"Sigh…"

  Yua out a deep breath as he noticed the first light of dawn breaking over the horizon.

  Standing up, he stretched his body, feeling the stiffness in his muscles, then sighed once more,this time, deeper.

  He had e to a painful clusion.

  He would not be free anytime soon.

  The Fme Poison sing Demonic Beast Teique was a high-level teique, and fully refining it would take months,perhaps even a year if he was unlucky.

  Even worse… he couldn't evehe teique yet.

  Despite knowing how to trol it, despite uanding its principles, somethi wrong.

  During his attempts to refine his Azure Basilisk Fmes, he realized a crucial mistake.

  His body was not the same as Basilisk's.

  And because of that, his calcutions were all wrong.

  Everything he pnned so far,from his escape to his cultivatiress,had been based on the assumptions of his past body.

  Not this one.

  Because of this ht, everything would take much lohan he expected.

  Everything… except his advao the Blood Purification Stage.

  Blood purification did not require cultivation teiques,only time and patience.

  He could have forced the process faster usiain teiques, but that would corrupt his foundation, leading to an impure cultivation.

  And at higher stages, purity was far more important than speed.

  So for now…

  He could do nothing but wait.

  Wait until he properly refined his Azure Basilisk Fmes.

  Wait until he could fully use the teique.

  And only then…

  Would he be able to break free.

  With all other s set aside, Yuan could now focus entirely on the sect he would soon join.

  What was its name again?

  Ah, right,the Howling Wind Branch Sect.

  The fact that it was called a "branch sect" implied something important:

  There was a higher-ranking mai somewhere.

  Which also meant that Elder Viktor didn't have as much power as he made it seem.

  Perhaps he was just a Bone Refining or Marrow Essence cultivator.

  Maybe he was an elder of the branch sect.

  Or possibly… even the sect head himself.

  But as the old saying goes…

  Always be prepared for the worst.

  The name "Howling Wind" intrigued Yuan.

  "Wind" represented freedom.

  "Howling" carried a sense of ferocity and power.

  Could this mean the sect was a brute-force sect?

  Was it a righteous sect or an evil one?

  But then again…

  Did it even matter?

  Good and evil in the cultivation world were merely illusions.

  Both sides were filled with hypocrites.

  Why should he care?

  With all his thoughts anized, Yuan walked forward, his body trembling, his eyes filled with fear.

  A submissive, broken figure,one who had experienced horrors he could never recover from.

  The perfect image for the current Yuan.

  As he approached, he saw the old schemer and the girl.

  They were sitting in the carriage, eating and ughing.

  Then, they noticed him.

  The old man snorted, unimpressed by Yuan's trembling and fearful state.

  With a cold sneer, he tossed a pouch of water and a piece of bread toward him.

  "e here, and we'll leave."

  His voice was cold, indifferent.

  Hearing this, Yuan lowered his head, his trembling intensifying,a rea that earned him another sneer from the old man.

  The young girl, however, simply looked at Yuan with pity.

  But she said nothing.

  And so, Yuan silently walked to the back of the carriage.

  Sitting down, he began to eat the bread and drink some water.

  All while his mind carefully pnned his move.

  As they traveled toward Wolven, it took only a few hours before they began entering more people along the way.

  They passed by meraries, adventurers, mortal martial artists, and even a noble.

  Emilia was excited, her eyes filled with curiosity and wo the growing crowd of people.

  But Yuan?

  He didn't even spare them a gnce.

  He simply tinued ag his role,the traumatized child who had seen too much for his age.

  Soon, they arrived at the Kingdom's capital,Wolven.

  The city was massive, filled with thousands of mortals bustling through the streets.

  Yuan even spotted a few Mortal Awakening cultivators hidden among the crowd.

  But Elder Viktor didn't react at all, as if it was expected.

  Which made sense.

  Mortal Awakening was the lowest stage of cultivation.

  Even spotting a few Blood Purification cultivators in a mortal kingdom wouldn't be surprising.

  But strangely…

  Yuan didn't see a single one.

  They tihrough the capital streets, stopping in front of an inn with an unusual name:

  "Rexing Wind."

  A strange name for an inn.

  It sounded more like a brothel than a pce for travelers.

  But this wasn't a mistake.

  Yuan could tell that Elder Viktor had chosen this pce deliberately.

  Could it have something to do with the Howling Wind Branch Sect?

  After all…

  The word "Wind" was in both names.

  A ce?

  Maybe.

  But Yuan's instincts told him otherwise.

  Before Yuan could think further, Elder Viktor spoke.

  "e. We'll take a room here and wait for a week. Then, you two will join the sect."

  Yuan simply rembling, keeping up his fearful act.

  Then, they were assigheir rooms.

  Yuan Room 4,Emilia Room 3,Elder Viktor Room 5

  That meant Yuan ced between the elder and Emilia.

  But that didn't bother him.Entering Room 4, Yuan observed his surroundings.

  The room was ne, but it was big enough for his needs.

  It tained only the essentials:

  A bed.A table.A single chair.

  Practically empty.

  But that was fine.

  Yuan simply closed the door, sat atop the bed, and crossed his legs.

  He had a week.

  A week to pn.

  A week to prepare.

  And a week to refine his fmes, oep closer to break free.

  For seven days, Yuan remained inside his room, only leaving when he was hungry.

  During this time, Emilia also cultivated, aiming to reach the Blood Purification Stage.

  Based on Yuan's calcutions, she would likely break through in one or two years,assuming she didn't take any medial pills to accelerate the process.

  To asd to the Blood Purification Stage, a cultivator must first awaken every mortal sense from the Mortal Awakening Stage.

  Once all five senses are heightehe step is to:

  Sehe spiritual essen the surroundings.Draw the esseo the body and allow it to flow into the bloodstream.Fuse the esseh blood cells, purifying them.

  Once a cultivator successfully purifies 1% of their blood in theire body, they officially step into the Blood Purification Stage.

  From there, the process accelerates, as already purified blood naturally attracts more spiritual essence, making it easier to tinue purifying the rest.

  As for himself,he had already purified 0.99% of his blood.

  He could step into the Blood Purification Stage at any sed.

  But he chose not to.

  Why?

  Because if he broke through now, both Elder Viktor and Emilia would immediately notice.

  With the binding poison still active, he couldn't afford to reveal his strength just yet.

  Moreover, his current body was too weak to use spiritual cealment teiques.

  He only had access to a low-level presence-hiding teique, which was temporary at best.

  All higher-level cealment arts required at least Marrow Esseage cultivatiher.

  Even in terms of attad defeeiques, the vast majority of Basilisk's skills were high-ranked,far beyond what his current body could handle.

  The only truly useful things Yuan ied from Basilisk's vast 30,000 years of knowledge were

  The Basic level uanding of alchemy and a high-level mastery of runes and formations.

  Basilisk had been a master schemer, an expert in runiations, and a specialist in manipution.

  But unfortunately, most of that knowledge was still out of Yuan's reach.

  To fully utilize Basilisk's knowledge, he would at least o reach the Body Assion Stage.

  And that…

  Would take a very long time.

  With a sigh, Yuan accepted his current limitations.

  For now, all he could do was tinue refining his Azure Basilisk Fmes… and wait.

  Fortunately, he wouldn't have to wait much longer.

  The seven days had finally e to an end.

  On the m of the seventh day, a knock echoed through his room.

  Knock. Knock.

  Then came the cold, familiar voice of Elder Viktor.

  "e out. The sect has arrived. It's time t you in."

  Yuan slowly opened his eyes.

  The time had finally e.

  Hearing Elder Viktor's voice, Yuan opened his eyes.

  Silently, he dressed himself, wearing the brown robe the elder had given him long ago.

  With calm, measured movements, he opehe door and walked behind the elder, eventually standio Emilia, who was already waiting with the old man.

  Yuan appeared visibly nervous, his expression uneasy.

  But the elder barely aowledged him, instead giving a stern warning:

  "Mind your words and always show respect to the sect."

  With those final instrus, they stepped outside the inn and into the garden.

  The garden was filled with children, at least twenty to thirty in number.

  Most of them were at the Mortal Awakening Stage or the Blood Purification Stage.

  But among them, there was one person who stood out.

  A young man, dressed in a bright green robe decorated with leaf patterns.

  He had blue eyes, blond hair, and a rather average-looking face.

  Yet, his indifferent expression and unshaken posture radiated an undeniable presence.

  He sat on a wooden chair, motionless, eyes closed, as if he were sleeping.

  But even that alone made him stand out.

  This man was not an ordinary disciple.

  He was definitely a Meridian Awakening Stage cultivator.

  And judging by the spiritual esseurally gathering around him, he was not someone who had just reached this stage.

  His cultivation was strohan it appeared.

  Iillness of the garden, they waited.

  One by one, more aspiring disciples arrived, filling the space with quiet tension.

  And then, when the final person joihe group, the young man in green finally stirred.

  With slow, deliberate movements, he opened his eyes.

  His bright blue gaze swept over the crowd, studying each face carefully.

  Then, with a warm, almost pyful smile, he finally spoke

  "Greetings, juniors.I am an Inner Disciple of the Howling Wind Branch Sect, and today, I will be your judge.I will determine whether or not you are qualified to join our sect."

  He paused briefly, then tinued

  "For all Mortal Awakening juniors,if you are uhe age of fifteen, step forward for testing.For those in the Blood Purification Stage,if you are uhirty years old, step forward too,for testing.As for those who exceed these age limits but still wish to join the sect…Return in three days."

  With those words spoken, all cultivators who exceeded the age limit quietly left.

  Even the scheming Elder Viktor was among them.

  Now, only Yuan, Emilia, and the remaining Mortal Awakening and Blood Purification Stage cultivators,all within the age requirements,stood before the Meridian Awakening cultivator.

  The blond-haired young man smiled at them.

  "Alright, juniors. Follow me,we will now head to the trial ground."

  With a casual motion, he reached into his sleeve and pulled out a sword.

  Without hesitatiohrust it into the grouh him.

  For a moment, nothing happened.

  Then

  The grouh them trembled.

  Cracks slowly spread outward from the point of impact.

  Moments ter, the earth crumbled away, revealing a hidden stoaircase leading underground.

  Ohe underground staircase was fully exposed, the young man's smile widened.

  "Alright, juniors,it's time to desd.The trial awaits below."