he would be able to take care of himself when the day came for then to part ways. Still, he was just a thirteen-year-old boy.

Rebecca had scanned Lya with her divine sense many times, and all she could feel was a bunch of Qi refracting light, with no real physical form. She was most likely a Sword Spirit, just as she said.

Rebecca could also see no reason why Lya would hurt her son, and she saw herself the results of her guidance. Even if she knew what this 'lost method' was, she decided to make a bet.

"I'll allow this… for now." Rebecca said, and the room seemed to lighten considerably. Her green eyes locked into Lya's blue eyes as she said, "I hope you can take care of him when I'm not around."

By the way Rebecca looked at Lya, Lya knew she would not be satisfied with a simple answer. She took a deep breath and proclaimed. "I, swear I will guard Amon Skoller with my life, and will never bring harm to him."

Rebecca stared at her unblinkingly for a few seconds before nodding. "I hope you stay true to your words. From what I know, Sword Spirits can never betray their masters."

Lya flinched for a moment hearing that, but didn't deny. That was absolutely true. Sword Spirits never betrayed their masters, as they were a part of them.

"If something happens to him, however, you can be sure I'll smash that sword into smithereens and destroy you." Rebecca's eyes flashed with a cold light and an even stronger pressure emitted from her.

The pressure turned incredibly powerful, and Lya's body distorted for a moment. If Lya had a physical body, maybe her bones would be breaking and her lungs would collapse. Her respect for Rebecca shot up.

"What a strong soul." Lya couldn't help muttering to herself. Rebecca was certainly not a Soul Cultivator, but her Truesoul was incredibly developed and the Nebula surrounding it was thick and dense. Even if her dantian was crippled and she couldn't cultivate through the standard means of the sect anymore, she could still use her divine sense and manipulate Qi.

Still, Lya wouldn't teach her about Soul Cultivation. She would teach Amon and Amon alone.

"You can rest a.s.sured." She managed to say to Rebecca, a bit distraught.

"Thank you." The pressure faded and Rebecca looked away, at the night sky. She was thanking Lya for her promise, and also thanking her for helping Amon.

Lya knew that, and knew the conversation was over. She wasn't the least bit worried about Rebecca saying anything about her to anyone. She was sure Rebecca would protect Amon's secret.

Lya bowed again and quietly disappeared. Rebecca was left alone in the room again, looking at the window, her body leaving a long shadow in her room. Her blond hair seemed to be made of silver as the moonlight shone on it. This time, a smile could be seen in her face as she gazed at the stars.