Although he didn't enjoy being ordered like a servant, Shui didn't have an issue with the order itself. The concentration of an elemental lake was the same as the concentration of the elemental energy that comprised it. Though he was far above his peers, except for Kate, Shui found his understanding of the natural laws lacking, especially regarding the four elements, since he needed a deeper understanding of them in order to improve his comprehension of the Four Elements Technique.
After passing through the fog and reaching the edge of the elemental lake, the red spirit flew off Shui's shoulder and dived into the lake. Glad to be free of her, even if temporarily, Shui sighed in relief before entering the lake himself. Despite looking like thick red water, the temperature of the lake was closer to magma. He used divine energy to protect his clothes and entered a meditative position to better sense the law of fire around him.
Even with his quasi-divine body, Shui had to grit his teeth to endure the pain and maintain his focus. However, Shui felt that the pain was decreasing. At first he thought he was getting used to the heat, but he soon realised that the heat of the elemental lake was decreasing as well.
"Huh?"
Shui immediately spread his spiritual sense to find the cause, and it didn't take long before he reached the right answer. At a slower speed compared to the dropping of the temperature, the volume of the elemental lake was also decreasing, and both effects were results of the red spirit's actions.
At the center of the lake, the spirit swiftly absorbed the surrounding fire element. As a spirit of fire, she could absorb it even better than cultivators could absorb nature energy so Shui had no way to compete with her nor did he want to risk upsetting her by doing so. Shui wasn't afraid of confronting her if he had to, but he knew that there was no way he could win in a fair fight, so he restrained himself for the time being.
After a couple of seconds, the spirit emptied the elemental lake and floated at the center of the crater as she refined the fire element. Since he could still benefit from observing this process, Shui sighed in resignation and did so. The spirit's method of absorbing fire elemental energy seemed appeared simple, but the underlying subtleties made it much more efficient compared to the methods of most races. While observing the spirit, Shui also mimicked her by absorbing the lingering fire elemental energy left in the air.
While Shui and the spirit were meditating, everyone else chose an elemental lake to enter, but they couldn't help looking at the two once the mist around the lake cleared. While it was impressive, the spirit's methods did not surprise them, but that wasn't the case with Shui. When humans absorbed elemental energy, much of it was wasted because the human body wasn't suited to cultivate with elemental energy. As a result, elemental energy was normally used for crafting or to support special techniques. However, when Shui absorbed fire elemental energy, the surface of his skin glowed red. This was proof that his body was retaining most of the fire elemental energy that entered it.
So far, it was acknowledged that only spirit creatures could attain this level of suitability for elemental energy, so Shui's feat was definitely outside the norm. Encouraged by his achievement, Kate closely observed the flow of energy around him and the spirit and tried to follow them. She wasn't able to gain results as quickly, but her skin would flicker with pale green light from within the wind elemental lake.
"..."
In the midst of these two monstrous geniuses, the others shook their heads and focused on themselves lest they lose motivation.
Once the red spirit was done absorbing and refining the elemental energy, she stretched her body and opened her eyes.
"A little bland, but that was a decent meal. Now, servant boy, hmm?"
When the spirit looked at Shui, she immediately noticed that he was mimicking her way of absorbing elemental energy. Naturally, humans couldn't use the exact same method because of differences in biology, but as a human-adapted version of her method, it didn't have any major flaws.
'His comprehension is ridiculously high considering the level of this realm. Is this the effect of a divine inheritance?'
Though countless millennia had passed since her birth, the innate curiosity possessed by all spirits had not been worn away. She flitted closer to Shui and enthusiastically observed him, however, Shui hadn't gone so deep into a trance that he couldn't notice her presence. He considered asking her to stop bothering him, but it wasn't important enough for interrupting his absorption of elemental energy.
While everyone was focused on cultivating, Pon suddenly jumped out of the water elemental lake he had occupied and landed on the ground in front of the collection of lakes. Judging that this meant urgent news, the others also began leaving the lakes. They hadn't had much time to digest, but all of them could feel that they had benefited from soaking in the lakes.
"This better not be a false alarm," warned Kate.
"There's no need to wonder. Thanks to my retainer, I'm now certain of Mater's objective."
Despite the good news he shared, Pon's expression was grim, so it was obvious that the rest of the news wouldn't be pleasant for them.
"Well, don't keep us waiting now."
Despite having being the least involved, the spirit felt free to urge Pon to continue, not that anyone disagreed with her sentiment.
"My apologies. Actually, perhaps you would be able to shed additional light on this matter, Lady Fire Spirit. Do you know anything about a grand palace just south of the center of this realm?"
"A grand palace? I'm not sure how long it's been since I last awakened, but I don't remember there being such a thing."
"I see, thank you."
"Wait, you mean that story about a palace inside the Spirit Nest wasn't just a rumour?" Luke asked.
"To be honest, I believed it was a rumour as well. Unfortunately, not only has Mater found the palace, he's even figured out how to open it."
"Both of you, slow down. What's this palace you're talking about?" Kate intervened.
"Right, we should start there," Reinhart added. "The short version of the story is that long ago, an ancient kingdom built a palace in this spirit sanctuary to store the exotic treasures that couldn't be kept at the main palace. The story is rather silly, but there have been accounts of people seeing a grand palace inside the Spirit Nest."
"However," Luke continued, "None of those supposed discoverers could bring back any tangible proof, and so we assumed they were simply tricked by a mischievous fae. But based on what Pon's saying, the palace is real."
"That's right. It seems to be blocked off by an array, but Mater's come prepared with the means to open it."
"That means he would have had to know about the palace before the Spirit Nest opened and that information could only be as recent as the previous opening. Is it really possible that a major detail like this could be hidden during all those years?" Shui asked.
"The three clans all have their means. I wouldn't say it's impossible at least."
"So, simply put, Mater might have found some incredible treasure?"
"That's right."
"Then what are we waiting for? If he's prepared a gift, then it's only polite that we take it," Kate said with a smirk.