Back at home.
Su Yu held a glass vial in his hand—inside were three full drops of blood essence.
For a true powerhouse, the blood essence of a Thousand Pound Realm cultivator was nothing. But for Su Yu, this was a fortune. Just one drop cost 50,000 yuan.
If he hadn't been so broke, he wouldn't have hesitated to spend his merit points on it.
He didn't need a teacher to tell him how valuable merit points were. Even with money, you couldn't always buy what they could get you. That said, if someone offered him over 50,000 for a point, he might consider selling—after all, a drop of blood essence only cost 50,000.
"Come to think of it, I might be richer than my old man. He's only saved about 300,000 yuan over the years…"
Su Yu suddenly chuckled. 300,000 yuan might not even be worth his 18 merit points.
Of course, his father had merit points too. He'd spent some while cultivating, but the rest… Su Yu figured he gave them away when he retired from the military.
His father hadn't said it, but Su Yu had heard enough to know—it was common practice.
Many retired veterans in their neighborhood did the same, gifting their points to comrades still in service, those who needed them more.
Mutual support, mutual trust—that's what it meant to be a warrior of the human race.
If not for the age limit of fifty, more veterans would've enlisted again this time. Most had already hit that limit, and once discharged, they might never get the chance to return to the battlefield.
Su Yu shook the thought from his mind. His focus returned to that mysterious booklet in his head.
He quickly flipped to the page for the Iron-Winged Bird.
"Blood essence activation... should I unlock a skill or a cultivation method?"
Su Yu pondered briefly, then decided—cultivation method.
The Origin Absorption Technique.
Skills were likely short bursts of power, useful in combat. But with no enemies around, using one now would be a waste.
Of course, if he had plenty of essence to spare, maybe it'd be worth experimenting. Still, using random powers without understanding them could be fatal.
"How many drops will it take? One? Hope it's enough…"
He concentrated and triggered the technique.
A single drop of blood essence slid down his throat and vanished in an instant.
This time, there was no sharp pain—within moments, it was completely absorbed.
Buzz!
The golden page in his mind trembled slightly. A new line appeared under the cultivation section:
Basic Cultivation Method: Origin Absorption (Activated, Duration: 1 Hour)
"One hour?"
Su Yu swore under his breath—then immediately regretted it. He suddenly felt every pore on his body open wide, drawing in the surrounding energy at an insane rate. It was like all nine orifices were temporarily unlocked.
So this was the power of the booklet!
At his level, the Opening Realm, it was normally impossible to sense spiritual energy. The orifices weren't open; they couldn't absorb anything.
But now, he could feel it. With a mere thought, he was pulling in energy from his surroundings.
Nanyuan's spiritual energy might be thin for those in the Ten-Thousand Stone Realm, but for someone like Su Yu, who wasn't even in the Thousand Pound Realm yet, it was more than enough.
Creak!
His body began absorbing spiritual energy for the first time—it was ravenous, devouring every wisp it could like a starving beast.
The nine orifices began to glow faintly. Around his head, a thick fog of energy began swirling, tempering each orifice.
Pain!
Su Yu grimaced. His nose and mouth were fine—they'd already been tempered. But the rest hadn't. Now, with energy rushing through them, the pain was intense.
His ears rang with a loud buzz, and tears streamed from his eyes.
The energy wasn't just nourishing him—it was forcefully unlocking the dormant orifices.
"One hour is… too long!"
Just moments ago, he had thought an hour sounded too short. But now? He took it all back. His body might explode before that time was up!
No one at the Opening Realm could actively absorb spiritual energy. Su Yu might be the first.
And the Origin Absorption Technique—being from the Iron-Winged Bird race—wasn't even designed for humans. Despite the booklet's adaptations, he could feel something was off. His back was absorbing far more energy than the rest of his body.
"Crap... that's for tempering wings!"
"Am I gonna grow wings at this rate?"
Su Yu couldn't help a helpless laugh. Birds like the Iron-Winged Bird relied heavily on their wings in combat, so of course their cultivation methods focused on them. But he was human!
The energy coursing through his body followed the technique's blueprint. Despite the booklet's attempt to adjust it for a human form, Su Yu still felt the back-focused absorption was too intense.
Boom!
A sudden explosion of sound came from his left ear.
Su Yu froze for a moment—then his eyes lit up with joy.
His fourth orifice was about to open!
The first three were relatively easy. The fourth and fifth—both ear orifices—were much harder.
And the sixth and seventh, the eyes, were even tougher!
The last two, the Spirit Orifice and the Crown Orifice, had stumped countless cultivators. Most who failed to become full-fledged warriors fell short at those final two hurdles.
"My left ear's opening!"
Su Yu was ecstatic. The thunder in his ear now sounded almost like music.
He had calculated before—it would take him at least half a year to reach Opening Realm level four. Who would've thought a single activation of the Origin Absorption Technique would push him this far?
Of course, this had a lot to do with his weak foundation.
What made opening the orifices hard was the inability to actively absorb energy. If you could flip that switch—from passive to active—then cultivating through the Opening Realm wasn't so difficult after all.
Once the nine orifices were open, you didn't just get stronger. Your senses—taste, smell, hearing, and sight—all improved dramatically. That was what it meant to be in the Opening Realm.
That alone made a huge difference.
And when you reached the eighth level, unlocking the Spirit Orifice, you could finally start learning basic martial skills—stepping onto the path of a true cultivator.
Boom!
The buzzing in his ear kept intensifying. His eardrum trembled, shrinking and swelling as energy surged around it.
Almost there!
The surrounding energy funneled into his left ear. He could actually see the mist-like flow of it now. It was the first time he had clearly perceived spiritual energy.
"No… I can't take any more!"
His mind felt like it was about to burst. Not from the orifice unlocking—but from his own weakness. His body just wasn't strong enough for this level of refinement.
BOOM!
The sound in his left ear peaked—then, silence.
Su Yu let out a long breath. It was done.
He immediately deactivated the cultivation. He simply couldn't take it any longer.
…
Half an hour later, Su Yu had finally recovered.
A bit of a shame—he only lasted maybe thirty minutes. The rest of the hour was wasted. The activation timer didn't pause; it just ticked down regardless. What a waste.
"But still, this is incredible… I actually reached Opening Realm level four!"
Su Yu was thrilled. He hadn't even dared hope for this before. And now, just before the assessment, he'd pulled it off.
In the entire Nanyuan Secondary Academy, there were maybe only a dozen students at level four.
There were over a hundred at level three—he wouldn't have stood out there. But now? Level four was a different story.
By most standards, this made him both academically and martially gifted.
He was officially considered a genius now.
"This booklet... it's unbelievable. But..."
Su Yu frowned slightly. For the Opening Realm, it worked wonders. But once he reached the Thousand Pound Realm—where he could absorb energy on his own—the Iron-Winged Bird's method probably wouldn't be as effective as a proper human technique.
"Well, I shouldn't be too greedy. Still… what if someday I could unlock a divine or demonic technique?"
Su Yu's eyes flickered with excitement. What if one day he could access the pages for the gods or demons?
Human cultivation methods were powerful, but divine and demonic techniques were on another level.
The human race had captured a few, but most were low-tier. High-level ones were almost nonexistent.
There was a chance to kill the opponent and seize their cultivation technique—but the odds were far too slim.
"Were there gods or demons in my dreams?"
His dreams from the past were vague, and he'd been too young to recall the details clearly.
He wasn't sure. Maybe they were, maybe not.
If there had been, did that mean he could cultivate divine or demonic techniques?
"It's too early to think about that. Right now, the Origin Absorption Art is already working well. It can help me break through the Opening Origin stage faster."
Suppressing his racing thoughts, Su Yu couldn't help but feel overjoyed.
Opening Origin Stage Four!
There weren't any dramatic changes to his body, but it had definitely become stronger after being tempered by vital energy. Still, that wasn't the main point—the key was his hearing.
His left ear twitched slightly, and faint sounds from upstairs drifted into his ears.
Though not crystal clear, it was a noticeable improvement.
Before, thanks to good soundproofing, he could hardly hear anything unless it was loud. But now... his hearing had sharpened.
For cultivators, being able to see in all directions and hear everything around them was a basic skill.
Without completing the Opening Origin stage, that was virtually impossible.
"Perfect!"
Even though he had used one drop of blood essence, gaining a full level in return was well worth it. If this method could be repeated ten or even a hundred times, Su Yu would still be willing.
"I still have two drops left... should I test out the racial skill?"
A glint flashed in his eyes. He wanted to know how powerful it was, how long it lasted, and what side effects it might bring.
Using it recklessly without understanding it would be irresponsible.
The Iron-Winged Bird had two racial skills: Rend and Iron Wing Slash.
Rend was a Level 1 skill—this implied that different tiers of Iron-Winged Birds might possess different levels of racial skills, which made sense.
As for Iron Wing Slash—well, Su Yu didn't have wings, so that one was off the table. Rend, however, was worth testing.
"Let's give it a try."
But his apartment was small, and there were other people nearby—there were elderly cultivators in the building at the Thousand Pound Realm. Not a good place to test anything dangerous.
After a moment's thought, Su Yu took the remaining blood essence and quickly left.
Over ten minutes later, at a cultivation gym—
After paying 100 An Yuan coins, Su Yu rented a training room for an hour. These gyms were common in the city, given the number of Thousand Pound cultivators.
"Activate!"
Swallowing the blood essence, a barrage of images flashed through his mind—an Iron-Winged Bird tearing its prey apart with razor-sharp claws.
Instantly, Su Yu's hands swelled!
Vital energy condensed within them, making his arms throb with pain—but also brimming with tremendous power.
"This... this is the Rend skill?"
Su Yu was stunned. For the first time, he felt truly powerful. How strong exactly? He wasn't sure—after all, he had only just reached Opening Origin Stage Four.
His arms throbbed with pain, but he couldn't waste time. He charged at a humanoid training dummy.
Boom!
His claw-like fingers latched onto the dummy's throat, producing a thunderous crack. These training dummies were built tough for combat drills. Yet when Su Yu gripped its throat tightly, a heavy impact echoed through the room.
He followed up with a flurry of attacks—each strike seemingly infused with a tearing force.
Gradually, a faint crack appeared along the dummy's throat.
After five or six minutes, the power began to wane—he felt the strength in his arms slowly draining.
Crash!
"Ahh—damn!"
Su Yu gasped in pain. The power vanished all at once. He had grabbed the dummy just as it faded, and now his fingernails felt like they were splitting. The pain was unbearable.
"What the hell!"
He cursed. The strength disappeared just like that? No wonder he was in so much pain—he had just struck with full force as a mere Opening Origin cultivator!
Grabbing his communicator, Su Yu quickly checked the timer and came to a conclusion:
"Five minutes of duration per drop of blood essence. It's not just raw power—there's also a tearing effect. That's what makes it a racial skill, not just a strength boost."
He glanced at the dummy again. The faint crack was still there, though it was slowly closing up. These training dummies could self-repair over time—another reason they were standard in cultivation gyms.
"So I managed to produce a tearing effect. My dad, who's at Thousand Pound Stage Nine, once punched a hole into one. I only created a crack after multiple hits..."
"Judging from the damage, I'd say this attack power is close to Thousand Pound Stage Seven. Stage Six can't even leave a mark."
"Makes sense—the illustrated bestiary said that particular Iron-Winged Bird was a Stage Seven creature."
"So: Stage Seven attack power, five-minute duration, and one drop of blood essence."
Su Yu's eyes gleamed. He now had the power of a Stage Seven attacker.
But raw power didn't equal true strength.
A real Thousand Pound Stage Seven fighter had a fortified body, lightning reflexes, and seasoned combat skills. Su Yu had none of those.
He might match their striking force against a stationary target, but if he actually fought one? The opponent would kill him in an instant.
"Even a Stage Three or Four cultivator with some preparation could kill me if they kept their distance. I wouldn't even be able to catch up to them."
He shook his head. That overwhelming power he'd just felt? It was a dangerous illusion.
In reality, this ability had limited utility.
It could serve as a trump card—but once exposed, even weaker Thousand Pound opponents wouldn't see him as a threat. They could just avoid him until his strength faded, then come back and finish him off.
"Still… the advantages are obvious."
Su Yu suddenly smiled. One couldn't be too greedy—this was already incredible.
He was just an Opening Origin cultivator, practically an ordinary person—and now he could unleash Stage Seven attack power for five minutes. What more could he ask for?
"The side effects are pretty nasty though…"
Only now did he feel the aftereffects—his arms were swollen and numb from pain.
"Rend... this technique is crude. As a racial skill from the Iron-Winged Bird, it's not really suited for humans. Human-developed martial arts are usually more refined and powerful. Still, if I could master techniques from stronger races…"
His eyes lit up with excitement. The Iron-Winged Bird had already been thoroughly studied—there was nothing new there. But what about other species?
What if he could decipher racial skills from divine or demonic beings?
"The Civilization Academy must reward that kind of research."
"If I could one day replicate divine or demonic martial techniques… that would be a monumental achievement!"
Su Yu swallowed hard, then chuckled to himself. "It's like the Civilization Academy was made just for me. I could be the one selling them battle techniques…"
Wishful thinking—but he knew not to take it too seriously.
He was still a nobody. If he suddenly produced a divine or demonic technique, no one would call him a genius—they'd call him a freak.
Had he ever even seen a god or demon?
Ever fought one?
Studied their cultivation methods?
How could he possibly reproduce their techniques?
No one would believe it.
Su Yu chuckled at his own fantasies, then smiled again. There was still time in the training room—no reason to waste it. Even if he couldn't activate the racial skill again, he could still practice his own martial arts.
Usually, martial techniques were reserved for Opening Origin Stage Eight and above. Training earlier wasn't that effective. But Su Yu had already learned a few and began practicing them now.
Stage Eight had once felt distant. But now… was it really that far off?
Better to prepare early. When the time came, if all he had was the cultivation level without the strength to back it up, he'd be just another paper tiger.