"What is she doing?"
Not long after, Shinoa Hiiragi returned to the meeting point.
But the scene before her surprised and puzzled her greatly.
She saw Krul sitting cross-legged on the ground, with the spiritual energy of heaven and earth swirling around her. Her aura was rising at an extremely fast pace, causing even the sky and earth to change color dramatically.
"She is making a breakthrough," Victor explained calmly.
"A breakthrough?"
Shinoa was even more surprised when she heard this revelation.
"It doesn't seem like there would be such a massive commotion if someone at the eighth level of Qi Refinement broke through to the ninth level, right?"
If she remembered correctly, Krul's previous realm was lower than hers, having been at the eighth level of Qi Refinement.
When she herself had broken through from the eighth level of Qi Refinement to the ninth level, the disturbance she caused was nowhere near as spectacular as this.
Victor shook his head lightly and smiled knowingly. "It's not that the eighth level of Qi Refinement is breaking through to the ninth level, but rather the tenth level of Qi Refinement breaking through to the Foundation Establishment stage."
"What?! When did she reach the tenth level of Qi Refinement?" Shinoa was utterly shocked.
Could it be that Krul had been hiding her true abilities all along?
But that didn't make sense. There would be no need for her to conceal her cultivation level from them.
However, Victor's next answer shocked her even more profoundly.
"Just now."
"You mean to tell me that just now she jumped two entire levels from the eighth level of Qi Refinement to the tenth level, and is now about to break through to the Foundation Establishment stage?"
Victor nodded in confirmation.
"How did she manage such a feat?" Shinoa felt truly envious now.
How come she had never encountered such a miraculous opportunity for rapid advancement?
Could it be that Victor had secretly refined some kind of high-grade spiritual pill to give Krul special treatment?
It was no wonder that Shinoa would think this way. The reason Krul could rapidly advance through multiple realms was indeed inseparable from Victor's assistance.
But it wasn't a pill, it was his blood!
Victor unconsciously touched the bite marks on his neck that had long since healed and explained, "Just now I allowed her to drink some of my blood, and my blood contains an enormous amount of spiritual power, which is why her strength soared dramatically."
To be honest, after Krul had consumed his blood and experienced such a tremendous increase in power, even Victor himself felt somewhat amazed by the effect.
He also hadn't expected that his blood would bring such significant improvement to Krul's cultivation.
But then again, why hadn't it had this effect the last time she drank his blood?
Oh, that's right, last time Krul hadn't started cultivating immortality yet.
Besides, his own realm at that time was only the Foundation Establishment stage.
The spiritual power contained in his blood back then was naturally incomparable to what it was now after his advancement.
So during their first encounter, Krul naturally wouldn't have gained much improvement from consuming his blood.
"So, did you manage to find your sister's remains?" Victor asked, changing the subject.
Shinoa nodded and replied, "We found them. What surprised me was that the Hiiragi family preserved my sister's remains incredibly well."
"Is that so? That's even better. It saves us the trouble of using the Edo Tensei technique."
"I'll give you my sister's remains first."
As she spoke, Shinoa retrieved a naked body from her chat group inventory space.
Seeing this, Victor was genuinely surprised by what he witnessed.
"The preservation is so complete?"
The body lay quietly on the ground, appearing like a sleeping beauty waiting for a prince's kiss, rather than the remains of someone who had been dead for many years!
"They sealed my sister's remains in a preservation chamber, which is why they are so perfectly maintained."
To be honest, when she first discovered the remains preserved in that specialized container, Shinoa had been equally astonished.
Although she didn't know why the members of the Hiiragi family had chosen to preserve her sister's remains so meticulously, she had to feel grateful to them for this decision.
"Hey, Shinoa, did you do this on purpose?"
The indignant voice of Mahiru Hiiragi rang out near their ears.
Looking around, they saw Mahiru in her ghostly form appearing beside Shinoa.
"You knew I wasn't wearing any clothes, yet you took out my body so brazenly! Now he's seen everything!"
"Oh, sorry, I forgot about that."
Shinoa stuck out her tongue and tapped her head gently, attempting to get away with the oversight through cute behavior.
Yes, she had done it deliberately.
Although the two sisters had been getting along relatively well recently, and her sister was no longer as obsessed with Guren Ichinose as before, Shinoa was still somewhat worried about lingering attachments.
To ensure her sister would completely abandon any thoughts about that man, she had purposely displayed her sister's naked body to Victor.
If Victor didn't have some strange necrophiliac tendencies, she might have even suggested he claim the body right there.
Fortunately, Mahiru had no idea what her younger sister was truly thinking, otherwise she would have given her "dear sister" a thorough lecture regardless of the consequences.
Victor retrieved a robe from his storage and carefully covered the naked body, then turned to look at Mahiru in her spectral form.
"It's only been a month, yet you've changed significantly."
Upon hearing this observation, Mahiru smoothed the hair near her ear and placed one hand on her hip. "I am a soul, what changes could I possibly undergo?"
"Although your appearance hasn't changed at all, your temperament is completely different from before."
"It's less violent and bloodthirsty, and far more humane."
Shinoa beside them nodded in agreement.
Her sister had been staying with her throughout this entire time, so she felt these changes most acutely.
During the initial period, her sister had always appeared bitter and resentful.
She hadn't been in good spirits toward her younger sister either.
Mahiru had also frequently expressed her desire to return to Guren Ichinose.
But as time passed, the hatred in her eyes had gradually disappeared, and she no longer mentioned Guren's name.
As immortal cultivators, they could perceive that Mahiru's transformation was not a disguise, but a genuine change from within.
Mahiru touched her chin thoughtfully. "I don't understand it myself. I always felt that Guren Ichinose was everything to me, but now when I think about it, he doesn't seem like such an outstanding man after all."
"To be honest, looking back now, I can't comprehend why I fell in love with him in the first place. I have this persistent feeling that my mind was somehow controlled by someone."
"Your woman's intuition is remarkably sharp."
Suddenly, another voice echoed through the area.
Then, a long-haired man wearing pristine white robes, a laurel crown upon his head, and white wings sprouting from his back materialized next to Shinoa.
This individual was none other than the First Progenitor, Shikama Dōji!
"What do you mean by that statement?"
When Mahiru saw this 'old acquaintance,' she instinctively felt a wave of disgust.
The Shikama Dōji replied matter-of-factly, "Actually, your suspicions are entirely correct. Your thoughts were indeed controlled at that time. No, it would be more accurate to say they were modified."
"Did you do it?" Victor asked directly.
The Shikama Dōji nodded without hesitation. "At that time, I needed someone to continue my Seraph Project, and Miss Mahiru Hiiragi was undoubtedly the most suitable candidate. You possessed intelligence and could make decisions calmly and rationally."
"So I used special methods to modify your mind and made you fall in love with someone you shouldn't have loved."
"I knew the Hiiragi family would never permit you to be with Guren Ichinose. In order to break free from the shackles of the Hiiragi family, you would do everything possible to gain tremendous power."
"Then I would reveal the Seraph of the End project to you, and you would become my pawn."
"The plan proceeded exactly as I had anticipated."
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