A few days after escaping the Crimson Flare Sect Jin, Shen, Bao, and the little girl travelled back to Shuimeng. The girl still hadn't woken up, so major decisions regarding what to do with her couldn't be made yet. On their way back they had planned to stop by the escort agency to see if they could find out more about what had happened. To their surprise both the escort agency and its parent company seemed to have been dissolved, all relevant members seeming to have disappeared completely.

Seeing that there were no loose threads other than the Crimson Flare Sect itself, Jin and Shen decided to let the matter be for a while. Shortly after this the group had finally reached Shuimeng village.

Bao Kun told Jin to come with him quickly -- it was time to consolidate his manifestation. Jin was confused by Bao Kun's urging, but figured it didn't matter too much, so he went along.

Jin seated himself on a rock near the Riverbank and started to speak to Bao Kun "How exactly does one consolidate their momentum? And on that matter, why did I start burning when I manifested the energy?"

Bao Kun after finding a comfortable seat nearby started to explain what was going on "The axiom of momentum is to gather energy through the soul's pull. The more defined and dense a soul is the greater the pulling force it can exert", Jin nodded his head while not understanding anything "When a momentum artist’s soul reaches a critical point it exerts enough force to cause energy the turbid energy gathered until the energy is so concentrated it starts to fuse together. While this fusion takes place the turbid energy starts to expel portions of its turbidity. The expelled turbidity, alongside the concentrated energy, emits great heat."

Bao Kun stops his explanation to take a swig of his gourd, "When this heat is in the mysterious plane of the soul, it exists as heat alone. However, when one manifests that energy into their body, the emitted heat ignites its surroundings. Right now, the heat that escapes the soul plane bears the concentration of a Red-Star, hence the red flame around you and the name Red-Star"

Jin seeming even more confuse then before, asked "Master, what exactly is a Red-Star, aren't all stars white or blue?"

Bao Kun, seeming exasperated speaks "That's why you country bumpkins annoy me. For the matter of these stars, I doubt you'd understand even if I explained it to you — fucking shit-for-brains."

Jin bearing a indignant expression says "A poor teacher always blames their students"

Bao Kun's exasperated expression turns to that of rage and then a large smile. He ignores Jin's remarks and continues his explanation "Anyway let's move onto the body reformation. When one's soul reaches a high level of definition and the amount of energy it bears is overwhelming. The weight of this energy permeates from the mysterious plane and presses onto your body. Generally, people would simply die from the pressure within a few seconds when this happens"

Jin interrupts Bao Kun hurriedly "Old dog, if you knew I would die from manifestation, why did you let me wander around for so many days before consolidating my realm?”

Bao Kun's irritation is palpable, but his irritation is soothed for some reason "Little brat, if you let me finish speaking you will find out naturally"

Jin held his tongue waiting for Bao Kun to finish his explanation.

"Momentum users like us — adept in intent and with strong bodies — can last a few days before death. Understanding this, the forefather of momentum arts, the Star Shattering Emperor, figured out how to evolve one's body to resist the pressure"

Jin thought to himself, ‘There he goes puffing up his cult leader again. I must be vigilant — one never knows when a cult’s group suicide begins…’”

Bao Kun could see Jin was thinking of something insulting again, but, he didn't care as Jin would soon receive a lesson.

Bao Kun continues "The Star Shattering Emperor understood that when a practitioner's soul reaches the density required to manifest a red star, their intent can start interfering with tangible things and even lightly bend laws that govern all things. The method he developed was called intent reformation, by infusing your body with intent threads and energy willing them to evolve-- mutate into something that can resist the pressure of the soul and its energy"

Jin's face returned to a calm state now that death sentence on his head is removed, he speaks to Bao Kun "Master, why did you have to tell me so many useless things? Just teaching me about the body reformation art would have been enough, no?"

Bao Kun does not reply and even nods in agreement, with an almost hideous smile on his face.

Jin, unsettled by his smile, asked Bao Kun, "Master, why are you smiling so “brightly”?"

Bao Kun responds with his "Bright" smile " Ahh, is it so wrong for this old man to smile. By the way although you told me not to tell you about unnecessary things let me tell you one last thing about the reformation method. To reform the body one must bend heavenly rules -- and generally the heavens don't like rule breakers. Conducting the art causes something called a pain tribulation. I just wanted to inform you so that you don't fall into deviation during reformation"

Jin felt deeply unsettled by Bao Kun’s eerie words, but figured there was no real option except to go through with it. He could already feel the pressure catching up.

Before Jin was to enter training to complete his reformation, he asked Bao Kun one more question "Master, if most people die when the soul gets too heavy, why doesn't this happen to intent artists?"

Bao Kun responds to Jin "It seems no matter what I teach you, you will stay an idiot for the rest of your life. Listen carefully, Momentum arts are based on using your soul and intent to amplify the rate at which one gathers energy and fuse it. While all souls have a natural pull, unless it is directed to draw energy, it won't have enough energy to manifest a star even when the soul reaches critical energy. With regards to pressure, even you must have noticed the sickly body your friend bears, unless they have enough vital essence the body of those who practice intent will only degenerate over time, although they can use intent to help resist the degradation it only slows down the process. They cannot even use reformation arts, as they do not carry enough energy in the soul plane"

Jin nods solemnly and leaves to complete his body.

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

A few days later Bao Kun sits near the shack he and Jin lived in. He seemed to sway as though listening to the greatest piece of music ever composed. Shen, who just happened to be in the vicinity looked at this and thinks to himself 'Jin truly is pitiable…no master would deem their disciple’s cacophonous screams a masterpiece worthy enough to dance to.'

Bao Kun looked up to the sky and shouted in pleasure "That’s right, great heavens — give that brat the business!".