rin stepped outside his cultivation room after three days of continuous practice.
In just two of those days, he had fully mastered a technique ant for the True Core realm — sothing that ca easily, given that his life level and cultivation were already one stage higher.
That it was a body-transformation art, which happened to be his speciality, only made the process smoother.
If he hadn’t planned to leave for Sky Mountain tomorrow, he would have already begun another cycle of corpse-transformation training.
If the life levels could be divided further, he would sit at High-Rank-3 — his Rule Body already pushing toward Peak-Rank-3 under the influence of the vitality rule.
Once his Rule Body fully sublimated, reaching Peak-Rank-3 would be inevitable.
And there was a very real chance he could even climb to Rank-4 after sublimation.
He had also noticed that changing back from his corpse-state to his living-state had slightly increased his life level.
If he kept repeating that process, he might very well reach Peak-Rank-3 before even finishing this stage of his practice.
Still, his priority remained the Heavenly Serpent.
Heavenly Serpents were alien beasts born with peak Dharma cultivation and strength comparable to an ancestor — elusive, rare, and almost always asleep.
And after that, there was another alien beast that intrigued him even more: the Abyss Fish.
If he could design a transformation technique with their information, he could then synthesise a fourth-rank technique — the Dragon Transformation.
With that plan fixed in his mind, rin extended his ntal energy across the tower and detected all its residents — including his parents — gathered in the large dining hall downstairs.
From their excited conversation, they were holding a celebration.
Yet, strangely, it wasn’t because his brother or any of his students had made it into the Top 8.
Yanli had organised the party simply to lift everyone’s spirits.
If none of them progressed to the next round, then rin wouldn’t need to return for at least another month, giving him ti to explore the Abyssal depths where the Abyss Fish were rumoured to dwell.
The scent of cooked food drifts to him, and his mouth waters at the sight of the dishes.
He hesitates.
The food looks too beautiful to touch, as if it were an art piece rather than a al, clearly crafted by chefs from the kingdom of Mureil.
Still, he feels the desire to taste it.
That feeling surprises him.
Ever since his Rule Body began forming, most of his emotions had been muted.
But breaking through his previous limits and forging a new Rule Body a few minutes ago ans its influence hasn’t fully taken hold.
As it solidifies, his emotions will grow subdued again.
He descends to the ground floor and enters the dining hall.
The mont he steps inside, people notice him.
First a few, then most of the room falls into an expectant hush.
His sister, however, hurries toward him, brow furrowed.
“Brother,” she asks, worried, “what happened to you?”
rin frowns.
“What do you an?”
He can’t see his face without a mirror, but by extending his ntal energy inward, he observes his own facial structure.
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His muscles and bones have shifted just slightly — his features are now more refined and symtrical.
That, too, is a sign of his improved life origin.
“My cultivation advanced,” he replies simply.
His parents co up to greet him as well, and he exchanges a few quiet words with them.
He then walks deeper into the room, past his students.
They’re all focused on their als, and the atmosphere feels strangely subdued.
He knows they won’t truly enjoy themselves if he stays too long.
When Yanli ets him halfway across the hall, he asks, “Is everything ready for the journey tomorrow?”
“Yes,” Yanli replies. “Zhen Qi said we can leave at dawn.”
His sister, standing nearby, perks up. “Are you going sowhere?”
Before rin can answer, she adds, “I want to go too.”
rin says, “No.”
She imdiately dashes over to their parents, whining, “Father, Mother, elder brother is going sowhere again and won’t take with him.”
His mother looks up. “Where are you going?”
“Sky Mountain,” rin answers simply.
It’s the first ti they’ve heard of it.
Kuro chis in, “Mother, it’s an island in the Eastern Ocean.”
Then he turns to rin. “Brother, I also want to go.”
rin is about to refuse when Kuro continues, “For the past three days, you didn’t co to watch compete, so you can’t say no to .”
rin feels a pang of guilt — he had intended to send a clone to watch the matches, but the pain of cultivation consud all his attention.
He sighs. “Fine.”
Kuro’s face brightens with a grin.
His sister instantly hugs him, looking up with big pleading eyes.
“ too,” she begs. “I want to go too.”
rin hesitates. “If all three of us go, who will stay to keep our parents company?”
She falls silent, thinking, then looks back at their mother with a helpless expression.
“Take her,” their mother says.
That’s all the encouragent his sister needs — her eyes well up, and rin can already see the tears coming.
“Please,” she begs.
rin gives in. “Fine. But be at the tower’s door by dawn tomorrow. If you’re even a little late, I’ll leave without you.”
She beams and hugs him again before scampering off to prepare.
rin glances at Yanli. “Bring a plate of food later.”
Yanli nods.
As rin is about to leave, he stops and looks toward his students.
“Students,” he calls, his voice clear across the hall, “can I have your attention?”
Seeing they were all paying attention, rin says, “I have an assignnt for everyone in the transformation departnt.”
He continues, “While I’m away on this journey, I want each of you to create a transformation technique based on a beast of your choosing.”
The students whisper among themselves, and Esil raises her hand.
“Yes, Esil,” rin says.
She stands and asks, “Teacher, which beast should we pick?”
“Any level-one beast,” rin replies. “But make sure each of you chooses a different one.”
The students nod.
“Any questions?” rin asks, preparing to leave.
Before he can go, Cui Ying, his only half-yao student, raises a hand. “Teacher, what about ?”
rin looks at him and frowns slightly. Truthfully, he hadn’t considered Cui Ying, but now that he asked, rin couldn’t leave him empty-handed.
“Your assignnt,” rin says after a pause, “is to develop as many spell techniques as you can based on the wing wolf bloodline abilities you possess. Also, help guide the other half-yao who practice the blood spiritual thod alongside you.”
Cui Ying bows his head and sits.
Satisfied, rin leaves the dining hall.
He climbs the stairs to his quarters on the top floor, then enters the array-core chamber.
Standing before the core, he activates the tower’s communication array. The towers are linked to the city’s network, allowing him to contact other spirit masters at a distance.
He reaches out with his spiritual sense and places a call.
After a few minutes, Haruto’s voice cos through. “Kanoru?”
“Yes, it’s ,” rin answers. “Thanks for picking up.”
Haruto asks, “Why did you call?”
“I’m leaving the city tomorrow,” rin says.
“Where to?”
“Sky Mountain.”
Haruto is quiet for a mont. “When will you be back?”
rin considers. “About a month.”
“Alright,” Haruto replies simply.
A few minutes after they end the call, Yanli enters the top floor carrying two plates of food and sets them on the dining table.
rin takes a seat, noticing that she’s placed one plate before him and the other before herself.
“You didn’t eat downstairs?” he asks.
Yanli smiles. “I wanted to eat with you. That’s fine, isn’t it?”
He looks at her for a mont and nods. “Of course. You can eat with anyti.”
rin begins eating, savoring every bite as the rich flavours hit his tongue, and before long, his plate is empty.
Yanli, spoon halfway to her mouth, looks at him in surprise. Cultivators usually need little to no food at all, so seeing him eat like soone who hadn’t tasted a al in days is strange.
rin notices her gaze and clears his throat. “I’m going to the cultivation room. Take your ti and leave whenever you’re ready.”
He stands to go, but Yanli stops him. “Wait. I want to talk to you about sothing.”
He settles back into his chair, studying her face, flawless, frad by silky white hair and highlighted by jewel-like blue eyes. “What is it?”
“I’m at the peak of the spiritual core,” Yanli says softly. “I can advance to the true core realm anyti.”
rin tilts his head, wondering why she’s telling him this.
“Then go ahead. Breakthrough.”
Yanli hesitates, eyes lowered.
“I’m unsure which artistic conception to use for my breakthrough.”
rin’s first thought is a flicker of confusion — what does she an?
Then he rembers who she is: a half-yao with Rifang blood.
The Rifang clan belongs to a Dharma Realm beast lineage, one of the most powerful bloodlines in the world.
Such bloodlines pass down hidden knowledge of many artistic conceptions.
For soone like Yanli, these conceptions surface naturally as she cultivates.
That is one of the greatest advantages of being half-yao — they can grasp multiple conceptions without years of struggle.
But the disadvantage is that they can only understand conceptions present in their bloodline.
For a true genius, that limitation is a cage.
Yet for most cultivators, who never touch a single conception in their lifeti, this is an incredible boon.
He leans forward slightly.
“Show the artistic conceptions you understand.”
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