The night was still high, the sky covered by heavy clouds that let only small fragments of pale moonlight escape. The air carried that typical freshness of calm nights in the Yun Clan...
Ren Zu crossed the inner garden unhurriedly, passing by jade spiritual lanterns floating on low posts, casting a soft bluish-green light. The ancient buildings of the Yun Clan's main mansion rose around him, with curved rooftops and dark columns polished by time. Not a living soul in sight, only the occasional creak of wood under the night breeze.
It was expected.
At that hour, most people were surely tucked away in their private quarters, and his parents were no exception—they stayed in the eastern wing. He knew this because he had lived there since childhood, and his own private courtyard was right next to theirs, separated only by a small stone path and a garden of white plum trees that bloomed even out of season.
Ren Zu walked through it, his hand absentmindedly brushing against the low branches of the trees, which glimmered under the lantern light like small pale ghosts.
When he crossed the stone and wood corridor leading to the entrance of his courtyard, he took a deep breath.
This was his space.
A wide courtyard, surrounded by low stone and wood walls, with a small pond of its own, far smaller and less imposing than the one in the main garden, and a few evergreen trees. The sliding wooden doors of his room were closed, but he felt the silent familiarity of the place.
As he passed through the small gate of the courtyard and approached the room, he noticed the glow of an illumination stone above the door, casting a soft, welcoming light over the entrance.
Without ceremony, he pushed the door open and entered.
The interior was simple and functional. A wide black wooden bed with a silk mattress, a shelf filled with cultivation jades and scrolls, a low table with an unlit lamp, and in the corner, a cabinet where he kept his clothes and weapons. The soft light from some spiritual stones embedded in the walls illuminated the space.
He closed the door behind him.
He sighed.
Finally at peace.
He threw himself onto the bed without even removing his boots, staring at the ceiling for long seconds.
He got lost for a moment amidst his own thoughts, mentally tracing his next steps.
First, he needed to restore his cultivation to its previous level before anyone noticed he had lost it. Then, he would go after the Legacy of the Golden Crow. Additionally, he intended to help his family rise to power, resolving once and for all the problems of the Illusory Demon Realm: with all those political issues he remembered from the original story.
Should he help the Little Demon Empress or not?
Finally, all that remained was to wait for Yun Che's arrival.
And until then, he would have plenty of time to plan how to steal everything from that wretch.
Why? Well, at this point, it was obvious. He despised Scum Che with every fiber of his being, and there was nothing more satisfying than watching him lose everything, bit by bit, until he collapsed in despair.
Well, that was for the future. For now, he had plans in mind. He exhaled slowly and sat up on the bed, assuming a cross-legged position.
He pulled out one of the vials from his robe. The [Flame of the Life Spirit] swirled gently inside, as if it had a consciousness of its own, releasing a warm, invigorating aura, as if every cell in his body yearned to draw closer to it.
He observed the vial for a moment, his dark eyes reflecting the greenish glow of the flame.
He carefully removed the vial's cap. The moment the seal was broken, a wave of vital energy filled the room, causing the cultivation jades and dried herbs on the shelf to tremble slightly. Even the trees in the courtyard seemed to sway their leaves, drawn by the subtle call of that flame.
Ren Zu raised the vial and, without hesitation, poured the flame directly onto the palm of his left hand. The liquid flame slid like greenish mercury and soon condensed into a small flaming sphere hovering above his skin.
He then slowly brought the sphere to his forehead.
He pressed the flame against the skin between his eyebrows.
According to the information in his mind, he only needed to do this to absorb the Heavenly Flame without any issues, which was quite absurd considering the difficulty of absorbing one in the world of "Battle Through the Heavens". But it wasn't just this flame that he could absorb with ease—his unique ability not only took things from myriad worlds but also made them easy for him to absorb...
He closed his eyes and felt the Heavenly Flame entering his Profound Veins. A massive pulse came from them, like a heart beating faster. It released nearly limitless vital energy into his body, merging with it...
Thanks to his predecessor's cultivation experience, he knew exactly what to do to refine this vital energy.
The first wave of profound strength in the Profound Veins came from vitality; precisely, by slowly injecting vitality into the Profound Veins, it gradually transformed into sparse profound energy. Once the Profound Veins were filled to the brim with this sparse profound energy, it would be the first official step toward the profound strength of the Elementary Profound Realm...
Practitioners with mediocre talent usually took about half a year to complete this process. Those with great talent could finish it in three to four months. Once this extremely important foundation was established, cultivation could continue by absorbing the vitality of heaven and earth.
His newly refined profound energy began to rapidly shake his Profound Veins; waves of profound energy from an unknown source flowed quickly, causing the profound energy in his Profound Veins to swell again and again... until they had expanded to the limit that his Profound Veins could accommodate.
Bang...
A soft sound—he could barely hear something breaking.
The profound energy in his Profound Veins continued to contract rapidly. The quantity didn't decrease; instead, it became even denser than before. This was clearly... the remarkable behavior of a breakthrough in profound strength!
Ren Zu could feel his cultivation advancing rapidly.
First Level of the Elementary Profound Realm!
Second Level of the Elementary Profound Realm!
Third Level of the Elementary Profound Realm!
The energy released by the Heavenly Flame continued to hammer wildly within his Profound Veins, filling them and causing his profound energy's strength to grow explosively in a terrifying manner.
...Seventh Level of the Elementary Profound Realm!
...Eighth Level of the Elementary Profound Realm!
...Ninth Level of the Elementary Profound Realm!
...Tenth Level of the Elementary Profound Realm!
At that moment, Ren Zu felt all his Profound Veins undergo a change unconsciously; they had become more elastic, larger, and much warmer. The profound energy within was even more concentrated and dense to an unbelievable degree.
Even his thoughts about this world had changed significantly as his vision cleared and his hearing sharpened. Ren Zu raised his head and breathed slowly. Then, the profound strength, which was stronger than his former strength by who-knows-how-many times, suddenly surged through his body and was released outward! He knew he had entered the Nascent Profound Realm! The strength and senses of this level were familiar to him...
A sigh escaped his lips as he slowly opened his eyes. He raised both hands and then lifted a finger. As he moved his thoughts, a small green flame burned above his finger. He had successfully refined the Heavenly Flame! And he had become a cultivator at the First Level of the Nascent Profound Realm!
Obviously, compared to his former strength, this was nothing impressive, but it was a good first step. He didn't need to waste time recultivating at the Elementary Profound Realm level.
He silently inspected his interior and saw that his Profound Veins had turned the color of a green crystal, comparable to the purest emerald sculpture. Not only his Profound Veins but also his channels, plasma, and every cell had an additional green particle.
Ren Zu extinguished the faint greenish flame still dancing at his fingertip with a snap of his fingers. He exhaled slowly, feeling the smooth flow of vital energy now circulating through his meridians, as if every cell in his body had been purified.
Thanks to the unique specialty of his Profound Veins, there was no need for time to stabilize his cultivation after a breakthrough.
He took the Jades with the techniques of the [Heavenly Tyrant Manual], [Miracle of Life], and the [Ten Extreme Daos]. Without hesitation, he picked up the first jade between his fingers and crushed it. The stone shattered into fragments of light, and a torrent of information flooded his mind, like a river flowing into a calm ocean. He repeated this until all the techniques were imprinted in his mind.
After doing this, Ren Zu decided to merge with the Vermillion Bird's Bloodline. Taking the vial from within his robes, he removed the cap without hesitation.
The scarlet liquid—or rather, the divine blood of the legendary Vermillion Bird—swayed as if it had a will of its own, releasing a warm and ancient aura with a subtle trace of divinity.
Ren Zu didn't hesitate.
He pressed the vial to his lips and, in a single gulp, ingested the flaming contents.
The blood went down like living lava, burning his throat and stomach. A terrible yet pleasurable pain coursed through his veins, as if golden flames ran through every nerve and cell in his body.
He grunted, sweating coldly.
Ren Zu calmly closed his eyes and suppressed the explosive behavior of the three drops of the Vermillion Bird's Blood with his profound energy. As he let the blood spread in all directions, he allowed it to merge with his bloodstream little by little.
His bloodstream gradually grew warmer as the Vermillion Bird's Blood began to shrink in size. After circulating through his body a dozen or more times, it finally vanished within his veins.
Whoosh!!
Suddenly, crimson flames rose from Ren Zu's body, soaring to a height of no less than three meters as they enveloped his entire body. At the same time, all the pores in his body expanded substantially; blood rushed frantically through his body at three times the normal speed, and the profound energy in his veins swept through his body violently like a storm.
This caught him by surprise, as he hadn't imagined it would increase his profound energy. It was probably the same case as the Heretic God's Seed, which contained a bit of its profound energy; in the blood he received, was there a bit of the Vermillion Bird's profound energy?
Ren Zu currently felt an indescribably comfortable sensation. He used a mere twenty breaths of time to regain balance between his body, meridians, and profound veins. Throughout this time, his expression remained completely calm as he enjoyed the minute changes in his body and the slow thickening of his profound energy.
The flames surrounding his body didn't diminish in the slightest as they continued burning calmly during the process. The purpose of the flames was to physically reshape the user's body, increasing their resistance to fire and their affinity with the fire element.
His Profound Veins would acquire a red hue mixed with green.
Finding this the perfect opportunity to begin cultivating the [Ten Extreme Daos], Ren Zu didn't hesitate. He immediately followed the instructions that had appeared in his mind along with the technique's knowledge, directing the newly refined profound energy.
As he circulated the energy through his meridians and profound pathways following the route of the [Ten Extreme Daos], the chaotic and wild profound energy flowing in his blood suddenly became submissive, molded, and controlled under his will. In an instant, the energy was refined, its quality elevated incomparably, perfectly converting to the technique he was cultivating.
The [Ten Extreme Daos] had ten distinct layers, each dedicated to taking an element to its absolute extreme. To begin the practice, one had to choose a single element as the focus. Only upon reaching the Extreme Level of that element, achieving the peak of the First Layer, could one advance to the next, choosing the second element, and so on.
Ren Zu didn't need to think much.
He chose Fire as the first element.
After all, among all the options, his affinity with fire was monstrous due to possessing a Heavenly Flame and carrying the bloodline of one of the Three Divine Fire Beasts, making it the most natural and promising path for him.
Thus, he focused deeply, guiding the refined energy to the meridians related to the fire element according to the technique's diagram in his mind, beginning the true cultivation of the First Layer of the Ten Extreme Daos. At the same time, his mind sank into a state of enlightenment regarding the Law of Fire.
The laws of Fire in this world represent many things: Nirvana, Destruction, and Purification.
About two hours later, he finished refining the energy that came with his Vermillion Bird bloodline.
Ren Zu opened his eyes, and a fiery red flame mark glowed between his eyebrows, much like a grand tribal bird, shining vividly.
"I've successfully reached the First Level of the True Profound Realm," he murmured, gauging his current strength.
While in the Nascent Profound Realm, there is only a certain level of development in a cultivator's Profound Strength, it is in the True Profound Realm that a true qualitative change occurs. Upon reaching this stage, the practitioner transcends several human limitations.
From this level, the body relies far less on food and water to sustain itself. The profound energy in their system meets their vital needs, allowing long periods without eating or drinking. Additionally, their senses, physical endurance, speed, and combat power increase drastically compared to the previous stage.
In short, a cultivator in the True Profound Realm ceases to be a mere strong human and becomes someone truly beyond the ordinary.
Ren Zu stretched slowly, as if he had all the time in the world, before taking out the [Ancestral Spatial Symbol].
With a precise movement, he bit his own finger, letting a drop of blood fall onto the symbol.
In that instant, the artifact glowed brightly in his palm and, as if it had a life of its own, merged into his body in a stream of subtle light.
An ancient warmth coursed through his veins, and then came the connection.
A clear sense of dominion, as if all the laws of space around him responded to his command. Control over his abilities settled in his mind as a natural extension of his will.
Fortunately, he didn't have to face any elaborate trials, as Lin Dong had to countless times throughout his story to claim an Ancestral Symbol.
In any case... now he was the new master of the Ancestral Spatial Symbol.
And space... answered to his command.
Ren Zu smiled faintly.
"Although it has many applications, I still can't cross continents... or travel between planets, since that consumes an absurd amount of profound energy. But... I can do this easily..." he murmured, calmly analyzing the possibilities.
With a simple, almost casual gesture of his hand, the space beside him twisted like a curtain made of liquid glass until a small rift opened, revealing the dark void between the layers of reality.
Then, with the same tranquility, he ran his fingers over the tear, and the space mended itself, restored as if nothing had happened.
"I'll need to train more later..." he murmured to himself, his eyes gleaming with seriousness. "But now, I need to enter the Asura Battlefield to hone my skills and strengthen my killing intent. Coming from a peaceful world like Earth... I still haven't experienced the true baptism of blood. If I want to be a true cultivator, I can't hesitate when the time comes to eliminate my enemies."
After thinking about it, he closed his eyes and entered meditation. His consciousness was pulled into the Asura Battlefield...