"I have a proposal for you, one you would find especially intriguing."
Xi Heji narrowed his eyes.
"I doubt any offer of yours would intrigue me."
The figure laughed, a laugh so pleasant to the ear that it almost made Xi Heji forget her prior transgressions.
"I'd like to think I met you here as destiny, it seemed we were fated to work together to achieve what we wish for."
Xi Heji snapped out of his daze as he again asked his question.
"Where are we?"
The figure turned to look at the infinite white beyond.
"We are currently in your soul point."
Xi Heji maintained a straight face as he asked in a confused tone.
"I've never heard of a soul point, care to enlighten me?"
The figure looked annoyed but already expected his lack of knowledge in this aspect.
"The inner world in which your soul connects to your body, though for one to enter it, they would have to be on the brink of death or understand the laws of the soul, though you don't fall into either. This situation puzzles me as much as you."
As the figure returned her gaze to him and saw his wary expression, she sighed as she continued.
"I apologize for my earlier blunder. I am Pysla, Queen of Spirits. I had no idea where I was or who you were so my best method was to siphon your memories."
Many events could be the outcome of her decision. She wasn't strong enough to guarantee she would be able to completely take over his soul to become the host soul, as they were fused. And although she found no oddities with the boy in front of her, this meeting couldn't have been because of fate, nothing of this sort happens on its own.
"But because I read your memories, I also know of your constitution. A body that can never practice qi again… even if you try to pursue the martial path, you'll never be able to keep up with your peers the further up in cultivation stage they go."
"As you attained such information from me, you should know I already know this much."
Pysla smiled.
"This is why I offer to be your master, I will make up for your losses."
Appearing before him, she tapped her pointer finger against his chest, Xi Heji didn't have any time to react. But instead of being attacked, he felt power course through his body. He never felt this type of power before. Having always been at the first stage of Qi, he had never experienced what it felt like to wield true power.
"What is… this?"
Xi Heji eyes shook as he smiled.
Pysla grinned at the foolish look on his face.
"It isn't the qi you are used to. It is called Natural Qi, a qi that only spirits can use."
She then retracted her power, lifting her finger off his chest.
"If you accept me as your master, I will help you grow adapt to my powers. Though in exchange, I only ask of you a favor when you one day ascend to the Realm of Gods."
Suddenly, the invincibility he felt disappeared, bringing him back to reality.
"So I will be only reliant on you? If it is your power I'm using, could I control it myself? I am not a spirit, so wouldn't I be powerless without you? Is that what you call 'making up' for my losses? By relying on someone else?"
Pysla sighed again.
"You are over thinking it. The power will be like your own. I will create and fuse a spirit version of yourself to allow you to access Natural Qi. But the other reason is…"
"I am… fused with you."
Xi Heji widened his eyes.
"What does that mean-"
"All it means is that our souls were somehow fused with you as the host."
She then narrowed her eyes at Xi Heji.
"Don't think that just because your the host soul that I can't kill you. You will never be able to control me. We are bound at the soul, if I die, you die as well. At least, that's the traditional viewpoint. Don't apply logic to me so easily or you'll find yourself falling short."
Xi Heji ingested all of the information. Someone had fused this 'Queen of Spirits' with him? He couldn't detect her cultivation, so she assumed she was a high stage Spirit Beast that had gained sentience. But a soul fusion? He had never heard of something like that before. But for just a favor, he could one due wield such power?
In this world, power is everything. If he rejected her now, what would he do then? It was true. As time went on, the gap between him and his peers would increase. There was a reason there weren't many martial arts manuals because the path didn't go very far. Even though it might've allowed him to somewhat compete with peers his age, it wouldn't last very long. And what of the events like today? The Han Clan, paired with the Sky Society? A force like that is unbeatable to them. If not for the 'truce' that was put in place, the killing of all the living beings in the Xi Clan was not at all a far possibility.
He got down on one knee once he had considered all his options.
"I will take you as my master."
Pysla smiled as she raised his chin up. With her other hand, she placed her palm onto his forehead. All the white light in the world started shaking and fading. Numerous light rays shot towards Xi Heji's forehead as it gathered around him.
Closing her eyes, Pysla began to focus. Obviously, a human cannot possess any sort of Natural Qi. Turning a Human into a spirit is entirely possible, but she was sure he wouldn't want to become anything but human. So, she would copy his constitution and create a spirit based on it, then linking it to his mind and fusing them, much like her, though it wouldn't be sentient. This would, in a sense, give him the body of a spirit.
Xi Heji would essentially become part spirit, still retaining his humanity.
Finishing up, Pysla removed her hand from his forehead. Although she didn't show it, the creation of a spirit, even if it wasn't sentient, drained whatever little energy she had. Had it been in her prime, she could've made billions of spirits in seconds, but after sustaining an alternate plane for millions of years surrounded by the weak energy of this world, she was left very weak, especially now.
***
In Xi Heji's room, he was engulfed in a ball of white light.
It lasted for only a few moments before disappearing.
After the fact, Xi Hejis eyes shot wide open as he stood up in his bed. He felt extremely refreshed, the most he has felt in his life. He felt a familiar but foreign power coursing through him. It felt very funny, as this type of qi didn't flow through the traditional Qi Paths, but flowed within his body itself. It followed no certain path as it maintained its own current that flow throughout his body.
He stretched his body, feeling as if he was breaking into a new shape, loud pops and cracks sounding from his every bone, remolding his bone structure.
He felt a slight unease all of a sudden. This feeling was very new to him, but he could tell what it was immediately.
'This is Sense!'
He felt a pair of eyes staring him down from behind him. He immediately recognized the aura and smiled.
In his mind, a figure reacted differently, freezing up completely as all of her thoughts slowed.
'It's… HER!'
Turning around, Xi Heji found Xi Meiying standing on the windowsill, her dark red hair flowing with the midnight wind. Her pair of eyes eerily glowing as she wore a happy and pleased smile on her face.
"Congrats~"