Yuki and Chi were brought to a large open garden in the center of the palace. There were many flowers of varying colors spread out on each side of the small stone path that led to the center of the garden, where a water fountain had a large colorful butterfly gently hovering over it. This butterfly was as big as a bird, but when you looked closely, you could see that this butterfly did not look like an insect. Instead, its body, besides its wings, was humanoid.
From the little mounds on the butterfly's chest and the empty space between its legs, you could only assume that it was a female. At least, this was what Yuki assumed upon seeing it. Its big black eyes that gave it more of an alien look adorned its face.
As it flew around the top of the fountain, you could hear it giggling and laughing. "Eternia." Fu Shi called out softly, bowing her head towards the butterfly. Yuki and Chi were both surprised when they saw Fu Shi showing the butterfly such respect.
"Hmm?" The butterfly named Eternia paused mid air and hovered for a second before turning and looking at Fu Shi. "Oh! Little Fu, you are here."
Eternia smiled as she flew over and poked Fu Shi on the nose. Her attention then turned to Yuki and Chi. "They are?"
"They passed the trial and will be taking over this palace. I was going to have them do the refining ritual." Fu Shi answered.
"Really?" Eternia flew over and looked at both Yuki and Chi poking both of them on the nose. "Yes, they will do." Eternia giggled and began flying around Yuki. "Little Fu has brought in such a handsome man. Hehe."
Eternia giggled once more before going to land on top of Yuki's head, only to have to dodge quickly. "Ahh! Scared me to death!"
"Meow!" Nergal let out a cry as it lazily opened its eyes and stared at Eternia. In return, Eternia stared at Nergal back. It was as if there was some kind of strange communication between the two.
"I understand that is your spot." Eternia pouted slightly before flying over and sitting on Yuki's shoulder. Chi, who was standing off to the side, stared at the butterfly sitting on Yuki's shoulder and suddenly felt like she wanted to squish her. Eternia felt a set of eyes on her and turned her little head to look at Chi. With a smug smile, Eternia hugged Yuki's neck and stuck her tongue out at Chi.
Seeing this, Chi was speechless! 'What the hell is the little bug!?' Although Chi wanted to swat the damn thing away, she didn't dare do anything just in case.
Eternia felt proud about winning against Chi as she sat there swinging her legs back and forth. With all this happening around her, Yuki stood there feeling a bit confused as to what was going on. "Umm… So what is this refining ritual?"
Fu Shi chuckled at Eternia's antics before looking at Yuki and explaining things. "Good question. You see, this Palace is a bit special. It needs to be refined by injecting your soul qi into Eternia. The method is quite simple to do, but it does take time since Eternia herself is quite special. You could say she is the spirit of this palace that has gained sentience. She is a bit mischievous, but she is a good girl.
"If the two of you will follow me. I need you both to take a position here at the fountain. Ryu, if you will sit here and Chi on the other side of the fountain there. You will find two spots with array patterns on the side of the fountain. Please place your hands there and Eternia if you would." Fu Shi instructed.
"Okay!" Eternia flew off Yuki's shoulder and hovered directly above the center of the fountain. The fountain had water shooting out of the middle filling the three tiers below. But as Eternia arrived in her position, the water stopped flowing, and the top of the fountain began to glow and expand. A magic array appeared right above it. First, it was only dimly lit, but gradually it started to grow brighter and brighter. The intricate archaic inscriptions within the array slowly began to change from a white color to a bluish color. Tiny balls of lights began to rise up and slowly enter into Eternia.
While all this was happening, Yuki and Chi felt as if something was being sucked right out of them, causing their bodies to feel extremely weak. They had not even done anything, and the soul qi within them was being extracted. "Fu Shi, how long do we have to do this?" Yuki asked, sweat dripped from her brow. This whole process was very taxing on the body. But she was not asking for herself but for Chi, who she could see across from her on the other side of the fountain. Chi's head was slowly drooping down.
"Just a little more, I know it's hard and even more so at your cultivation. But the process is just about to finish, just a few more seconds." Fu Shi looked at the two with worried expressions. She had forgotten to take their cultivation into account when refining this palace.
Dark clouds formed overhead within the skies of the mystic realm. The sound of thunder could be heard booming across the skies. "It's almost there. Just endure this last part!" Fu Shi bit her lip and watched two streaks of lightning streak across the sky, falling down right onto both Chi and Yuki.
*Boom!*
"Ahh!" Both Chi and Yuki let out screams of pain as the lightning fell onto their bodies. This lightning was not white or blue like normal lightning but purple. This indicated that this was no ordinary lightning and was much stronger than anything anyone could handle. Only when breaking through to a major realm such as reaching the immortal realm would such lightning fall. This purple lightning was heavenly lightning! As soon as their bodies were struck, they both passed out.
"It's over! Yuki! Chi!" Fu Shi, who was forced to retreat, ran over to see both Yuki and Chi in bad conditions. Their clothes had basically burnt right off, and scorch marks and burnt flesh could be seen on their bodies.
Eternia flew down and flew over both Yuki and Chi, her expression just as grave as Fu Shi's. "Little Fu, give them that."
"But..." Fu Shi bit her lip. She was reluctant but seeing the condition of the two, she knew there was no choice. She stabbed her hand into her body where her heart is and pulled out two round white pills. After she did this, her body became very faint and transparent.
"Little Fu, I will share some of my power with you later. First, we need to heal them." Eternia said, poking Fu Shi's nose before taking the two white pills from Fu Shi's hand and flying over to both Yuki and Chi and popping a pill into each one of their mouths. The white pills instantly melted, sending a stream of white energy into both of their bodies.
Fu Shi let out a sigh of relief when she saw the wounds on their bodies beginning to disappear, but a faint sadness filled her eyes as she looked down at her body that was barely visible. "I guess my time will soon be up..."
What Fu Shi had given the two was part of her soul force. The one thing that was keeping her body corporeal. But this same soul force, when taken from someone of a higher cultivation, can be used to heal the wounds of those of a lower cultivation and even strengthen their bodies slightly. As both Chi and Yuki were hit with heavenly lightning, it was lucky that they were even still alive.
