After the Princess spoke, she sat straight up, in a practiced posture.

  Jun Li wasn’t sure what the Princess had in mind at first, but seeing her posture, Jun Li could only assume she was… Cultivating.

  ‘What's this supposed to be…?’ Jun Li considered Cultivating to pass the time herself, but after considering it for a moment, figured she had become too adjusted to Cultivating while standing, something she couldn’t do in this cramped den.

  Slumping down against the wall of the den, Jun Li looked down at her right foot. ‘This… really does hurt, I wonder if it's broken…’

  Ever since she had killed the Beast at the clearing, the pain in her foot had only continued to grow worse, and after straining it while running away from the Beast outside the den, the pain had grown so severe that Jun Li couldn't help but wonder if she should take her shoe off to check.

  Though she balked at the thought of how painful that simple action might be.

  With nothing but time and pain, Jun Li began doing some simple Qi Circulation exercises in the hopes of speeding up her recovery.

  After only a moment, however, a sense of pressure washed over her, the air inside the den twisting unnaturally.

  Opening her eyes, Jun Li looked towards the Princess, feeling ambient Qi flow past, filling the empty space.

  As Jun Li watched the dirt around the Princess shift around under an invisible pressure, she realized what the Princess was truly attempting, and thought back to the Beast the Princess had slain in the clearing.

  ‘She killed a Beast like that… one that could cut down all the trees in that clearing in the middle of a fight, and didn't seem at all strained by the end of it… what stage of Cultivation has she reached…?’

  It didn’t take Jun Li long to realize what was going on, observing the intense shifting of Qi, and the strained expression of the Princess.

  ‘She’s trying to force a breakthrough into the Crimson Palace stage!’ No step of Cultivation in the Qi Condensation stage would manifest any phenomena as tangible as what Jun Li saw.

  The fact that the Princess was attempting a breakthrough meant that she had to be at the very border between the Qi Condensation and Crimson Palace stages.

  But to try and breach that border unassisted, without the help of medicines or some place of power, it was absurd, even to Jun Li. 'How long must she have waited at the very end of the Qi Condensation stage?'

  Observing the pressure the Princess evoked in her attempt, Jun Li knew that she was already deep into the process and that failing now could result in severe backlash.

  If the Princess wasn’t able to manage a breakthrough, then the volume of Qi she was absorbing right now would be impossible to absorb, and could cause severe damage to her Dantian or Meridians as it forcefully seeped out.

  Unable to stand by and wait for the Princess to potentially cripple herself, Jun Li fumbled to untie a rope from her sash. ‘The last of my Lingzhi Elixir…’

  As Jun Li uncorked her gourd, she realized that she couldn’t exactly get the Princess to drink the Elixir while she was in the middle of a breakthrough. ‘I can't break her concentration during her breakthrough…’

  ‘If she can’t drink it, how about this…?’ Jun Li quietly laid her cauldron out on the floor of the den and poured the last of her Elixir inside.

  Jun Li sealed the lid and slowly filled the cauldron’s inscribed Formation with Qi, steadily heating the interior. ‘If I can squeeze even a little bit of its Medicinal potency out in steam, then she should be able to absorb it without breaking her concentration…’

  As the den filled with a medicinal vapor, the strain on the Princess’s expression faded, and the distorted pressure in the air slowly abated.

  After a few minutes, the Elixir in the cauldron dried up. As the Elixir dried up, blackened flecks formed across the Princess’s skin.

  As she saw the filth begin to seep from the Princess’s pores, Jun Li’s first thoughts were not of concern. ‘She actually did it…’

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  It wasn’t something she knew beforehand, but the moment she saw the black substance form, an inherited memory floated to the surface.

  The black substance was simply ‘Impurity.’ The filth that accumulated in the bodies of humans as they breathed, ate, and drank.

  In Jun Li’s inherited memories, the excising of impurities from the body was an important aspect of becoming a Cultivator, as impurity grew in the body, it would impede the flow of such things as Spiritual Energy or Qi, this is why many Sects value training disciples from young ages, as in the body of a young child, impurity is yet to significantly accumulate.

  The fact that impurities were being expelled from the Princess’s body like they were was a sign. ‘So reaching the Crimson Palace stage forces the impurity out of your body.’

  As the Princess opened her eyes and looked down at her hands, Jun Li sat in thought for a time. ‘How must that feel…? To be rid of something you never knew was weighing you down…’

  As the Princess stretched her hands, looking down at something invisible to Jun Li, a weighty force seeped into the air as though conducted by the Princess’s hands.

  Sitting up in realization, the Princess wiped the filth from her skin and walked slowly to the mouth of the den.

  As the Princess left the den with intentful confidence, Jun Li could only think of one thing. ‘I want to know what it’s like…’

  ‘I want to reach that stage for myself…’ Before, Jun Li had looked to the Princess’s status with a sense of jealous inferiority, but now, it was her Cultivation that caused Jun Li to envy.

  As each inherited memory became clear in Jun Li’s mind, her fascination with Cultivation itself grew.

  As Jun Li sat and tried to clear the thought from her mind, she didn’t even consider the fact that the Princess was walking out to face the Beast that had entrapped them.

  The result was already a foregone conclusion; such was the pressure the Princess now emitted.

  Even without it being directed at Jun Li, she understood the Princess’s new strength better than she could describe. 'That Beast was strong. I can't imagine someone at the Qi Condensation stage defeating it. But… that gap is nothing in comparison to what I just felt.'

  It didn’t take even a minute for the Princess to return.

  Jun Li barely heard a sound from outside, only the faint rumbling of the ape-Beast's steps, before silence.

  As the Princess looked into the den at Jun Li, she spoke. “I’m sorry.”

  Under Jun Li’s gaze, the Princess paused a moment before continuing. “I said some things I shouldn’t have, and made light of your life while making mine out to be harder…”

  “So, I wanted you to still have a chance at the trial, even if it was risky to try a breakthrough here, and even if I'll likely be disqualified from the results of this trial because of my new Cultivation.”

  The Princess stepped further down into the den and offered a hand to Jun Li. “It’s still dark out, we should still have a few hours to hunt down some Beasts before day breaks and the trial ends, let’s go!”

  Jun Li looked to the Princess’s offered hand, but did not take it, instead speaking out. “Why didn't you break through before now?”

  Jun Li stood up and walked past the Princess and out of the den, the pain in her foot now dulled by the Medicinal vapor.

  As Jun Li stepped out of the den, she looked at the fallen body of the ape-like Beast that had chased them there; it was slit open at the throat, and drowning the forest floor in blood.

  Turning back to the Princess, she continued. “Even if the medicinal vapor I made helped, I can tell you would have succeeded anyway. You don’t seem exhausted after your breakthrough. It didn’t even take half an hour, and you said yourself that it's easy to obtain medicine from the Alchemist’s Association.”

  Jun Li openly showed that she wasn’t suspicious of the Princess, but confused. “You’ve clearly been in a position to make a breakthrough for some time, so… why haven’t you?

  Averting her eyes, the Princess struggled to explain herself. After a moment, she looked to the fallen Beast and spoke. “You said… ‘freedom is wealth and power,’ right?” The Princess turned her gaze back to Jun Li. “I think I agree with that, you need power to have real freedom.”

  “But… becoming more powerful doesn’t always let you become freer. Sometimes, becoming more powerful can cost you your freedom.” Hearing the earnestness in the Princess’s voice, Jun Li could only accept that answer, despite not fully understanding.

  “You said you made light of my life, but… I don’t think I was any better, so I’m sorry too…” To Jun Li’s eyes, the person in front of her began to seem less alien, less like 'The Princess,' and more like 'Zhao Xiaoli.'

  The fact that she would apologize for the way she spoke… It was something Jun Li struggled to reconcile with her preconceived notions of 'her betters.' At this point, she struggled to see the Princess in the same light.

  “Ahh, damn it… That’s enough sitting around!" Jun Li scratched at her head in frustration. The time spent idle in that den had forced her staled mind to shift her thoughts and opinions more than was comfortable. "We still have a few hours before the trial ends… I don't know if you're still allowed to compete, but there's no point in waiting idly to find out. Let's go hunt some Beasts before the Trial is over!'

  With both of their anxieties set aside, the Princess smiled at Jun Li’s suggestion. “Right!”

  The Princess looked over to the body of the ape-Beast she had slain.

  “Though I wonder… is it even worth digging around this Beast's body to find its Core? It’s not like it’s worth more for the trial than the rest, right?”

  Walking over, Jun Li pulled out her carving knife. “I’ll have to ask for your help this time. I hope you don't mind getting your hands dirty, Senior Sister.”

  Setting down next to the body of the beast, the Princess smiled. “Not a problem.”