Night fell over Mist City. The Silver-Iron Clan was quiet, save for the chirping of crickets.
In his dilapidated room, Kaelen sat in a lotus position. He held the Azure Pendant in his hand. Jareth wanted this pendant because it contained a small amount of pure spiritual energy, useful for cultivation.
But to Kaelen, it was just fuel.
"Void Cauldron, devour!"
In his mind, the black cauldron spun. An invisible suction force erupted from Kaelen's palm. The Azure Pendant didn't just glow; it cracked.
Crack!
The pendant shattered into dust. A stream of pure blue energy was sucked into Kaelen's body. For a normal cultivator, absorbing this energy would take days. But the Void Cauldron swallowed it instantly.
Inside the Cauldron, the blue energy was refined, compressed, and turned into a drop of golden-red liquid.
Dragon Blood.
"Go!"
Kaelen guided the drop of Dragon Blood out of the Cauldron and into his withered veins.
BOOM!
It felt like he had swallowed lava. His body trembled violently. Sweat mixed with black impurities poured out of his pores. The pain was intense, but Kaelen didn't make a sound. He had suffered the pain of death; this was nothing.
The Dragon Blood rushed through his blocked meridians like a raging river breaking through a dam.
Crack! Crack! Crack!
One by one, the blockages that had made him a cripple for sixteen years were smashed open. His meridians, once thin and fragile, were coated in a faint golden light, becoming tough and wide.
An hour later.
Kaelen opened his eyes. A flash of golden light flickered in his pupils.
He stood up and punched the air.
Whoosh!
The punch created a sharp sound, cutting through the wind.
"First Level of the Body Refining Stage," Kaelen noted, sensing his strength. "Wait, no..."
He looked at his skin. It was harder, tougher. The strength in his arms wasn't just that of a First Level cultivator. He felt as strong as a Third Level cultivator!
"The Dragon Scripture refines the body to be ten times stronger than ordinary humans," Kaelen smiled. "Jareth is a Rank 3 Apprentice. If he tries to touch me again..."
Growl.
His stomach rumbled loudly. Refining the body required immense energy. He was starving.
"I need resources. Herbs, pills, beast meat. But I have no money," Kaelen frowned. The Silver-Iron Clan had cut off his allowance long ago.
He searched his memory. Mist City had a dense forest nearby called the Shadow Beast Forest. It was dangerous, filled with demonic beasts. But for the current Kaelen, danger was also an opportunity.
"I will go to the forest. I need to hunt."
He grabbed a rusty iron sword from the corner of his room. It was old and blunt, but it would have to do.
Under the cover of darkness, Kaelen slipped out of the family estate, moving like a ghost.
...
Shadow Beast Forest, Outer Perimeter.
The trees here were tall and twisted, blocking out the moonlight. The air smelled of rotting leaves and danger.
Kaelen moved silently. His senses, sharpened by his past soul power, were far superior to anyone in this city. He could hear a leaf fall from a hundred meters away.
Rustle.
To his left. A movement.
Kaelen crouched. Through the bushes, he saw a pair of glowing red eyes. It was a Iron-Hide Boar, a low-level beast known for its tough skin and brutal charge.
"A perfect test subject," Kaelen whispered.
The boar spotted him. With a squeal, it charged. The ground shook under its hooves.
A normal First Level cultivator would run. The boar's skin could deflect arrows.
But Kaelen didn't move. He stood still, holding the rusty sword loosely.
Ten meters. Five meters. Two meters.
The boar lowered its head to gore him.
"Now."
Kaelen stepped to the side, his movement fluid and precise. At the same time, he channeled his new internal energy into the sword.
Dragon Claw Strike!
He didn't slash; he thrust the sword with a unique, spiraling force.
Pu-chi!
The rusty sword didn't bounce off the boar's tough hide. Driven by Kaelen's technique, it pierced the only weak spot—directly behind the ear, into the brain.
The giant boar slid across the ground, dead instantly.
Kaelen pulled the sword out. He placed his hand on the beast's carcass.
"Void Cauldron."
The black vortex appeared again. The essence of the boar—its blood, its energy—was sucked out, leaving behind a dry husk.
Inside his dantian, a second drop of Dragon Blood began to form.
"Good," Kaelen grinned. "But this is not enough. I need more."
He continued deeper into the forest.
By dawn, Kaelen had killed ten beasts. He had reached the peak of the First Level, and his physical strength was approaching the Fourth Level.
As he was about to head back, he heard voices ahead.
"Corner it! Don't let the Spirit Fox escape!"
"Miss Elara needs its core for her pill!"
Kaelen paused. 'Elara?'
He crept closer and peered through the foliage. In a clearing, a group of Silver-Iron Clan disciples had surrounded a small, white fox. Among them was Jareth, and another man—Garret, the Clan's First Elder's son, a Rank 5 Apprentice.
But what caught Kaelen's eye wasn't the fox.
It was the plant the fox was guarding. A small, purple flower glowing with starlight.
"Starlight Soul Grass," Kaelen's eyes lit up. "That is a Tier 2 Spirit Herb. If I consume that, I can break through to the next realm immediately!"
The disciples were focused on the fox. They hadn't noticed the herb hidden in the rocks yet.
Kaelen calculated. 'Garret is Rank 5. Jareth is Rank 3. There are three others. A head-on fight is risky.'
But the Emperor of the Heavens never retreated from a treasure.
"That herb," Kaelen whispered, "is mine."
He tightened his grip on the sword and prepared to make his move.