"I have an idea. Why don't we watch the Inner Sect and Core Power competitions before we choose? They might do cool stuff that we hadn't thought of, and it might give us ideas. Though some of us have only so many ways forward, it might still help." Luna suggested.
"That's not bad. Will there be cake?" Sabbat asked.
"Not that evil chocolate stuff. Luna was practically bouncing off the walls of the tent, and even Jen barely slept." Penny interrupted.
"The problem isn't the chocolate. It is the cherry filling, as the Mythic Grade cherries give an energy and stamina boost to anyone who eats them." Cain clarified.
"And you thought putting them in a cake was a good idea. Why?" Penny asked.
"Because they taste really good?" Cain tried while Penny rolled her eyes, and Elder Ling laughed.
"You've got it hard, Sect Master Cain. They don't appreciate the level of creativity needed to balance the essential natures of cake and fruits into a filling and refreshing sweet treat." An Immortal from the nearby crowd offered.
"See, someone gets it. That cake is a masterpiece of the art form. Everything that a dessert should be, and it even gives you the energy to burn off the excess calories after a substantial meal, like the sort of celebration feast where such a cake would normally be served." Cain agreed.
"Elder Dragon Tooth of the Shadowed Blade Sect. It is a pleasure to meet you. Our Sect has maintained a strong food culture across a dozen worlds for centuries now, ever since we began to expand from our first Sect Locations.
It would be an honor if I could join you in making a meal to celebrate this victory over the Red Scorpions." The female Elder with a masked face offered.
"Well, you seem to meet the basic requirements, but as we are staying with the Lotus Blossom Sect, it is up to their discretion who is invited into camp. Or could we make a feast in the open between Sects? That way, more people could join in. But I'm not sure that I have the supplies to feed an entire field full of cultivators." Cain replied.
"Why not in our Sect Compound? The Lotus Blossom is always welcome among the Shadowed Blade, though Elder Ling seems to hold a small grudge against a few of our Elders. You see, she was a true beauty in her youth, and there was no shortage of Marriage proposals while she was still a disciple." The Shadowed Blade Elder chuckled.
"That's an understatement. He brought flowers to the gates of the Sect every day for an entire year." Elder Ling mumbled, making the Disciples laugh.
"Oh, ask Sect Master Cain to use his transfiguration ability on you. He made Tena that cute. I bet he could return you to your youthful appearance." Luna suggested.
"Transfiguration? How exactly does that work?" Elder Ling asked.
"I don't think it is a thing that can be explained in words. I can show you if you like, though." Cain offered.
"I wonder if it is the same ability that one of our early Elders had? It was said that she looked the same from age fifteen all the way through to Divinity. No record remains of the skill, but if someone does have it, the Shadowed Blade would pay a heavy price to recover a skill with such close ties to our own Sect." The masked Elder suggested.
Cain actually knew of three different abilities that could do such a thing. [Polymorph], when used at Mythic or higher rank, would last until dispelled. Then there was the Magic Demons' [Transfiguration], which is what everyone here seemed to think was used, and his own [Modify], which was functionally similar to [Transfiguration] but actually exchanged the entire body in extreme cases and would trick a bone age scan, where [Transfiguration] would not.
"Do you have Magic Cultivators among your Sect still? I was under the impression that you were an Assassin Sect?" Cain asked the Shadowed Blade Elder.
"We actually started as a Demon Cultivation Sect, where everyone practiced whatever forbidden technique that they found most suitable, so our techniques are still quite varied, though we no longer use some of the most unsavory sorts to protect the reputation and neutral status of our Sect in the battle between the Light Sects and the Demon Cultivators." The Elder informed him.
That made sense. Over centuries of advancement, Sects could change, especially if they had Elders advancing to Divinity and leaving the Sect. The path they followed would naturally become popular with the younger generation since they had seen it succeed in reaching divinity, while every new generation changed the morality of a Sect naturally due to the changing population.
"I can't just let you say that reversing the process of aging is possible without a Divine Pill and then walk away like that. Sect Master Cain, please demonstrate your abilities with Transfiguration." Elder Ling asked.
"Yes, make her ten or so. We need more cute things in the world." Luna cheered.
"You will do no such thing. No younger than adulthood." Elder Ling countered, making Luna pout.
"No matter how cute that face is, I am not requesting to be turned back into a child. I do have some level of dignity to maintain." Elder Ling replied very seriously.
"She has a point. Can you imagine trying to get people to take Tena as an Elder, even if she had the qualifications?" Penny pointed out, and Luna finally began to understand.
"Being cute isn't easy." She agreed sadly, making all the Cultivators in the area burst into laughter.
Cain focused on [Modify] scanning through the options and going back in age, keeping Elder Ling's original form as a reference.
At twenty-five years old, she had a stunning beauty, with a childlike innocence that denied the years she had lived. It would also still show her as past her twenty-fifth birthday when scanned for bone age, so unless someone actually searched her personally instead of using the simple device, they should never notice that he had actually reversed her age.
Currently, she was in the middle of the Immortal Realm. She had pretty much used up her potential, spending ages to make it this far with no real chance of reaching Divinity, thanks to her naturally mediocre talent that she had overcome with pure hard work.
Cain could tweak that, though. He had plenty of references available for humans with incredible potential. With a small change to her potential and to her energy veins, increasing her ability to move power through her body, Cain decided that the change was ready, letting it settle over Elder Ling, returning her to the prime of her youth.
"Someone find the Elder a mirror. I think you will be impressed. I also made a few other modifications to repair some minor damages from your youth and such. You might also be missing scars and tattoos since I didn't examine you that closely." Cain explained.
"She is stunning. I now understand why Elder Jeremiah would spend an entire year groveling at her feet for the chance to take her on a single date." The Shadowed Blade Elder told Cain.
"Seriously, he hadn't even taken her on a date? I thought she dumped him to focus on her cultivation or something. I don't think I have an anti-Simping recipe, so we should likely keep them apart. He's not here, is he?" Cain replied.
"No, he is at the Sect Compound on the other side of the world. He is the branch Master there now that he has reached the peak of Immortality and is pushing for divinity." The Elder explained.
"That's a small mercy anyhow." Cain agreed, while the Shadowed Blade Elder took two chairs for them out of her storage ring and settled in to watch Elder Ling's responses to her new appearance.
They were still in the middle of a crowd at the site of the Sect Battle, and thousands of Cultivators had been in the immediate area when Elder Ling's body suddenly regressed through the years, with an aura of otherworldly power surrounding her that they all found vaguely familiar, but completely unidentifiable at the same time.
The feeling was that they should know it, but somehow the nature of it defied them, the way that the truth of Divinity did, so many assumed that Cain had used a Divine Level Technique on Elder Ling to rewind time's effects on her body.
That sort of thing was simple for Divinities, and they often did it to change their appearance if they wanted to look wise or blend in with a youthful crowd since hiding their aura from lesser Cultivators was child's play to them.
The pure shock on her face as one of her Disciples brought out a full body mirror, showing her renewed form and the familiar sight of a youthful face that had faded well over a century ago slowly faded to happy tears as she touched her face, still staring at the mirror.
"It's still me, the old me, exactly as I remember it. I don't know how you did it, but it really is Transfiguration. There is nothing to dispel. I am just young again." She managed to say in barely more than a whisper.
"You understand that we will be at your Sect Camp in the morning to request a seminar on how exactly you can just create beauties with energy manipulation, right?" An Immortal standing back in the crowd asked, but Cain shook his head.
"That is, unfortunately, a Sect Secret and not something that I can teach to the masses. But for the right price, I would be willing to use it once or twice more. Perhaps you would like to be a Jade Beauty Elder?" Cain responded with a smirk.
"Don't tempt me. I love all beauties and would never get any cultivation done if I were one myself." The old man laughed, drawing most of the men around him into his laughter.
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