The history of the human world begins after the fall of the Night Dynasty.
With the aid of the gods, humans claimed the central lands of the world.
The strongest among them established the Tianren Sect in the Heavenly Mountains and founded the Ren Empire to govern all human territories.
For the next three hundred years, the Tianren Sect held dominion over all humanity, their authority unchallenged.
At first, they were moral and just, guiding the human race with wisdom and restraint.
But power left unchecked always festers, and in time, the sect turned from guardians into tyrants.
They bled the human race for resources, enslaving their own kind beneath the weight of divine authority.
From that oppression, resistance began to take form—born not of cultivators, but of martial artists.
Their bodies became weapons, their spirits unyielding, and they stood against Tianren's rule with mortal strength.
The supreme among them, the Supreme Martial Artists, could touch the power of heaven and earth, rivalling initial Core Formation cultivators.
But their lifespans were brief, rarely beyond two hundred years, and each clash with cultivators drained their remaining years.
Their rebellion could not overthrow the Tianren Sect, yet it sowed the first seeds of revolt that would one day crack heaven's order.
The fall of the Tianren Sect began around five hundred years ago, when a new sect emerged from obscurity.
They first appeared in remote villages and called themselves the Divine Puppet Sect.
They worshipped a god known as the Puppet God, and their cultivators, who called themselves priests, possessed little personal strength.
Yet through their craft, they created puppets stronger than themselves—countless, tireless, and unfeeling.
They allied with the martial artists, uniting mortal will and divine artifice against Tianren's dominance.
For the first time in centuries, the Tianren Sect began to falter, its rule collapsing piece by piece.
But as victory neared, greed and mistrust poisoned the alliance between the martial artists and the priests.
Their conflict erupted, granting the dying Tianren Sect a desperate chance to survive.
The three powers clashed in chaos, their war shaking the foundation of the human world.
Then one day, divine wrath descended—the headquarters of the Divine Puppet Sect was obliterated by the gods, and its priests vanished without a trace.
Weary and broken, the remaining martial artists and the Tianren Sect agreed to a truce.
The once-mighty Ren Dynasty splintered, dividing the human realm into eight kingdoms.
The Ren Kingdom fell under the control of the Tianren Sect.
The Tang Kingdom came to be ruled by the Demon Hunting Association.
The Chen Kingdom was governed by the powerful Chen family.
The Qi Kingdom was dominated by the Four Seasons Tower.
The Lan Kingdom became the domain of the Lu, Zhen, and Min families.
The Golden Horde was shared between the Jin family and the Beast Sect.
The Shi Kingdom was ruled by the Earth Fire Association.
And the Ming Kingdom rose under the Zhu family's banner.
In time, another force emerged—a power that expanded humanity's reach to the eastern sea.
This new faction, known as the Silver Treasure House, grew into the most prosperous and influential force in the human realm.
From this history, he understands that the god behind the Divine Puppet Sect is not one of the innate gods residing on the Sky Islands of this world.
That leaves only two possibilities—either someone in this world discovered the power of faith, or a god from another world has extended its influence here.
He believes the latter: to forge puppets through the power of faith would require a god versed in the use of the power of faith.
There are no God-stage Transcends, no Stage-Four Transcends, not even a Demigod in this world, so the idea of an outside god reaching in is far more likely.
He cannot accept that a mere mortal—someone who understands faith but has not even become a demigod—could craft faith-puppets; such work is a high-level application of the power of faith.
"If the Divine Puppet Sect remains," he thinks, "they will only grow into a greater threat in the years to come; I must erase them before that happens."
"I must build a network that will supply me with intelligence on human territory," he decides, "and I will strike after I break through Core Formation."
With the plan set, Kaelan settles, closes his eyes, and begins to refine his mana anew, the task before him sharp and cold as a blade.
A week later, emissaries from the human realm arrive to negotiate the release of the captive humans.
Kaelan meets them with a calm, measured demeanour, setting his demands: for each of the fifteen Stage-One cultivators, he requires 2,000 low-level spirit or demon stones per person.
For Liu Kong, he demands an Ultimate Realm martial arts cultivation technique—a request that causes immediate hesitation, for there is no such technique, as the Ultimate Realm cannot be gained through simple cultivation, only through skill, insight, and attunement to the power of Heaven and Earth.
After negotiation, the price is settled: a Supreme Master Realm martial arts cultivation technique, 1,000 low-level spirit or demon stones, and, for Fang Ming, a complete book containing all human runes.
The Holy Sword, too, is renegotiated, its price increased to 12,000 low-level spirit or demon stones.
Payment secured, Kaelan releases the captives a week later, returning the Holy Sword to Fang Ming.
Kaelan summons Chen Qi to the cliff and lays out his next design: an intelligence network woven through human territory, silent and hidden, to gather news and snuff threats before they kindle.
He instructs Chen Qi to begin by organising armed convoys that will travel across the kingdoms, starting with the Tang Kingdom and fanning outward along trade lines and river routes.
Chen Qi listens, face grave, then points out the problem—Chen Village numbers are small, only about one hundred and twenty souls in total, and barely eighty of them are adults fit for long convoys.
Kaelan nods as Chen Qi speaks, and together they refine the plan: each convoy will place three to five Chen Village members as captains and key operatives, while the remaining slots will be filled by recruits hired or impressed from outside sources.
The Chen Village will serve as the core leadership of the network—its flag and faces providing continuity, discipline, and loyalty—while outsiders supply bulk manpower and local knowledge.
Chen Qi bows, acceptance settling in his features, and departs at once to marshal the villagers, recruit allies, and build the convoys that will become the first threads of Kaelan's shadowed web.
For Kaelan, the formation of the convoy organisation is only the first step.
The second step follows two paths: one, to establish inns, pubs, and restaurants across cities and towns to act as hidden hubs of information; two, to gather human orphans and train them to serve him loyally.
The third step is to place these trained orphans into sects, kingdoms, and other human powers, embedding their eyes and ears deep within their ranks.
The very next day, Kaelan breaks through to the seventh realm of stage one, his power surging and stabilising within hours.
He returns to the ancient battlefield to practice, pushing his limits, and over six months, ascends to the peak of the ninth realm.
Advancing to the second stage, however, is beyond him—his unique cultivation method halts at the first stage—so he returns to his cliff to begin constructing the second stage of his wizard cultivation system. Before starting, he calls Chen Qi to hear of his progress.
Two days later, Chen Qi arrives at the cliff, and Kaelan notes the glow of newfound power: Chen Qi has broken through the Great Martial Art realm, elevating him to a mid First Stage Transcend.
Chen Qi reports that the convoy, now named the Wuya Convoy House, has spread through the Xuan Prefecture—where Qinghe City lies—and the two neighbouring prefectures of Lanxi and Feiyun, establishing bases in towns and cities across all three prefectures.
Kaelan listens carefully and then reveals the second stage of his plan, instructing Chen Qi to begin it in tandem with the ongoing first plan.
Chen Qi also mentions that the four bandit leaders have returned with a basic book of runes.
Kaelan's expression flickers with mild amusement; obtaining their bodies is useful, but the Spring Cloud Sect has already presented him with the advanced rune book, containing nearly all runes created by humankind.
The basic book is unnecessary. He instructs Chen Qi to leave the bandits hidden, using them as covert agents within the convoy to remove obstacles as needed.
After Chen Qi departs, Kaelan settles into meditation, sinking his consciousness into his spirit space.
He surveys the core spell matrix and the three surrounding matrices, tracing the lines of power, analysing, and preparing the foundation for the next stage of his cultivation system.
He questions himself: What is the true core of his cultivation system?
The answer comes clearly—spirit.
He condenses his spirit through the core spell matrix, advancing to the First Stage.
From the initial to the peak of First Stage, he grows and refines his mana, the energy that fuels all his power.
This does not mean his spirit remains stagnant; even before cultivation, it carries the strength of a Second Stage Transcend.
Mana, formed from the combination of physical essence and spiritual energy, is controlled entirely by the spirit.
As his mana improves, his spirit receives feedback, pushing him toward the limits of the initial Second Stage.
To break through, he must either explore inward, delving into the hidden treasures of his body, or seek answers from the external world.
He turns his attention to the Supreme Martial Art technique obtained from Liu Kong—the Wooden Wheel Technique—studying it carefully for insights.
He already possessed the Supreme Technique of the Chen Village, but it was incomplete, and reading it allowed him to understand that the Human Qi Refining cultivation system originates from the Demon Qi Refining system, while Martial Art cultivation originates from the Human Qi Refining system.
Humans cannot cultivate beyond the Supreme Martial Art Realm because they lack the innate spirit roots within the cultivator.
Without these spirit roots, they cannot increase their affinity with Heaven and Earth to break through the Second Stage.
They have already realised that the Ultimate Martial Art Realm is the limit, but breaking through it does not extend their lifespan.
Thus, before achieving sufficient affinity with Heaven and Earth, their lives inevitably end.
Kaelan concludes that for the three cultivation systems to reach the Second Stage, they must seek power from outside themselves.
Seeking externally is possible, but any deviation or alteration of the rules of Heaven and Earth risks ending their cultivation path entirely.
He is a Void Demon, and this world will not remain in this world only; he will visit new worlds, each with its own rules.
Instead of creating a cultivation system unique to each world, it would be wiser to develop one capable of functioning across multiple worlds, requiring only minor—or occasionally major—adjustments for each.
He begins analysing his spirit space, knowing it will serve as the core of his wizard cultivation system.