A full month had crawled by in the outside world.
Outside the towering perimeter of the Xuan Wang Mansion, the atmosphere was suffocating. Caravans, elders, and masters from various sects and families stood in tight clusters, their eyes glued to the massive iron gate. They were waiting for the young geniuses they had sent inside.
Suddenly, the teleportation array flickered. A sparse handful of exhausted, blood-stained cultivators stumbled out of the light. Compared to the thousands who had eagerly rushed inside, the number of survivors was devastatingly small. The abyss of the ancient mansion had become a mass grave.
Yin Dong walked through the threshold, his black robes torn, a foul scowl marring his face. "Tsk. It seems that low-life brat who stole the tiger core died a miserable death somewhere in the dark. But unfortunately, we didn't even manage to find the true core inheritance of Xuan Wang."
Ming Chen stepped out beside him, dusting off his shoulders. He scoffed coldly. "So, even the great Yin Dong came up short? We risked our lives just to secure a few low-grade techniques. Trash. There's no point in wasting any more time in this barren place. Let's return to the clan."
Further back, Yun Qin and Yun Lin hurried over to where their grandfather, Yun Lao, stood waiting.
The King Realm powerhouse scanned the tiny group of survivors, his thick white eyebrows furrowing deeply. "Are you two unharmed? But... why are there so few people returning? Thousands marched into that gate. What happened in there?"
Yun Qin lowered her head, her voice tight with frustration. "Grandfather, we failed to secure the inheritance of Xuan Wang. Moreover, the trial became a bloodbath. The Yin and Ming clans ruthlessly slaughtered anyone who stood in their way to hoard the treasures. Most of the casualties died by their hands."
Yun Lao's eyes flashed with a dangerous, icy glint, but he let out a heavy sigh. "I see. The balance of the three clans is growing fragile. Let us depart. This place has nothing left for us."
As the grand clans departed, they left with a universal certainty: the unknown boy who had dared to cross them was nothing but dust.
Deep beneath the sealed iron doors,
Feng Kail lay motionless on the stone floor. For an entire month, the Flame of Rejuvenation had danced tirelessly across his body. It had painstakingly knit his severed abdomen back together, purified the lingering traces of the corpse poison, and miraculously stimulated his cellular growth, fully regenerating his severed right arm until the skin was pristine and unscarred.
A sudden, violent shockwave of pure spiritual Qi erupted from Kail's core, shattering the silence of the chamber.
Kail's eyes snapped open. He instantly rolled to his feet, breathing heavily as he stared at his newly restored right hand, flexing his fingers in disbelief.
"I... I broke through," Kail whispered, his voice echoing in the dark. "This power... I have officially stepped into the Qi Enlightenment Stage (Tier 2). And I can feel the Flame of Rejuvenation completely bound to my meridians now."
He looked back at the sealed doors. "I don't know how long I've been asleep. Those beasts from the Ming and Yin clans... the power gap between us was too vast. If I want to survive a second encounter, I need to hunt for every scrap of strength this mansion possesses."
Turning his back on the exit, Kail began to walk deeper into the uncharted corridors. After navigating a maze of dusty hallways, he stepped into a breathtaking, vaulted chamber. Standing in the center was a colossal, awe-inspiring statue.
It depicted a legendary warrior with long, flowing hair and closed eyes. In his right hand, he held a massive, unsheathed sword; in his left, a carved flame danced.
Heaped at the base of the statue was a literal mountain of wealth—glittering gold coins, ancient swords, high-grade technique scrolls, and, sitting right in the center, a mysterious, intricately locked obsidian box.
Kail walked past the gold and picked up the mysterious box. The moment his fingers popped the latch, a brilliant, blinding beam of golden light shot from the chest, enveloping his entire body. The letters carved into the box dissolved into pure energy, flying through the air and boring directly into his forehead.
Kail staggered back, holding his temples as a vast sea of forbidden knowledge flooded his consciousness.
When the light faded, his eyes burned with fierce excitement. "What an incredible treasure... To think a technique like this actually exists!"
He looked down at his hands, analyzing the mental script. "[Blood Sacrifice - Body Burning Skill]. It allows me to ignite my own vitality to forcefully boost my combat power by an entire realm for a short period. The backlash normally destroys a cultivator's foundation... but I possess the Flame of Rejuvenation! The healing fire will constantly repair the damage while the skill is active. In fact, the constant destruction and rapid healing will only forge my physical body to become stronger every time I use it! It's the ultimate synergy."
"Hummm-"
Suddenly, the colossal statue groaned. The closed stone eyes of the sculpture snapped open, burning with a blinding, celestial light that pinned Kail to the floor.
Kail instinctively reached out, his hand touching the base of the pedestal.
Instantly, a deep, booming voice that sounded like grinding mountains resonated through the chamber.
"Are you the one who seeks my legacy? Do you truly believe a mere insect like you is worthy of my inheritance?"
It was the residual soul fragment of the legendary master— Xuan Wang himself.
Despite the crushing pressure, Kail forced his head up, his cold gaze locking onto the glowing eyes of the statue. "Senior, if I am unworthy, then tell me why? You have not even tested my limits, yet you dismiss me."
The soul of Xuan Wang let out a booming laugh that shook the dust from the ceiling. "A mere ant at the Qi Enlightenment stage, yet you possess such arrogance! You claim to have confidence? Fine. Let us see if your bones can back up your tongue. If you fail this test, your life ends today. Are you ready?"
"Even if it kills me," Kail ground out through clenched teeth, "I will take it."
Xuan Wang raised a massive, spectral hand. Instantly, a mountain-shattering weight of pure King Realm pressure descended upon Kail's shoulders.
Crack!
The stone floor beneath Kail's knees shattered into cobwebs. "What an absurd aura..." Kail gasped, his vision beginning to blur as his bones groaned under the gravity. My body... it's hitting its limit. But I can't fall here! I still have a bloody debt to settle!
Despite his willpower, the sheer weight was too immense. Kail's eyes rolled back, and he fell into absolute unconsciousness.
But the moment his mind went dark, a terrifying, abyssal phenomenon occurred. From the deepest, hidden corners of Kail's soul, a pitch-black, suffocating dark energy suddenly erupted. It didn't belong to the flames, nor the dragon strikes. It was an ancient, malicious power that surged outward like an apex predator, instantly shattering Xuan Wang's pressure into a million pieces.
The spectral soul of Xuan Wang violently recoiled, his glowing eyes widening in sheer horror. "This... this aura! Why does it feel so terrifyingly familiar?! Could it be... That man ?!"
Before the phantom could investigate further, the dark energy vanished back into Kail's soul as quickly as it had appeared. Kail's eyes fluttered open, his mind completely blank. "What... what just happened?"
Xuan Wang's soul stared at Kail, his booming voice now carrying a strange, profound undertone of respect and urgency. "My inheritance specializes in forging an indestructible physical body. I can see your mortal frame is currently weak. But if you accept my legacy, your physical strength alone will allow you to crush any cultivator in the same realm with a single blow. I shall bestow upon you my lifelong methods."
The spectral image of Xuan Wang pointed a glowing finger at Kail. A torrent of raw, primordial energy poured from the statue, slamming into Kail's chest.
"The process will be agonizing, and it will take a vast amount of time. Absorb the energy, endure the pain, and recreate your mortal shell!"
Rip!
The sheer force of the energy blast completely shredded Kail's upper garments. He sat cross-legged beneath the statue, his bare torso glowing with golden inscriptions as the brutal, world-defying inheritance began to rewrite his very Dna.
Two Years Later...
Time lost all meaning in the isolation of the deep tomb.
Two full years had passed. Kail was no longer sitting on the ground; he was floating silently three feet in the air, suspended by a vortex of golden energy as the last remnants of Xuan Wang's power fused into his skin.
His physical transformation was staggering. His body was no longer that of a lean youth; his muscles were tightly packed, perfectly defined, and etched with the hardened density of forged iron.
Kail opened his eyes. A shockwave of physical pressure blasted outward, cracking the surrounding pillars without him even utilizing a single drop of Qi.
The spectral form of Xuan Wang had grown incredibly faint, flickering like a dying candle. He looked at Kail with a proud smile. "This technique was my masterpiece. I dreamed of achieving a stage where the physical body becomes truly indestructible... but my time ran out, and it remained a dream. I leave the rest to you, Feng Kail. May you reach the heights I never could. Farewell..."
With those final words, the soul fragment dissolved into stardust, leaving the chamber dark.
Kail landed gracefully on his feet. He paused, a look of deep confusion crossing his face. "Wait... how did he know my name? I never introduced myself to him."
He shook his head, pushing the mystery aside for now. "Even though my cultivation path is only at the 3-Star Qi Enlightenment Stage, my raw physical power is leagues beyond a normal cultivator. Let's see what else the senior left behind."
Among the remnants at the base of the statue, a pristine azure scroll caught his eye. He unrolled it, reading aloud: "[Sky Palm Strike]... A high-grade combat technique that uses physical pressure to displace the atmosphere. This will take months of precise meditation to master. But this chamber is completely isolated. It's perfect."
Kail sat down once more, closing his eyes as the ancient characters of the scroll burned into his mind.
Two Months Later...
"Haa..." Kail stood up, exhaling a breath that rattled the rocks. "Finally. Another powerful trump card secured. But the destructive radius of the Sky Palm Strike is too massive to test in here. I'll save its debut for the outside world."
He swept his hand across the floor, vacuuming the mountains of golden coins and ancient weapons into his storage ring. "With this wealth, I'll never have to worry about resources or currency again."
Finally, Kail unlatched the beast box at his waist. "Igneel, it's time to wake up."
The box erupted in a brilliant crimson flash. Igneel bounded out, but he was no longer the small, helpless bird from before. His feathers gleamed like polished rubies, his wingspan had doubled, and his eyes held an intelligent, razor-sharp focus.
"Mama! I mean... Kail!" Igneel chirped, his voice sounding much more mature. "The energy from that Three-Headed Tiger core was incredible! Not only are all my injuries completely healed, but I've also undergone a massive breakthrough!"
Igneel stretched his talons, his eyes burning with a fierce, vindictive light. "I can't wait to get out of this dark hole and tear those arrogant bastards to pieces! Let's hunt down the Yin and Ming clans and slaughter everyone who tried to kill us!"
Kail let out a cold, dark chuckle. "Of course we will get our revenge, Igneel. But we must remain logical. Even with our current upgrades, the power gap between us and the true elders of those apex clans is still a vast mountain. We need to be smart."
Suddenly, Igneel's head snapped toward the back of the massive stone statue. His feathers stood on end. "Wait... Kail, there is a hidden energy fluctuation directly behind the pedestal."
Kail walked to the rear of the statue, discovering a hidden compartment in the stone wall containing a small, dust-covered box. He frowned. "Strange. My enhanced senses didn't pick this up at all before."
"I didn't notice it either until the last trace of Xuan Wang's soul left the room," Igneel explained. "Open it! Let's see what the old man hid."
Kail flipped the lid. Instantly, the temperature in the room plummeted, yet a bizarre, searing heat washed over his skin. Resting inside the box was a dancing, ethereal blue flame. Tiny, spectral blue dragons were continuously materializing and revolving around the core of the fire.
Igneel's eyes widened in sheer awe. "Heavens... that's the legendary [Flame of the Blue Dragon]!"
Kail looked at his companion in surprise. "How do you know what this is?"
"When I was refining the Guardian Tiger's core, I absorbed a portion of its ancestral memories," Igneel explained rapidly. "In the ancient eras, primordial gods fought a catastrophic war against a supreme Blue Dragon. This flame was born when the dying dragon's blood mixed with a few drops of holy cosmic water! Xuan Wang must have found it, but he could only absorb 80% of its energy before his death. He could never fully refine it! This is your chance, Kail. This flame doesn't heal—it adds absolute, raw destructive draconic power to your every attack. It's a pure battlefield weapon!"
Kail smiled, a dangerous glint returning to his eyes. "A destructive flame to balance my healing flame... Perfect. Let's begin."
Kail sat down cross-legged right before the empty pedestal, drawing the cold, volatile blue fire into his chest.
A full year had passed in absolute silence.
Igneel lay curled up near the base of the statue, sleeping soundly, when the entire cavern suddenly began to violently vibrate.
Rumble!.
Rocks cascaded from the ceiling. Igneel snapped awake, shaking his wings in a panic. "What the— Is the mansion collapsing?! An earthquake?!"
He whipped his head toward Kail.
Kail was floating in the air, a massive, roaring vortex of brilliant blue energy exploding from his body. When his eyes snapped open, his irises had turned a piercing, electric blue, radiating an oppressive, suffocating draconic pressure.
Boom!
The blue energy settled back into his skin. Kail drifted down to the floor, a satisfied smirk on his face. "The power of this draconic fire is truly monstrous. To think it would push my cultivation all the way to the Peak of the Qi Enlightenment Stage (2-Star Peak)!"
He clapped his fists together, the sound echoing like a thunderclap. "With my current physical body and this blue flame, I can comfortably slaughter a standard Spirit Realm cultivator with ease."
He looked up toward the ceiling, his eyes piercing through the rock toward the outside world. "But if I want to break through the barrier into the Spirit Realm (Tier 3) myself, I need an environment entirely overflowing with pure, unadulterated primal energy... And I know exactly where a place like that exists."
Kail drew his black sword, the blade now rippling with faint blue lightning and green embers.
"Three years in the dark is enough. It's time to leave this mansion... and hunt."