The early morning chill clung to the stone walls of the parade grounds, carrying with it the smell of damp earth, polished steel, and fresh wood shavings. The eastern horizon had only begun to brighten, yet the border fortress was already alive. Squads of soldiers marched between training yards, blacksmiths hammered glowing metal into shape, and supply wagons rolled through the muddy streets toward the front lines. Leon stood beside his companions in the center of a wide training field.
General Kaelen approached with the same relaxed confidence he had displayed the previous day. In one hand, he casually swirled a small crystal vial filled with silver-tinted crimson liquid, which shimmered under the morning sun like liquid rubies mixed with moonlight. "Don't look so nervous," Kaelen said with a chuckle, noticing the tense expressions of the new recruits. "The frontier is cruel, but we're not barbarians. We don't send recruits to fight empty-handed." He raised the vial. "Today, you'll receive your first weapon. This marks the first step of the Body Tempering Path."
He let the silence linger before speaking again. "The Foundation Realm—Bloodline Formation. Most people hear that name and immediately imagine strengthening their muscles or hardening their bones. They're wrong."
Kaelen uncorked the vial, allowing a faint fragrance to drift through the air; it was strangely calming, almost sleepy. "The Foundation Realm consists of two parts: Nourishment and Awakening. You cannot awaken a bloodline that hasn't first been properly formed."
Leon listened without blinking; this was the first genuine cultivation lecture he had ever attended.
"What you're about to receive is called a Spirit Blood Seed," Kaelen continued. "It originates from a creature known as the Sleep-Weaver Larva—a pitiful little beast. Weak. Harmless. It spends nearly its entire existence asleep beneath the soil. Which makes it perfect. It possesses almost no individuality, no aggression, and no resistance toward foreign hosts. Unlike stronger beasts, it doesn't struggle after absorption." He gently shook the vial. "It willingly becomes a seed."
Miller tilted his head. "So... this thing isn't actually making us stronger?"
"No," Kaelen replied. "It won't increase your strength, it won't improve your physique, and it won't even let you cultivate. It does only one thing." He lightly tapped his own chest. "It teaches your body how to recognize Qi. Right now, all of you are blind. Qi flows through every mountain, every river, every beast, and every living soul. It has surrounded you since the day you were born; you simply lacked the senses to perceive it. The Spirit Blood Seed opens that first door."
Leon nodded slightly. It was a catalyst, not a source of power. Interesting.
Adrian adjusted his glasses. "What happens after the Seed?"
Kaelen's expression became more serious. "After the Seed comes Nourishment." He drew a circle in the dirt with the tip of his boot. "The Seed isn't your Spirit Blood; it's merely the beginning. To truly form your Spirit Blood, you must absorb the Blood Essences of at least ten different compatible beasts."
Ethan frowned. "Compatible?"
Kaelen nodded. "Not every beast suits every cultivator. The Seed reacts differently for every individual. It observes, it remembers, and it judges. Your race, your aptitude, your personality, the beasts you've personally slain, the way you fight, and the instincts you've developed—all of these influence compatibility."
Leon felt his interest deepen. "So every cultivator ends up with a different Spirit Blood."
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"Exactly," Kaelen smiled approvingly. "Even identical twins eventually diverge. The Spirit Blood remembers every step of your journey. Spirit Blood never forgets."
The words settled heavily over the training field. Maya raised her hand. "What if someone stronger kills the beast for me?"
Kaelen's smile disappeared. "Then don't absorb it. If you didn't earn the kill, the beast doesn't acknowledge you. The Blood Essence still carries the creature's will. If it refuses to submit, it'll rampage through your body." He tapped his own neck. "Best case? Destroyed meridians. Worst case? It tears apart your heart before you've even begun cultivating."
Miller visibly paled. "So... we have to kill them ourselves."
Kaelen nodded once. "Exactly. Help is allowed, and working as a team is encouraged, but your own hands must deliver the final blow."
Leon raised another question. "What happens after ten compatible essences?"
Kaelen's expression softened slightly. "The Seed blooms. It condenses into an Ancient Spirit Blood, and for the first time, your bloodline begins changing." He tapped his chest once more. "Understand something: the Spirit Blood does not replace your blood. It nourishes it, continuously refining your own heritage little by little, generation after generation, until an ordinary bloodline becomes worthy of being called Ancient."
Davis grinned. "So we're evolving."
"In a sense," Kaelen nodded.
"And if someone keeps going?" Leon asked.
Kaelen laughed. "Greedy already? I like that." He drew three horizontal lines in the dirt. "The Ancient Spirit Blood is merely the beginning. The next milestone is one hundred qualifying Blood Essences. Reach it, and your Spirit Blood evolves into Desolate Spirit Blood." He pointed to the second line. "One thousand, and it becomes Immemorial Spirit Blood."
The recruits collectively stared. "A thousand?" Ethan muttered.
Kaelen shrugged. "No one said greatness was easy."
Leon asked another question almost immediately. "What if I absorb weaker beasts later?"
"They'll still nourish your body, but they won't strengthen the Spirit Blood itself. You cannot fool the Seed; it recognizes quality, struggle, and growth. If your prey no longer challenges you, your Spirit Blood gains nothing from it."
Leon smiled. It was a self-correcting cultivation system—elegant.
Kaelen walked down the line. "Enough talking. Hold out your hands."
One by one, the recruits obeyed. The General placed a single drop of silver-crimson liquid onto the back of each person's hand. The moment it touched skin, it disappeared. There was no wound or pain; the liquid simply sank through flesh as though it had never existed. Leon felt something cool spread through his veins before settling quietly around his heart.
Miller blinked several times, staring into empty space. "...I... There are little lights..."
Maya slowly looked around herself. "I thought it was dust... It isn't."
Countless tiny particles floated invisibly through the air, drifting like microscopic stars. Ethan laughed. "So this is Qi..."
Adrian remained silent, watching the currents with fascinated concentration, while Davis reached out instinctively, trying to grab one. His hand passed straight through it. "Huh. They don't listen."
Kaelen chuckled. "They won't—not yet."
Leon quietly observed the world. It had changed, though not physically. The fortress still stood, the soldiers still trained, and the wind still blew, yet beneath everything, another layer of reality had appeared. Invisible rivers flowed through the world, gentle currents drifted between trees, and thin streams wound across the stone streets. The entire world seemed alive.
For twenty years he had searched for proof that the universe contained something beyond ordinary physics. Now he could see it—not imagine it, not theorize about it, but see it. His fingers unconsciously tightened.
Kaelen clasped his hands behind his back, looking across the recruits. "The Seed has taken root. Good. That means today's lesson is over."
Several people looked confused. "...That's it?" Davis asked.
Kaelen laughed loudly. "Were you expecting to become experts in an hour? The Seed needs experience. It needs battle. It needs life." He pointed beyond the fortress walls toward the endless wilderness stretching into the distance. "And today..." A broad grin spread across his scarred face, "...you're going to feed it."
The excitement running through Leon was almost impossible to suppress. Twenty years of research, ridicule, and sacrificing sleep, comfort, and everything else in pursuit of something everyone else believed was not real had finally brought him here. He had imagined this moment countless times, yet the reality surpassed every fantasy. After twenty years of chasing the impossible, he had finally reached the starting line. Today, he would hunt.