The woodshed door was pushed open, and Talia poked her head inside.
"Dinner's ready. Saina asked me to come get you... What are you doing?"
At a glance, she spotted the sword in Su Li's hand, as well as the inconspicuous little dot on its blade.
She hurried over, practically snatching the sword from Su Li's hand. She pressed her eyes close to the blade, looking as though she were gazing upon an unparalleled treasure.
"This is... a Solidification Crystal?" Her voice trembled. "You succeeded?"
Su Li took the sword back from her.
"It's only a dot."
"Only a dot?" Talia's voice rose with excitement. "Do you know what that means? It means the path to the fifth tier is open! You found the right direction!"
She paced back and forth through the woodshed in agitation, not even hearing Saina calling for dinner outside.
"No, no, this isn't called 'charging through.' You didn't break through anything..." Talia stopped and stared at Su Li as though she were seeing him for the first time. "You're 'nurturing' it. You're nurturing the power of the fifth tier into existence!"
Su Li leaned the greatsword against the wall and dusted off his hands.
He stared at that tiny crystal point, his mind utterly clear.
Talia was right.
In his previous life, he had believed the fifth tier was a door that had to be smashed open with his life on the line.
Only in this life did he understand that the fifth tier was a seed.
All one had to do was give it the right soil, sunlight, and water, then wait for it to grow out of the earth on its own.
"Dinner." He walked out of the woodshed, leaving behind Talia, whose face was feverish with excitement as she continued muttering to