A man in a wooden mask arrived at the gates of the temporary dwelling of the Ember Palm Pavilion, or rather the local small Sect that the Ember Palm Pavilion took over in all but name.
He was immediately escorted to the central palace of the Sect, where the Inner Court Elder and two Elders he met earlier greeted him, the former sitting in the Sect Master's chair, and the latter standing to his sides.
"Tsk, we already started thinking you weren't going to show up!", the Inner Court Elder of the Ember Palm Pavilion spoke in frustration, a bit of hostility in his voice.
The Talisman Master started silently establishing the long-distance communication array, at the same time with an isolating formation that kept their meeting private, even though this hall already had such measures.
The Inner Court Elder's face slightly elongated as he realized he was barking up the wrong tree, as he should've said those words to the one on the other side of the communication array. Now he couldn't really voice that thought as repeating himself would make him look even more foolish.
'Cheeky bastard...', he also narrowed his eyes at the mysterious Talisman Master who felt the need to establish isolating measures atop the ones they already had in place.
[Greetings. We've made you wait. We have been preoccupied with preparations, so we could not contact you until now], the 'link got established' and a voice came from the other side of the communication array.
"Hmph! It's good that you understand", the Inner Court Elder snorted, trying to keep at least some dignity, adding, "We even kicked an offer from the Silver Wing City's Lord Ko"
[It seems our offer was better], the voice did not express surprise, while Wu Long smiled behind the wooden mask, 'Haha, though it might be that the offer of the City Lord was good enough for the Ember Palm Pavilion, perhaps even better, but not for these three Elders who stand to gain big time from my offer...'
"Hah, given that arrogant boy's attitude, he would've been a bad partner to deal with anyway", the Inner Court Elder, for whom the City Lord was just a boy with their age difference, spoke while showing he wasn't sent here for nothing, having accurately seen through City Lord Ko's ambition, adding "The fact he likely is already in cahoots with those Extreme Sword bastards means he was negotiating with us and them at the same time as well"
[I'll not make you wait now that we're at this point], the voice from the communication array spoke, and a signal came, caught by the Talisman Master, who took out a Spatial Ring and threw it toward the Inner Court Elder.
The latter caught the Spatial Ring, and impatiently sank his Spiritual Sense into it, combing through the contents.
Two more Spatial Rings flew toward the Elders, who also hastily caught them and began inspecting the insides.
"This is...", the Inner Court Elder widened his eyes, holding in his hand a jade slip he just took out of the Spatial Ring, and then looked at the 'Talisman Master' with shock, "H-how did you get this cultivation method?"
[It is not part of our deal to disclose such things. The important thing is, it complements your own Sect's cultivation method, and would be perfectly invisible, blending right in if you cultivate it as an auxiliary cultivation method alongside yours], the voice on the other side spoke indifferently, [With this and the cultivation resources you will find in the Spatial Ring, you will be able to rise to the 9th-level Essence Gathering Realm, hopefully within a month if you work hard at it. The two Outer Court Elders will be able to achieve your current cultivation at the 6th-level Essence Gathering Realm within that time as well]
"And Essence Ignition Realm?", the Inner Court Elder spoke impatiently.
[It is not ready yet, but a Profound Grade Heaven-Turning Pill will be ready for you by the time you are ready to advance]
"""H-Heaven-Turning Pill?!?!""", all three Elders exclaimed in utter disbelief.
"S-such a Treasure....", the Inner Court Elder then spoke with a feeling of pity, already reluctant to use something he didn't even have in his hands yet.
A Heaven Turning Pill of a particular grade would allow one to advance in the upper Major Realms of that Great Realm, so a Profound Grade Heaven Turning Pill would help advance in any Major Realm of the Seven Profound Realms.
Using it on just the Essence Ignition Realm, even though he already thought it to be an incredible and insurmountable obstacle, now seemed like a waste.
"W-wouldn't it be better to keep such a treasure in case I could advance to a higher realm later?", he then spoke with lament.
[It is this exact thought that caused the demise of many, who hold on to a pill or natural treasure that could help them advance at the moment, in hopes of using it at some 'better moment' in the future, and because they don't advance at that time, they don't have enough strength not only to hold on to that pill or natural treasure, but their lives. Did you even think about advancing to the Essence Ignition Realm before it was offered to you? Why are you hesitating to 'waste' a pill on something you couldn't even dream of achieving a few months ago?], the voice from the other side of the communication array became a bit annoyed.
And then an additional message came through, [But even besides that, you are of course, free to hold on to it for some 'better time', but our duties toward you in the boundaries of our deal, do not oblige us to provide you an alternative way to advance. In fact, if you could advance without using such an extreme measure, we wouldn't even be talking about it, we would've offered you something less cumbersome for us to prepare as well]
"But it's still...", the Inner Court Elder spoke with reluctance still very palpable in his voice and on his face.
[If you don't advance though, you will be unable to fulfill your end of our deal]
"I-Is that a threat?!", the Inner Court Elder felt something within the voice on the other side of the communication array.
[It is not a threat, but a fair notice so you would keep your head together. At your age, you should know, that when you are making a deal with someone whose face you don't even know and who gives you something so valuable you never thought of ever having it in your hands, it is better to not go back on your word]
A silence hung in the air as the words from the communication array sounded emotionless, as if it was just stating the obvious.
And it was, in fact, obvious.
Amid all the excitement, the Inner Court Elder and the two Elders seemed to forget, that no simple and powerless entity could give them what they received, and so easily.
They looked at the Spatial Rings in their hands, belatedly realizing that they now have taken something from their mysterious partner.
Before, their deal was only in words, and did not have weight.
Now, the weight of that deal was very real, and the Spatial Rings suddenly weighed heavily in their hands.
A shiver went through the three people, who belatedly realized that now, there was no way back.
[So... shall we discuss what you can do in return for us right now, as part of our deal, so that we have some reassurances on our end as well...?]